The Hadids Honors their Palestinian Roots

The Hadid Children supports their father Mohamed Hadid as he was honored at Harvard. He discussed leaving Palestinian when he was a baby and how he moved to Syrian refugee camp and later to the US at the age of 14. The 70-year-old was born in Nazareth, Palestine, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He was only 18 months old when his family was forced to flee to Syrian refugee camps.

Mohammed Hadid is a high profile real estate mogul. Models Gigi, Bella and Anwar Hadid made a surprise appearance at the Arab Conference at Harvard 2019 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Gigi, Bella and Anwar from his second marriage to Yolanda Foster and Marielle and Alana from his first marriage to Mary Butler.

When asked why his children bear Arabic names and English names like : Jelena Noura [Gigi], Isabella Khair [Bella], Anwar Mohamed Gerard, Alana Amal and Marielle Zain, Mohamed responded by joking: 'I think their mothers had something to do with it as well,' later adding more seriously: 'They kept both cultures within our kids.'

Asked how he taught his children about their Arabic roots, Mohamed said: 'They know that they're Palestinians - I tried to explain to them that their culture is very rare. I try to teach them to keep it alive."

'One of my dreams is to have my kids carry the name Palestine with them everywhere they go because it seems like we are losing that name as we go on.'