'Pure hatred': Bella Hadid blasts Ben Gvir's justification for Palestinian movement restrictions
'Pure hatred': Bella Hadid blasts Ben Gvir's justification for Palestinian movement restrictions
Ben Gvir said this week that the freedom of his family to travel around the West Bank trumps the right of Palestinians to move in the occupied territory.
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Bella Hadid has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause [Getty]
Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid on Wednesday slammed comments made by Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir widely deemed as racist on freedom of movement in the occupied West Bank.
Ben-Gvir said in an interview said the right of him and his family to travel around the West Bank - occupied by Israel since 1967 - superseded that of the native Palestinian population.
"My right, and my wife’s and my children’s right, to get around on the roads in Judea and Samaria is more important than the right to movement for Arabs," Ben-Gvir said on Israel's Channel 12, using the names Judea and Samaria to refer to the occupied West Bank.
Journalist Mohammad Magadli countered Ben-Gvir's calls for restrictions on Palestinians' right to free movement in the occupied territory.
"Sorry Mohammad, but that's the reality. That's the truth. My right to life comes before their right to movement," Ben-Gvir responded.
Bella Hadid posted the video clip from the interview and shared it on Instagram with her 60 million followers.
"In no place, no time, especially in 2023 should one life be more valuable than another's," said Hadid in the post. "Especially simply because of their ethnicity, culture, or pure hatred."
Ben-Gvir responded to Hadid on Friday with a Twitter post describing her as "Israel hater".
"I invite you to Kiryat Arba, to see how we live here, how every day, Jews who have done nothing wrong to anyone in their lives are murdered here," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ben-Gvir lives in the settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron, the largest Palestinian city.
Bella Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, has consistently criticised Israeli oppression in the occupied West Bank and Gaza and other human rights issues.
Hadid met the family of slain Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Qatar on Sunday, offering help in their fight for justice.
She said her public support for Palestine has led to her losing jobs but despite this she will continue her advocacy.
The model has also posted on social media a scene from the film titled Children of Shatila, which explored Palestinian refugees in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon in 1998.
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