Joseph El-Khoury
The
tragic murder of Myriam Achkar on 21st November in the town of Sahel
Alma generated significant turmoil in Lebanon. While the family of the victim
and her loved ones cannot be blamed for the flare up of emotions and the call
for retribution in rather crude words, the reaction of the more removed public
is worth a pause for reflection. As the story unraveled, both mainstream and
social media commentaries were awash with bigoted and racist overtones. : At
its heart the interpretation of the event as yet another symbol of the
persecution of Christianity in a hostile environment. This permanent kink in
the psyche of Arab Christian community has resurfaced recently in the wake of
the Arab Spring but stretches back to the inception of Islam and the search for
an Eastern identity that is simultaneously distinct and in tune with its
Islamic surrounding.
I
contrasted the social and official reaction (as distinct from the personal one)
to the murder of Myriam with the aftermath of the slaughter of 62 adolescents
on a Norwegian Island earlier this year. Following a meticulous and protracted
process, Anders Brehing Breivik, the murderer at the heart of these events has
only this week been found clinically insane by two Forensic Psychiatrists. More
importantly they found that his actions could be blames on delusional beliefs
emanating from a diagnosis of Paranoid Schizophrenia. Breivik is likely to
spend the rest if his life in a secure psychiatric institution; an outcome that
has not pleased everyone but as one bereaved parent insisted, the important
point is that society will no longer be at risk from him.
The
protection of others is an important function of well-established mental health
services in European countries where specialists coordinate their work with
other agencies, including law enforcement agencies and social services. It is
of course fanciful to expect the development of such services in the Arab
world, at least in the short term. But
as shown in the Breivik case, the use of mental health expertise to help
provide satisfactory answers following a crime that impact society beyond the
immediate environment of the victim and the perpetrator can be a positive
investment for the concerned authorities.
There
is no evidence that Fathi Jaber Salateen, the Syrian who committed the gruesome
murder in Sahel Alma was mentally ill in the clinical sense. In fact the event is
shocking in its simplicity, in the sense that it appears to be the pure product
of a criminal psychopathic mind. Myriam, a loving and loved 28 year old who happened
to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time, was as such sacrificed to
appease dysfunctional basic sexual instincts. What followed remains mostly
speculation until details are further revealed.
But
this is not the account reported by various media outlets, either for reasons
of ignorance or ulterior motives. Instead the social and sectarian dimension
was exploited ad nauseaum overshadowing the personal tragedy. This became a
story of an innocent Christian girl killed by a Muslim Immigrant worker. The discrepancy
between the real and perceived cultural and religious values of both victim and
perpetrator were emphasized to explain the murder. A political solution was
even sought for what is essentially a problem inherent to the human mind; the
dysfunctional psyche independent of creed. Little context or analysis was
provided for these types of murder, which are mostly advertised in the
Christian West. For what it’s worth
another chilling parallel could be drawn between this case and the murder of 25
year old Jo Yeates last Christmas in the English city of Bristol. The convicted
murderer was no other than her neighbor, Vincent Tabak, a distinctively middle
class Dutch architect who led an unremarkable crime-free existence.
The
death of Myriam could not come at a worse time for the Lebanese authorities.
For months, public paranoia has been at its peak fuelled by heightened local
and regional political tension but also a genuine lack of security. In a
desperate attempt to minimize public outcry, many in positions of
responsibility made populist statements lumping together unrelated events and
reaching erroneous conclusions. The measures suggested might reassure a
traumatized community, but do little to prevent another Salateen from striking
in Sahel Alma, or elsewhere when we least expect it.
5 comments:
Joseph,
Your calm and scientific analysis is admirable; particularly, in the midst of attempts by the ignorant and mischief makers to turn the tragedy of a murdered young woman into a political, religious, and national outrage.
Elie Elhadj
It is just sad that an unrelated murder incident can be blown up to be a national issue regarding religious persecution. The people and the media should be careful with these allegations specially in this sensitive environment.
These kinds of incidents are often taken advantage by extremists for their own purposes. Even something random can be used to incite a sectarian violence and escalate the tensions further.
wites & kapetan
i really enjoyed reading this post. Keep up the good work.
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