Gigi Hadid and Bela Hadid's connection with Palestine: How their father's family became refugees in Syria

Over the last few years, supermodels and sisters Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid have candidly spoken about their views on the Israel-Palestine issue. The two sisters have Palestinian ancestry from their father's side. 

How are Gigi and Bella connected to Palestine?

Gigi's father Mohamed Anwar Hadid was born in a Palestinian Muslim family in 1948 in Nazareth. From his mother's side, he claims to be a descendant from the 18th-century Arab ruler of northern Palestine Dahir al-Umar. Gigi's mother is former supermodel-reality star Yolanda Foster.  Gigi and Bela are half-Palestinian and half-Dutch. Gigi's real name is Jelena Noura Hadid and Bella's is Isabella Khairiah Hadid.

Why did Anwar Hadid and his family leave Palestine?

Gigi's father, along with his parents, had to flee Palestine due to the 1947–1949 Palestine War. Gigi's grandfather did not want the family “to live under the Israeli occupation,” as per a Washington Post profile. Anwar Hadid's parents walked for two nights to reach the Lebanese border and they were provided shelter as refugees in Syria.

In 2015, he shared an old picture of his family on Instagram and also penned a note in which he recalled how the family settled in Syria as refugees.

“I was only about 18 months old. After we were expelled from our beloved #Palestine into the Syrian refugee camps .. My dad got a brief job at the University of Damascus in #Syria .. This was our family pictures for a Palestinian Refugee Card. The Hadid Family, my beautiful mother Kharia Daher Hadid. My father Anwar Mohamed Hadid. My sisters Ghada, Raida, Sana, and me. Thank you #Syria for taking us in. And thank you America for allowing All of us to realize our dreams …”

Later during an interview, he explained how they became refugees. “That's how we became refugees to Syria and we lost our home in Safed (city in Northern Israel) to a Jewish family that we sheltered when they were refugees from Poland on the ship that was sailing from country to country and no one would take them… they were our guest for 2 years till they made us refugees and they kicked us out of our own home. That my history.. Strange thing. That I and my family would do it again,” he had said.

What Gigi wrote about Israel's war against Hamas

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Gigi shared a post and showed empathy for the people of Israel and Palestine.

She wrote, "My thoughts are with all those affected by this unjustifiable tragedy and every day that innocent lives are taken by this conflict too many of which are children. I have deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation, it's a responsibility I hold daily. I also feel a responsibility to my Jewish friends to make it clear, as I have before: While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of Jewish person."

Gigi continued, "The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with & does not do any good for the 'Free Palestine' movement. The idea that it does has fueled a painful, decades-long cycle of back-and-forth retaliation (which no innocent civilian, Palestinian or Israeli, deserves to be a casualty of), and helps perpetuate the false idea that being Pro-Palestine = antisemitic."

She concluded, "If you are hurting, as I share my condolences today with my loved ones, both Palestinian and Jewish, I'm sending you my love & strength whoever and wherever you are. There are a lot of complex, personal, and valid feelings, but every human deserves basic rights, treatment, and security; no matter their nationality religion, ethnicity, or where they were born. I know my words will never be enough or heal the deep wounds of so many but I pray for the safety of innocent lives, always." 

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