On the sidelines of the “Miss Universe” contest in the city of Eilat, in southern Israel, a political dispute has been raging for weeks over the organiser of the already socially controversial beauty pageant. While the aim of the event is to choose the supposedly most beautiful woman in the world, some participating countries openly criticise Israel’s policy on Palestine.
Particularly sensitive is the participation in the event of Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, who was crowned in 2021 and has been openly called upon by the government of her home country to boycott the event in Israel. Nathi Mthethwa, South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, had asked the 24-year-old model not to travel to the pageant, the television channel CNN reported. The country accuses Israel of a policy of apartheid towards its Palestinian citizens on the basis of the Middle East conflict.
“Miss Universe” contest in Israel: South African politicians and public called for a boycott
A boycott of the event could be “more useful nationally and internationally than a one-off event that could have disastrous consequences for her future and her reputation as a young woman of colour”, the US broadcaster CNN quoted Mthethwa as saying. In November, numerous people protested outside the Miss South Africa office, calling for a boycott.
However, in consultation with the organisers of the Miss South Africa beauty pageant, Mswane decided not to boycott: “If I had not come to Israel to take part in the Miss Universe contest, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life,” she said on Thursday (9 December 2021), according to the Jerusalem Post. Some people have put her “through hell and back” over this decision, but she remains optimistic.
Israel accuses South Africa of antisemitism over its stance on the Miss Universe contest
In some quarters, South Africa’s criticism of Israel’s policy is interpreted as antisemitism. For example, South Africa’s “Jewish Board of Deputies”, an association of Jews in South Africa, criticised the country’s decision not to support its contestant as a “wasted opportunity to work constructively for peace in Israel”, the Jüdische Allgemeine reported.
The participation of contestants from Bahrain and Morocco is also politically explosive. Both states were among the Arab countries that normalised their relations with Israel at the end of 2020, in a process brokered by the US government of President Donald Trump.
“Miss Universe” contest in Israel: the competition was formerly owned by Donald Trump
Was it possible to broker participation in the contest at the same time? Between 1996 and 2015, Trump, who was elected President of the United States in 2016, owned the “Miss Universe” event and in that capacity repeatedly caused scandals, as he is said to have burst into the dressing rooms several times or joked publicly in interviews about sexual relations with contestants.
“It is about us as people, as strong women,” said Miss Israel, Noa Cochva, who took part in the run-up to the events, stressing that the “Miss Universe” contest should not be about politics. This probably means that in the coming years social criticism of the event could once again be voiced more strongly than political criticism.
