Las Vegas, Nevada: On receiving death threats for taking a selfie with Miss Israel, Miss Iraq Sarah Idan’s family was forced to flee Iraq.
The selfie was shared on Instagram with a caption by Ms Idan as “Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel.”
During the Miss Universe pageant in November, Miss Israel Adar Gandelsman, 20, and Sarah Idan of Israel, 27 had met and remained in contact.
Ms Gandelsman told the Hadashot News channel that Ms Idan’s family was being threatened after the two had taken a selfie together and she had posed in a bikini during the pageant.
“People made threats against her (Ms Idan) and her family that if she didn’t return home and take down the photos, they would remove her title, (and) that they would kill her… Out of fear, they left Iraq at least until the situation calms down,” Ms Gandelsman was quoted as saying by The Jewish Chronicle.
Ms Idan also had spoken about the threats in one of her tweets.
I’m not the first nor the last person to face prosecution over a matter of personal freedom. Millions of Iraqi women live in fear. #freeiraqiwomen https://t.co/Vt0YjFbyf4
— Sarai (Sarah Idan) Miss Iraq (@RealSarahIdan) December 15, 2017
Miss Israel also quoted Ms Idan as saying that she had “no regrets” about posting the photo on Instagram.
Meanwhile, Ms Idan apologised to those who got offended and stated: “This picture doesn’t mean I support the Israeli government or its policies towards Arab countries. I apologise to everyone who saw it as an insult to the Palestinian cause – this was not its purpose.”
Ms Idan was born in Baghdad and worked with the American military since 2008 after US invasion in 2003. She later moved to the United States.