Raya El-Hassan, Lebanon’s former and first female interior minister, took to Twitter to savagely respond to outgoing Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi’s misogynistic comments.
In a fashion that Fahmi will probably agree with, El-Hassan gently put him in his place by posting a simple quote that speaks volumes about her disagreement with his recent sexist remarks.
In an interview with Al-Hurra, Fahmi was pressed to reveal what he really thinks about women taking part in the government.
He stated that he deemed El-Hassan’s work as interior minister unsuccessful and expressed that women were not fit to head the interior ministry because “the situation in Lebanon is not safe for women.”
If he couldn’t trust a woman to handle Lebanon’s interior ministry, that only says what little he thinks of outgoing Defense Minister Zeina Akar or the women serving in Lebanon’s army and security agencies.
Additionally, he had foolishly stated on a previous occasion that women can’t be the prime minister of Lebanon because women are too “gentle, soft, and timid.”
This lets us wonder if he believes that, in order to be fit for these ministerial positions, an individual must be offensive, rude, and aggressive.
With that being said, surely no caption is needed for El-Hassan’s post. Whether you support her politically or not, you can’t deny that seeing her get back at Fahmi was a breath of fresh air.
Fahmi, however, might not get it, since he is used to impertinent remarks and can’t understand a minister who is not the opposite of “soft, gentle, and timid,” aka must be rude, offensive, and aggressive.
One thing he’s right about, though, is that Lebanese women can’t go down to a “very low level.” Raya El-Hassan, like any decent woman who respects herself, couldn’t and wouldn’t do that even if to give him a deserving answer he could understand.