A simple selfie at the Miss Universe pageant has sparked outrage between two opposing countries. On Jan. 11, Miss Lebanon Saly Greige was chastised by a Lebanese television station for a photo that included Miss Israel Doron Matalon.
Matalon uploaded the photo to her Instagram page with the caption, "Good morning from us! Miss Japan, miss Slovenia, miss Lebanon and I."
The picture, which showed the four girls smiling next to each other, reignited political strife between Israel and Lebanon. According to NBC News, Al Jareed TV station was angry that Greige would take a picture with Matalon knowing that the countries were "enemies."
Greige quickly took to social media to defend herself, posting on Instagram that she was taking a picture with Miss Slovenia and Miss Japan when Matalon jumped in the shot.
"To all my supporters and Lebanese citizens, I would like to thank you indeed for your continuous support of Miss Lebanon at the Miss Universe contest... The truth behind the photo, since the first day of my arrival to participate in 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 wrote, cropping Miss Israel out of the picture. "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. This is what happened and I hope to have your full support in the Miss Universe contest."
Matalon responded to the backlash, posting on social media that she thought it was "sad" she couldn't take a picture with another Miss Universe contestant.
"It doesn't surprise me, but it still makes me sad," she said. "Too bad you can not 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."
The Miss Universe pageant will be televised on Jan. 25 on NBC.
