The Clothesline Project: "No more dirty laundry!"

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Event: The Clothesline Project "No more dirty laundry!"

ExhibitHost: http://www.kafa.org.lb/ & http://www.lsfm.net/

When: Monday, November 5 at 1:00pm

Where: West Hall, AUB

A Letter to Mr. Saniora from a Lebanese Citizen

Tamara Keblaoui's first visit to Nahr el Bared camp today has triggered her to write a letter to the Lebanese Prime Minister Mr. Sanyora. Tamara is a fourth year student at AUB, she studies business administration and she is a co-volunteers coordinator of Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign.


Dear Mr. Siniora,

I write to you as a Lebanese citizen with pressing concerns. Today, on the 27^th of October 2007 I, along with a group of ten AUB students, made the journey north to Nahr el Bared. We went there with the purpose of carrying out a clean-up campaign for the homes of returning refugees. What we found in these homes made our heads spin.

The houses we worked in were located in the so-called new camp. They were mostly villas with three or more bedrooms. Evidently, they were spaces that not so long ago housed large families. We found on the floors tiny Reebok shoes and dolls and toys. We found gardens and we found orange trees. But the little reebok shoes were torn and weathered, the dolls had disembodied heads and limbs, the gardens were not green and the orange trees did not bear oranges. We found mountains of rubble where there should have been refrigerators. We found harrowingly blank spaces, Mr. Siniora, where there should have been stoves, tables, beds and sofas. We found that the walls of the children rooms were covered with anti-Palestinian slurs and imprecations so vile that I cannot reproduce them on paper. When we were at the gates of the camp, we were told that cameras would not be allowed into the camp and we were searched scrupulously for them. I did not understand why this was at first, but now I do, because now I am feeling disillusioned and angry and I know that had the rest of the world seen the images that my peers and I saw today, the rest of the world would feel disillusioned and angry, too.

Mr. Siniora, I would like to know why it is that mass looting and mass vandalism has been allowed to take place under the nose of an army that the country has for the last four months uniformly rallied behind. I would like to know this because I was one of the millions who stood in Martyr’s square on the 14^th of March 2005 calling for a sovereign, democratic Lebanon. I was one of the millions who demanded democracy, and democracy as I know it means that all those that are under the rule of government be treated equally and fairly. What my peers and I have witnessed today defeats that very notion. The Palestinians of Nahr el Bared--that we who claim to be democratic have the responsibility to protect--have been stripped of their wealth and, more importantly, their dignity for something that they were never responsible for. And you, Mr. Siniora, were the first to say this. What happened to the Palestinian-Lebanese brotherhood that you championed in your letter to the Palestinian community on the first week of the Nahr El Bared impasse? What happened to democracy? I did not see any of it today and I am deeply disheartened. I am disheartened because I truly believed we would become a democracy on the 14^th of March, 2005 when a nation was supposed to have been born. But mostly I am disheartened because the beyond palpable oppression of the Palestinian community has been done in my name, as a Lebanese citizen.

Mr. Siniora, this is not an attack on the government or on the army. To me, the war in Nahr el Bared is a nebulous haze; its onset, its protracted ending and everything in between raises many questions in my head and I will not broach the topic. What I know is what I saw today and it has disturbed me beyond belief. Thus, I ask you to look into the current treatment of refugees and end the oppression. I ask that you bring to us the democracy that you have promised.

Sincerely,Tamara Keblaoui

Syrian Blogger Rukana Hammour Kidnapped!

Update 1: Sami has just informed us that Rukana Hammour has been released after three hours of her kidnapping and that she was interrogated by the Syrian Security Services over a comment left on her blog. We are happy to learn she is safe and sound at home among her family.

Update 2: read Rukana's detailed post (AR) on her kidnapping and investigation here.

Yesterday I received a mail from a human rights NGO in Syria saying that Rukana Hammour has been kidnapped on the 25th. of October by six Syrian security agents at her home and again, in front of her three children.

For those who are not familiar with her case, she is the daughter of Mohammad Hammour, the deputy of Saudi Air Lines, and whose fortune disappearance appears to be suspicious. Rukana was threatened by her brothers and high ranking Syrian officials and officers to be sexually assaulted and raped if she doesn't give up her share of her father's fortune and be silent about its suspicious evaporation.

Rukana sent several letters to King Abdalla's office to expose the robbery and thievery of her father's money. As a reaction, the thieves, and for the second time, kidnapped her, threatened her demanding her withdrawal from the parliament election, and constantly putting her life in danger.

Up to this moment we do not know the whereabouts of Rukana.

Syrian bloggers, I ask you all to support this woman, these citizens, if it's not for her children then let it be for "Syria"!

Spread the word!

For more information please read the mail i received on Global Voices here.
For more informations on her case please click here.

Unmanly Man, Unwomanly Woman

Dad came home an hour ago, he sat down at the sofa, looked at mom and told her that it wasn’t a women who has got undressed and videoed by the Syrian policemen yesterday at the police station, it was a man with women organs.

There was silence in the living room. Mom said: "still, he is a humane being, he was mistreated". Dad told us that the reason why the police men undressed the man is because he was hunting men on the street for business. I asked dad, would the policemen undress a woman hunting for business and take pictures of her naked? No, they won't, for then it would be a question of "honour" not ethics. If it was a question of ethics, this man would not have got undressed, but because he has no "honour" to guard, let's take off his clothes and take photos of him to laugh at.

Is it the confusion about his sex, or our limited understanding to human rights, that triggers them to dehumanize the man?

Isn’t this also discrimination? Against those whom we cannot define?

You know what's sad, I ended up fighting with dad and mom, for to them, it’s not racism, and it's just unethical. We agree it was unethical and inhumane, but why did this happen to him? and would it happen to a manly man and a womanly woman? What they pictured was his organs, and what they laughed about is that he is both/neither a man or a woman, so it is his very case that caused this very inhumane treatment, Hence it is discrimination, it is racism. This was not just an unethical act, this was a racist act. It reflects a way of thinking on people we cannot project our labels on them, they are not part of our system hence we exclude them from our rules and reject their humane rights.

It is not enough to sympathize with victims, if we want to be just with the man, let's regain his rights when admitting the very reason why we dehumanized him in the first place. When we do, we hope he forgives our gay thinking one day.

I think it is a case of sexism as well..

The a-Rab Second Issue is out!

I am very pleased to see that The a-Rab magazine is gradually growing and providing its readers with some invigorating arguments on concerns seem to be conventionally approached if not neglected.

As a reader, I wish them luck and further success.

You can see the mag online here, or you can download a PDF here.

Here are some of the articles I personally liked:

Yaman Salahi's article "Beyond Resistance":

"Pride is a response to shame. If the dominant order suggests shame for being Black, or Mexican, or Arab, or Native American, then we reject it by saying no, I’ll be proud…Nothing is permanent. The system that is does not need to be. Working within a system breathes life into it. Working outside of it breathes life into us…If we want leaders with power and position, we want pride. Then, we are not resisting, but reflecting…I want to destroy power. I am not looking for a messiah. I am looking for action because actors make power. Those who lead only do so because others believe they do--but we are all actors…So we return to the a-Rab. In the first issue we put an emphasis on the importance of narrative in formulating our selves, in controlling our identity, and controlling our place in society…But what is narrative? Is it the end or the means?"

And from our dear blogger Ibn Bint Jbeil's article "Steadfast":

"Today, as it was 4 years ago when I painted these four paintings, as it was a half a century ago when the world massacred each other and Palestine was usurped, as it was millennia ago when empires swept over the globe to enslave the minds of the masses in ignorance and war, today the common innocent people still stand STEADFAST, as the world rushes past them, screeching like a duststorm at the heels of a devastating horde. The air feels historic, but in a dreadful, brutal way. They stand in their spaces, attempting to withstand the gusts of power, violence and intimidation; they clutch at the memories of theirselves and their origins, protecting them from the tormenting currents that coil around them; each of them admonished, enduring the terror of the storm."

And from Nora Barrows-Friedman's article "The Ghosts of Fara'a":

"This wall was where children were forced into metal boxes and repeatedly tortured. 3-walled metal cabinets, about 2 feet by 2 feet and six feet tall, were lined up against this wall. children were put inside. they scratched their names into the plaster. they scratched their village or city names into the plaster. israelis would enforce sleep deprivation for these kids in the boxes, kicking in the door when the child tried to sleep. or throwing rocks on the top to startle a child. in the blistering heat and the chilly winter…How do people come back from this? what cellular transformation occurs that allow these former prisoners, these adults now walking around, living their lives as normally as possible in an audaciously abnormal situation, a life beseiged from day one under this occupation and ethnic cleansing project, memories crisp and clear like it was yesterday of being beaten and tortured and humiliated and broken?"

Spread the word!

Syria: Stop Internet Censorship, Release Syrian Detainees Now!

Having moaning for a month about the laziness of Ramadan and the inactiveness of Damascus, it took me another report of human rights' abuse in Syria to wake me up. Last night I saw Ben Gharbia's updated post on the Advocacy Global Voices' site and this time it was about my country.

Two cyber activists were detained for posting online comments that were disfavored by our Syrian government. The report also talked about a case in which the government detained a third Syrian citizen for posting comments opposing KSA. the Syrian Military Intelligence detained him for "breaking ties" with an ally.

I quote the HRW report: ( even though I hold reservations on the motives behind such report, but with a subject matter like the Syrian regime-I find it OK to use the site).

"Syrian security services frequently require internet cafe owners to spy on customers that access “sensitive” sites. On December 13, 2006, Political Security arrested `Ahed al-Hindi, 23, and one of his relatives, in an internet cafe in Damascus, because al-Hindi was sending comments and information to opposition websites outside Syria. The owner of the internet cafe had filmed al-Hindi posting the comments. Al-Hindi and his relative were released on January 15, 2007."

"In the first documented application of the directive, the Ministry of Communications and Technology restricted access to www.damaspost.com, a popular Syrian news website, for 24 hours after a commentator identified as “Jamal” criticized the head of the Journalists’ Union and the al-Ba`ath newspaper for nepotism".

"Under international law, the rights to privacy and free expression entail a corollary right to communicate anonymously. Allowing persons to speak anonymously, without fear of reprisal or stigma, encourages the sort of expression that is critical to protection of rights and a democratic society – from political pamphleteering, to anonymous tips for journalists, to “blowing the whistle” on corruption by officials or companies. While the right to anonymity is not absolute, the restrictions imposed by the Syrian decree eliminate it altogether in the name of repressing purportedly “criminal” expression".

"The last six years have seen an explosion of internet use in Syria, with close to 1 million of the country’s 18 million people now online, compared to just 30,000 in 2000. The Arab Advisors Group, an Amman-based business-consulting firm, projects that the number of Syrian internet users will exceed 1.7 million by 2009".

All these were naively shocking incidents on my part, but what made me even more furious is to find the one parliament nominee whom I loved and wished her luck in her campaign arrested last year! I have came across her blog during the Parliament elections this year, I checked her program and I liked her, I wanted to elect her but they told me I had to elect other people too, which I wont do. but i did not know that she was arrested till yesterday! After nominating herself for the parliament, the Syrian intelligence repeatedly threated her to withdraw her nomination.

It was really outrageous to find an admired person behind bars for doing the right thing. she courageously attacked the biased corrupted legal, banking and administrative systems in Syria. And she was arrested, in her pajamas, in front of her three children, a gun pointed on her head, by the Syrian intelligence.

I have been living in Syria over a month now ever since I left Lebanon, and no one has mentioned these incidents. Unlike in Lebanon, Syrians know nothing about what's happening in Syria, if it wasn’t for her blog, or international human rights, or opposition sites, no one would ever know about these violations of human rights. If I mentioned this in front of some friends they will probably not believe me for these things are abnormal to the Syrian consciousness and psyche. The Syrian government is not just detaining these amazing Syrian citizens in prison, but also detaining the "discussion" about them-the right to know, to think, and to wonder!

While some Syrians are busy "building Syria" by attacking Iraqi presence in Syria, Jews, feminism and attacks against sexist Syria and racist Syria, the Syrian government is busy attacking Syrian citizens who are attacking corrupted, dictator, unjust regime/Syrians.

Syrian regime is only punishing those who pointed out the wrong wanting to fix it, some Syrians are attacking other Syrians for noticing the wrong willing to fixing it. in both cases, there is an unwillingness for some not to admit the wrong about Syria. To them, there is nothing wrong about Syria or in the Syrians. If anything is wrong in Syria, it is these very wrong-highlighters. To them Syria is "pure", and it will remain pure by jailing/ attacking those who speak "ill" about "their" Syria.

Still, life worths nothing without a fight.

I Syrian citizen, call the Syrian regime to release all the freedom of speech detainees and prisoners immediately, to stop censoring cyber activists' blogs and comments posters. Syrian citizens have the right to express their simplest right of freedom of speech whether anonymously or not.

Among those detained in the past for posting information online are:

* `Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghuri: On February 23, 2003, Syrian secret police agents arrested `Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghuri for emailing articles copied from the Akhbar al-Sharq (Levant News) website, http://www.thisissyria.net. The government said it considered the site’s content “detrimental to the reputation and security of the nation,” and “full of ideas and views opposed to the system of government in Syria.” His captors beat and tortured al-Shaghuri and held him incommunicado at the Palestine Branch of Military Intelligence in Damascus before moving him to the Sednaya military prison on the outskirts of the city. On June 20, 2004, the Security Court found him guilty, under the Press Law, of “publishing lies” and disseminating articles “that harmed the image and security of Syria.” The court sentenced him to three years in prison and then reduced the sentence to two-and-a-half years. He was released on August 31, 2005.

* Yahya al-Ous and the Qutaish Brothers: In September 2002 two construction workers were reportedly killed while digging a tunnel in Damascus. Over the course of the following few weeks, Haytham Qutaish, his brother Muhannad, and Yahya al-Ous were arrested for sending emails to a Gulf-based newspaper about the incident. They had previously sent articles criticizing the Syrian government’s economic, political, and human rights policies and government corruption. Syrian Military Intelligence held them in Sednaya prison for nearly two years before the Supreme State Security Court found the three guilty, on July 25, 2004, of “receiving secret information on behalf of a foreign state which threatens the security of Syria” and using the internet to publish “false news outside of Syria” under the terms of the Press Law. The court found the Qutaish brothers guilty of “encouraging the transfer of secret information.” The court further found Haytham Qutaish guilty of “writing that threatens the security of Syria and her relations with foreign states.” The court sentenced Haytham Qutaish and his brother Muhannad to four and three years in prison, respectively. They were released on November 4, 2005. Al-Ous spent two years in prison before being released.

* Mas`ud Hamid: On June 25, 2003, police violently dispersed a demonstration of Syrian-Kurdish children in front of the Damascus office of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Mas`ud Hamid, a Kurdish-Syrian journalism student, posted photographs of the event on several websites, including the German-based Kurdish website http://www.amude.com. One month later, on July 24, 2003, Public Security officers arrested Hamid as he was taking an exam. Witnesses told Reporters sans frontières that the manner of his arrest, in which he was handcuffed in front of a room full of students, seemed intended to intimidate the future journalists. The authorities held him in solitary confinement in `Adra prison for one year before allowing him monthly visits from his lawyer and family. Interrogators reportedly tortured him on several occasions and beat him with a studded whip on the soles of his feet. On October 10, 2004, the Supreme State Security Court sentenced Hamid to three years in prison after finding him guilty of “membership of a secret organization” and having “attempted to annex part of Syrian territory to another country” – charges frequently leveled against detained Syrian Kurds. Hamid was released from `Adra prison on July 24, 2006.

* Habib Salih: On May 29, 2005, Military Intelligence officers arrested Habib Salih in Tartus, approximately 100 miles (130 kilometers) north of Damascus, for posting on two websites a series of open letters addressed to the delegates attending the June 2005 Ba`ath Party Conference in which he detailed his prison experiences. In the months since his release, he had also written critical articles for the Lebanese newspaper an-Nahar and the banned website http://www.elaph.com. He was sentenced to three years on August 15, 2006 by the Tartus Criminal Court for “spreading false news that weaken the spirit of the nation.” He was released on September 12, 2007.

A Childish Day

The first couple weeks I've spent in Damascus have been energetic, I met people discussing with them possibilities to organize few activities in Damascus. I was full of hope and aspiration but sooner I started to lose both, a wave of depression was slipping into my day. The death of Yazan's parents- inspiring Syrian citizens, the inactive Damascus, the laziness of Ramadan, and in my humble opinion the stupidity of people I meet, all contributed into making me a home-staying volunteer.

In the past month I was scattering my CV, sending it via emails to whatever that comes to mind till I received an interesting call from a leading private school in Syria. I went to the interview couple days ago and they asked me to come today to see other teachers as they run the class. So I did.

Dad gave me a lift this morning, I went to meet the head of the first Kinder Garten in the school, very handsome lady, very authorial yet gentle. She was kind enough to take me to the classes and invited me later to chat about what I've observed.

I always knew I am childish, I just didn’t know I was a child! I loved sitting at those mini chairs, looking at the draws all over the walls. My heart went faster when the teacher was about to distribute the colors to draw a circle around the word "bed". One of the teachers asked if I want to join the children to draw a sun, I had to grip myself together and sound as a teacher: "ahh..hehe...not really."

But I can resist anything but temptation, the children were four years old, they all looked at me wondering, is this our new teacher? "Hi Miss Razan!" Lazily everyone shouted as I was introduced to the class. I couldn’t but smile to the small faces that kept looking at me, some of them want to go to the bathroom just to see me closer. Some of them left the teacher completely and started to make funny faces to make me laugh, now that girl is my favorite. Her name is Sima.

It went bad when the students are now competing with one another, who will Miss Razan smile to the most? It is all about the smile in their world. One of the children went to the bathroom and kept the door a bit open to show me that he is still smiling while peeing.

They were repeating what the teacher would tell them just for one thing they mostly wanted. They wanted a smiley face sticker on their foreheads. They would say anything, do anything, as long as they get that yellow smiley face.

Tomorrow is the Eid, "eid of what?" One asked, "Eids are made for boring grownups" I said. "I am sure you have Eid every single day". He knew I was joking, he laughed at me and showed me his spider-man bag. Another student came to me asking me what I am writing on my notebook, "I am taking notes about you, what's your name?" "My name is Bryan, mam". The boy said.

Yes, this school has non Syrian students, but they all have the same faces; smiley faces, they've created my day, and put a day-lasting smile on my face. I think I would want to spend my upcoming year among children, Syrian grownups are too boring to me.

Before going home, the students were given presents by the school; a bunny mask. Some of them held it and put in on their faces, some of the students hit others with it, another called it: "baby أرنب " (Rabbit), and as I was smiling and turning my head to look at other students, a student stood up, waving the mask right and left shouting:

"This is my new Syrian flag!".

Alive Inside

Bloggers who knew Yazan virtually or in person can only express the unforgettable impression he leaves on them.

Yazan's blog was the first blog I read among Syrian bloggers, and he and I didn’t have a very good start. But that did not stop me from reading his blog and eagerly following his witty comment on other bloggers' posts.

Yazan is one of the smartest people I met in my life, he has just a clear mind, and he can easily pinpoint the flaws in anyone's argument. I can surely say that his intellect made me change my mind too many times.

Its not just his intelligence that I admire , but also his humanity and his un-nationalistic love to Syria. To me, he's one of the inspiring Syrian citizens.

Though Yazan is the only child of his parents, he is never alone among us all sisters and brothers. We have been reading him, get excited for him, support him, and rarely disagreeing with him for years, almost a year now for myself. He is the friend, and his loss is our loss indeed.

In this black moment, I can only repost Yazan's lightening posts of his father's words whose memory along with Om Yazan's will always be alive inside:

-My father's last advice before I left home was,

"Never trust a man that does not dance, or a woman that does not laugh."

"نحن سلالة لا تدخل الأوطان إلا من منافيها"-

May they rest in peace.