Seminars in London about Social and Political Issues in MENA

I am subscribed to a few mailing lists that send me upcoming events in London related to Lebanon as well as the Middle East and North Africa. There are quite a few coming up over the next couple of months so I thought I’d share them here.

Tuesday January 18, 2011, 6pm – King’s College, Franklin-Wilkins Building, Classroom G.73 – Frances Guy –Lebanon: The price of compromise, is there an alternative

Tuesday January 18, 2011, 6pm – London School of Economics, Hong Kong Theatre – Omar Nashabe – The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL): Prerequisites for Injustice?

Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) Research Seminar Series, Thursdays 5:00 – 7:00pm, Room 3.05, New Academic Building, Goldsmiths:

Thursday February 3, 2011 – Dr. Fadi Bardawil – Fieldwork in Theory: Levantine Polemics around Edward Said and Post-Colonial Critique

Thursday February 17, 2011 – Dr. Sami Hermez (University of Oxford) – Children in Militias: Learning Adulthood in Wartime Lebanon (1975-1990)

Thursday March 3, 2011 – Lauren Banko (SOAS) – The “Invention” of Palestinian Citizenship: Discourses and Practices, 1918-1931

Thursday March 17, 2011– Monika Halkort (Queens Universtiy) – Counterfeit Citizenship. On the Politics of Property in Nahr el Bared, a Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon

Thursday March 31, 2011 – Zsuzsa Katona (Goldsmiths) – Framing a Housing Crises in South Tel Aviv Jaffa

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Seminars at the Department of History at the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, on Mondays at 17:15:

Monday January 17, 2011 – Marina Pyrovolaki, SOAS – Pre-modern popular Arabic historiography and knowledge construction

Monday January 24, 2011 –  Nasser Kalawoun – Tripoli Lebanon: Violence and Identity Quest in Post Ottoman Era

Monday January 31, 2011 – Evrim Binbas, Royal Holloway (University of London) – The Histories of Sharaf al-Din ‘Ali Yazdi (d. 1454) and Timurid Politics

Monday February 7, 2011 – Mercedes Garcia-Arenal (CSIC Madrid) – Title tbc

Monday February 21, 2011 – Marina Rustow (Johns Hopkins University) – The Fatimid state as seen by medieval Jews and modern social theorists

Monday February 28, 2011 – Judith Scheele (University of Oxford) – Title tbc

Monday March 7, 2011 – Maribel Fierro (CSIC Madrid) – Abd al-Mu’min, the first Almohad caliph (tbc)

Monday March 14, 2011 – Colin Heywood (SOAS and University of Hull – Spectrality, ‘Presence’ and the Ottoman Past:  Paul Wittek’s Rûmtürkische Studien and other Ghosts in the Machine

Monday March 21, 2011 – Yossi Rapoport (Queen Mary, University of London) – The bedouin fallahun: Mapping the tribes of medieval Fayyum

Lebanese Laique Pride – How big is the change?

Since the Civil War, all marches, demonstrations and rallys have supported one political party or the other, but Lebanese Laique Pride is different. For the first time in over 30 years, a global rally was organized by a small group of friends at grassroots and disseminated through a heavy usage of social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogging…). The rally demanded a secular Lebanese Government. It took place on the same day and at the same time – the 25th of April 2010 at 11:00 am – in many major cities around the world. Over 3000 marched in Beirut chanting secularism, and Lebanese abroad in Paris, London, Brazil, etc. did the same. I made sure to attend the London Rally despite road closures for the London Marathon 2010.

The rally called for the full implementation of article (c) of the Lebanese Constitution’s preamble:

“Respect for the freedom of opinion and belief,” “social justice,” and “equality of rights and duties between all citizens without discrimination or preference.”

The rally’s demands were as follows:

“- Non intervention of religious institutions in state affairs as much as the non intervention of the state in citizens’ freedom of worship;
- Independence of people’s representatives from any allegiance to religious leaders and the sectarian system;
- Laws respecting human rights and absolute equality between women and men;
- A Lebanese civil code for personal status;
- Reinforcement of public education to promote citizenship values among coming generations;
- Securing equal opportunities in employment in the public sector based on qualifications rather than religion, race or gender;
- An independent judiciary in charge of protecting citizens’ rights in an attempt to circumvent the unhealthy predominant social habit of resorting to the power of kin-groups for backing.”

Rallying for change is one of the many methods for creating a tipping point. But in this case, the change is a challenge. Secularism is not a very familiar term among many Lebanese, and ‘expressions corner’ so far has identified that many find it synonymous to atheism, or feel they will no longer be represented in a secular government. So yes, 3 thousand over 4 million citizens is not a majority, and one rally is not enough for making a change this big, but what it can do is populate the use of the word ‘secularism’, raise people’s curiosity towards it, and introduce an alternative that many may have never even considered or knew existed. The rally is not the change, but it is one step closer to change.

However, what I find more challenging than changing a policy at a governmental level, is changing people’s social integration behaviours. If most Lebanese are unwilling to integrate with others from another sect, region or political affiliation, a change in political structure will be no more than ink on paper, and the social structure and its segregation will remain the same through the behaviours of most of those who didn’t turn up to the rally today. I believe a nudge effect should be introduced through various small initiatives at grassroots among local communities, to prepare them and motivate them to change their behaviours towards social integration. When nudging has achieved its goal, a final push through policy change for a secular government will be the cherry on top!

Session at London Parliament: Cluster bombs, so far yet so near

I attended a session on cluster bombs, at The Houses of Parliament in London. The session brought together Member of Parliament Frank Cook, Thomas Nash from Cluster Munition Coalition, Brenda Heard from Friends of Lebanon, Lebanese victims of cluster bombs, ambassadors, sponsors, media representatives and other participants from social and political organisations.

The session aimed at raising awareness on the damaging impact of cluster bombs, and empowering participants to get involved in encouraging countries to sign and ratify The Convention on Cluster Munitions. So far 101 countries have signed (including the UK) and 23 have ratified. UK is expected to ratify the convention within the next few months. 7 more ratifications are needed until the convention is entered into force.

“The Convention on Cluster Munitions, CCM, prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of Cluster Munitions. Separate articles in the Convention concern assistance to victims, clearance of contaminated areas and destruction of stockpiles.” www.clusterconvention.org

The reason Lebanon was placed at the centre of this session was because it is one of the countries that has suffered the most from cluster bombs. During the July War in 2006, the number of cluster bombs dropped on Lebanon exceeded the population of the country. This is a simple indicator:

The session started with an introduction by Brenda Heard, then a screening of the documentary ’72 Hours’ about the cluster bombs that hit Lebanon from the 12th to the 14 of August 2006, and their ongoing impact on the lives of Lebanese in south Lebanon (if you would like to watch this documentary please express your interest in the comments). Then Hussein gave a testimony of losing his leg 20 months ago – on his 13th birthday – from a cluster bomb. Most of the cluster bombs hit farmlands and fields in South Lebanon, and according to Hussein, these fields are the only playgrounds that children in the south have. Over 80% of the injuries and deaths from cluster bombs affect children. A representative from Lebanon Mine Action Center explained during his presentation that the centre’s main action – aside from demining – was introducing behaviour change campaigns in the primary school curriculum, where children in the south are educated on how to recognise cluster bombs or areas marked with danger of cluster bombs, and to act upon any discoveries by not touching, and informing the right demining authorities. The facilitators responsible for delivering these awareness programmes are previous victims of cluster bombs. The session ended with Thomas Nash explaining the progress of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and a final word by Member of Parliament Frank Cook inviting ambassadors and representatives to raise awareness on this serious matter and encourage governments in their countries to sign and ratify the convention.

At the end of the session, I felt deeply moved by the urgency of this matter, but more moved by the fact that this urgency has only been brought to my attention during a session at the Houses of Parliament in London. I was in Lebanon during the July War of 2006, and have been up to date with Lebanese news since then, but I have to admit that awareness around cluster bombs have been given mediocre attention by the media and politicians in Lebanon, compared to the awareness that I gained from attending this session. Of course Lebanese citizens in the south of Lebanon (predominantly Shia) are highly aware of this issue as it is an integral obstacle in their day to day lives. Aside from injuring and taking lives, it has stopped many farmers from farming their lands and grazing their cattle, and many children from enjoying the outdoors in their backyards and nearby fields.

In a country as small as Lebanon – where Beirut is only a 2-hour drive from the areas affected by cluster bombs – the reason behind this lack of awareness/empathy/sympathy from social groups who live in other parts of Lebanon can only be a result of a segregated society, and a segregated media.