Nasima Khatun
Bella Hadid has taken to Instagram to talk about double standards when it comes to countries suffering from war, particularly the lack of outrage or empathy when it comes to Muslim nations experiencing it.
Re-posting an emotional stance by @MustafaThePoet, she emphasised that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
The post itself discussed the ongoing war that Russia is subjecting Ukraine to, saying that “nothing should undermine the magnitude of their [Ukraine’s] suffering,” however we, as a society, should uphold the same outrage and empathy for Muslim countries suffering a similar fate.
The post also addressed the problems in China against the Uyghur people who are currently being detained in the “internment camps.”
Gigi Hadid, Bella’s older sister, also spoke out about the issue as she pledged to donate her earnings from next season’s catwalk shows to aid those in both Ukraine and Palestine.
“Having a set Fashion Month schedule has meant that my colleagues and I often present new fashion collections during heartbreaking and traumatic times in history. We don’t have control over most of our work schedules, but we would like to walk ‘for’ something. Following in the footsteps of my friend @micarganaraz, I am pledging to donate my earnings from the Fall 2022 shows to aid those suffering from the war in Ukraine, as well as continuing to support those experiencing the same in Palestine,” she wrote.
She continued: “Our eyes and hearts must be open to all human injustice. May we all see each other as brothers and sisters, beyond politics, beyond race, beyond religion. At the the end of the day, innocent lives pay for war- not leaders. HANDS OFF UKRAINE. HANDS OFF PALESTINE. PEACE. PEACE. PEACE.”
This isn’t the first time the supermodel duo have spoken out about the ongoing oppression Muslims face. Bella Hadid also recently stood in solidarity with Muslim women who wear the hijab.
Speaking to her 49.9 million Instagram followers, she slammed countries for their controversial laws targeting them, describing their actions as “sick in the head.”
“I urge France, India , Quebec, Belgium, and any other countries in the world who are discriminatory against Muslim women, to rethink what decisions you have made or are trying to make in the future about a body that is not yours,” she said. “It’s not your job to tell women what they should or shouldn’t wear, especially when it is pertaining to faith and safety.
“…The egocentrics of a man to think for even for one second, that they have enough validity to make decisions for a woman in 2022, are not only laughable but actually sick in the head.
“It needs to stop,” she concluded.
Hadid also dedicated 2 other posts to the issue, including one in which she spoke out on behalf of a young girl who was the target of a hate crime at Otago Girls’ High School in New Zealand.
Hoda Al-Jamaa, 17, was brutally beaten and had her hijab torn off by 3 non-Muslim girls who called Al-Jamaa and her friends “Muslim b******” and “terrorists” after the attack.
Hadid called for justice for young Hoda and also urged people to “stand up for [their] Muslim friends” if they’re being targeted.
The twenty-five-year-old’s posts come at an extremely difficult time for Muslims all around the globe with restrictive laws affecting a large number of them in Western and non-Western countries. And with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine raising issues about how we view non-white, primarily Muslim refugees, we’re only left wondering one thing: Why do our lives matter less than those of our white counterparts?
10 points to anyone who has the answer.
May Allah make it easier for those suffering at the hands of selfish governments.