This week the plight of Australian mother Sally Faulkner has gripped the nation, after she travelled to Lebanon to retrieve her two young children from her estranged husband Ali Elamine.
Faulkner is currently appearing in court over a botched attempt to ‘kidnap’ her children, Noah, 4, and Lahela, 6, who were returned to their father soon after they were snatched by a child recovery team.
Here in Australia, there has been much speculation over the rights of the children, the terror they must have felt as they were snatched from their grandmother’s arms and the rights of their father, who many feel has just as much right to his children’s lives as their mother.
Many parents would have felt a cold horror grip their hearts as they watched this mother mourn for her lost children, feeling the heartbreak she must be feeling after saying goodbye to her kids and fearing their lives would be in danger.
If you’re unfamiliar with Sally Faulkner’s ‘child rescue mission’ case, watch the below clip. Post continues after video…
Top Comments
I can't believe you are actually trying to compare your situation to the events that took place in Lebanon. Your story is sad and I'm happy that it turned out well for you. Your mother's actions were brave and necessary.
Your story suggests that the father was somehow abusive or neglectful towards the children. Or that the children are miserable. How would you know any of that? If that were the case I'm sure Sally would be screaming it from her jail cell rooftops that her ex husband is not fit to care for them. Yet, she hasn't said a word. Sally just misses her children and wants them to live in Australia with her. This is a custody dispute not a domestic violence issue. Your suggestion that it could be anything else is extremely presumptuous.
With respect Guest, how do you know this isn't an abusive situation? If you look at our system women are convinced to be kind and gentle towards their and show no emotion. Sally gained full custody of the children in Australia which is highly unlikely and most unusual! There is so much we don't know about this case. A Father who takes his children on 'holiday' and then sends an email to their Mother saying ''you won't see them again' may not be a kind person.
Your right in that as far as we know it's a custody dispute. I think she is trying to relate to the experience through a child's eyes of but it would be different if the focus is about survival and safety.
I share such a similar story. I had to tell my young children we were going on a special holiday and in a similar fashion escaped in a early morning flight to a safe secluded destiny. I didn't like doing it to their father but I had no other choice. He hasn't t seen them in four years now but we have been able to breath and stop walking on egg shells. However if I do believe that a father is a very important part of a child's life and a mother doesn't automatically get to have the children. I see that in this case the father purposely took the children to Beruit as he would be given full custody and could cut the mother off. She hadn't seen her beautiful children in nearly a year and I don't blame her for doing what she did at all. We don't know all the facts only the mother and father really do.