From Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
Fearing a backlash from the largely conservative Palestinian public, the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Sunday decided to cancel a beauty-queen pageant that was slated to take place in Ramallah next week.
The pro-Fatah Maan news agency quoted the Governor of Ramallah as saying that he decided to “freeze and postpone until a further notice the Palestine Beauty-Queen Contest for the year 2009. The contest was slated to take place on 26 December.
A statement issued by the Ramallah governorate asked “all parties concerned” to abide by and carry out this decree which it said came in deference to the first anniversary of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.
The statement warned that those refusing to comply would be held accountable.
The statement added “On the other hand, we encourage such ideas which promote beauty that is harmonious with our deep-rooted Palestinian traditions.”
Plans to hold the beauty pageant drew angry reactions from numerous quarters, with national and Islamic leaders calling it “promiscuous and immoral.”
The main organizer, a Ramallah woman named Salwa Yousuf, was quoted last week as saying that as many as 58 pageants would participate, including 26 from the Arab community in Israel and 32 from the West Bank .
Yousuf said officials from the PA ministries of Information and Culture would take part in the event. The winner would receive a brand new car, a financial reward amounting to $2700 and a 10-day trip to Turkey .
It is not clear what made the PA reconsider its earlier decision to allow the contest to take place.
However, reliable sources in Ramallah intimated that Fatah leaders had been pressuring the Ramallah government to cancel the event in order to deprive “the enemies of Fatah of a propaganda asset to tarnish the movement’s image.”
One Fatah official in the al-Khalil region, said the beauty-queen contest was the last thing Fatah needed on the first anniversary of the Gaza war.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Fatah regional leader said his movement did the right thing by pressing the Salam Fayyad government to cancel “this unethical show,” which he said “may be appropriate to hold in London or Paris or Las Vegas , but in the West Bank .”
