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Culture April 18, 2022

Bella Hadid on Palestine’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Attack: “How Many Army Units Does it Take to Arrest a Child?”

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Photo: Gorunway.com

Bella Hadid has often used her reach as a global personality to talk about humanitarian issues, and this weekend was no different. Mere hours ago, the Palestinian model took to her Instagram account to shine light on Israeli forces storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque during prayer time on Friday, despite being allegedly shadow-banned by the platform. “My Instagram has disabled me from posting on my story – pretty much only when it is Palestine based I assume,” “When I post about Palestine I get immediately shadow banned and almost one million less of you see my stories and posts.”

Later, Hadid shared a series of videos from the attack which took place during the Holy Month of Ramadan, and according to the Palestinian Red Crescent and medics, left more than 150 civilians injured. The Israeli force mentioned in an official statement that officers entered the mosque after they came under attack with fireworks, stones, and other objects, and three of them were hurt. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said, “Police were forced to enter the grounds to disperse the crowd and remove the stones and rocks, in order to prevent further violence.”

 

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A post shared by Bella 🦋 (@bellahadid)

The focus of Hadid’s posts lay on the unarmed civilians, mainly the elderly and children, who were caught in the “unprovoked” attack, explains the model. “How many army units does it take to arrest a CHILD? How many times does a young strong military man, with guns, bullet proof vests, power, have to kick down their elder, to feel more POWERFUL?” read the caption of one of her posts. The model also drew a comparison to her own family history with the post, touching upon her own father, Mohamed Hadid’s experience. “I will not allow us to all be named ‘terrorists‘; (as I’ve been called since I was a child, for simply just being Palestinian) just for being alive or standing up for our people,” she wrote. “There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. Ever. No matter what. Since 1948. Since my father was kicked out of his home when he was 9 days old.”

 

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A post shared by Bella 🦋 (@bellahadid)

Hadid went on to further explain her stand by saying that her goal was to highlight the “breach of human rights” via her platform, and that although she condemns extremism, she has to raise a voice for the innocent people who were affected by Friday’s events. She wrote: “The excuse I hear most is ‘The Palestinians. they were asking for it’. I hear, ‘They had a knife. That was the reason the soldiers started to attack.’ Absolutely not. As you can see here, these are peaceful people, most of the time with their children, praying, or just… living. Sure, there can be extremists on both sides. (As anywhere in the world) But I will not continue to sit here and have my people’s names be slandered as if they are constantly doing something wrong to deserve this kind of abuse. Absolutely UNPROVOKED abuse. In their home, and on their land, that they have lived in for hundreds of years. Especially now, during the holy month of Ramadan.” The 25-year-old’s posts were met with several heartfelt responses from her fellow fashion industry colleagues and activists, including Burberry chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci, models Mariacarla Boscono, Winnie Harlow, and Cindy Bruna, singer SZA, and actor Indya Moore.

The attack was condemned by the GCC countries, while the EU and US have called for restraint. According to a statement posted by the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), it “underscored the need for self-restraint and protection for worshipers. Moreover, it stressed the UAE’s position that the Israeli authorities should respect the right of Palestinians to practice their religious rites and halt any practices that violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

A part of the statement from Saudi Arabia reads: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom’s condemnation and denunciation of the #Israeli occupation forces storming Al-Aqsa Mosque considering this systematic escalation a blatant attack on the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its position of the Islamic Ummah.”

Read statements from other GCC countries below.

Qatar

Kuwait

Bahrain

Oman

Read Next: Emma Watson’s Post for Palestine Receives Support From More Than 40 International Stars

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