Tag Archives | activists

How Do Boycott Campaigns Work in Lebanon?

By Rami on May 30, 2017 in Movies, Politics

I remember at least two artists who were subject to online and offline boycott campaigns in Lebanon over the past few years due to their alleged support to Israel, Gad Elmaleh in 2009 and Lara Fabian in 2012. Gad Elmaleh was accused of serving in the Israeli Defense Forces (which wasn’t true) while Lara Fabian faced so much criticism for performing at an event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel, and civil society groups of course tried to keep the two artists from performing in Lebanon.

Fast forward to the present, Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot is scheduled to start showing across Lebanese theaters on June 1st. However, Gal Gadot is an Israeli actress and model who first appeared as Wonder Woman in Batman VS Superman last year and her upcoming movie posters have been surprisingly all around the country for a while now! That’s not just any actress supporting Israel, that’s an Israeli actress who served as a combat trainer in the Israeli Defense Forces with her posters all around Lebanon.

I’m not writing this to call for the movie boycott. I personally love superhero movies and will definitely be watching Wonder woman. However, I’ve yet to hear about any call against screening it and in this case one can’t but wonder how do civil society activists choose which artists/projects to boycott or let pass. At one point you start doubting their campaigns could be sometimes fueled by business competition… International artists are all exposed to have a connection with Israel at some point during their career, which makes it easy for anyone to criticize them for the sole purpose of provoking those who are investing their money into getting such artists to perform in Lebanon.

Anyway, the movie is showing in two days so let’s see if any cyber activists will try to take a stance against it!

Update:

I just learned the Ministry of Economy and Trade demanded the General Security to withdraw the movie from Lebanese theaters. However, the questions I raised above still stand.

Videos and photos from Nejmeh Square today

By Rami on May 31, 2013 in Lebanon

Protestors gathered at Nejmeh Square today to oppose the extension of parliament’s mandate, but shorty after took things a bit further by throwing tomatoes at the MP’s cars as they were getting out of the area.

One of the protestors, Marwan Maalouf, even tried to set up a tent next to the parliament but was immediately arrested by the Lebanese army.

Below are also some photos taken by Habib Battah.

I wonder which MP was in that Mercedes which apparently took the biggest share of tomatoes!

On Fouad Boutros highway

By Rami on May 11, 2013 in Lebanon

According to an article on Now Lebanon and another on Beirut Report, it seems like the post I wrote back in March on the new highway in Achrafieh connecting Hazmieh to Charles Helou is true, since the project has already been given a green light and works might start in a month or so.

And ever since the news was spread, “Save Beirut Heritage” has been opposing the project as it requires destroying 28 old buildings. But how true is that?

fouad boutros highway 1

I mean let’s assume each building has only 3 to 4 families living in it, then the government should currently be in the process of buying a minimum of 90 apartments in order to later destroy them and be able to go forward with the project. But 90 isn’t a small number, that’s 90 families who can easily coordinate a protest or at least appear on TV to oppose being evacuated from their apartments, which is not the case right now.

That means the number of buildings is either much lower than 28, and therefore a large chunk of the highway will be underground, or the government is offering a really large sum of money for the families and they’re simply happy with it.

And let’s be real for a moment, the highway might be seriously endangering Beirut’s heritage, but old buildings in the areas of Achrafieh and Mar Mkhayel are rapidly disappearing anyway to make way for high rise towers! So are we over-reacting a little bit here..?

Anyway, I personally don’t really see the need to connect Charles Helou with Hazmieh through a highway passing by Achrafieh, since there’s already another highway connecting Hazmieh to Karantina which is pretty close to Charles Helou!

A new highway to be constructed in Achrafieh

By Rami on March 5, 2013 in Lebanon

According to this article in The Daily Star today, there’s a new highway that is set to be constructed in the near future in Achrafieh linking Hazmieh to Charles Helou and passing by Mar Mkhayel. The project plan has been there since the 70’s but was delayed because some residential buildings have to be demolished, and the Council for Development and Reconstruction is now set to go forward with it starting this summer to help reduce the traffic in and out of Achrafieh.

Some activists however are opposing the project and trying to suggest some alternatives to avoid demolishing of old buildings and preserve the streets that might be affected by this highway. You can read more about it here.

This is definitely not an accurate drawing of the highway, but I’m trying to imagine how will it look like. I guess it will start somewehre in Alfred Naccache, passing by the small bridge in Charles Malek, and then straight to Charles Helou.

Will “Fetih 1453” be banned in Lebanon?

By Rami on September 28, 2012 in Lebanon

Seems like it’s now the Christians turn to get upset over a movie!

“Fetih 1453” is a new Turkish movie that started showing yesterday in Lebanon about the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans led by Sultan Mohammad II. And I’ve heard several times on the news that some people are finding it insulting because of how the Romans were shown in the movie.

With a budget exceeding 18 million dollars, “Fetih 1453” is a Turkish action film and one of the most important movies showing the conquest of Constantinople from the Turkish point of view.
However, the Byzantine Church in Lebanon seems not to agree with the Turkish analysis, and considers that the film insults Christian sanctities and symbols.

In the past few days, a number of activists on Facebook have been protesting against the reformulation of the history of Constantinople in the film “Fetih 1453”, which, according to them, contains false historical facts.

These activists will be holding a sit-in on Saturday September 29 at 4 pm at Sassine Square in protest of what they consider “an offense to the Christian civilization”. They will also protest outside the movie theaters that will be showing the film expected to be released on September 27. Source

The movie is showing at City Mall and Empire theaters by the way, and I just found it available online here on Vimeo.

Discrimination at Saint-George Yacht Club & Marina (Beirut)

By Rami on June 29, 2012 in Lebanon

The Anti Racism Movement in Lebanon is still trying to end the discrimination at beach resorts by not only naming and shaming as they did 2 years ago with Sporting Club, but also by reporting those who deny entry to foreign workers to the ministry of tourism, since a circular was issued a while ago banning discrimination at beaches and demanding fair treatment of all people, regardless of skin color, background, occupation, or nationality.

Check the below video showing how some activists behind the Anti Racism Movement reported a discrimination act at the Saint-George Yacht Club and Marina.

According to what they wrote in a blog post today, and as per the tourism police, Saint-George will be fined, and a date for the trial is currently being set.

Should we preserve every single Phoenician ruin in Beirut?

By Rami on June 27, 2012 in Lebanon

The news about the sudden destruction of the ancient Phoenician port in Beirut has flooded the news and the Lebanese blogosphere over the last couple of days. Everybody seems to be against move and some are even asking the minister of culture Gaby Layoun to resign over it.

But let’s be real for a second, downtown Beirut all lay over Phoenician ruins and much more! At the end, it was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times over its 5,000 year history, so the least you can find is ruins WHEREVER you dig around the city! Should we preserve everything we find and halt all construction works for ever? And let’s assume that we’ve succeeded in actually preserving them and turning these site into touristic places, will Khaleeji people be interested in visiting them? In fact, I see them enjoying places like Zaitounay Bay much more than the ancient ruins near the Grand Serail!

Still, don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling to erase our history, but why can’t we be more practical? I know the developers at the Phoenician port did wrong by suddenly demolishing that Phoenician port, but why for instance didn’t we give them the option to maybe move that port to another place instead of totally halting their plans?