In the last decades, religious fundamentalism was on the move in several countries, but so were mainstream interfaith dialogue, dynamic encounters among ethnic origins, sexual identities and social classes, and secular ideas/practices/movements. In counterpoint to tidal waves of authoritarianism, terrorism, extremism, exclusivism and absolutism, there were (and still are) individuals and groups of people breaking […]
Category Archives: War and Peace
Eternels vagabonds…
Suite à l’incendie criminel de la librairie Saeh à Tripoli au Nord du Liban, je partage ici un passage de mon livre ‘A la rencontre de l’Islam’ (Médiaspaul, Montréal, 2006, p.29): “Je regarde le ciel et je cherche une réponse, à la violence perpétuelle, au lynchage de mon peuple, Aucun signe, aucune lueur… Dieu aurait-il […]
Why not an "Emergency State" in Lebanon?
What happens when a society no longer knows the meaning of an Emergency State?A�It seems that this is what we have come to. Another news about an explosion blasting a certain area and the usual happens: we spend the first 10 minutes in disbelief and panic, we shift from one local TV channel to the […]
In the Land of Martyrdom?
Following the latest blasts in Beirut-Lebanon – just before New Year’s celebration, and this afternoon -, and every explosion since 2005, one can easily notice the use (and misuse) of the word ‘martyr’. According to many journalists, political sciences experts and clergymen, victims of such attacks are labeled ‘martyrs’ (shuhada’), and Lebanon ‘the Land of […]
Arab Youth and Catharsis in Graffiti and Street Art
Rather than being limited to the cold dryness of documented imagery, like what is seen in the photographic media, the stunning art forms of graffiti and street art not only capture the truth of situations in any given environment, but also beautify the space and give it a unique fresh flavor, reflecting the energies of […]
Pity our Nation ? (II)
I published ‘Pity our Nation?’ in August 2013 and this is the second part… Yesterday’s suicide bombings resulted in one of the many massacres occurring in the land of what was once called ‘The Switzerland of the East’. Another physical and psychological wound… Another brick in the wall of hatred – the Lebanese Wall of Shame… Another […]
All it takes for evil to succeed is for a few good human beings to do nothing…
As I was watching TV the other night, I came across the trailer of “Fifth Estate”, the movie based on the sequence of events lived by the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange. The trailer ends with “you want the truth; you should seek it out yourself. That’s what they fear the most, YOU”. Right after […]
Lebanese Youth needs to receive specific attention: the generation that inherits the experience of violence as still living memory!
“You cannot erase everything and start again … We need to continue (…). Suffering is everywhere here, there, everywhere. Life is everywhere here, there, everywhere. Ignorance kills it (…). We must not drown. Dig in and come out alive. Write while I am still alive”.[i] The war in Lebanon, especially since the 1970s, had – and still has – an impact on individuals and communities. It inflicted psychological and physical harm, and undermined social relationships, […]
My name is Naya Zerez, from Aleppo (Syria) and I'm here to raise few questions about Human Rights!
My name is Naya Zerez, I’m from Aleppo, I came to Lebanon in order to pursue my studies in architecture at USEK, since we have a bad political situation in our beloved Syria, or, if I may call it “war”. I’m here to raise few questions about human rights… The United Nations’ general assembly was […]
What is Obscenity?
I am sharing a message i received this morning without mentioning its source: “Isn’t it obscene to talk about sexuality, i mean mentioning and studying words like ‘vagina’ and ‘phallus’? Do you really need to do it, you feminists? Can’t you just talk about beauty, kids, cooking and shopping like other normal women would do?” […]