Miss Philippines Beatrice Luigi Gomez, who participated in Miss Universe 2021, which was held in the city of Eilat in southern Israel Dec. 13, tweeted pictures Dec. 4 of herself in the traditional Palestinian dress making grape leaves along with other contestants during a tour in the city of Rahat, in the northern Negev Desert in southern Israel, with the caption, “Day in the life of a Bedouin,” as a kind of promotion of the Bedouin culture that the contestant attributed to Israel.
Miss Ukraine Hanna Nepliakh also shared photos on Instagram, wearing the Palestinian dress and preparing Palestinian pastries, captioned, “Today, on the way to Eilat, we stopped at a Bedouin settlement in Israel and plunged into their culture and traditions.”
The tweet sparked anger among Palestinians on social media.
Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu won Miss Universe 2021 in which 80 contestants from all over the world participated, including Miss Morocco Kawthar Ben Halima and Miss Bahrain Manar Nadeem, whose participation sparked controversy online and was considered a form of normalization with Israel.
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