Dutch-Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid has said she is unafraid to lose modelling jobs in order to continue her support for Palestine, days after she revealed that her advocacy had caused some companies to stop working with her.
Hadid is the daughter of Palestinian real-estate developer Mohamed Hadid and Dutch model Yolanda Hadid and is often lauded as being one of the most outspoken celebrities advocating for Palestine.
In a joint interview with Egyptian-American actor Ramy Youssef for GQ magazine, the 25-year-old model opened up about her Muslim and Arab heritage and her continued support for the Palestinian cause.
'I had so many companies that stopped working with me... I have friends that completely dropped me' she said.
In the interview, Hadid referenced her parent's divorce in 2000 when she relocated to California and felt that she was "extracted" from her Palestinian side of the family.
"For so long I was missing that part of me, and it made me really, really sad and lonely," she said, talking of her Arab heritage.
Despite her detachment from her Palestinian family, Hadid says she is proud of her heritage and often uses her platform as a tool to raise awareness about the Israeli occupation. She also spends time thinking about her family and what they endured.
"I speak about [this stuff] for the elderly that are still living there that have never been able to see Palestine free, and for the children that can still grow up and have a beautiful life."
Her father's family fled Palestine in 1948 during the Nakba or "the Catastrophe" when Zionist militias expelled more than 700,000 Palestinians from historic Palestine and destroyed some 500 villages to make way for the creation of Israel.
