Before you all get tired of me (don’t worry – I remember that I actually graduated), I wanted to post these two things, for anyone out there who gets a feed from this blog.

First, for all of you interested in the Middle East region, I am currently living out here in Zahle, Lebanon, and in my free time I have been blogging a great deal. I am growing increasingly more in contact with the Lebanese and Syrian blogospheres and some others, and am trying to expand out into different Arab countries. So give The Curve a look.

Second and last is that the new website for the NGO Bridging The Divide is now up and running. There are a few kinks of course, but it is 99% functioning, and growing all the time. Please check it out.

Have a nice summer everyone,

Ali

Hey there everyone who reads this blog,

My Middlebury user name will be closed in the near future, but before it does, I wanted to take this opportunity to promote something that might be of interest to all of you studying the Middle East. Starting soon (like, in two days) I’ll be working for an NGO called Bridging the Divide that does most of its work in the region (for those of you who know Prof. Sam Liebhaber, his wife works with them). They are up-and-coming, interested in New Giving, development, and problems facing the Middle East. I hope to be getting in touch with a lot of you about it, and I’ll be writing a lot for the website’s blog, which is still in its infancy, keeping everyone informed.

So please, be on the lookout for great news from this organization, drop me a line if you’re interested in anything (ali.nehme.hamdan@gmail.com), and just know this: that you can actively contribute to global peace in the region.

Hope you’re all enjoying your summers!

Ali

http://srmichelman.wordpress.com

Lebanon will soon be remembering the 35th anniversary of the beginning of its disastrously famous civil war (April 13th), and an article I read today on NowLebanon inspired me to think over the issue a bit. NowLebanon is an independent news site that leans towards the March 14th end of the political spectrum, and so what it says has to be taken with a grain or two of salt, but nonetheless I found the article, which was about memorials and memory in Lebanon, fairly spot-on.

In general, Lebanon is not very gung-ho about remembering its Civil War – it’s a touchy subject. Unfortunately, the end of the War did not really coincide with any sort of meaningful change of relations or attitudes between the parties involved – it was more like an end to killing. While nice enough, the Taif Accord did not really change the political scenery enough to prevent another war in the future. Furthermore, it is the older generation – those who experienced the war – that is least interested in violence, but the newest generation has been raised in an environment in which it hasn’t really been public discussion. Their discussions have been mostly private, and (if they’re anything like mine were) highly partison, which simply hands down old prejudices instead of rethinking them. The current generation, then, remembers very little or nothing of the War and its effect on the country. This is very, very dangerous.

In the developing world, the million dollar question has long been simply, ‘how do we move forward?’ The reality is that everyone has different ideas of what sort of future they want for their country, and Lebanon – a pluralistic society to some extent – is no exception. A country that cannot agree on the legacy of its past is crippled in the present, and so the task of moving forward, of making life better for the people now and in the future, is shelved or dead in the water. It is therefore important, one way or another – through public or private initiatives – for the Lebanese to address their past.

Possibly the worst thing the country did when it began reconstruction after the Civil War was to hire an architect to design the downtown area (now Place de l’Etoile) who essentially recreated the French mandate in architecture. Rather than hiring the famous Bernard Khouri, who had grand plans for Beirut that aimed to create a city space ‘of the future,’ Solidere recreated Lebanon as people wanted to remember it before the War, looking towards a moment of past glory that is in no way in sync with the present reality. Now, I will be the last to say that Place de l’Etoile is not pretty – it is beautiful, in fact. But instead of creating an urban space to orient Lebanese towards the future, it merely traps them in grandiose memories of a lost past – the French mandate and the Maronite hegemony associated with – whose power inequalities are simply  untenable today. It was the easy way out to construct this, because it essentially forgot the two decades of war. Personally, I’m glad some neighborhoods of the city are still gutted and flame-charred, because at least young passersby will look, shudder, and contemplate.

As the NowLebanon article notes, there is very little in the way of public art of memorials to form a coherent national history of the war, accessible to all Lebanese. The paucity of memorials is awful, but it should be acknowledged that memorials are almost impossible to agree upon, even when everyone is happy. Germany has had an awful time erecting monuments to the Holocaust, but there they are – and they are some of the best ones in the world. Without addressing its dark past, Germany could not move forward, and move forward it did. Lebanon, though not a mirror of Germany, will find its path ahead through this very lesson.
Why am I writing about this? Well (and here I’m going to mention that I am Lebanese-American again), it touches me pretty directly. On the other hand, Lebanon is often called the microcosm of the Middle East, and the lessons learned there might be applicable to its regional neighbors like Egypt and Iraq. So if I’m talking about a ‘lesson,’ it’s more or less something everyone already knows:  there can be no future if you are stuck in the past.  So please, let’s do ourselves a favor and get out of the past.

The headlines of most important newspapers (like this one)today have included Netanyahu’s stubborn resistance on the subject of housing construction for Jews in East Jerusalem, most importantly, his speech in front of AIPAC. While these articles have focused on the fretting over fraying Israeli-American ties, any discussion of why this fretting is taking place has been conspicuously absent. What Obama and Hillary have been saying about Israeli settlements is true, plain and simple: the decision to construct housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem is provocative and works counter to the peace process with Palestinians; for the United States -  a country which has taken it upon itself to act as an arbiter between Israel and the Palestinian people – to say that this is out of line and that it does not support this decision is in no way unexpected. Well, it is, just not for the normal reasons – it’s unusual for US administrations to be blatantly critical of Israeli policies, even if they aren’t so wise.

But what frustrates me is this worry over the future of Israeli-American relations, as if the two are never allowed to disagree, as if it were absolutely necessary for Hillary to repeat ad nauseum that America will always stand behind Israel. Whether or not we are allies, it is wrong for us to be sending the statement that an ally of ours, whom we support financially and militarily, can act so unilaterally against our interests and yet still receive undying support. That is simply not a healthy diplomatic (or social) relationship. Mutual support is built on mutual interest, and its our interests (and those of the Palestinians, and thus the peace process) that are currently going by the wayside in this issue.

So all debate over Israel’s legacy and the influence of a Jewish lobby aside, we need to stop this unconditional support business: it is shooting ourselves in the foot, and the Palestinians as well.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this settlement.

Dearest and Most Esteemed Government of Israel,

I just wanted to write and let you know that I think you guys are doing a great job. No, really, I think that the decisions you’ve made lately have been fantastic. Starting with that Hamas leader’s assassination in Dubai- like, cool! Totally James Bond! Who cares if the assassination violated international law in approximately 79 different ways, and exacerbated tensions with the virtually all of the rest of the Middle East? And don’t worry about those middling countries like Great Britain and Australia, who for some reason seem not to be thrilled by the fact that the assassins used forged passports from their countries to carry out the hit. Weird, huh?

Anyway, shake it off, guys, who needs ‘em? After all, Israel’s all set in the Middle East, thanks to its close alliance with Turkey. Yes, there have been some tensions with Turkey lately, but Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon dealt with that issue quite nicely in his meeting with Turkey’s Ambassador Oguz Celikkol, aimed at addressing those tensions. “Note how there is an Israeli flag on the table and not a Turkish flag,” Ayalon told reporters, also drawing their attention to the fact that he had deliberately seated the Turkish dignitary in a lower seat. Ha! Wowee! Dan, man, that is what I call clever diplomacy. Tell ‘em who is boss! That’s just the way to mend a fraying friendship. I do have a suggestion, though: next time you meet with Celikkol- or any foreign dignitary, for that matter- maybe ask him to shine your shoes? Or, no, no, wait! How about this: Have him wear a clown hat. Although maybe you’ve already humiliated this Celikkol fellow enough that he won’t even want to meet again. Whatever. Muslims Shmuslims, right?

So, maybe things are strained with Turkey, and England and a few Arabs here and there, but no big deal: Israel’s all set in the world, thanks to its close alliance with the United States! I mean, Vice President Joe Biden just came for a visit to declare America’s unending support for Israel, right? Although, I thought I remembered his visit have some other purpose, also… Oh yeah, right, to promote the new round of US-backed peace negotiations with the, um, what are they called again? Palistilians? Paleontilians? Whatever. You know who I’m talking about: those guys whose land Israel has been, like, “occupying” for the last 43 years. Negotiations, shmegotiations, though, right? You guys did a fantastic job of signaling to the Vice President that you weren’t so interested in hearing what he had to say about Palistipitans or “peace processes” by announcing the construction of 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem- which the Pallistallians seem to think needs to be the capital of their future “state”- the day after Mr. Biden arrived! Brilliant strategy, guys, I mean, bravo. I don’t know that I would have thought of doing it myself, but I must say, good move! Why stop at humiliating Dubai and Turkey and Great Britain and the Paslsitoneons? Hey, Joe, here’s a clown hat for you too! Allies Shmallies!

Wow oh wow. I could go on for ages about all the things you guys are doing well. I mean, allowing Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman -truly a personal hero of mine: so smooth, and dignified, and tolerant- to make incendiary remarks to Syria? Great move. Bring it on, Bashar. And Bibi, declaring Hebron to be a national Jewish heritage site? What timing! What finesse! Riots in Jerusalem are not enough to bring about a third intifada? Let’s see what other avenues Israel can explore to expedite the process! And the list goes on, but I’ll try to save some glowing praise for my next letter. Mostly, I just wanted to express how grateful I am that Israel has such prudent, pragmatic, peace-pursuing politicians at its helm. It really helps me sleep easy at night knowing that you guys are busy doing all that you can to ensure that the place I was born is becoming increasingly isolated from the world, and that my dream for peace is becoming ever more dream-like.

So, thanks, really.

Ever So Sincerely,

Moriel Rothman