Bella Hadid 'willing to risk modelling career' for Palestinian cause
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Palestinian-Dutch supermodel Bella Hadid underlines that she is ready to put her modeling career on the line to continue advocating for the Palestinian cause.
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Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid during a pro-Palestine protest
Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid said she was willing to lose modeling gigs and put her entire career on the line to advocate for the Palestinian cause.
Hadid is "not on this earth to be a model," she said, amid growing unpopularity in the industry for her support of the Palestinian cause as the Israeli occupation's violence rises against the Palestinian people.
Hadid is one of the most renowned activists for the Palestinian cause among celebrities. Growing up in a mixed household with Palestinian real estate developer Mohamed Hadid and Dutch model Yolanda Hadid, she says she has felt a deep connection to Palestine and has continued to raise awareness regarding the cause.
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She has, on various occasions, used her vast platform to advocate for the Palestinian cause and call out the Israeli occupation for its violence.
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During a recent interview with GQ magazine, Bella reflected on her upbringing in California and feeling disconnected from the Palestinian side of her family following her parents' divorce in 2000.
She spent her early years in Washington DC, surrounded by her Palestinian family before she moved to California. Growing up in Santa Barbara, Hadid said she was "never able to see myself in anything."
"For so long, I was missing that part of me, and it made me really, really sad and lonely," Hadid said.
The supermodel explained that she would have loved to grow up with her father, practicing Islam and "just, in general, being able to live in a Muslim culture."
Hadid also highlighted that she speaks out about occupied Palestine for the elderly still living there "that have never been able to see Palestine free, and for the children that can still grow up and have a beautiful life."
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The model revealed that her advocacy and support of the Palestinian cause have made her unpopular among some figures in the modeling industry, and even cost her several friends. However, she stressed that she would never put her beliefs on the line for her career.
"I had so many companies stop working with me," the Palestinian supermodel disclosed. "I had friends that completely dropped me; like even friends that I had been having dinner with at their home on Friday nights for seven years, like now just won't let me at their house anymore."
"I realized that I’m not on this earth to be a model," she stressed, highlighting how she was "lucky and blessed" to be in the position where she can speak out regarding occupied Palestine the way she does. "And really, the downfall is what? That I lose my job?"
Other than Hadid, many celebrities have been subjected to hate due to their support of the Palestinian cause, such as Sally Rooney, Mark Ruffalo, Emma Watson, and Susan Sarandon, as many tactics are employed to silence any opposition to the Israeli occupation and its usurping of Palestinian land and violating of human rights.
The international community has become far more supportive of BDS efforts, notably with the increase of Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
Rooney had received a spew of hatred against her pro-Palestinian decision, which the letter described as "an exemplary response to the mounting injustices inflicted on Palestinians." However, she still made the choice of disallowing her latest book, Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021), to be widely circulated in "Israel", by simply refusing that Modan, an Israeli publishing house, translate her novel into Hebrew.
Watson, an award-winning actress and activist, utilized her personal Instagram with over 64 million followers to post a message expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Her post, however, upset and triggered pro-Israelis, prompting them of course to accuse the British star of anti-Semitism.
The Israeli occupation, through its power, has been subjecting those who oppose it to all sorts of oppression and international campaigns to demonize them and portray them as "anti-semitic", while those who comply are portrayed as "good" and "righteous" when all they are vocalizing is support for an oppressive, apartheid regime.
