'Free Palestine forever': Bella Hadid recalls trauma of survivors of the 'never-ending Nakba'

Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid has made her stance on her home country Palestine clear countless times and she's asserted that she will not stop raising her voice till Palestine is free. This Nakba Day, she penned an emotional note that talked about both the personal trauma her family went through and the pain Nakba survivors go through to this day, once again calling for Palestine to be free.

Bella re-shared a video by Al Jazeera on May 15, Nakba Day, that mapped out the history of Palestine and explained how the "great crisis" is not limited to a day or a year (1948) but "continues to affect more than 12 million Palestinians".

"Nakba Day. Thinking of my father today. Crying tears for him. Thinking of all of the Nakba survivors, now refugees. Our elders who are still not allowed to return to their homeland. I’m holding Palestine in my heart today. And everyday. The never ending Nakba," the supermodel captioned the post. "The feeling is just sad. Sad that this is another year of babies being born in an occupation. Another year of pain. Sad that my dad keeps aging another year, just to watch his people go through the same pain he experienced. Sad."

She highlighted the fact that not only was the pain ongoing, it was also overlooked and unacknowledged. "The only thing I wanted to do today was hug my baba and tell him how proud I am of him. Not only for being so resilient and surviving, but for living every single day with the extreme trauma that something like this causes a child. The worst part? No one would even validate his history and what his family had been through. 'There’s no such thing as Palestine'. That could possibly be the worst."

The supermodel ended the note with the call "Free Palestine forever" saying she's "proud to be Palestinian".

Her siblings Gigi and Alana also touched upon the issue.

Gigi re-shared Alana's Instagram story that featured their father. "Mohamed Hadid is a Nakba survivor and today we remember 74 years of ongoing Nakba and say we are proud Palestinians," it read.

Gigi added red hearts to the story and wrote "PROUD", tagging Alana and their father.

Bella continually uses her platform to take a stand for her home country and its people. Just two days back, she slammed Israeli forces for attacking slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral procession, saying it was indicative of the kind of torture and abuse Palestinians face at the hands of the Israeli military. She also exposed Instagram for shadow-banning her and countless others when they spoke up for Palestine, in April. The model said she will "continue to come forward with peace" to speak against violence against her people.