Tweet
WANTED IN BEIRUT: SHIITE MODELS, CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS
by Kerry Sheridan
Agence France Presse -- English
December 17, 2006 Sunday 4:11 AM GMT
The classified ads appeal for fresh Shiite faces at a modeling
agency. The parking lots are marked "For Maronites only". And a sign
at doctor's office reads: "Muslim Sunni".
None of it is real, but part of a provocative advertising campaign
which aims to take its warning against sectarianism to the airwaves
with a series of television commercials in the coming weeks.
The campaign was conceived by children of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil
war, who are now young professionals mainly in their 30s alarmed by
the way society continues to isolate people of different backgrounds
and beliefs.
"Lebanon is quite tribal," said Asma Andraos, 35, one of the founders
of the civic group 05Amam, adding that people can be "blunt" when it
comes to religion and politics.
"Very often you'll get into a taxi, and the driver will ask your name,
then where you are from, and then more questions. What he is trying
to find out is what religion you are -- a) if you're Christian or
Muslim and b) if you're Orthodox, Maronite, Sunni or Shia," she said.
"We are trying to say we have a problem. What we want to do is raise
a debate."
The ads have shocked Lebanon since they began appearing in eight major
newspapers last month and on hundreds of billboards across the country.
"Get the latest hairstyle from a qualified Armenian Orthodox coiffeur,"
and "Real estate for rent: Greek Catholic owners and neighbors,"
reads a panel of classified ads, distinguished only as a public
service announcement by small print below: "Stop sectarianism before
it stops us."
Billboards depicting license plates with a letter "S" for "Shiite"
and physician offices that show not the type of practice but instead
the doctor's religion have even been attacked by people who believe
they are real.
"Of the 300 billboards we had, about 50 of them have been pulled down
or destroyed," said Edmund Rabbath, 36, another founder of the group.
"But it's good. We're happy about that because it means we have reached
our aim. We want reactions, positive and negative," said Rabbath.
Rabbath is among some 20 people who formed 05Amam after being on
the frontlines of mass demonstrations last year which forced the
withdrawal of longtime powerbroker Syria and the subsequent election
of an anti-Syrian majority parliament.
United in grief and anger after the February 14, 2005 assassination of
five-time prime minister Rafiq Hariri, they camped out by the thousand
on the government's doorstep in their call for a new leadership under
the rallying cry of "Syria, out."
Their demonstrations were dubbed "The Cedar Revolution" by the US
State Department, after the tree on the Lebanese flag which protestors
waved incessantly on Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut.
Afterward, a core group formed 05Amam, which takes its name from
the year, 2005, and the Arabic "Al-Mujtamah Al-Madani" which means
"civil society," and when condensed to "Amam" means "forward."
"Our requests last year were national requests," recalled Rabbath.
"We were asking for the withdrawal of Syria and an international
tribunal into the Hariri killing."
By pure coincidence, the 05Amam group launched its advertising campaign
on November 12, the same day that five pro-Syrian ministers, including
two from Shiite militant group Hezbollah, resigned from the cabinet
after being included by Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora
last year.
For the past two weeks, thousands of opposition protesters led by
Hezbollah and Christian followers of longtime exile and general Michel
Aoun have been camping on those same grounds.
They are demanding a greater say in the government, the resignation
of Siniora, and are threatening to form their own interim government
unless they gain a one-third blocking share of the cabinet.
The protests have sparked deep dismay among those who took part in
last year's demonstrations, because they believe Iran and Syria are
mobilizing Hezbollah supporters to block the formation of a Hariri
tribunal, which could see Syrian suspects tried.
"Personally speaking, they have the right to ask for whatever they
want," said Rabbath. "But now I think their orders are not Lebanese
in origin, and the people camping out are doing so on the order of
their parties."
Andraos, who said that among the diverse members of 05Amam is a
Christian who supports Hezbollah, said the campaign did not intend
to launch at such a volatile time, but "it just makes it clearer how
dangerous things can get."
Sectarianism "is what drove Lebanon to civil war," said Andraos. "And
it's possibly how today's opposition, which was initially a political
thing, is now turning into a confessional thing."
The group has received hundreds of emails, some from people who are
panicked but most from people who applaud the tongue-in-cheek message.
"It is important to raise awareness about this issue," wrote one man
who described himself as a Jew of Lebanese origin. "Because Lebanon is
the home of all Lebanese whether they be Christians, Muslims or Jews."
The group is working to finalize a series of 15-second television ads
that it hopes will start running later this month or early next year.
Already, one channel has expressed interest in running the ads for
free, though organizers declined to say which one for fear that other
channels may be unfairly deterred.
"It is as if the civil war never happened. None of us have learned
any lessons," Rabbath said.
by Kerry Sheridan
Agence France Presse -- English
December 17, 2006 Sunday 4:11 AM GMT
The classified ads appeal for fresh Shiite faces at a modeling
agency. The parking lots are marked "For Maronites only". And a sign
at doctor's office reads: "Muslim Sunni".
None of it is real, but part of a provocative advertising campaign
which aims to take its warning against sectarianism to the airwaves
with a series of television commercials in the coming weeks.
The campaign was conceived by children of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil
war, who are now young professionals mainly in their 30s alarmed by
the way society continues to isolate people of different backgrounds
and beliefs.
"Lebanon is quite tribal," said Asma Andraos, 35, one of the founders
of the civic group 05Amam, adding that people can be "blunt" when it
comes to religion and politics.
"Very often you'll get into a taxi, and the driver will ask your name,
then where you are from, and then more questions. What he is trying
to find out is what religion you are -- a) if you're Christian or
Muslim and b) if you're Orthodox, Maronite, Sunni or Shia," she said.
"We are trying to say we have a problem. What we want to do is raise
a debate."
The ads have shocked Lebanon since they began appearing in eight major
newspapers last month and on hundreds of billboards across the country.
"Get the latest hairstyle from a qualified Armenian Orthodox coiffeur,"
and "Real estate for rent: Greek Catholic owners and neighbors,"
reads a panel of classified ads, distinguished only as a public
service announcement by small print below: "Stop sectarianism before
it stops us."
Billboards depicting license plates with a letter "S" for "Shiite"
and physician offices that show not the type of practice but instead
the doctor's religion have even been attacked by people who believe
they are real.
"Of the 300 billboards we had, about 50 of them have been pulled down
or destroyed," said Edmund Rabbath, 36, another founder of the group.
"But it's good. We're happy about that because it means we have reached
our aim. We want reactions, positive and negative," said Rabbath.
Rabbath is among some 20 people who formed 05Amam after being on
the frontlines of mass demonstrations last year which forced the
withdrawal of longtime powerbroker Syria and the subsequent election
of an anti-Syrian majority parliament.
United in grief and anger after the February 14, 2005 assassination of
five-time prime minister Rafiq Hariri, they camped out by the thousand
on the government's doorstep in their call for a new leadership under
the rallying cry of "Syria, out."
Their demonstrations were dubbed "The Cedar Revolution" by the US
State Department, after the tree on the Lebanese flag which protestors
waved incessantly on Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut.
Afterward, a core group formed 05Amam, which takes its name from
the year, 2005, and the Arabic "Al-Mujtamah Al-Madani" which means
"civil society," and when condensed to "Amam" means "forward."
"Our requests last year were national requests," recalled Rabbath.
"We were asking for the withdrawal of Syria and an international
tribunal into the Hariri killing."
By pure coincidence, the 05Amam group launched its advertising campaign
on November 12, the same day that five pro-Syrian ministers, including
two from Shiite militant group Hezbollah, resigned from the cabinet
after being included by Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora
last year.
For the past two weeks, thousands of opposition protesters led by
Hezbollah and Christian followers of longtime exile and general Michel
Aoun have been camping on those same grounds.
They are demanding a greater say in the government, the resignation
of Siniora, and are threatening to form their own interim government
unless they gain a one-third blocking share of the cabinet.
The protests have sparked deep dismay among those who took part in
last year's demonstrations, because they believe Iran and Syria are
mobilizing Hezbollah supporters to block the formation of a Hariri
tribunal, which could see Syrian suspects tried.
"Personally speaking, they have the right to ask for whatever they
want," said Rabbath. "But now I think their orders are not Lebanese
in origin, and the people camping out are doing so on the order of
their parties."
Andraos, who said that among the diverse members of 05Amam is a
Christian who supports Hezbollah, said the campaign did not intend
to launch at such a volatile time, but "it just makes it clearer how
dangerous things can get."
Sectarianism "is what drove Lebanon to civil war," said Andraos. "And
it's possibly how today's opposition, which was initially a political
thing, is now turning into a confessional thing."
The group has received hundreds of emails, some from people who are
panicked but most from people who applaud the tongue-in-cheek message.
"It is important to raise awareness about this issue," wrote one man
who described himself as a Jew of Lebanese origin. "Because Lebanon is
the home of all Lebanese whether they be Christians, Muslims or Jews."
The group is working to finalize a series of 15-second television ads
that it hopes will start running later this month or early next year.
Already, one channel has expressed interest in running the ads for
free, though organizers declined to say which one for fear that other
channels may be unfairly deterred.
"It is as if the civil war never happened. None of us have learned
any lessons," Rabbath said.