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A contestant makes up. (AP)
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The swimsuit competition (AP)
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A contestant spreads out on the floor (AP)
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| By israelinsider staff and partners September 22, 2005 |
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| A Palestinian contestant preens as Israelis smooch (AP) |
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A Palestinian teenager pranced off with the tiara at a groundbreaking Israeli-Palestinian beauty pageant held in "disputed territory" along the territorial "seam" that links, and separates, Arabs and Palestinians in southern Jerusalem.
The pageant attracted twenty young women and teenagers, including three Palestinians. In last year's debut, Arab contestants backed out. The beauty contest is the brainchild of Adi Nadar, who lives in the Jewish Jerusalem suburb of Gilo in a south east suburb of Jerusalem.
The area has in the past been the frequent target of automatic arms fire from the neighboring Palestinian town of Beit Jallah. Several years ago, at the peak of the violent Arab uprising, there were nightly battles involving artillery.
"We were looking for a way to forget our mutual suffering and our distrust, by avoiding sport and politics, and we thought about beauty and women were the best way to bring us closer together," said Nadar, who leads a Jerusalem residents association for peace.
Five judges considered the merits of 17 young Israelis, an East Jerusalemite of Armenian origin and two Christian Palestinians from Beit Jallah. One of them, Shira Marie Farah, a 17-year-old with chestnut brown hair, was declared the winner following the parade of evening dresses and swimsuits, prancing to the tunes of Abdel Hakim Hafez, a top Arab music star.
In a rare show of Middle East harmony, Israeli contestants draped themselves in the Palestinian flag, and vice-versa.
The winner received an air ticket to Paris and invitations from major fashion houses.
"It was wonderful to see these young girls together, like a family ... Before the pageant they went together to the Dead Sea and to the Ramat Rahel kibbutz," in southern Jerusalem.
"Of course, I entered the contest hoping to be crowned the winner," said 19-year-old Eliane, another Palestinian contestant who works in an East Jerusalem hairdressers. "But for me the important thing is to meet up with my Israeli friends."
"What I won tonight was that our neighbors in Gilo have become our friends," said fellow Palestinian contestant Christine, 14.
Israeli girls were also enthused. "This contest allows me to get to know my neighbors, and I like them a lot," said Tali Cohen, 17.
Several Israeli members of Knesset, including Danny Yatom and Colette Avital, attended the event. Israeli pop star Koby Shai was also in the crowd, fishing for an invitation to broaden his horizons. "I hope that next year I might be able to sing in the Arab world," he said.
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