Bella Hadid says she’ll continue to back Palestinian cause

Bella Hadid

Bella Hadid, the supermodel who is an ardent defender of Palestine, says she will use her fame to further the cause of her people, saying she is “lucky and blessed” to be in a position to voice her support.

Supermodel Bella Hadid, who is of Palestinian and Dutch descent, has been the target of a relentless slandering campaign for years.

Pro-Israel lobby groups have accused her of supporting Hamas even though she had only used her fame to highlight the suffering of Palestinian people living under the Israeli occupation. 

In 2012, a full-page ad was taken out in a US newspaper calling on fans to condemn Bella, her sister Gigi and singer Dua Lipa - all of whom are staunch defenders of Palestinian rights. 

Fast forward to 2022, and Bella remains outspoken about the crisis in Palestine: “I realised that I’m not on this earth to be a model,” she says.

“I’m so lucky and blessed that I’m in a position where I can speak out the way that I do. And really, the downfall is what? That I lose my job?”

The model, who regularly speaks in support of Palestinian people, gave an interview to GQ magazine, published online ahead of the September 2022 issue.

Bella was born in 1996 to Mohamed Hadid, a real estate developer – and as she has proudly pointed out, a refugee – and Yolanda Hadid, a Dutch model and reality TV star.

The family moved to California when Bella was a toddler, which placed her away from the Arab Muslim side of her family.

Hadid tells GQ that “I got extracted when we moved to California.”

Speaking of the difficulties of being the only Arab girl in class in Santa Barbara, she says that “I was never able to see myself in anything else, so I tried to just sit back,” adding that “For so long I was missing that part of me, and it made me really, really sad and lonely.”

Referring to her parents’ separation and divorce, Bella says “I would have loved to grow up and be with my dad every day and studying and really being able to practice [Islam], just in general being able to live in a Muslim culture,” adding “But I wasn’t given that.”

Bella Hadid recently expressed in a Rep podcast that her support for Palestine has resulted in some negative consequences for her.

"I had so many companies stop working with me. I had friends that completely dropped me," the supermodel said on August 15.

The supermodel whose GQ interview was published after the podcast was broadcast is determined to continue supporting the Palestine cause, and will remain dedicated to her Arab Muslim roots.

Bella is one of the top fashion models of the world, being recognised globally and photographed for many magazine covers.

TRT World