Merince Kogoya, a Miss Indonesia contestant, was banned from participating in Miss Indonesia 2025 because a video of her supporting Israel from two years ago resurfaced. She is a Papuan, a group indigenous to Papua New Guinea, and a Christian who studied abroad in Israel. Her video made no mention of Palestine and only consisted of her waving an Israeli flag and a caption related to her faith. Yet she has been completely stripped of her ability to represent her people on the stage. It must be heartbreaking for her to lose so much after working so hard, but I hope that she knows her allyship means the world to so many.
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