Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Miss Iraq Issues A Statement About Posing With Miss Israel At Pageant

The universe is sending Adar Gandelsman and Sarah Idan mixed messages.

The two women, representing their respective countries as Miss Israel and Miss Iraq at the Miss Universe pageant this month in Las Vegas, posted pictures posing together on Instagram on Tuesday.

“Peace and love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel”, Idan captioned her photo. Get to know, this is Miss Iraq and she’s amazing”, wrote Gandelsman.

Both posts received huge numbers of likes and comments, both positive and violently negative. Idan issued a statement on Instagram explaining the post. 19 year-old Gandelsman, she says, approached her and asked for a photo, calling herself a proponent of peace between the two women’s countries. Idan added that the photo should not be interpreted as her support of Israel. She explained,

She asked if I would like to take a picture together. I told her I would be glad to help spread the message. The aim of the photo was an expression of hope for world peace.

Please read, الرجاء القراءة ❤️☮️☮️☮️

A post shared by Sarah Idan (Sarai) سارة عيدان (@sarahidan) on

Gandelsman’s comments seconded Idan’s words. “After we talked, we realized that there weren’t any differences between us,” she said. “We uploaded the picture so that the world could see that it’s possible to talk and live together.”

Idan also wrote, “My stance is not a political one and I don’t support the Israeli government or its agenda. We are just sending a message of unity and peace.” She added, “I would like to apologize to anyone who considered the photo to be offensive to the Palestinian cause as this was not the aim behind the post, it was merely a call to peace and hope for a solution to the crisis.”

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister Ofir Gendelman (no relation to Miss Israel) called the photo “A great message of hope for the region” and wished both women luck.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version