Tricky Politics

Rana Raslan, the first Arab to be crowned Miss Israel, has suffered several bumpy weeks and gotten a pile of hate mail since winning the beauty pageant. Other contestants say Raslan was chosen simply because she is an Arab. A poll shows that 64 percent of Jewish Israelis say she does not represent them, and many say she should renounce the crown. Some Arab politicians accuse the Israelis of using Raslan as a cover for discrimination that keeps many among Israel’s 1 million Arab minority living below the poverty line. And some Arabs have recoiled at the idea of a young Muslim woman stripping down for a swimsuit competition. But Raslan, 22, who seems quieter and somewhat rattled by her experience, continues to say she is dedicated to Israeli-Arab coexistence.