Shashi Naidoo planning trip to Palestine after Gaza comments

Model Shashi Naidoo says she will be visiting Palestine to educate herself after making controversial comments about Gaza. 

Her announcement comes days after she was slammed for calling Gaza a "sh**hole" while debating the conflict between Palestine and Israel with an Instagram user.

Several sponsors dropped the 37-year-old, including betting company Gold Circle, who announced on Tuesday that her appearance at the Vodacom Durban July had been cancelled.

Shashi, who accused Gaza of trying to "annihilate Israel", has apologised several times for her "ignorant" comments.

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She reiterated her apology during a joint briefing with pro-Palestine movement, BDS South Africa, on Wednesday. 

The media personality also announced that she will travel to Palestine.

"I’ve been very disappointed in myself for not knowing and being fully aware of what was happening in Gaza and sometimes ignorance can be just as bad as having those thoughts," she said at the briefing. 

Shashi says the comments she made were not her own words. She says she asked a friend to help her compile a response during her Israel-Palestine debate on Instagram.

"I stupidly copied and pasted the response verbatim in a feeble attempt to appear smart on social media without reading it comprehensibly," she wrote on the picture sharing site on Monday.

She has received several death threats since her Gaza comments. 

The SA Jewish Board of Deputies has condemned the hate Shashi has received. 

"Actually, what it represents is a triumph of censorship over freedom of expression, a victory for those who resort to threats, insults and intimidation to silence those who express views in support of Israel," the board said in a statement. 

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