Newsfeed
Gigi Hadid has broken her silence to condemn the “terrorising of innocent people” following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.
The American-born supermodel, who is of Dutch and Palestinian descent, has spoken of her “responsibility” to have “deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation” in a lengthy statement posted to her Instagram account.
Hadid’s statement comes after war was declared by Israel following a surprise attack by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group based in Gaza. It comes after months rising attacks on Palestinians from the Israeli Defense Force, particularly in the West Bank – per the UN 227 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers between January and September this year.
Read More: Opinion: For Palestinians, Media Discrepancy Is Just One More Battlefront
In her post, Hadid writes that the “terrorising of innocent people is not in alignment with and does not do any good for the ‘Free Palestine’ movement,” while making it explicitly clear that her “hopes and dreams for Palestinians” do not include “the harm of a Jewish person”.
Both Hadid and her sister Bella, who celebrated her 27th Birthday on the second day of the Israel-Hamas war, have previously vocalised their support for Palestinian sovereignty and the #FreePalestine movement.
This advocation has stemmed from the Hadid’s Palestinian heritage. (The supermodel sisters’ father, Mohammed Hadid, was born in Palestine.)
Gigi Hadid hasn’t allowed comments on her post, but the crux of her message is one of peace. Read it for yourself below:
Gigi Hadid’s Statement On The Israel-Hamas War
“My thoughts are with all those affected by this unjustifiable tragedy and every day that innocent lives are taken by this conflict – too many of which are children. I have deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation, it’s a responsibility I hold daily.
I also feel a responsibility to my Jewish friends to make it clear, as I have before:
While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person. 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 & 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 = antisemitic. If you are hurting as I share my condolences today with my loves ones, both Palestinian and Jewish, I’m sending you my love and strength – whoever and wherever you are.”
