I don’t like Ahmad el Assir. I’m sure this goes to at least 90% of the Lebanese population as well. We all know he’s an extremist. We all know his mentality is rotten. We all know his ideology is something that very few people share. But when Ahmad el Assir wants to go ski, it’s sure as hell his right to go ski. Wherever he wants. Whenever he wants. However he wants. With whoever he wants.
As long as it’s all legal of course. And even that is a gray area because, as you know, law and Lebanon are oil and water. Of course, Al Assir praying at this very moment in the square of the town that didn’t want to host him is not only an act of provocation, it’s something that reflects how mentally deranged and sickening this man is.
I’d like to see the Lebanese army try to stop the prayers though. Oh wait.
A bunch of God-fearing Christians of Kfardebian, in the heart of the Maronite heartland of Keserwan, decided that Ahmad el Assir hitting their slopes with a few of his supporters was too much for them to handle. So they decided to cut him off instead and go in a stand off with the army for hours.
Al Assir wasn’t the first “politician” – or whatever he is – to go ski in Mzaar. But he sure got preferential treatment. Was it that beard?
Two people were wounded before Assir was able to go about his skiing attempt. Welcome to Lebanon – where someone going skiing can turn into a country ordeal. Nothing is too out of the box for us, right?
What those righteous Christians of Kfardebian failed to realize, however, is that they are even worse than Ahmad el Assir in their disgusting mentality. Al Assir is a Muslim extremist sure. But they’re the exact same thing, with a different religion. Perhaps with no beard and a few less wives.
And you know who’s as bad as those Christian extremists? Those who are turning them into heroes for doing what they did. Those who are proud of what those Christians did. Those who believe that what those Christians did is somehow us telling everyone that we won’t be trampled on.
Lebanese Christians talk and talk about how extremism is rising among Muslims. All of them seem not to know how to look in the mirror and see how their own extremism is on an exponential rise these days. They have probably never read the Bible in its entirety. They sure as hell can’t recite verses out of the Bible. But they can perfectly orchestrate dramatic brouhahas out of their Christianity.
Jesus Christ would not approve. But what do I know. We have our existence to maintain in this country… one ski slope at a time.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
Haha, I like this one, he got me quite upset (al-Assir) as my son went up skiing today. But you’re right, he should be allowed to ski. But to stay in the spirit of Colonel Kilgore, ‘Charlie don’t surf’, and neither did Jesus and Mohammed.
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Good one – I hope your son made it to the slopes safely.
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I agree with you, although I don’t agree that him praying, wherever he is, is a provocation, when it’s prayer time, he will pray, do you not expect that from a religious person whose religious duty is to pray at certain times of the day?
It is shameful that some of the locals there are convinced that this is the picture they want to reflect about their area.
We are quite unique, who would have thought that a ski trip would become the country’s headline for a day?
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It’s not really about praying. Everyone has the right to pray. However, there’s no need to turn a prayer into a theatrical act of provocation. I mean praying in the square of the town? we all know that we’re not talking about religious/spiritual practices here, the only purpose of this prayer was to provoke the people who protested and to poison the air with subliminal messages. They could have prayed peacefully anywhere else. After all, no need to let the world know that you’re praying.
The people of Kfardebian have done a terrible and a disgraceful thing of course, but you don’t answer provocation with provocation. Not here, not now.
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Bravo Ismail!
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Yup.
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Great minds think alike. This is precisely the point regarding his prayers.
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I’m not addressing the fact that he should/shouldn’t pray – it’s praying after people blocked the road, in the middle of a town square. That in itself is an act of provocation in retaliation to those who blocked the road.
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Lebanon is funny. Sad but funny.
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More on the sad side sometimes.
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I guess i’m part of the 10% that likes Assir then. He is a Salafi, not an extremist. What he says and does is great because all the other Lebanese politicians don’t have the balls to do what he does, although they want to.
Why is he an extremist? Just because he calls out Hezbollah for what they really are? Hezbollah is a paramilitary organization that uses “democracy” when it is convenient for it, all the while knowing that it has its guns to help its version of “democracy” move along.
Assir calls it like it is, which is refreshing for a change. So what if he wanted to go to Faraya? It only became a big deal because the Aounists wanted to prove a point.
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No one cares what anyone is (Salafi, extremist, moderate, leftist, conservative….) you like Assir, but can you tell me why? What does he stand for? What is there to like about his princinples? What are these principles? (The same goes for all other politicians in Lebanon)
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Last time I checked, Al Assir is one of those who want to apply shari3a in Lebanon. I know salafists who are against it because of Lebanon’s diversity so he’s immediately on the extremist side for me.
Regarding the Hezbollah point – it’s nowhere near enough for me to like him. Besides, his style of sticking it to Hezbollah isn’t exactly flawless as well. Nor is it effective.
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Firstly, he is not a politician as he nor anyone in his group is running for any public office. His principles are basically to reject the hypocrisy of the current situation in Lebanon, whereby the whole country is held hostage to the whims of Hezbollah. They helped to kill a former Lebanese Prime Minister, plunge the country into a war with Israel in 2006 that none of the Lebanese asked for, invaded half of our capital city resulting in the deaths of over 100 Lebanese citiznes, the list goes on.
Just because he has a beard doesn’t mean he is an extremist. He believes in co-existence between Muslims and Christians and values the Christians’ presence in Lebanon. His movement is peaceful, and just because he opposes Hezbollah, who themselves are not peaceful at all, doesn’t mean he is an extremist. Rather, it shows that he has the guts to stand up for what is right. He set up a peaceful demonstration last year in downtown after getting approval from the Ministry of Interior. He wanted to stop Hezbollah’s spread all over Sidon by taking down posters and flags of the group peacefully, only to be shot at by Hezbollah followers. He publicly calls out Hezbollah’s leadership for their support of the killing machine in Syria. Now you tell me, what is wrong with all of these things?
The only thing that is wrong is the attempt by Hezbollah and their allies to silence Assir and his followers by any means necessary. Assir would have went to Faraya and left without anyone knowing about it until after the fact. However, the Aounists wanted to make a whole commotion about his trip to try and make him look like a provocateur.
The fact of the matter is, Assir represents a homegrown attempt by a segment of the Lebanese citizenry to reject Hezbollah’s illegitimate hegemony over the country. Just because his religious beliefs differ from yours doesn’t make him or his followers bad people.
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His principles aren’t only centered around rejecting Hezbollah. I’m sure if Al Assir had his way, his ideology would surpass what he’s currently advocating.
Besides, his movement has involved shootings and blocking roads. I wouldn’t call that peaceful.
He has the right to speak as much as anyone else in the country but he should be critiqued as well for the way he has done things – even if Hezbollah has done worse.
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Yeah his movement is peaceful LMFAO!!! Christians are always meant to turn a blind eye never allowed to defend ourselves!! SKI IN OUR VILLAGES TODAY, WANT TO TAKE OVER THEM TOMORROW!! The road to Jerusalem will never pass through Jounieh!!
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