A woman looks at an Israel-Arab contestant during the 2009 Miss Arab beauty contest in Shefaram, near the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Dec. 6, 2009. A similar contest in the West Bank — the Miss Palestine contest — was postponed. (Gil Cohen Magen/Reuters)

"Miss Palestine" hopefuls sent home

No point blaming Israeli occupation — the contest faced its strongest opposition inside the West Bank.

By Catrina Stewart — Special to GlobalPost
Published: December 22, 2009 06:48 ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank — It was never going to be an easy sell. But when the Ramallah authorities ordered the indefinite postponement of the West Bank’s first-ever Miss Palestine contest just days before the final, there was a sense of inevitability about it.

Speaking at her fashion company’s Ramallah office just days earlier, organizer Salwa Yusef, 38, had quietly...

Recent on Israel and Palestine:

A not-so-merry Christmas in Bethlehem

Catrina Stewart - Israel and Palestine - December 21, 2009 06:48 ET

A lack of tourists, kept away by tour operators and — traders say — the Israeli security barrier, has Bethlehem traders facing a bleak festive season.

A four-state solution for Israel?

Matt Beynon Rees - Israel and Palestine - December 10, 2009 06:38 ET

Palestinians are divided; Israelis too. Not a good basis for negotiation.

Opinion: For Israel and Syria, peace is within reach

Mohamad Bazzi - Worldview - December 8, 2009 10:36 ET

Why the Obama administration should focus on Israel-Syria relations, over Israel-Palestine.

On Location: Tel Aviv

Sara Sorcher - Israel and Palestine - December 5, 2009 11:15 ET

The West Bank's third intifada approaches

Matt Beynon Rees - Israel and Palestine - November 28, 2009 09:16 ET

Rain on the streets of Bethlehem can't cool simmering tension.

Where the turkey is called chompipe and other Thanksgiving stories

News Desk - Worldview - November 26, 2009 12:40 ET

Tales from Thanksgivings on four continents, not including North America.

Behold: the world's 10 fattest countries

Laurie Cunningham - Commerce - November 26, 2009 09:31 ET

It's a big world, after all. We're talking to you, American Samoa. Kiribati, too.

Why Israelis pick Tarantino over Spielberg

Matt Beynon Rees - Israel and Palestine - November 23, 2009 06:58 ET

Latent shame over the Jews' failure to stand up to the Nazis is cited as a reason for the success of "Inglourious Basterds."

For Israeli envoy, dislike goes with the turf

Theodore May - Egypt - November 22, 2009 13:00 ET

For Shalom Cohen, being Israeli ambassador to Egypt is not a popularity contest.

Is Mahmoud Abbas really ready to quit this time?

Matt Beynon Rees - Israel and Palestine - November 20, 2009 16:27 ET

Worn out has-been or drama queen? Interpretations of the Palestinian president's threat to quit vary greatly.

Israel's enemy within: A rising militancy from the Jewish settlements

Matt McAllester - Israel and Palestine - November 19, 2009 11:21 ET

Part 1: Jewish terror from the Biblical lands of Israel

Israel's enemy within: A community on the edge

Matt McAllester - Israel and Palestine - November 19, 2009 11:17 ET

Part 2: The West Bank settlement of Kfar Tapuach, home to many followers of Meir Kahane

Israel's enemy within: Palestinian militants gird for battle

Matt McAllester - Israel and Palestine - November 19, 2009 11:15 ET

Part 3: Tensions rise between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Israel's enemy within: The "Hilltop Youth"

Matt McAllester - Israel and Palestine - November 19, 2009 11:10 ET

Part 4: Teenage Jewish boys claim West Bank hilltops as their own and prepare to defend them.

The four quarters of Jerusalem

Sara Sorcher and Jessica Griffin - Israel and Palestine - November 15, 2009 09:22 ET

A desert wilderness beckons ... in Palestine

Catrina Stewart - Israel and Palestine - November 1, 2009 09:39 ET

West Bank tourism is in its infancy, but it boasts many attractions.

Israel's new weapon: water

Matt Beynon Rees - Israel and Palestine - October 29, 2009 05:52 ET

Yet another report accuses Israel of human rights abuses, this time for denying Palestinians water.

Bittersweet: Palestinian home cooking

Matt McAllester - Worldview - October 27, 2009 06:04 ET

The best Palestinian food can only be found at home — or at Tanoreen in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Global Blogs:

Photo of the Day

Isreally cool - Israel and Palestine - January 6, 2010 12:00 ET

Sorry for the lack of posting today, but I spent the afternoon in the hospital (no cause for alarm; my wife was getting checked out as she is at 40 weeks). One of the things that grabbed my attention while at the hospital were the mezuzot (sacred parchments inscribed by hand...

PA Fired me From my Job, and I don’t Know the Reason

Hiyam Noir, Author, "Palestine Free Voice" blog - Israel and Palestine - January 6, 2010 11:46 ET

Under the rubric of fighting Hamas’s influence in the West Bank, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) has flagrantly fired hundreds of school teachers and other civil servants from their...

Save a life. Save an entire world.

The Muqata - Israel and Palestine - January 6, 2010 09:46 ET

The Rabbis teach us that to save a life is to save an entire world. Well, here's proof.Yitta Schwartz of Kiryas Yoel, New York passed away this week. She was 94 years old and a Holocaust survivor having spent time in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Miraculously her family...

Youngest Gaza supporter: Egyptian policeman beat me up and tried to wrest...

The Staff, The Palestine Telegraph blog - Israel and Palestine - January 6, 2010 09:01 ET

Egypt, January 6, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Despite her young age and small body, she decided to visit the occupied homeland. She endured the difficulties after she had traumatized of Gaza war scenes...

Jerusalem at the Center

Ben Moscovitch, Israel Blog (Foreign Policy Assoc.) - Israel and Palestine - January 5, 2010 23:01 ET

U.S. efforts to bolster the peace process have traditionally considered the status of Jerusalem as one of the final pieces of the puzzle. Critics of this approach point out that the holy city’s...

No Mail on Shabbat (Unless Mashiach Wills It)

Benji Lovitt, Author/Comedian, "What War Zone?" blog - Israel and Palestine - January 5, 2010 09:28 ET

An email I just received from one of my roommates:"so u know i told u i was expecting a slip to collect something at the post office. so its a book ordered online from a breslev bookstore (they are pretty religious). so i called the girl there coz its been 10 days and no...

A War Ago and a New Reality

A Soldier's Mother - Israel and Palestine - January 5, 2010 08:20 ET

On January 3rd last year, I switched to a news channel and a new reality. Artillery had begun firing into Gaza; a ground initiative was anticipated. Israel was at war.It often amazes me how I open a post to write about one thing and end up writing about another. I wanted to...

Gays, Top Trumps and Whether God Hates Shrimp

IntheLand ofMilkandHoney - Israel and Palestine - January 3, 2010 04:03 ET

For those cool kids (like me) who spent their primary school days playing Top Trumps, ‘abomination’ probably means a sea-green hulk like monster with tight speedos, weighing in at 980lbs, and possessing superpowers of 98. For everyone else meanwhile (and believe me you...

Haaretz: "Orders were to capture militants alive - so why were they...

Michael Loadenthal, Editor, The "From Occupied Palestine With Love" Blog - Israel and Palestine - January 2, 2010 06:31 ET

Nablus: funeral for the three palestinian men, assassinated by israeli troops01/01/2010 By Avi Issacharoff and Amos HarelThe orders prepared by the Judea and Samaria Division for the IDF operation in Nablus last week by a Duvdevan commando unit stated clearly that...

"BARACK OBAMA, a year of Silence and Failure!", by Sameh A. Habeeb

Sameh A. Habeeb, Author, "Gaza Today" blog - Israel and Palestine - December 31, 2009 14:31 ET

Thursday, 31 December 2009 02:34 London,December 31, (Pal Telegraph) - It has been one year since the start of the one-sided Israeli war on the people of Gaza, including its women and...

Israel News

GlobalPost's in-country correspondent covering Israel and Palestine news shares his ground-level perspective on the territories' conflicts. Through insightful stories, our reporter captures a real-life view of Palestinian and Israeli news events and examines how the region's political and social issues are affecting its people, the rest of the Middle East and the world at large.

Palestine and Israel News Online

If you wish to make comments about our Israel and Palestine news stories or receive periodic global news updates, please register. To access even more international news online, subscribe to Passport, our interactive, content-rich membership service designed to give you a competitive knowledge advantage.