US supermodel Gigi Hadid has spoken out about the ongoing deadly conflict between Israel and Palestine, describing it as an "unjustifiable tragedy". She has thrown her support behind Palestine's struggle while also condemning the violence that has arisen as a result of the attacks.
The 28-year-old, who is a person of Palestinian origin herself and has been a longtime advocate for the "Free Palestine" movement alongside her sister Bella Hadid, has said that she feels a responsibility to her Jewish friends to make it clear that she does not support the harm of any Jewish person. She has also said that she believes being pro-Palestine does not equal being antisemitic.
"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 a Jewish person," she wrote on Instagram.
"The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with and 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 added.
Concluding her statement, Gigi Hadid, a mother of one, offered her condolences to all those affected by the conflict and earnestly called for the protection of "innocent lives."
"If you are hurting, as I share my condolences today with my loved ones, both Palestinian and Jewish, I'm sending you my love and strength, whoever and wherever you are," she wrote. "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 both."
Hadid has said that she knows her words will not be enough to heal the deep wounds of so many, but she prays for the safety of innocent lives always.
