Meet Nadeen Ayoub, first Palestinian woman to compete for Miss Universe
The 27-year-old beauty queen, crowned Miss Palestine in 2022, will take the stage in Thailand this November, marking the first time Palestine is represented at the global competition since its founding in 1952.
In a historic first, Palestine will be represented at the Miss Universe pageant when Palestinian beauty queen Nadeen Ayoub takes the stage at the competition later this year.
Now in its 73rd year, the Miss Universe contest will take place in the city of Pak Kret, in central Thailand, on Nov. 21.
Ayoub, 27, announced her pageant debut on Wednesday in an Instagram video, wearing a traditional Palestinian dress designed by Hiba Abdelkarim, a Palestinian designer, and adorned with national colors and embroidery.
“I am honored to announce that for the first time ever, Palestine will be represented at Miss Universe,” Ayoub wrote in the caption.
“As Palestine endures heartbreak — especially in Gaza — I carry the voice of a people who refuse to be silenced. I represent every Palestinian woman and child whose strength the world needs to see,” she added.
“We are more than our suffering — we are resilience, hope and the heartbeat of a homeland that lives on through us,” Ayoub wrote.
Who is Nadeen Ayoub?
Ayoub, whose family traces its origins to Yafa (Jaffa), spent much of her childhood between the West Bank, Canada and the United States. She has a Bachelor of Arts in literature and psychology from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and works as a certified fitness coach and nutrition consultant.
The Palestinian beauty queen, now based in Dubai, was crowned Miss Palestine in 2022 and went on to participate in Miss Earth 2022 in the Philippines — marking Palestine's first appearance at the pageant since 2016. She earned a spot in the top five and was awarded the title of Miss Water 2022.
Beyond beauty pageants, Ayoub is also a human rights and environmental activist. She is the founder of the Dubai-based Olive Green Academy, the United Arab Emirates' first academy dedicated to training women in the fields of sustainability and AI, empowering them to build sustainable and eco-friendly businesses.
Ayoub is also actively involved in the Sayidat Falasteen platform, the media arm of the Miss Palestine Organization, which supports local Palestinian women by implementing programs focused on empowerment and education.
Gaza war in spotlight
Ayoub’s participation in the Miss Universe pageant comes amid the ongoing 22-month-old war on Gaza, as humanitarian conditions in the enclave continue to deteriorate. The crisis is worsened by a lack of aid and repeated attacks on civilians attempting to access desperately needed supplies.
The World Food Program sounded the alarm on Tuesday, warning that starvation and malnutrition have reached their “highest levels” since the war began.
In a post on X, the UN agency called for the entry of at least 100 WFP aid trucks into Gaza to meet the needs of the population.
According to the Gaza-based Health Ministry, 239 people, including 106 children, have died from malnutrition since the war began.
Meanwhile, 1,838 people have been killed by Israeli forces near aid distribution centers run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial US- and Israeli-backed aid mechanism that relies on private US security and logistics firms to deliver the aid, largely bypassing the UN-led system that Israel claims has been exploited by Hamas.
Israel unleashed its offensive against Gaza to eradicate Hamas after militants from the group infiltrated southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in an unprecedented attack in which around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the Health Ministry reports that at least 61,776 Palestinians have been killed and 154,906 others injured since the war erupted.
Palestinian recognition
While many of Ayoub’s more than 1 million followers expressed support for her selection at the global pageant, some mocked the announcement, claiming she cannot represent a “nonexistent country.”
Amid the ongoing war, several countries have moved forward with recognizing the Palestinian state, including Armenia, Spain, Ireland and Norway last year.
More recently, Australia, France and Canada announced their plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly meeting in September.
Meanwhile, Britain announced last month its readiness to recognize a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government addresses the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and reaches a ceasefire.
A total of 147 of the 193 member states of the United Nations, including Russia and China, recognize the Palestinian state.
