Agencies-Gaza post
Bella Hadid Isn’t Afraid to Speak About Palestine Anymore
In the last few years, Bella Hadid become increasingly vocal about her defense for Palestine, the country where her father, Mohamed Hadid, was born.
Hadid’s advocacy has gotten her a full-page attack ad in the New York Times and a direct tweet from the official country of Israel Twitter account, both of which she touched on in a new meeting about her advocacy.
“I have this overwhelming anxiety of not saying the right thing and not being what everybody needs me to be at all times,” Hadid stated at the top of her new meeting with the Rep podcast.
“But I’ve also realized that I have done my education enough, I know my family enough, I know my own history enough. And that should be enough.” The supermodel spent many years to defend Palestine.
In a June Instagram post, she asserted her commitment to fight for Palestine, writing, “I will never allow anyone to forget about our beautiful Palestine, or our beautiful people.”
Hadid’s activism has ramped up in the last two years. On Instagram, she’s shared a message against apartheid, as well as images and videos of alleged unprovoked violence between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinians.
In March, she and her sister, Gigi Hadid, declared that they would be giving their Fashion Week earnings to organizations providing aid in Ukraine and Palestine.
Her activism has not come without cost. “I had so many companies that stopped working with me,” the supermodel said. “I have friends that completely dropped me.”
In May of 2021, she was charged of being an “advocate for throwing Jews into the sea” by the official Israel Twitter account after attending a pro-Palestinian march following an air strike in Gaza.
Hadid always called out “Israeli colonization” and “military occupation and apartheid” on Instagram — though she also made clear that this was “not about religion” or “spewing hate on one or the other” — writing, “I stand with my Palestinian brothers and sisters.” Shortly thereafter, Hadid, her sister, and Dua Lipa (who was dating their brother, Anwar Hadid, at the time) were targeted by a full-page ad in the New York Times accusing them of “antisemitism.”
Speaking with Rep, Hadid called the ad “disappointing,” adding that the paper “sold their soul.” Reflecting on the vitriol that came her way, the model said, “When I speak about Palestine, I get labeled as something that I’m not. But I can speak about the same thing that’s happening there, happening somewhere else in the world, and that’s honorable. So, what’s the difference?”
Hadid added that in the meeting that she realized at a young age that people wouldn’t necessarily embrace her identity as a proud Palestinian woman.
She still being called a “terrorist” in the eighth grade. “I was being called names and being immediately blasted as a man of hatred for another people, but all I was talking about was freeing my father’s people, people who are deeply hurting.”
But a recent interaction with an Israeli woman in the streets of New York City has made her realize she’s not afraid to speak up anymore
