{"id":23243,"date":"2022-12-27T19:28:54","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T23:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?p=23243"},"modified":"2022-12-30T19:34:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T23:34:19","slug":"lebanon-bans-a-christmas-carol-from-tv-because-its-lyrics-refer-to-jesus-as-theking-of-israel-isnt-ignorance-both-frustrating-and-sad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2022\/12\/27\/lebanon-bans-a-christmas-carol-from-tv-because-its-lyrics-refer-to-jesus-as-theking-of-israel-isnt-ignorance-both-frustrating-and-sad\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon bans a Christmas carol from TV because its lyrics refer to Jesus as the “King of Israel”. Isn’t ignorance both frustrating and sad?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Bambi would like to thank the friend who just kindly shared the story underlying this post with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How ignorant can you be to ban a Christmas carol from TV because of its lyrics that refer to Jesus as what he is, the”King of Israel<\/em>“, as mentioned in both the Bible and the Qu’ran. Indeed, the reference to Israel is spiritual and historic. It has nothing to do with politics, the Modern Israel, and the Middle East eternal conflict. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banning a famous Christmas prayer-carol like the First No\u00ebl<\/em> is both stupid and authoritarian. The artist is right: this has nothing to do with the Palestinian cause or with the current reality that Lebanon is still officially or legally in a state of war with the neighbouring Israel (contrary to many Arab counties with recent normalized ties).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bambi has posted this song on her blog. Thus, in this post, she wants to imagine that the embedded video is a TV screen in each household of her birth country where this beautiful song has played during the Christmas holiday and where people are free to either listen to it or to change the channel if they get “triggered”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In solidarity with Ms. Cynthia Karam and Mr. Bruno Tabbal, Bambi will share their song again, in addition to showing her earlier post again at the end of the current one. Last but not least, she will share what looks like a Facebook <\/em> (or Meta<\/em>) open letter, which was also released by Ms. Karam to the media. Her text is in Arabic, but with the help of her friend Mr. Google Translate<\/em>, Bambi translated it to English for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cynthya.Karam\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Surveillance [of the General Security] banned \u201cThe First Noel\u201d on TV screens.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes,\nthe news hit like a thunderstorm. We were informed, one day before the eve of\nChristmas, that the committee to which the Gregorian video clip was transferred\n(in order to obtain the usual permission to broadcast it on Lebanese TV\nchannels) wished to \u201cdelete the phrase born is the king of Israel\u201d and the\nreason: \u201cfor lack of misunderstanding\u201d!? \u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s\nput everything in its proper context. The First Noel is a traditional English\nmedieval Gregorian chant first recorded in 1823 in the collection Gilbert and\nSandy’s Carols.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nFirst Noel is one of the world’s most famous Christmas anthems and has been\nperformed by a number of world famous artists such as Celine Dion, Josh Groban,\nMaraya Carey, Whitney Houston and others.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The video clip was filmed in a Lebanese village and in the Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation. It shows the piousness of Cynthia Karam and Bruno Tabbal in the context of the Christmas prayer and then placing the baby Jesus in the cave, thus expressing the essence of the religious meaning of Christmas and its human dimension. The question being asked? What in this context is favoured over “misunderstanding”??? Let’s go back and explain what needs no explanation: The phrase king of Israel has no connection to any political meaning! It is found in the Bible and means “King of the Jews”. And everyone, everyone, knows that.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This phrase appears more than 27 times in the\nBible.<\/em> <\/em>And to mention the example:<\/em> Nathanael answered him and said to him, \u201cTeacher, you are the Son\nof God. You are the King of Israel.\u201d John 1:49 “Let this Messiah, King of Israel, come down now from the\ncross, so that we may see and believe!” Mark 15:32 \u201cAnd you, O Bethlehem, the land of Judah.[\u2026] For from you shall\ncome a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.\u201d Matthew 2:3 As for in the Holy Qur\u2019an, Surat Al-Isra\u2019, the second verse: {1}\nAnd We gave Moses the Book and made it a guidance for the children of Israel,\nthat you should not take a proxy besides Me. {2} The surah is also known as \u201cSurat Bani Isra\u2019il\u201d because it talks\nabout this people. This is to mention a few examples.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE\nFIRST NOEL chant performed at the beginning of the celebration of the Divine\nLiturgy of the Christmas Mass in the Vatican in the presence of His Holiness\nthe Pope (link: https:\/\/youtu.be\/Hhrjxix3pAE<\/a>),\nand it was performed by Father Peter Hanna (link: https:\/\/youtu.be\/KlvEbeXMZv0<\/a>). I also\nperformed it personally at my birthday celebration in 2018, in the presence of\nHis Beatitude Patriarch Mar Bechara Al-Rahi, and the ceremony was broadcast on a\nCharity TV. Not to mention countless hits on screens, the latest of which was\non Christmas Eve two days ago, when it was performed by a young artist on MTV.\nSo, what is required? Replacing this phrase in the Bible with \u201cOccupied\nPalestine\u201d and asking all fathers, metropolitans, bishops, and the Pope of Rome\nto delete it and not to pronounce it for \u201cnot misunderstanding\u201d?! This is\nnonsense. So, what is required? Have the word Israel, which means the Jews\nhere, become the monopoly of the Zionist enemy? So why is the Jewish community\nin Lebanon officially called \u201cthe Israelis\u201d, i.e. isra\u00e9lites? And if we in\nLebanon do not accept all monotheistic religions, then why was the Magen\nAbraham Synagogue in downtown Beirut restored? A clear and unfortunate\ncontradiction. What did this oversight achieve?<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing.\nPreventing the Lebanese people from watching a beautiful video clip on TV on Christmas\neve, which is purely Christmas-related, did not achieve anything. The clip has\nbeen on YouTube for two weeks, and it was shown twice or more a day for a whole\nweek on MTV before we stopped showing it out of respect for the decision issued\nby General Security. We are under the law, even if it is unjust. The clip\nspread and achieved the required success without registering any objection from\nany party or any “misunderstanding”. The Lebanese are not idiots who\nneed a “guardian to think for them”. The problem is not with the\noversight body, which I have been dealing with for more than a decade, and they\nare among the kindest, most respectful, and positively cooperative people. The\nproblem is with the idea of censorship that is not in keeping with the times\nand technology. We have repeated that over and over again. Today, with the\n“click of a button”, we can obtain any information without an\nintermediary or observer. The problem is with discretion and old laws and\ncommittees that do not match the thought of this time and the development of\nhumanity in addition to technologies. We need to update it to keep pace with\nthis era and to be effective, unlike what the First Noel video clip censorship\ndid not accomplish. In addition, we see a very big difference between\ncensorship and people, as I repeat that the clip won great admiration and no\nobjection was recorded. Censorship is in one place, people are in another, and\nit is clear that the Lebanese are not ignorant, as they are \u201caware\u201d and fully\naware of the context of this video clip and its true meaning.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, today I am addressing this oversight body\nand all the respected curators behind it through this publication, which I\nconsider an open letter, asking them to reconsider this unfair and wrong\ndecision that harms their credibility and the reputation of our beloved Lebanon.<\/em> I repeat and repeat the clip circulated through the Internet and\nachieved the required spread and success. The request to reverse the ban is only to support the right that\nwe all thirst for. Our country is going through a collapse at all levels.<\/em> <\/em>We need great awareness, solidarity and unity\nto correct matters in all fields, and we must always raise our voice to correct\nmistakes and “missing steps”.<\/em> The silent about the truth is a dumb devil. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

L’Orient\nLe Jour<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annahar\nNewspaper | \u062c\u0631\u064a\u062f\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0646\u0647\u0627\u0631<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elfann.com\n– \u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0641\u0646 \u0648\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0634\u0627\u0647\u064a\u0631<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LBCI\nLebanon<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Akhbar\n– \u062c\u0631\u064a\u062f\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTV\nLebanon<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

OTV<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ici Beyrouth<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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