“Everyone keeps on saying I got compensated, and I’m really hoping I get something.”
That’s what the father at the centre of the 60 Minutes child “rescue” SNAFU said to Kyle and Jackie O this morning.
He really wants something out of this whole drama.
But here’s the thing: Ali el-Amine already has something out of this ordeal. He’s actually got everything that he wanted.
He has his kids.
He has taken his children to a country where women struggle to get custody of their children. That same country has not signed the Hague Convention that provides a mechanism for abducted children to be returned to their “country of habitual residence” (which in this case, would also be their birth country, Australia).
El-Amine runs a successful surfing school in Lebanon. His family is reportedly well-connected in the Hezbollah-controlled Beirut suburb of Hadath (his mother is reported to be the cousin of the speaker of the Lebanon Parliament). His family is also reportedly very wealthy. Money, he does not need. But his children? That’s what he wanted.
What does Sally Faulkner have?
She doesn’t have access to her children. For the last two weeks, she didn’t even have her freedom.
All she has is an Australian Family Court order granting her full custody of her children. And, her lawyer says, she has a document signed by Ali el-Amine that says he will consult with her on deciding where their children will live.
There is a lot that is contested between the pair, as there is in every relationship breakdown.
But the upshot is this: Sally Faulkner had custody of her children in Australia. Almost a full year ago, Ali el-Amine hosted the children on holiday in his home country of Lebanon. Those children were not returned to Australia.
Sally Faulkner says she petitioned the Australian Government to get her children back. She says she tried to contact Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s office and got no response.
She turned to the media – and we all know what happened next.
This morning, Ali el-Amine told Kyle and Jackie O’s radio show that he decided to keep the children because he didn’t like Faulkner’s parenting decisions and the fact she had re-partnered: “[My daughter] Lahela kept on telling me “Mummy’s friend” would sleep in the same bed as us… and stuff like that. I just wasn’t okay with all of that.”
But here’s the thing: Even if you disagree with your ex-partner about how to raise your kids, you don’t get to steal them.
Surf LebanonYou don't get to arrange an access visit and keep them.
You do not get to use the misogynistic laws of another country to get around the fact that you're not entitled to permanent custody of your children.
You do not get to keep your ex-partner in prison in order to get the child custody you want.
You do not own your kids.
Here is what Sally Faulkner had to say upon her release from prison (post continues after video):
In the end, this whole ordeal isn't about 60 Minutes. It's not about a child "rescue" agency, that may or may not operate outside the law.
This isn't even about Sally Faulkner, her parenting or her decision to get involved with a plan to kidnap her own children.
It is about one man. One man who took what he believed was his. The man who now has everything he wants.
Top Comments
What a disgusting pig of a man. I hope it bites him on the bottom when his children are old enough to find out what he did. I wonder why the NZ media have been presenting him as a poor sweet Arab - he is none of the above. He's rich, he's American and he's now a solo daddy. Vile.
"It is about one man. One man who took what he believed was his. The man who now has everything he wants."
To be fair, this man did not invite any of this recent fiasco - it visited him. One person was going to win and another was going to lose. He happened to be the lucky one. It was the risk involved. Everyone who played should have known this.
Let's suppose the mission to 'recover' the children was successful. The story would have been pitched as good triumphing over evil, 60 Minutes and CARI would have been the heroes. Sally Faulkner would be the wronged mother who found justice. The children would have been saved.
Let's look at what we have. A botched kidnapping, 60 Minutes' involvement in a crime, 10 people went to prison and only 5 emerged, the others having been thrown under the bus, even though they were hired by Channel 9 to commit the kidnapping, a journalist and TV crew documenting the whole affair.
From what would have been served up to viewers as a heart-warming story of a mother being reunited with her children, we have an unsavoury tale of the lengths and depths that chequebook journalism will stoop for ratings, what crap they serve up to their viewers, the danger employees of media outlets are put in by their employers in the quest for ratings and the advertising dollar.
The most interesting thing in this story is the part that perspective plays in the telling of stories. If this had not happened, the image we would all have had of the father would have been a very negative one, complete with all the usual, stereotypical perceptions and epithets common (in our culture) to people of the Middle East.
What a surprise it was, then, that the 'monster father' was a regular guy, a personable fellow and a surfer to boot! He came across favourably. Nothing he said was offensive or objectionable. His love for the children echoed in every word he uttered. Not a bad word spoken about the mother. This guy seemed nice! The kind of guy you would happily invite to your backyard barbie.
I am sure that, like me, most people found themselves being challenged by the pre-conceived idea they had of the guy and the emerging image that he is just a regular guy, which makes our empathy for this family all the more palpable.
There is no good and no bad. These are just people faced with life's challenges, making choices to address those challenges and facing the consequences.
In a family break-up, the children will be raised by one or other parent and, hopefully, with the one who will be best for them.
In this case, I don't think the father is a bad choice. He seems like a good father and a mature and sensible man.