Gigi Hadid
The model breaks her silence on the Hamas attacks
Gigi Hadid’s father is of Palestinian origin.
© Ovidiu Hrubaru/Shutterstock
Many celebrities have already spoken out – now model Gigi Hadid is breaking her silence about the Hamas attacks on Israel.
“I also feel an obligation to my Jewish friends”
Hadid shared shared on her Instagram page, which is followed by 79.2 million people, is a long statement. It said: “My thoughts are with everyone affected by this unjustified tragedy and every day that this conflict claims innocent lives – too many of them children.” She has “deep compassion and deep sorrow for the Palestinian struggle and life under the occupation.” It is a “responsibility that I carry every day.” But she also emphasized: “I also feel an obligation to my Jewish friends to make it clear, as I have done before: although I have hopes and dreams for the Palestinians, none of them include the suffering of a Jewish person is inflicted.”
She sends “love and strength”
The model continues: “Terrorizing innocent people is inconsistent with and does nothing to benefit the Free Palestine movement. The idea that this is the case has fueled a painful, decades-long cycle of back-and-forth retaliation ( “no innocent civilian, Palestinian or Israeli, deserves to be a victim) and helps perpetuate the false idea that pro-Palestine = anti-Semitic.”
She expressed her condolences to both affected Palestinians and Jews and sent “my love and strength – whoever and wherever you are.” Every person deserves “basic rights, treatment and security; regardless of their nationality, religion, ethnicity or place of birth.” She knows her words are never enough, “but I always pray for the safety of innocent lives.”
The Hadid sisters sparked outrage in 2021
Both Gigi and her sister Bella Hadid (27) have supported Palestine in the past and taken part in marches and demonstrations. They have been criticized for sharing their anti-Israel thoughts online – particularly in a 2021 post that claimed Israel is not a country but a colonized country. Unlike Gigi, model Bella Hadid – a vocal pro-Palestine activist – has yet to publicly comment on the attacks, which killed more than 1,000 people.