The Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem has hailed Miss South Africa as “brave” for her decision to participate at the Miss Universe pageant in Israel.
Lalela Mswane, 24, has been criticised for her decision to take part in the event to be staged in Eilat on 12 December.
This in defiance of the South African government’s position on Israel, and its withdrawal of support for the Miss South Africa organisation.
“The atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians are well documented and the government, as the legitimate representative of the people of South Africa, cannot in good conscience associate itself with such,” the ministry of sports, arts and culture said.
Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, tweeted pictures of her meeting with Lalela last week, writing: “I thanked #MissUniverse South African contestant Lalela Mswane for speaking truth to power and not just being a beautiful but a very brave lady.”
Two queens!❤️ Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor @FleurHassanN thanked Miss Universe South Africa contestant @Lalela_lali Mswane for speaking the truth and showing such courage in the face of continued #Israel hate. pic.twitter.com/PBkXJzzJjH
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) December 2, 2021
The tweet drew hostile reactions, to which she responded: “Getting a lot of #SouthAfrican hate messages since posting about #MissUniverse and all I can think about are the groups that come to Israel from #SA expecting to see apartheid and being very confused when they don’t see and instead they experience racism from #Palestinian.”