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 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.
“I would have loved to grow up and be with my dad every day and studying and really being able to practice [Islam], just in general being able to live in a Muslim culture,” Hadid says. “But I wasn’t given that.”
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 was forced to leave 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.
At the time, Mohamed Hadid became a refugee in Syria, losing his family home in Safad to a Jewish family.
“I’m so lucky and blessed that I’m in a position where I can speak out the way that I do. And really, the downfall is what? That I lose my job?”
Just a few days prior to the publication of the GQ issue, Hadid made an appearance on the Rep podcast. Hosted by journalist Noor Tagouri, the podcast examines the misrepresentation of Muslims in US media.
There, Hadid admitted that her work has been affected by her advocacy in the past.
“I had so many companies that stopped working with me,” she said. “I have friends that completely dropped me.”
“When I speak about Palestine, I get labelled as something that I’m not. But I can speak about the same thing that’s happening there, happening somewhere else in the world, and that’s honourable. So, what’s the difference?”
Bella Hadid has often made headlines, calling out social media platforms such as Instagram for censoring her posts on Palestine.
Last year, the model was featured in a New York Times advert which appeared toink her with Hamas movement, the de facto ruler of the Gaza Strip. Bella’s sister Gigi and Grammy-winning singer Dua Lipa were also featured in the advert.
Bella Hadid will make her acting debut later this year as a guest star on the Hulu comedy, Ramy.
