to me it is improper to judge a sovereign nation's laws and beliefs and involve yourself in influencing them according to your foreign beliefs.
I personally see nothing wrong with any of that, as long as you're not forcing your beliefs on to them. That does cross a line I would not cross. But if all you are saying is "I disagree with your beliefs; these are my beliefs, and I will stay true to them even in foreign lands", I don't think there's anything morally wrong with that, although legal trouble may be another matter. I really believe that if you think your nation's ways of doing things are better, there's nothing wrong with going to other places and saying, "Look, this is how we do things where I live; I think it will be better for you if you do things like we do, and I'd like to show you why." Hopefully those people have the freedom and capacity to either agree or disagree with your views, and then push for change if that change is desired.
commenting on the unequal status of women in the country i would view as significantly less of an insult than a headline grabbing refusal trying to embarrass a leader. i'd expect this to only harden the mufti's followers to foreign influence.
Well, judging her intentions are hard to do. Is she a woman who is steadfast in her ways, and does not compromise for anyone, even an important foreign political and religious figure? Or is she a politician looking to win political points by creating a headline? Probably at least a little of both, as I figure she's both of those things. She did meet the Grand Mufti of Al-Azhar in Cairo, as the article states, without any kind of covering; the Grand Mufti here said her office knew it would be required to meet with him, so maybe she thought he would back down once she was there and refused. It's hard to say. Deciphering people's thoughts and intentions is normally very difficult.
And I agree insulting others is pretty useless as an actual persuasive tool. But maybe she's not looking to sway him at all - maybe she's looking to sway others, possibly women who dislike the restrictions placed on them by Lebanon law, and just provide an example that says "you don't have to follow their rules; there are places in the world where you can be free to wear what you like." Again, trying to determine if that's her point or not is difficult to say. I would guess probably not, but I can't say that for sure. More likely it was for her own political gain while also not compromising on her own beliefs.
to me it is improper to judge a sovereign nation's laws and beliefs and involve yourself in influencing them according to your foreign beliefs. there are limits to my belief when it pertains to my nation's national security or if genocide/slavery/trafficking is occurring. commenting on the unequal status of women in the country i would view as significantly less of an insult than a headline grabbing refusal trying to embarrass a leader. i'd expect this to only harden the mufti's followers to foreign influence.