Tag Archives: Lebanon

A Facebook Discussion With a Lebanese MP

I have Samer Saade, the Maronite MP of Tripoli (he’s from Chabtine in Batroun originally), as a friend on Facebook. Yesterday afternoon, he posted a link (click here) to amendments that he, along with MP Nadim Gemayel, proposed to the non-smoking law.

MP Saade posts many links to things he’s doing. I usually read them and, like many other Facebook users, go on without commenting or “liking” the links. This time, however, I wanted to voice in my opinion. I figured the worst case scenario would be he’d read it and ignore it, like many other Lebanese MPs.

But MP Saade actually replied. This is the conversation that happened (click here for a Facebook link):

 

 

 

 

The problem with discussing the law in parliament, as I made clear to MP Saade, is that it won’t be a real discussion whereby the voice of those who want the law in its current form is heard. The amendments will pass. And it will be as if we had no law in the first place, which is a shame since I really like smoke free Lebanon.

How awesome is it to go clubbing and not get out of the night club with your underwear smelling like an ashtray? And who thought that was possible here?

Either way, more MPs should do what MP Saade does and that is communicate with their voters. I remember some newspaper writing about how he replies to the birthday wishes he gets on Facebook. It may not be much but I know for a fact that he’s also active on the ground – at least in Batroun.

In some countries, the voters in any district can call their representative to let him/her know where they stand regarding a certain bill or amendment or law. Of course, we’re nowhere near that level in Lebanon. Our MPs are always put on a pedestal. But I, for one, at least feel better that one of the people who will discuss the law knows that there is someone who’s against those amendments.

Of course, the conversation ended as only an MP can end it: with the idea that everyone should be heard. We all know that is far from being the case but some things are better left unsaid. At least to an MP.

Now the question is: how will the many, many others who share my opinion regarding their amendments get their voice across?

For reference, you can read what I wrote about the smoking ban here and here.

The Christian Delusion of Hezbollah

It is the time of electoral calculations. Parties plan out their moves depending on the yield of votes those moves could get them in 2013’s parliamentary elections or according to the extent that those moves can help their allies.

With this point of view, many (click here) saw Hezbollah’s “peaceful” demonstration against the anti-Islam movie as a calculated strategical move to show Lebanese Christians that their alternative is better: i.e. the Islam they have to offer is superior to that of those who burn down fast food restaurants and, in a more global sense, attack embassies.

During the protest, several TV stations interviewed Hezbollah members who answered Hassan Nasrallah’s call. They all had one common thing to say: “This is our leader. We will not let anyone make fun of him and when it happens, we will answer.”
The leader they were referring to was obviously Mohammad. The leader that sentence also applies to is Hassan Nasrallah – the declaration can go both ways depending on who’s in a tough spot, so to speak.

And it is here that Hezbollah’s main Christian problem lies. Regardless of all the “peace” they advocate and promote, the mentality that they are ready to do anything for either their prophet or their leader puts off the majority of Christians in droves and equates them with the bad clumsy Sunnis who see in KFC a sign of the devil. I mean, have you seen those chickens?

The Christian side is divided into two main players. One tries to explain the rising Sunni extremism while attacking the hidden extremism of the Shiites. The other player totally forgets about the extremism that’s harbored with a signed document and flaunts what those other Muslims. The Christian supporters of each player will eat the rhetoric up. They will get into endless quarrels about those other bad Muslims. No one will convince the other.
So who’s at play? The “independent” Christian vote, little as that may be, who sees in both Hezbollah and the Sunnis that Hezbollah is trying to come off as different from as evils that need to be eradicated. It is the “independent” Christian vote that’s feeling increasingly threatened as a minority and is seeking reassurance.
His reassurance will not come at the hands of Hassan Nasrallah, regardless of what some politicians want you to believe. It comes at the hand of Christian leaders who have their most basic ideologies at war: we are not in danger vs we need a minority alliance to be safe.

The pursuit of Christian votes by Hezbollah for his sake and the sake of his main Christian ally is futile. Why? Because it plays on two fronts. One, the Lebanese voter – for anything non civil war related (because you know they all remember everything there is to remember about that event) – has a memory that spans a few seconds. By the time next June rolls by, no one, apart from the highly politicized individuals, would remember what the Sunnis did to KFC or the sublime demonstration of Hezbollah. The second front is for those who remember and they are not irrelevant few.

There are those who remember how a few years ago when Basmet Watan had a Hassan Nasrallah dummy on their show, all hell broke loose as riots started and subsequently the show was stopped for a month. There are those who remember how the May 2008 events went along. There are those who remember how Samer Hanna got killed and how powers shifted in 2011. And regardless of where those people stand politically from those events, they will always play into them being so cautious from Hezbollah that the fake smiles they give the party of god are just that: fake. Yes, even those who theoretically support said party.

The fact of the matter is the Christians in Lebanon are wary of its Muslims. They are wary of both of their short fuses when it comes to the matters that touch each sect. The staunchest FPM supporter despises Hezbollah as much as they dislike Hariri. The staunchest LF supporter will tell you in secret how he doesn’t like Hariri as well. The common thing among both teams? They go with the flow and hope that one day the side they put their money on turns out to be the better side. But deep down they both know that in the game of thrones in Lebanon, the Christian vote is a Christian matter and what other sects do will hold little to no significance.

So why did Hezbollah hold a protest against the anti-Islam movie so late in the anti-Islam auction game? It’s quite easy actually. Have you heard anything Syria related when the movie protests were taking place? And herein lies your answer.

iPhone 5 in Lebanon: The Nano Sim Problem

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With Apple unveiling their new iPhone 5, a problem has surfaced for Lebanese users who want to purchase the phone and it is the SIM card that the phone uses.
Ditching the micro sim that was made popular by the iPhone 4, the iPhone 5 uses a new generation of SIM cards called nano sims.
The standard was only approved a few months ago so it’s still not available in many countries and the iPhone 5 will be the first phone to use this standard.

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Unlike micro sims, you can’t cut a bigger sim into a nano sim which is how most early iPhone 4 adopters managed before the microsim became available in early fall of 2010, almost 3 months after the initial release of the iPhone 4.

Alfa has issued a statement that it will be getting nano sims soon. But that’s soon in Lebanese standards which might mean a few months. So for those who rushed to pre-order their iPhones already and expect to have them in Lebanon in the coming weeks, you’ll be stuck with your older phones until an “unconfirmed” date.

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But hey, at least you’ll have that gorgeous device to keep you busy until then. Right?

Look At All Those “Idiots” Attending The Pope’s Mass in Beirut

350,000. That’s how many people went to Beirut’s Watefront to attend the Pope’s Mass.

A few people is all it took for a wave of ridicule to start hitting them all. Some people were bothered by the Mass. And I don’t get why.

I didn’t go down to Beirut for the Mass although I would have liked to. And I can understand why someone wouldn’t want to. But why make fun of those who do?

Are they causing you any harm? No. Are they wrecking havoc to downtown Beirut? No. Are they giving a bad image of your country? No.

On the contrary, the Pope’s Mass in Beirut was broadcast for the entire world to see. And if there’s any decent image that we could have given the world, it’s this: 350,000 people, not all of whom are Christian, listening in to a message of hope.

You don’t like the Pope? Fine. You don’t think what he has to say is relevant? You have every right. But what you don’t have the right to do is make fun of those who like the Pope and who think what he has to say is relevant.

Religion may not mean anything to you but it means something to others. You find religions to be bringing societies backwards, others find in them a message of hope. And as it is your right to express your belief without expecting people to pummel you for it, the least you can do is extend that courtesy to those who don’t share your beliefs.

Personally, I felt proud as a Lebanese first and foremost and as a Christian second to see the crowds in Downtown Beirut chant and attend Mass. It made me feel hopeful, if only for a fleeting second, that somehow someday things might get better. I may be delusional, but that’s fine – at least for today.

The point is: the Pope’s visit means a lot to so many people. It may mean nothing to you but that doesn’t mean you can disparage the right of people to see hope in it or to attend Mass and feel delusional for one more day. It’s their life and if you believe they’re not reaching their “mental apogee” because of it, then it’s their loss not yours.

But No One Asked If We Wanted To Pay To Get the Pope to Lebanon!

The following picture was shared yesterday by the Lebanese Laïque Pride Facebook page, as their way to refute the Pope’s visit.

It seems the Lebanese Laïque (Secular) Pride people are missing a key point to their notion of secularism. Being secular doesn’t mean not being religious. Being secular doesn’t mean you go nazi on any religious event in the country and being secular surely doesn’t mean being this narrow-minded.

I can give the Lebanese Laïque Pride many examples of bonafide laïque countries, the kind that these Laïque people would kill to have over here, that have hosted the Pope and even organized WYD (World Youth Day) before. But I won’t. What I will do however is list them a few things that I, as a Lebanese, wasn’t also asked if I wanted to pay for:

  1. The few billion dollars we had to pay post July 2006.
  2. The few billion dollars we had to pay post May 2008.
  3. The millions in losses that we had to incur over people closing roads and terrorizing citizens.
  4. The 40% increase to the salaries of MPs who do nothing and ministers who complain about not having electricity.
  5. The visit of Ahmedinejad to Lebanon back in 2010.

And the list goes on and on. Some of them will throw the “but Jesus wanted you to be poor” argument. They seem to forget apparently that paving roads, hiring organizers, hanging banners and taking care of logistics are matters that are not taken care of by the Holy Spirit and in fact need Earthly monetary input.

What has become clear also is that no other religious figure can have his visit this opposed. I invite you to check this Facebook status (click here). But we’ll take it. Like we’ve taken so many other things before. Because that’s what we do.

One thing has become evident though, there’s no way in hell I’m trusting those Lebanese Laïque Pride people in any of their events ever again. Because, you know, f*ck their logic.