For the first time, Palestine will be represented at the Miss Universe pageant. Nadeen Ayoub, a 27-year-old model, was crowned Miss Palestine in 2022 and announced last week that she’ll be competing against 130 other countries and territories in this year’s contest.
“As Palestine endures heartbreak — especially in Gaza — I carry the voice of a people who refuse to be silenced. I represent every Palestinian woman and child whose strength the world needs to see,” Ayoub wrote on Instagram. “We are more than our suffering — we are resilience, hope, and the heartbeat of a homeland that lives on through us.”
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Ayoub was supposed to compete in Miss Universe after placing third at Miss Earth in 2022 but chose to postpone “because I did not want to go when genocide was happening,” she told The National. “I wanted to focus more on staying behind the scenes because the spotlight was supposed to be on the people in Palestine who are suffering, rather than me.”
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The Miss Universe Organization “proudly welcomes delegates from across the globe, celebrating diversity, cultural exchange, and the empowerment of women,” Miguel Ángel Martínez, the head of communications at the MUO, told CNN. “Ms. Ayoub, an accomplished advocate and model from Palestine, embodies the resilience and determination that define our platform.”
Ayoub will compete for the Miss Universe title on November 21 in Bangkok, Thailand, and will “proudly represent Palestine, standing alongside contestants from every corner of the world,” per Martínez.
