The Hadid Sisters, Karen Wazen And Hadia Ghaleb Were All At The Arab Conference At Harvard This Weekend
Mohamed Hadid opened up about his Palestinian heritage on stage
This weekend, the biggest names in the Middle East travelled to North America to speak at the Arab Conference at Harvard University. Bringing together nearly 1,300 students and professionals, the event, which saw names like Karen Wazen, Mohamed Hadid and Hadia Ghaleb take to the stage to discuss this year’s theme (Re)Imagining Home.
Lebanese-born Wazen shared her journey into social media and how she has forged a career out of Instagram.
“Some people in the Arab world may know who I am. They may have come across my photos for videos, but they may not know what I do”, says Karen Wazen during her speech. “’What do you do?’” is my most dreaded question, because what I do is still in the making it’s a job that changes every day. But most importantly, what I do has been predefined by a term I’m not comfortable using: influencer. This word is unidirectional and sounds almost exploitative. It’s not how I see myself.”
Mohamed Hadid also opened up about his Palestinian heritage during his interview with journalist Jessica Azar at the Arab Conference at Harvard 2019.
“I’m just a simple man from Nazareth, and I’ll always be a simple man from Palestine,” says the former Harper’s BAZAAAR Interiors cover star. “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. We want to make sure my family always carries that on.”
In the audience, Gigi, Bella, Anwar and Alana Hadid sat front row, supporting their father and posting videos and snaps from the event on social media.
Dubai-based Hadia Galeb also shared her story on why she thinks social media matters.
Press play to go behind-the-scenes on our 2017 cover shoot with Bella Hadid