Bella Hadid has urged fans to give to charity this Eid Al Fitr in an Instagram post. Getty Images
Bella Hadid has urged fans to give to charity this Eid Al Fitr in an Instagram post. Getty Images
Bella Hadid has urged fans to give to charity this Eid Al Fitr in an Instagram post. Getty Images
Bella Hadid has urged fans to give to charity this Eid Al Fitr in an Instagram post. Getty Images

Bella Hadid urges fans to donate to Middle Eastern families in need with Eid Al Fitr message


Farah Andrews
  • English
  • Arabic

Bella Hadid, 23, posted a lengthy message on Instagram, sending Eid wishes to her friends and family. In the post, the model, whose father Mohamed Hadid is a Jordanian-American real estate developer, reflects on those most in need this Eid, highlighting three charities that are working to help children in Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

She urges fans to donate to Middle Eastern families in need in her message. "As Ramadan comes to a close, my thoughts are with families and children around the world without a safe place to call home," the model wrote.

"I remember the beauty of Ramadan, and fasting with my father and my Teta when I was young. Eid was so special for me, to be able to celebrate together. It makes my heart break thinking about the children and families that are separated and unable to unite during this time," she wrote.

"I will be supporting and donating to three charities that are working endlessly, in different ways, to help support refugees, displaced families, families in the front lines of conflict and very importantly, the powerful and beautiful Middle Eastern children across Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and other affected regions," she wrote, before linking to the aforementioned charities: Preemptive Love, UNRWA USA and Middle East Children's Alliance (Meca).

She then went into detail, explaining the work that Meca does.

"The Middle East Children's Alliance works for the rights and well-being of children in the Middle East. They support dozens of community projects for Palestinian children and refugees from Syria," she explains. "Meca has been dedicated to making sure the children get direct aid like food, water, clothes, toys, books and school supplies [as well as] financial support and assistance in the West Bank and Gaza that helps children get basic needs such as accessible parks, kindergarten classes, libraries, sports, music / art programmes etc!

"They also offer university programs to help Palestinians grow up to be everything they can be."

She then urged her followers to donate to the charities, writing: "I would love for you to join me to help these incredible charities, and if not, spreading the word will always help... We can and will be the voice for the ones who cannot be heard".

Her father Mohamed was born in Nazareth, Palestine, in 1948 and moved to the US at the age of 14.

He has also posted Eid wishes of his own on social media, including a video of the call to prayer from London.

"For the first time in history [Kazi Shafiqur Rahman] was honoured tonight to be able to perform the Azan in Makkah Style in Canary Wharf London. Subhanallah what an amazing feeling," he wrote.

While you're here
In numbers

- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100

- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100

- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India

- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100

- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A