South Africa Angry Its Miss Universe Contestant Won’t Boycott Pageant in Israel
The current Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, said she will participate in the Miss Universe pageant being held next month in Israel, even though the South African government announced that it has withdrawn its support as a way to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Competing in Miss Universe has been a life-long dream of Mswane, 24, and she will attend the competition with the support of the Miss South Africa organization, according to reports. South Africa established diplomatic relations with the Palestinians in 1995 and has compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to the apartheid suffered by Black South Africans from 1948-1994. South Africa also downgraded its embassy in Tel Aviv in 2019 and recalled its ambassador. “I truly don’t believe not attending and not being able to showcase or use one’s voice and being in that country is going to be the right thing. “The truth is she does want to go and represent her country,” said Stephaine Weil, chief executive of the Miss South Africa organization. The country’s arts minister, Nathi Mthethwa, issued a veiled threat against Mswane, saying that her participation in the beauty pageant against the wishes of the government could “prove disastrous to her future and public standing as a young, black woman.”
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