#BoycottMissUniverse2021, Pro-Palestine advocates call, as it will be held in ‘Israel’

Pro-Palestine advocates have called to boycott the 70th Miss Universe competition as it will be held this December in Eilat, an Israeli-occupied Palestinian city, as the Miss Universe Organization announced on Tuesday.

70 YEARS! 👑 The 70th #MISSUNIVERSE competition is heading to ….Eilat, Israel! 🎉 MISS UNIVERSE will air live around the world December 2021.

Stay tuned for more information or visit https://t.co/25sAUG0jBb pic.twitter.com/gX0XAPXfUg

— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) July 20, 2021

Eilat was built in 1952 on the Palestinian southernmost city of Umm al-Rashrash.

In March 1949, Ben Gurion, Israeli Prime Minister at the time, instructed the Israeli occupation forces to make it a fact that ‘Israel’ is the rightful owner of the Negev (and of course, Umm Rash-Rash, which is situated in the Negev’s most northern spot).

The IOF started “Operation Uvda” (in Hebrew, “Uvda” means “Fact”), led by then-Israeli Foreign Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, started their way down to conquer Umm Rash-Rash, destroyed the citizens’ houses and raised the Israeli flag before the city’s police station.

So, the advocates have slammed the Miss Universe Organization for the announcement, saying such events are used to divert attention from Israel’s many human rights abuses against Palestinians.

Israel’s decades-old regime of military occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid desperately needs such propaganda festivals and events to art-wash its egregious crimes against the Palestinian people.

The advocates have said that Israel exploits such festivals to project itself as a melting pot of cultures, religions and social backgrounds, rather than as an apartheid and colonial regime that has more than 65 racist laws discriminating against its indigenous Palestinian citizens.

“#BoycottMissUniverse ! Y’all really sending these ladies to a country that continued to oppress kill and genocide others?! Don’t y’all dare ask questions about world peace and bullshit!” wrote a Twitter user while quoting the organization’s announcement on Twitter.

Another Twitter user wrote, “What the hell!??!
Embarrassing for an organisation that advocates for human rights and equality. #BoycottMissUniverse”

“It’s utterly disrespectful to so many Miss Universe contestants for the @MissUniverse org to host the pageant in Israel! Did they not think multiple countries would pull out because of this? #boycottmissuniverse,” another Twitter user wrote.

“@Official_MissSA I hope you’re not going to send our Queen , Miss South Africa to compete in an apartheid state given the history of this country . We stand with Palestine,” Tweeted another user.