Palestinian-American model Gigi Hadid says ‘terrorising innocent people’ doesn’t help Free Palestine movement

Palestinian-American model Gigi Hadid has called the violence in Palestine an “unjustifiable tragedy” and clarified that while she supports the Palestinian cause, she does not support violence. “While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person,” she wrote in a lengthy statement on Instagram.

Hadid, whose father is a Palestinian, said her thoughts were with everyone affected by the tragedy, especially children. “The terrorising of innocent people is not in alignment with and does not do any good for the ‘Free Palestine’ movement. The idea that it does has fuelled a painful, decades-long cycle of back and forth retaliation (which no innocent civilian, Palestinian or Israeli, deserves to be a casualty of), and helps perpetuate the false idea that being Pro-Palestine [equals being] antisemitic,” she wrote.

She expressed her condolences to anyone “hurting”. “There are a lot of complex, personal and valid feelings , but every human deserves basic rights, treatment and security; no matter their nationality, religion, ethnicity or where they were born.”

The recent spate of violence in Palestine began after Hamas launched its biggest assault on Israel in years early on Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets from Gaza and sending fighters across the border.

Israel said it was “on a war footing” and launched its own strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza, with Israeli media reporting gunbattles between bands of Palestinian fighters and security forces in southern Israel.

Hadid, and her model sister Bella, have been vocal proponents of the pro-Palestine movement. However, Bella, especially, received widespread backlash for her activism with many people believing her sudden ‘neutrality’ on social media in May 2021 after attending several protests — and silence ever since — was the result of pressure.