Nadeen Ayoub is making history as the first Miss Universe contestant to represent Palestine and she told Newsweek in an exclusive interview that she wants to show the world ‘how beautiful Palestine is, and how beautiful our people are’.
The 27-year-old also spoke about her motivation for entering the pageant, saying: “I want to represent something bigger than myself.”
Born in Ramallah, in the central West Bank, she later moved to the US state of Minnesota and went on to study in Canada.
Ayoub has had the eyes of the world on her since the news that she would compete in the pageant broke in August.
Her entry comes as Israel’s war in Gaza intensifies.
Against this background of suffering, she has launched a mission to help challenge perceptions of Palestinians, empower women and children, and carry the voice of the Palestinian people.
As she steps out onto the Miss Universe stage, Ayoub has a core message for the world: “We are more than our suffering.
“We are women and people with dreams, creativity, talents, and we just want a chance to offer that to the world,” she said.
“I want the world to see that Palestinians are more than just their struggles and their suffering and their pain. Palestinians, we have a lot of dignity.”
And she wants her legacy to be about showing the world the beauty of the Palestinian people.
“It’s not just what we see in the headlines, not just the suffering. We’re so much more,” Ayoub said. “We’re beautiful, we love life, we just want a chance to show you that life.”
The 2025 Miss Universe Event will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 21.
