The winner of a Lebanese beauty pageant has been stripped of her title just one week after winning her crown, local media has reported.
Swedish-Lebanese Amanda Hanna won Miss Lebanon Emigrant 2017 earlier this month but was told she was no longer allowed to hold the position after organisers discovered she had previously visited neighbouring Israel using her Swedish passport on an academic trip in 2016.
“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,” a statement given by The Festival of Lebanese Emigrants in Dhour Al Choueir to newspaper Al Modon read.
Lebanon and Israel technically remain in a state of war, although the border has remained largely quiet since the last direct conflict between the two states in 2006.
In Lebanon there is a blanket ban on any trade or cultural products from the Jewish state, citizens are banned from travelling there, and Israeli citizens cannot visit.
Contact with Israelis is also illegal and can carry jail time.
A 14 August Facebook status shared by Ms Hanna showing her being crowned thanked everyone who supported her during the competition.
