Her name is Kinda El Khatib. She is young. She is passionate. She is vocal.
She is in jail now. Her crime? Well, what a surprise! She has been accused of «collaboration with *the Israeli enemy* and violation of the bill on boycotting Israel».
As published in the L’Orient Le Jour (https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1231348/la-militante-kinda-el-khatib-inculpee-pour-collaboration-avec-israel.html), examining military magistrate Najat Abou Chacra indicted activist Kinda el-Khatib on Wednesday for collaborating with “the Israeli enemy” and violating the billon boycotting Israel, reports the National News Agency (Ani, official).
Bambi has always joked by telling herself the following: There is an old Lebanese saying that tells us that we learn about adults’ secrets from their kids’ mouths (because children are spontaneous and tell the truth when adults try to hide it). Well, Bambi has changed this saying in her mind, thinking that we learn the full truth from the readers’ comments and from the media of opponents or “enemies”. This is what she has always done since her childhood and teenage years, reading all sort of media of all the Lebanese fractions that fought each other for over 15 years (no boycott of knowledge). She particularly enjoys reading the readers’ comments and tweets of politicians or public figures, those she does not agree with as much as those she agrees with. Of course, she may sometimes agree with those she does not usually share the same vision or have the same approach, despite the shared vision. She may even find those she usually agrees with off about this or that topic, etc. There is nothing set in stone in life, not even opinions. However, some values do not change (regardless of countries or times) like the freedom of thoughts and of expression (of others and of oneself), like respect (self- and for others), and humanity, etc.
This being said, well, here is what one reader commented to the article in question:
He wrote “she is known for being hostile to the Hezbollah and to the President of Lebanon” [verbatim, taken from the article in question]. This is her real crime. All the rest is literature”.
Well said, even if we do not need a PhD in political science or in law to understand that Kinda has been sadly and unfairly thrown in jail!
Bambi was even more curious about this Kinda. She went to search for her twitter, if any. She has re-tweeted the following on June 17, 2020:
After reading the above, Bambi went and googled two Israeli media. Both of them did not mention this story. However, in June, they reported that this young woman was accused of the same accusation (like now), along with her brother. The Lebanese authorities claim that they visited Israel through Jordan.
To come back to Kinda’s re-tweet above, the MTV original tweet is in Arabic. It is about Mr. Nasrallah’s statement that “his weapons protect his country and no one will put him between the two choices of the weapons versus famine“. He is likely referring to the Cesar Act, which is an American bill meant to put financial pressure on Syria’s Mr. Assad et al. and on his organization. Of note, the MTV is the Lebanese channel that was recently prevented from covering the parliamentary consultations to nominate the recent Lebanese MP at the Presidential palace.
Kinda’s story is far from being unique. Indeed, MANY other young and older people have been wrongly accused of the same, that is collaborating with the enemy ☹. This trend has been increasing at a scary speed lately.
Indeed, about two years ago, an indecent military bureaucrat (a police officer?) invented a story about a famous theatrical producer/comedian (Mr. Ziad Itani, his name). Bambi recalls that story very well— she heard about it before and during a trip to Beirut. She immediately told herself, this seems to be fabricated. Many months later, the truth went out. Indeed, the whole saga was found to be invented. The lady in question went to jail whilst the innocent man found his freedom again. For a long time, his reputation was destroyed… Perhaps he is still suffering now? This false accusation is worse than an accusation of racism or sexual harassment here in Canada. It can literally bring your death, not just in the form of cancellation or end of a career. Some may be tortured over such accusation, who knows? Thank Goodness, there are decent and courageous Lebanese lawyers who fight for freedom and justice. They help citizens who cannot afford to pay legal fees. The policewoman in question (along with the IT guy who helped her) fabricated emails even, pretending that Mr. Itani is leaking information to an Israeli spy (a beautiful woman—double agent or something). She ended up going to jail (perhaps the IT guy too but Bambi did not follow the story in detail). After some time in prison, she was treated like a hero upon her discharge.
Can you imagine? this lady was honoured for trying to destroy an innocent’s man. How could people like her or like judges who follow orders (or who may be threatened? Who knows?) go to sleep at night knowing that they falsely condemned innocent people?
To conclude this post, Bambi’s heart goes to Kinda. She does not know her in person. This is the first time she reads her story and sees her beautiful face. She sends her a prayer and a rainbow of hope for a better future to her and to her fellow young citizens. Enough of wars, of scary weapons, of lies, and of hate. It is about time to live in dignity, security, prosperity, and hopefully one day peace not just in the Middle East but also across the world.
