Josephine Sfeir Bassil, a Lebanese - American (from Virginia), wrote:

“In the past couple of days, social media attention has been captured by Mia Khalifa, while the focus should not be on this situation. I am extremely upset due to the disrespect people are showing towards the Lebanese immigrants in the USA. Instead of focusing on the actions of one individual, we need to highlight all the achievements of the Lebanese community as a whole! It simply is illogical for people outside the U.S. to judge the lifestyle of their fellow countrymen and women and how they are raising their kids based on the predetermined judgment of one person.

No one has the right to criticize or even analyze how Lebanese families, who immigrated with a hope for a better future for their kids, are living in the American society. And for those doing so I will ask: Have you ever been to the States? I can guarantee that all you've done is watch an American movie depicting the so called "our lifestyles".

I arrived to this country more than a decade ago and received respect from the community regardless of the brand of my handbag or the model of my car or simply my cell phone. These things would have been the very sole of my social standing in Lebanon, but in the USA, I was accepted. I keep seeing posts on social media saying that people who have left Lebanon also left their values there, and I cannot express how ridiculously naive this is. My children practice concepts virtually unheard of in Beirut and Teenagers in the states are not even allowed to smoke before the age of 18 or drink before 21,and every teen in the states should do 100 hours of community service while retired Generals serve the ones with special needs that we call in Lebanon handicapped .Those are concepts that are foreign to the general youth of Lebanon and since I don't want to jump into conclusions about the lifestyles of our communities, I'll leave it to you to compare.

While playing the role of the devil's advocate, I might agree that Mia's job is not typical while I can even feel and hear her parent's cry of pain, anger and deception, but this is her life , and in the states, we don't interfere in other people's life. But if you want to compare, be fair and remember how many prostitution networks have been revealed at least in the last couple of years and how some of Mia's peers in Lebanon are living and then dare to generalize. Please review what you are writing, take into consideration other families feelings who are working really hard to raise their kids with God's fear and love, love to their homeland Lebanon and their country USA.