Model Bella Hadid attended a pro-Palestine march on Saturday in New York City, where she wore the traditional “Keffiyeh” garb, a face mask, and waved a large Palestinian flag.
“The way my heart feels.. To be around this many beautiful, smart, respectful, loving , kind and generous Palestinians all in one place… it feels whole ! We are a rare breed!!” Hadid wrote in an Instagram caption.
“It’s free Palestine til Palestine is free!!!” the model added.
Hadid also shared a photo of her ancestors on their wedding day in Nazareth. It took place in 1941, a few years before Israel returned to statehood.
In her Instagram post, Hadid claimed that her father, aunts, and uncles “were taken were taken out of their homes in Palestine in 1948, becoming refugees in Syria, then Lebanon, then Tunisia,” when they were children.
“I love my family, I love my Heritage, I love Palestine ❤️ I will stand strong to keep their hope for a better land in my heart,” Hadid added. “A better world for our people and the people around them. They can never erase our history. History is history!”
On Saturday, Hadid’s sister and fellow model, Gigi Hadid, also shared a photo to Instagram, which showed her response to comment left by a social media user, who said, “We gonna stay in Israel, no matter how much u try to kill us its our land and our country and we don’t [give] up on her.”
“I condemn anti-Semitism. ‘I’ am not trying to kill you, now would I ever nor would I ever want that,” Gigi Hadid responded. “I do not wish any more deaths upon Israelis, just as I feel about Palestinians.”
“There are also Jewish Palestinians and Christian Palestinians, as there was, coexisting, with my father’s Muslim Palestinian family when he was born in Palestine in 1948,” the model added. “I wish you peace.”
Activists have taken to the streets this past week to share their support for Palestinians in response to Israel unleashing airstrikes in reaction to Palestinian terrorists launching dozens of rockets at Israel from Gaza.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram