Monday, October 25, 2010

نصيحة

خالد برّاج



مضحك و مبكٍ في آنٍ معاً عندما تستذكِر القيادات اليسارية و الشيوعية الحالية في المهرجانات الحزبية و المؤتمرات التضامنية المتنوعِة المشارب و الأهداف المثقّفين و المقاومين الشيوعيين و اليساريين الذين سقطوا غدراً على أيدي التنظيمات و العصابات الإسلاموفاشية في الفترة الممتدة بين 1985 و 1988 في كلّ من بيروت و الجنوب.

المضحك في الأمر أنّ هذه القيادات الحالية من أمناء عامين و أعضاء مكاتب سياسية و لجان مركزية و مجالس وطنية لأحزابٍ و تنظيمات (و التي أصبحت عملِياً فارغة من محازبيها و مناضليها) تقف الأن في صفّ هذه التنظيمات الإسلاموفاشية و تدافع عنها و تبرِر لها أعمالها من تهديدٍ دائم لسياسيين و أحزاب و صحافة مكتوبة و مرئية وصولاً إلى الغمز الشبه اليومي لجهة إستمال "السلاح الميليشيوي" لفرض الرأي بالقوة إذا لزم الأمر.

و المضحك الثاني في الأمر هي كمِية المعونات المادية الشهرية و الموسمية التّي يتمّ توزيعها على بعض الأحزاب و القيادات اليسارية من قبل تنظيم إسلاموفاشي شهير لكي تقوم هذه الأحزاب و القيادات و عبر الإعلام بشتم و تلفيق إتهامات كاذبة و الإفتراء على كل من يعارض أو يختلف بالرأي مع هذا التنظيم الإسلاموفاشي "صاحب المال الطاهر و القرار الحرّ ".

أمّا المبكي في الأمر هو ذكر أسماء هؤلاء الشهداء الأبرار خلال المهرجانات اليسارية و خطب الأمناء العامين الرنّانة في إطار مشوّه للحقائق و التنكُر للظروف و الأسباب التي رافقت عملية إغتيالهم و تحميل مسؤولية الإغتيالات لأطرافٍ أخرى ليس لها علاقة لا من قريب و لا من بعيد بهذه الإغتيالات و تبرئة المرتكب الحقيقي و إعطائه شهادة حسن سلوك وطنية و قومية و أممية.

نصيحة صغيرة للقيادات اليسارية و الشيوعية اللبنانية الحالية المتحالفة (أو العميلة – تعبير أدقّ) مع التنظيمات الإسلاموفاشية ضمن "جبهة مواجهة الهجمة الإمبريالية الأميركية الصهيونية على لبنان و المنطقة العربية" أن تراجع تاريخ بلد إسمه إيران بُعيد الثورة الإسلامية عام 1979 التي أطاحت بنظام دكتاتور إيران الشاه محمد رضا بهلاوي و أتت بنظامٍ رجعيٍ/ظلاميٍ كان أول مآثره تأسيس عصابات مسلّحة إسلاموفاشية شبه حكومية/رسمية (أصبحت فيما بعد رسمية) قامت في المرحلة الممتدة بين 1980 و 1984 بالملاحقة و الإقتصاص من المناضلين و المثقّفين اليساريين و الشيوعيين الذين ساهموا وكان لهم الدور الرئيسي بنجاح الثورة الإيرانية.



Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Immigration and Integration: European Dilemma

By Khaled Barrage


"The approach of multi-cultural society has failed totally; immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values"

Angela Merkel – Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Back in the 1970's France and Germany actively encouraged the immigration of mostly North-African (France) and Turkish (Germany) workers in order to provide the manpower for their booming construction and manufacturing sectors. This was out of necessity, faced with on-going crisis in the availability of local qualified workmen and the cheap cost of foreign labour compared to local wages. Both governments at the time and even later on did little to set any socio-cultural vision with regards to the integration of the new minorities within their respective societies. Instead, the focus was on short term benefits while big factories exploited a workforce eager to work and poorly aware of its rights. (long working hours in contradiction with the regulations/labour laws - insignificant salaries - poor housing conditions etc...). This state of affairs led to a voluntary self-isolation and a re-adherence among this group to the cultural/social/religious values of their country of origin. This phenomenon was transferred to the second generation immigrants in the form of relatively stronger adherence to these ‘traditional values’ (mostly those born in the 1980s).

Today, although the main issues and problems regarding the integration of the immigrants and their descendants are focused on the main cities and suburbs (Paris/cites; Berlin and its suburbs etc...), the various election results since 1986 in France and mid-nineties in Germany reveal a sustained progression in the percentage of the vote acquired by right wing and far right wing formations in rural areas where the issue of integration is a theoretical one, far removed from local concerns. The number of votes obtained by these same groups is on the other hand shrinking in the main cities. More recently the French right wing UMP lost all the major cities in the latest regional elections after losing the municipality of Paris more than 10 years ago.

How to explain this voting behavior?

The Conservative Right and their more extreme counterparts are known to emphasize the importance of the ‘traditional’ values of the nation. They also warn of the influence of these minorities that bring their own cultural values and develop an environment incompatible with the notion of a liberal republic. This discourse is strongly supported in the rural zones where the population is more traditional and conservative in outlook compared with the urban, more mobile and exposed population.

Nonetheless the impact of this voting pattern is felt nationally as it consistently ensures a large number of votes during the various elections (parliamentary elections – municipality elections – regional elections etc…) without too much effort. Suggesting serious solutions to the problem of minority and integration in the European society was never really on the agenda of the mainstream European Right. (No need to mention the extreme right wing formations here since their wish is the expulsion of most immigrants "legal and illegal" from the country). The intentional absence of concrete plans and solutions combined with the xenophobic speech orchestrated by the right will always be profitable in terms of votes at the end of the election day.

On the other hand, the continuous self-isolation policy conducted by minorities and the antagonism shown to the central authority in response to years of negligence by the European governments since the 70s were fertile grounds for the emergence of societal violence in the form of:

• On-going acts of violence in the main cities: violent demonstrations, burning and cracking stores, attacks on public facilities and institutions. (We should point out here that the security forces arrogant /traditional xenophobic attitude against the minorities is a factor too).

• Large number of immigrants/immigrants descendants joined Islamofascist European cells or at least sympathized with their cause. (Keeping in mind the impact of Western policies in the Middle East and their unconditional support for Israel).

The problem of minorities in European society requires a thoughtful and clear solution that takes into consideration on one side their current social situation and their cultural/religious background and from the other side the need to develop an integration plan based on human rights principles and the respect by the immigrants of the laws and regulations of the republic and its social contract.

Monday, October 18, 2010

The nastiest game of CLUEDO


The Special International Tribunal for Lebanon, now infamous for its procedural flaws and inability to maintain any useful public legitimacy, has focused the minds of the Lebanese on the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri in 2005 and the ones that followed since that date. We tend to forget that political assassinations of major figures had become a cultural characteristic soon after independence (the assassination of PM Riad El-Solh). The Golden Age was to come in the civil war of 1975-1990.

Many would be familiar with the boardgame CLUEDO where players are invited to solve a crime riddle by a deductive process and identify the perpetrator, the weapon and the location. Needless to say that our real life Lebanese game is open ended with the perpetrator (or perpetrators) remaining unidentified decades later.

I believe that unresolved crimes of that magnitude and impact cannot just be dismissed and relegated to history books. Riddles and mysteries are not conducive to reconciliation and the forging of a national identity. Whether we are facing one all-mighty perpetrator or a number of competing ones, finishing this game of CLUEDO is essential for our national closure.

Following is a list of the most notorious unresolved crimes where due judicial process has been absent or incomplete...

Round 1

Who Killed Kamal Joumblatt on March 16th 1977 in The Shouf mountains by shooting

Round 2

Who killed Tony Frangieh on June 13th 1978 in Ehden by shooting?

Round 3

Who killed Salim Lawzi on 9th March 1980 in Beirut by shooting?

Round 4

Who killed Ryad Taha on 23rd July 1980 in Beirut by shooting?

Round 5

Who killed President Bashir Gemayel on 14th September 1982 in Beirut by improvised explosive device?

Round 6

Who killed Prime Minister Rashid Karame on 1st June 1987 over the Mediterranean by improvised explosive device?

Round 7

Who killed Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled on 16th May 1989 in Beirut by detonating a car bomb?

Round 8

Who killed MP Nazem El Kadri on 22nd September 1989 in Beirut by shooting?

Round 9

Who Killed President Rene Moawad on22nd November 1989 in Beirut by detonating a car bomb?

Round 10

Who killed Dany Chamoun on 21st October 1990 in Baabda by shooting?

Round 11

Who Killed Elie Hobeika on 24th January 2002 in Hazmyeh by detonating a car bomb?

This list is far from exhaustive and many others figures but also ordinary Lebanese with or without political affiliations fell victim to this obsession with the board game. We also owe it to them to improve our completion rate.