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Israel Insider, Israel
June 16 2004
Palestinian girls pull out of joint beauty contest with Israel due to
threats
By Ellis Shuman June 16, 2004
A beauty contest organized to show that peaceful neighborly relations
are possible between residents of Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood
and the nearby Palestinian town of Beit Jala was marred when
all the Palestinian girls dropped out due to threats on their
lives. "Maybe because the contest was being held on our side, they
felt 'appropriated,'" said Ortal Balilti, 17, who was crowned Miss
Seam Line last night.
Eight Bethlehem area girls, all of them Christians, were to participate
in the contest, named after the line that separates Israel from the
West Bank. Contest organizer Adi Nagar invited girls from Beit Jala and
Gilo to participate with the hope of fostering understanding between
them. The two communities, now separated by the security barrier,
were the flashpoint of heavy fighting at the offset of the Intifada.
Nagar said the Arab contestants "eventually all renounced the contest
because of political pressures." Just hours before the pageant, Nagar
asked the last Palestinian girl, Dina Makhriz, to stay home after
her family received threats on their lives from fellow Palestinians.
"I prefer to have a happy, pretty girl than a frightened beauty queen,
not to mention a dead one," Nagar said.
One of Makhriz's relatives said it was "ill-advised" for Dina to take
part in a pageant being held in Gilo, a neighborhood annexed by Israel
after the 1967 Six Day War.
"Gilo used to be Palestinian. It would not be politically correct
for her to be there," the relative told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Arpy Krikorian, a 21-year-old Armenian Christian from east Jerusalem
and the contest's sole non-Jewish participant, said she understood
Makhriz's reasons for withdrawing.
"I sat an hour with her yesterday and she was very uncomfortable. The
girls here may not understand but I do. She shouldn't take any chance,"
Krikorian said. Krikorian said she had heard rumors that Makhriz's
life had been threatened.
"I think the other girls are relieved because she would have won. She
was by far the prettiest of us all," she added.
The contest's sixteen participants wore evening gowns and bathing
suits at the pageant, which was staged in Gilo. Krikorian, who was
described by Maariv as an Audrey Hepburn look-alike, was chosen as
third runner-up.
"If there is anyone who is not guilty for the situation in which
we are living, it is us, the children," Balilti declared after she
was crowned Miss Seam Line. "I think that the contest can't change
the situation, but the fact that it was staged proved that [Israelis
and Palestinians] can live together and get along, and that there is
still hope for peace."
Nagar, who is hopeful that Palestinian girls will participate in next
year's contest, vowed "never to give up on peace."
"I hope to organize a summer camp next year with youths from Beit
Jala and Gilo," he said.
June 16 2004
Palestinian girls pull out of joint beauty contest with Israel due to
threats
By Ellis Shuman June 16, 2004
A beauty contest organized to show that peaceful neighborly relations
are possible between residents of Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood
and the nearby Palestinian town of Beit Jala was marred when
all the Palestinian girls dropped out due to threats on their
lives. "Maybe because the contest was being held on our side, they
felt 'appropriated,'" said Ortal Balilti, 17, who was crowned Miss
Seam Line last night.
Eight Bethlehem area girls, all of them Christians, were to participate
in the contest, named after the line that separates Israel from the
West Bank. Contest organizer Adi Nagar invited girls from Beit Jala and
Gilo to participate with the hope of fostering understanding between
them. The two communities, now separated by the security barrier,
were the flashpoint of heavy fighting at the offset of the Intifada.
Nagar said the Arab contestants "eventually all renounced the contest
because of political pressures." Just hours before the pageant, Nagar
asked the last Palestinian girl, Dina Makhriz, to stay home after
her family received threats on their lives from fellow Palestinians.
"I prefer to have a happy, pretty girl than a frightened beauty queen,
not to mention a dead one," Nagar said.
One of Makhriz's relatives said it was "ill-advised" for Dina to take
part in a pageant being held in Gilo, a neighborhood annexed by Israel
after the 1967 Six Day War.
"Gilo used to be Palestinian. It would not be politically correct
for her to be there," the relative told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Arpy Krikorian, a 21-year-old Armenian Christian from east Jerusalem
and the contest's sole non-Jewish participant, said she understood
Makhriz's reasons for withdrawing.
"I sat an hour with her yesterday and she was very uncomfortable. The
girls here may not understand but I do. She shouldn't take any chance,"
Krikorian said. Krikorian said she had heard rumors that Makhriz's
life had been threatened.
"I think the other girls are relieved because she would have won. She
was by far the prettiest of us all," she added.
The contest's sixteen participants wore evening gowns and bathing
suits at the pageant, which was staged in Gilo. Krikorian, who was
described by Maariv as an Audrey Hepburn look-alike, was chosen as
third runner-up.
"If there is anyone who is not guilty for the situation in which
we are living, it is us, the children," Balilti declared after she
was crowned Miss Seam Line. "I think that the contest can't change
the situation, but the fact that it was staged proved that [Israelis
and Palestinians] can live together and get along, and that there is
still hope for peace."
Nagar, who is hopeful that Palestinian girls will participate in next
year's contest, vowed "never to give up on peace."
"I hope to organize a summer camp next year with youths from Beit
Jala and Gilo," he said.