Understand the relationship between models Bella and Gigi Hadid with Palestine

Behind their confident walk on the world’s hottest catwalks, Bella and Gigi Hadid have a remarkable family story. Mohamed Hadid, the sisters’ father, before being a luxury real estate tycoon, was one of the approximately 700,000 Palestinians displaced from the land that was converted from a British protectorate to the territory of the state of Israel in 1948.

This process is called nakba by Palestinians, the Arabic word for catastrophe. At that time, in 1947, there was a civil war between Arabs and Jews, followed by a war between the newly formed state of Israel and neighboring Arab countries, such as Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. At that time, the Hadid sisters’ grandparents and their father, still a baby, were already refugees in Syria.

Because of this family background, Bella and Gigi have shown support for the Palestinian cause on several occasions. It is worth remembering in the United States, the country where they live and which positions itself as Israel’s greatest ally, this show of support can cause friction.

Bella told the Rep podcast that several companies have interrupted contracts and that friends have cut ties. Furthermore, the model picked a fight with official Israeli government communication channels — and even with politicians.

In 2021, after attending a protest for Palestine in New York, the official Israeli account on X, then Twitter, stated that she supported Jews being thrown into the sea and that this meant the model also supported the elimination of Palestine. state of Israel.

At the protest, Bella held the Palestinian flag and wore traditional Palestinian scarves, while singing “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

A few days after publication, a full-page ad in the New York Times accused her, her sister and singer Dua Lipa of being anti-Semitic for supporting the Palestinian cause. The author was Orthodox rabbi Shmuley Boteach, former host of the television program “Shalom in the Home.” He called on the three to condemn Hamas immediately.

That was a moment of less tension than now. At the time, the conflict between Arabs and Jews was escalating over a neighborhood in Jerusalem called Sheikh Jarrah. The Israeli government issued an eviction order to the Palestinian families who lived there and this generated a series of protests, which gained international attention — and support from celebrities.

Now, the situation is different. After an attack by the Hamas group, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war, in addition to saying that there was an expectation of a long conflict.

Bella has not yet commented on the conflict. She keeps the description “Palestinian and Dutch” as part of her Instagram bio, where she also posts about her support for the cause. Less vocal, Gigi did not speak out and does not maintain messages of support for the cause on her social networks.