Maybe Miss Israel Wasn’t So Innocent

The big news last week happened at the Miss Universe contest in South Florida. Miss Universe Lebanon was criticized by many of her fellow Lebanese after she appeared in a photograph standing next to Miss Universe Israel.

Saly Greige turned to social media and interviews to explain and to deny that she allowed herself to be photographed with the Israeli contestant, Doron Matalon. She said that Miss Israel had photo-bombed her. The controversial picture showed Matalon and Greige, with their sashes, standing with Miss Japan and Miss Slovenia.

Greige wrote, “I was very cautious to avoid being in any photo or communication with Miss Israel (that tried several times to have a photo with me) … I was having a photo with Miss Japan, Miss Slovenia and myself; suddenly Miss Israel jumped in, took a selfie and put it on her social media.”

Matalon wrote on her Facebook page, saying that she wasn’t surprised by the backlash and denial, but that it “still makes me sad.” She added, “Too bad you cannot put the hostility out of the game.”

But in reading more about the three week contest which pits young women from various countries against each other, I wondered just how guiltless Miss Matalon was. She must have known that in 1993, the then Miss Lebanon was criticized and then disqualified by her nation after she appeared with an Israeli. Did Matalon have a special agenda?

In her official statement, Miss Egypt wrote, “Most tourists come to visit Egypt’s famous touristic areas like the Pyramids and Luxor and Aswan, yet there are many other wonderful places where tourists would see its magical traditions and people’s friendliness and great hospitality.” Miss Lebanon wrote, “Very few people know that the first alphabet was created by Cadmus in Byblos, Lebanon and that Byblos, in turn, is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.” Miss Turkey wrote, ” Turkey is home to one of the oldest civilizations,” while Miss USA posted, “As Americans, we have a variety of cultures; that makes life so rich here!”

Miss Israel wrote, “Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and all the citizens of Israel have equal rights. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and it is a very beautiful and unique. It is the holy city for Christians, Muslims and Jews.”

While I agree with what Miss Israel wrote, it seems a tad pushy and she implicitly criticizes Israel’s neighboring countries. Is she just aggressively beautiful, as all Miss Universes are to be?

Matalon, 21, hails from the town of Beit Aryeh, a settlement that was founded in 1981, 20 miles to the north of Jerusalem near the Palestinian-Arab village of Al-Lubban al-Gharbi. To some, this is a West Bank settlement and her family are settlers. Matalon served in the IDF for two years as an NCO and was the Assistant of the Commander of Israeli Central Command.

All I am saying is, I would not be surprised to learn that Miss Matalon knew exactly what she was doing and its potential effect.

The Miss Universe contest is a joint venture owned by NBCUniversal and Donald Trump. The winner of the annual contest receives access to a NYC apartment during her reign, a salary, a one year scholarship to a Manhattan based film school, hair care products, a tiara made of diamonds, swimwear, denim, a few pairs of shoes, a year’s worth of tanning lotions, r/t airfare to Asia from Delta, a membership in a local gym, the services of a dentist and dermatologist, and representation by Rubenstein PR.

This year’s winner was Miss Universe Colombia, Paulina Vega, 22, from the town of Barranquilla, Colombia. She is a student at Bogota’s Universidad Javeriana. The four other women in the Top Five were: Miss Universe Jamaica, Kaci Fennell; Miss Universe Netherlands, Yasmin Verheijen; Miss Universe Ukraine, Diana Harkusha; and Miss USA, Nia Sanchez. Among the judges who rated the women from 88 countries were: Kristin Cavallari, a TV host and shoe designer; Rob Dyrdek, a celebrity from MTV; Emilio Estefan, 19-time Grammy Award winning musician; Nina Garcia of Marie Claire Magazine and “Project Runway”; football player DeSean Jackson of the Washington Redskins; Manny Pacquiao, a boxer and Filipino politician; Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins; and Lisa Vanderpump of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

In other news, it is NOT true that Mia Khalifa of Florida, the famous Lebanese-born xxx-rated pornhub adult-film star used social media last week to apologize for being filmed in an orgy with a man who might have been born and Israeli citizen. Why would she apologize? There are plenty of porn stars and cam girls who get up to things that would make even Charlie Sheen blush. It’s what they do and there are plenty who want to see using sites like LiveJasmin – www.livejasminnederlands.com interessante feiten.