Miss Lebanon contestant Saly Greige has come under fire in her country for posing with Miss Israel, Doron Matalon, in a photo during rehearsals for Miss Universe 2014 competition in Miami.
A selfie featuring the two contestants, as well as Miss Japan and Miss Slovenia, was posted Jan. 11 on Doron Matalon’s Instagram account and has caused a fury in Lebanon for taking photo with the Israeli beauty queen.
“Since the first day of my arrival to participate to Miss Universe, I was very cautious to avoid being in any photo or communication with Miss Israel ([who] tried several times to have a photo with me),” this year’s Miss Lebanon Saly Greige wrote on her Facebook.
Since Matalon posted the picture, Lebanese citizens have called for her title to be revoked, according to the New York Post. The Lebanese government has vowed to “launch an investigation” and will decide this week whether the offensive photo will get her crown snapped, too.
Meanwhile, the Israeli beauty queen did not answer the allegations that she’d been stalking Greige but the issue makes her feel sad.
“It doesn’t surprise me, but it still makes me sad. Too bad you cannot put the hostility out of the game, only for three weeks of an experience of a lifetime that we can meet girls from around the world and also from the neighboring country,” she said.
Officially, Israel and Lebanon are still at war, even though there have been no large-scale hostilities on the border since 2006. Travel between them by citizens of the two countries is prohibited.
Lebanese citizens can be imprisoned for contact with Israelis, and products from the country are banned in Lebanon.
Source(s): NY Daily News, CBC News, People