Miss Indonesia disqualifies contestant over pro-Israel video
Merince Kogoya, representing Highland Papua, was removed from the pageant during the quarantine phase after the video went viral on social media over the weekend.
The video, reportedly recorded during Kogoya's time studying abroad, shows her holding and waving an Israeli flag while dancing. The caption, translated online, reads: 'Diligent for Sion, loyal to Jerusalem, standing for Israel.'
Kogoya faced immediate backlash after the video went viral in Indonesia as the world's most populous Muslim nation is a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause and has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
In May this year, Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto said that his nation would be willing to establish diplomatic ties with the Jewish state 'once Israel recognises Palestine '.
Public sentiment in Indonesia is strongly pro‑Palestinian and thousands of people join mass rallies and display Palestinian flags in solidarity.
The outrage over Kogoya's video led the pageant's organisers to quietly remove her from the competition and replace her with Karmen Anastasya, the first runner-up from her province, according to The Jakarta Globe.
The Miss Indonesia Organisation didn't issue a statement about Kogoya's disqualification.
'By considering the genocide committed by Israel as merely a religious conflict, she has already shown she doesn't meet the bare minimum for Miss Indonesia, who must have broad knowledge. No morals or empathy, even though in this day and age there's plenty of information, yet she chooses to think that way,' an X commentator said, according to an online translation.
Responding to the backlash, Kogoya reportedly posted an Instagram Story on Monday insisting the video wasn't political but represented her Christian faith.
'I was simply practicing my faith as a follower of Christ by praying and offering blessings, but an old video from my reels went viral with many false interpretations about my beliefs,' she wrote.
At the time, however, her Instagram bio still displayed the phrase 'I stand with Israel' as social media commentators noted.
At least 74 people were killed in Gaza besieged Palestinian territory 20 months into the war. Additionally, local health authorities said at least 66 children had died from malnutrition caused by the Israeli war and blockade.
The war on Gaza began after over 1,100 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during a Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023.
The Israeli war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians thus far, according to the local health ministry, displaced almost the entire population of 2.2 million and plunged the territory into a humanitarian crisis.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
13 hours ago
- Reuters
Indonesia to sign $34 bln pact with U.S. partners ahead of tariff negotiation deadline, minister says
JAKARTA, July 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia will sign a pact worth $34 billion with business partners next week to boost purchases from the United States, as part of efforts to strike a trade deal with Washington ahead of the July 9 deadline, Indonesia's chief economic minister said on Thursday. Jakarta is facing a 32% tariff in U.S. markets and has previously offered to increase U.S. imports to facilitate trade talks between the two sides. Indonesia enjoyed a goods trade surplus of $17.9 billion with the United States in 2024, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Speaking to journalists, Minister Airlangga Hartarto said the memorandum of understanding due to be signed on July 7 will deploy the $34 billion for new Indonesian investments and purchases in the United States. Airlangga said that by addressing the trade balance with the United States, Indonesia hoped to get a better trade deal than the one struck with Vietnam. The United States announced on Wednesday that it will place a lower-than-promised 20% tariff on many Vietnamese exports, down from the original 46% announced by President Donald Trump in April.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Netanyahu declares 'there will be no Hamas, no 'Hamastan'. It's over' as Israel awaits a response from the terror group over proposed 60-day ceasefire
Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the elimination of Hamas as Israel awaits a response from the terror group over a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza. 'There will not be a Hamas. There will not be a Hamastan. We're not going back to that. It's over,' Netanyahu told a meeting hosted by the Trans-Israel pipeline today. It comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said that Israel had agreed to what he called a 'final proposal' for ceasefire conditions. Hamas and Israel both staked out their positions ahead of expected talks on the Washington-backed ceasefire proposal due to to take place on Wednesday. The militant group has suggested it was open to an agreement while the Israeli prime minister vowed 'there will be no Hamas' in postwar Gaza. Both stopped short of accepting the proposal announced by Trump on Tuesday. Hamas insisted on its longstanding position that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza. Trump said that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The U.S. leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire, hostage agreement, and bring about an end to the war. Trump said the 60-day period would be used to work toward ending the war - something Israel says it won't accept until Hamas is defeated. He said that a deal might come together as soon as next week. But Hamas' response, which emphasized its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into an actual pause in fighting. Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said that the militant group was 'ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement.' He said Hamas was 'ready to accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the war.' A Hamas delegation is expected to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, according to an Egyptian official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn't authorized to discuss the talks with the media. Throughout the nearly 21-month-long war, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as part of any deal. Hamas said in a brief statement Wednesday that it had received a proposal from the mediators and is holding talks with them to 'bridge gaps' to return to the negotiating table to try to reach a ceasefire agreement. Hamas has said that it's willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, less than half of whom are said to be alive, in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. On Tuesday, Trump wrote on social media that Israel had 'agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.' 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better - IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,' he said Israel says it will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and exiles itself, something the group refuses to do. 'I am announcing to you - there will be no Hamas,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a speech Wednesday. An Israeli official said that the latest proposal calls for a 60-day deal that would include a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a surge in humanitarian aid to the territory. The mediators and the U.S. would provide assurances about talks to end the war, but Israel isn't committing to that as part of the latest proposal, the official said. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the details of the proposed deal with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. It wasn't clear how many hostages would be freed as part of the agreement, but previous proposals have called for the release of about 10. Some 50 hostages remain, many of them thought to be dead. 'I'm holding my hands and praying that this will come about,' said Idit Ohel, mother of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel. 'I hope the world will help this happen, will put pressure on whoever they need to, so the war will stop and the hostages will return.' On Monday, Trump is set to host Netanyahu at the White House, days after Ron Dermer, a senior Netanyahu adviser, held discussions with top U.S. officials about Gaza, Iran and other matters. On Tuesday, Trump wrote on social media that Israel had 'agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.' 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better - IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,' he said. Trump's warning may find a skeptical audience with Hamas. Even before the expiration of the war's longest ceasefire in March, Trump has repeatedly issued dramatic ultimatums to pressure Hamas to agree to longer pauses in the fighting that would see the release of more hostages and a return of more aid for Gaza's civilians. Still, Trump views the current moment as a potential turning point in the brutal conflict that has left more than 57,000 dead in the Palestinian territory. Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll passed the 57,000 mark Tuesday into Wednesday, after hospitals received 142 bodies overnight. The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count, but says that more than half of the dead are women and children. Since dawn Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed a total of 40 people across the Gaza Strip, the ministry said. Hospital officials said four children and seven women were among the dead. The Israeli military, which blames Hamas for the civilian casualties because it operates from populated areas, was looking into the reports. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. The war has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins, with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More than 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, pushing hundreds of thousands of people toward hunger. The director of the Indonesian Hospital, Dr. Marwan Sultan, was killed in an apartment in an Israeli strike west of Gaza City, a hospital statement said. The hospital is the Palestinian enclave's largest medical facility north of Gaza City and has been a critical lifeline since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The hospital was surrounded by Israeli troops last month, and evacuated alongside the other two primary hospitals in northern Gaza. The bodies of Sultan, his wife, daughter and son-in-law, arrived at Shifa Hospital torn into pieces, according to Issam Nabhan, head of the nursing department at the Indonesian Hospital. 'Gaza lost a great man and doctor,' Nabhan said.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Trump's Gaza ceasefire boasts will mean nothing unless he can get a grip on Israel
Donald Trump claims to have extracted a 60 day 'ceasefire' in Gaza. If it works, a two-month suspension of the bombing of the enclave and killings at human feeding pens would be welcome. But it will solve nothing because both Israel 's rulers and Hamas have the same core beliefs that begin 'from the river to the sea …' ' Israel will be sovereign' - or ' Palestine will be free'. The former is part of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party's founding documents – the latter is a chant often taken to mean that Israel should, along with its population, be extinguished. The only solution to these mutually exclusive slogans is tolerance and hope. Trump's ceasefire offers neither. Violence and impunity have created a landscape of horror – Trump isn't the guide out of it. Hamas is blood soaked, murderous. It has sacrificed tens of thousands of innocent civilians to the Israeli war machine in its long campaign to shatter any chance that Palestinians might ever hope for their own state and freedom, alongside Israel, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. Hamas remains the dominant force in Gaza. It has, and will, mistake world-wide public dismay at what Israel has done to the Strip for endorsement of its zero sum agenda. It will take the 60 days as a breather and a rearming opportunity. The struggle for Gaza 's population will be how to resist the temptation to take up emigration opportunities. Israel has smashed their world into rubble and dust and thereby may deliver on the Netanyahu government's clear desire to flush Gaza's 2.2 million survivors into the Egyptian Sinai desert and beyond. A poll conducted in May this year showed that 43 per cent of Gazans were now willing to emigrate – anywhere. The Palestinians have nowhere to turn for leadership. Seven months ago, 36 per cent of all Palestinians said they support Hamas and 21 per cent said they support Fatah, which dominates the West Bank. Support for Hamas over the past seven months has decreased by 4 percentage points, according to the poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Marwan Bargouthi, the most popular Palestinian politician with 50 per cent support, is in an Israeli jail serving several life sentences. Since the murder of nearly 1,200 people and the abduction of 240 from Israel by extremists led by Hamas on October 7 2023, Israel has waged a war of staggering brutality against Gazans. The indictments of Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, then defence minister, for war crimes and the issuing of arrest warrants isn't done lightly by the International Criminal Court. Israel has changed. There is a battle raging internally for its soul as Netanyahu continues to do everything he can to stay in office – he is facing corruption charges. He has temporarily suspended plans to destroy the independent judiciary but that will come back. Meanwhile the population is showing signs of radicalisation. Some 82 per cent of Israeli Jews support the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, according to a recent poll by Pennsylvania State University. And 54 per cent strongly support this. It asked 1,000 Jewish Israelis if they supported the idea that all the people in towns conquered by Israel should be killed – in the same way that Jericho was flattened in the bible – 47 per cent backed the idea of mass slaughter. The results of this survey were published in Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The left-wing publication has also published allegations that the Israel Defence Force has deliberately killed more than 400 Gazans seeking food aid since May. Trump has leverage over Israel. He has cut foreign aid almost entirely around the world except there and Egypt. Before slashing help to the world's neediest, the Jewish state received up to 20 per cent of America's total overseas aid. According to the Watson Institute of Public Affairs, the US provided Israel with $22.7 billion in military aid in the first year of its Gaza campaign. 'Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since its founding, receiving about $310 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance,' according to a November 2025 report by the US Council on Foreign Relations. Trump says he is putting pressure on Netanyahu, who is shortly to visit the White House. But the US president has previously endorsed the ethnic cleansing of Gaza with the fantasy of settling its population in neighbouring countries while turning it into a beach resort. His calls for a ceasefire warn that life will get worse of Gazans – they don't focus on any kind of option that would undermine the standing of Hamas with hope. The US instead has been silent as Gaza has been carpet bombed and Jewish settlers run amok on the West Bank where illegal Israeli settlements have marched across the landscape and physically obliterated the space where a Palestinian state could ever take form. If Trump wants to earn the Nobel Peace Prize which he thinks he already richly deserves, he needs to end Israel's impunity by ending the subsidies that allow it to make war. Hamas and its fellow recidivist travellers to Armageddon can only be put out of business if the Palestinians, who already despair of all their leaders, can be offered a path that isn't towards more generations of apartheid, occupation and indignity. Trump could help end a zero sum grand guignol by forcing Israel to back away from its 'river to the sea' policies while Hamas' demands of sovereignty in the same space can be swept aside by a genuine return to Palestinian faith in liberty. Not long ago two thirds of people on both sides thought that it would be possible for two nations to live side by aside between the River Jordan and the Med. They need freeing from the subsidies that traps them in misery there.
