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| Iteachextra June 29 2012 23:26. Posts 46 | Profile # |
This kinda reminds me of the book Norman Finkelstein's The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (2000) Using a Tragedy as a vessel promote products and generate income. Do you think this contest is in good taste or do you think it is tacky?
HAIFA, Israel (AP) — Grinning and waving, 14 women who survived the horrors of World War II paraded Thursday in an unusual pageant, vying for the honor of being crowned Israel's first "Miss Holocaust Survivor."
Billed by organizers as a celebration of life, the event also stirred controversy. In a country where millions have been touched by the Holocaust, many argued that judging aging women who had suffered so much on physical appearance was inappropriate, and even offensive.
"It sounds totally macabre to me," said Colette Avital, chairwoman of Israel's leading Holocaust survivors' umbrella group. "I am in favor of enriching lives, but a one-time pageant masquerading (survivors) with beautiful clothes is not what is going to make their lives more meaningful."
Pageant organizer Shimon Sabag rejected the criticism, saying the winners were chosen based on their personal stories of survival and rebuilding their lives after the war, and physical beauty was only a tiny part of the competition.
"They feel good together. They are having a good time and laughing in the rehearsals," said Sabag, director of Yad Ezer L'Haver, or Helping Hand, which assists needy Holocaust survivors and organized the pageant.
"The fact that so many wanted to participate proves that it's a good idea."
Nearly 300 women from across Israel registered for the competition and contestants were whittled down to the 14 finalists who appeared Thursday.
The contest, part of Helping Hand's annual "cultural" night, included a lavish dinner and music at a Haifa reception hall. Some 600 people attended, including two Cabinet ministers, Moshe Kahlon and Yossi Peled, himself a Holocaust survivor.
The women, ranging in age from 74 to 97, clearly enjoyed themselves. Wearing black dresses, earrings and necklaces, and sporting blue-and-white numbered sashes, they grinned and waved as they were introduced to the adoring audience. Music played as the contestants walked along a red carpet, introduced themselves and described their memories of World War II.
"I have the privilege to show the world that Hitler wanted to exterminate us and we are alive. We are also enjoying life. Thank God it's that way," said Esther Libber, a 74-year-old runner-up who fled her home in Poland as a child, hid in a forest and was rescued by a Polish woman. She said she lost her entire immediate family.
A four-judge panel consisting of three former beauty queens and a geriatric psychiatrist who specializes in treating Holocaust survivors chose the winner. Hava Hershkovitz, a soon-to-be 79-year-old, was banished from her home in Romania in 1941 and sent to a detention camp in the Soviet Union for three years. Today, she lives in an assisted living home run by Helping Hand.
"This place is full of survivors. It puts us at the center of attention so people will care. It's not easy at this age to be in a beauty contest, but we're all doing it to show that we're still here," the silver-haired Hershkovitz said.
Wearing a glittering tiara, she was joined by her granddaughter, Keren Hazan. "I'm very proud of her because she's the most beautiful woman in the room tonight," Hazan said.
In addition to the contestants' accounts of surviving Nazi ghettos and concentration camps, their later contributions to their communities were also considered, Sabag said. Physical appearance was maybe "10 percent" of the criteria, he said, though a cosmetics company was recruited to help the women dress up for the occasion.
"We always tell them to dress well and look good. To think positive and to take care of themselves," Sabag said. "Always look at life with a smile and continue to live."
The thought that physical appearance could even remotely be a factor rubbed some the wrong way. Avital, of the Holocaust survivors' umbrella group, criticized the cosmetics company, saying it was using Holocaust survivors in a cheap marketing stunt to promote their products.
"Why use a beauty contest to show that these people survived and that they're brave?" wondered Lili Haber, a daughter of Holocaust survivors who heads an Israeli organization that assists survivors from Poland. "I think it's awful. I think it's something a decent person shouldn't even think about."
The Holocaust, in which Nazi Germany oversaw the systematic slaughter of 6 million European Jews, plays a unique role in Israeli society. The country gained independence in the wake of the Holocaust, serving as a refuge for hundreds of thousands of people who survived the genocide.
Nearly 200,000 aging survivors live in Israel today, and the country's annual Holocaust Day is one of the most solemn occasions on the calendar. Restaurants and cinemas close, and the country comes to a standstill as sirens wail for two minutes. Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, frequently make references to the Holocaust when discussing the threat they believe a nuclear-armed Iran would pose to the Jewish state.
Thursday's contest was among the many unconventional beauty pageants that have sprouted up over the years. The war-torn countries of Angola and Cambodia have held "Miss Landmine" contests for survivors of land mine explosions, Star Trek fans enjoy the "Miss Klingon Empire" contest in Atlanta, and plus-sized women in Thailand compete for the honor of "Miss Jumbo Queen." There are also a senior citizens' pageants in the U.S.
Gal Mor, editor of the popular Israeli blog "Holes in the Net," said Thursday's pageant was well-intentioned but misguided.
"Why should a decayed, competitive institution that emphasizes women's appearance be used as inspiration, instead of allowing them to tell their story without gimmicks?" he wrote. "This is one step short of 'Survivor-Holocaust' or 'Big Brother Auschwitz.' It leaves a bad taste. Holocaust survivors should be above all this."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/miss-holocaust-survivor-crowned-israel-220808016.html |
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| bonifaceviii Canada. June 29 2012 23:30. Posts 2840 | Profile # |
| Given how much the holocaust is shoved down Israeli citizen's throats, it's not a surprise that it would lose its seriousness and end up being a gimmick in a beauty contest. |
| | Stay a while and listen || http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=354018 |
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| Aerisky United States. June 29 2012 23:33. Posts 9213 | Profile Blog # |
| Is this for real? This sounds...so....incredibly...politically incorrect on so many levels. I mean yeah of course they're going to have the almost obligatory excuse that it's more of a celebration but I don't buy it. Well at least nothing particularly bad happened, I mean it's not intended to be offensive or anything, just sort of ridiculous. |
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| Talin Montenegro. June 29 2012 23:34. Posts 8173 | Profile Blog # |
| This is just tasteless, nothing more to be said. |
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 NeMeSiS3 Canada. June 29 2012 23:35. Posts 2969 | Profile Blog # |
| This is embarrassing, I'm sure the 6 million dead Jews are especially happy that they live in the memory of a fucking beauty pageant. I've totally lost all respect for Israel (which was already on the end of a string) and I'm done listening to it bitch about the holocaust but it goes and does this. I'm breaking up with you Israel, it's over! |
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| ECHOZs United States. June 29 2012 23:35. Posts 498 | Profile Blog # |
| For how much Netanyahu loves to bring up the holocaust I'm surprised he wasn't one of the judges. |
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| C[h]ili Germany. June 29 2012 23:37. Posts 84 | Profile # |
These woman have survived Holocaust, its their history and their decision what to do with it, not ours.
Really can't see what gives anyone the right to judge it. |
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| Garm Norway. June 29 2012 23:40. Posts 220 | Profile # |
| This sounds like something out of The Onion. |
| | I didn't choose the Terran life. The Terran life chose me. Flash fan 2008 - eternity. FRB 2013! http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=321242 |
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 Xiphos Canada. June 29 2012 23:42. Posts 5732 | Profile Blog # | |
| | 2012 - Remember of the Fallen Heroes and Command the way to your victory. |
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| ShadeR Australia. June 29 2012 23:45. Posts 6606 | Profile Blog # |
| I have a feeling everybody EXCEPT Jews will be offended by this. |
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| JieXian Malaysia. June 29 2012 23:46. Posts 2398 | Profile Blog # |
On June 29 2012 23:34 Talin wrote:
This is just tasteless, nothing more to be said.
![[image loading]](http://images2.ggl.com/images/tasteless_red.jpg)
Tasteless agrees |
| | Please send me a PM of any song you like that I most probably never heard of! | | | http://www.youtube.com/user/JieXianMusic - Try it! :D | | | I'm a serious student of French, Spanish, German and Portugese looking for help/to chat. Please PM me! |
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| Slow Motion United States. June 29 2012 23:47. Posts 4334 | Profile Blog # |
| I find this much less tasteless than many politicians who will reference the Holocaust to manipulate people. I think the trivialization of emotionally charged issues can be a good thing. The alternative is that people are so emotionally invested in the Holocaust that it colors their decisions. I'm not criticizing people who are connected to the Holocaust for feeling emotions, but merely putting out the idea that these emotions often lead to bad decision-making in Israeli and American foreign policy. This is much more dangerous than mildly annoying people who think the trivialization of the Holocaust is tacky or tasteless. |
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| Arghmyliver United States. June 29 2012 23:48. Posts 660 | Profile Blog # |
On June 29 2012 23:35 NeMeSiS3 wrote:
This is embarrassing, I'm sure the 6 million dead Jews are especially happy that they live in the memory of a fucking beauty pageant. I've totally lost all respect for Israel (which was already on the end of a string) and I'm done listening to it bitch about the holocaust but it goes and does this. I'm breaking up with you Israel, it's over!
As little as I know of the beyond - one would assume that, being dead, those 6 million Jews would be hardly concerned with something as earthly as a beauty pageant. I think its awesome that these people are able to enjoy such a simple pleasure. In fact, its almost the triviality itself that makes it so very grand to me. I don't think its possible to make the argument that this is the only memory that exists of the Holocaust. Rather, it is one of many which make up the story of a war that has almost become legend. The great evil defeated by the uniting of the free world.
Anyways was the contest open only to Jews or all Holocaust survivors? Remeber, the Hebrew people were not the only ones to suffer at the hands of Hitler's hegemony. |
| | Now witness their attempts to fly from tree to tree. Notice they do not so much fly as plummet. |
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| Durp Canada. June 29 2012 23:49. Posts 2844 | Profile Blog # |
On June 29 2012 23:40 Garm wrote:
This sounds like something out of The Onion.
This is exactly the first thing that went through my mind |
| | SOOOOOooooOOOOooooOOOOoo Many BANELINGS!! |
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| Doublemint Austria. June 29 2012 23:49. Posts 2732 | Profile # | |
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| NeMeSiS3 Canada. June 29 2012 23:52. Posts 2969 | Profile Blog # |
On June 29 2012 23:48 Arghmyliver wrote:
Show nested quote +On June 29 2012 23:35 NeMeSiS3 wrote:
This is embarrassing, I'm sure the 6 million dead Jews are especially happy that they live in the memory of a fucking beauty pageant. I've totally lost all respect for Israel (which was already on the end of a string) and I'm done listening to it bitch about the holocaust but it goes and does this. I'm breaking up with you Israel, it's over!
As little as I know of the beyond - one would assume that, being dead, those 6 million Jews would be hardly concerned with something as earthly as a beauty pageant. I think its awesome that these people are able to enjoy such a simple pleasure. In fact, its almost the triviality itself that makes it so very grand to me. I don't think its possible to make the argument that this is the only memory that exists of the Holocaust. Rather, it is one of many which make up the story of a war that has almost become legend. The great evil defeated by the uniting of the free world. Anyways was the contest open only to Jews or all Holocaust survivors? Remeber, the Hebrew people were not the only ones to suffer at the hands of Hitler's hegemony.
Thank you for pointing out dead people could give less of a fuck about the real world, it was an exaggeration to how demeaning this entire event is to the war... If you think this is a good way to remember the dead, let's host a 9/11 beauty pageant with all the female survivors, that'd be fun and people would enjoy simple pleasures, or is that wound still to deep?
Furthermore, if you think the "Free World" stands united right now, I think you need to read up on a few things.
Other then that, I'm also curious if only Jew's were allowed, my guess would be yes.Last edit: 2012-06-29 23:53:37 |
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| Omsomsoms Croatia. June 29 2012 23:53. Posts 191 | Profile # |
| Well, it's their life, and if they enjoyed it, more power to them. |
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| mahO France. June 29 2012 23:55. Posts 268 | Profile # |
| It's simply pathetic, how about the 20 millions russians who died during WW2? The chinese? Should we host some tv show about them? How about civilian casualties during Vietnam war? Korea? Iraq? Wtf is that. Tired of the holocaust being used as an excuse for all kind of behaviors, and it's such an insult to the memory of those who died to use that as an excuse for making profits, for declaring wars, for killing civilians. Fucking tired of it Last edit: 2012-06-29 23:58:11 |
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| Bleak Turkey. June 29 2012 23:56. Posts 2637 | Profile Blog # |
| Well, seeing how much attention Srebrenica and Rwanda gets compared to Holocaust kinda shows the importance of the Holocaust business this article seems to talk about, despite the fact that the former two happened very very recently. This is just disgusting imo. |
| | "I am a beacon of knowledge blazing out across a black sea of ignorance. " |
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