Rana Raslan

Arab-Israeli model

Unknown

(m. 2003)

^[1]Beauty pageant titleholderHair colourBlackEye colourBrownMajor
competition(s)Miss Israel 1999 (Winner)
Miss Universe 1999 (Unplaced)

Rana Raslan (Arabic: رنا رسلان; Hebrew: רנא רסלאן; born (1977-03-17)17 March 1977) is an Israeli former model who won Miss Israel in 1999.^[2] With the cancellation of the pageant in 2022, she remains the only Arab and Muslim to have won the title.^[3]^[4] Following her crowning as national beauty queen, Raslan represented Israel at Miss Universe that same year.^[5]

Concurrent Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Raslan's first-place nomination as a "clear manifestation of equality and cooperation between Jews and Arabs in Israel" and criticized the assertion that Arabs are treated as second-class citizens under Israeli law.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Early and personal life

Raslan was born on 17 March 1977 in Wadi Nisnas, a neighbourhood in the city of Haifa; her father is an Arab Muslim and her mother is an Arab Christian who converted to Islam.

She has described herself as a "secular Muslim" in response to accusations of immorality by Muslim fundamentalists—specifically in reference to the beauty pageants' usage of swimsuits.^[9]

In 2003, Raslan relocated to Dubai after her marriage to an Emirati businessman.^[10]^[11]

References

^ "Rana: No chance for Arab in Israeli world of modeling". Bladi.info (in French). Retrieved 23 February 2021.
^ Staff (10 March 1999). "FOR FIRST TIME, ARAB REIGNS AS MISS ISRAEL". Buffalo News. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ "In the eye of the beholder" Archived 2007-03-02 at the Wayback Machine Al-Ahram #421, March 1999
^ "BBC News | Middle East | Arab crowned Miss Israel". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ "Rana Raslan - Miss Universe competition". Flickr. 3 May 2006.
^ "In a first, Arab wins Miss Israel pageant". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ "Back-slapping all round as Arab is crowned Miss Israel". the Guardian. 11 March 1999. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ "Israel's beauty queen is Arab; Contest: The Jewish state's first Muslim Miss Israel carries a lot more than a crown on her head". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ "Arab beauty rides Miss Israel title through thorny issues", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 5, 1999
^ "חיים אתגר על המפגש עם השייח' אליו נישאה רנא רסלאן | חשיפה". 5 August 2021.
^ "Rana: No chance for Arab in Israeli world of modeling". Bladi.info (in French). Retrieved 23 February 2021.