Part of the Big Four international beauty pageants, alongside, Miss World, Miss Earth and Miss International, globally anticipated, Miss Universe takes the spotlight this time, with the announcement of the date of Miss Universe 2021. Taking a huge diversion from the previous editions of Miss Universe, this time around, the new titleholder will be crowned just 7 months after Andrea Meza from Mexico took the crown.
This is a result of the postponement of Miss Universe 2020 due to the pandemic. In a statement released by the Miss Universe Organization, Meza said she hopes “as many people as possible” get vaccinated so that they can participate in the 70th Miss Universe contest. The former software engineer would be crowning her successor this December with Steve Harvey returning to host this pageant. However, that’s not all!
The release of the pageant’s venue has indeed gotten a lot of flak from netizens. The Miss Universe Organization has declared that it would be held in Israel — a first for the pageant itself! Specifically, it would be held in the southern resort city of Eilat. This has indeed shocked many people in light of the oppression by the Zionist regiment towards innocent, Palestinians. The hashtag, #BoycottMissUniverse has started making its rounds on social media. Many netizens in the Middle East, as well as the United States and neighbouring Indonesia, have agreed with the boycott, in solidarity with the suffering Palestinian people. With the constant bombings and killing of Palestine’s inhabitants, Israel has definitely committed genocide against Palestinians along with many other human rights violations.
Paula Shugart, the president of the Miss Universe organization told Insider that, “Israel has been on the pageant’s shortlist of host countries for a number of years due to its rich history. As we sought a location for our 70th-anniversary celebration, it became clear through our conversations with acting mayor Lankri and the Israeli Ministry of Tourism that Israel, which has done a good job containing the global pandemic, has the best resources to host Miss Universe in December.”
Despite this clarification, it has still made various individuals curious about the selection of the venue. The pageant would involve more than 80 delegations from all around the world therefore, it is indeed crucial for the organisers to consider the implications of having Israel as the venue.
There might be potential boycotts towards the 70th edition of Miss Universe especially from Malaysia and Indonesia who have banned their citizens from travelling to Israel. Nevertheless, let’s just wait for the updates from countries all around the world before jumping to conclusions.
Source: Remaja
