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Bella Hadid Caught Protesting with Man Arrested for Brutal Assault of Orthodox Jew

Bella Hadid attended the same pro-Palestinian protest as the man arrested for allegedly beating a bystander in Times Square last week and calling him a 'filthy Jew' - and posted a picture of him on her Instagram.

The model posted a picture of Waseem Awawdeh sitting on a car amid dozens of protestors in a procession on May 16, along with several other pictures and a video of herself at the rally in New York City.

In her post including a picture of Awawdeh among other protestors, Hadid wrote: 'The way my heart feels … To be around this many beautiful, smart, respectful, loving, kind and generous Palestinians all in one place... it feels whole! We are a rare breed!!'

Police say Awawdeh was among a gang of demonstrators who four days later punched a Jewish man to the pavement then pummeled him while he was down, yelling anti-Semitic epithets.

He is charged with assault as a hate crime, gang assault, menacing, aggravated harassment as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon. 

Waseem Awawdah.jpeg

A source close to Hadid said she does not know the man, did not associate with him at the protest and condemns any antisemitic violence.

Video of the assault showed 29-year-old accountant Joseph Borgen left defenseless on the ground as he was battered by the angry mob outside of 1604 Broadway.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com last week, Borgen said there were eight to 10 people taking part in the beatdown and they were shouting anti-Semitic slurs such as: 'You filthy Jew. We're going to f*****g kill you. Go back to Israel. Hamas is going to kill you.'

Brooklyn-based Awawdeh, 23, was arrested in connection with the attack on Thursday and was pictured being released from the 5th Precinct in handcuffs the next day.

In her earlier May 16 post including a picture of Awawdeh among other protestors, Hadid wrote: 'The way my heart feels … To be around this many beautiful, smart, respectful, loving, kind and generous Palestinians all in one place... it feels whole! We are a rare breed!!'

She shared photographs of herself at the earlier, peaceful demonstration that paraded through the Bay Bridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, in a black and white bandana and burgundy face mask, sat on the back of a truck with other protestors waving Palestinian flags.

One photo shows Awawdeh perched on the hood of a Chevrolet truck in a black t-shirt and shorts and a headband in the Palestine flag colors, waving the crutch he later allegedly used to beat Borgen.

Stood with him on the car were a woman and three other men, one wearing a full face mask and beating a drum.

The Instagram post received over 4.5 million likes.

Hadid deleted the post after StopAntisemitism.org, an organization dedicated to tackling hate crimes against Jews, posted the picture on Twitter and identified Awawdeh.

'Horrific - @bellahadid caught protesting with Waseem Awawdeh, the same man that was arrested for brutally assaulting an innocent Orthodox Jewish man in NYC last night!' the organization wrote in the Tweet.

After Hadid deleted the picture, the organization called her out again, tweeting on Monday '@bellahadid you can delete/archive all the photos you want of your affiliation with Palestinian men that assault Jews in NYC but the internet is forever.'

A source with knowledge of Hadid's movements at the May 16 protest told DailyMail.com that she had no contact with Awawdeh and that she does not know him.