Gad Elmaleh and Tahranistan

July 2006…Hezbollah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers…the second Lebanon war is declared…Gad Elmaleh’s appearance in Byblos is canceled…

July 2009…Hezbollah launches a media campaign against Gad Elmaleh…the artist cancels 3 sold-out performances in beiteddine…

Is Gad Elmaleh a supporter of Israel or is he an Israeli citizen or did he serve in the Israeli army?

Hezbollah is claiming that Gad served in the Israeli army…if that is true…legally Gad should not be performing in Beirut…

If we are sanctioning the artist because of his support for Israel, then we are definitely facing a moral dilemma…

Can we separate the artist from his political views? Can we welcome Gad as the French humorist and comedian and ignore the fact that he supports the country that is at war with our own country?

However, the Gad incident should make us beware of Hezbollah’s infiltration in the cultural life of Lebanon.

We all know that Hezbollah is an Islamist party with all what it means in societal and cultural behavior…

Today, they forced a French artist to cancel his tour in Beirut (always using the Israeli pretext)...

Tomorrow it will be the Baalback festivals…

and after tomorrow we will wake up in Tahranistan…

It seems that long time ago…Hezbollah ceased to be a resistance party…only…

The Orange Tchador: When Lebanon votes

I woke up in the morning, looked around me, everything seemed so real…

Is it really Sunday June 7?

Wow! At last the glorious Sunday that we have been waiting for…

Do you think I have the time to take a shower, to have breakfast, to put my head over my shoulder?

Shouldn’t I be rushing to the polling station…to save the country from the orange tchadors?

Oh no! The commentator on the television is warning: Lebanon as you know it might not exist anymore go do your civic duty…go vote…Vote…VOte…VOTe… VOTE…

It doesn’t matter if I smell bad …I need to rescue the country…

I put on my clothes…but haha I made sure I am not wearing anything orange or yellow or green…

Blue was is and always will be my favorite colour…

The rescue team (my husband, my mother-in-law and I) –The blue Team-was on its way…

In the car, we kept on listening to our favorite CD: We will never let Iran control us…
we couldn’t stop listening to it…

Maybe if we stopped running the CD, we would have forgotten to whom to vote…

Maybe it might have crossed our minds to vote for General Michel Aoun…

Oh no! Even mentioning his name could make us lose the Lebanon we know…I put the volume up…

So again I start seeing the blue sky all over Lebanon…

We arrive to the polling station…my heart is beating…my hands are shaking…

Everybody is staring at me…

Don’t even think of changing your mind…

We can read your thoughts…These are crucial times…don’t think of reform and change…don’t review anything…Look behind you Hezbollah is chasing you with the tchador…

I looked in front of me I saw Obama, Moubarak, King Abdallah of KSA, the good people in Lebanon calling me to join them…to rescue the country…

I entered the room…I voted…I dipped my thumb into the ink…I got out of the room…proud…

Back home…I switched on the TV…I heard what I didn’t want to hear…

Even though I saved the country…they didn’t want to forget that I was Armenian…

busy launching the Coalition

I have been busy launching the Lebanese Youth Coalition against Corruption...

The event was great...yes I am happy with what I was able to achieve...

For those who read Arabic...

اطلاق "اتحاد الشباب اللبناني لمكافحة الفساد"
رعى رئيس الجمهورية ميشال سليمان ممثلا بوزير الداخلية والبلديات زياد بارود المؤتمر الذي عقدته "الهيئة الدولية للابحاث والتعاون" بالتعاون مع "الجمعية اللبنانية لتعزيز الشفافية – لا فساد" في فندق "متروبوليتان"، سن الفيل، واطلقت في خلاله "اتحاد الشباب اللبناني لمكافحة الفساد "تتويجا لمشروع "دعم القيادات الشبابية في المجتمع المحلي"، الذي نفذته الجمعيتان في مختلف المناطق على مدى سنة ونصف السنة وبمشاركة اكثر من 500 شاب وشابة من مختلف الطوائف والانتماءات.تولى تقديم المؤتمر الاعلامي نيشان دير هاروتيونيان الذي اعتبر ان الفساد "اقتحم جذور نسيج المجتمع اللبناني مما يستدعي جهدا استثنائياً واتحادا شبابيا لمناهضته".والقى عضو الهيئة الادارية في "الجمعية اللبنانية لتعزيز الشفافية – لا فساد" يحيى الحكيم كلمة شدد فيها على اهمية المشروع الذي يأتي "ضمن عمل مكثف للجمعية بمكافحة الفساد ونشر "ثقافة الشفافية".ثم تناول مدير برامج "الهيئة الدولية للابحاث والتعاون في الشرق الاوسط" بيتر سلوم موضوع الفساد من النواحي القانونية والاجتماعية والسياسية" وآثار هذه الظاهرة المدمرة على البنى التحتية للمجتمع".والقت رئيسة مجلس امناء "اتحاد الشباب اللبناني لمكافحة الفساد" ندى عبد الساتر ابو سمرا كلمة المجلس، معلنة اطلاق عمل الاتحاد، ومتوجهة بالشكر الى الرئيس سليمان "لرعايته ودعمه هذا المشروع الوطني".وتوجهت الى الشباب، مؤكدة ان لبنان "معجزة حقيقية، قاوم وصمد في وجه كل الاعداء والانتدابات والغزوات والوصايات وانتصر" وختمت بالاعلان عن اطلاق الاتحاد.ثم القى بارود كلمة باسم سليمان جاء فيها: بين الشباب والفساد، مساحات من الاختلافات وعدم الالتقاء، بل اجيال من الغربة والانفصام. تطلقون اليوم "اتحاد الشباب اللبناني لمكافحة الفساد". وفي الاتحاد قوة، وكذلك في الشباب. وتابع: "ان يكون الفساد قائما وحالا بيننا، أمر في غاية الخطورة، لكن أخطر ما فيه ان نعتقد، ولو للحظة، انه جزء من مستقبلنا الذي نريده يشبه عيون الشباب غير المنغمس في لعبة المصالح. هذه الايام الآتية، نريدها بنظافة كف من يطلون على حياة الامة ولا غبار على حياتهم الخاصة قبل العامة. هذه التطلعات، نريدها مشروعا لبناء الدولة الذي لا يستقيم الا اذا بدأ بحلم يشبه تفكيركم".وأشأر بارود الى ان اطلاق الاتحاد "وكأنه دعوة مفتوحة الى كل الفئات العمرية لتنضم الى فئة الشباب عندنا. كلنا شباب لبناني لمكافحة الفساد وختم متوجها الى الاتحاد بالقول: "الى اتحادكم تحيات الرئيس سليمان، ولنشاطاتكم دعمه الابوي الكامل، ولعملكم مواكبته الدائمة. وتلا الكلمات وثائقي عن المراحل التي مر بها مشروع "دعم القيادات الشبابية في المجتمعات المحلية" وعروض موجزة لمشاريع ينفذها في عدد من المناطق الشباب بأنفسهم.
وفي ختام الحفل اعلنت المشرفة على المشاريع ومديرة التدريب في الهيئة الدولية للابحاث والتعاون لوري هيتايان برنامج عمل "اتحاد الشباب اللبناني لمكافحة الفساد

They died...

they committed suicide...but this is not the end of the story...

The problem is that they did not end being together in one place...One went to Heaven, the other is stuck between heaven and earth...

So, what for did they kill themselves? what a sacrifice...

No cause is worth the punishment...yes not seing each other, nothing being together, not talking to each other is a really punishment...

Time is the best healer...

Time is the only healer...

After a long dull day...it is always nice to have someone to talk to...to listen to...to dream with...

Memory is the best remedy...Not to lean on...

But to help you get through such a day...alone...with a smile on your face...

They didnt have to die...

There must be another way

Noa and Mira will be performing at the Eurovision contest…

The song: There must be another way…

Noa is Israeli…
Mira is Israeli…

But …

Noa is Jewish…
Mira is Arab…

And they are singing together one song in 3 languages: English, Hebrew and Arabic …

At a time when Avigdor Lieberman is the strong man in Israel…
At a time when Arabs are the weakest link…

What is the message that Noa and Mira want to convey?

What is the other way…they want us to believe in?

What I liked the most is that they didn’t use the word peace in the song…

What I am interested in knowing is how do Arabs like Mira feel like living in Israel and being Israeli?

Mira was singing beautifully in Hebrew with Noa; the same way Noa was singing passionately in Arabic with Mira…

Arabs like Mira and like Sayed Kashua…I would definitely want to know more about…

Some people will be happy to see Noa and Mira perform together, others will be angry…

But both will be performing to show that some people live peace without peace…

Kadima...to the Right

Left…right…center…
They are all the same…
As soon as they sit on the “Power chair”…it is the total metamorphosis stage…

The people of Israel chose security… Not peace…
So, why should their leaders choose peace?

Security is a better platform for dialogue in the Middle East…

Who doesn’t want security?

Doesn’t Hamas want security?

Doesn’t the PA want security?

How about Syria, Iran and Hezbollah…Isn’t security an important issue for them?

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan want to maintain their secure borders…

So, let it be…We all want Security!!!

A last word about Yisrael Beiteinu…and Avigdor Lieberman…
Just imagine what Israel would have done if an “Avigdor Lieberman” or an “Yisrael Beiteinu” in any other country had won the elections the way it happened last Tuesday in Israel!

But because it happened in Israel we have to praise it, and we have to applaud it...It seems that Israel is either testing the International Community’s patience…or it doesn’t give a damn about the International Community…

And a last word about the Arabs in Israel…and this comes from a woman that is of Armenian origins born in Lebanon…
Integration, activism and engagement are important remedies for a confused identity…
Defeatism is an in-built character of Arabs…
However try to combat it with positivity…

And a last word about Tzipi Livni…Believni…I am happy she won…

A cursed Middle East

It never crossed my mind to write a word on the events of Gaza, for the past 23 days…

Since the first week…I knew what were my options…

I either had to leave everything behind and go to Gaza to fight side by side with Hamas against the so called “new Nazis on the block”…

Or, I had to leave everything behind and go to Gaza to fight side by side with the Israeli forces against the so called “terrorists”…

But to sit in front of the TV and write on the blog…just to write…looked like an offending act…

Today, more than ever I am convinced that the Middle East has not lost its appetite for death and blood…

Peace will always be the business of the marginalized…

Peace shouldn’t be a priority…

Saving our souls…trying not to sink to the dark side of ourselves…are the priorities…in This Cursed Middle East…