No ideology, no politicization, no revolution

قد أنجزت المهمة «على أكمل وجه»، واستطاعت الكتلتان العسكريتان الحاكمتان في البلدين بلورة تصورهما المحافظ والرجعي عن الوضع، وإيصاله إلى أوسع شريحة ممكنة من الناس. وهو تصوّر يفيد بأنّ من أنجز «التغيير» يتحمل وحده المسؤولية عن «الفوضى» الحالية.
طبعاً من وصل إليه ذلك الانطباع هو القطاع الشعبي العريض وغير المسيّس بما فيه الكفاية. وانعدام التسييس لدى هؤلاء انعكس سلباً على النواة الصلبة للمحتجين، إذ فقدوا، خلال أسابيع، تعاطف قطاعات شعبية انحازت إليهم لأنّهم لم يرفعوا في ميادين التحرير شعارات مناهضة للحكم العسكري الرجعي المتحالف مع الغرب. لاحقاً، ظهرت تلك الشعارات، وبدأت  

معها مرحلة تآكل شعبية المنتفضين الراديكاليين، بين القطاعات الداعمة للجيش

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/22270

I've been saying this since last may. But does anyone listen? noooooo. Some will continue to argue there is no need for politicization and ideology. See where this got you? 

My latest post on the Al Akhbar Blog: The Hawran Revolution

Laila kindly translated the Arabic article

The plains of Hawran: the dark red soil, the shining black stones, the sky that hardly ever gets to know the taste of rain and the dust devils that haunt the parched fields. This is the place where the Jabalk al Sheikh leans towards us with tenderness, the hills of the Jabal al Arab are lost in the reflections of the horizon....


http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/land-and-people/hawran-revolution

ثورة حوران

رامي زريق

حوران السهل: التربة الحمراء الداكنة والحجارة السوداء اللامعة والسماء التي لا تعرف طعم الغيث وعفاريت الغبار التي تلف الحقول. هناك، ينحني الجولان علينا بحنان، وفي الأفق القريب تضيع هضاب جبل العرب بين السراب. تمر السيارات بسرعة هائلة، كأنها تحاول الهروب من رتابة الطريق. في الورش المنتشرة على ضفاف نهر الأسفلت، تتجمع الجرارات الزراعية لزيارتها الدورية قبل الخريف. موسم آخر يحل على الفلاحين، فهناك من لا يزال يحرث ويزرع ويحصد. إنها أرض عريقة بعرق أهلها. هل تعلمون أن في هذه الأرض اكتشفت البشرية الزراعة منذ 10 آلاف عام؟ هل تعرفون أنها وهبتنا القمح والشعير والخبز؟ هل تدركون أن علماء العالم يأتون إليها ليجمعوا عينات من نباتها البري ومن أصناف حبوبها القديمة؟ يا لها من أرض كريمة ومعطاء. في تاريخها قصص الأبطال والثوار. فمن هنا، عبر أدهم خنجر بطل جبل عامل عندما حاول اللجوء إلى ديار سلطان باشا الأطرش. ومن هنا، مرت القافلة العسكرية الفرنسية التي ألقت القبض عليه. وهنا، دارت معارك شرسة بين ثوار جبل العرب بقيادة سلطان باشا الأطرش والفرق المؤللة الفرنسية. ومن هنا، عبرت أخيراً أرتال الدبابات في طريقها إلى درعا لقمع الاحتجاجات الشعبية وقتل المحتجين. ربما، كان بين هؤلاء مندسون يعملون لمصلحة مؤامرة ما. لكن لا بد من أن بينهم مزارعين ما عادوا يحتملون صعوبة العيش في وطن سقوا تربته بعرقهم ودمائهم ليصبح فريسة لكبار «شبيحة» المال العام. المازوت مفقود والماء شحيح. حتى المناخ انقلب عليهم. عاماً بعد عام، القحط أفقرهم وشرد البعض منهم، ودولة الرعاية ابتلعها غول الإصلاح الاقتصادي الليبرالي...
كان الربيع دامياً والصيف حارقاً. ماذا يا ترى يخبئ لنا خريف العرب؟

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/21921

Neoliberalism and the Arab Revolts

"In sum, the Arab Spring is unlikely to bring about the radical overhaul in economic affairs that many on the left hope for. The existing socioeconomic consensus will likely see little beyond minimal adjustments. Again, Tunisia offers a lesson: The interim government has opposed unionization efforts by the over 100,000-strong police force likely due to concerns over public expenditures as unionized employees maintain higher salaries and funded pensions. Many young Arabs also admire the dynamic economies of the West, which they believe are based on open markets with social welfare playing a secondary role. The conclusion for some is that liberalization went array due to corruption sabotaging the promising reforms, but that reforms transparently applied should bequeath a more prosperous society. New privatization may be off the agenda for now, but re-nationalization has not been a popular chant either. A less encumbered private sector, as opposed to an empowered redistributive state, would appear to be the probable outcome."


http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/arab-revolts-neoliberalism-not-primary-target

My new post on Al Akhbar blog: We Need To Shore Up Protest Power

In my last post, I argued that the Lebanese Resistance and the Arab Uprising exist in a historical continuum. They both came in response to violent oppression and they both adopt revolutionary practices to reach the goal of liberation. I argue here that both the Lebanese Resistance and the Arab Uprisings have only gone part of the way towards changing the rules of the game and that they are not fully addressing oppression and exploitation and class justice. I also maintain that those who participate in the Arab Uprisings and those who align with the Resistance must put their beliefs in practice and take over some state responsibilities and use them in order to bring about class justice and to work towards taking over state power.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/land-and-people/we-need-shore-protest-power

Questioning foreign funding in Palestine

"Gaza - Iman Aoun’s new play, Yasmine’s Home, weighs the advantages and disadvantages of funds provided by donor countries to the Palestinian Authority and local NGOs. Staged at Ashtar Theater in Ramallah, the play relies on interaction with the audience, a method developed by Brazilian director Augusto Boal, who founded the Theater of the Oppressed movement in the mid-20th century. Aoun poses some tough yet daring questions in the play: Does foreign funding result in real development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)? Are we able to live without them? If so, how can we do that?

After her own experience with donors, Aoun, who is the artistic director of Ashtar Theater, found herself asking many questions. Her last battle was with a partner organization that funded the play Gaza Monologues. The organization requested the omission of the word ‘martyr’ from the script as a condition to continue funding the project. Aoun refused. Consequently, she began to question the intentions of donor organizations: Do they not have their own private agendas? And should we accept promoting their political message? Is this moral?"

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/yasmine%E2%80%99s-home-putting-foreign-funding-palestine-trial

My new post on Al Akhbar blog. Protests are not enough to change the rules of the game

The Arab uprising goes from strength to strength. When the Egyptian protestors stormed the Israeli Embassy in Cairo last week, they showed that the power of protest can prevail over docile diplomacy. Across the Arab World, protest power has shown its effectiveness. The achievements are incontestable. Yet, in the world of the Excluded, the Arab protests are looked at with some cynicism: “what have they brought us?” people ask. In this post I argue that protests are just one tool of change and should not become the goal of the revolution. Nor should we wait until we have state power before we start changing social and economic conditions. We should take action on the ground, now.


http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/land-and-people/protests-are-not-enough-change-rules-game

My new post on Al Akhbar blog. Science, technology, education and research: these must become the new front lines of the Arab Revolt

In every confrontation between the powerful and the weak there is a critical point when the everything suddenly becomes clear and the reality appears as it truly is. This is when the (formerly) weak realize that the powerful are made of flesh and bones, and not very strong ones too. The realization that the strong can can be hugely weak and cowardly and that they cry and lie and cheat is a pivotal step in every liberation struggle.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/land-and-people/science-technology-education-and-research-these-must-become-new-front-lines-ar

In Dubai, they think normalization with Israel is to slow

"In these circumstances, the lack of cooperation between Israel and its neighbours is a lose-lose situation for everyone. Israel has been spearheading research and innovation to overcome a harsh climate and water scarcity. But there is very little knowledge sharing between Israel and other countries in the MENA region."

This is from an article in the Khaleej Times, published in Dubai. It laments the lack of normalization between Arabs and Israel. It is written by an Israeli whose job is "to connect businesses across geopolitical borders in transfer of technology in sectors such as logistics, renewable energy, plastic, agriculture and medical fields. The countries in focus are Jordan, Qatar, and UAE." WTF???????? Is there no shame left???

The Arab Spring is about to bloom in the Gulf as it is doing in Egypt right now. 

القوي والضعيف

رامي زريق

هناك نقطة تحوّل جوهرية في العلاقة بين القوي والضعيف. في لحظة حاسمة خلال المواجهات المعدومة التوازن، ينقشع المنظر أمام الضعيف ويرى الأشياء كما هي: القوي خامته بشرية فيه نقاط ضعف هائلة وجبان يخاف ويبكي ويكذب ويغش. حينها، يخسر القوي هيبته ويزول حاجز الخوف وتنكشف الحقيقة ويتحول القوي إلى موضوع سخرية وهزل. يشكل هذا الإنتقال في الوضع النفسي للضحية خطوة أساسية في عملية التحرر الذاتي والتي تعلن عن تبديل موازين القوى. بلغنا هذه النقطة في لبنان خلال حرب 2006، عندما تصدت فرقة صغيرة من المقاومين لنخبة الجيش الصهيوني، وجعلت جنوده يبكون من الرعب وينادون أمهاتهم لإنقاذهم. عندها سقطت أسطورة الجيش الإسرائيلي العاتي وصححت الصورة في أذهان الناس وبتنا جميعاً على يقين تام بأن هؤلاء بشر وجبناء يختبئون خلف الدبابات، ولا ينتصرون علينا إلا في عقولنا. هكذا كان النصر، وهكذا سيكون دائما لأننا كسرنا حاجز الخوف وانتقلنا من حالة الكفاح اليائس الذي لا منفذ له إلاَ الفناء، إلى التضحية من أجل بناء حياة أفضل بانت علينا ملامحها. أصبحنا نقاوم لأننا نعشق الحياة وليس لأننا يائسون منها. لا نزال في عالم الأكاديميا العربي نعاني من الضعف النفسي تجاه الكيان الصهيوني. لا يزال العدد الأكبر من العلماء العرب ينظرون إلى العلماء الإسرائيليين نظرة الضعيف نحو القوي. غذَت هذه الحالة عقود من البروباغاندا ومن الإهمال الرسمي العربي لأن انظمة الطغيان سرقت مال الشعب بدلاً من بناء المدارس والجامعات ومراكز الأبحاث. لن يكتمل ربيعنا العربي في غياب إصلاح شامل للتعليم والأبحاث. لن يأتي النصر إلا محمولاً على أكتاف جيل خلاق يعرف كيف يبتكر التكنولوجيا وليس فقط كيف يشتريها.

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/20783

The cartoonish charm of the Lebanese bourgeoisie by Thurayya

Thurayya at it again in her scathing social critique of bourgeois Lebanon

http://thurayyatellsitlikeitis.blogspot.com/2011/09/flapjack-county.html

Food prices and Arab Uprisings

An interview with PBS

""I think that the prices of food mobilized people," said Rami Zurayk, an agronomy professor at the American University of Beirut."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/world/july-dec11/food_09-07.html

Kaboom, Kaboom: Ode on a WTF?

"And then Unwashed-Hippie-Free-Soul-Misunderstood-Artist  went on to read his sob-story of a poem (a sob-story in subject matter and writing), about the traumatic events of May 2008, and how all the foreign teachers got bullets in the roof of their building, and nothing actually happened except for a couple of funky looking bullet holes but still, guys, I mean like, where is the love?? Hezbollah, man, like, you guys are totally eclipsing the love, man."


Thurayya, brilliant as ever.


http://thurayyatellsitlikeitis.blogspot.com/2011/09/kaboom-kaboom-ode-on-wtf.html

My new post on Al Akhbar blog. The Arab Spring: Disillusionment, Resistance and Utopia

Disillusionment is part of the cycles of life. To be able to fully engage and commit in difficult endeavors, we have to raise our expectations really high. But outcomes are often disenchanting, and we slip into the disillusionment trough. However, this feeling can be used positively. It can drive us to seek what many would describe as unrealistic and impossible. It can help us come close to our utopia.

This is why I am not disillusioned with the Arab Spring. The Arab uprisings have reshaped our lives and our society and are impacting the world. The Arab dictatorships have effectively ended, and the oil monarchies of the Gulf will soon realize that they are gone. Israel is on its way out. This is precisely why we should continue to support all uprisings.

My  new post on my blog in Al Akhbar. 

http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/land-and-people/arab-spring-disillusionment-resistance-and-utopia

The depeasantization of Lebanon: an authoritative article by Albert Dagher

Parts one and two of the most excellent article by Albert Dagher on the history of the depeasantization of Lebanon. The title is revealing: How the Lebanese rural space was emptied from its inhabitants. The author starts at the onset of the 18th century and covers in detail the policies and politics since independence. The thesis is of course simple and absolutely correct and he demonstrates it ably: Lebanon's agricultural (and food security) potential is unmet, simply because successive governments adopted an ultra liberal doctrine that benefited the rich who flourish under a rent economy. Ecology and climate have little to do with that. Farming is in decline because of politics and policies, and not because of environmental constraints. This is very very important to remembers as it runs against conventionally received wisdom that we should oppose. This is an absolute must read (in arabic).

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/20396
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/20513

The best new young blog around: Thurayya tells it like it is http://thurayyatellsitlikeitis.blogspot.com/

So, no to coloured-scarves, but yes to brainwashing visits from a US congressman? Okay, I kind of get it...

"Question 1: "Who do you think did it?" (I shit you not. In all seriousness.)

A couple of hands go up. "Syria!" they proclaim proudly.

David Dreier likes this answer. He says "Yes! Yes!" and enthusiastically goes on to tell us how all the people he interviewed in downtown felt the same, and how one old man, actually, felt like he was caged by the Syrians...

One boy tentatively raises his hand. And to this day I still wish I was as brave as that boy had been when he said,

"Maybe it was Israel?"

What? ISRAEL? NOOOO, Noooo! David Dreier says. "They sympathise with you!" he says. "They get terrorist attacks all the time!""


http://thurayyatellsitlikeitis.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-friend-us-congressman.html?


Thurayya Zreik on indoctrination by a US congressman in her school in Beirut following the Hariri bombing in 2005!!! Full disclosure: Thurayya is my daughter. But honestly, judge for yourself. 

my article in al akhbar english: the environment as a revolutionary space

Corporations use this NGO baiting to advertise themselves as environmentally and socially responsible, while proceeding with large-scale resources plundering and profit accumulation. This process has a name. It is called greenwashing. I wont even get here into how some members of the environmental and developmental sector accept crumbs from governments that arm Israel with billions of US dollars to allow it to better destroy our lands with cluster bombs, to burn our forests and to bomb our fuel tanks causing one of the largest environmental oil spills in the Mediterranean. This is why this honor code is badly needed. It could be a major step towards an ethical charter that self-regulates the work of a sector that draws its strength from its claims to represent society.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/land-and-people/environment-revolutionary-space-honor-code-regulate-ngo-donors-relationship-0

Child labour in the potato fields in Lebanon

This is a short documentary by Christine Habib on child labour in the potato fields in Lebanon. Kids of under 10 toil 8 hours under the sun for 6,000 pounds ($4) a day. Last September, Lucile Garcon and I published a couple of articles in Le Monde Diplomatique on the women and children who work the potato fields and we co-produced an 25 minutes movie called Warshe on the same topic. The program uses a bag of chips as an excellent entry point and tries to reflect on the difference between urban and rural kids. In the interview, the minister of labour wants to do something about it, like preventing the work of kids during summer. Of course, kids should not do adult work for a pitance. But there are many issues here: one of them is that in the absence of a system that provides social opportunities for children and youth, and a little bit of money as pocket money, and good free schooling (one of the kids said he saves the money to help pay for schooling in Syria), this will just make things worse. The system that pushes kids toil to be able to buy a bag of chips or to pay for school supplies has to be crushed. This is not done by just preventing kids from working. Anyway, go implement that and let me know how far you get.

Kamal Salibi, the man who revealed Lebanese history for what it is

The falsification of Lebanese history: This is an excellent interview conducted with the late Kamal Salibi by Saqr Abu Fakher and published in assafir today.

Kamal will be missed. I met him in my late father in law's (Usama al Khalidi) house in 1982, where he was a frequent visitor. Usama and him were friends since their university years. I saw him a lot during the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982. I didn't have a place to stay and I slept on his balcony (it was summer) a couple of times. One night was one of the worst aerial and land bombing I have ever been through (and I've been through 1982 and 2006), and the whole building was shaking and shells were falling everywhere and the sky was lit as in hell.

Kamal used to walk to his AUB office everyday regular as a clock, carrying some papers and if I remember well, a cigar box, but my memory could be failing. Regardless of the intensity of the bombing, he would take the same streets everyday from his old house on Sadat street to the AUB IC gate walk through campus. I learned later that he was working on his famous book: The Bible Came From Arabia. He used to discuss it with Usama during the evenings but my attention span was too short for me to figure out what it was all about. My attention span hasn't improved since, but then I met Kamal again in Oxford when I was preparing my DPhil and he was a visiting scholar at the Center for Lebanese Studies and he gave me a copy of the draft of his book Stories of the Bible People, which he was working on. I had never gotten beyond the first few pages of The Bible Came From Arabia but I thoroughly enjoyed Stories...which takes a lot of the same themes and links them to biblical stories. I can dig stories.

I kept meeting Kamal, which I called `ammo Kamal (uncle Kamal) as Usama and his family did. I saw him several times in Jordan, where he was the head of Prince Hassan's (then Crown Prince Hassan) center for interfaith studies (not sure this is the exact name). I saw him later in Beirut, in the past few years and he had aged tremendously and had had a stroke and could not see very well but he had remained pretty sharp. I love his books about the history of Lebanon and recommend them to all. He was also an organ player and sang Christmas carols every Christmas.


http://www.assafir.com/WeeklyArticle.aspx?EditionId=1935&WeeklyArticleId=82734&ChannelId=10916&Author=%D8%B5%D9%82%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%88+%D9%81%D8%AE%D8%B1

تبعية بيئية

رامي زريق

ثمة تطور تاريخي يشهده قطاع العمل الأهلي البيئي حالياً. قد نرى قريباً تغييراً جذرياً في طبيعة هذا القطاع وطريقة عمله، وخصوصاً في العلاقة مع الممولين الذين يسيطرون فعلياً على أجندات عمل القطاع، ولا سيما المنظمات غير الحكومية. وتحدثت مقالة نشرتها الزميلة «السفير» بقلم الزميل حبيب معلوف عن لقاء موسع دعا إليه وزير البيئة لمناقشة خطة عمل الوزارة. وتطور الحديث إلى طرح مسألة هوية الحركة البيئية في لبنان وأولوياتها وعلاقتها بالقطاعين العام والخاص. وقد نجم عن هذه النقاشات مسودة بيان لم يحظ بموافقة جميع المشاركين، بل يمكن اعتباره خطوة أساسية نحو ميثاق أخلاقي يكون الالتزام به طوعياً.
إنّ هذه القضية في غاية الأهمية؛ لكون كل الجمعيات الأهلية، لا الجمعيات البيئية فقط، في العالم كله، لا في لبنان فقط، تعاني من التبعية للممولين مهما كانت هوية هؤلاء، ما يجعلها تعمل لمصلحتهم لا لمصلحة الشعب الذي يفترض أنّها تمثله. يؤدي هذا الواقع إلى حالات شاذة أصبحت اليوم موثقة في دراسات أكاديمية. وفي هذه الحالات تعمل الجمعيات على «تبييض» صورة الأغنياء والشركات التي يمولونها بجزء ضئيل من الثروات التي كدسوها نتيجة تدمير البيئة. وفي كثير من الحالات تعمل بعض الجمعيات على شكل حصان طروادة، و قد تخدم من خلال عملها أجندات سياسية مشبوهة للدول المانحة والمؤسسات التابعة لها، بما في ذلك تسهيل عملية التطبيع مع العدو الإسرائيلي وجمع المعلومات والبيانات. وهذا ما نشهده يومياً في لبنان كما في سائر الوطن العربي.
إلى من يعمل على ميثاق يحرر العمل الاجتماعي ويضع البيئة في إطارها الصحيح كنقطة عبور أساسية نحو العدالة الاجتماعية نقدم كل التقدير.

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/20224