BEIRUT: Saly Greige will continue her duties as Miss Lebanon for 2014, Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon announced Friday, ending a week of speculation over her fate after she was heavily criticized for appearing in a photo with Miss Israel.
“Based on the information [obtained], of course there isn’t any reason to punish Miss Lebanon or to strip her title,” Pharaon said at a news conference.
A picture of Greige smiling with Miss Israel, Doron Matalon, as well as Miss Japan and Miss Slovenia went viral last weekend, prompting many to call on the ministry, which sponsors the event, to strip her of her title, given that contact of any sort with the Jewish state is illegal for Lebanese citizens. Lebanon and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1949.
But Pharaon Friday said Greige deserved the country’s full support, adding that she had been the target of smear tactics, mostly by the international media.
“She is being subjected to a racist campaign, a campaign against a region [and one] that doesn’t have any basis ... There is a real and random campaign taking place,” Pharaon said.
When it first emerged, the photo caused uproar among many Lebanese, particularly following a report by Al-Jadeed TV, which in turn was picked up by international media outlets.
Earlier this week, the minister announced he would launch a probe into the incident and would keep the case open until Greige returned from Miami in order to gather more information about the incident.
“Of course, we consider that Miss Lebanon is the ambassador of tourism in Lebanon so we had to keep up with the incident, investigate it and see how to deal with it,” Pharaon said. “This isn’t a trial as what some called it.”
Pharaon said it was important for them to look into the level of responsibility displayed by Greige throughout her participation in the beauty contests – Miss World and currently Miss Universe – and how she dealt with the photo incident.
Another major determinant was Greige’s intentions behind the photo, he said, citing a quote from an interview with Miss Israel 2014 Mor Maman, in London last month.
“On one of the trips they took us on [during the Miss World competition], some of us girls wanted to take a selfie. Miss Lebanon wanted to join but asked me where I was from. When I told her I was from Israel, she declined the photo,” Pharaon quoted Maman as saying.
He called it “conclusive evidence” that showed Greige’s clear intention to avoid photos with Miss Israel.
Matalon, who was first runner-up in the Miss Israel competition, went on to represent her country in the Miss Universe competition.
Pharaon also referenced an interview of Miss Egypt Lara Debbane on an Egyptian channel in December, in which Debbane said Matalon had tried to snap a photo with Greige during the Miss World pageant on numerous occasions.
This was the line that Greige took in her personal defense of the photo, arguing that Miss Israel effectively “photobombed” her.
“From the first day I arrived at the Miss Universe pageant, I was very careful not to take any pictures with Miss Israel,” Greige, who has a master’s degree in civil engineering, wrote on her Facebook page, adding that Matalon “tried repeatedly to take pictures” with her.
“While I was preparing with Miss Slovenia and Miss Japan to get our photograph taken, Miss Israel jumped in and took a selfie with her phone and posted it on social media,” she wrote.
This is far from the first time this sort of controversy has erupted, although it is likely that the explosion of technology and social media has helped fan the flames much more.
Pharaon pointed to several previous participants that found themselves in a similar photographic bind to Greige, including Hanya Baydoun, Gladys Tabet, Georgina Rizk and Ghada Turk.
Not everyone took it quite so seriously, however.
The CEO of We Group, which manages the Miss Lebanon pageant, suggested the whole affair had been blown out of proportion.
“I think we should stop [talking about] this because this is what the Israelis want and we fell into the trap,” Richard Pharaon told The Daily Star Thursday, adding that there was no reason Greige should be stripped of her title.
Over in the United States, political satirist Jon Stewart dedicated part of Monday’s edition of The Daily Show to mock the controversy.
“I get that Israel and Lebanon share an intractable enmity but come on – the Miss Universe pageant?” he exclaimed, before adding: “It’s a beauty pageant, they’re all enemies!”
No comments:
Post a Comment