Politicians’ power stops at Tribunal’s door

My journey to understand the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) did not begin with the first of my visits to The Hague this year. It is a continual attempt at understanding since UN investigators arrived in Lebanon shortly after a bomb blast over five years ago.

Before March 14, 2005, talk in Syria revolved around the regime falling – or at least opening up. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein had been captured, and his trial had begun. In Palestine, the spark of sharp division had emerged and quickly spread abroad. In the White House, Bush’s administration believed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was either unable or unwilling to cooperate with the new regional project.

On the morning of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination, it was clear during the meeting in the Syrian Foreign Ministry between Farouk al-Sharaa and the American ambassador to Damascus at the time, Margaret Scobey, that the two sides were not speaking the same language. Scobey was recalled to Washington, and American diplomatic representation in Damascus was reduced. The policy of isolating Syria began. The European Union's negotiations with Syria on Mediterranean partnership were postponed, and an unprecedented rapprochement began between the young presidents, Assad and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The lines of the moderate and resistance camps were drawn on the Arab stage. In Lebanon, a bloodbath was launched with Hariri’s murder.

Today, the regional scene is different than it was on the morning of March 14, 2005. Talk has stopped about any change in Syria. The Iraqi elections have been held, and agreement has been reached on forming Iraq's government. The Palestinian president is negotiating for the sake of negotiation, and Hamas no longer doubts his legitimacy as president. Lebanon’s Martyrs' Square is empty of March crowds. The visit of Hariri's son, Saad, to Damascus has completed the division in the ranks of the March 14 coalition, and Jumblatt has finished his latest round of repositioning, now safe in the bosom of the strongest power. Hezbollah has become entangled in local politics, and its discourse has sunk from the "true promise" to "our women's honor."

The STL’s work cannot be separated from the political conditions that led to its establishment, just as the absence of a “Special Tribunal for Pakistan” to try former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s murderers cannot be considered a judicial decision. Unlike Bhutto, Hariri was not killed alone. Samir Kassir, Pierre Gemayel, George Hawi, and others were also killed. Many fell on the front lines between the camps of moderation and resistance. It was in this context – a political context, above all else – that the STL was established.

During my current trip to The Hague, I was struck by the fact that fewer than ten Lebanese employees (about 3%) work for the STL, which receives 49% of its funding from the Lebanese Republic. Also striking was how, for many of the STL’s top brass, the experience of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia – where many previously worked – is a strong presence in their spirits and minds.

When Lebanese journalists visited the tribunal for two media forums, its employees began to see more clearly a concentrated sample of Lebanon's divisions, which the journalists carried in their luggage. This luggage landed back in Lebanon full of media reports along differing lines. The next day, the Lebanese citizen read reports about two STLs in The Hague - a rogue tribunal destabilizing the country, and a sacred tribunal reinforcing the state and its institutions and laws. Two tribunals agreeing in one matter: the burden is more than the ailing Lebanese can bear.

As politicians made intense round-trip movements between Beirut and Arab and Western capitals, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced his "optimism" regarding Arab efforts to resolve the Lebanese crisis, while Jumblatt talked about Western interference disturbing these efforts. In The Hague, the movement matched the cold temperature. Things were moving slowly in The Hague, except for the noticeable activity in the Office of the Prosecutor. There was serious talk, in judicial circles, that the indictment "will not only touch Hezbollah." Put more clearly, the STL's impending indictment - it appears - will not just name Lebanese.

About two months ago, a diplomatic source in New York quoted UN Security Council members with veto power as saying that not supporting the STL's work is "not an option" as long as the crime of terrorism is a vital priority for the international community, especially in light of all the definitive stances members with veto power have taken. It is worth mentioning, quoting from the same source, that STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare—a Canadian—did not please America because, as a judge, he was considered “quieter than he should be” and "less politically sophisticated" than American diplomacy accepts.

The tribunal's continuation is no longer tied to a Lebanese political decision, and perhaps it never was. In tackling a crime of terrorism, the tribunal is a precedent in international law. "Terrorism" did not begin or end in Lebanon, and "terrorism" will not push the UN Security Council to strangle the first international tribunal set up to try its perpetrators. Because it was established in a political context above all else, Lebanese politicians still have influence at least - or at most - on the street to control, not the indictment, but its consequences.

Beirut, for all its connections, has no power to stop the indictment.

To read more: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=219704#ixzz1EPWOeAaC

 

الاتفاق بين لبنان والأمم المتحدة حول المحكمة يبقى ملزماً ولا يتغيّر أو يُلغى بتغيير الحكومة

ثلاث نقاط تداولتها الأروقة السياسية وإنتقلت الى العلن أخيرا" تتناول وضع الإتفاق الموقع بين لبنان والأمم المتحدة المتعلق بإنشاء المحكمة الخاصة بلبنان ووقف تمويلها وإمكان الطلب الى القضاة اللبنانيين فيها وقف التعاون معها

يقول المدير التنفيذي لمنظمة"إنسان"، ومقرها الرئيسي في إسبانيا ولها مكتب في لاهاي، والمسؤول عن برنامج العدالة الدولية وسام طريف لـ"النهار" "إن الحكومة اللبنانية أمام خيار الدخول في نقاش مع مجلس الأمن حول إنشاء المحكمة الخاصة بلبنان والبروتوكول الموقع بينهما لأن الإتفاقات الدولية لا تلغى بتغيير الحكومة وتبقى ملزمة للبنان ولا تتغير بتغييرها.ولكن إن ارادت الحكومة اللبنانية أن تناقش هذا الإتفاق مع مجلس الأمن لتطويره أو صنع بروتوكول آخر له علاقة بالمحكمة فهي ستنطلق مما هو موجود وليس من فراغ.فإن هي أرادت المضي في نقاش قانوني لتعديل ما تريد تعديله في البروتوكول الخاص بإنشاء المحكمة فعليها أن تقبل بالقرار 1757 الذي أدى الى إنشاء هذه المحكمة ولا يمكنها الإنطلاق من فراغ لأن هذا القرار موجود وهو موقع من الحكومة اللبنانية

ويضيف "وفي حال قررت الحكومة وقف تمويل المحكمة فهذا لا يعني أن المحكمة لن تستمر.فمجلس الأمن سيجد سبل التمويل البديلة وستتراكم المبالغ التي تغطي نفقات المحكمة من أماكن تمويل أخرى دينا" على الدولة اللبنانية"

وفي حال طلبت الحكومة من مجلس الأمن تعديل القرار 1757 المتضمن إنشاء المحكمة يرى طريف "أن تطلب الدولة اللبنانية تعديل هذا القرار فذلك يعني أنها قبلت بواقع وجوده وتطرح نقاشه في مجلس الأمن .ولكن هذا لن يحدث وكل ما تستطيع القيام به هو رفض تمويل المحكمة. ولا أعتقد أن تعديل القرار مطروح بجدية من الأفرقاء اللبنانيين. ما يريدونه هو إلغاء هذا القرار. وهذا أمر يواجه إستحالة في الوقت الحاضر. وما ألمسه من القانونيين كأن هذا النقاش بدأ على الأقل هنا في "قصر السلام" في لاهاي من خلال بعض المداخلات في المؤتمر القانوني العربي لدراسة المحكمة الخاصة بلبنان والتي تميل الى طرح هذا الموضوع للنقاش في أوساط القانونيين الجنائيين الدوليين"

ودعا الى "التمييز بين عمل المحكمة وقواعد الإجراءات والإثبات الخاصة بها حيث لا علاقة لمجلس الأمن بهذه الناحية والجهة المنشئة للمحكمة التي هي مجلس الأمن". وقال"إن أقصى ما تستطيع الحكومة عمله في السياق الأخير هو إعادة طرح النقاش على مجلس الأمن"

ثمة كلام في بيروت يتحدث عن تجميد العمل بالإتفاق القائم بين لبنان والأمم المتحدة ويقول طريف، إن المحكمة رغم هذه الخطوة تستمر في عملها كمحكمة دولية وتصبح الدولة اللبنانية إذذاك دولة غير متعاونة مما يرتب على مجلس الأمن تقرير إيجاد التمويل من دول أخرى أعضاء في مجلس الأمن"

وعلى صعيد القضاة اللبنانيين الخمسة العاملين في المحكمة وبينهم اثنان أحدهما إستقال من القضاء اللبناني وهو نائب رئيس المحكمة القاضي رالف رياشي والثاني القاضي عفيف شمس الدين أحيل على التقاعد. وهما لا علاقة لهما عمليا" بالقضاء اللبناني. ويبقى ثلاثة قضاة لا يزالون في الملاك القضائي هم نائبة المدعي العام لدى المحكمة القاضية جويس ثابت والقاضيان المستشاران في هيئة المحكمة ميشلين بريدي ووليد العاكوم. ويقول طريف "في حال قررت الحكومة الللبنانية الإنسحاب من الإتفاق مع مجلس الأمن تطلب من القضاة الإنسحاب من المحكمة والعودة الى لبنان ووقف التعاون معها مثلما قد تقرر وقف تمويلها أو مثلما قد تطلب من المدعي العام التمييزي وقف التعاون مع المدعي العام لدى المحكمة. أما بالنسبة الى الآلية القانونية لتعيين قضاة جدد في حال قررت الحكومة وقف تعاونهم مع المحكمة فإن رئيس المحكمة القاضي أنطونيو كاسيزي يطلب من الأمم المتحدة تعيين قضاة مكانهم"

وتلاحظ مصادر قانونية عليا في لاهاي ان لا سلطة للدولة اللبنانية للطلب من القضاة وقف عملهم في المحكمة. وتعتبر في هذا السياق أن الحكومة لم تكن إلا ساعي بريد في مسألة تعيين القضاة اللبنانيين في المحكمة بأن أحالت على الأمم المتحدة أسماء عدد من القضاة إقترحهم مجلس القضاء الأعلى وإختارت المنظمة الدولية من بينهم القضاة الخمسة الحاليين وبالتالي لا يعود الى الحكومة الطلب اليهم وقف عملهم فيها"

وعن وضع البند السابع في حال رفض الحكومة اللبنانية التعاون مع المحكمة يقول " انه ملزم للبنان ويستطيع مجلس الأمن تنفيذ هذه الإلزامات أقله على الورق . وتطور الأمر الى هذا الحد بين لبنان والأمم المتحدة سيكون رهن المرحلة التالية التي من المبكر الحديث عنها"

وفي حال تقرر سحب القضاة ووقف تمويل المحكمة أو تجميد الإتفاق مع الأمم المتحدة. هل ستتمكن المحكمة من مواصلة عملها؟ يقول"طبعا" ستواصل عملها .والسؤال الكبير هو الى أي حد لا يزال المدعي العام دانيال بلمار في حاجة الى تعاون الحكومة اللبنانية؟ والى أي حد لا يزال في حاجة الى تعاون الأجهزة اللبنانية معه؟.فهل هو في حاجة الى القدرة على الوصول الى الداخل اللبناني للقيام بعمله؟. إذا" إن الأمر ينعكس على عمل مكتب الإدعاء وتعقيده فيكون أمام مشكلة لوجستية على الأرض داخل الدولة اللبنانية .وكل ذلك يتوقف على مدى حاجة المدعي العام دانيال بلمار والمدى الذي وصل اليه في تحقيقاته.فالمحكمة ليست فقط من أجل النظر في قضية إغتيال الرئيس رفيق الحريري ويجب الا ننسى أن هناك النائب والصحافي جبران تويني والصحافي سمير قصير وآخرين إغتيلوا في لبنان.كل ذلك أيضا" رهن ما سيتضمنه القرار الإتهامي. نحن لا نعرف إذا كان سيذكر جرائم متصلة بقضية الحريري وبالتالي يكون للمحكمة صلاحية التحقيق في هذه الجرائم ومحاكمة المجرمين. في رأيي إذا كان من إنعكاس فسيكون على مكتب بلمار. فهل هذا هو المطلوب؟". وفي الوقت نفسه يعتبر طريف أن بلمار هو أسرع محقق في كل المحاكم الدولية إذ لم يسبق أن صدر قرار ظني في فترة زمنية مماثلة عن أي من هذه المحاكم منذ إنشائها. إن بلمار يحقق في جريمة قتل إرهابية في منطقة شائكة جدا".ولم يكن يحقق في بلد واحد،تماما" كما كان التحقيق في محكمة رواندا شائكا" إلا أنه كان ثمة تعاون مع الدول المحيطة ولم يكن من تعتيم على التحقيق من دول أخرى سواء في هذه المحكمة أو في محكمة يوغوسلافيا السابقة بينما لم تتعاون معظم الدول المحيطة مع بلمار وهذا ما يحسب له"

وكيف تمكن المدعي العام من التوصل الى أدلة يفترض أن تكون في القرار الإتهامي، يقول" لا أعتقد أن بلمار أصدر قرارا" إتهاميا إلا عندما وجد أدلة قوية جدا" وسيكون على مكتبه كثير من الجهد لإثبات العكس". لاهاي- من كلوديت سركيس

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ما للمحكمة لها وما للبنان لِساستِه

لم تبدأ رحلتي لفهم عمل المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان خلال أولى زياراتي إلى لاهاي هذا العام. هي محاولة فهم مستمرة بدأت منذ لحظة تأسيس "لجنة التحقيق الدولية الخاصة باغتيال رفيق الحريري ورفاقه"، ومن ثم إسقاط هذه التسمية على المحكمة التي أنشئت لمحاكمة المجرمين، إلى أن غاب الاسم الحقيقي لـ"المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان" خلف صورة رئيس حكومة راحل

قبل 14 شباط 2005، كان الحديث في الداخل السوري يدور حول سقوط النظام، أو انفتاحه، على الأقل. في العراق، كان صدام حسين قد أُسِرَ وإجراءات محاكمته قد بُوشرت. في فلسطين، برزت شرارة انقسام حادّ امتدّت سريعاً إلى الخارج. وفي البيت الأبيض، اعتبرت إدارة بوش أن بشار الأسد غير راغب بالتعاون مع المشروع الإقليمي الجديد، أو غير قادر عليه

صبيحة اغتيال الحريري، كان واضحاً أثناء اجتماع في وزارة الخارجية السورية بين فاروق الشرع والسفيرة الأميركية في دمشق آنذاك، مارغريت سكوبي، أن الطرفين لا يتحدثان لغة واحدة. استدعيت سكوبي إلى واشنطن، وخفض التمثيل الأميركي الدبلوماسي مع دمشق، وبدأت سياسية عزلُ سوريا. أرجئت مفاوضات الاتحاد الأوروبي مع سوريا حول الشراكة المتوسطية. بدأ تقارب غير مسبوق ما بين الرئيسين الشابين نجاد والأسد. وتحددت خطوط معسكري الاعتدال والممانعة، في المشهد العربي. في لبنان، أُطلق حمامُ دمّ بقتلِ الحريري

لا يمكن الفصلُ ما بين عمل المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان وبين الظروف السياسية التي أدت إلى نشوئها، كما لا يمكن اعتبار عدم إنشاء محكمة خاصة بباكستان لمحاكمة قتلة بنازير بوتو، أيضاً، قراراً قضائياً بامتياز. بخلاف بوتو، لم يُقتل رفيق الحريري وحده. قتل أيضاً سمير قصير، بيار الجميل، جورج حاوي وآخرون. كثرٌ سقطوا على خطوط تماسِ معسكرَي الاعتدال والممانعة. في هذا السياق، السياسي بامتياز، أنشئت المحكمة

خلال رحلتي الحالية إلى لاهاي، استوقفني أن أقل من 10 موظفين لبنانيين (ما يعادل ثلاثة في المئة) يعملون في المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان، التي تتلقى 49 في المئة من تمويلها من الجمهورية اللبنانية. لم تحضر تجربة المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بيوغوسلافيا السابقة فقط في أروقة مجلس الأمن، حين صيغ قرار إنشاء المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان. هي حاضرة بشكل أقوى في روحية وأذهان كبار موظفي المحكمة الثانية، بمعزلٍ عن أن استقالات العام الأول لمحكمة لبنان فاقت بأشواط مثيلتها في محكمة يوغوسلافيا. وقريباً، ستلتحق ثلاث إستقالات جديدة برُكب المنسحبين من المحكمة اليانعة

في محكمة لبنان، يترأس مسجّل بالإنابة قلمها منذ أكثر من تسعة أشهر، بحثاً عن أصيل. ولا يزال مكتب الإدعاء يبحث عن متحدث، أو متحدثة، باسمه، منذ استقالة المتحدثة السابقة بعد ثلاثة أسابيع قضتها في لاهاي. وحين زار صحافيون لبنانيون المحكمة في إطار منتديين إعلاميين حديثين، بدأت الغشاوة تنقشع عن عيون موظفيها لما رأوا عيّنة مركّزة من انقسامات لبنان، حملها الصحافيون في حقائب سفرهم. حطّت الحقائب مجدداً في لبنان وفي داخلها تقارير إعلامية ذات خطوط متباينة. في اليوم التالي، قرأ المواطن اللبناني أنباءاً عن محكمتين دوليتين خاصتين بلبنان، هناك في لاهاي. محكمة مارقة تزعزع استقرار الوطن، ومحكمة قدسية تعزز دولة المؤسسات والقانون

محكمتان تتفقان على مسألة واحدة: العبء أكثر مما يحتمله الكاهل اللبناني العليل

وسط حركة ذهاب وإياب مكثفة بين بيروت وعواصم عربية وغربية، أعلن الأمين العام لحزب الله عن "تفاؤله" بالمساعي العربية لمداواة الأزمة اللبنانية، فيما تحدث جنبلاط عن "تعكير" لهذه المساعي بتدخلات غربية. أما في لاهاي، فالحركة تشبه درجة الحرارة، وحظر السفر إلى العاصمة اللبنانية حكمٌ أمني بالحبس ضد موظفي المحكمة. حركة بطيئة في لاهاي، غير أنها تنحسر عن نشاطٍ ملحوظ في مكتب الادعاء. وثمة كلامٌ جديّ، في أوساط قضائية، عن أن القرار الإتهامي "لن يمسَّ حزب الله وحده". بكلمات أوضح، القرار الإتهامي الوشيك لمدعي المحكمة الخاصة بلبنان لن يوجّه، على ما يتراءى، للبنانيين فحسب

اليوم، يختلف المشهد الإقليمي عما كان عليه صبيحة 14 شباط 2005. انتهى الكلام عن أي تغيير في سوريا. أنجزت الانتخابات العراقية وتم التوافق على شكل حكومة العراق. يفاوض الرئيس الفلسطيني من أجل التفاوض، و"حماس" لم تعد تشكك في شرعيته كرئيس فلسطيني. خلت ساحة الشهداء اللبنانية من أي وجود لحشود آذارية. استكملت زيارة نجل الحريري إلى دمشق الانقسام في صفوف ائتلاف 14 آذار. حسمَ جنبلاط الجولة الأخيرة من إعادة تموضعه في حضن الأقوى. تورّط حزب الله في وحول السياسة المحلية وتدهور خطابه من "الوعد الصادق" إلى "أعراض نسائنا"

قبل نحو شهرين، نقل مصدر دبلوماسي في نيويورك عن حملة فيتو في مجلس الأمن أن عدم دعم عمل المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان "ليس خياراً متاحاً" طالما أن جريمة الإرهاب تمثل حالياً أولوية حيوية للمجتمع الدولي، وخاصة في ظلّ جملة مواقف حاسمة تبناها حملة الفيتو، على مراحل. جدير بالذكر، نقلاً عن المصدر نفسه، أن بيلمار الكندي لم يوافق هوى الفيتو الأميركي، باعتباره قاضياً "أهدأ مما يجب" و"أقل حنكة سياسية" مما تقبل به الدبلوماسية الأميركية

لم تعد استمرارية المحكمة مرتبطة بقرار سياسي لبناني، ولعلها لم تكن كذلك قط. هي سابقة في القانون الدولي من حيث معالجتها لجريمة الإرهاب. "الإرهاب" الذي لم يبدأ في لبنان ولم يتوقف عنده. و"الإرهاب" الذي لن يسهلَ على مجلس الأمن خنقُ أول محكمة دولية تحاكم مقترفيه. ولأنها أنشئت في سياق سياسي بامتياز، ما يزال للساسة اللبنانيين على الأقل، وعلى الأكثر كذلك، سلطة التأثير على الشارع لرسم شكلٍ، لا للقرار الاتهامي، بل لتبعاته

ليس لبيروت، بكل امتداداتها، أيّ سلطة على صدّ القرار الاتهامي

لاهاي - وسام طريف

The President v the Facebookers

Following the payment of bail the three face-bookers have been released; a date for trial is awaited.

Defamation means causing hurt to the reputation of the person whether in printed or verbal form. However this has to be weighed in a democratic society with the right to freedom of expression.
In a democratic society citizens must be able to criticize their political leaders and governments and the democratic institutions, sometimes in the harshest terms. Where the intent is only to cause personal harm to the reputation of the individual, defamation could well be a cause of action for the one who has been damaged. Nonetheless, judges must weigh in the balance the right of citizens to express themselves openly and the rights of the individual.
The point here is that elected representatives at high political levels (such as the Presidency) should provide the example of tolerance which the Lebanese Constitution aims to enshrine. While technically the President may have a legal recourse, it would be less than exemplary to pursue them since this would undermine not only his person but also the very Constitutional qualities and values he is elected to protect and represent.
Nevertheless Lebanese defamation law is designed to serve those with the greatest power, especially politicians who make the law and also other sectors who find it most useful for their purposes. Amending the law in this respect and changing the way the legal system operates is an important and urgent element for today’s Lebanon.
The worst part of the Lebanese law of defamation is its chilling effect on free speech. The most effective penalty for telling lies and untruths is loss of credibility. Systems of communication are set up so that people take responsibility for their statements, have the opportunity to make corrections and apologize. This leads to loss of credibility if they are repeatedly exposed as untrustworthy. The Lebanese Defamation Law should simply respond to that as it purports to do.
In effect, pursuing legal action in the “The President v The Facebookers” may only serve to underline the harsh criticisms against which he feels aggrieved; especially when, within his Constitutional role, the President would be seen to only have acted in a personal capacity when he, himself, has been affected by criticism, putting into doubt his past inaction over the many years that politicians have openly engaged in the strongest and perhaps the most damaging of personal accusations, insults, and other forms of libel and slander. I am left to ask: is this indeed the role the Presidency is enshrined to represent?
I would advise the President, as a form of respect for the Constitution itself, to drop the charges.

Three Lebanese citizens arrested for being impolite. My letter to his effete Excellency.

Dear President General Michel Suleiman,

My name is Wissam Kassem Tarif and I am a Lebanese citizen. I am a citizen who has listened to the vulgar and very impolite language of the vast majority of our politicians for decades. The level of impoliteness varies according to the tensions provoked by their political interests.

I am a citizen who believes in freedom of speech and respect for our constitution. It is the very same constitution which states that the Lebanese president is required not only to respect, but more importantly to protect.
It is also the very same constitution that was raped not only once, but repeatedly and shamelessly by all our politicians with no exceptions. Our politicians have raped and corrupted the judicial system; they have corrupted every institution in a country imbedded with religious institutions.

However, we as citizens are guilty.

We have accepted the increased militarization, we have accepted the checkpoints that do nothing to protect, but rather are strictly a nuisance.
We have accepted to respect the Lebanese army, to keep silent and not criticize it. It is the same army that stays neutral and watches individuals killing each other during each and every bullfight that our sect heads and politicians drag us into for renewed rounds of small civil war stresses every once in a while. That very same army that does not protect any of our borders and simply announces itself incapable – nevertheless, it never fails to consume our economy.
Economy; yes, that is what we call the money sent back home from the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who live abroad and “send” the economy back home. Those who finance the misery we insist on keeping and that our politicians continue abusing.

We have accepted that Iran and Saudi Arabia finance elections not out of admiration, but because of lack of hope. Some of the poorer Lebanese thought that they would at least be able to make a couple hundred dollars out of it. The dollars that they will pay for the electricity that our government (without fail) fails to provide, that they will give as taxes for rubbish collection, rubbish that is not always collected.

We have accepted to be prostitutes to the regimes that give us money.
We have accepted to drive in ongoing hells that we are deluded into believing are actual infrastructure.
We have accepted to have no electricity for hours on end each and every day, and to have to resort to paying extra fees for people with private generators to provide us with electricity, and even that is not always provided.
We have accepted to have some of the most expensive mobile rates in the world, regardless of our measly salaries and the morbid joke of a minimum wage.
We have accepted that our Ministry of Education not pay teachers adequately, leading them to refrain from correcting our students’ official exams as a resort to have some means of pressure – pressure that is yet unanswered to. However, our government was able to pay $800,000 USD so that people who have cable can watch the World Cup coverage on Al Jazeera – to encourage the Arabic language, of course. And yet despite that, we have dared to hope that the generation of kids who want to attend a good university, and perhaps secure a good future will be taken into consideration, will be saved.
We have accepted lot of SHIT. Lots and lots of SHIT. We really have.

But, Mr. President, we cannot accept people being arrested for being impolite. As a matter of fact, it is not something we do. If it were so, Judge Mirza must get really busy and start locking up our parliamentarians, cabinet members, and Presidents Berri and Hariri, as they provoked some of the impoliteness throughout the last five years, you know we all know that. I am also starting to wonder whether you know Judge Mirza personally or not; politeness is not exactly his best attribute as General Aoun can most certainly assure you. As for General Aoun, well, the fact that he was in the army says it all, plus I am more than certain that you need not be reminded of his terminology during his “re-elect my son in law” phase.

Mr. President, I understand your disappointment that we are not a polite nation.
And I understand that the arrest of the three stereotyped impolite Lebanese young gentlemen is not your fault; it is our legislation’s fault. But hey, it just so happens that you are the president and that does make you responsible after all.

Mr. President, I assure you that the Lebanese expatriates cannot afford to finance any nuclear energy for the country. And Your Excellency, the Cuba and Venezuela club is now closed for new participants, and it would really damage our reputation seeing you at Columbia University saying we have no homosexuals in the country.

Legislations are a bit tricky and old; imagine, Your Excellency, our laws organize prostitution in the country but deny Lebanese mothers from granting their children citizenship. I have to tell you, Mr. President, that our laws discriminate against women, immigrants, and LGBT people (among others), and our laws do not even recognize refugees and lock Iraqis (among others) in General Security jails.
Our laws are progressive and state clearly that police forces cannot torture. However, they do not hesitate to do so when they think they have to. By the way, when was the last time Your Excellency visited a police station? To inspect it, I mean. Oh sorry, I forgot it is not your job. Your job is to protect the constitution.

Protect it Mr. President. It is the last shred of civilization that we have which keeps us from becoming a zoo. I really do not wish to become a citizen imprisoned in a zoo.

Mr. President I hereby declares myself an impolite citizen, arrest me.
Wissam Kassem Tarif

Hyper Island

Hyper Island, Doors and that Elevator

On Monday we had to leave the hotel at 8 O’clock in the morning take the metro and go to Hyper Island. I am terrible with geography in general and directions in particular. And I often leave a bit later than the group as I spend my lovely mornings replying to work emails.

Diala Chehade was still in the lobby. She was my Saviour on couple of ocasions, not only with directions but with other things as well. We went together to Hyper Island. In Sweden something that strikes you is the way that the infrastructure has been adapted to the needs of the disabled.

Doors, elevators, metro stations, hotels, restaurants, toilets, streets and traffic lights, everything is designed and well thought out. It is striking. Standing there, I felt how seriously damaged both I and my country are.

A Lebanese female friend was married to a Paraguayan man. He died, she came back home to Lebanon with three children. Two of them had physical disabilities. Samar my friend, could not grant her children Lebanese nationality. Women cannot grant their children their homeland nationality, even if the children were born on Lebanese soil. We claim to be a very progressive country. We are in comparison to the misery surrounding us nevertheless that does not mean ours is not a progressive misery.

It is a fact that Lebanon regularly suffers from electricity shortages, small wars from time to time, a big war every couple of years, in addition to political assassinations, financial crises, and traffic jams but hey it is our country. It is not a pair of old shoes. You cannot throw it away or replace it. It is our homeland. And Samar is a Lebanese citizen who has three children for whom she has to pay their yearly residence fees. They have no right to free medical care in the same way that other Lebanese citizens with special needs have. She has to pay for expensive long term treatments and rehabilitation. If she had a penis the children would have been Lebanese citizens. But she does not have a penis and here I am standing at a traffic light that is prepared with sound equipment for the visually impaired. I can only wish Samar had a penis, or different laws. If only she had the choice.

I arrived at a building where on the fourth floor is situated a progressive academy called Hyper Island. I had previously visited their website and I knew that the building was a former jail. So I expected a poorly renovated structure. But it was not. The main entrance door, the elevator, the fourth floor door to Hyper Island, the toilets and everything else were quipped for the disabled.

Hyper Island staff included black, disabled, Muslims, gays and immigrants among other minorities. And they all snack on fruit, this is too much. I am panicked, I wanted to catch the first flight and go back to “normal” to Lebanon, Darfur or Damascus anywhere but not here. I thought to myself this could not be true. Javerria has planned this. The Swedish Institute is throwing a perfect image in my face. It has to be a conspiracy; Abou Walid is right after all.

Happily I did not catch a plane. Javerria was innocent. The Swedish Institute was innocent. This is, in fact, the real Sweden, and they are real people.
Do not be fooled by the name itself. The name Hyper Island in itself defies definition. Its central point is to challenge orthodox educational systems. Its guiding focus is challenging it in a spirit of fun, entertainment and enquiry towards a final goal of personal growth.

Hyperlove - The Story Behind The Wall from Johan Blomborg on Vimeo.

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Hyper Island is a fascinating learning-teaching experience. The whole structure, the staff, the programs and the students are breathtaking. The percentage of HI graduates who find employment is ninety five percent. They even have hyper babies as I was told.

They are thinking in opening up in Beirut or maybe in Dubai. Beirut is the right place; it remains being the cultural and educational capital for the Arab world. The biggest target group for Hyper Island is in Beirut. Sure, they have big number of potential students in Dubai. Those will come to Beirut but not vice versa.

My last day on Hyper Island was on 12th of June 2009. It was a long day as we were preparing the presentations for our projects. I left the facility around 10 O’clock in the evening. My team work was interrupted by outside smoking breaks.

Going out for a smoke, and while in the elevator a 23 year old Swedish guy asked for a light. We stood outside smoking a cigarette, discussing briefly some life issues. We ended up, later that night, having some whisky and I started to see Sweden from a different standpoint. That night I made a lifelong friend with whom I will be working in Lebanon on an image project about the country through Swedish Eyes next week.

Later on tonight I will say more about the friend, the project and Sweden through his eyes.

(By the way the metaphor about countries not being like an old pair of shoes, is not necessarily a comment on the fact that Mark walks around barefoot. Similarly it carries no implications regarding his complex relationship with Ireland his “homeland”!)

The Swedish Participants

“The Swedish Participants”

We headed back to Stockholm in a Bus. We checked in at Morington Hotel again. Since we arrived to Sweden four human beings, names; Rami Abed Al Rahman, Hanna Larsson, Nadia Jebril and Olof Jonsoon joined us in the program. We referred to them and they referred to themselves as “The Swedish Participants”.

Nadia Jebril was born and brought up in Sweden by a Palestinian family. Nadia’s family comes from the small town of Bietixa near Jerusalem. She is a 26 year old Journalist who speaks Swedish as her native language, and Arabic in a 100 years old Palestinian accent. The accent that dominates Nadia’s Arabic is of a countryside area in her home land Palestine. An accent that now a day very few old Palestinian men and women talk with.

She must have picked that from her parents. When you lose a house, you work hard to build another one. When you lose a child you drink your sadness with your daily water and you learn how to love other children. When you lose your homeland, your home, your neighbors, your physical memories, you wonder on earth and you reproduce. You preserve your language and traditions in an ongoing nostalgia, you keep your homeland in your heart and you pronounce it with every uttered syllable from your mouth.

Nadia you are the worst fear for lot of people in this planet. You are not damaged by hatred, anger or blood. You neither are irrational nor rigid. You are neither schizophrenic nor violent. And above all of that you are Palestinian. And you are proudly Swedish. You are a cosmopolitan creature who breaths Bietixa the town near Jerusalem in Palestine every day. In the eyes of Nadia the journalist who is one of the Swedish Participants I saw the future, I saw the State of Palestine.

A very Swedish guy is Olof Jonsoon, he does not smoke, tries to keep fit when he is not working. Takes notes from lectures, smiles to everyone and makes the sweetest remarks even when he is critical.

Olof Jonsoon seemed to have no story behind him. A Journalist who wanted to be published in morning news papers while working on the Foreign Desk of a news agency. He seemed just another 30 year old journalist who is starting his career.

On the third night in Grisselhamn I talked to Olof a bit beyond the lectures and social media. On that night he had just received some emails about an article he published about Darfur, we talked about the article and the visit he made to the Middle East.

Olof had a story behind, and it is not an ordinary one. He is in love. He is a human whose tears I saw when he said “We know what is going on back there, we really know.” Between his tears I saw the many stories he will relate in the morning papers and web pages. I want to read what Olof knows. Believe me what Olof knows is not 30 years old.

Hanna Larson is just a year younger than me. I thought I was the oldest one in the group until I met Mark. He is really old. He has lot of stories to tell, but he is too proud. Until he tells me the stories he will be damned by being old.

Hanna is 33, a journalist and a human rights activist. A lady whom you feel she comes from a consensus culture. A Librarian interested in developing the Multilingual Library at her work. Hanna has been to Afghanistan and Palestine, worked on asylum cases, and volunteers her time for women’s rights. Hanna’s silence about her work made me feel a small person.

Rami Abed Al Rahman, the guy we all used “- in the good sense of the word if any-“even before meeting him. Rami the Jordanian- Swede whose age is not relevant. Rami hasn’t decided yet when he will start counting it.

Rami the journalist, lecturer, blogger and musician oozes life as someone who has just swallowed a huge amount of painful loss. He did not digest it all yet, but he is in the process. He breathes freely now, but he seems in need of more oxygen. I know why he reminded me a lot by Sami Matouk a Syrian human rights activist whose age I only got to know the day he was killed, shortly after helping in gathering information about Saidanaia Prison. The fact that I know does not mean I am sharing the knowledge.

The four Swedish participants left the hotel and headed back to their homes and jobs. A few days after that and as a part of my study visit I’ve visited Swedish Think Tanks and other opinion and policy making institutions. In the meetings I was told about Sweden political parties, social system and the well fare sate establishment.

Sweden at that time was three weeks away from the European Union Presidency. In the Think Tanks they had no real interest, knowledge or studies about The Middle East. They are so much focusing on Sweden. They have managed to do that as political institutions for a long time. And they have done an amazing job but they cannot do that anymore while they are part of the EU political structure and defiantly not when they are in the presidency.

I met parliamentarians from different political parties as well. Three of them sit on various committees including EU and foreign affairs. Those meetings were more productive and sort of relief. Nevertheless while visiting the Foreign Office Press center; a lady from the MENA desk answered angrily some of my boisterous questions stating basically that Sweden does not have a Foreign Policy when it comes to the Middle East. She said they will follow the EU.

I do not think that is destined. And on that matter I will be having more to say but not here. This is neither the place nor the time.

PS: The fifth Swedish participant was born and brought up in Sweden. Nevertheless in the eyes of the writer she is the result of a regionally approved and internationally blessed legal utopian marriage of convenience. The participant is the product of the fathers and the mother of most Lebanese. The rest of The Lebanese are still is sperm stage. Therefore she will be mentioned with the Lebanese participants.

The fathers are : Hassan Nasroulah[i], Al Mufti Kabani[ii], Patriarch Sufaier[iii], Ahmadinejad [iv] . The mother is : Nawal Al Sadawi[v].

[i] Hassan Nasroulah is the religious, political and military leader of Hezbollah, Lebanon. Hobbies: Assassinations, small and big wars, terrifying people, shouting and screaming, praying in public and playing the big hero.

[ii] Al Mufti Kabani is the Muslim Suni highest authority in Lebanon known as Mufti. Hobbies: Praying in public, speaking nicely about the Saudi Royal family, preventing equality legislations from happening.

[iii] Patriarch Sufaier is the Christians Maronite highest authority in Lebanon. Hobbies: Praying in public, preventing equality legislations from happening, appearing on every news channel in the country.

[iv] Ahmadinejad is the lunatic homophobe who stated that there are no homosexuals in Iran. He managed as well to cheat in the last Iranian elections and still proclaims himself the Mullah’s spoilt president. Hobbies: has plenty ranks on top hanging Iranians whom he considers perverts.

[v] Nawal Al Sadawi, a physician, highly reputable feminist activist and writer, who is constantly criticized and threatened by Islamists. Hobbies: No time for leisure activities. The four keeps her very busy and she is Egyptian as well so she has Mubarak and the Muslim Brothers to entertain herself.