Letters Apart: September 2005

Friday, September 30, 2005

USAID

For those interested in USAID projects in Lebanon ...

Check the information provided by Lebanese Lobby.

Public Amnesty

Yesterday, Algerians voted in a democratic referendum on whether or not to grant amnesty to perpetrators of violence from various sides of the conflict. The proposed amnesty would exclude certain crimes, like massacres, but if mandated through a public vote, will grant amnesty broadly. This phase of conflict began in Algeria in the early 1990s and has left more than 150,000 dead. This referendum is very unusual. It is perhaps the first time that the amnesty question has been put to a public through a referendum.

See this.

This quote is telling:

"National reconciliation cannot be achieved on the grounds of impunity. Responsibilities on both sides of the civil war have to be clearly determined first."

All that Matters

Here's a another poem by Doug Soderstrom. You can find his past works on Selves and Others.

All That Matters

Thursday 29th September 2005, by Doug Soderstrom

PRE-EXISTENT void,
Big-banged explosion into time,
As stars began to dance in the sky,
Amino acids puddled on the ground,
While fish grew legs,
A Neanderthal’s upright march,
Into the Great Rift cradle of man,
As the dawn of Eden,
Transformed dust into life.

Conception,
A newborn’s scream,
The ebb and flow of life,
A child’s crawl into manhood,
And the inevitable decline,
Into the awful gut-load,
Of one’s own private grave.

And the final-echoed-boom,
Of bomb’s last cry,
Signaling the end,
Of man’s reign on earth.

Yet,
Above all else,
There is but one thing that matters,
Only one thing that shall endure.

Our answer,
To the question of life.

Did we live our life well,
Did we have respect for life,
Were we willing to lay our lives down,
In order that others might live?

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Cliché Galore

This was the signoff in an email I got today ...

PLEASE SEND THIS EMAIL TO ALL THE TRUE LEBANESE THAT YOU KNOW!

Someone please explain the term "true lebanese"? Is it opposed to being "Just Lebanese"? Or is someone "Less Lebanese"?

Oh well ...

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Working for Tomorrow

"Cure ancient ills before planning a bright future"

It asks the following: What has to change to have a decent chance of success in this new Lebanon?

It's solutions:

- Lebanon has got to be first.
- The political and religious elites have to be tamed.
- Stop using the foreigner to fight your neighbor.
- Shed the culture of victimhood and start accepting responsibility.
- If secularism is impossible, use religion wisely.
- The generational gap should be bridged.
- Never again depend on foreign powers to save Lebanon.
- Syrian hegemony is inevitable, find an accommodation deal. (hmmm ... hegemony might be a wrong word here.)
- Egypt should be brought back to balance Syrian hegemony. (don't agree...)
- In addition to this partial list of necessary reforms, the political will and the people's will both are necessary to make things happen.

And he ends with: History does not give second chances often in the game of nations. But it afforded Lebanon that rare chance. Are we up to the challenges ahead? Can we learn from history so as not to waste the martyrdom of former Premier Rafik Hariri? History is watching.

---

But I wonder, are we really watching? Or do we have our eyes on the wrong target. The Mehlis Report? The Truth? What will be next? More flag-waving? More speeches? More enthusiasm? Will that energy never be sublimated into economical advancement?

A first step is to follow the old cliche: forgive, but don't forget. Unfortunately, our memory is reset day by day. It isn't the forms of tutelage that we have (take your pick of whatever tutelage you want). It's our seperation of past and present.

Past actions do count. Whether you are Hariri, Geagea, Aoun, Jumblatt, Berri, Frangieh, Murr - today's actions do not exonerate you from yesterday's behavior.

Oh well ... I think I'll go find myself a za3im to follow blindly. It's much more fun, from what I see. This way, I'll know that there is ONE "completely and utterly and supremely nationalistic leader" who has the "highest patriotic feelings" for Lebanon and is putting all his time into caring for the "Lebanese national interest". And even more, I wouldn't have to care about what happens on the ground and definitely wouldn't have to think on my own. I would just nod my head at everything he says, and hate everyone he hates. Most importantly, at least I would know that there is someone out there who is going to "protect me" from all the different forms of "infidels".

After all, that's what a democracy is about ...

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

This is the Truth

I have posted enough today, but this is too much. Are their lives not important too? Do they not mean anything just because they aren't rich? When will they feel part of Lebanon? When will they be treated as humans? The social truth comes out - that human rights in Lebanon is dead. The governments slothness is destructive not only for security, but also for life. And what do we do? We watch.

Wake up Lebanon, before you drown yourself.

Monday, September 26, 2005

A Lost Land ...

Broken Promises ...

If you have seen No Man’s Land, you would have seen, in action, the UN’s uselessness. True, this is just a movie, but there have been enough real life events that have seen the UN fail.

A friend of mine, L, would argue otherwise. In L’s view, the UN does benefit the world. The current MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) aim at improving the nature of life, and L argues that the leaders of various countries are adamant about meeting them, even if they have a slightly modified timeline. Parts of the UN, such as the UNDP, do help the world, ease poverty, provide assistance, etc. L does mention that it needs renovation, and as a volunteer in the 60th General Assembly, says that the UN, including the current presiding president, is willing to change.

Yet the UN has failed in the same way the League of Nations failed decades ago. Regardless of its already atrophied credibility, it lacks authority. Injustice cannot be filtered.

Outside the building in New York, the following is carved:

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war any more.

Sadly, violence is still the mean. Peace is only the result of life’s randomness. Haile Selassie put it best in his speech to the UN.

When Kofi Annan first took helm of the UN, I was impressed by his speeches, which I am still am. Yet he has been talking for too long. I have seen El Baradei – the director general of the IAEA – speak about the need for nuclear disarmament, yet only a select few are being forced to disarm. When words lack actions, the people issuing them lack substance. This is the UN’s tragic flaw.

And what of Annan and his son?

What of the Uzbekistan massacre?

What of the Darfour Genocide?

A few years ago, the world was in an uproar of Enron and WorldCom – two companies that twisted the logic of financial auditing. Shouldn’t there be political auditing? To improve the world, you have to be better than it. The UN is just a reflection of the current reality. If it is ever to be successful - if humanity is ever to be successful - then it keep in mind the following quote:

Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us - and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill - constructed and inhabited by men aware of their grave trust and their great responsibilities.

Till then ... the following sign, which was hung across the street from the UN in New York, will be valid.

Quotes

from this book on the US intervention in 1958 and 1982. The first is interesting, but the second is as relevant today as it was then ...

Gemayel to Shultz: We want to reach an agreement with Israel, but we want an agreement that results in withdrawals. In other words, an agreement with Israel should be acceptable to Syria. Otherwise, the Syrian army will not withdraw - which means that the Israeli army will not withdraw. We shall then have an agreement - but also complete occupation. We shall have paid the political prie for an agreement with Israel, endangering our Internal unity and our Arab ties, without regaining our land. We cannot sign any agreement that is so expensive politically yet does nothing towards restoring our sovereignty.

According to the author, it was pressure that forced Gemayel to sign the agreement. The following quote supports that:

Lebanese diplomat to author: We signed the agreement because we chose the American option. By that i mean, we chose to have peace with Israel without calling it peace, and at the same time to remain a member of the arab family. we thought that because the US has committed itself to the goal of liberating Lebanon from all foreign forces, this would be done. This statement is repeated on many occasions by American leaders and more specifically by President Reagan during President Gemayel's visit to the White House. Our mistake in Lebanon was that we had great expectation from the US, disregarding the limitation of a superpower in world affairs. The option we opted for was a mirage - nothing else I think.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

May Chidiac

has been caught in an assassination attempt. She was burning behind the wheel before she was rescued.

I wonder how easy it is to actually booby-trap a car. If it is as easy as Lebanon makes it seem, how come more of these don't happen around the world. If it isn't this easy, then where is the government? Where is the security? There is already an increased army presence in the country - so how can this keep recurring? Did the same problems happen after the explosion? Did the evidence get trampled on? Did the police not cordon off the site?

This isn't just an issue of respecting freedom of speech. Security is a completely meaningless term in Lebanon.

Till it has some content, I worry.

Update: Here are links to a few other blogs that also discuss this.

La La Land
Lebanese Political Journal
Angry Arab News Service
Beirut Spring
Lebanese Bloggers
Beirut to Beltway

Friday, September 23, 2005

Notes from the Underground

This is a part of Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground ...

It was not only that I could not become spiteful, I did not know how to become anything; neither spiteful nor kind, neither a rascal nor an honest man, neither a hero nor an insect. Now, I am living out my life in my corner, taunting myself with the spiteful and useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot become anything seriously, and it is only the fool who becomes anything. Yes, a man in the nineteenth century must and morally ought to be pre-eminently a characterless creature; a man of character, an active man is pre-eminently a limited creature. That is my conviction of forty years. I am forty years old now, and you know forty years is a whole lifetime; you know it is extreme old age. To live longer than forty years is bad manners, is vulgar, immoral. Who does live beyond forty? Answer that, sincerely and honestly I will tell you who do: fools and worthless fellows. I tell all old men that to their face, all these venerable old men, all these silver-haired and reverend seniors! I tell the whole world that to its face! I have a right to say so, for I shall go on living to sixty myself. To seventy! To eighty! ... Stay, let me take breath ...

Interestingly enough, the first sentence was on the first page of the following book.

Pictures from Boston

This pic is of a monument dedicated to the first African American voluntary regiment - I forget the exact details - and is on the Freedom Trail, which I did not take, because I don't enjoy these touristy things. (I prefer walking the city, which I did, and for which my feet are now punishing me.)

Can you see the shoes and the cap below? Most of these statues now have this - it's part of the Boston Walking Campaign.

The MIT architecture building ... inside is the so called Infinite Corridor, which is anything but infinite.

A new MIT building. No, don't ask me why it's like this. And don't ask why something like this costs 500 million dollars!

And, a typical picture of the Charles River ...

Here's an anecdote about the Harvard Bridge. Supposedly, it was to be called the MIT bridge, but after conducting a study on its structure, MIT decided that it was a poor engineering design, and did not want it named after them ...

Pictures from Above

Here are some pictures taken from the plane.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Boston @ Night

Here's a pic from Boston through the window at Top of the Hub ... more will be posted once I get back to the West.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Going ...

... to the East Coast for around a week. I leave tomorrow from SF to Boston, then a few days later, will head to New York City ...

Watching

There are times when I feel that humans could do better. I don’t want to believe that we are born evil. Yet, every now and then, something happens, and my vision is glazed with the sad acceptance that humanity is inhumane. And for cathartic reasons, I will to try write, even when words have left my fingers. Things like this are usually written in minutes, and are raw, and rough.

Before this blog, everything used to get shoved into a drawer, only looked at months down the line, and most thrown out. But I have decided, for better or for worse, to store them here.

Enraged clouds banish
The heated sun from view.
We watch and wait
And watch as the winds roar,
Shattering buildings into dust.
Our screams melt
Before they are heard.
We watch and seek shelter,
But shards of glass coat the ground.
And all bridges lead nowhere.
All gates are shut.
We do not want this, but
We watch, huddling as one.
If only this were Armageddon,
Then the one hope we could have
Was that this would happen but once.
Yet memories sear our dreams
As we again watch our lives lived for us
By the masters of our fate.
Even the heavens look down,
The sadness in its eyes
Slices through our souls.
We watch, for that is all we can do.
As deafening fire crashes through our lands,
We only desire to be saved.
Cracked Earth. Crashing Oceans.
There is not a savior to be found.
Treacherous pasts have set on our future,
And we watch and wither and watch.

Symmetry

There is just something about symmetry in pics than I enjoy, although at times, unsymmetrical pics have a much more realistic feel to them. Here are a couple taken in the Bay Area.

Street Spirit

is one of the few songs that I can put on repeat. One the way back home tonight, I must have listened to it over 5 times. Some of the other songs that come to mind NOW (i.e., this isn't a comprehensive list, and they might not even be my favorite songs) are: I Grieve (on the city of angels soundtrack - peter gabriel), Exit (U2, on the Joshua Tree album), Mr. Jones (a classic by Counting crows), War (Bob Marley, which I've only recently started listening too), one of the songs by The Shins (I forget the name, but its on the Garden State soundtrack), Moonlight Sonata (one of my favorite - but not the favorite - piece by Beethoven), Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2), My Immortal (Evanescence), and a two songs by Muse - but the titles have slipped my mind now ...

Saturday, September 17, 2005

I Wonder

Should the following annoy me?

I was out with someone, who basically derided (unintentionally) a friend Z, when she asked in astonishment "You haven't eaten escargot? I thought everyone eats escargot." I think what bugged me the most, besides the fact that she didn't realize that Z comes from a family that is poorer than hers, was that her question was asked in full and blissful innocence. It reminded me of Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake."

Friday, September 16, 2005

The 60th General Assembly

So Lahoud has given his speech today. I was told by a friend who is working there that he spoke in English - however, the UN just provided his speech in french. You can read it here.

Don't you just love speeches? Especially when it comes in the form of "the message of our country ... is that the fight for peace, liberty, and security and justice in the world is the responsibility of all..."

How quaint.

Here's to hoping that the UN will regain its dignity and purpose ... with an unsurpassable flair.

Conversations of the recent past

Over this summer I have gotten to know someone who was in the Lebanese Forces in the late 80's, early 90's, before the "Hakim" got arrested ... to my friends who I have already mentioned him to, he is my "LF buddy" ... Over the span of these 3 months, we have had quite interesting conversations, which have started out with my instinctual attribution of the stereotypical LF traits to him. And I was pleasantly proven to be wrong. I know he had fought in the war, especially from a recent conversation when he gave specific details from the War of Elimination against Aoun. Here are some of the things that he said ...

"You know, I was there. Now I know that I should have acted differently, but at that time, I was in university outside Lebanon, and I came back halfway through my degree. I thought I would be coming back to my country, to fight for something good, and, well, I was wild. I wasn't serious about my studies. So I came back, and we fought, and we fought for the hakim, we fought for our ideals, but now I know they were stupid ideals, everyone else had their ideals, and we fought because we just thought ours were better. But what happened? My friends died. Alot of people died. For nothing. Now I know that what happened shouldn't have happened. And I wish it didn't. That is why at the time we accepted the Taef. What was the alternative. To fight with Aoun? For more people to die?"

"I was arrested several times by the Syrians. After the war, they were my enemies. They were the ones who directly affected my lives. I remember this one time, when I was a child, and when the Syrian tanks were near, we once went up at night and painted the LF cross on the tanks ... those were the times when we had fun. But it got serious later. After the war, I was involved with politics. Trying to make Lebanon better. Trying to help everyone accept each other. But the Syrians were affecting Lebanese economy, and we were against that. So we got arrested. And at those times, the hakim would actually hand himself over, telling them to take him and to let us all go. He wasn't like the rest, he cared about us ..."

"The Israelis did attack this country. And the south has been greatly affected. And I am very happy they left. But I found that the syrians were the ones affecting the Lebanese economy the most. They were sucking our blood dry. And I feel sorry for the syrian people. I used to work in Syria for several years, and I saw how they lived. I saw how they were treated by their government."

"You know, money isn't anything. My father told me that many times. We were pretty well off, and then during the war, we lost everything. But my father said that it is much harder to become the man you want to be than to have the money you want to have. You can easily make alot of money. But to become a good man ... "

"I left Lebanon because I just couldn't take it. I would work, and they would send me the check a month later, with only half the amount they had told me they would pay. Once, only once, I tried to take it to court, but I spent more money than what I had lost, and nothing came out of it. Why would I go back now? I don't like the life here, I would prefer to live in Lebanon, but we need money to live. There is no judiciary. There was this company in (I forget the name of the place he said) that was the biggest factory being built in Lebanon. And there was some stupid political factor that prevented it from being opened. What did the owner do? He didn't put up with it and just moved. That is why businesses don't open there. We need to make it easier, more transparent."

"What do you want me to tell you. I worked with muslims. I know that they are like us, they work, they are decent. I didn't care that they were muslim, they didn't care that I was christian. But then some stupid leader comes up and says something sectarian, and we all cluster."

Back

Today is the last day of one stage of my life ... soon, I'll be back to the surrealism of a grad student's life ...

And ...

... another one.

This feeling of uselessness is beginning to atrophy my nerves ...

Update: One dead, and 23 injured ... according to Red Cross and security sources. It happened near a branch of Byblos Bank in Achrafieh.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Cedar Guardians, Part 2

This is a continuation of a previous post.

The important aspect of the Cedar Guardian’s return is whether or not this appearance expresses a deep change in the political climate and general ideologies, and whether they have an influence. In other words, we have to look at what supports these Guardians to see if Lebanon is actually willing to accept such thoughts, to join them

The tendency is to answer in the affirmative. Yes, Lebanon has been, for quite some time, moving towards a situation that makes these statements more acceptable. And since this is the current situation, the issue deserves attention. These Guardians are stating in a loud voice what a strong political force has tried to destroy.

March 14 has many different forces. Yet the loudest voice between them, and the triumphant ideology, belongs to a force that has presented acrid opinions in Lebanon’s recent past during a period of alternating control between the Palestinians and the Syrians with periods of calm between the two. The connecting line between 1975 and 2005 is the line of arab threats to the essence of what gave the Cedar Revolution its thunder.

In the opinions of some, Lebanon lived for 30 years under the Syrian oppression that trampled sovereignty and independence. And it is possible to build upon this view that the Israeli collaborators acted in defense to a bigger danger. And in the opinions of some, we should tightly cling to those who spent the last 15 years resisting the Syrian occupation. And it isn’t important, in such a situation, mentioning those resisting the Israeli occupation for more than three times than amount.

To be continued ... (in hopefully only one more post)

Another ...

... bomb - but the intended target wasn't in the car ...

Pierre Sadek ...

... has this to say, as seen in annahar. September 14, X was martyred.... February 14. Y was martyred... March 14 has been martyred.

Cedar Guardians, Part 1

There has been an "interestingly" anachronistic reemergence of the Cedar Guardians. I am going to roughly (very roughly!) translate an article written by Joseph Samaha, of Assafir. This post contains the first few paragraphs ...

In this week of September, 1982, Bashir Gemayel was assassinated, the Israeli forces entered Beirut, the Sabra and Chatila massacres occurred, and the Lebanese Resistance was launched.

These incidents are recalled in 2005 with the new events that Lebanon is now living. This remembrance forms a looking glass that allows us to see the political forces with the weight of everything that has happened. With this interaction with the recent past, a lot can be said about internal Lebanese affairs, except for its future. And the Cedar Guardians have chosen, the day before yesterday, - and this coincides with those dark days – to announce its return to publicactivity, and to repeat its previous thoughts and programs and suggestions, which it deems to be righteous, in this time and in this place.

It seems that with these Guardians, we are faced with a group saying extreme and dogmatic things. Without going into any rivalry with this returning party, we can point out that this blend of extreme nationalism and xenophonia, this racism, this hostility to a type of capitalism and to leftist thought – this is all just borrowed from the fascist and nazi ideologies. The weight of this event on the suffereing Lebanese situation renders it unable to shout for help.

It is possible and easy to disregard the announcement of this immoderate cult. It may even be possible to claim that it has a place in Lebanon. For all Lebanese groups, have, at their base, a handful of objectionable views, and we witness in several of the cases attempts to absolve them of extremism.

To be continued ...

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

You hear a sound ...

... you hear a sound, and look around. Throngs of people have started to run down the streets and conglomerate at the same spot. You move slowly, and can't see anything because of the crowd. You approach, partly out of curiosity and partly out of concern, and all the indistinguishable words morph into phrases such as "Is she ok" "What happened" "Did you see anything" "What can we do" "Move so I can see more clearly" "She seems to be in pain" "Will it spread". They are repeated over and over again. Seconds ... minutes pass, and you still have no idea what everyone is screaming about.

Soon, mainly out of boredom, but also partly because of selfishness, the crowd drifts aways, leaving only their shadows behind. You approach her, and see her broken on the ground. But there is nothing you can do alone. You take a few steps backwards, and then just turn and leave. You leave humanity to tend to itself.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Bob Marley ...

So … here’s a link pointed out by my friend about a speech to the UN, by H.I.M. Haile Selassie I, that Bob Marley based his song “War” on. I’m just going to post some of the more important parts here:

Today, I stand before the world organization which has succeeded to the mantle discarded by its discredited predecessor … In 1936, I declared that it was not the Covenant of the League that was at stake, but international morality … The Charter of the United Nations expresses the noblest aspirations of man … But these, too, as were the phrases of the Covenant, are only words … The preservation of peace and the guaranteeing of man's basic freedoms and rights require courage and eternal vigilance … But each one of us here knows that what has been accomplished is not enough … what the united Nations has achieved still falls regrettably short of our goal of an international community of nations … this is the ultimatum presented to us: secure the conditions whereby men will entrust their security to a larger entity, or risk annihilation … There is no single magic formula … Peace is a day-to-day problem … Peace is not an "is", it is a "becoming" … I would mention briefly today two particular issues, which are of deep concern to all men: disarmament and the establishment of true equality among men … Disarmament is vital today, quite simply, because of the immense destructive capacity of which men dispose … The goal of the equality of man which we seek is the antithesis of the exploitation of one people by another … this evil is to be shunned where it does not exist and crushed where it does … This very struggle is a struggle to establish peace, and until victory is assured … That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained … Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-wil … The basis of racial discrimination and colonialism has been economic, and it is with economic weapons that these evils have been and can be overcome … Here, then, is the opportunity presented to us. We must act while we can, while the occasion exists to exert those legitimate pressures available to us, lest time run out and resort be had to less happy means. Does this Organization today possess the authority and the will to act? … The possibilities which exist in the United Nations to provide the medium whereby the hungry may be fed, the naked clothed, the ignorant instructed, must be seized on and exploited for the flower of peace is not sustained by poverty and want …Unless the rights of the least of men are as assiduously protected as those of the greatest, the seeds of confidence will fall on barren soil … We all wish to live …

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Some quotes

I'm listing a few quotes I obtained from "The Culture of Sectarianism", by Usama Makdisi (if anyone has read it, tell me how you found it), which I found interesting.

1 - He discusses how people, such as the Europeans, were "all consumed with the idea that religion was the single most important political identification of each villager",
2 - and how they "tried to reorganize physical and cultural space in accordance with a sectarian vision of the past",
3 - while noting that "they exhibited a newly instilled fear of and a willingness to be segregated from their Islamic surroundings".
4 - An American missionary is quoted to have writting the following in 1860: "They have everything to lose and nothing to gain by a war, and if there is a civil war, it will be waged by the people without the concurrence of their leaders".
5 - Some parties had a "sectarian vision of liberation", and
6 - part of the reason of the book is to "unsettle the pretension of homogeneity and solidity of communal identity that the term sectarianism implies".
7 - "In the aftermath of 1860, a culture of sectarianism developed in the sense that all sectors of society, public and private, recognized that the war and the massacres marked the beginning of a new age - an age defined by the raw intrusion of sectarian consciousness into modern life ... The culture depended, and still depends, in a myth of communal homogeneity - that there is such a thing as a Maronite or a Drize nation that can or should be represented - ...this culture reproduces and justifies itself as a balance of communities ... it encompasses, beyond the eye of state surveillance, a range of aspirations, fears, and beliefs that as often contradict sectarianism ... a series of pamphlets ... stresses the need ... to punish perpetrators and thereby bring a sense of closure and healing for the victims, but at the same time recognize the underlying causes for conflict and remedy them ... makes the point that man is not sectarian by nature or impulse but by education and socialization ... however, there are others that refuse or are unable to accept that there is such a thing as a good Muslim or Druze or Christian. These are men and women who 'remember' the harrowing stories of their grandparents ... There has never been pure sectarianism, only narratives about its purity."

Saturday, September 10, 2005

One of "The Burghers of Calais"

"In 1884, the French city of Calais commissioned Auguste Rodin to create a memorial honoring heroes of the Hundred Years' War. He depicted the six burghers, or citizens, who in 1347 volunteered to leave the defeated city barefoot, tied by rope at the neck, and offer their own lives and keys to Calais to King Edward III of England. The burghers' fotrirude, determination, and devotion to their community preserved Calais from being pillaged at the end of a devastating siege."

Foundations of Ideology

It is easy to be swept by grandeur, by the “bigger picture”, and to be tempted to fight for an idea. That has always been intellectually more stimulating than picking and working with the details. Ideologies, which are our mind’s own attempt at making sense of what was and what should be, are no different. They have the uncanny knack of pushing the “details” (to be read: people’s lives) under the rug …

Most of us have been scathed to some degree by different ideologies. One of the biggest failures in the Middle East was Pan-Arabism, and even though some people may still dwell in that area of thought, it won’t really be a political driving force anymore. But has the ideological game really stopped? Was Arabism actually the only stopping block? Will the Middle East take decades to recover from the effects of Arabism? Or is there something lacking … something more integral to our society that made Arabism so appealing? As I said in a comment at Beirut to Beltway (on an article that discussed the Arabism/Anti-Arabism divide):

you have to ask the right questions. What made Arabism so attractive to the masses? Arabism itself? Or was there something more fundamentally misplaced, that is still TODAY forcing the people to look for the greener side?

So what is “the greener side”? Before that, I just want to take a simple look at the key players an ideology needs to succeed (and I am measuring success by its acceptance and not whether it improves society):

1 – The intellectuals. They write the books, develop the ideas, the paradigms, and distill the concepts.
2 – The politicians. They don’t have to be fully involved in politics, but these people will support the ideas if they feel they are useful to achieving their goals (which don’t necessarily have to be selfish.)
3 – The masses. Without this aspect, there is no way an ideology will ever work.

I repeat. The most important aspect of a successful ideology are the masses. I am not denying that beautiful ideologies do exist, some of which actually dizzy the mind, but beauty has never been a guiding force for mass consensus.

What exactly do the masses find so attractive in these ideologies? Hassan, at Lebanese Bloggers, has elaborated on an example in Lebanon, in which he discusses the socio-economic INEQUALITY between the sects. Call it Marxian if you wish, but this is fundamental to the attractiveness of ideology. IN THE END, it is the masses that will either hold on to an ideology or weaken it. And why do they want to hold on to it? Because they are dreaming of greener pastures. They simply want a better life. And the lower you are on the economic meter stick, the more desire you have for a better life. Going from one house to two houses is not as great a divide as going from no house to one. Ideology is a function of class.

To a first order analysis, this is one of the underlying reasons why Pan-Arabism had such a force. Today’s generation saw the failures of arabist philosophies. The number of anti-arabists (to be differentiated from those who just aren’t pan-arabs) has gone up, yet they fail to see the hypocrisy – that they too are looking for a better life through an ideology.

So is blaming Arabism, and trying to rid our society from its influence, the right path to walk?

No. Lebanon, and the Middle East, will not improve by only blaming Pan-Arabism. We are simply attacking the wrong issues. To see that, all you have to do is look at the extreme flurry of ideologies that are currently rampant in Lebanon, which have blinded us and our politicians from the details.

What are these ideologies? Some of the ones pertaining to Lebanon are the following:

Arabism, Anti-Arabism, Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Religion, Freedom and Democracy, “We Want the Truth” aka “Al Haqeeqa” (a concept that has taken Lebanon by storm), sectarianism, phoenicianism, …

All these have the same driving force: their base consists of people who want to reside on the greener side and to reach there they will hang onto the different threads available. What should we deal with? The ideology? Or the poverty?

A simple example to look at, and one that has been central to many arguments lately, is Hezballah. Whether you think that HA’s Islamic fervor is destructive to the nation is irrelevant. The question to ask is why are they such a success in the South? Is it only because they are a religious party? Or that they fought Israel? Do you really believe that it is just their ideology that has garnered such a large crowd?

Or can it be something on a much more basic level, which is relevant to life itself, such as providing services (health, education, social services) that the government has neglected to do?

As to its religious nature, that is just “ceremony”. In the same way, religion in general is just opium for the masses (as Marx discusses). From this perspective, so are ideologies. The latest examples in Lebanon were created after Hariri’s assassination – in which the calls for Freedom, Democracy, and The Truth were vocalized. We most definitely do want all three, because we believe that it will give us a better life; but in the name of Freedom, Democracy, and the Truth, Lebanon has been at a stand still. And now, in light of recent events, we have the new and slightly less enunciated ideology of “Lahoud Out”. Call it necessary. But it removes our concentration from the more important details of making our country, and on a more basic level, our lives, work. Social sectarianism (to be differentiated from political confessionalism) is another ideology. Sects do not speak with one voice, yet venting our anger on the other sect is one more way of not focusing on “details”. Phoenicianism (I am not debating the historical aspects here) has been used and abused by communities. Nationalism, and the concept of a national leader (which have already caused havoc in Lebanon), is another way to introduce abstract ideas such as “our great country” and “the most nationalistic patriotic leader” (please explain to me what that means).

And we look up to all these simply because we dream of a better life … You will tell me that some of these are important. Pan-Arabists thought so too. You may say that Arabism was an evil, and you may very be well right. However, eradicating Arabism won’t prevent another ideology from flooding the masses again. Although ideologies may begin as just ideas and thoughts, they only become real when people feel that these ideas will provide the way out of their currently unfair life.

Once and for all, lets get our priorities right. Until we do, we will keep chasing the phantoms of our past and will keep falling into the web of grandeur and silken words.

My World

This is my world.
A light dream of silky winds
And the silent trail of the sun.
I lift my arms and imagine
a graceful soar through the sky,
beckoning dreams long lost
and glories long forgotten.
as I begin to bring together
the four corners of the globe.
This is my world.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Idealism ...

... is only satisfying for those who die young.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

I was thinking ...

... on the way back home, that all the anti-"panarabism" these days is an ideology in itself, and is maybe as dangerous politically as pan-arabism ...

Monday, September 05, 2005

La Mémoire ...

Yesterday's memory floats
and brushes past me,
coating the horizon ahead
with the golden tint
of the blurring mist
as the sun begins once more
to set itself into a
rhythmic sleep.

I watch it floating and fading,
melting as it soaks the rain,
tracing its journeys
and marking the years
and days that it had been.
There was a sparkle of light -
I blinked at its effortless death.
Nostalgia, doused with a touch of pain.

There were whispers in the crowd,
fingers pointing and mouths chanting,
breathing the air it had swum in,
removing what had been left behind.
It was only a faint faint light that remained,
Not seen by any, only seen by me.
I shiver as sorrowful waves curl around me.
I know, I know it will all be different now.

Bay Area Fog

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Secularism ...

... where should it begin? With the people? Or with the government?

I don't know. But one thing is for sure - a confessional based government will make the people sectarian! What does it mean to divide a group of people into sects and subsects and into groups that you are born into. If only some of the pro-confessionalists today could read what some of the European Jesuits had written in the 19th century when they visited Jabal Lubnan, how they were horrified at the fact that christians and muslims were virtually indistinguishable, that they wore the same clothes, made the same gutturable sounds, ate the same food, and behaved in the same way. How many of us today actually can see the difference (and I'm not referring to the extreme edges of the different sects) between a druze and a christian and a muslim? I acknowledge the effect "fear of the other" has on your psyche, but in religious pluralistic societies such as Lebanon, this "other" only lives half an hour away. But distance doesn't seem to matter. People in Beirut do not realize that a 15 minute drive to Antelias, or even less, to Dekwaneh, is only that - a 15 minute drive. Yet boundaries between locations have been drawn. The Lebanese pluralistic society is not that of a 95% majority and a 5% minority, and for all qualitative analysis, it can be seen as a 50% split - yes, that isn't exactly true, but if it is 45-55, 40-60, 35-65, the problem doesn't change much.

There is this subconcious admission that the "other" has a "different culture". I smile when people state in their arguements that Islam is inherently violent, to which I jokingly state that the bible actually holds the records for the book that discusses the most number of genocides (that's a quote by Noam Chomsky), to which I get: Not in the new testament. This is the problem. Only the ideas that strengthen their arguements are used. They ignore the fact that violence is a human nature. That christians even in these times do commit murders and crimes, as do any other human. They argue that suicide bombing is an islamic trait because of recent events, and quote things from the qur'an, ignoring the fact that suicide bombing isn't new - the japanese kamikazes weren't muslims. They ignore the fact that culture isn't defined by violent governments (which operate under a religions mask), or by extremists, but by the people that you actually know and are actually friends with. How can you have known someone for more than 10 years, met their family numerous times, and had almost zero differences in all aspects of life, yet still claim that "they" have another culture. The person you know represents that culture. So where is the difference?

If it is true that, as something I'm reading contends, the European imagination led to the creation of our sectarian system, then would it be possible for our own imagination to destroy it?
Our sectarianism isn't fully outward. You don't see (well, not usually, and please, don't refer to the war as a counterexample - that's on a completely different plane) christians/muslims vocally insulting muslims/christians, but there is a subtelty that is clear. A girl I know in the US was so insulted that people kept assuming she was muslim when she told them she was Lebanese that she went and bought a cross to wear and display for everyone to see. I am lucky enough to have a first name that does not correspond to a single religious sect (although my last name does!) and someone I met wished me a nice weekend (since it was a religious holiday day), even though I wasn't from that religion, and I had just replied with a smile and a thanks. He calls the next day and leaves a message on my voice mail apologizing for confusing me as being from another religion, not understanding that these things didn't bother me. How do you make someone like that understand?

This is our sectarianism.

I don't find the replies that "the two religions can't live together" satisfying, and the examples that other countries have also gone into war over the same reason as enough of an explanation of why things are and why things can't change. But these ideas are recycled within the same communities, and different versions are spun until finally what might have been false becomes the reality. I just saw a book in the library by Walid Phares (whose opinions annoy me, to say the least) entitled "The Lebanese Christian Resistance". I will read it soon. But for now, all I wonder is the Christian Resistance against what? The "Muslim Infidels"? When Bush had referred to the the Afghan War as a crusade, people went beserk, and did not accept that term, even though he might not exactly have implied it that way. Why do we accept this language in Lebanon? Or did Phares mean the "Christian Resistance" that was upholding the Lebanese way? I keep hearing the same line regarding one of the Christian warlords: He was defending Lebanon's interests. He was fighting for the lebanese way.

Is there only one way?

A sectarian government, almost by default, implies that it isn't the nations interest that will be first priority, but rather the sects. Each sect has to try to defend its political strength. And if the opinions of two "sects" collide, so be it. This creates the fear of religious anhilation, since religious strength is measured by political strength. What does it mean for a political leader (who is christian) to visit Sfeir before some big decision. Does this make him more appealing? I have a great friend who is a political wizard (literally), and is one of the more secular people I know ( I wonder if in lebanon there is a fully secular person ...), but if he even decides to run in politics, he will be known as someone who represents sect X. Will he ever be able to get around that?

When Hezbollah and Amal fought for a shiite to be chosen as the foreign minister, they completely eliminated the possibilities that other people (who happen to be from other sects) might in fact be sympathetic to their issues. But this incessant lumping of personalities hasn't stopped yet. Regardless of what people say in light of the more recent events, they aren't the only ones. Franjeih claimed several months back that Sfeir was actually representing non maronites, when in fact his town were the true maronites (which led to the infamous chant inta al batriyarch ya sleiman), or Sfeir's actual statement right before the election law was passed that "he who warns is released from any blame", or Gebran Tueni's claim that the shiite were sheep, or Jumblatt's own fanatical obsession with the "Maronite Power" that he has tried time and time to cast aside.

And now the latest issue is the presidency. This is also being recast into sectarian angles for political gains, from all sides. For Sfeir to defend the presidency implies that "maronite strength" is at stake. But politics doesn't only become inter-sect, but also intra-sect. In the elections, the Mufti Qabbani of the Sunni community urged people to vote for Hariri over the competing lists (which were supported by Karami). Religious figures just shouldn't be political involved. The Greek orthodox Audi uses his easter sermons to discuss the country - I remember on speech he gave several years ago when there were government officials sitting in the front row, watching his insult the government. This is what religious figures should do. Give advice, without interfering.

So how would secularism begin? With a secularist being elected to a government (to a sectarian seat), where he would try to de-confessionalize the system only to be faced with calls for "religious rebirth"? Do we have to wait for the people to become less sectarian? By education? We would wait for many decades.

Federalism? I don't want to get into that - to me, this "solution" postpones the inevitable.

Do we open public jobs to anyone, regardless of sects (a property of basic human rights!)? How would that work exactly? What would happen if the intervewiers themselves are sectarian?

Instill stronger civil rights? Civil marriage? Create an exchange program between the different clustered and closed communities? In the US, the star of "Supersize me" has directed another documentary where an American from the Bible Belt was sent to live for a month with a muslim family in Michigan. Can we have things like that here?

Do we create obligatory introduction to other religions in the different communities?

Do we need to make the different histories that are taught in the different schools more coherent and similar? I believe that there is no historical truth, and that it is a social construct, but the histories that are being taught now are sometimes not even similar. (In some, individual sects are extolled and praised). Shouldn't we at least work at making them hover around the same thread. I think it was Walid Jumblatt who stated years back that Lebanon's issues won't be solved until we agree on its history.

Do we just leave it to the hands of God?

Or is secularism not even the right place to start?

Rahbani's Lubnani Sameem

Everytime I have an arguement with someone who just gets fixatated on one idea, I'm reminded of this.

As a brief introduction: Lubnani Sameem = Genuine/True/Pure Lebanese.

A: Don't argue and don't tell me, I'm Lubnani Sameem.

B: I'm not telling you anything, all I'm talking about is that the current situation in Lebanon is connected to the whole Middle East, and the Palestinian problem, specifically, is being dealt with here.

A: My friend, I'm Lubnani Sameem.

B: Ok, but today, the main issue is to find a peaceful solution, and there's an issue of some influence on the Palestinians from accepting the solution, and from accepting compromises that aren't for its benefit.

A: Ya Khayie, I'm Lubnani Sameem.

B: Ok, no problem. I'm going to get some bread.

A: I'm Lubnani Sameem.

B: Great, great. Do you need anything?

A: Look, I told you that I'm Lubnani Sameem.

B: Listen, you have to take care, because yesterday I saw your wife going out with someone else.

A: I'm Lubnani Sameem. I don't understand anything else.

B: I know you don't understand. But the Syrian Army has occupied Baalbak.

A: I'm Lubani Sameem. It has nothing to do with me.

B: Fine, so what's your shoe size?

A: Look, I'm Lubani Sameem.

B: Ok, anyway, see you.

A: Where are you going?

B: I have to go.

A: Where to?

B: I just need to go, I just feel that there is no way we can understand each other.

A: Why? We can agree each other, why wouldn't we?

B: Sure why not, but give and take, don't tell me that you're Lubnani Sameem everytime we discuss something.

A: Why? I'm Lubnani Sameem.

B: Am I telling you that you aren't Lubnani Sameem? All I'm asking is that you stop saying it!

A: I want to. This is something I am not embarrased of. I'm Lubnani Sameem.

B: Ok, look, what would you think if I told you that I am also Lubnani Sameem.

A: Ok, and I'm Lubnani Sameem.

B: I get it I get it, my friend. You're a Lubnani Sameem, and I'm a Lubnani Sameem. We're now two. But we have to do something. We have to do something for Lebanon.

A: All these things don't concern me. I'm Lubnani Sameem, and that's it.

B: You have nothing to do with Lebanon? How can that be? You have to do something for Lebanon!

A: I don't care about you or about Lebanon. I'm Lubnani Sameem, and I don't care about the rest of the world.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

A small thought ...

The following is something someone uses as a signature in an online forum, and it's relatively interesting.

Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Rambling around a Cause

Several of the security chiefs have been charged with attempted murder, murder, and a terrorist act.

This is great news. For once, we actually feel some vindication of injustices. So for the literalists, do not misunderstand the following.

But such "happiness" is also an opium for the masses. It makes us look up at the political structure and thank them for becoming our equals. No one is above the law, apparently. The people who have held control in their hands, the people who have attempted to herd the country through their vision of what should be, these people have finally been put in a place no one ever thought possible.

So Justice has been served. We are all equal. Regardless of their powerful past, they have been treated in the same way as the nations citizens.

But I also look back at the past week, month, year, and decade, and see complete stagnation. Is that something to be happy about? What about the people? What about the Lebanese citizens? Poverty has no room for political ideologies. It struggles within the classes for the simple needs of life, and we dare say that justice has been served. We dare raise our heads again. While the country is still crumbling. And it is. The life in downtown and monot and gemeyzeh and wherever else you might point to is not representative of Lebanon. The social circles you might create while studying in AUB or LAU is not the true Lebanon. Students looked at AUB and claimed that it was a microcosm of Lebanon. That all the sects and all the parties were represented in AUB, that even the student government was made up by, and existed for, the different parties. That George and Hussein might be friends, as well as internalizing the friction caused by their backgrounds, in the same way that lebanese citizens do.

In a way, it is true. But it isn't complete. AUB is not Lebanon. Yes, the poor do attend AUB. There are poor who work their way through AUB, or earn a scholarship, or are funded by a foundation, or live in a one bedroom appartment with 5 other family members, while the father slaves away so that he can send his son to AUB. But the majority of AUB isn't poor. And the majority of Lebanon is.

Where are we heading in Lebanon? Where do we want to go? How do we want Lebanon to evolve? Will we learn from the paths that other nations take?

I repeat: May God Bless Hariri's soul. He was assassinated unjustly, his murderers have finally been captured, and apparently, there is more to come. This is a great thing. But this has become another ideology that has enraptured the people The search for the Truth. Al-Haqeeqa. The Blue Ribbon (which a friend of mine just today said has been milked a bit more than needed).

Our lives don't revolve around Hariri (Junior), or Jumblatt, or the Gemayels, or Aoun, or Geagea, or whoever else you feel like adding to the list. Our lives should not be lived and lost for them. I am not going to sit and analyze the different moves that Lebanese politiciancs have taken, or why side X is on, or why Z is frustrated with Y. There are enough blogs out there to do this. I want to commentate on Lebanon. I want Lebanon to improve. I have had enough with being a spectator. This is our life.

I have had enough of fellow Lebanese pointing their fingers at the past, and saying they descended from the Pheonicians, or that they invented the alphabet, or that they had the first printing press in the middle east, or that they have been in the cross roads of civilization for several millenia. I want today's Lebanese to point at Lebanon today, and say we will be this much better by tomorrow. I want Lebanon's citizen's to stand up and say that they are going to work for Lebanon. Enough of the status quo. Enough of the glamorous appeal of grandeur ideas and ideals. I want the lebanese to work with the small things. I want the Lebanese who believe that our politics is semi-pointless to aim at making it more meaningful. I want Lebanon to not only be proud of our past but to work for today. Yesterday's wonders are worthless to those dying now. Yesterday's pleasures and creations are pointless to those who struggle for a couple of hundred dollars every month. How would knowing that you were part of a seafaring nation make finding food for your family any easier? Does it ease the pain?

I am bored of the lines I hear from people I know when they describe politican X as better than the rest. That means nothing, since he might not be good enough.

I am annoyed at hearing friends and family discuss the true Lebanese vision. It doesn't exist.

I am tired of sitting through arguements of the Lebanese identity. We can work on the menial daily tasks while the identity forms itself.

I want people to look at the reality whenever they blindly state that Lebanon is the greatest country.

Maybe it can be.

But it isn't yet. I have had enough of watching feuds between politicians take the center stage, when far graver, far more important, far more destructive injustices are occuring 200 meters from where I live. I have had enough of the forgotten dead, of the ignored poverty, of the select few who have made it riding the backs of the fooled masses. I have had enough.

It is time for Lebanon to change. It is time to counteract the status quo, and to stop going with the flow. It is time to know that it not just for justice to only be served on a silver platter, and that society should not be divided into a few flocks for a few shepherds. No more insisting on others to accepting your ideology. No more exploitation of the weaker citizens. No more accepted injustices.

Charging the security chiefs is a step forward. But this step won't push Lebanon forwards. Our politicians won't do that. How long will we keep waiting for them to do this? How long will we follow their moves? How long will we wait for their decisions, for their speeches, for their spites, for their glories? How long will we be unware that our future lies with us?

There are so many places to start with. Accountability. Law management. Equality. Secularism. Civil Law. Infrastructure. Economic incentives. Add more to the list if you want.

One thing is for sure though. We have to stop waiting.

Rahbani's Letter to Abdou

So Abdou Challita, a friend, Abdou Challita, who's in the Hezb il-Kataeb (Phalangists), and my friend, a friend, who I'm sure, if the situation calms down one of these days, and if we were still alive, and then met each other again, would run towards me and I'd run towards him, and hug each other and laugh. When we first see each other we would laugh because we are friends, even with all that's happened, we are still friends, friends from before this war.

Ya Abdou, today you are an active Kataeb member, and we always used to talk, and I'd try to understand what, why are you part of the Kataeb?

What had confused me, and mostly completely astounded me, was that you were poor, and could not afford anything but the necessities. And Hezb il-Kataeb, well, what I understand, is rightist. And when you are a member of the Kataeb ya Abdou, you have become rightist.

How are you rightist? Why are you rightist?

From what I know, the Kataeb are with the status quo, and when you are a member of the Kataeb, then you are with the status quo. How could you be a supporter of the current society? Why were you with it? I don't understand, and couldn't understand, and will never understand, because it is something wierd, something that has no explanation.

You are poor, and the structure we have has no place for you.

And you are defending it.

You are poor, and rightist. Why rightist? If they say that Edmond Rizk is rightist, people could understand that its possible and normal. But you rightist? You and Edmond Rizk in the same party ya Abdou. You and Edmond Rizk in the same party ya Abdou - what do you have in common? Shoo jab la jab?

You Abdou Challita are struggling and poverty stricken, and Edmond Risk isn't struggling or poverty stricken, completely on the contrary. He is one of the reasons of your poverty and struggles. Comon (Wallaw) ya Abdou. Have you forgotten that you used to like this girl that you couldn't marry her because of your salary? Because your salary doesn't let you live and marry at the same time? Wallaw Abdou, you've forgotten that your salary will not let you get married? And some other guy is going to take the girl you like ... and you're rightist as well?

Abdou, I'm now talking to you, but I know there are alot of others like you in the Kataeb, I don't know their names, and I wish I knew their names because there are alot of them are unfortunate.

But I know you, and I'm talking to only you. Have you forgotten that sometimes, when everything would push you up against a wall, you'd just stand and insult this life and this world? Why blame the world ya Abdou? What does life have to do with it? Shoo the world and this life just exist alone? And the society that you are protecting has nothing to do with anything at all? So all the blame is on the world and this life?

No ya Abdou, believe me. You have never believed me, I know, but try to believe me. Try, one of these days, when you are depressed and all doors are closed in your face, try to believe me.

And anyways Abdou, you know more than I do, who the actual martyrs are in Hezb il Kataeb. You know that the poor are the ones who become martyrs. The people who have nothing to lose. The sons of our mountains, whose cheeks are red. Abdou, no one dies other than the poor. And no one fights without using the poor. And you know well ... you know from the villages around your own villages how many young men have died. And you know, that Toto and Noto and Koko and Cici, in the party, live on the martyrdom of others. They live on the martyrdom of the poor. The poor, yes the poor. Toto and Noto and Koko and Cici, ya Abdou, speak about heroism, and puff their chests and begin to strut, and open their shirts and begin to look down at people, even though it was the others who were caught in the fire. The others were the wood. You want to remain wood ya Abdou? They'll drop you in the fire.

Abdou, all of us are for this nation (Kuluna lil Watan), but if the country was all ours, you always tell me oh Lebanon (Khay ya Libnan). Libnan.

What is Lebanon (Shoo houwé Libnan)? We are Lebanon. You are Lebanon. And the country is yours. Of course you are the nation's, but let it be yours, not for others. Take it. Demand it. This is for you. You know you make me laugh? You believe you are rightist?

Listen, you owe me some money. If you're rightist, send them to me. Unbelievable. And if you don't have money to return them and send them to me, then you aren't rightist. Understand.

Abdou, no one has ever become hungry and eaten the cedar tree. Abdou, no one has ever become hungry, and eaten beautiful scenery. And if someone is hungry, and if all the world around him is green and beautiful, and heaven is within view, it becomes even worse. Abdou, you scraped everything to the bare metal, and you're still sitting down on it. And time after time, this metal begins to hurt. Its hard. And the time will come when you feel the pain, and you will begin to scream. And I am waiting for this day. The day you will believe me.

May God be with you. Or rather, may God bless you.