Below are Christmas songs in Arabic. I hope you will enjoy :).
Peace, love, and… prosperity to both Lebanon and Canada as well as to the whole world.
When I was a child, every Christmas, I used to sing a Feiruz’ song called “Leilat el Milad toukaf el Harbou” [= The war stops on Christmas eve]. Anyhow, for the first 17 years of my life, I nurtured the hope that this beautiful season’s magic would erase hatred, at least for a single night.
Today, at my older age, I dream that Christmas will bring hope to the hearts of all those suffering from the deep financial crisis and concerning political instability.
It is also my hope that the Christmas season will bring common sense to all the decision makers, not only in Lebanon but also around the world.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. Happy 2020 to everyone!
Second, here is an English translation of his article
(food for thought):
“In a short
time, the young Swede Greta Thunberg has become an international environmental
star, incarnating the fight against climate change for the younger generation.
She wanted to be the prophetess of a new children’s crusade—at least, her
allies have marketed her like this, making her a powerful catalyst for
collective energy.
There was a story that was told to please the media: a young woman stands up against the adult world, accusing adults of ruining her future. Her accusing tone was presented as a sign of admirable authenticity, which was meant to move us. Those who had concerns about her were accused of having contempt for youth and of not taking the issue of climate change seriously.
Time
For the last few days, Greta Thunberg has been in the media again. Indeed, she has just been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year”. However, it is for another reason that she first came back in the news.
As part of the COP 25 in Madrid, she signed a letter with two other climate activists where she reveals the dark side of a certain ecologism. There is a preposterous statement.
Thus, according to the Swedish saint, “colonial, racist, and patriarchal oppression systems have created and fueled” the climate crisis.
It is enough to translate this jargon, proper to the extreme academic left, into the ordinary language in order to find a simple idea: it is again the fault of the West! And more precisely, it’s the fault of the big bad white man! It is always our fault!
Let’s admit it though, this is not surprising. This is neither new nor recent. For some time now, the environmental cause has been diverted by those who exploit it to promote an ideology having nothing to do with it. This is how we move from a necessary fight against the climate crisis to the trial of civilization, caricatured in the most stupid way.
It is necessary to dissociate the environmental cause from those who poison it with toxic ideological passions like that, which contribute to discredit ecologists. The fight against climate change is one of the great challenges of our time. However, in order to be well conducted, this fight must be detached from this enraged hatred against our civilization and the apocalyptic psychology of Greta Thunberg and her disciples. It must also free itself from the regressive fantasy of a return to a bucolic conception of nature.
Science
One can certainly criticize the excesses of a capitalism pushing us to overconsumption. We must, of course, put on trial those who pollute the planet without constraint or embarrassment as well those who treat it like a dump. We must question a system that uproots people and populations. In other words, one must know how to criticize the excesses and drifts of our civilization, without cursing it.
Nevertheless, we will not forget that it is precisely our scientific genius and our technological inventiveness that will also allow us to win the battle of climate changes.”
Today, Bambi spent time chatting with her good friend Aline A. about Lebanon and the Middle East.
This post reflects Ms. Aline A.’s deep insights that
sadly have much truth in them, despite the Lebanese people’s revolt and
aspirations for better days.
Thank you for this food for thought Aline and for your
generosity in accepting to share your thoughts on this blog:
“All political parties have started with a certain
goal or a mission. However, not even half-way through (sometimes just ¼ of the
way), they all forgot about their goal and they started working for their own
interests, instead of the national interests.
Even during civil war, forces on the war front lines
would agree on the fighting rules: Now, your turn to attack. Now my turn to
shell. They all robbed the population here and there. All were involved in
brainwashing young people, stealing their future and maybe contributing to
their drug addictions. They used incentives to reward them; money may be
appealing when our family lives in poverty. Young people died in the combats. Warlords
(now political leaders) increased their wealth.
Sectarianism has been in our blood, so to speak. Even
those who say that we are against sectarianism, if you insult their spiritual
beliefs, Jesus or Prophet Mohammed, they would lose their mind.
Add to this, how we as Lebanese, are sometimes like
double agents, serving the interests of foreign countries more than our own.
Perhaps some were tempted by this or that reward from this or that external
force. They even changed their policies accordingly. This politician works for
Iran. The other for Saudi Arabia. Yet another for the United States. Some even
work for this and that at the same time.
The above is the sad reality of Lebanon. It is a tiny
country at the mercy of foreign countries. How would you get out of this? Every
time, we try to get out of this, we fail because of our weaknesses.
Money kills us. Appearances too. Some are even willing to sell everything just for money in their pocket. They may even sell their souls, even loved ones, or whole country.
Innocent people have always been the silent majority.
According to me, with all due respect to those who
think they can lead Lebanon, we need another civilized country to govern us so
we can: (1) live in peace and (2) know that, whatever would happen in the
regional politics surrounding us, we must remain neutral. In other terms, this
must not become our problem. It is our only logical solution if we want to see
a prosperous Lebanon again. If not, we will keep going through war every 30
years.
It is as simple as that really. At least this is my
opinion right now. We have sadly demonstrated our inability to preserve our
country. A small country that we could have preserved. Why not? Whomever came
to us, from the Palestinians to the Syrians, etc. We welcomed them in and did
not know how to show them the way out. Our politicians used the Palestinians
for their own business interests. We did the same with the Syrians. Some started
following the lead of the Syrians and the Syrians started to govern us. The
same story seems to be moving on.
We do not deserve our country [by we, Ms. A. means the politicians]. Politicians forget their principles for the sake of money. Those who may be decent go unnoticed among the corrupt ones.
Seniors, from my parents’ generation, would say the
same as I am saying now: This is sadly the story of Lebanon but had the French
mandate [or colonization that ended in 1943] been still ongoing, we would have
been living in peace and prosperity. Our children would have likely had a
future ahead of them. This would have been true, even if of course France would
be benefitting. At least, as they say in Lebanon: “Give your dough to the baker even if he will eat half of your bread”.
Lebanese people are proud people. They love
the idea that the alphabet started there [with the Phoenicians as their
ancestors], civilization, culture, and medicine too [during the Arab
renaissance times]. Did we know how to continue all this renaissance? No. We
have reached a stage where we have stopped progressing. Maybe we sold our
consciousness? Maybe we started being too corrupt to remain creative? Maybe
money blinded us, in the whole Arab region. Maybe that is why the West knew how
to take advantage of our weaknesses and governed us. Everyone wants a piece of
the regional cake.
This is the sad truth.
We say the alphabet went to the world, out
of our shores, but we are now in a state of descent into darkness.
Even to get a decent graduate education, youth
travel abroad. We could have been stronger in pharmacy, with its beginnings in
our area and all those herbs. We now import medication and do not produce drugs
and medical supplies. Corruption has prevented discovery and moving forward in
pharmaceutical sciences.
The whole world has moved forward and
surpassed us. In contrast, we stopped moving forward.
Of course, we still have some good things
like our hospitality and our culture, etc. But what a loss of potential!
Yes, we have improved in some areas but mainly superficially. We lost the deep matters, sadly”.
“How are Lebanese protesters using art to express their views?”
The following link to a Euronews article includes a video showing how Lebanese protesters are using arts to express their views and anger/frustration (e.g., dance on streets, music, wall paintings, etc.).
And here is another documentary that Bambi just came across accidentally. It is produced by a certain Mr. Drew Binsky, a travel blogger and vlogger (December 3, 2019). Interesting to watch, perhaps especially ahead of a trip to Lebanon :).
Bambi has been away and very sick. She is now catching
up on national news.
It is fascinating to watch all the misunderstanding of Bill 21 and all the levels of mean comments about Québec and its choices as a (distinct) society, or as a nation within the Canadian nation.
In early June 2019, a friend from a certain village in a nearby province, asked Bambi about the prospects of teaching jobs for a relative who is looking to move out of Lebanon. She explained that she did not know the system well here but referred him to another friend. She shared some insights about the high school educational system in Québec, as an alternative. She asked if the relative in question wears a headscarf (it turned out that she does). She then explained that a new Bill, called 21, is about to kick in in this province. As a result, his relative may not be able to find a position in the public sector, if she wears a headscarf (unless she would remove it whilst on the job). His answer was very clear: “That’s not a problem. I understand that this is their choice as a province”.
Bambi thought to herself then, wow. Those Lebanese
people (even the most religious ones) understand Québeckers way more than the
rest of those Canadian citizens opposed to death to this Bill. How come a
Lebanese-Canadian Muslim man and his veiled cousin (Lebanese from a religious community)
are able to imagine (and respect!) a different country with its own mindset or
approach to secularism? Why aren’t we that culturally wise in our Canada?
Bambi has written about this law in more than a post.
She immediately saw the merit of judges, lawyers, and police officers in positions
of power not wearing a religious symbol because they represent the secular,
neutral, Québec state. She struggled to see why teachers, especially in the beginning.
After careful thoughts, and comparisons with other European countries, she ended
up finding this bill moderate and even reasonable. The Government of Québec took
a legal measure to protect the rights of those already on the job. She just
does not understand why they keep funding private schools (some are ULTRA religious).
An apparent contradiction there.
Many articles, many individuals, many levels of government
outside of Québec have criticized the Bill (Manitoba even has ads to invite “persecuted”
citizens by Bill 21 to move there ?).
Anyhow, here is a multiple choice questionnaire for
you about this bill. The answer to each question appears at the bottom:
1. Bill 21 is an Act that is all about…
A. Harassing women in positions of power wearing headscarf,
men wearing a kippa and/or persons wearing a turban or a large cross, etc.
B. Respecting the secularism (or “laicitiy”) of the State.
C. Telling workers of the state which pyjamas to wear or
not at home.
2. “Persons who present themselves to
receive a service from a staff member of a public body must have their face
uncovered where doing so” because:
A. Mr. Legault is highly allergic to covered faces.
B. This is necessary to allow their identity to be
verified OR for security reasons.
C. Québec is a lunatic province.
3. People who are subject to the prohibition
of wearing religious symbols in the exercise of their functions are:
A. Tourists, refugees or immigrants as soon as they land
at Trudeau airport or who cross the borders.
B. ONLY Public servants in positions of authority.
Here is a comprehensive list: the President and Vice-Presidents of the National
Assembly, administrative justices of the peace, special clerks, clerks, deputy
clerks, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, clerks and deputy clerks respecting
municipal courts, and bankruptcy registrars, members or commissioners who
exercise their functions within the Comité de déontologie policière, the
Commission d’accès à l’information, the Commission de la fonction publique, the
Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec, the Commission des
transports du Québec, the Commission municipale du Québec, the Commission
québécoise des libérations conditionnelles, the Régie de l’énergie, the Régie
des alcools, des courses et des jeux, the Régie des marchés agricoles et
alimentaires du Québec, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec, the Régie du logement,
the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal, the Administrative Tribunal of
Québec or the Administrative Labour Tribunal, as well as disciplinary council
chairs who exercise their functions within the Bureau des présidents des
conseils de discipline, commissioners appointed by the Government under the Act
respecting public inquiry commissions, and lawyers or notaries acting for such
a commission, arbitrators appointed by the Minister of Labour whose name
appears on a list drawn up by that minister in accordance with the Labour Code,
the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, the Director of Criminal and
Penal Prosecutions, and persons who exercise the function of lawyer, notary or
criminal and penal prosecuting attorney and who are under the authority of a
government department, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, the
National Assembly, a person appointed or designated by the National Assembly to
an office under its authority (or a body referred to in paragraph 3 of the bill),
persons who exercise the function of lawyer and are employed by a prosecutor (Code
of Penal Procedure), unless the prosecutor are persons acting in criminal or
penal matters for such a prosecutor before the courts or with third persons, lawyers
or notaries acting before the courts or with third persons in accordance with a
legal services contract entered into with a minister, the Director of Criminal
and Penal Prosecutions, the National Assembly, a person appointed or designated
by the National Assembly to exercise a function under its authority (or a body
referred to in paragraph 3 of the bill), or lawyers acting in criminal or penal
matters before the courts or with third persons in accordance with a legal
services contract entered into with a prosecutor, peace officers who exercise
their functions mainly in Québec; and principals, vice principals and teachers
of educational institutions under the jurisdiction of a school board
established under the Education Act or of the Commission scolaire du Littoral
established by the Act respecting the Commission scolaire du Littoral.
C. Truck drivers crossing the TransCanada highway, as
soon they hit any Québec border.
4. Teachers wearing a religious symbol, such as a headscarf, can keep it on the job because:
A. They will have to do the following in return: walk daily in -20, without a coat, from Métro Henri-Bourassa (subway station in Montreal) all the way to Québec city OR under the rain, without an umbrella, or under the sunshine, without any headscarf and no sunscreen.
B. of a grand-father clause protecting their rights.
C. They would have paid a fine of $100 per day.
5. New teachers about to enter the profession in the public sector must remove any religious symbol because:
A. The average Québec citizen is a French-speaking Hitler.
B. It will be now required upon hiring.
C. Québec enjoys torturing women, especially those
with a headscarf, whether their first language is Arabic or not.
Note: All the answers of this Multiple Choice Questionnaire are “B”. B is for “Bravo Québec” for the courage of being whom you are and governing according to your history and values.
From this article, she learned that some members of
the university expressed concerns over a visit of a couple of plain-clothes RCMP
officers to a public event (i.e., a visiting author’s talk about the mining
industry in Canada).
First, bravo to the talented author of this article. Bambi
is a faithful reader of Ms. Fleming.
Second, she has three comments or rather questions to the
concerned members of the university:
Aren’t police officers (especially out of uniform) allowed to attend a public event?
Will Dr. Thomas share with us what he will learn from his request of access to information regarding the described incident?
Are the concerned members of the university interested in a gift from Bambi: a free ticket to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, China, or even Russia? Perhaps upon returning from such a trip they will tell her if they still consider Canada to be a police state ??
Today, this happened at York University (Toronto).
Yesterday and decades before yesterday, it used to
happen at Concordia University (Montreal) or elsewhere.
Bambi is writing this post, without caring about people’s opinions (each has one and she has hers).
She is just sick and tired of seeing conflicts from
abroad disturbing our beautiful campuses or cities. This regardless of whom is (more)
wrong or right.
Before reading Global news and watching the video, she
has considered writing an initial post about Mr. Trudeau’s change of vote on
the UN.
Last December, when she travelled to Beirut, all the Middle East Airline (MEA) planes played a famous song by Feiruz, a Lebanese singer, for Jerusalem following landing in all capitals they stopped in (this came as a reaction to Trump’s unilateral decision to move the American embassy there). The song’s piece was about a prayer for peace in this so-called holy city. It was a nice gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Bambi is and has always been for peace and justice,
that is for a two-state-solution to this endless conflict in the Middle East. In
all honesty, despite faith in her heart, she does not care much about the spiritual/religious
part of the issue related to Jerusalem. She cares more about human and citizen
rights, let’s say.
This is why, she applauded Trudeau’s change of vote 2-3
days ago.
Some say Canada did this just to win a seat on the UN.
Maybe? Some say he could not do it before because of the NAFTA negotiations.
Maybe? Some say it is odd to be appearing to side with the dictators of the world
on this issue. Maybe?
Regardless, it is a position that is more congruent
with a two-state-solution (if at all realistically possible, given the level of
deep hurt or hatred). It is also a position that appears to be more “Canadian”,
so to speak. This, even if Bambi also respects earlier decisions. In the end,
the problem is too deep. She even doubts it will be solved before the death of
her grandchildren (OK, she is saying this because she does not have kids).
More seriously, Bambi will say: Thank you Mr. Trudeau,
even if she did not vote for you a second time.
Yes, the Palestinians suffer under occupation and further
continuous colonization. Yes, it breaks Bambi’s heart. However, her heart also
breaks to read about Israeli kids (or any kids!) worried about safety, for real
(violence of some sort) or not (perceived fear). So, everyone deserves a
solution to this problem. Mind you, so does Lebanon that has directly suffered
from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (triangulated into civil war).
To the people fighting in the Middle East and to the
overzealous students at York University, she will say:
Enough violence. Enough extremism (ideological or
religious or whatever else). Enough stupidity, please… and not in our peaceful Canada.
Let’s listen to each other, even if we do not like
what the other will say.
It is only with continuous, and of course respectful, open
channels of communication that trust can be re-built on day.
Without trust, there can be no hope for peace.
Peace starts in our hearts, between our ears (there is
brain there, let’s use it!), in our relationships, in our cities or countries, established
ones or countries yet to be built.
The Consulate invited the Lebanese-Canadian community of Montreal to participate in this video, featuring citizens singing the Lebanese anthem.
We can see in it students of all ages, construction workers, taxi drivers, lawyers, scientists, healthcare providers, hockey players, dancers, cooks, etc. A productive diaspora, proud to be both Canadians (+ Québeckers) and Lebanese.
Thank you for this moving initiative.
Best wishes to Lebanon and to the Lebanese people, united in their dream for a better future.
It is impressive that between 900 and 1000 Parisians of Lebanese origins rallied once again in support of Lebanese protestors in less than a month.
Like everyone else, Bambi does not know how the Lebanese revolution will end.
Anything is realistically possible for sure. The best case scenario would be a much needed change of a system that has clearly failed. The worse case scenario can of course be violence… or even chaos.
This being said, at least the people of Lebanon woke up from their apathy (they use the term “coma” there). They are courageously demanding, for the first time ever, an end of the “metastatic” corruption. They want transparency. They want a real functional country. How? Through a government composed of independent technocrats who will have the legislative executive power to draft a new electoral law (in order to hold elections).
Mind you, Lebanon does not seem to be showing any sign of a forthcoming government (not even with those same politicians, that is minus any technocrats). In the meantime, the financial crisis is deepening.
Maybe the President of Lebanon should hire a head-hunting firm to find those technocrats (just like Sackville is doing now to search for its new CAO :); https://warktimes.com/ ).
That was a joke, obviously. More seriously, what is Lebanon waiting for? Not for Godot, Bambi hopes.
Is it waiting for a bailout from this or that country or external entity?
Who will dare to help Lebanon once again? Will any financial support work and for how long? Until a next crisis, if serious reforms are not undertaken? Will any external help come with strings attached? Why do political solutions seem be paralyzed or totally absent, even after a month of protests?
Too many questions. No clear answers. Just the hope for a better tomorrow.
Lebanese protesters blocked an unconstitutional parliamentary session (France 24):
Lebanese physicians and patients are worried about potential medical supply shortage (France 24: “‘Like a Rolls Royce without fuel’: Dollar-strapped Lebanon hospitals faced with closure”):
