Miss Palestine’s intimate terror connections spark controversy

Miss Universe pageant organizers “turned a blind eye” to Palestinian competitor’s family terror ties, says Israeli beauty queen.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s representative in the Miss Universe pageant sharply criticized the organization for allowing Miss Palestine to compete, slamming the organizers for overlooking her close family ties to notorious Palestinian terrorists.

Nadeen Ayoub, who represented “Palestine” in the competition, is married to a son of Marwan Barghouti, a prominent Fatah leader currently serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison. Barghouti was convicted for planning and carrying out terrorist attacks that killed dozens of Israelis during the Second Intifada.

According to a bombshell New York Post report, Ayoub, 27, even named a child after her convicted murderer father-in-law. Ahead of the pageant, she appeared to erase any indication of her connection to the Barghouti family from her online presence, suggesting that she sensed the truth about her personal life could prove controversial.

Posts deleted by Ayoub reportedly included photos of her with Barghouti’s wife and other relatives.

According to the Post, Ayoub’s relatives were unwilling to confirm details about her marriage when contacted, refusing to identify her husband or state whether the couple is still together.

Miss Israel – Melanie Shiraz – who was targeted with death and rape threats after Ayoub posted a doctored video that appeared to show her scowling at Ayoub during the pageant, said the revelations about Miss Palestine’s background should have disqualified her from competing.

Ayoub placed in the Top 30 of the competition, while Miss Mexico was ultimately crowned the winner.

“Miss Universe should not condone fraud, violations of its code of conduct and especially terror. I expect them to take corrective action,” Shiraz, 27, told the Post.

“I don’t need to act as the moral CEO of Miss Universe – they should be able to do that themselves,” she added, accusing the pageant’s organizers of having “turned a blind eye” to Ayoub’s terror ties.

Shiraz said it “makes my skin crawl thinking we were in the same room so many times,” adding that the revelations about Ayoub’s connections are “shocking.”