Dear Editor,

We are calling on the organisers of the Miss Universe Jamaica to withdraw from the Miss Universe 2021 pageant set to be held in Eilat, Israel, on December 12, 2021.

In making this demand, we are heeding the official call for a boycott by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). PACBI’s statement reads, “Israel’s far-right apartheid regime oppresses all Palestinians. We urge participants in Miss Universe 2021 to do no harm to our struggle for freedom, justice, and equality by withdrawing from the pageant.”

This would not be an unprecedented move.

On November 14, it was reported that the current Government of South Africa will not support Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane’s participation in the pageant.

Jamaica has historically held an ethical stance against apartheid. In 1959, Jamaica became one of the first territories in the world to officially ban trade with South Africa because of its maintenance of a system of apartheid. Explaining this ground-breaking decision, the Jamaican Government described South Africa’s racist policies as “revolting to the conscience of all decent peoples throughout the world”.

Infamously, the Government of Jamaica withdrew its support for the 1976 and 1977 Miss World competitions to protest the participation of South Africa in solidarity with black South Africans living under apartheid. Although a Jamaican delegate competed in 1976, Miss Jamaica World withdrew from the 1977 pageant, paving the way for South Africa’s exclusion from the competition. We are calling on Miss Jamaica Universe to honour this legacy.

This letter has garnered more than 150 signatures from supporters and members of the Jamaican public and was sent directly to the organisers of Miss Universe on November 15.

Boycott Advocate