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 on Monday as Israeli forces continued to bombard the 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.
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