Category Archives: Politics

Burning Tires

I’ve read many people saying that what certain protesters did today, burning tires and blocking roads, is hypocritical seeing as these same protesters “defamed” similar protests, albeit on different grounds.

I have a few things to note regarding this. The protests Lebanon saw today were a spontaneous act by a group that saw its choice at how this country should be running, one it clearly expressed through national parliamentary elections a year and a half earlier, going down the drain. These people felt oppressed. They were scorned. For a whole day of demonstrations, which ironically falls almost on the same day the other protesters burned tires, no one died, property was not damaged and the expression of anger simply resulted in excessive traffic on certain roads.

On the other hand, when the “defamed” people protested, people died. I know of at least one man from my own district who was killed through a sniper’s job. The whole protest at that point was to prove a point against the government at the time by the opposition. Wouldn’t you think that people would be given a choice to participate or not in the “strike” as it was called at the time? The answer is no. The whole strike was shoved down our throats. Some people had to close down their business in order for them not to get trashed. People were forbidden from going to work. Some were banned from seeking medical help. I personally know of one woman they did not let pass to go to her chemotherapy. Her husband, a supporter of the movement at the time, pleaded but to no avail.

On that day, I was in my senior year of high school. The school gave us the freedom to do whatever they want. If you support the movement, you can not attend. If not, then come to class. Classes were supposed to be held. So I went to school. Imagine going on a side-road from my village and seeing tires burning there. I mean, what’s the point of burning tires on a road that’s not even that important? They simply wanted to have fun. I got to school. Classes were not held, simply because the headmistress, who incidentally announced this supposed “choice” we had, did not show up. This headmistress’s uncle was an MP with Aoun at the time. Another example of shoving the “strike” down my throat.

As far as I know, the people demonstrating today did not shove it down people’s throats. And I repeat, they did not kill anyone nor have they damaged property. The outer shell might the same. And I disagree with this outer-shell in all circumstances, meaning I refuse this way of protesting in absolute value. But the foundation is much, much different. It’s so different, in fact, that I believe a comparison based on the outer shell becomes null.

Let me conclude by saying something I shared with a friend today. Hell has no fury like a sect scorned.

Enough is Enough

This ad aired on TVs across Lebanon in the midst of the May 2008 events. I won’t go into the details of what happened. I’m sure they’re still imprinted in everyone’s memories.

However, for anyone who might stumble here and not understand what comes up in the ad, here’s a translation:

Over 200,000 martyrs

Over 3,700 “rigged” vehicles

Over 1,000,000 immigrant

And we still have not learned. Enough is enough.

Borderline Sectarianism

It seems that, as I’m posting this, the figure who’s going to become our next Prime Minister is being formulated. The choice is not one that represents the majority of the sect from which the prime minister is usually chosen. This has given rise to this post.

After the 2009 parliamentary elections, which produced a clear majority for the March 14 movement, this majority chose to go by the choice of the sect from which Speaker of the House is chosen and they voted for Berri. He returned, once again, as Speaker – even though he had a big hand in the political deadlock that preceded those elections. I personally would have preferred a more moderate Shiite figure to take that position. But you have to respect the choice most Shiites in the country have taken and Berri represents that.

Onwards with the PM choice for that year. It was clear Saad Hariri would be chosen and that happened. What was Hariri faced with? months of another deadlock by the opposition, just because they wanted a share in the government that does not conform with the results of the elections. And another figure wanted his son-in-law who lost in my own district to become minister again, having previously agreed that losers in the parliamentary race are not allowed to seek a minister position.  In all decent democratic societies, the opposition is rarely given the opportunity to basically stop democratic rule. It just waits its turn till the next election cycle, hoping those in power messed up enough to let the voters have another opinion.

But of course, nothing in Lebanon works as it should. And after months of rope-tugging, a government was formed.

Flash-forward a year later… this government has collapsed. And now the opposition, represented by Hezbollah (the definite master-head), FPM, Amal Movement and the newly joined Jumblat, want to force upon the Sunnis of the country one of three possible Prime Ministers: Omar Karami, Mohammad Safadi and Najib Mikati.

The question is this: what gives the Shiites the right to choose the highest political Sunni figure when there’s a clear choice for the sect at hand? didn’t they overwhelmingly choose the Future Movement as their representatives in parliament?

For the record, Omar Karami actually ran for parliament in his district of Tripoli – an overwhelmingly Sunni city. He lost. By a huge margin. If that’s not a clear enough choice, then what is?

I guess you can’t expect the opposition to give you the courtesy of a choice when they don’t even believe that you are entitled to one. They are taking power by force and there’s nothing we can do about that. We like our country too much to let it go on a path of destruction we all know they are capable of doing.

To end this… Hasan Nasrallah referenced, in his conference today, the constitution to justify overthrowing Saad Hariri’s government. He then referenced his sect’s rights in choosing Berri as speaker of the house. That’s duality right there. Would people see it? No. His supporters will just keep on chanting… and the country will be screwed more and more and more.

Indictment

For months now, we, Lebanese, have been hearing about a possible indictment being issued in an international tribunal, made especially to bring justice to the murderers of previous Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

As the date drew nearer, the political scene in Lebanon grew tenser. Some parties (we all know who they are) started to cry foul – saying the indictment is false without it being released yet. And at the moment of writing this, there was nothing mentioned about the possible contents of this indictment except pure speculation.

Wouldn’t it be wiser if these parties just waited for the indictment to be issued to take an official stance and do what they’re doing now, which is basically crumbling down the foundations of Lebanon by collapsing the government and threatening strife?

Wouldn’t it just be too ironic if the indictment came out and it actually did not accuse these specific parties of the murder of Rafic Hariri? This is a possibility. I doubt the Special Tribunal wouldn’t take the constant rambling about these “false witnesses”, which was the apparent cause of what’s happening today, seriously. This Tribunal is ran by professionals who, unlike many Lebanese judges, actually know what they’re doing. If they have reason to believe these witnesses were indeed lying, it’s very probable that they annulled their testimonies. But being the professionals that they are, they didn’t divulge it to the public.

All I know is, ruining the country for a “what-if” scenario is not healthy. And it’s always the case. This specific party has been basically shoving its ideas down our throats, without even any room for negotiations. Why? because they are well-armed. We cannot become a fully functional society, built on equality, unless the people of this society do not fear each other. When I need to be careful with what I post online about specific countries and about this specific group, you know you’re not in a healthy place. It might be that they are affected by the country that fuels them through military and ideological means… but this is Lebanon, the free-est country in the region, where I shouldn’t be afraid to say what I really feel.

Let me finish by saying this… if someone’s really innocent, they don’t need to fear an indictment.