Bella Hadid mourns loss of slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in touching Instagram posts

Bella Hadid mourns loss of slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in touching Instagram posts
The Dutch-Palestinian supermodel took to Instagram to share more than 30 posts about the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
2 min read
12 May, 2022
Dutch-Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid regularly posts in solidarity with Palestinians living under Israeli oppression [Gotham/GC Images via Getty]

Dutch-Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid has shared dozens of posts on her Instagram page mourning the death of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

Hadid took to her 51.8 million followers on the app to share more than 30 posts marking Abu Akleh's death. Some were simple reposts, while others were her own thoughts on the shocking killing.

"I have no words. I just have no words anymore... They will try to justify it. They will try to justify this senseless murder," Hadid wrote in a story post that included news of Abu Akleh's killing by Israeli forces.

"Rest in peace to the incredible, brave martyr; Shireen Abu Akleh," Hadid said in the story post.

"JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME," she wrote in another story post.

Bella's father, Mohamed Hadid, also shared several posts about Abu Akleh's death including one condemning press coverage of her killing that did not name Israeli forces as the assailant.

Bella's brother Anwar Hadid also shared a post by a Chicago-born Palestinian illustrator Shirien Damra than mourned the loss of Abu Akleh.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by shirien (@shirien.creates)

Bella Hadid regularly speaks out to defend Palestinians living under Israeli oppression, often via Instagram.

She claimed last month that the application had restricted some of her pro-Palestine posts, noting that content related to Palestine received far fewer views than others.

Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip last year that killed more than 250 Palestinians led to an unprecedented number of celebrities speaking out in solidarity with Palestinians.

Pro-Israel lobbies took aim at celebrities slamming Israeli war crimes, with one taking out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times accusing Bella Hadid, her sister Gigi, and singer Dua Lipa of "anti-Semitism" because they had condemned Israel's killing of Palestinian civilians.

Palestinian activists have often been accused of anti-Semitism for criticising the Israeli government's actions, while progressive Jewish groups in the UK and Europe have rejected such links.