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Bella Hadid believes she would have been less successful had she spoken about Palestine at a younger age

Bella Hadid believes she would have been less successful had she spoken about Palestine at a younger age

Growing up with the absence of her Muslim culture made the Palestinian-American model feel separated from her roots.
20 Aug, 2022

Bella Hadid has often made headlines for being vocal in her support for her home country, Palestine. The Palestinian-American model has suffered through consequences for it too in the form of brands dropping her and close friends cutting her off. Her experience makes her believe that had she started speaking up about her views at an earlier stage in life, she would not be the world renowned model she is today.

In an interview with Noor Tagouri’s the Rep podcast, Hadid said everything she says is backed up by the research she has done. “I have this overwhelming anxiety of not saying the right thing and not being what everybody needs me to be at all times. But I’ve also realised that I have done my education enough, I know my family enough, I know my own history enough. And that should be enough.”

She elaborated on the backlash, “I really do believe that if I started speaking about Palestine when I was 20, I would not have gotten the same recognition and respect that I have now. I had so many companies stop working with me. I had friends that completely dropped me, like even friends 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.”

Tagouri brought attention to an ad that was posted to malign the model. “Even one of the world’s most prestigious journalistic institutions engaged. On May 22, the New York Times published a full page ad paid for by a right wing American organisation. The ad featured the faces of Bella, her sister Gigi and popstar Dua Lipa, over an image of a rocket strike, covered in bold and inflammatory text. The intention was clear — the ad attempted to link the three women to terrorism, genocide and antisemitism.”

Hadid felt like that disregarded so many years of work and so many lives that have been lost all because they reduced the trio to the leaders of a terrorist organisation. “It was really disappointing for me because we all really have taken time and money subscriptions to read something that we really felt was powerful, had integrity and [was] educational. At this point it was just, they sold their soul,” she said of the publication.

The Victoria’s Secret model also shed light on how the official account for the state of Israel on Twitter came for her, and the double standards when she speaks about other injustices in the world. “And I think that was really, the word is disappointing, but the entire country of Israel, and I mean, Israel on Twitter tweeted at me. And what’s interesting is that when I speak about Palestine, I get labelled as something that I’m not but when I speak about the same thing that’s happening there, happening somewhere else in the world, it’s honourable. So what’s the difference?”

Hadid noted in the interview that she realised very young that people are not accepting of this part of her identity. She recalled being called a “terrorist” in eighth grade. “I was being called names and being immediately blasted as a person of hatred for another people, but all I was talking about was freeing my father’s people — people who are deeply hurting.”

In a separate interview with GQ Magazine, Hadid dove deeper into her childhood and mentioned the “separation from her roots” that made her feel a sense of unease growing up in Santa Barbara. She was often the only Arab girl in her class and while she says her upbringing was mostly fine, she has long felt that there was something missing from her life. “I was never able to see myself in anything else, so I tried to just sit back,” the model said. “For so long I was missing that part of me, and it made me really, really sad and lonely.”

One of her greater regrets is that she wasn’t raised around Muslim people, particularly after her parents separated. “I would have loved to grow up and be with my dad every day, studying and really being able to practice, just in general being able to live in a Muslim culture,” she says. “But I wasn’t given that.” Nevertheless, she spends a lot of time thinking about her family and what they endured: “I speak about [this stuff] for the elderly that are 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.”

A recent interaction with an Israeli woman in the streets of New York City made her realise she’s not afraid to speak up anymore. “I was just leaving lunch, and this woman came up to me and was like, ‘I just moved to New York from Israel recently, and I told myself that if I ever saw Bella Hadid I would walk up to her and ask why she hates me so much,’” Hadid narrated on the podcast.

Adding that she actually welcomed the conversation, telling the woman that she didn’t hate her, she invited her to speak her mind. “I’m not scared of anything, but I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to combat whatever she had to say to me. But I realised in that conversation, it never had to be combative. All it had to be was two girls talking about their history and hopefully finding a common denominator, which is that we want nobody to die.”

Comments

A shah Aug 20, 2022 01:13pm
Who is this attention seeker?
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Abdur Razzaque Aug 20, 2022 01:13pm
No ...... comment!
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Aug 20, 2022 01:45pm
She is 100 percent right.
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Taha Karamat Aug 20, 2022 02:21pm
you could have picked a better picture of Bella but I guess you wanted a reaction. Sad!
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Syed Hasni Aug 20, 2022 02:24pm
It's time for everything Bella, I feel that she exerts more influence at this stage of career.
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Multani Aug 20, 2022 02:51pm
Bella is a successful model, Palestinian cause is dear to her but whether it is to her fans is another thing, mixing her career with her personal causes may not do well, she should go live in Palestine rather than give statements in comfort of USA if she believes so strongly.
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M. Saeed Aug 20, 2022 03:01pm
If she sacrifices for the sake of her native land's freedom, it is the basic ingredient of every patriotic citizen in search for the integrity and honor of his/her motherland.
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KAZIM REZA Aug 20, 2022 03:18pm
intifada indeed!
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M. Emad Aug 20, 2022 03:38pm
Who is this Bella Hadid ? Never heard this name.
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Fatima Aug 20, 2022 03:53pm
Odd she says she wants to live in a muslim culture, 50 plus countries to choose from, sounds very shallow to me.
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Samir Mokdad Aug 20, 2022 04:48pm
Brave American-Palestinian Bella Hadeed making it successfully as a beautiful model against all odds. Stockholm - Sweden
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GreenAura Aug 20, 2022 05:07pm
You're doing a great job Bella, articulating your points with eloquence and fortitude. Carry on. Don't give up.
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Hello world Aug 20, 2022 05:46pm
Bella is a lovely and intelligent lady. She is a brave person with a caring heart.
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Jigen.m19 Aug 20, 2022 06:09pm
Yes a certain community owns most of Hollywood, fashion design and banking. That community won’t allow her to become famous if she supported Palestine at an early age.
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Waheed Noor Aug 20, 2022 06:51pm
She wants the money but not their type of freedom,
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well-wisher Aug 20, 2022 07:08pm
Great work by Bella. The world should support her cause. Her people are prisoners in their own land.
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Skeptic2 Aug 20, 2022 08:29pm
Classic case of claimed victimhood. Despite her success, she complains that she would have been more successful if she had not been discriminated against. When will this self pity end?
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Zeeshan Ahmed Aug 20, 2022 08:43pm
Depends on your definition of success.
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Syed Qutub Aug 20, 2022 09:31pm
She should walk the talk. Gazza beckons. We have many arm chair revolutionaries living in the comfort of the west while espousing causes purely to further their fan following or hog the news. If Palestine were liberated today, would she move there?
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Henchi Aug 20, 2022 10:12pm
Well, it's never to late to migrate to Palestine.
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M. Emad Aug 20, 2022 10:27pm
Who is this girl ?
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Anonymouseee Aug 20, 2022 10:51pm
Miss Hadid. Be strong and continue to speak the truth. The truth always prevails in the end.
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Zufar Aug 20, 2022 11:40pm
@A shah, she’s your worst nightmare that reminds you of your crimes, stop your nonsense and get your head around the Indian illegal occupied Kashmir, you and Israelis are all alike I suppose it takes one to know one, need I remind you of your ancestors? believe it was the Hindu Brahmans that invited nazi German delegation over to share common ideology which was supremacy, white supremacy nazi germany? Remember? And they rejected the offer, how about that. Read the history, we know all about your facist racist lot.
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Maula Jatt Aug 21, 2022 03:00am
When people are right they are always blocked by the insecure wrong people.
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Jin Aug 21, 2022 03:42am
Interesting picture
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M. Emad Aug 21, 2022 05:49am
Who is this girl ?
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Isthisreal Aug 21, 2022 07:10am
@Taha Karamat agree
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Carey Aug 21, 2022 08:41am
@Skeptic2 It is not self pity, she is just exposing the facts.
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