--- description: Miss Iraq Universe Sarah Idan said she and her family received death threats for taking a selfie with Miss Israel Universe Adar Gandelsman title: Miss Iraq Universe: I Received Death Threats for Taking a Selfie With Miss Israel image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61d1a953547a36a8/6988f586929fadd212beee87/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [miss universe](/tag/miss-universe/) ## miss universe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Miss Iraq Universe: I Received Death Threats for Taking a Selfie With Miss Israel ## Video: The U.S. Vetoed a U.N. Resolution Condemning President Trump's Jerusalem Decision [Watch (HLS stream): The U.S. Vetoed a U.N. Resolution Condemning President Trump's Jerusalem Decision](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eQnmAYNI.m3u8) (1:22)  _Published 2017-12-19. The United States on Monday vetoed a resolution supported by the 14 other U.N. Security Council members that would have required President Donald Trump to rescind his declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel_ by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2017 7:54 PM CUT  A picture taken on November 21, 2017 shows a picture posted by the Instagram profile of Sarah Idan on November 14, who holds the titles of "Miss Iraq USA 2016" and "Miss Iraq Universe 2017", as she is seen taking a "selfie" photograph with Adar Gandelsman, who holds the title of "Miss Universe Israel 2017", with a caption reading: "Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel #missuniverse". A picture taken on November 21, 2017 shows a picture posted by the Instagram profile of Sarah Idan on November 14, who holds the titles of "Miss Iraq USA 2016" and "Miss Iraq Universe 2017", as she is seen taking a "selfie" photograph with Adar Gandelsman, who holds the title of "Miss Universe Israel 2017", with a caption reading: "Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel #missuniverse".THOMAS COEX—AFP/Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2017 7:54 PM CUT Sarah Idan, the 27-year-old woman who represented Iraq in this year’s [Miss Universe pageant](http://time.com/5037565/miss-universe-south-africa/ "undefined"), revealed that she received death threats for taking a selfie with her Israeli counterpart, Adar Gandelsman. Idan [told CNN](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/17/us/miss-iraq-death-threats/index.html "undefined") Monday that after she posted the photo on Instagram back in November, a number of people threatened to kill not only her, but her family. The threats ultimately forced her family to flee Iraq, she said. “My mom was freaking out,” Idan told CNN. “I told her ‘Mom, just get out. Get out.’ I told her, ‘I’m sorry’ and asked if she wants me to leave the competition. I was ready to drop out right then.” The controversy first arose on Nov. 13 when she posted the photo with the caption: “Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel.” Idan said the photo was intended to send a message of peace, and that she didn’t think it would generate the reaction it did. “I said \[to Miss Israel Adar Gandelsman\] ‘Let’s take a picture so our people can see we don’t have a problem and we’re actually ambassadors for peace,'” Idan recalled to CNN. She said in addition to the death threats, she received additional threats from the Miss Iraq organization, who allegedly told her they would strip her of her title if she did not remove the controversial photo from online. The Miss Iraq Organization denied they planned to strip her of her title, saying in a statement to CNN, “”In terms of the picture with Miss Israel, we (sic) got a strong attack from the Iraqi street but (sic) we did not say we would strip her title. We told her to clarify what happened.” The Miss Universe competition took place in Las Vegas six days after Idan said she first received the warnings. She ultimately decided to compete, but did not place in the competition. For now, Idan said she is focusing on keeping a low profile so her family can get out of the country. She has dual U.S. and Iraqi citizenship and returned home to Los Angeles after the pageant. “The \[Iraqi\] government has been scary quiet,” she told CNN. “And when they’re this quiet, you don’t know what waits for you at home.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5069573/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan-israel-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5069573/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan-israel-photo/"},"headline":"Miss Iraq Universe: I Received Death Threats for Taking a Selfie With Miss Israel","datePublished":"2017-12-18T19:54:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:37:11.248Z","description":"She said her family had to flee Iraq because of the photo","url":"https://time.com/5069573/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan-israel-photo/","keywords":["miss universe","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61d1a953547a36a8/6988f586929fadd212beee87/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61d1a953547a36a8/6988f586929fadd212beee87/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ISRAEL-IRAQ-INTERNET-MISS UNIVERSE-2017","caption":"ISRAEL-IRAQ-INTERNET-MISS UNIVERSE-2017","creditText":"THOMAS COEX—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/miss-universe/","name":"miss universe"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5069573/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan-israel-photo/","name":"Miss Iraq Universe: I Received Death Threats for Taking a Selfie With Miss Israel"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The U.S. Vetoed a U.N. Resolution Condemning President Trump's Jerusalem Decision","description":"The United States on Monday vetoed a resolution supported by the 14 other U.N. Security Council members that would have required President Donald Trump to rescind his declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eQnmAYNI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-19T01:50:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eQnmAYNI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5069573/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan-israel-photo/","duration":"PT1M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5069573/miss-iraq-universe-sarah-idan-israel-photo/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```