عيد مبارك & שנה טובה

When Americans speak of the “wall of separation”, they mean the principle of separation between “Church” and State (i.e. Religion & Government). The expression takes a whole different meaning in our region, doesn’t it?
Well, I thought the title of this post (transliterated: Eid Mubarak and Shana Tova, translated: Blessed Feast and Happy New Year) reflects the hopes of many perfectly, that an ampersand replaces the wall.

Notice the clouds lurking in the back… well, you’ll understand what they’re up to in a coming post

“Regional Normalisation”… an assessment -1

Normalisation or  االتطبيع  (el-Tatbi’) is certainly one of the most detested words in the Arabic political lexicon. But western diplomacy willfully ignores that and  hasn’t come up with another word to wrap up its propositions. I could delve into semantics and share with you my views on the reasons behind the word’s extremely negative connotations, but that would spawn a whole different article. I’d rather tackle the propositions directly.

Here are the regional normalization steps Washington seems to be seeking (according to Haaretz):

1. Arab countries in the Gulf would allow Israeli passenger and civilian cargo aircraft to fly over their territory. The move would save long detours on flights to Asia, a popular destination for Israeli travelers.
2. Israel would be able to open interest sections in other states’ embassies in Arab capitals, such as Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Israel had interest sections in several Arab countries but they were closed after the start in 2000 of a Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Suleiman & Hariri (1): the unlikely president

One of the greatest political unknowns in Lebanon is surely the evolution of the presidential cohabitation between Saad Hariri and Michel Suleiman. They both share the same views on the head of the executive: his function, duty and responsibilities. Only both see themselves as that head. Let’s take a brief look at the political positioning of two men who never were intended to take such prominent political positions and try to see how things are likely to evolve for two unlikely politicians and between them.

If you want to read more on the unlikely President (what will & what way?) read below. In the coming days, you’ll find some thoughts on the unlikely Prime Minister.

Obama speech to Muslims: beyond a rhetorical shift

I read Obama’s Cairo speech twice yesterday and just viewed to it on Youtube, from beginning to end; and it still had the same effect on me. Between the time I read it, and the time I saw it, I had skimmed through many editorials commenting it. But this hadn’t altered my views on it. It is by far one of the most impressive PR stunts that I have ever witnessed. Barak Obama had succeeded in extending to the Muslim communities worldwide the message he gave to Americans during the presidential campaign. He sold them “change they could believe in”.

Many things could be said about the American President’s speech in Egypt, and indeed, many things have been said about it. However, what seems to be extremely important is the liberal approach that he has espoused to discuss Islam. Instead of referring to the Muslim World or addressing Muslim countries, Obama preferred to talk on one hand about Islam as a religion, one that should be treated in the very same way other religions are treated, and on the other hand about “Muslim-majority countries”. Now this expression is rather new to me. It’s obviously  preferable  to the expression “Muslim countries”, because it insists that the “muslim” character comes from the fact that the population is mostly muslim, it’s not a character of the state. Furthermore, the expression “muslim majority” hints that there could be a non-muslim minority in those countries… This expression is undoubtedly a non-essentialist and liberal one. It reflects the way religion is seen in America: it is recognised as an important social feature, but one that doesn’t have a direct tie with the government because of the principle of separation of church and state (first amendment: establishment clause and freedom of religion).

Marketing belligerence: “The ultimate mission to Israel”

I stumbled upon an astonishing tourism program this morning called “The Mission“. It offers “a dynamic and intensive eight day exploration of Israel’s struggle for survival and security in the Middle East today: a military, humanitarian, historical, judicial, religious, and political reality check“.

Not only you are served propaganda, but you pay for it too! 

Take a look at the “Mission Highlights”:

• Briefings by Mossad officials and commanders of the Shin Bet.
• Briefing by officers in the IDF Intelligence and Operations branches.
• Inside tour of the IAF unit who carries out targeted killings.
• Live exhibition of penetration raids in Arab territory.
• Observe a trial of Hamas terrorists in an IDF military court.
• First hand tours of the Lebanese front-line military positions and the Gaza border check-points.
• Inside tour of the controversial Security Fence and secret intelligence bases.
• Meeting Israel’s Arab agents who infiltrate the terrorist groups and provide real-time intelligence.
• Briefing by Israel’s war heros who saved the country.
• Meetings with senior Cabinet Ministers and other key policymakers.
• Small airplane tour of the Galilee, Jeep rides in the Golan heights, water activities on Lake Kinneret, a cook-out barbecue and a Shabbat enjoying the rich religious and historic wonders of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Isn’t it just mind boggling. This tour invites you to share an experience where the most controversial of policies are presented as necessary, legitimate, lawful and heroic (targeted killing, penetration raids, separation wall)…

I wonder what a Lebanese version of such a show would look like. Any suggestions for an “Ultimate Mission to Lebanon”?

Someone please tell Siniora that charity starts at home

Siniora pledged 1m $ to Gaza last week. How considerate, how charitable, what a great signe of arab solidarity, right? nah.

What a PR stunt! What a typical arab face saving scheme!  What a pitiful action to obscure the fact that the Lebanese government did nothing when the battle was raging in Gaza. This kind of reaction is expected from the Gulf’ Petro-States. Petro-dollars are surely their best diplomatic and political asset.  But Lebanon is no petro-State, and the country doesn’t have a dollar to spare.

What it has is a relatively old diplomatic tradition, some very dynamic and imaginative diplomats (No, this comment is not intended for a regular reader), and quite a numerous Palestinian population born and raised in Lebanon. So why not start with that? Why wasn’t Lebanon more active in December and January? Why didn’t our diplomacy find a way to reconcile the two arab positions concerning Gaza? Why doesn’t the government find an imaginative solution to have a diplomatic representation in Palestine ? Why doesn’t Siniora use the million dollars he promised to Gaza to help out Lebanon’s Palestinian or to finance programmes (or a larger public institution) to advance the condition of this disenfranchised population and its relations with Lebanese nationals?

Instead of those necessary actions, all Siniora did was secure a photo-op with Ms Clinton.

Nothing so bad it cannot be made worse

That’s the sentence I came up with when I tried to find a way to be optimistic about the situation in the Middle East. The only hope I could grasp was that today is undoubtedly better than tomorrow; so let’s make the best of it and seize the opportunities that are withering away.

The greatest advance would be to find a way to preserve them.

A month in a virtual-peace-community – part 2

What I didn’t say yesterday about this virtual-peace-community is that it is managed and owned by an young Israeli, a member of Peace Now.

This fact could explain some of the problems the virtual-peace-community faces. Peace Now is a left leaning zionist organisation. It enjoys a large international support in intellectual circles because of its pro-peace stands, but in Israel, it is criticized by all sides:  On the right because of its attitude against the settlements in the West Bank, on the left because it’s seen as inefficient and too zionist. 

I personally have been quite sympathetic to some of this NGOs work, but critical of its two shortcomings:  

- Its support of the 2006 July War

- Its lack of interest in non-jewish membership (which is odd for a Peace movement that is in a multinational country and in a multi-religious region). 

Nevertheless, one can only be admirative of the courage Peace Now and the creator of the virtual-peace-community have for extending a peaceful hand to their enemy when they are criticised by their own and generally ignored and rejected by those to whom they extend your hand. This is what Peace Now has faced, and this is what the cyber-community is suffering from. If they can’t find a way to solve these two problems, there’s very little chance that they will be able to succeed in their venture.

A month in a virtual-peace-community – part 1

Dear blogosphere,

It wasn’t really work that kept me off this blog, but my growing involvement elsewhere in cyberspace. Over a year ago, I joined a virtual-community committed to peace in the Middle East. For months I was a regular, but this summer, things slipped out of control. I spend over two hours a day reading and responding to postings and comments. It was eating up almost of my spare time, to what avail? This is what I asked myself yesterday when I decided to wean myself off it. 

It was time to check the balance sheet. What was I getting out of this virtual-peace-community? Was it of benefit for me to stay on?

Well, it was interesting to see that the “Peacemakers” on the site are deeply divided among different lines:

- the first line is linguistic: the site is mostly in English, so those who master the language are likely to dominate the discussions (i.e. English native speakers and people with a high academic background). The site tried to encourage postings in Hebrew and Arabic, but it didn’t work,

- the second line is ideological: on one side you have the pro-zionist (adamant defenders of Israel) and on the other the anti-zionists (they’re mostly anti-zionist Israeli or diaspora jews). Each group has his cyber-soldiers who shoot at anyone that doesn’t belong to their camp.

- the third line is on the level of arguments and experience in “peacemaking”: some arguments are journalistic, others are academic, some were highly ideological, others were technical… Some were informed, others not at all… The same subjects were treated ad nauseam… the same arguments repeated incessantly… Copy/Pasting from other cites used extensively by some in their postings and comments… 

What a challenge it was to make such a diverse audience interact with each other peacefully! Anger is palpable in most discussions and cyber-soldiers are very efficient in hijacking discussions (though their number is limited: never more than 10 out of 1000 member).

Talking in peace

I met a group of people today studying Hebrew and Arabic through a French organisation called “Parler en Paix” (Talking in Peace). They had a stand in the International Fair for Peace Initiatives that took place in Paris this weekend. A Lebanese organisation partook in the event too (for the first time it seems). Though every one was busy attending to his or her stand, some exchanges were possible, and they centered on two issues: the political situation in Lebanon and the Israeli-Lebanese conflict. I overheard some heated arguments, but on the whole, people from all sides discussed all issues very openly, and without taboos. It was rather nice for a change. 

No longer protected from the worst cancers by lack of power

Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair will be selling tomorrow a letter written by Einstein in 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind. In it he speaks of religion and jewishness. In it, he claims that Jews “are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power”.

I found this sentence particularly interesting to ponder on, on a day like this, on May 14th, on the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel (celebrated last week, in accordance with the Jewish calendar). Alfred Einstein’s words were undeniably true before 1948, but how true were they when he wrote them, almost 8 years after the creation of the State of Israel? Israelis, as a nation, certainly do not lack power. As for the way their military exerts it, it seems rather reminiscent of that exerted by the neighbourhood bully. And as Israel declares itself a jewish state, the downfall of its actions reaches all jewish communities throughout the world.  

Not in our name

For several years now, a worldwide jewish movement has been voicing its rejection of the Israeli policy towards Palestinians, summing it up by the slogan “not in my name”.

I think we should do the same in Lebanon, replacing “my” by “our” because our political actors never refer to us as individuals, but express themselves as representatives of their communities. I personally don’t believe they represent their communities, and the responsibility of their acts certainly do not fall on their communities. It’s time they took on this responsibility themselves.  

Death of a Bishop/Death of a Monk

I went back to the Paris book-fair today for a book reading and signing. Alon Hilu, an Israeli-Jew of Syrian origin was presenting his book, “Death of a Monk“. This work of fiction written in 2004 was inspired by the real historical event know as the “Damascus Affair”. This  affair occurred in 1840 and was triggered by the disappearance of Father Tomaso, an Italian monk, on the eve of Passover in the Jewish quarter of Damascus. It led to a blood libel against the Damascene Jews. The Damascus affair was much publicised in Europe and led to the mobilisation of European Jews who decided to come to aid of their brothers in faith by exerting pressure on their governments. This mobilisation induced the creation of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. 

It seems that this was the first blood libel against Jews in the Ottoman Empire. Some people present it as an example of imported anti-semitism. In his presentation, Alon Hilu spoke of the way the blood libel was distorted while imported: in Europe, the accusation revolved around a supposed ritual murder (sacrificial) of Christian children. In the Damascus affair, the supposed victim was an old man.

Through an odd coincidence, I had learnt about the book signing on Friday, minutes before noticing the cover of the French catholic newspaper, La Croix, that announced the death of Faraj Raho, the Chaldean Archbishop of Mossul. Many politicians and communal leaders condemned this murder. But what steps are they likely to take to protect Iraq’s rapidly declining christian population?

Three good reasons to revive this blog

I haven’t written an entry for over a month now. Not only was I overburdened with work and other trivial yet stressful stuff, but I felt I had nothing new to add to what I had already posted. The deadlock was so strong in Lebanon and the rest off the Middle East, the dynamics so constrained and contrived… It was simply stifling.But two days ago, when I saw a cracked wall, a picture of people crossing from Gaza into Egypt, I felt something was changing, that something could change. You can’t wall in people indefinitely. Why should I accept my thoughts to be paralysed by the political actors and regional dynamics? It’s important to think outside the box, and it’s our responsibility to insure our ideas are not framed and boxed in by others.I discussed politics with a friend that same day, and I realised that the Lebanese were never as free as they are today, and yet they’ve never used their freedom so parsimoniously. It’s time to move before it’s too late. Egypt is sealing the Gaza border, walling the Palestinians in again to the fate that was decided for them by others. And when the Lebanese parliament elects a new president (agreed upon by the regional and international powers), he will certainly start cracking down on liberties in the name of security. Minutes after waking up today, I read about the explosion that rocked Beirut’s eastern suburb this morning. It drove me to my blog. I felt I had to start writing again, for it’s the only to develop one’s thoughts, to go beyond emotional reactions and vague ideas and impressions. And who knows, someone could stumble on my thought crumbs and put them to some use, by developing them, sharing them. 

Israel/Palestine in mind -1

For the past week, I’ve been somewhat obsessed by the whole Palestinian-Israeli question. It all started on monday, after a talk I had with a very interesting Frenchwoman who had campaigned for the release of Marwan Barghouti. Her actions resulted in an expulsion order by the Israeli authorities. Several people in the group she’s in have sympathies for both the Palestinians and the Levantine Christians, which is quite a rare combination in Europe. Those who commiserate with the Palestinians are usually left-leaning (which she seems to be) and are quite sensitive to the anti-colonial rhetoric, while those who empathise with the Levantine Christians are usually conservative, traditionalist or religious and are rather hostile to anything islamic. I wonder what her position was during the first few years of the Lebanese war (1975-1983). We had a short healthy debate over the question of approaches to the Palestinian question: a political one or a humanitarian one (collective vs individual).
The second event that triggered my questioning was an article I read on the Annapolis peace summit. It seems that Abbas and Olmert were unable to get to a common understanding in Jerusalem, what hope is there that they would achieve anything different across the Atlantic?
The third event was the projection of Mohammad Atar’s “Iron wall” in Paris. I arrived a couple of minutes late to the projection and couldn’t get in because of the crowd that had invaded the theatre and its surroundings. So I compensated by reading articles about Vladmir Jabotinsky (who fathered this expression and notion). And then I came across an interview of Benny Morris by Ari Shavit (rather chilling) and got a couple of infos on Ghaleb (Raleb) Majadele and Avi Shlaim.