Bella Hadid Talks Fallout Experienced From Support Of Her Palestine People

Bella Hadid, born Isabella Khairiah Hadid, may be merely known for elegantly gracing numerous magazine covers worldwide, but she is also a passionate advocate for the Palestinian people.  

Supporting her homeland vocally was not always favored by people, and she suffered several consequences, which she discussed with her buddy Noor Tagouri on a new episode of the "The Rep" podcast.

As AYS reported, when Bella was 14, she painted "Free Palestine" on her hand with flowers causing her to be called names and criticized as a "person of hatred" for other people. All she meant then was to free her people, her father's people, who are immensely hurting, and their pain is being witnessed globally. That marked the beginning of her "attempting to be vocal about the Palestinian cause."

Tagouri explained the premise of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute pointing to a long-running conflict over "The Holy Land" with no resolution in sight. She mentioned that till today, the Palestinians remain "stateless," with their hopes dwindling every year as their motherland shrinks "due to incremental annexation from Israeli settlements."

The journalist believed it was important for the people of Palestine to be talked about as individuals, not as "the oppressed, victims of Israel, or the occupied." She also stressed the impossibility of discussing such matters in public as people regarded it as "an untouchable subject to discuss."

This led to Bella recalling when her friend's parents told her that her Palestinian dad, Mohamed Hadid, lied about where he was from, causing her to grow up without knowing who she really was. In middle school, she was once called a terrorist, which triggered several confusing thoughts regarding herself and her "place on this planet."

The former Model of the Year admitted to never knowing who she truly was until she reconnected with her Palestinian side and her family, where she felt a "depth of passion and pain through stories" and speaking her truth. While she is fearless regarding Palestinian matters and believes the occurrences and future ones are "bigger" than her, she also has no qualms about losing every job regarding the issues of her homeland.

Bella felt that if she had spoken about Palestine since she was twenty, she would not have gotten the "recognition and respect" she currently has. She further revealed that many companies stopped working for her, and several friends stopped associating with her, even her longtime friends. In her words:

"I had friends that completely dropped me, like even friends that 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."

Speaking up for her fatherland made her get labeled as something that she was not, leading to numerous backlashes personally and professionally.

Nevertheless, the Vogue star endorsed her commitment to being vocal about supporting Palestine despite having an "overwhelming anxiety" of not saying the right things and not being what everyone wanted her to be every time. She has also realized that she had done her "education" enough to adequately know her family and history, which she felt "should be enough." 

Despite being a fervent advocate of Palestine, Bella did not grow up in their Muslim culture due to her parents' divorce as her mom, Yolanda Hadid, cut ties with her father's kinsfolk following the split. The Blast shared that she voiced her regret via an interview about not being raised with the Muslim faith as she felt she was denied the chance to learn from her father.

The 35-year-old supermodel explained that when her parents separated, and she moved to California with her mom and siblings, she was four years old, too young to preserve any of the cultures she had experienced. She yearned for an opportunity to explore that part of her history and learn about her culture. Still, the relocation made that impossible while adding more negatives to her life.

Speaking of which, she was constantly bullied in school due to her race, which left her feeling really sad and lonely for a long time. Fortunately, her acting debut in the Hulu production "Ramy" has rekindled her desire to embrace her Arab heritage and the Muslim culture regardless of her past difficulties.