American Arab will bring Arab culture to Miss Universe Contest

American Arab will bring Arab culture to Miss Universe Contest

By Ray Hanania

For years, Arabs have wondered why more Arab countries have not participated in the Miss Universe competition showcasing the beauty of the Arab Woman.

There are 22 Arab countries yet only two had the courage (or pride in their women) to field entrants in last year’s Miss Universe Contest, which was held in the Bahamas, where string bikinis replace car bombs and women are truly free.

The only two Arab countries that entered contestants were Egypt and Lebanon. But next year, assuming things don’t improve and the religious extremists shout down the secular moderates again, we will have at least three. For the first time in American history, an American Arab of Lebanese heritage will represent the United States in the 2010 Miss Universe Competition.

Rima Fakih of Dearborn, Michigan, was crowned the 2010 Miss USA in one of the country’s top beauty pageants. Miss. Fakih was selected at the annual competition hosted by Donald Trump at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Born in 1986 and only 24 years old, Miss Fakih began her rise to international stardom when she won the 2009 Miss Michigan competition last September.

For me as an American Arab, I am so proud to see that for the first time in American history, a contestant of Arab heritage has won.

Although there are many in the Arab World who object to the competition as violating religiously imposed excesses of modesty on women, Miss Fakih has helped to break the glass ceiling showing the world that Arab beauty is something we should be proud of.

Why is it that a woman in the Arab World has the “right” to make the “choice” to wear a Berqa and face veil (niqab) thereby erasing her physical identity in public, but that same Arab woman does not have the right to wear a bikini in public? I think the Bikini is the symbol of true freedom and the berqa is the sign of the modern day oppression of the Arab woman.

Rima Fakih’s victory Sunday night will help break through that barrier.

It’s one of the hypocrisies that plagues the Arab World, brought on by the religious fanatics, the lowest common denominator in the Middle East. And instead of standing up to it, secular Muslims and Christian Arabs – let’s just call them “Arabs” – are doing nothing to stop this growing oppression.

Miss Fakih was not just about her natural beauty, however. She was smart, intelligent and quick in answering tough questions from the judges. She had planned to enter law school following the Michigan competition, but now her victory in Las Vegas means she stands to compete and possibly win the international competition.

In the secular world, these competitions can help change how the world’s people view people of other races. And for far too long, Arabs have been pushed aside by oppressive restrictions and pejorative attacks.

But Rima Fakih of Michigan will help, as an American Arab, to change how the world views our people and our culture.

She is going to become an amazing ambassador of goodwill championing many causes that touch women of all races, ethnicity and religions. She has vowed to take on issues including raising public awareness of breast and ovarian cancer, sicknesses that have taken the lives of far too many women in this world.

She also helps to put the spotlight on the positive side of the American Arab community, which oftentimes only comes to the front pages of America’s mainstream media during firestorms of negative events and news such as in conflict, terrorism and political confrontation.

America is a nation driven by images, communications that range from movies to the mainstream news media, and having advocates stand at the forefront of American public discourse.

It’s only one of many doors that has been opened. But one day, when all of the door sin America and the West are pushed open, the West and especially the American people might come to better know the real spirit of Arab culture through individuals like Rima Fakih.

I am proud of Rima Fakih but I know that in her achievement, she will face the usual criticism from the extremist corners of the Arab World who are blinded by anger discourse.

We need to support her and encourage her and cheer her on because winning the Miss Universe Contests can only serve to shatter the glass ceiling and add to the movement of empowerment for women of Arab culture in the Arab World and in the West.

Mabruk Rima! We are so proud of your achievement.

end

When life becomes frivolous -- challenges facing Palestinians in the occupation

When life becomes frivolous

By Ray Hanania

Jerusalem Post Monday Dec. 28, 2009

I read recently that a group of Palestinians decided they were going to host the first-ever Miss Palestine contest. But it was quickly scuttled when religious and secular extremists decided it wasn't good for the country.

The argument, repeated often in interviews, held that it was somehow wrong for Palestinians to engage in such "frivolity" when there were more serious issues like the tragedy of the occupation and the suffering of the economic collapse associated with the occupation.

A similar pageant is held in Haifa, but when the idea was brought to Ramallah, the supposedly bustling cosmopolitan heart of Palestinian society, the "governor" decided to cancel it because the event "coincided with the first anniversary of the Israeli attack against Hamas in the Gaza Strip."

Other Palestinian leaders said it was canceled because it was simply inappropriate to celebrate when so many are suffering.

That kind of thinking is exactly why Palestinians have been losing over the years. They embrace the psychology of the victim rather than exercising the will of the victor.

It's simple. When you surrender to tragedy you live the life of a victim. You become the victim. You become the hostage of suffering, and your life begins to reflect a life without will.

And that explains why there is so little hope in Palestine.

I entered stand-up comedy after September 11, 2001 specifically because I know that the most powerful response to tragedy and suffering is to spit in its face, to tell tragedy, terrorism, violence and suffering that you will not simply lie down and surrender without a fight.

And the best way to fight is to be human and to exercise the power of humanity through a resistance to tragedy.

Humor, not anger, is the answer to hatred. Humor and being human is the answer to suffering and tragedy, and even to the loss of life.

The reality is that the human spirit of the Palestinians cannot surrender to the suffering of the Israeli occupation or to the continued conflict that seems never-ending. To surrender and to allow the suffering to consume our lives means that we have given up the hope of being human beings and living full lives.

IN FACT, the answer to the occupation is to not stop being human, and to do the very things that tragedy and oppression throw at you.

The Palestine beauty pageant would have been a powerful statement to the world that Palestinians will not surrender to the occupation nor allow the suffering to dictate how they live their lives.

It also would have been a powerful statement to themselves to energize their inner spirit and allow them to find strength just when strength is needed most.

At the most tragic moment, when a family member dies, sadness is the appropriate response to respect the dead. But the most appropriate response for those who survive and are left holding the tragedy of the person's death is to give the spirit a boost, to allow them to overcome the hardships of suffering.

Humor is often found in the aftermath of burials and wakes because humor helps the survivors to survive.

Underlying this conflict in human survival for Palestinians is the steady rise of the religious fanatics who bring the lowest common denominator of life, subservience to zealotry, as their answer to tragedy and suffering. In reality, they want you to continue suffering because it helps them disguise their inability to be true leaders.

In fact, when a society "suffers" and embraces victimization, false prophets with little talent or leadership ability can rise more quickly to control the population.

Instead of focusing on the failings of the leaders, embracing the tragedy makes it easier for the failed leaders to avoid accountability.

The pageant would have been a declaration that Palestinians are a people who can rise above the challenges that oppress people, not just in Palestine but throughout theMiddle East, where living as an oppressed victim seems to be a way of life.

And that's no joke.

The writer is a Palestinian American satirist and peace activist. He can be reached at www.YallaPeace.com.