The sparkling Red Sea has some competition this weekend.
A sea of 80 women, competing for the glittering Miss Universe crown, has taken over the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat with all of their stilettos and sequins.
Miss Universe pageant set to start amid controversy
O n arrival, the venue — Eilat’s port — doesn’t seem nearly as glamorous as the women inside. But walk inside the 4,000-seat, specially built tented stage imported from Portugal, and the atmosphere quickly changes.
On the Friday before the Sunday night competition, the contestants were starting the day with dress rehearsals, first in their sequined opening outfits, then in their swimsuits and, finally, in their evening gowns. They dash between the figure-eight stage and the empty seats strewn with blankets to keep them warm in between rehearsals, many holding platform shoes in one hand and a mask in the other.
Later on in the evening, they’ll compete in the preliminary “National Costume” event, with costumes ranging from a shiny Canadian Mountie with black lace pants and knee-high boots (“she’ll be sure to keep us secure,” the host croons) to a lunar dragon, replete with two dragon heads.
But while the women try to capture the spotlight of the pageant’s stage during the preliminaries ahead of Sunday’s main event, politics and coronavirus are pushing them into a different kind of spotlight.
A Covid-era crown
Sunday’s competition will be the second Covid-era Miss Universe. Initially Israel’s borders were set to be open to immunized tourists ahead of the main event, meaning thousands of superfans around the world would have the opportunity to attend.
But as news of the Omicron variant emerged, the Israeli government swiftly shut its borders to foreign nationals two weeks before the competition, adding extra complications.
Miss Universe contestants arrive at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, east of Tel Aviv, on November 28, 2021. Credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
One contestant, Miss France, Clemence Botino, tested positive for Covid-19 when she landed in the country and was sent to a hotel quarantine — threatening her participation. Luckily, she got out just in time for the preliminary competition on Friday.
“This year being in Israel added new challenges as we had to stay up to date on which vaccines would be accepted, the travel and quarantine days,” said Meg Omecene, Miss Universe’s Director of Communications.
All staff and contestants had to be fully vaccinated within six months in order to come. They are also being tested on site every 48 hours in a special tent and must wear masks at all times when not on stage.
“It’s been a pretty rigorous Covid production but we’re all here and getting excited for Sunday,” Omecene added.
Miss USA, Elle Smith, told CNN she’s found Israel’s Covid measures to be much “stricter here than in the States in regards to protocol so I feel like we’re taking any necessary precaution to hold an event like this.”
The United States’ Elle Smith takes part in the National Costume portion of the Miss Universe pageant, in Eilat, Israel, on Friday. Credit: Ariel Schalit/AP
Politics threatens to outshine the pageantry
As with previous international events hosted in Israel, like 2019’s Eurovision Song Contest, just the fact such a major media event is taking place in the country has drawn criticism and calls for boycotts.
The South African government withdrew its support and called on Miss South Africa, Lelela Mswane to drop out, citing Israeli treatment of Palestinians, calling it “apartheid,” a charge Israel has vehemently denied.
“If anything, by withdrawing, Miss South Africa’s reputation and overall standing will be far more advanced in South Africa and internationally in comparison to a once-off event that can prove disastrous to her future and public standing as a young, black woman,” South Africa’s minister of sports, art and culture Nathi Mthethwa said in a statement last month.
People protest outside Miss South Africa’s Head Office on November 19, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Credit: Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images/Getty Images
But Mswane — with the backing of the Miss South Africa organization — did not bend to the pressure, choosing to travel to Israel and compete.
“If I had not come to Israel to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, I think I would have regretted it for the rest of my life,” she told the Jerusalem Post on Thursday. “Certain people have put me through hell and back. It has not been the easiest thing to deal with … But I choose to be optimistic.”
South Africa’s Lalela Mswane performs as she takes part in the National Costume portion of the Miss Universe pageant, in Eilat, Israel, Friday, December 10, 2021. Credit: Ariel Schalit/AP
Others appeared to utilize the event for political purposes. Rafaela Plastira, a Greek model and former beauty pageant winner had posted on Instagram that she was “withdrawing” from Miss Universe because she couldn’t “go on that stage and act like nothing is happening,” adding in a later post, “I may not live in Palestine but Palestine lives in my heart forever.” Her statement drew praise from pro-Palestinian activists.
But the official Miss Greece organization quickly clarified that Plastira was not even Greece’s official Miss Universe candidate, saying in a statement the actual Miss Greece is Sofia Arapogianni, who later posed for photos holding both Greek and Israeli flags.
Clad in a sparkly white dress between dress rehearsals on Friday, Miss Israel, Noa Cochva, echoed a common refrain heard from Miss Universe organizers and contestants: Miss Universe should not be about politics.
“It’s about us as humans, as strong women,” Cochva told CNN in between rehearsals.
Regardless of that desire, Cochva acknowledged she faces the double pressure of competing in her home country, while also needing essentially to be Israel’s ambassador — and defender — to the 79 other contestants.
Joking that her roommate, Miss USA, called her the “best tour guide,” Cochva said she has sought to show her fellow contestants a different image of Israel “than what you see on social media.”
On the other end of the spectrum is the new political reality of contestants from countries like Bahrain and Morocco strutting across an Israeli stage, something that might have been unimaginable just a few years ago. The two countries were among four Arab nations to sign historic normalization agreements with Israel last year, paving the way for a flurry of diplomatic, business and cultural activity.
Greece’s Sofia Arapogianni performs as she takes part in the National Costume portion of the Miss Universe pageant, in Eilat, Israel, on Friday. Credit: Ariel Schalit/AP
Hoping for a tourism boost
With 80 contestants bringing legions of social media followers along with them as they tour the country ahead of the competition on Sunday, Israeli tourism officials are hoping such publicity will help provide a much needed boost for when the country reopens.
Sara Salansky, a spokeswoman for Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, told CNN they were approached in May about hosting the December competition. The request came as Israel had reached a high vaccination rate and seemed close to reopening, rolling out vaccines faster than most other countries.
“It’s a very good return of investment for the Ministry of Tourism,” Salansky said. “It’s not something that happens every day; when you get an opportunity you have to take it and this is what we did.”
Contestants take part in the National Costume portion of the Miss Universe pageant on Friday in Eilat, Israel. Credit: Ariel Schalit/AP
Contributing about 3% annually to Israel’s GDP, tourist numbers before the pandemic were hitting record levels, Salansky said. About 5 million visitors were expected in 2020 before the pandemic hit, she added.
And even though the Israel’s borders are still temporarily closed to foreign nationals over fears of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Salansky said the opportunity to present Israel as a tourist destination to the expected 600 million broadcast viewers around the world will have a long-term impact.
“A lot of people are skeptical about this type of event but when we are looking at it there’s a lot of media and people are talking about it,” Salansky said. “So we’re looking at the positive, to use this event to showcase the positive about Israel.”
That has involved shepherding the 80 contestants up and down the country, from touring Jerusalem’s Old City to riding ATVs in the desert. Some activities, like a “Bedouin experience” day, were slammed by Palestinian activists.
“They don’t boycott apartheid, participate in the competition and then shamelessly appropriate Palestinian culture and symbols of resistance. This is despicable,” tweeted campaigner Salem Barahmeh in response to Miss Philippines’ photos of herself and other contestants in traditional Bedouin garb.
Despite the complications created by Covid-19, the pressures of politics, and of course the questions around the validity of such pageants in the present day, both Smith, the US contestant, and Cochva were adamant Miss Universe has a positive role to play.
“We’re here to empower each other as women,” Smith said. “We’re just enjoying our time together and I think it’s really showing the power of women as a whole and that’s what we’re trying to show on December 12.”
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
