Tag: Lebanon

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حان وقت التغيير – The Time has Come for Change

ملاحظة: هذه المقالة قد نشرت لأول مرة في جريدة النهار في 28-03-2013

Note: this piece was first published in Lebanese daily An Nahar on March 28, 2013. You will find an English translation below.

ان ثمة شعارات ومواصفات لتحديد لبنان و ميزاته وفرادته. نتباهى, على سبيل المثال, بأن في البلد حركة دائمة و متجددة لا يشعر أناسه بالضجر. هذه الظاهرة تعني ان المشاكل فيه تتراكم و المشكلة الجديدة هي لتنسينا القديمة و تحل محلها, و يصير حلّ المشكلة في تأجيلها. Continue reading “حان وقت التغيير – The Time has Come for Change”

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الغاضبون هم هنا

“هذه ليست أزمة، إنها خدعة.” “نحن لا نفتقرالى المال. المشكلة ان اللصوص عندنا كثيرون.” “من حقّنا ان نكون غاضبين. “

هذه الشعارات- الصرخات وغيرها تزامنت مع فترة ركود اقتصادي ,تزايد البطالة , سياسة التقشف, مشاعر يأس عميقة، فكان أن خرج الشعب الاسباني الى الشوارع و الساحات: رجالاً ونساء، كباراً و صغاراً ، مثقفين ومكافحين لأجل كسب لقمة العيش ليقولوا لحكوماتهم: كفى. Continue reading “الغاضبون هم هنا”

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The Indignants Are Here

“This is not a crisis, this is a fraud.” “We don’t lack money, we just have too many thieves.” “We have the right to be indignant.”

With these and many other slogans, at a time of recession, unemployment, austerity and profound despair, the people of Spain, men and women, young and old, intellectuals with those struggling to make a living, took to the streets and plazas to tell the government: enough. Continue reading “The Indignants Are Here”

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The Politics of Finger Pointing

“We just want to remind people, for those who don’t know what is secularism, secularism doesn’t mean being against God, secularism is just the separation between religion and state, secularism makes all citizens equal before the law with the same rights, secularism leads us from confessionalism to citizenship.”

(Closing remarks on satirical show “CHI NN” on Lebanese Al Jadeed TV, February 4, 2013)

With raging discussions on a new electoral law and civil marriage in recent weeks, the role of religion has once again been brought to the mainstream political debate. The role of religion in politics and our daily lives is certainly nothing new in Lebanon. Continue reading “The Politics of Finger Pointing”

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Battle of the Beards

In the aftermath of the events in Saida last week, pitting Sheikh Ahmad Al Assir in direct confrontation with Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the only thing that I could think about was my next blog post. I came up with what I believed was the best title for it, as used herewith[1]. However, I seemed unable to fill the post with anything other than the usual, yet always valid, criticism of the absurdity of Lebanese politics and the way we always seem to swiftly move against the current of modern times (so much so that we could earn yet another pathetic Guinness record for it).

Continue reading “Battle of the Beards”

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Activism in Lebanon: Looking at the Bright Side

It looks like I have been pretty angry recently. Or at least that seems to be what my blog followers and friends think. I have been accused of being too critical, focusing on everything negative about Lebanon. Although if you ask me, I would have to write day and night to even get to the core of what is slowly destroying the essence of this country. Continue reading “Activism in Lebanon: Looking at the Bright Side”

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Lebanon: History must not repeat itself

One of the images that always comes to mind while recalling the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, is that of a group of young and peaceful protesters I once read about who headed to Beirut’s infamous Green Line. Defying snipers and tenuous ceasefires, they held their humble signs and white roses to say no to the conflict that dragged on for too long and no to all those who held on to Lebanon solely as a battlefield for their selfish wars. Continue reading “Lebanon: History must not repeat itself”