Miss Palestine Lauren Imseeh donned a prisoner’s jumpsuit and placed adhesive tapes with inscriptions Free Palestine’ during the traditional dress segment at the Miss Global’ pageant last week.
Lauren published a video clip in the jumpsuit on her Instagram account with a song of Palestinian folk songs, standing in front of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park in Bali, Indonesia.
In the post Lauren wrote, “This year I focused on the message more than the outfit itself, this is why I chose the Palestinian political prisoners outfit to represent all of Palestine, to show how we are all imprisoned in our land.”
Lauren thanked her brother Edmon Imseeh and Yousef Eleiwi, who is a fashion designer from Nablus, for creating this outfit highlighting the struggles Palestinians go through daily.
She expressed her regret at not being able to wear the outfit during the competition, explaining that it was a meaningful expression of her Palestinian identity, and she wished she could do more than that.
On the day of the national costume event, Lauren wore a suit designed in the four colors of the Palestinian flag and said that the two colors, red and black represent the pain that people go through every day, and white and green represent the peace that people seek every day.
Lauren was adorned with a crown of white pigeon feathers and a model of pigeons, olive branches that she wore behind her back. “The olive branches and the pigeon symbolize the hope and solidarity that my people cling to,” she explained in the caption.
“The big day is today!! Raising that flag high cause am a proud Palestinian woman. Once again you guys have filled me with love and support I can’t thank you enough. Until yesterday I was super nervous and stressed but when I saw your comments and beautiful supporting messages it gave me a huge push to be my best today and stay focused on my goal!” she said
“Let’s show the world the beautiful side of Palestine and what we women are capable of! No matter what the result is today, I feel like I have already won, I won your love and support this and for me, this is the biggest win and blessing,” she added.
Miss Global is an annual global beauty pageant for single women ages 18 to 35, the widest age range in pageantry.
The first edition of the Miss Global pageant was held on August 3, 2013, at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Centre in Redondo, California. This year, Miss Global is taking place in Bali, Indonesia.
