Miss Hezbollah? US beauty queen not Right choice

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Beauty queen sparks row about radicalism


by Tony Allen-Mills


She isn’t the first American beauty queen to be caught out by racy photographs from her past but Rima Fakih, who was crowned Miss USA last week, is certainly the first to be plunged into a political controversy about radical Islam, affirmative action and her family’s supposed links to the Hezbollah political and paramilitary organization in Lebanon.

After her success as the first Muslim immigrant to win the Miss USA title, Fakih swiftly shrugged off the mildly salacious pole-dancing pictures that were leaked by someone she had considered a friend.
Less easy to dispel was an outburst of right-wing anger over a beauty pageant result that some believed had more to do with political correctness and commercial calculation than feminine appeal. “If I had lost, people would have said, oh, it’s because you are a Muslim,” Fakih told The Sunday Times. “It’s funny, because now they are saying instead, oh, it’s because you are a Muslim that you won.”

After her win, it did not take long for hostilities to commence on the internet, where an off-hand comment by one of America’s most prominent critics of radical Islam sparked angry exchanges about the judges’ intentions and whether or not Fakih deserved her crown.
Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum and a former neoconservative adviser to Rudolph Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign, listed several examples of Muslim women who had won western beauty contests.

Pipes concluded: “They are all attractive, but this surprising frequency of Muslims winning beauty pageants makes me suspect an odd form of affirmative action.” There was further upheaval when Debbie Schlussel, another right-wing blogger, branded Fakih “Miss Hezbollah” and suggested she was a kind of Trojan horse aimed at improving the image of militant Shia Muslims.

Lark-Marie Anton, a spokeswoman for the Miss USA competition, dismissed claims that the contest had been rigged for political or publicity purposes. “I don’t believe this has anything to do with affirmative action,” she said.

Elsewhere in the Arab world, commentators noted that the fuss made a change from western complaints that some Muslim women wear too many clothes, rather than too few. “It seems Arab women only make headlines when they are completely covered up or half-naked,” wrote Rym Ghazal, a columnist for The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi. SUNDAY TIMES

Pretty Big Mess
Soon after Lebanese Rima Fakih was crowned Miss USA last week, one of America’s most prominent critics of radical Islam sparked a controversy over whether or not she deserved to win
Another right-wing blogger branded Fakih ‘Miss Hezbollah’ and suggested she was a kind of Trojan horse aimed at improving the image of militant Shia Muslims
Many bloggers alleged the result had more to do with political correctness and commercial calculation than feminine appeal
 
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