Who Banned The Play?

According to Hariri-owned Almustaqbal, it’s the Sureté Generale who banned it. Is that a relief?

Remember the Rabih Mroué play that was banned from playing in Lebanon? Many of us here immediately blamed the Interior Minister who belongs to March 14, a party that prides itself on the freedom of speech. The cognitive dissonance was just too bothering.

Now, Almustaqbal tells us: It’s not us, it’s the Sureté Generale. (one of the security bodies in the Lebanese government)

Technically, the Sureté Generale’s boss should report to the Interior Minister, but in the strange way we share power in this country, the person he really reports to is Nabih Berri.

A widely cited fact (although this is strongly denied by the government) in Lebanese politics is that the Internal Security Forces (Amn Dekhli) is loyal to the Sunnis (March 14), while the Sureté Generale (Amn Aam) is loyal to the Shias (March 8).

But herein lies a Paradox: The Interior Minister is supposedly capable of overruling decisions made by his underlings. To read his own media complain about it, theatrically emblazoning the first page with a big picture of the play, without being able to do anything about it is just too much.

Update: Tarek Mitri, The bookish Minister of Culture and Higher education (March 14) is not convinced with the ban.
When he reviewed the decision with the Sureté Generale he was told that memories of the war are not appropriate at these times. To which Mitri replied:
“I disagree, talking about the past in a factual language the way the play does, instead of inventing it the way some politicians and thriller authors do, helps heal our wounded memory.”

To it, credit Almustaqbal is still highlighting the story in its first page.

(To read Almustaqbal and other Lebanese newspapers, check out the newsstand)

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