Rana Raslan | |
---|---|
Born | Wadi Nisnas, Haifa, Israel | 17 March 1977
Occupation | Model (formerly) |
Spouse |
Unknown (m. 2003) |
Beauty pageant titleholder | |
Hair colour | Black |
Eye colour | Brown |
Major competition(s) | Miss Israel 1999 (Winner) Miss Universe 1999 (Unplaced) |
Rana Raslan (Arabic: رنا رسلان; Hebrew: רנא רסלאן; born 17 March 1977) is an Israeli former model who won Miss Israel in 1999.[2] With the cancellation of the pageant in 2022, she remains the only Arab and Muslim to have won the title.[3][4] Following her crowning as national beauty queen, Raslan represented Israel at Miss Universe that same year.[5]
Concurrent Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Raslan's first-place nomination as a "clear manifestation of equality and cooperation between Jews and Arabs in Israel" and criticized the assertion that Arabs are treated as second-class citizens under Israeli law.[6][7][8]
Raslan was born on 17 March 1977 in Wadi Nisnas, a neighbourhood in the city of Haifa; her father is an Arab Muslim and her mother is an Arab Christian who converted to Islam.
She has described herself as a "secular Muslim" in response to accusations of immorality by Muslim fundamentalists—specifically in reference to the beauty pageants' usage of swimsuits.[9]
In 2003, Raslan relocated to Dubai after her marriage to an Emirati businessman.[10][11]