Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 2003, pages 77-81

Waging Peace

René Moawad Foundation, Center for Global South Conference on Youth in Lebanon

More than 80 people were in the audience for “The Youth in Lebanon: Catalysts for Democracy and Change” conference sponsored by the René Moawad Foundation and American University’s Center for the Global South on Nov. 9, 2002 at the Hotel Washington in Washington, DC.

Georgetown University graduate student Maya Mikdashi noted that there are 610,000 15- to 24-year-old Lebanese youth who seek equal and fair participation in their country’s economic, political and social life. Patricia Langan of the International Youth Foundation discussed the universally recognized needs of youth in terms of having a safe place to live, health promotion resources, one adult who is unconditionally devoted to protecting the child during development, and the importance of economic skills that enable the young to succeed in the workplace. “It is important to create a role, a place, and meaningful dialogue for successful achievement of a fruitful adulthood,” she said.

Lebanon’s diverse population, Mikdashi pointed out, lost a common enemy when Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, leading to post-war political apathy and fragmentation. At the moment, added Halim Barakat, Ph.D., youth movements in Lebanon also are in conflict and fragmented.

Repressive and authoritarian regimes emerged from the 20th century struggles to free Arab countries from colonial powers, Barakat noted. Elite power structures were established that rendered youth powerless and stifled free and independent thinking. Early political movements to reform civil society, put an end to Western colonialism, and pursue national unity only partially achieved their goals, Barakat argued. In his opinion, the sectarianism and confessionalism built into the social and political fabric of Lebanese life is a relic of the Ottoman millet system, and merely accentuates the inability of the various civil movements to form a cohesive force for national unity. Thus, Barakat said, rather than celebrating its diversity, for the most part Lebanon views its diversity with suspicion. Under these circumstances, its young people are less involved in the political life of the country.

In countries such as Lebanon where only a few hold the reins of power, Mikdashi observed, marginalization of youth in the political structure is the rule. In the international arena, she added, youth view the elite as building their own empires.

In addition, Mikdashi noted that, in 1999, the state actively suppressed youth activism, further alienating the young from political life. Young people, she told the audience, turned to seeking a greater role within their own tribal and religious affiliations as a refuge from the despair they experienced when they sought a greater role in Lebanese society.

Despite this withdrawal, she said, 82 percent of students at the American University of Beirut want an end to confessionalism and sectarianism in Lebanese civil society. “The horrors of the 15-year-long Lebanese civil war fostered a systematic avoidance of dialogue and discussion to process the destructive impact that the civil war had on civil society,” Mikdashi stated. Most young people, she added, realize that dialogue is needed to confront the past in order to avoid future divisions along confessional and sectarian lines.

Rima Khalaf Hunaidi, Ph.D., assistant secretary-general of the United Nations Development Program, spoke about the recently released U.N. report finding that Lebanon and Arab nations trail other nations in a number of important indicators of social and economic development. On the other hand, she noted, recent opinion polls indicate that the average Lebanese Arab on the street is basically optimistic about the future. Arab intellectuals, by contrast, have a pessimistic view of the future of Arab society, while young Arab women view their future in terms of activism and a strong desire to tackle the problems of Arab civil society.

Farida Allaghi, Ph.D., adviser to the U.N.’s Arab Gulf program, noted that a number of important new phenomena have emerged from the studies of youth in Lebanon. First, communication between the younger and older generations has become a major problem. Educated teenagers and young adults, raised on fast-paced electronic communication and media, have become impatient with their elders’ slower and more traditional approach to social and political interaction. Over 90 percent of parents are finding it difficult to communicate with their children, Allaghi said, and over 80 percent of fathers are frightened by their inability to communicate with their independent daughters.

Secondly, she continued, lack of real economic opportunity among the poor instills at a young age a sense of despair that often leads to escape into religious fanaticism. Religion plays a lesser role among middle- and upper-class youth, where educational and business opportunities are more available through social connections.

Thirdly, Allaghi said, young people are anxious about the future and their ability to provide for themselves and their families through the security of high-quality jobs with decent wages. The unemployment rate among Lebanese youth is 21.7 percent. The country’s zero percent economic growth rate in 1999 is a major contributor to the problem of unemployment, she said. On average, Lebanese youth seek work for 16 months before finding a job. A shortage of decent housing for young families, the high cost of education and lack of equal employment opportunity encourage Lebanon’s young people to immigrate to the United States, Canada, Latin America and Australia, using strong family ties in these regions to facilitate movement out of the country. As a result, over 14 million Lebanese live overseas, compared to Lebanon’s population of 4.3 million.

Fourth, Allaghi said, young Lebanese feel powerless to affect the country’s political agenda. The media are more responsive to the political regime in power than to the issues facing youth. Tribal politics and confessionalism prevent a national consensus on what Lebanon’s goals should be vis-à-vis its youth. In addition to the dearth of political participation by Lebanon’s young people, other factors such as media censorship, a hereditary political structure, exclusion of youth from participation in civil society, drug and alcohol abuse, and the need to confront the horrors of the civil war combine to discourage sound citizenship among the youth.

Although Lebanon has a veneer of democracy, interjected Ziad Hafez, Ph.D., former IFC economist and investment analyst, tribal affiliations and the collusion of tribal forces create divisiveness, preventing national unification that could identify common goals for the country. “Tribal sectarianism is what really runs the country,” he stated. “Current religious and political leaders value loyalty to the religious affiliation and tribe over the individual and national unity.

“Unfortunately,” he continued, “sectarianism and confessionalism are imbedded in Lebanon’s electoral law. The tribes engage in zero-sum games that foster a totalitarian environment where the tribe protects its members and the sectarian tribal leaders dominate the political landscape. Thus,” he concluded, “sectarianism is not conducive to democratic reforms; national unity is not possible under this system of governance.”

Nor, in Hafez’ opinion, is voting based on personal political preferences, on a one-person-one-vote basis, possible since seats in parliament and top political offices are apportioned according to religious affiliation.

Resuming her remarks after Hafez’ comments, Allaghi noted that whatever social movement that does occur in civil society often is led by the young—particularly young women. Women hold 70 percent of positions in science and technical schools, she pointed out, and there is a decided movement among the young to study in the West, then return home to Lebanon and the Arab world to work for social change and a humanistic Arab culture.

Finally, Allaghi concluded, Lebanon’s youth are angry at the United States for its arrogance in international affairs and its unflinching support of Israel’s suppression of the Palestinian people. They view Western media, American democracy and culture as being hypocritical and self-serving.

Fifty percent of Lebanon’s population is younger than 40 years old. All the speakers agreed that this age group sees Lebanon’s future in terms of restructuring the country’s political, social and religious life. The most frequently advocated reforms include the establishment of civil marriage, fewer political parties, strengthening public education for all segments of society, the need for nation building measures through an emphasis on individual responsibility for political and social reform, and the elimination of hereditary politics, sectarianism and tribal politics.

According to Rock-Antoine Mehanna, Ph.D., associate professor of international business and economics at Wartburg College, young Lebanese want economic reforms that create decent jobs. They want transparency and accountability in government, the media and national affairs. Reforms will only be advanced through a national strategic plan created by a national planning agency—an agency that does not exist at the moment. Young people, he said, want more reform-oriented non-governmental organizations, which are viewed with some degree of trust and are not contaminated by the current political structure. Finally, Mehanna stated, most Lebanese want judicial reform and the creation of a secular and uniform set of civil law that is applied to all Lebanese without regard to religious affiliation or tribal allegiance.

—Robert Younes, M.D.

Doo Dah Parade Spoofs War, Other Absurdities

For 26 years, Southern Californians have been poking good-natured fun at the Establishment and its New Year’s Day Pasadena Tournament of Roses by staging the irreverent Doo Dah Parade on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

This year, a record number turned out to march in and to view the anything-goes procession. Everything from a living room sofa on wheels to the Viagra Performing Sometimes Squad paraded in downtown Pasadena. Many of the entries carried an anti-war theme.

“Bush for the Wealthy, Keep Our Profits Healthy” was an oft-heard chant by the Green Party contingent, which brandished photos of George W. Bush above the caption: “Addicted to War.” Other signs read “Bigger Bombs Mean Bigger Bucks” and “Billionaires for Bush’s War.”

Marching behind the Pasadena All Saints Episcopal Church banner were more than 150 peace proponents. Pseudosurgeons in bloody scrubs carried signs reading “Health Care Not Warfare.” A black-clad figure wearing a death mask held a huge sign asking “What’s the Rush?”

A blue flag with a photo of the Earth flew over the All Saints marchers, who called out to spectators, “Use the U.N., Not Bombs.”

Amnesty International featured several “dictators” in opulent military uniforms who attacked chained prisoners.

Dead Rose Queens and gyrating belly dancers drew cheers and applause as did the Sierra Pacific Fly Fishers who twirled their fishing lines in step with the music. Toddlers dressed in camouflage uniforms sat atop miniature tanks behind a banner stating “Be All You Can Be.”

—Pat McDonnell Twair

Influencing Israeli Public Opinion in Hope of Change

Speaking at a Nov. 14 briefing at the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (CPAP) in Washington, DC, Ronen Idelman, founder of Indymedia, an independent Israeli media outlet, discussed the influencing of Israeli public opinion. Indymedia’s goal is to bring an end to the occupation by making information available to Israelis via several magazines, a Web site and documentaries. Its agenda stretches beyond the occupation, Jewish colonies, and borders to include social change, within Israel and the Palestinian territories alike. “The one-agenda groups always remain small,” explained Idelman. “There has to be a whole new way of thinking by the Israeli public.”

Social and political change must be sought simultaneously, Idelman argued. He believes that peace is not the only issue, stressing that an end to the occupation, the dismantling of settlements, and a return to the 1967 borders are key to achieving peace.

Indymedia group belongs to an umbrella organization of Israeli peace groups called Taayush, which works to end the Israeli occupation and encourage social change in Israel.

The Israeli public is hungry for alternative information, Idelman maintained. Since Israel’s re-occupation of the Palestinian territories in April 2002, Israelis have not been informed about their army’s actions in the occupied territories. As a prime example, Idelman cited the invasion of the Jenin refugee camp, of which the Israeli army prohibited media coverage. Taayush volunteers investigated the invasion and reported the news.

Covering events in the occupied territories is difficult, however, Idelman pointed out. Israeli citizens are not allowed to enter the Palestinian territories, he said, and activists are constantly clashing with soldiers at military checkpoints to gain access to Palestinian territory in order to report the news. On the other hand, he noted, the Israeli military stands by when Jewish settlers attack the activists.

The group has gone to court to force Israel’s public access television to air Indymedia documentaries about the plight of Palestinians. “Independent media,” explained Idelman, “is our way of preserving what we have left of our democracy.”

Cooperation among Israeli, Palestinian, and international activists has caused a change in outlook by the Israeli public, he said, maintaining that the media have been the force behind the change. When Israeli activists moved into Yamoun, a Palestinian village abandoned by its farmers because of settler terror tactics, mainstream Israeli media alerted the Israeli public and there was a big uproar. As a result, the families were able to return to their homes. The Israeli public’s reaction to the events in Yamoun, Idelman argued, is proof that Israelis would not stand for the “transfer” of Palestinians, a possibility Palestinians fear.

Changing public opinion is not impossible, Idelman concluded, nor is making a difference and getting results. To do so, however, he explained, everyone must work together.

Idelman can be reached by e-mail at <ronen@indymedia.org.il>.

—Courtesy CPAP “For the Record” report

Post-Saddam Mirage of Mideast Democracy

Washington, DC’s Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a debate Oct. 21 on whether a U.S. invasion of Iraq would bring democracy to that country and launch a wave of democratic change across the Middle East. Panelists discussed the recently published Carnegie Endowment policy brief entitled “Democratic Mirage in the Middle East.” Moderator Thomas Carothers, one of the brief’s authors, summarized its content.

In the past, he said, U.S. foreign policymakers have assumed that stable autocratic regimes would best protect American interests in the region. These regimes, however, have been unable to prevent Islamic extremism, Carothers said, which seems to appeal to a growing sector of the Arab population. Some U.S. policymakers now are looking for ways to set up more democratic governments in place of the current autocratic ones.

Carothers insisted, however, that while there is potential for democratic change in the Middle East, the obstacles “go well beyond the autocratic nature of the present regimes to span a host of economic, sociopolitical, and historical factors.” In reality, according to the brief, the final outcome of an Iraq invasion would depend largely on domestic factors. Iraq has no experience with democracy and no obvious future leader, the exiled opposition being divided. Post-Saddam democracy would require serious nation-building, and President George W. Bush has indicated no intention of committing to any long-term effort.

The Arab-Israeli conflict also complicates any democratic evolution, and, Carothers said, it deflects any attention from the shortcomings of Middle Eastern leaders. There is a perception among Arabs that the Bush administration advocates democracy only to justify intervention in Middle East politics and the Israeli occupation. Invading Iraq, Carothers concluded, would only intensify anti-American sentiment in countries where present discourse emphasizes liberation from U.S. domination, while Israel could continue to avoid the issue of Palestinian statehood.

Carothers then invited panelists to comment on the policy brief. Joshua Muravchik of the American Enterprise Institute, which describes itself as a think tank “dedicated to preserving private enterprise and a strong national defense,” disagreed with the notion that a democratic surge is unlikely to spread across the Middle East. “We’re in the middle of a wave of democracy all over the world,” Muravchik said. “The Arab world is the one place it hasn’t reached.”

This image of worldwide domino democratization, however, is somewhat misleading, according to Marina Ottaway, another of the policy brief’s authors. Some countries once thought to be in transition to democracy changed course, Ottaway pointed out, such as the former Soviet Republics, most of which are now autocracies, she said.

Muravchik also challenged the brief’s assertion that Islamic extremism is a major obstacle thwarting democratic change. He described it instead as “the latest fad, borrowing from the authoritative traditions of the 20th century, not ancient Islamism.” This “fad,” he contended, will not be enduring or impossible to change.

Ottaway countered that even if Islamism does not prove to be an enduring movement (an hypothesis for which Muravchik offered no evidence), one cannot ignore the impact it has on the present situation. Islamic organizations, she said, “can talk to people in a way that resonates with large sections of the population.” There is also the question of who has influence inside a country. Many of the opposition groups advocating democracy are in exile and lack political clout inside Iraq.

Democracy in post-Saddam Iraq will depend not just on whether or not Iraqis want change, but on who initiates that change. Panelist Robert Malley, Middle East program director of the International Crisis Group, an organization committed to conflict resolution, said that Arabs don’t disagree with America’s democratic message, but they distrust who it is coming from.

The perception in the Arab world, he explained, is that the U.S. has a biased agenda that has more to do with preserving access to cheap oil and defending Israel than with a true desire for democracy in the region. “The policies of this administration are giving democracy a bad name,” he said, describing a generation in the Arab world that “feels angry and frustrated” with the United States. “Sept. 11,” he observed, “didn’t begin on Sept. 10.”

Panelists also disagreed on the likely repercussions for the rest of the Arab world should Iraq democratize following a possible overthrow of Hussain’s regime. Panelist Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an AIPAC spinoff, claimed that democracy in Iraq would be sure to spark democratic change in neighboring Iran. If Iran fell, Muravchik added, Islamism would face an “interminable decline.”

In contrast, Malley asserted that “the situation in Iraq does not have much to do with the evolution, democratic or not, of the rest of the region.” Implying that the Bush administration may be wise to reconsider its plans for invading Iraq, he argued that a “correlation between regime change and a peaceful agreement is false.”

—Lisa Viscidi

No Oscar Nomination for Palestine’s “Divine Intervention”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has refused to allow Palestinian-made films to enter the competition for best foreign film Oscar because it does not accept Palestine as a “nation.”

The Palestinian Authority tried to submit Elia Solaiman’s film, “Divine Intervention,” but it was rejected, even though the film was well received at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

According to Academy rules, the government of each nation is allowed to submit one film to represent its country. Therefore, the only reason the Academy could reject “Divine Intervention” would be that it doesn’t recognize the Palestinian government.

Palestinian filmmakers—and there are quite a few very talented ones—must wonder what nationality they are. Are they Israeli? Would the Israeli government ever choose to send a Palestinian film to Hollywood to represent its country?

By maintaining that Palestinian films simply cannot be submitted, the Academy has denied, in effect, their right to exist.

Readers interested in making their opinions known may contact the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at Academy Foundation, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211; phone: (310) 247-3000; fax: (310) 859-9351; Web site: <www.oscars.org>; e-mail: <ampas@oscars.org>.

—Shortened article by Phil Ed for Au-Cinema.com, Courtesy of Miftah

Visiting Saudi Doctor Seeks Improved Relations With U.S.

Selwa A.F. Al-Hazzaa, M.D., FRCS, said she was on a mission to help her country restore relations with the United States, badly damaged by the 9/11 attacks. Al-Hazzaa, the head of opthalmology at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia since 1997, took time away from her busy practice to attend a forum in Washington, DC to consider ways to restore the close ties both countries had enjoyed for 60 years. Before catching her flight home, Dr. Al-Hazzaa spoke to the Washington Report about the West’s growing misunderstandings concerning Saudi Arabia.

An active member of the Saudi Opthalmological Society (SOS), Dr. Al-Hazzaa dispels anyAmerican preconceptions of a Saudi Arabian woman. She frequently chairs annual SOS meetings and heads numerous organizations, as do many other of her fellow Saudis. When she attended a 1999 meeting for heads of opthalmological departments in New Orleans, she recalled, she was surprised that in the United States, where women supposedly have so many opportunies compared to the Middle East, there were only two women chairpersons at the conference from the entire country.

Dr. Al-Hazzaa studied at the Royal College of Surgeons, in Edinburgh, Scotland, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, MD, and at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC, as well as five years at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital.

Like most women in Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere), she said she doesn’t like showing off or listing her accomplishments. Dr. Al-Hazzaa’s biographical information, therefore, listed on the Internet, was an eye-opener. This personable, unassuming woman has won awards, organized seminars, published 29 international papers, presented countless lectures and has had numerous TV, radio and newspaper interviews.

She also has juggled a busy family life, raising three children, aged 12, 11 and 10. Like many American mothers, since she can’t give “quantity time,” she tries her best to give her children “quality time.”

Women have to work 10 times as hard as men, Dr. Al-Hazzaa said, but in Saudi Arabia, they do get credit for all their work. “I can be a big fish in a small bowl,” she joked, while if she’d stayed in the U.S., she’d be only one of many fish.

As for Americans’ perception of Saudi Arabian women as dissatisfied, doormats, or second-class citizens, Dr. Al-Hazzaa cited statistics to counter those myths. Nearly 53 percent of all Saudi high school and university graduates are women, as are 35 percent of all government employees. Women make 40 to 60 percent of all bank deposits, and more than 20 percent of the businesses listed in Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce are owned by women. The latest generations of Saudi Arabian women, the doctor said, are a well-educated, dynamic workforce in their country.

As for recent developments in U.S.-Saudi relations, Dr. Al-Hazzaa told an eye-opening story. Her family lives in a very open community on the hospital premises, she said. One day she came home from work to find her son throwing everything from the United States into the garbage. When she admonished him about throwing away so many clothes, food, CDs, games and other goods, and the tremendous waste of money, he said, “Take it out of my allowance.”

“When I asked my children what they wanted from the States before I left on this trip,” Dr. Al-Hazzaa added, “they said they don’t even want a present.”

Having been raised in Tucson, she said, it saddens her that her children, after watching news reports from the occupied territories and hearing that Americans support Israeli actions, now don’t want to attend college in the United States. Saudi Arabian children have watched Israel‘s tanks invade the occupied territories while President George W. Bush’s attention was focused on Iraq and the war on terrorism.

This has caused hatred of the U.S. to boil over in her region’s young generation. “These children may be only 12 now,“ Dr. Al-Hazzaa noted, “but when they’re in their 20s and 30s they’ll be in control. This is the lost generation for Americans.”

Dr. Al-Hazzaa said she was profoundly disappointed that Prince Abdullah’s Middle East peace initiative was not embraced by the U.S. “If America would focus on Israel-Palestine everything else would fall into place,” she emphasized.

Turning from the crisis in Palestine to worries closer to home, Dr. Al-Hazzaa shared her thoughts on the changing face of Saudi Arabia. “Our pace is our own pace,” she told the Washington Report. “We favor evolution, not revolution, and make our changes gradually. Remember, we are a young country, only 50 years old. It was only in the 1970s that, in your country, Harvard allowed women. Education for girls in the Kingdom only began 35 years ago. We will see progress, but give us some time.”

Progress cannot be forced on the country from the outside, Dr. Al-Hazzaa warned—especially not from the United States, when its foreign policy is so infuriating. It will come from within, she said, perhaps from the suburbs in Saudi Arabia, where bedouin women already are driving trucks.

As for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, Dr. Al-Hazzaa said, until the terrorist attacks on 9/11, most Saudi Arabians had never heard of them. “Who made him?” she asked. “Who supported him?” Bin Laden, she pointed out, whose Saudi Arabian citizenship was revoked, also sought to overthrow the Kingdom’s government.

As for a war on Iraq, Dr. Al-Hazzaa described that country as being in quiet chaos. After the Palestinian problem is solved, she concluded, there will then be time and support for dealing with Iraq.

—Delinda C. Hanley