Daily Times

US model Gigi Hadid in an interview said that she was as Palestinian as Dutch, according to an MTV report. Addressing the backlash surrounding her March 2017 cover for Vogue Arabia, Hadid said: “When I shot the cover, I wasn’t ‘Arab enough’ to be representing those girls, even though I’m half-Palestinian. I’m as Palestinian as I am Dutch.

“Just because I have blonde hair, I still carry the value of my ancestors, and I appreciate and respect that,” she added.

When asked about her upbringing at the launch of her collaboration with Reebok, the 23-year-old replied: “People say that I don’t deserve to be where I am because I come from this successful family, but my parents were f***ing hardworking.”

“My dad was a refugee. My mum was on a farm, went to New York, and worked to send money back to her family. They worked their a***s off, and they’ve given me a life because of their hard work, and I work hard to honour that.

She continued: “I shouldn’t stay in my house because people say, ‘You don’t deserve to be here because they were successful’. That’s not how I consider it in my house.” For a bit of background, the model’s dad is Mohamed Hadid, a wealthy real estate developer, while her mum is Yolanda Hadid – a former model and castmember on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Published in Daily Times, November 20^th 2018.