In the Middle East: Abuse of the female body is out of fear and want of power
Lebanese like to claim that women here are freer than in other Arab countries. Because we are allowed to wear what we like in public. Because we are allowed to be sexy. Because we are allowed to get breast implants and face-lifts without anyone’s permission, but we are not allowed to travel outside of Lebanon without a paper signed by our husbands. Because we are allowed to wear bikinis on the beach, but we are not allowed to have control over our bodies if our husbands require to fulfill their sexual desires. Because we are raised to be in a culture to judge women before men. Because we are in a society where marital rape is not recognized, as it is our duty to please our husbands.
We also live in a sick system where women are told not to get raped rather than telling the men not to rape. Where the woman is told it is better to shut up and go back to her husband’s home after a beating or emotional and physical abuse for the sake of empty words such as ”honor”, “dignity”, “family”, and the most ridiculous of all, that it is their duty before God to maintain their marriage.
A woman does not receive a beating unless she deserved it; she does not get raped unless she wanted it. If she happens to be attacked during the night on the street, she would be firstly blamed for putting herself in such a position. If she complains to the authorities, she would be the one interrogated for details and judged till she starts to wonder if they were getting any pleasure from the questioning. However just before she finishes her thought enough was deduced and she finds herself being judged from those who she sought help, because enough holes would be found in her story, like the length of her skirt and sleeves, or the kohl in her eyes, or the reasons behind being out alone that she is told in conclusion her case was over before they even bothered to ask about her attacker. The feeling of guilt, questioning or judgment is usually more difficult to get over than the attack itself. The grueling and humiliating trauma in being reduced to wonder if it is actually her fault, if she was the one who has lost her mind… Maybe it is easier to accept judging women rather than be berated by men.
One of the most usual questions a rape victim is usually asked is “mbassateh?” There are two meanings to this. The literal meaning is “Did you enjoy it?” What it actually translates to is “Did you have an orgasm?” The question is usually asked with hesitation, as though there is no other euphemistic term that can be used in a more diplomatic manner. Or it is also asked impudently, with a raised eyebrow and a cruel smile, as if they know better. To them, an involuntary orgasm means that she wanted it all along, as the body cannot react against will. If there was any doubt left on her behalf, nothing better than this can reassure them. That is why most victims I have spoken to keep silent. Physical rape, they can learn to deal with; Emotional rape through interrogation is intolerable.
In the cases where rape is recognized by the law, anal and oral rape is not acknowledged. The term “sexual assault” is debatable as to whether it can even be used as a term, because it legally can only occur when a penis has been fully penetrated into the vagina. To ease a headache for rapists, there are even laws that specify to what extent the hymen must be torn in order for rape to be considered, thus preventing many a doctor from being able to testify for the sake of the victim. If there was no hymen there to begin with.. I won’t even go there…
The other ridiculous law we all know too well concerning a convicted rapist; if he marries the victim he would be cleared of all charges. This law was made during a time when it was believed they would be protecting her and her family’s honor as she would not be shunned by others if her ordeal were covered up by marriage. However, the other part of the law that few know, states that if the rapist proposes marriage, and the victim refuses to accept, then the fact that he simply proposed would significantly reduce his time in prison. Not sure what significance should be referred to here as the maximum sentence for rape in Lebanon is 5 years.
Emphasis is placed always on the woman’s sacrifice to protect her virginity, which in our culture defines a woman’s honor. A recent example is Myriam Ashkar. Fighting back her rapist led to her brutal murder. In a country where rape is severely underreported, ignored or considered to be more or less a social taboo, she was turned into the Lebanese Maria Goretti. Had the rape been successful, had she not been attacked on her way to church, had she not been so brutally murdered, the case, like others, would not have taken up so much publicity. One priest referring to the incident in his class emphasized to the students that Myriam Ashkar was an example to follow because “she wanted to go to Jesus with her purity, and she fought the rapist to death, and she died to protect her virginity.” The incident reminded me of another program I watched on TV, some years ago, where a young muslim woman from a conservative family was kidnapped on her way to university. After being tied up and raped for 48 hours, she begged her attackers to kill her, so that she may save her father’s face in society. Had she survived, she also would not have turned into the public martyr that she was portrayed to be.
On January the 14, there were old men and young boys, old women and young girls marching together to the parliament to protest the exclusion of marital rape in the draft concerning domestic violence. Other than the fact that none of the female MPs cared to join, I have to note that what these thousands of people had marched for, they marched without fear of the authorities. We were not afraid of traditions or taboos. The muslims among us were not afraid of Dar Al-Fatwa, and other religious bodies that were against the protest. The christians among us were not afraid of upsetting political allies, as MP Gilberte Zouein was, upon who I will emphasize due to the simple fact that she is a woman, and her stance in refusing to allow “marital rape” on the draft is inexcusable and shameful.
The religious and political figures in Lebanon are frightened by the prospect of losing their influence to civil rights. They are terrified of the idea that people will think for themselves. Because they are frightened of those who do not acknowledge their divine, traditional places in society and fight their lack of logic and foolishness in their want of power. That is why the church banned Gibran Khalil Gibran’s books before he published “Jesus: Son of Man”. Because he mocked their sick grip on society. Because he did not answer to them. Because he was right.
That is why the fundamentalists in Egypt were afraid of Alia el Mehdi’s nudity. In her nakedness they could not fight her where it truly mattered. Because she unashamedly looked at them right in the eye and struck a nerve. Because in a country where sexual harrassment is accepted as a norm for men and a taboo for women, where genital mutilation is still an ongoing matter that is traumatising young girls; the fundamentalists who found excuses for police that stripped the clothes off a woman because her bra was blue, who covered up cruel “virginity tests” on the female protestors were now being defied by a young girl who stripped them from the right to decide what to do with her body. And that is what truly terrifies them. That they have no control over her mind.
Beirut’s Shame…
Lila Aacharya
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/video/2012/jan/30/beirut-death-nepalese-migrant-video
(Haven’t been able to embed the video here, any tips will be helpful)
of course, the newspapers wont mention it, we’ll have to wait for Charbel Nahhas to get his idealistic unreachable terms to ever see some sort of normality in how our laws are processed in this country. I cant even find the words to describe what I’m thinking, and when someone like me runs out of words, you know that there is reason to worry…
Piracy worse than murder and rape
A comparison of three different cases: Kim Schmitz, Miquel Caran, and Frank Wuterich. No comment is needed.
Mohamad Eskandar (vs) May Matar
Understated misogyny in our pop music culture, and when girl power answers back Mohamad Eskandar – Republic of my heart كلّ ما قلبي عم ينبض و بعزّي As long as my heart beats, I promise بتبقي ملكة و ما بقبل تنهزّي You’ll stay the queen, and I wont let it be shaken شغلي و سهري [...]
Lebanese Female MPs… Where were you?
Last summer, the Lebanese parliament gathered on the 4th of August 2011 to vote to cancel Article 562 of the Penal Code that allows reduced sentences for “honor” crimes, which means very light sentences for men who have murdered a female member of their family who are believed to have dishonored them. They refer to it as “crime of passion”.
While some MPs argued against the annulment, most argued and voted for removing the article. The case for annulment won and the article is now officially removed from the Penal Code.
It should be noted, however, the votes that were submitted, were male votes.
Yes. We have four women who are members of the parliament, and not ONE of them were present during the voting process. Regardless of their politics, it is inexcusable not to take part in such an essential matter as this.
Strida Geagea, wife of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, is active with the LF’s Department of Women’s Affairs and has worked with KAFA to push for women rights. She has been vocal about removing this article, and has exerted more effort than the other three. Yet, while she attended the session, she left just before the voting, due to an engagement in Bcharré. Why had she avoided voting about a matter she felt so strongly about, we don’t know.
Bahia Al Hariri, sister of slain former Prime Minister Rafic al Hariri (RIP) and Nayla Tueni, daughter of slain journalist Gibran Tueni (RIP) were not even present during the session. In the past, both have publicly endorsed initiatives towards working for drafting laws in favor of women rights. Yet that’s all it remained, just talk. Neither commented or gave any reason as to why they were not present.
What has irked many women is that Nayla Tueni should have really known better than to continually be absent for such matters. A young journalist, an intellectual background, a powerful family behind her… At first, many were excited that there would be fresh blood to represent the youth and their frustrations. They were quickly disappointed. She has, till now, not even attended meetings proposed to her by the women rights’ organizations in Lebanon.
The last of the four is Gilberte Zouein, the female MP who came by being part of the Free Patriotic Movement’s bloc for “Change and Reform”, was conveniently on vacation at the time that the voting took place. She has spoken publicly in her support of women rights, but has yet to show any real work done on the issue. The latest news is that she refuses to recognize marital rape or include it in any draft concerning domestic violence or violence against women.
Perhaps these ladies, who belong to the bourgeoisie, or the cream of the cream of society in this country, have forgotten or not have bothered to be connected to reality as to the living conditions of women and their children, or the reality of what future generations will face by being haunted by stone-age laws affecting them in the 21st century.
What on earth are they there for, if not to represent us and our rights?!? I don’t care for their politics; neither do I care for the fact that they wouldn’t have even been MPs were it not for the men in their family who preceded them. What I do care is that when you have an opportunity to represent the women of your country (who ironically outnumber the men by a ratio of 7:1) you might as well make damn use of it. Politicians making a lot of promises they never keep is a usual, expected occurrence in the political game. It is easy to change your political opinions at your convenience, but it is inexcusable to make compromises on the basic rights of the people you represent, especially when these are the same rights you are denied yourself, considering your status as a woman, regardless of how much money you make or which family you belong to, your status as a woman is still not equal to a man in the eyes of the law. All the shopping in the world, all the luxury you can afford, all the events you are invited to, will not change that.
Let us see if any of our MPs will care to join us in our protest against marital rape on the 14th. Except for Gilberte Zouein, who made herself clear on the matter. You do not realize it yet, but history will not show you mercy, if you happen to be remembered.
“Chatti Ya Dinni” Premiere – ‘Here Comes the Rain’
I’m loving the movement in reviving the Lebanese cinema. From the delicious, bittersweet ‘Caramel’, to the heart-wrenching tragedy in ‘Stray Bullet’. To the upcoming horror film ‘Sorry Mum’ and the first 3D film in the middle east, ‘Last Valentine in Beirut’. The moving film we are expecting from Nadine Labaki’s ‘Where do we go from here?’, and last but not least, I had the opportunity to watch “Chatti Ya Dinni” (Here Comes the Rain) at the Abu Dhabi premiere.
The film’s synopsis rotates around a man who had been kidnapped for 20 years during the war, and returns to his family. A family which had struggled with the ordeal of not knowing where he was, now struggled with dealing with his return. The film explored the fact that it is not only the kidnapped victims who deal with trauma and cannot adapt themselves to society normally after spending so much time finding solace in strange psychological outlets (In this case it was obsessing about picking up randomly colored and bright cardboard bags, rather than the plastic ones he was suffocated with in prison), but also the difficulties the children (now grown-ups) have to face and sacrifices the mother deals with on having her husband return when she had just begun moving on with her life. The daughter no longer could afford to go to France to follow her dream of becoming a professional cello player, because of the money spent on medications towards her father. The son who has not found his purpose in life.
Ramez, the main character, is out of place in his own home, and looks for solace in Zeinab, whose husband, also kidnapped during the war for his political articles in the newspapers, never gives up hope that he would one day return to her. They develop a keen, rather platonic relationship, where she seems to see the sanity in Ramez where others can’t. A strange occurrence when an inmate, who had been gone for 20 years as well, had asked Ramez to inform his wife that he is still alive. Yet when Ramez finds out that the wife had passed away two years earlier and that his children had moved abroad, his reaction seems to be as one who had lost his cat. As though his senses to suffering had become numb.
The string in this film was a true story told through Bernadette Hodeib, who plays the role of Nayfeh Najjar. Najjar was a mother who worked at As-Safir newspaper and whose 13-year-old son, Ali, was kidnapped during the war. She published several letters, imploring the kidnappers to return her son. But after nine months, she lost all hope and committed suicide, leaving behind her last letter asking forgiveness and understanding from her son if he was still alive, and a few pictures of her smiling, so that he may have a pretty memory of her. According to the director, Bahij Hojeij, Hodeib represents the conscience of the film.
It was a touching film, and although the screenplay wasn’t very well rounded up, the acting from many in the cast was really good, particularly from Hassan Murad who won the Best Actor Award from the Brussels Independent Film Festival.
The story was similar to the story of my grandmother’s neighbor during the war. A young man, whose beautiful bride was 3 months pregnant with their first child was kidnapped, never to be seen or heard from again. It is often said that it is a fate worse than losing someone by death, when you don’t have a body to bury, when you don’t know if that person is alive or dead. If dead, then he died away from the people who loved him. He died with the anguish that he could not let them know. If alive, he lived with worry, fear and longing. The questions and destroyed hope was too much to bear for the man’s mother, who died of cancer a few years after her son disappeared. His wife struggled with raising her child, a single woman in an Arab society, during a time of war, with no one to protect her. Stress broke her body and she ended her life, extremely overweight from the medications she had to take.
I suppose, nothing is more heart-wrenching than to watch your countrymen hail politicians and former war criminals who were responsible for thousands of these disappearances while ignoring the mothers who spend every Mother’s Day camping in protest till their sons and daughters return from “unknown prisons”. Or the grave.
A somewhat depressing Christmas Holiday…my thoughts
“That’s it. We are finished,” My grandmother proclaims over breakfast. “Khalas, there are no more Christians left in the Middle East. Our turn is not far away.”
It was the day after the Iraqi church bombing, and the depressing feeling in the gutt of my stomach hung there for the rest of the day, as I drove around the tiny city of Beirut; the city where every rock has a history, every tree a survival instinct. My darling city that is engulfed in pain, love, hate, cursed with beauty and ugliness, revered and raped by its own people and their occupiers…
Lebanese students dressed up as Santa Claus and clowns celebrate in front of a giant Christmas tree in downtown Beirut
In Lebanon people start decorating for Christmas around mid-October. Some areas like Zalka are too lazy to remove their decorations thus leaving their permanent nativity scenes and Christmas trees all year long. Shops from Dahiya to Hamra to Ashrafiyeh on my way to university had the Christmas season started and proudly displayed. AUB and decorations hung from its age-old trees which survived the Lebanese real estate obsession in the last century, and LAU had started to plant poinsettias all over the place, surrounding the central Christmas tree on campus. I wondered, for how long will Lebanon hold its incredibly weird and controversial love-hate relationship between the different religious sectarian groups…
So much has happened since then, as I wonder today, how much worse did I ever imagine it would have gotten…
Egypt
Egypt’s Coptic community have been discriminated against for years, not just by society but by their own government. A law that had previously banned them from maintaining churches was revoked when the Egyptian authorities felt that the Copts were gaining too much freedom in fixing up their churches. Continuous massacres had occurred against the Copts throughout the years, since the second half of last century. Some of the highest peaks between Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt occurred on such occasions, such as the Kosheh massacre, where the Egyptian government turned a blind eye.
However the Nad Hammadi massacre has sparked new events. There is something that I don’t understand though. There were religious clerics who praised the attacks and called for the Copts to be wiped out from Egypt. Ignorance comes from reading books, yet the least one might expect from a religious cleric is that he had read his Holy Book the Quran through and through..
“for Mohammed -the Prophet of Islam-, who had an Egyptian wife named “Coptic Maria” (mother of Ibrahim his son), preached especial kindness towards Copts: “When you conquer Egypt, be kind to the Copts for they are your proteges and kith and kin”.
I am pleased to say however, that most Eqyptians, Muslim and Chrisitans, are fed up. I salute the
” thousands of Muslims who showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside to offer themselves as “human shields” during mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.
Egyptian Muslims standing as "human shields" to protect the Coptic church during mass
“We either live together, or we die together,” the slogan by of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the “human shield” idea.”
It is heartening to see Egypt’s population take matters into their own hands actually do something about it, unlike their government. Yet I hope that this is one of many steps that will take place in unifying Egyptian nationalism.
Iraq
Christian Iraqis mourn outside the victims of an attack on a central Baghdad church in October which killed 44 people.
A grieving community that did not celebrate Christmas this year. The attacks on the Christians in Iraq prompted reaction from the Muslims in the Middle East. Some regard it as a Holy duty to protect the People of the Book. Others regard it as an Arab duty, and others just say that its a basic principle to protect fellow Arabs whose historical influence in the region is immeasurable. Like Egypt, it has prompted more support from their Muslim co-nationals than I had personally ever expected. As tragic as the rising attacks are growing in number and gravity, I feel heartened at the support and awareness that is growing among Arab Muslims towards their Christian co-nationals yet things need to be done on a bigger scale and the only greater crime that can happen now is if this incident is put behind and ignored. (Link to interview with the wonderful Daniel Pipes; at times paranoid, at times amusing, yet sometimes right)
Indonesia
Not in the Middle East, yet Al-Qaeda stretches far and wide. Indonesian churches are being attacked, suppressed and the government has been bowing down to the demands of the fundamentalists.
Airport in Abu Dhabi when I came home for Christmas
United Arab Emirates
I grew up in this country. I remember when it was still not very open to the rest of the world, my mother would take us to the American Community school, were we would wait for four hours till Baba Noel (Santa Claus) would come down in his helicopter in the heat of the city which had once been a desert. Today Christmas has overwhelmed the holiday season. Palm trees on the streets had little red balls hanging, malls have been covered in decorations, trees and little houses where Santa Clause meets the kids.
Christmas tree in Emirates Palace
In the Emirates Palace a Christmas tree had been set up with decorations worth up to 11 million dollars. The decorations were not bought, but were actually jewelry from a shop which was displaying its ornaments in a form of advertising. Of course, rather than getting the point behind this, the story drew criticism from a large number of people who claimed that the UAE had no right to commercialize Christmas. I suppose it is okay for businesses all around the world to commercialize Christmas, as though it hasn’t been commercialized enough already. But it is a problem when the Muslims do it. When Muslims are intolerant, it’s obviously a problem, when they are tolerant and festive, it seems to be a bigger problem.
I remembered that my high school Christmas party was organized by my Muslim friends when I came across this site a few weeks ago. www.xmasisevil.com …
sigh… I think Muslim fundamentalists in European countries are way more terrifying than any fundamentalist I have encountered in the Middle East. Aren’t there laws on hate crimes or hate advertising in the UK?
Opening mass by Pope Shenouda in the Coptic church of Abu Dhabi (pic taken from article below)
Anyway, I think it is important to mention two important factors about the United Arab Emirates.
1. Even though the UAE is a 100% Muslim country, it has over 30 churches in the country to serve the different sects of Christian expatriates living there.
2. Egyptian Copts are not allowed to build churches in their own country, yet in the UAE, they have a Coptic Church in almost every major city, the last of which opened, was in Al- Ain a few weeks ago, and has opened a mass which was attended by Emirati Muslims to celebrate its opening.
As usual I celebrated Christmas in Abu Dhabi, as I have done all my life. We never felt a lack of Christmas spirit
Another cute looking santa camel during Abu Dhabi Christmas season
among our friends and family. On Christmas Eve as we got down from our car to visit our friends, we encountered several young Emirati men walking by. They smiled at us warmly, put their hand to their chest in a form of greeting and wished us a Merry Christmas. That was more than any Christmas gift I could have asked for.
Back to Beirut
Already late for Professor Norman Finkelstein’s lecture, I passed by the Church near my home to pick up my cousin from her scout who were attending mass to celebrate St Anthony’s day. Even though it was the last five minutes of mass, out of habit, my feet stayed clear of entering mass whenever it could be avoided, yet my cousin dragged me inside to watch her scout salute at the end. They sang their scout song and held up their cute flags until it was time to leave. As usual there was always a notice to keep us in church a minute longer than we wanted to. A nun goes up to the microphone to say:
“Just one more question please, before you go..”
The audience turns to her as she continues. “When you hear such lovely voices of our youth, do you fear the plight of Christians in the Middle East.”
Then, like the cute African American audiences I watch in the movies who answer back to their pastor when he asks them a question, and unlike the silent catholic character of the eastern church audiences, they suddenly cried out: No!
“Do you fear for our Coptic and Iraqi brothers and sisters?”
“No”
“Do you fear for the future of our country, Lebanon, and our existence?”
“No way!”
“Thank you that’s all I needed to know.”
Laughter, and we retire to the outside open air. The scouts gave out Halawas (arabic sweets), and I rushed with my cousin to my car, pleasantly amused and somewhat slightly relaxed.
For now…
Other relative links:
Beirut Film Festival and the price of censorship
While crowds of people flocked to follow up on Iranian President Ahmadinajad’s every move upon his arrival to 
Lebanon, I was busy in UNESCO, working with a wonderful team of people in preparation for the closing ceremony of the Beirut International Film Festival. The festival was wonderful, and we had a wonderful set of guests, among them actress and producer Arsinée Khanjiann and Cinema historian Robert Daudelin. The closing ceremony began with handing out the awards to the films, of which we are starting to see this year an increase in Arab films displayed, particularly from Saudi Arabia.
What upset me (which might be the best diplomatic word to describe my current feelings on the subject) during this festival was the Lebanese Government’s somewhat successful impact on the films that were screened. There were two cases here:
1. The first, done to spare the feelings of Iranian President Ahmadinajad, was the postponement of the screening “Green Days”, a dramatic documentary set during the protests that followed his disputed election in 2009. The Lebanese Government, or to be more precise, the “General Security” were successful, not in banning the film, but rather, according to the festival’s director, Colette Naufal, the censorship authorities had “asked us to postpone the two screenings because of the Iranian president’s visit.”
My problem with that is the following:
- In Iran, leading film-makers have been swept up in the government crackdown on opposition and freedom of expression that followed the protests, among them Jafar Panahi, who had been imprisoned for 3 months and would have died of his hunger strike had their not been an international reaction with a petition signed by many, including fellow directors, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese etc.
- We know what happened in Iran during the protests. We know who died during the protests as well. We all know who Neda is. Had Ahmadinajad won fair and square during the elections, then he would not have felt the need to silence his people, neither would he nor his government would have felt threatened by Iran’s artists and filmmakers.
- My fear is that he had not arrived on Lebanon’s soil and we already had censored (yes I call it censorship) an important film. If this is the situation now, I am not really eager to know how it will change for the better later on. This is the open letter to the “Cinema Lovers of Lebanon” from Hanna Makhmalbaf, director of “Green Days”.
2. My other problem, is the absolute censorship of another film, “Chou Sar” (What Happened?) 
“Chou Sar?” is a movie directed by De Gaulle Eid depicting the massacre of his family that he witnessed during the civil war in his hometown in Edbel, North of Lebanon back in 1980. The film was banned by the ISF for “inciting sectarianism.”
“The film/documentary tells of the director’s own life story. On December 9, 1980, De Gaulle Eid’s parents, youngest sister and eleven other members of his family were gunned down in Edbel, Northern Lebanon. Eid left Lebanon to go to France, and now lives with his own family in Corsica. However, since leaving Lebanon, Eid has remained traumatized by the massacre. When he finally returns to Lebanon, he has to deal with his past. He also has to deal with the reality of the 1993 amnesty agreement, which meant that perpetrators of civil war-era atrocities are immune from retribution. Discovering his former neighbors, who participated in his family’s slaying are still living in the area, Eid is faced with a hideous reality.”
The above was written by the Dubai International Film Festival. Do you know why I had to get my information from a foreign film festival about a Lebanese film made about Lebanon? Yup. Exactly. Cuz I didn’t watch it. And why is that? Because nobody here watched it… not yet anyway.
The General Security gave a “verbal message” to the organizers of the Lebanese Film Festival as well as the Beirut International Film Festival that although they “liked” the film, they found it too controversial.
“Waiting for Abu Zayd”, a documentary by Ali Atassi about Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, one of the leading liberal theologians in Islam, had trouble at the General Security’s censor, who, at first refused to grant clearance to the film that gave a liberal vision and interpretation of Islam, only relenting a few minutes before its scheduled projection at Beirut’s festival of Arabic-language film, Ayyam Beirut al-Cinemaiyya. Perhaps they felt they were over-doing it this year.
Letter to Terry Jones… From an Arab Catholic priest, Elias Zahlawi
Respected Pastor Terry Jones,
I have read your worldwide call for the burning of the Quran on this coming 11th of September. Your message stated that you are a pastor of one of the churches in Florida in the United States of America.
As an Arab Catholic priest from Damascus (Syria), I wondered what would be your objective, as an American pastor, for such a call?
I wondered, and I ask you: What are your responsibilities as a pastor?
Are you really a Christian pastor serving God in a church in America?
Or are you merely a layperson from America who is pretending to be in the service of Christ?
Did you give in to your nationalism (Americanism) rather than giving in to your Christianity?
What is your aim with that call?
(Do you wish) to further fuel hatred among people? Is that consistent with (the teachings of) Jesus, whom you represent in your eyes and the eyes of many others?
Tell me, is there in the character of Jesus, in his words or in his actions anything that would remotely justify even a hint of promoting disdain and hatred among people?
Have you forgotten that Jesus was completely for love, forgiveness and peace? Have you forgotten what he taught us when he told his disciples and the people after them to tell God the heavenly Father of all to “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who wrong us”? You overlooked or forgot that when Jesus was hanging on the cross and being subjected to insults and vile words, he raised his voice, saying, “O Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Who, then, do you represent or who are you trying to guide with this call of yours?
Isn’t it enough what has been happening since September 11, 2001: the killing, destruction, displacement and starvation of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world, from Palestine – the land of Jesus – by your leaders in particular, headed by George Bush, who was claiming direct communication with God?
Wouldn’t you agree with me that with your call (to burn the Quran), you have demonstrated that you are really unfamiliar with Jesus and that you desperately need to re-discover him again to be a true Christian pastor who calls, like Jesus, for the comprehensive love and full respect for every human being and a commitment to the full and wonderful teachings that call upon all believers, without exception, to always stand beside the poor, the oppressed and the disadvantaged?
My brother Pastor Terry Jones. Can you tell me, honestly, if Jesus came today, whose side would he take?
Is it the side of the powerful and arrogant oppressors who dominate the world and endlessly plunder its resources, violate its laws and international treaties, and kill people in their countries and destroy houses on top of their owners and turn them into refugees across the earth? Or is it the side of those who are oppressed, the disadvantaged, hungry, and homeless?
Did you forget what Jesus himself would say on the Day of Judgment to each person in front of him: “All that you did to one of my brothers, you actually did to me”?
I wonder if you have overlooked or forgotten that Jesus did not point in that speech on the Day of Judgment to the religion of any of those mistreated persons. He only referred to everyone as belonging to the human race and to his standing with the deprived, the weak, and the oppressed in this world.
So how could you as an American Christian pastor stand with the oppressors from your country whose injustice has spread around the world?
Aren’t you afraid of when you appear before Jesus on Judgment Day and you are burdened with a heavy conscience, like your leaders who are blinded by the gods of power, money, control and greed?
My brother Pastor Terry. Do you think I am being unfair if I conclude that your hatred toward Islam is what drove you to such a reprehensible call for the burning of Islam’s holy book, the Quran?
But let me ask you, as a Syrian Roman Catholic priest: What do you know about Islam? It appears to me from your call to burn the Quran that you are ignorant of Christ and Christianity, and that makes me believe that you are also ignorant of Islam and Muslims.
Believe me, it is not my intention to indict you and it is not my intention to engage with you in a religious debate about Christianity or Islam. However, after I prayed for a long time, let me suggest for both of us to make a joint effort on this coming September 11.
You might ask me what effort can we do jointly when you are in Florida and I’m in Damascus?
Here is my suggestion.
I invite you to visit Syria, where you will be my guest and the guest of many of my Muslim and Christian friends. Syria is a country populated mostly by Muslims and in which Christians are indigenous to the land and have lived side-by-side with Muslims for centuries and centuries.
Come and don’t worry about anything.
Come and you will find out about Islam and Muslims what will comfort you, please you, surprise you, and even lead you, from where you are today in Florida, to invite all people to live in respect, love and cooperation among all people.
This is what people need rather than the un-Christian call to fuel the sentiment of hatred and division.
Come to Syria and you will be amazed by the good nature of people and their faith, their relations, friendly cooperation and openness toward all strangers.
Come to Damascus to witness and live an experience that is not in your mind nor the mind or expectation of all the churches of the West or their bishops, pastors, and clergymen.
Come to see and hear two choruses, Christian and Muslim, singing together during Christian and Islamic holidays to praise Allah, the One God, who created us all, and to whom we all return.
My brother Pastor Terry.
I call you my brother and I am serious about calling you brother and about my invitation to you. I await a word (of reply) from you. Trust me that you will find a brother in Damascus, actually many brothers.
Please contact me and don’t delay. I am waiting for you in Damascus.
I ask God to make our anticipated meeting the beginning of a long and interesting path that we undertake together with other brothers in Damascus and around the world.
How desperate is the need of our world for bright roads.
Come, the road to Damascus is waiting for you.
Father Elias Zahlawi
منشورات - منشورات
كتب عمدة الاذاعة
الإثنين, 30 أغسطس/آب 2010 19:37
السيد القسيس تيري جونز المحترم
لقد قرأت دعوتك إلى احراق القرآن الكريم على نطاق العالم يوم الحادي عشر من أيلول (سبتمبر) القادم .
وقد جاء في نص هذه الدعوة أنك قسيس في إحدى كنائس فلوريدا بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية .تساءلت, وأنا كاهن عربي كاثوليكي من دمشق (سوريا)ماعسى أن تكون غايتك من تلك الدعوة وأنت قسيس أمريكي ؟؟؟
تساءلت ؟؟ وأسألك :ماعملك بوصفك قسيسا ؟؟؟
هل أنت قسيس مسيحي حقا يخدم الله في إحدى كنائس أمريكا ؟
أم أنك مواطن أمريكي وحسب يدّعي خدمة المسيح ؟؟؟
هل تراك استسلمت لأمريكيتك بدل أن تستسلم لمسيحيتك ؟؟؟
ما الذي تريده من دعوتك هذه ؟؟
أن تؤجج مزيدا من الأحقاد بين الشعوب ؟
وهل في ذلك ما ينسجم مع السيد المسيح الذي تمثله في نظر نفسك ونظر الكثيرين ؟؟؟
قل لي هل في شخصية يسوع في كلامه في سلوكه في مواقفه كلها مايبرر إن من قريب أو من بعيد مجرد التلميح إلى نفور ما أو حقد ما أو بغض مابين الناس جميع الناس ؟؟؟
أونسيت أن يسوع كان في كليته محبة وغفران وسلام
أونسيت ماعلّمنا يوم علّم تلاميذه والناس من بعدهم أن يقولوا للآب السماوي إله الجميع (واغفر لنا خطايانا كما نغفر نحن لمن أخطأ إلينا )
أونسيت أو تناسيت أن يسوع عندما كان معلقا على الصليب تنهال عليه الشتائم وكلمات الشماتة الدنيئة رفع صوته قائلا (يا أبتي اغفر لهم لأنهم لا يدرون ما يعملون)
فمن تراك تمثّل ؟ومن تراك تريد أن تهدي بدعوتك تلك ؟؟؟؟؟
أما كفاك ما جرى ويجري منذ 11أيلول (سبتمبر) عام 2001 من قتل وتدمير وتشريد وتجويع لمئات الملايين من الناس في شتى أرجاء الأرض بدءا من فلسطين وهي (وطن يسوع )على يد حكامك بالذات وعلى رأسهم جورج بوش الذي كان يدّعي الاتصال المباشر مع الله ؟
ألا ترى معي أنك بدعوتك تلك برهنت على غربتك الحقيقية عن يسوع وعلى حاجتك الملحّة إلى إعادة اكتشافه من جديد كي تكون قسيسا مسيحيا حقا يدعو مثل يسوع للمحبة الشاملة وللاحترام التام لكل انسان وللالتزام الكامل بتعاليمه الرائعة التي تدعو جميع المؤمنين به دون استثناء إلى الوقوف دائما في صف الفقراء والمظلومين والمحرومين ؟؟
أخي القسيس تيري جونز
هل لك أن تقول لي بكل صدق لوجاء يسوع اليوم في صف من تراه سيقف
أفي صف الأقوياء المتغطرسين الظالمين الذين يهيمنون على العالم وينهبون خيراته دون شبع ويستبيحون القوانيين والمعاهدات الدولية كلها ويقتلون الناس في أوطانهم ويدمرون البيوت فوق أصحابها ويشردونهم في أرجاء الأرض؟؟؟
أم سيقف في صف هؤلاء المظلومين والمحرومين والجياع والمشردين ؟؟
وهل تراك نسيت ماسيقول يسوع نفسه في يوم الدين لكل انسان يمثل بين يديه (كل مافعلتم بأحد أخوتي هؤلاء الصغار بي أنا فعلتموه )؟؟؟
هل تراك نسيت أو تناسيت أن يسوع لم يشر في حديثه عن يوم الدين إلى إنتماء أي إنسان لأي دين ؟؟؟
إنما هو أشار فقط إلى انتماء كل إنسان إلى بني البشر جميعا وإلى وقوفه مع المحرومين منه والمستضعفين والمظلومين في الأرض
فما بالك أنت القسيس المسيحي الأمريكي تقف مع الظالمين في بلدك الذين امتد ظلمهم حتى شمل العالم ؟؟؟؟
ألا تخشى المثول أمام يسوع في يوم الدين وأنت مثقل بما يثقل ضمائر حكامك الذين أعمتهم آلهة السلطة والمال والقوة والتخمة ؟؟
أخي القسيس تيري
هل تراني أظلمك إن رأيت أن نقمتك على الإسلام هي التي تبرر دعوتك المستهجنة تلك إلى إحراق كتاب المسلمين المقدس القرآن الكريم ؟؟
ولكن دعني أسألك أنا الكاهن الكاثوليكي السوري ماذا تعرف عن الإسلام ؟؟
يبدو لي أن في خلفية دعوتك لإحراق القرآن الكريم من الجهل بالمسيح والمسيحية ما يحملني على الإعتقاد بجهلك بالإسلام والمسلمين ؟؟؟
صدقني ليس في نيتي أن أدينك وليس في نيتي البتة أن أدخل معك في أي سجال ديني سواء منه ما يتناول المسيحية أو الإسلام إنما دعني أقترح عليك بعد أن صليت طويلا عملا مشتركا نقوم به أنا وأنت معا يوم الحادي عشر من أيلول القادم
تسألني أي عمل وأنت في فلوريدا وأنا في دمشق؟
هو ذا العمل الذي أقترحه عليك
إني أدعوك لزيارة سوريا حيث ستكون في ضيافتي وفي ضيافة أصدقائي الكثيرين من مسلمين ومسيحيين
فسوريا بلد تدين غالبية سكانه بالإسلام والمسيحييون فيه أصلاء ويعيشون فيه جنبا إلى جنب مع المسلمين منذ قرون وقرون
تعال ولا تخشى شيئا
تعال عساك تكتشف عن الاسلام والمسلمين ما يريحك ويفرحك ويفاجئك وما سيحملك حيث أنت اليوم في فلوريدا الجميلة على دعوة الناس الملحة إلى التعايش في احترام ومحبة وتعاون جميع الناس في أمس الحاجة إليها بدل الدعوة (اللا مسيحية إلى تأجيج الأحقاد والتناحر)؟؟
تعال إلى سوريا فتدهش بطبيعة الناس وإلفتهم وإيمانهم وعلاقاتهم وتعاونهم وانفتاحهم الودود على كل غريب
تعال إلى دمشق لأجعلك تعيش خبرة ماكانت لتخطر لا ببالك ولا ببال جميع كنائس الغرب وأساقفته وكهنته وقساوسته
تعال لترى وتسمع جوقتين (مسيحية وإسلامية)تسبحّان معا في الأعياد المسيحية والإسلامية الله الواحد الله الذي خلقنا كلنا والذي إليه مآلنا جميعا
أخي القسيس تيري
أدعوك أخي وأنا جاد في تسميتك أخا لي وفي دعوتي لك وإني لأنتظر منك كلمة لا غير
وثق بأنك ستجد لك في دمشق أخا بل إخوة كثيرين فأخبرني ولا تتأخر إني على موعد معك في دمشق
أسأل الله أن يجعل لقائنا هذا المرتجى بداية لطريق طويل ومشوق نشقه معا مع إخوة لنا كثيرين في دمشق والعالم وما أحوج العالم اليوم إلى طرق مشرقة
تعال فطريق دمشق في انتظارك
Lebanese Patriotism: If you love your country, pollute it…
There was once a joke, that my little sister told her class, that when God created Lebanon, He gave her beautiful mountains and valleys and hills that he sculpted with his own hands, and He planted them with trees with his own hands. He gave her the sea and the snow, richness of the soil and beauty of the earth. He crafted the land with the rarest flowers, most exotic plants, and an energy in its land that was unknown to man. He wept so that His tears created the purest ponds and springs. When He was done He looked around, and saw that Lebanon was more beautiful compared to the rest of the nations that He created. It was not fair that He should appear to show so much favor to one land over His other lands, and therefore He decided to create something else to make a balance so that the land of Lebanon would not stand out so strongly in comparison to the rest of the earth...And so he gave Lebanon…
It’s people.
Lebanese have a strange way of expressing love for their country. When it comes to politics, they are ever so passionate about voting for people who eventually do nothing. When it come to war, they are ever so passionate about carrying guns or partying in clubs (not that they don’t also do that in times of peace). When it comes to landscape, they are ever so passionate about building massive and plain constructions while destroying our old architecture and archaeology, all done in the name of the benefit of the country, particularly with creating illegal quarries that fund mostly political parties with 80,000 dollars a day, while disturbing mountainous regions in Lebanon that have been untouched for thousands of years.
When it comes to the environment, Lebanese like show their patriotism in many different ways, from throwing garbage outside the car window, to flicking cigarettes on the ground, to dumping their garbage in our forests. (I am not including myself in the equation as I do not do any of those things, and anyone else who doesn’t may exclude themselves as well). Yet the latest failure our government has been responsible of (and yes they are responsible; when you see illegal actions taking place right in front of your face and do nothing, it makes every one of us responsible, no matter how they may decorate it with media and talk and speeches about these illegal wrongdoings. In the end they sit there and do nothing; just wait and see.), today the Qadisha Valley (also known as Wadi Annoubin), is in danger of being removed from the World Heritage list.
I have been there several times, as my grandmother’s village is just above this sacred valley. It is certainly a serene and beautiful place, one that has been used for prayer, pilgrimage and as a security for the persecuted for over centuries. Every Saint known to us has walked through the valley. It was over here, that the essence of one of the main religious sects of Lebanon, was preserved and protected.
Putting religion aside, had it been for any other sect in Lebanon, I would be equally furious, but this matter concerns all Lebanese. I have seen the garbage thrown into the beautiful and icy river of the valley, by idiots on picnics who refused to clean up after themselves. (In Lebanon it is “uncool” to throw things in bins; unless they are taking care of their homes. They don’t acknowledge the outdoor landscape of Lebanon as their home).
We have made a mockery of ourselves while claiming to work for independence, freedom and democracy. We have made fools of ourselves by claiming love to a nation that we care nothing about. Because Lebanese care about nothing other than themselves, as they have done so for thousands of years, otherwise we wouldn’t have only 400 Cedar trees left in this country. We are a people that do not deserve our country, because we do not recognize that it has a soul of its own, that every tree and rock is wiser and more beautiful than the wisest of our people.
Yes, Lebanon does not deserve us.
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