The teacher answered Alexandra in 3 languages and he’s suing her for libel and defamation.
Alexandra Shreiteh’s False Rape Accusations
• Alexandra has published her fabricated allegations against me on facebook and other sites on the internet. Kindly see below my response:
• Since I was certain of Alexandra’s academic and creative capabilities, I gave her a great deal of time and supervised three of her novels: 2 in Arabic and one in English. My motto was to work with talented beginners and help them produce their own works of fiction.
• I was the one who encouraged her to pursue her studies and I wrote her a letter of recommendation to Yale University which is still in my possession. I do not understand how one encourages a person to study abroad, and controls and confines this same person at the same time.
• She sent me the paper she had prepared for a conference in Switzerland (April 2012) and we discussed it at length on Skype.
• This woman used to call me every day over the period of 4 years, yes every single day to talk about her problems. I used to help her to the best of my abilities. She used to call me daily from America (and Germany) to ask questions or talk about her problems. This went on for four years, summer and winter, day and night. I always thought this was a passing phase related to growing up that will soon subside. I was sincerely happy to think that she would excel in her work and that I would be one of those who contributed to her success especially after she had written her three novels.
• She told me that she was having a relation with a woman and asked my opinion of this. My answer was: You are free to realize yourself the way you think fit.
• She told me several times on the phone after a few months of her relation that her companion is so possessive and is almost suffocating her and that she does not know how to free herself of her.
• She also used to tell me of her relations with men and women (I still remember the names and nationalities). She considered me as her confidante and her counselor.
• I wonder what has happened and why she is lying. Why is she falsifying the truth? Why has she showered all terms related to rape on me (she is Lebanon’s champion in Tai Boxing)? I have a documented answer to be published at the right time.
• I am sorry that it has come to this. Alexandra is in trouble, but her harassment has become unbearable. I have so far refrained from responding to her accusations because I am sorry for her parents and would have liked to spare them. I so much wanted to meet them but she refused to introduce me as she hated them to the death. She also alleged certain things about her father that is improper for me to mention now.
• I have asked a lawyer to raise a case against her for libel and defamation because certain innocent people may believe her allegations especially that she pretends to be a lamb in the claws of a wild animal.
• I still have all the electronic messages that she sent me over the four-year period and will publish them in due time whenever the need arises.
• Finally, there are a large number of documents, letters, photographs in my possession that can also be published if needed.
The Lebanese writer Rachid Al-Daif forcefully raped and manipulated his student in the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut for four years, starting when he was 62 and she was 19. He locked her in his house and demanded sex from her at night, even raping her in her sleep. He threatened her in order to keep it a secret. This January, the rapist resigner before being shamefully fired from LAU when the university administration learned about his actions.
A picture has been circulating all day yet about an LAU teacher accused of raping one of his students yet there’s no proof to back it up. It might be true for all I know but that’s not a proper way to spread such a serious allegation, plus I agree with Rami that there’s something weird about him locking her up and raping her in her sleep for 4 years.
If the reason behind this campaign is the lack of trust in the Lebanese Legal System, this is definitely not going to make things any better specially that the teacher was apparently fired. Added to that, if there’s no proof of the raping, the teacher can sue back.
My suggestion is to go talk to a decent lawyer who will definitely handle this case properly and see that the suspect is punished for his wrongdoings, if any. The sexual harassment case in Antoura is a clear proof that the system works.
Syrian refugees in Lebanon: A humiliating situation
Check out what Marwan Charbel said today on the Syrian Refugees issue:
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel admitted on Tuesday that the authorities had miscalculated in not building camps to house Syrian refugees escaping the fighting in their country.
In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Charbel said: “We should have kept Syrian refugees in tents and provided them with all the necessary humanitarian assistance and medical aid … to contain the security violators that are present among them.”
“We made a mistake in dealing” with the issue, he said in response to a question on the presence of Syrian nationals among the casualties in the recent fighting in the northern city of Tripoli.
We have now over 300,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon and still no plans to set up special areas, receive the families and children and give them adequate aid. I know for a fact that a lot of Lebanese are donating or are more than willing to donate so let us find a way to control this flux of refugees and provide some minimal help because things are getting out of hand. Pictures of the Deir Zanoun camp are terrible.
Syria is at war and the thousands of families and individuals fleeing don’t have any money, so don’t expect them to sleep on the streets and starve to death while we go all racist on them. I am not justifying their acts but a lot of people put under these circumstances will revert to crime to provide for their families. I know it’s a huge burden that any government would find difficult to deal with, and I am all for Arab countries donating money to help us out here, but that’s not an excuse for doing nothing at all (Except setting curfew hours for foreign workers).
I am glad he admitted the mistakes repeatedly done but that’s not enough. How about someone suggests a freaking plan to help these refugees and control what’s happening?
I didn’t watch Splash’s first episode but I was told Abou Salim, Aka Salah Tizani the Comedy legend from Tripoli, made a 3 meter jump which is quite impressive for an 85 year old! He eventually qualified to the second round.
I thought it was pretty cool move from him but a lot of people are asking whether it’s safe to let the old man jump.
I laughed when I read that Abou Bilal the young man who approached her first is studying medicine at the Kyiv Medical University. I wonder what he will specialize in later on? Gynecology maybe?
Tatyana was a single mom working as a waitress, struggling to raise her two year-old son after her boyfriend left when he was born. One day, a young man approached her in a bar, and asked if she’d like to make good money in a “safe and quick” way. The young man was Lebanese and studying medicine at the Kyiv Medical University. He told Tatyana that he could get her a six-month visa to work as a dancer in Lebanon. His uncle, he said, owned a cabaret there, and he was looking for new dancers for the nightly show. Tatyana accepted. Soon though, it became evident to her that she was being recruited for prostitution. “I didn’t mind. I was sleeping all the time with Ukrainian jerks that disappeared as soon as they had their way with me. So why not make some cash out of it?” Her contact in Lebanon was a man called Abu Bilal. Once she arrived to Lebanon, she only met him once. “He seemed nice and caring, he warned us about never sleeping with men without condoms and stuff like that.”
You can buy Tatyana for $400 USD a night. Don’t be offended by the word ‘buy’ – she uses it herself, in a very down-to-earth manner. “I am lucky to be worth $400 in such a competitive environment. Many of the other girls are bought for $200 or even less,” she says with a hint of… is it pride?! Yes, pride indeed. Tatyana, just like her friends Olga and Yulia, is from Ukraine. She entered Lebanon four months ago with an artist visa, an inventive scheme that the Lebanese authorities use to avoid admitting that they allow prostitution. General Security closely monitors the ‘artists.’ Their residency permits do not exceed six months, and they are deported if they are caught overstaying their permits.
Update: The General Security denied the allegations stated in Annahar’s article and said it didn’t have access to any data (Source: VOL).
Update2: Since February 2013, the Prime Minister can accept giving the Data to any security agency at his own discretion [Source]. The criteria set out by the law which requires judges’ prior approval and execution by Minister of Communication was waived as per request from President Sleiman. Nowadays, even ISF is receiving such Data and not only General Security (Annahar’s info is partially true but fully unprofessional). Thank you Razor!
An-Nahar Daily said on Monday that the General Security apparatus is receiving the telecommunications’ data that it needs upon the approval of Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.
According to An-Nahar newspaper, General Security Chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim sent more than one memorandum to the interior ministry and received immediate approvals from PM Mikati and Minister Charbel “who did not take into account the freedom and privacy of citizens”. [LBC]
According to Annahar’s article, The General Security have repeatedly requested access to the telecoms data of the entire population for many Lebanese areas and got an approval for it.
I don’t know where Telecom Minister Sehnaoui stands from those requests and whether he also gave his approval or if it was required (I think he has to approve), but this goes against the campaign he led himself few months back in the name of privacy and personal freedom. I wish the author of the article provided further explanation and details rather than politicize the whole matter as the problem is much bigger than such considerations.
In all cases, I am almost positive all the legal and illegal parties have access in a way or another to our data but this remains nonetheless a very serious issue as we should never compromise our freedom in the name of security.
Here’s my original post on the Freedom vs. Security back when the Information Branch requested data from the Telecom Ministry and the government and got denied any access.
Last picture of the group on the small boat taken by the yacht’s skipper – via DailyStar
That’s quite an unfortunate incident. According to TimesOfMalta, the sea was calm when the group left but there was a sudden change in weather later on with winds reaching up to force six.
The French-Lebanese couple, Elias Chmouni and Sandrine Godet, left behind a five-month-old son (Simon) and a three-year-old daughter (Clara).
Chmouni was one of five tourists that were reported missing after the boat accident. His wife, and their 14-year-old son as well as a French couple accompanying them were also reported missing after the accident.
The accident took place on the evening of May 12, when the group set sail from Tunisia on a private yacht, called El Pirata, to celebrate Chmouni’s 49th birthday.
But the celebration turned into a nightmare after Chmouni and his wife Sandrine Godet decided to go to a restaurant at the nearby Xlendi Bay. Instead of sailing there onboard the El Pirata, the group took a small boat and set sail to the bay at around 8 p.m. [DailyStar]
For those of you, like myself, who couldn’t understand a thing about the new hybrid electoral law proposed, here’s a nice elaborate post on that matter posted on Moulahazat.com:
There has been a lot of talk on a hybrid Proportional-Representation/ Winner-Takes-All electoral law in the past few weeks, and almost all the parties (PSP, Phalanges, Amal, Lebanese Forces) gave their proposals of hybrid laws in the electoral committees. The different hybrid draft laws are very similar to each other and mostly differ in the percentage of MPs elected by proportional representation (30%, 40%, 50%) but less in the constituencies’ boundaries (Small districts for the winner-takes-all seats and big ones for the PR seats). I’m going to review the draft law proposed from the Lebanese Forces. You can see the criteria of the law here.
It still looks a bit too complicated to explain to all the voters.
The 4G network will only support data at the moment to be followed by calls and SMS by end of June
I tried the 4G SIM on both the Nokia Lumia 920 and Samsung Note2 and I couldn’t get a 4G sign even though I put the right configuration. I don’t know if I misunderstood Alfa’s official statement but they did specify a list of devices that work on the Alfa 4G network during the launch:
The devices that work on the Alfa 4G network are:
1- Lumia 920
2- Galaxy S3 (that supports LTE)
3- Galaxy Note 2 (that supports LTE)
4- LG Optimus g
5- iPad mini
Here’s an excerpt from the DailyStar:
Yet very few smartphones and wireless devices currently sold in Lebanon support the new network and accessing it will come at a high cost to consumers. Alfa CEO Marwan Hayek said at a news conference that 41,000 devices in the Lebanese market are currently 4G, or fourth-generation, enabled, including the Nokia Lumia 920, the LG Optimus G, the iPad mini, and compatible Galaxy S3 and Note 2 models. [DailyStar]
PS: On a side note, thumbs up to Alfa for their improved customer service!
If you happen to be going towards Beirut and stop on the right side of the Jounieh Highway (Between EDL Zouk Power Plant and Nahr el Kalb), watch out for these randomly open holes as they could seriously screw up your car.
Just when I started having hope when I saw a policeman wearing a helmet (see below), I spotted an ISF bus not only going the wrong way yesterday but driving recklessly (and stupidly by creating more traffic). Of course other cars followed him instead of staying in line.
I’m wondering if the Interior Minister and concerned parties are allocating enough time to teach these officers the law because they obviously don’t have a clue or just don’t give a damn, and I am not sure which is worse.
Well the story made it to LBCI News tonight and Habib was interviewed briefly on what happened with him. Added to that, he posted today a picture of what DistrictS was hiding.
Picture taken from the DailyStar
Preserving ruins is unfortunately a hopeless case in Lebanon.
A convicted Palestinian terrorist named Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad, who once hijacked an airliner in Greece has been deported from Canada 26 years after he first arrived there. Though he is not a Lebanese citizen, Mohammad has “standing” in that country and had married a Lebanese woman, Kenney said. Lebanon agreed to allow him to return, but did not provide any assurances about his treatment, Kenney said, noting that it is “not a requirement.”
Why would we want him back in Lebanon if he’s a convicted terrorist? Funnily enough and as stated by the source, “the “endless appeals” were not what kept Mohammad in Canada. The fact that no country would take him made it difficult for Ottawa to deport him”. I hope they won’t count him as a Canadian tourist haha!
What’s even funnier is that the Canadian authorities who were working on deporting him for years took into consideration his health issues and sent him on a charter plane equipped with medical equipment, while the Lebanese authorities didn’t provide any assurances on the man’s health, noting and I quote that “it is not a requirement”.
