Tag Archives: ban

Tannoura Maxi is Banned in Lebanon

Because the government has so much free-time on its hands,

Because nothing else is important & going on nowadays,

Because there’s nothing wrong in Lebanon that needs to be rectified,

Because our threshold for offenses is so damn low and our pride so damn high,

Because our journalists are so keen on research,

Because our TV stations can’t wait to eat up a controversy,

Tannoura Maxi has been banned in Lebanon, following a request by the Lebanese Catholic Information Center. Hate or like the movie, you can’t but be against such a thing. If you think this is irrelevant compared to what the country is going through, you are right. But then think about how such a decision came to be in the light of what the country is going through and you’ll come to the same conclusion I got to.

This is pitiful. This is a disgrace. This is an insult to our intelligence and our freedom. This is an insult to Christianity, an insult to the Bible and an insult to anything Jesus Christ stood for.

Christian priests, are you happy? I am a Christian and I’m telling you – you are disgusting. You are so narrow-minded that if I tried to look through the hole that is your mind, the only thing I can see is emptiness. Is that what they teach you at whatever school you go through to become priests? To close in your mind and get offended at anything that touches on your religion in a way you find unfavorable?

How does this reflect on us, Christians, when your narrow-mindedness if the only thing people can see of us? Have you perhaps wondered that if some people decided to convert from Christianity because of a movie like Tannoura Maxi, however unlikely that may be, it’s not the movie’s fault but it’s your own? Or it’s perhaps because you don’t want the reality of having so many people with so little faith on your hands that you are panicking about anything and everything?

Weren’t you offended, dear priests, by Muslims smashing statues of the Virgin Mary in Where Do We Go Now? Weren’t you offended by them faking a miracle and saying the word “waté” in church? Weren’t you offended by one of the actresses throwing dirt at the statue of the Virgin Mary?

Or is “offending” religions also hypocritical in Lebanon, some can get away with it while others are burned at the stake?

The whole idea of bans in Lebanon needs to be banned. Censorship is never the solution. Prohibition should never be allowed. Religious men should not be permitted near anything that exceeds their field. Go to your churches, parishes and mosques and leave books, movies and TV shows alone.

A Lebanese Priest On Tannoura Maxi’s Potential Ban in Lebanon

If you don’t want to hear it from me, how about you listen to someone who’s among the most concerned (Arabic article) with Tannoura Maxi?

Father George Massouh, who teaches at the University of Balamand, wrote an article for Annahar in which he discussed the matter from the perspective of basic liberties, without even watching the movie.

Sects in Lebanon today, he said, are not only hijacking a person’s sense of nationalism but they are also attempting to take over people’s taste by trying to dictate what they can or cannot watch. And he’s totally right.

Religions are supposedly a voice for liberties – none of them, in theory, ask for oppression. Those who start oppressive measures are the people whose understanding of religion is quite limited. Do you think Jesus would be offended by Tannoura Maxi? There’s only one answer to this question and it’s a no. One only needs to look at the Bible and read the teachings of the Man to know that such a thing wouldn’t register on His radar of relevance, which begs the question: who are we offending here?

The answer is simple. Our Christian pride.

I think Christians in Lebanon have reached a point of mass hysteria, especially with the recent events in Tripoli, where they’re feeling increasingly threatened, unjustifiably so. Even though their reason is telling them they have nothing to worry about, their passion is telling them to grasp at anything that might make them feel strong and in control. Tannoura Maxi turned out to be the casualty.

The argument I’ve heard being tossed around: “But if this had happened with them, the whole country would have burned.”

Perhaps so. But two wrongs don’t make a right especially when it comes to something that touches on basic liberties. The moment we start compromising on what we allow others and ourselves to be exposed to is the moment we start biding farewell to our position in Lebanese society and the region. And that’s the true danger we are facing, not some irrelevant extremists whose effect far transcends their actual size.

Father Massouh concludes his article by saying: instead of asking for bans on things that we think are offending religions, we need to use civilized platforms to get the message across. Clergy and religious figures nowadays are only contributing to increasing ignorance among the people by failing to grasp that point.

So, as I said, instead of making a big deal out of Tannoura Maxi’s religious content, just let the movie be. For religions that have been around for thousands of years, how big of a threat can a movie be? In the grand scheme of things, it’s totally irrelevant. How about we see it as such instead of asking what religious people shouldn’t ask for: a policy of bans and limiting freedom?

33 Days – A Lebanese Movie About The July 2006 War Banned At ABC Mall

Picture from the Facebook page: Stop Cultural Terrorism in Lebanon

Just as we talk about the bans and transgressions that happen with what some people refer to as “pro-Israel” entities, we cannot talk about being fair until we point out similar bans that happen on the other side.

ABC Mall’s management banned Grand Cinemas from showing 33 Days, a new Lebanese movie, starring Carmen Lebbos and Bassem Maghnieh as well as Youssef el Khal. 33 Days, which is a Lebanese-Iranian production about a Hezbollah mission to release Lebanese prisoners in Israeli prisoners during the July 2006 war.

Legally, the owners of ABC Mall have the right to allow or disallow movies from being screened at Grand Cinemas. However one cannot but wonder why they decided to ban this movie from being screened?

The movie’s producer said he does not know if it’s for a political reason. I cannot but think of political reasons for the ban, in which case shame on ABC Mall’s management for not respecting the basic freedom rights. You’re against Hezbollah? Fine. So banning a movie that talks about something Hezbollah makes you feel better? Does it make you feel like you did something worthwhile?

The only thing ABC’s management did with banning 33 Days is to make a fool out of themselves for being xenophobic inside their own country.

If there’s anything ABC’s management should have considered, apart from every logical reason that might come to person’s mind, is that you have more than 1000 Lebanese who died in the July 2006 war (You can read a story of one of the war’s victims here). Most of those 1000 people were innocent people whose only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. We may not agree with their politics, but the least we can do is not ridicule their memory by banning a movie about the cause that led to their death.

What’s sad is that news about Lara Fabian being banned from coming to Lebanon spread like wildfire across the cyberspace. News about the movie’s ban did nothing.

The movie is being screened at other Grand Cinemas theaters in Lebanon.

Lebanese Authorities Do Not Allow Madonna Concert

According to Al Nahar, Lebanese authorities refused to grant Imad Qanso, a regular fixture for concerts and events in Lebanon, permisssion to have a Madonna concert in Lebanon.

The cause for their refusal was, according to them, Madonna’s statements that the biggest portion of her concert’s revenue goes to the Israeli department of defense.

I’m not a fan but I know people who are actually traveling to watch her perform in UAE and Turkey and who were asking how come she didn’t make a pitstop for a gig in Lebanon.

Either way, I hardly think religious active groups and the BDS would have let the concert be had Madonna been allowed. And while I’m more inclined to see the point of view of the refusal in this case, I still disagree with it. She may be pro-Israeli but she shouldn’t be forbidden from singing here.

The iPhone is Banned in Syria

It looks like one of the new threats to burden the “lovely” Syrian regime is Apple’s iPhone. As if killing 4000 people, torturing countless more and terrorizing their whole country (and a neighboring country too) wasn’t enough.

But yes, according to this memo from the Syrian General Directorate of Customs, the iPhone has been banned because of its many features. I fail to see how a phone can threaten a political regime but I guess when you’re that insecure, anything goes. Or perhaps the iPhone has some hidden: Topple Regime app.

Check out the memo for yourself.