American supermodel Bella Hadid has participated in a demonstration to support Palestine in the Bay Ridge neighbourhood of NYC, Page Six reports.
According to the media outlet, Bella, daughter of Palestinian real-estate developer Mohamed Hadid, was seen wearing a traditional dress, Keffiyeh, and face mask while waving a large Palestinian flag and flashing a peace sign.
“The way my heart feels. To be around this many beautiful, smart, respectful, loving, kind and generous Palestinians all in one place,” the model wrote in a recent Instagram post alongside images from the march. “It’s free Palestine til Palestine is free!!!”
She also posted a photo of her grandparents’ wedding day, along with a photo of her father and his siblings as children, reminiscing in the caption about how they were “taken out of their homes in Palestine in 1948, becoming refugees in Syria, then Lebanon, then Tunisia.”
“I love my family, I love my Heritage, I love Palestine. I will stand strong to keep their hope for a better land in my heart,” Hadid wrote. “A better world for our people and the people around them. They can never erase our history. History is history!”
The rally was held amid the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has seen hundreds of rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel while Israeli warplanes and artillery have pounded the Palestinian enclave.