Daily Archives: September 1, 2010

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Looking Back At A Horrible Summer

August wasn’t so cool. The Lebanese hated it. Louisa Ajami told August “See you in hell”, and Michael Karam used its passing to look back –with humor of course– at a very bad summer season:

there is nothing like living in the dark and 100 per cent humidity with no AC to create a sense of community spirit. No longer did one have to overcome the awkward silence in elevators (when they worked) by staring blankly at the cell phone. Now neighbours could complain about the state of the nation for a few seconds and then feel much better about pretending to send texts.

Looking at the bright side of a dark situation..

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The Onion Takes On Islamophobia

The funny people at The Onion introduce us to “Scott Gentries”, a man who Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About Muslims:

Gentries, 48, said he had absolutely no interest in exposing himself to further knowledge of Islamic civilization or putting his sweeping opinions into a broader context of any kind, and confirmed he was “perfectly happy” to make a handful of emotionally charged words the basis of his mistrust toward all members of the world’s second-largest religion.

Funny if it weren’t so common. Rarely have the fictional characters of the Onion sounded so real.

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Whether We Like It Or Not, Many Palestinians Are Calling Lebanon Home

The Voice Of America interviews “Taha” who lives in the Shatila refugee camp

as much as Taha says he loves Palestine, he cannot envision himself there. He says he has been here so long, he is different than his brother who remained behind. He says the refugees have become what they have become. Unlike his relatives in Israel, he says the refugees cannot live with the Israelis. [...] He would just like to be allowed to set up business outside the camp. He says he is Lebanese.

Cynics will say that of course the Voice of America would feature people like Taha because America’s interest is in pressuring Lebanon to take in the Palestinians. Christian parties like the FPM, the LF and the Phalanges always maintained that there’s an international conspiracy to nationalize the Palestinians in Lebanon, and Muslims play along to pay lip service to the Palestinian cause

But the anecdotal reality in not far from where Taha is. In fact I’m surprised that the Lebanese just take it for granted that Palestinians who were born in Lebanon and who lived all their lives here would like to go somewhere else and call it home.. The Lebanese should have a real strategy when it comes to the final regional settlement, and not just stick their heads in the sands.

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The Man Behind The Bellemare Interview

While I was researching my previous post, I found out that Arthur Block, the Nethreland-based journalist Now Lebanon contracted for that interview is an interesting fellow in his own right.

He was the subject of an Aljazeera Documentary called “Children of the Cedars”:

Arthur Block has always been haunted by his adoption from Lebanon when he was just six months old. Now, he is determined to lay some ghosts to rest.He was adopted from Lebanon in 1976 – a year after the civil war started and while disorder and corruption was rife.

Twenty-seven years after being adopted into a loving Dutch family, he decided to travel back to Beirut to piece together his past.When he takes desperate measures to track down his biological mother the story takes a powerful turn leaving Arthur faced with some very difficult decisions.

Children of the Cedars follows Arthur’s search for his parents, the truth and himself.

Interesting stuff. Do check the video.

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So Why Did Bellemare Choose Now Lebanon For His Interview?

If Lebanese newspapers had faces, they’d all have a puzzled look today.

Many of the dailies are wondering: Why did the prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) choose a news website to deliver a page-1 headline scoop interview?

Lebanese newspapers are still far from disrupted by the internet, and you can sense that their attitude was more “WTF” than “Shit I’m screwed.” Some Hezbollah-friendly newspapers pounced on the fact that Now Lebanon is close to March 14, and the wild-eyed conspiracy theorists are probably gearing up to use this as proof that both the STL and Now Lebanon are “American controlled bodies.”

While I’m personally a strong supporter of web journalism and of Now Lebanon (I have many friends who work there), I can’t help but find Mr. Bellemare’s choice at best naive and at worst impetuous. He needlessly opened the door to speculations about political preference and access control, when he could have simply communicated his position in a press release or, if he must talk, a press conference.

I’m happy that Now Lebanon got the scoop, but Mr. Bellemare should have known that in such an explosive political environment, the messenger is as important as the message.

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Power Cuts Are Shaping Our Habits

A nice piece in the Daily Star on the struggles of everyday life with power cuts. Some experiences are familiar to many of us:

Sometimes she will plan to go to the market herself when she knows the elevator will be running, so that she does not have to carry the groceries or butane tank up the stairs.[...] She makes just enough food for what the kids will eat so that she won’t have any leftovers, because her refrigerator is usually off [...] Her choice of where to spend the day depends on whether there is electricity for her to ride the elevator up to her son’s second-floor apartment.

A Daily humiliation familiar to many Lebanese of this generation and of the previous one.