'I will never forget Palestine': Bella Hadid honours homeland in touching Instagram post

Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid posted on her Instagram screengrabs of a film asking Palestinian refugees in Lebanon what they will do when they are able to return to Palestine.

Posting a scene from the film titled Children of Shatila, which explored Palestinian refugees in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon in 1998, Hadid said it gave her tears in her eyes.

The screengrabs showed refugees answering the question of what they would first do when Palestine is finally free.

"First of all, I would rebuild my house. Next, I would take care of my land, olive trees and property", a refugee said.

When an elderly refugee man was asked if he sees himself returning to Palestine in the next 50 years, he responded: "Even if it's 100 years, I'd still hope to return."

"I would like to say that in one or 100 generations, when I and others are dead, Palestine must not be forgotten. Promise me that", he added as the camera zoomed in on his melancholic facial expression.

"Tears in my eyes watching this scene on my way to work this morning…..", Hadid wrote in the caption of her post.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Bella 🦋 (@bellahadid)

Hadid made an emotional tribute to the refugees, saying she regrets not speaking up about her country sooner.

"Everyday I wish I could go back in time, to when I was a child, so that I could start fighting for Palestine sooner. For my family, for my elders, our history and for the people of Palestine still living, now, through this treacherous, exhausting and painful occupation", she said.

She remembered her grandparents who were expelled from Palestine during the Nakba, the mass exodus which led to the establishment of Israel in 1948, saying she wishes she was able to fulfil their dying wish of being buried in Palestine.

Referring to a quote by David Ben Gurion, the first Israeli prime minister, who in 1948 famously said of Palestinians "the old will die and the young will forget", Hadid responded by promising that she will always remember Palestine.

"I have a promise to make. I will never allow anyone to forget about our beautiful Palestine, or our beautiful people", she assured her nearly 53 million followers.

Hadid and her sister, fellow model Gigi, often use the app to raise awareness about Israeli violence against Palestinians, as well as Islamophobia worldwide.

In 2020, Instagram removed a picture posted by Hadid of her father’s passport, which showed his birthplace as Palestine.