Opinion – Hadid Palestine backlash shows importance of identity

The criticism Hadid has received after publicly supporting her motherland isn’t all that surprising.

Individuals who have chosen to speak on the Israeli occupation of Palestine have received similar abuse due to the highly controversial nature of the war (many would even consider the term ‘war’ an inappropriate definition in this context).

Natalie Abulhawa, an athlete of Palestinian-American heritage, detailed her own experiences after sharing pro-Palestine social media posts that those in her school community deemed ‘antisemitic’.

Abulhawa has since lost her position as an athletic trainer at the Agnes Irwin School and is struggling to find work.

Pro-Palestinian’s have started speaking more openly about the conflict since Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022, as the overwhelming international support for Ukraine has been called out for highlighting a racist double standard.

United efforts to boycott Russia have shown how effective the international community can be in repressing violent conflict – so why has the same not been done for Palestine, a country invaded by Israeli forces in 1967?

‘When I speak about Palestine, I get labelled as something that I’m not, but when I speak about the same thing that’s happening somewhere else in the world, it’s honourable. So what’s the difference?’ Hadid asked on the Rep.

The reaction to individuals like Abulhawa and Hadid proves this duplicity is far from behind us. But perhaps the most striking thing about Hadid’s experience is that her status and success hasn’t granted her immunity from marginalisation.

As a white, thin, conventionally beautiful 25-year-old, who rides horses in her spare time and has one of the most enviable wardrobes in the world, Hadid is the blueprint all-American it-girl. And yet a decision to support her heritage has immediately stripped her of that status.

A most notable example of this was a full-page ad in the New York Times in 2021, featuring images of Bella, her sister Gigi, and pop-star Dua Lipa. The ad claims the women were ‘mega-influencers’ who have ‘accused Israel of ethnic cleansing’.

Hadid accused the New York Times of ‘selling its soul’ by agreeing to publish the ad – whose unabashedly racist narrative only serves to remind us that – despite wealth and fame – Hadid is still a child of her father’s displacement.

Bella has also spoken of her own sense of displacement, which burgeoned when her parents divorced in 2000.

The Hadid’s were born and raised in Washington DC until Yolanda left Mohamed and moved the family to California. ‘I was with my Palestinian side [of the family in DC]’ Bella said in an interview with GQ. ‘And I got extracted when we moved’.

‘I would have loved to grow up and be with my dad every day and studying and really benign able to practice [Islam], just in general being able to live in a Muslim culture’ Hadid continued. ‘But I wasn’t given that’.

Despite the physical disconnect Hadid feels toward her Palestinian family, and the sense of loss she harbours for her Arab heritage, Bella’s vocal stance on Palestinian suffering is a mark of her tenacious sense of identity, an identity that is defined by far more than appearance or place.

In the face of shameless attacks, Bella Hadid is a reminder that while she may be Hollywood’s woman of the moment, she is also a Palestinian woman, a Middle Eastern woman, and a woman who fundamentally stands for change – be that in the communities she has lived in, those she has been torn from, or those that have excluded her.