A second Lebanese beauty queen has been stripped of her title for contact with Israelis, according to media reports.
Amanda Hanna, a dual Lebanese-Swedish citizen, was stripped of her title as Miss Lebanon Emigrant 2017 this month after it emerged that she had visited Israel using her Swedish passport last year.
“After communicating our decision with Lebanon’s Minister of Tourism, he decided that Hanna should be stripped of her title because her visit to Israel violates our country’s laws,” the Festival of Lebanese Emigrants in Dhour Al Choueir said in a statement to Al Modon quoted by The Independent.
Lebanon, which is legally in a state of war with Israel, has laws against cultural intercourse with Israelis and the censors the consumption of Israeli media, even going so far as to ban the recent blockbuster Wonder Woman because Gal Gadot, its star, was from the Jewish state.
In 2015, beauty queen Saly Greige was stripped of her title as Miss Lebanon after she was photographed with a group of Miss Universe contestants that included Miss Israel.
“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 take a photo with me,” she said after the photo went public.
“I was having a photo with Miss Japan, Miss Slovenia, suddenly Miss Israel jumped in and took a selfie, and uploaded it on her social media.”