Palestinian shuns pageant after threats
by Tia Goldenberg

The Jerusalem Post
June 17, 2004, Thursday

After inviting Dina Emal to participate in Tuesday night’s “Miss Green
Line” beauty pageant in Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood, coordinator
Asi Nagar told the Palestinian contestant from Beit Jala to stay home,
in response to her mother’s fears for her safety.

Nagar had invited Emal, who also goes by the last name Mahariz,
to participate in order to help build on the pageant’s theme of
coexistence.

“She really wanted to participate, but her family was afraid, so
I had to make a decision on their behalf,” Nagar said before the
pageant. “I’d rather have a friend living in Beit Jala than a beauty
queen living in fear.” He said Emal cried when he told her not to
come to the event.

A band comprising Jews and Palestinians welcomed the guests to the
pageant, playing both Israeli and Arabic songs. While the guests were
mostly Jewish, Nagar said some Arabs had come from the Palestinian
town of Beit Jala and Jerusalem’s Beit Safafa neighborhood. After
Emal’s withdrawal, only one non-Jewish participant, Arpi Krikorian,
an Armenian Christian from Jerusalem’s Old City, remained.

“Dina really wanted to participate, but the security situation
couldn’t allow for it,” said Krikorian, who came in fourth place.
“She was very disappointed and so am I.”

Ayelet Fishman, first runner-up in the competition, said the fact
that a Palestinian woman would participate in the pageant is what
pushed her to join.

“If the Arab girl wasn’t a part of this, I wouldn’t have done it,”
Fishman said, before being notified of Emal’s absence. “It was a
once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

Before the competition, Labor MK Colette Avital spoke to the
audience. “Dina has a place in all our hearts,” said Avital. “I hope
that next year the atmosphere will be such that we will be able to
live as neighbors.”

The participants, ranging in age from 14 to 21, strutted onstage in
dresses, bikinis, and wedding gowns.

Ortal Balilti, 17, from Gilo, took the crown.

GRAPHIC: Photo: ISRAELI YOUNG women don evening dresses to
participate in a beauty contest Tuesday night in Jerusalem’s Gilo
neighborhood. (Credit: Lefteris Pitarakis/Ap)