LAU Professor Accused Of “Raping” Student & His Response

Following the news of a rape attempt in Hamra (link), another rape story surfaced online involving an LAU professor, aged 62, and his 19 year old student of whom he allegedly took advantage for over 4 years.

According to the following picture circulating online (picture), the man was supposedly never caught during those four years and managed to resign before his university found out.

The plot thickens. The professor in question has now responded to the girl who started the whole online campaign, which was picked up by various websites and news outlets.

This is his response:

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.

I am not one of those who think the fishiest part of the story is the girl staying silent for four years. However, the outrage on the matter was also perhaps warranted because of the system that makes sure any girl whose sanctity was violated by any man will rarely find justice from that system and even her community.

This whole story will come down to the following: his words versus hers. I am not sure if the girl was referring to herself as the victim in the picture that she started circulating online but, in case she turns out to have fabricated the entire thing for attention, she would severely damaged the cause of so many women around Lebanon who may have not yet found the courage to speak about real rape incidents and would be deterred by the so-many people that will think they are the girls who cried wolf just like she did.

I’d say let’s leave it to investigations but I’m not sure the story will develop further than this.