Sad 3

"We've heard stories of gay-specific torture where men have glue in their anuses and they force-feed them laxatives."

If that's not torture, then I don't know what is?!

BG

Beiteddine Festivals Update #2

A nice video with some history of Beiteddine Palace and an intro to the current lineup of the Beiteddine International Festival.

VIDEO

The video is from AnnaharTV, which you should know about by now. If you don't then please explore it. I love most of the subjects they try to tackle with these videos especially so that we tend to forget that Lebanon is not all politics. Most of the blogs/coverage that comes out of Lebanon is politics heavy and AnnaharTV is a nice change.

BG

Chatter box

Yet another classic from Joe Biden.

"That S.O.B is rolling over in his grave right now."

As to why he is allowed to drift off scripted speech is beyond me.

It remains to be seen how many insurgents or Saddam sympathizers will find this extremely offensive and will thus go off on a killing spree.

BG

Score one for the ladies! #2

It is indeed a good week for women in the Middle East!
Now, mind you lot's of work still needs to be done but there has been a few stories that are encouraging.

The first one comes out of Syria where Bashar Al Assad has decreed that men convicted of honor killings should get harsher sentences. Get this though, he increased their sentence from a 1 year to a whopping 2 year imprisonment! Still a ludicrous sentence for murder, but better than nothing I guess!
LINK

The second one comes out of Egypt where the government has finally done something about the rampant sexual harassment woman experience on a daily basis. This apparently had been a recurring problem in Egypt where woman just don't feel safe on the streets. A sexual perpetrator had been charged with 45 years in prison. A tough and very much needed sentence.
LINK

Both these stories are welcome developments coming out of the Middle East where women still lag considerably behind men when it comes to their rights and social equalities.

BG

Lost in Translation

I love it when I read articles on Lebanese non-Arabic sites. Some of them are just beyond entertaining!

Check out the following news article on Naharnet.

Cabinet on Low Fire as Preparations for Lebanon-Syria-Saudi Summit Underway

So, there is this saying in Arabic that goes "3ala nar khafifa", literally translating into something being cooked at low temperature or low heat. When used figuratively, one is indicating that someone/something is just going to take his/her/its' time to finish doing something.

Oh Ahmad, how is that deal going with Tony?
Ahmad: 3ala nar khafifa habibna, 3ala nar khafifa.

Now, let's just translate that into English shall we?

Oh Edd, how is that deal going with Anthony?
Edd: on low fire love, on low fire.

It just doesn't work.

You would think people over at Naharnet will either start learning proper English soon, or hire someone who knows proper English.

I just find it entertaining!

BG

Pocketless?!

I think every Lebanese politician/public worker should be issued one of these!

BG

Li2mi Zgheeri (A Little Taste...) n°9

Introducing Lebanese designer "Basil Soda" as someone to watch :

Paula Abdul #1

Paula Abdul #2

American Singer Katy Perry (This one was a big hit)

British Actress Emily Blunt

~LZ

Beiteddine Festivals Update

Gad El Maleh has unfortunately canceled his performances scheduled for July 13-15th as part of the Beiteddine Festivals.

He has recently been a target of Almanar news website (mouthpiece of Hezbollah). They had claimed on their website that he is a French-Israeli artist, or "so called humorist" who is a supporter of Israeli "interests". They also claimed that he served in the Israeli army for 4 years and that he supports the "zionist" state and its' army.

Needless to say, all these claims have been refuted by El Maleh's producer and agent as incorrect and malicious. Understandably, in the face of accusations like these coming from Hezbollah, the artist has cancelled his travels and scheduled appearances in Lebanon, fearing his safety and the safety of his entourage.

I tried to find more information on the artist, but was unsuccessful.
It appears to me that this entire Hezbollah fuss is about the guy being Jewish, which in and of itself, would be a very sad reason to ban or veto an artist from coming to perform in Lebanon. Judaism is supposed to be an officially recognized and respected sect in Lebanon, and Lebanon's message as a cultural and pluralistic society is being tarnished.

I sincerely hope that something like this does not happen again. I don't see the guy's religion as enough cause to derail his entire performance in Lebanon. This goes against everything Lebanon stands for.

Now, if the Almanar claims are true and it is proven that El Maleh served in the Israeli army and/or is an active supporter of Israeli causes, then this course of action would be appropriate and we should not host him as a nation. However, it appears that the whole affair was unfair and more of a referendum on his religion than his actions.

BG

Sad day for Lebanon

Berri is Speaker again!

90 yays, 28 blanks.

It is sad to see the most important facade of our democracy (yes, the whole thing is a charade) being so un-democratic.
This is the fifth term for Berri, and his 17th year as speaker. I think that there should be limits on the number of terms you are allowed to be Speaker of Parliament, the same way there are presidential term limits. Because frankly, this is bordering the ridiculous.

But, it seems that we are not going to see the end of this charade anytime soon. In his acceptance speech, Berri is quoted as saying the following: "I am sure that those who cast blank ballots today will re-elect me in four years."

I guess we might just have to wait for him to die to see a new face as Speaker.

BG

R.I.P. Neda

This makes me want to cry.

Be warned, it's not for the faint of heart.

~LZ

Programme pour 'Fête de la Musqiue' à Beyrouth!

C'est le jour de la Fête de La Musique ici à Paris! Donc, pour ceux entre vous qui sont au Liban, voici le programme pour la fête: (il y a quelques groupes dont on a déjà parlé sur le blog... :P )

--

L'Ambassade de France met en place six scènes à travers la ville, du rock au hip-hop oriental, en passant par la chanson française pure et des djs tech-house, la musique sous toutes ses formes est représentée dimanche 21 juin.

Bayat, Champlain, Elias Diez, Karimbo Mixity, Bernard Lavilliers, The New Governement, Mashrou'Leila et J-Electric jouent de 20h à 01h15 aus Thermes Romains.

Nahna El Nas, L’Fahrass, 7 Ta2at, Bicro-phone, Plugged, The crave, José González, Sphere et Vibrations sont a Hamra de 20h à minuit.

Trix, Charlie Shawlporn, Stephanie Merchak, Trash Inc, Aspro, Jade & Diamond setter, Alex Azzi, Jay K, Fady Assouad et Eli et Rabih se produisent au Dôme de 21h à 04h accompagnés des VJ KAma, La Mirza, Mosig, Labo et Strongsky.

Toni Bayeh, Cristobal, Youmna Saba, ShaBa wa l Kaylou tafaha, Omarz & Grandsunn, Meen, et Amab jouent à Gemmayze- Escalier Saint Nicolas de 20h à minuit.

Limelight, Khat Ahmar, Ashek’man, I-Voice, Malikah, Anne, Arcane, The Kordz et DJ Lethal Skillz sont Place des Martyrs de 20h à 02h du matin.

Enfin, The Narcycist, Sandmoon, Sylvain Nassar, The Incompetents et Katibe 5 se succèdent de 21h à 01h20 dans le jardin Samir Kassir.

***UPDATE***

Here is a more detailed programme that has the times each band is meant to go one and the genre of music the the band plays that I got from Lilliane!

PLACE DES MARTYRS:
20h00 Limelight (Rock)
20h40 Khat Ahmar (Arabic Hip Hop)
21h35 Katibe 5 (Arabic Hip Hop)
22h05 Malikah (Arabic Hip Hop)
22h45 Anne (Rock)
23h30 Arcane (Rock)
00h20 The Kordz (Rock)
01h10 DJ Lethal Skillz (Scratch / Hip hop)


JARDIN SAMIR KASSIR:
21h00 The Narcissist (Dubai / Hip hop)
10h45 Sandmoon (Folk)
23h20 Sylvain Nassar (Rock)
23h55 The Incompetents (Folk / Indie)
00h50 I-Voice (Arabic Hip Hop)


THERMES ROMAINS:
20h00 Bayat (Oriental)
20h40 Champlain (Chanson française)
21h15 Elias Diez (Rock français)
21h50 Karimbo Mixity (Rap)
22h25 The New Government (Rock)
23h15 Mashrou’Leila (Pop rock)
00h00 Fareeq el Utrush (Arabic hip hop)


GEMMAYZE (escalier St Nicolas):
20h00 Toni Bayeh (Oriental)
20h35 Cristobal (Indy-folk)
21h15 Youmna Saba (Lebanese Folk)
21h50 ShaBa wa l Kaylou tafaha (Comic critic)
22h05 Omarz & Grandsunn (Hip hop)
22h35 J-Electric (Funk / Jazz)
23h30 Meen (Lebanese rock)
00h20 Arnab (Live Drum n’bass)

DOME:
21h - TRIX - DJ SET - DEEP HOUSE
22h - CHARLY SHAWLLPORN - LIVE - MINIMAL
22h30 - STEPHANIE MERCHAK - LIVE - ELECTRO TECHNO
23h - TRASH INC. - LIVE - ELECTRO BREAKS
23h30 - ASPRO (FRANCE) - LIVE - DEEP HOUSE
00h - JADE & DIAMOND SETTER - DJ SET – MINIMAL / TECH-HOUSE
01h - AAA - DJ SET - TECH-HOUSE / DUBSTEP
02h - JAY K - DJ SET - TECHNO
03h - FADY ASWAD - DJ SET - TECHNO
04h – E.L.I & RABI-H - DJ SET - TECHNO

Visuals by KAMA (ITALY) – LA MIRZA – MOSIG – LABO & STRONGSKY

HAMRA (Next to Fransabank):
20h00 Nahna El Nas (oriental)
20h40 L’Fahrass (Arabic hip hop)
21h00 7 Ta2at (Arabic hip hop)
20h20 Bicro-phone (Arabic hip hop)
20h45 Plugged (Alternative rock)
21h25 The Crave (Alternative rock)
22h05 José González (Flamenco)
22h55 Sphere (Rock)
23h35 Vibrations (60’s rock)

--

Pour vous à Paris, peut-être je vous verrai dans les rues?? Bonne fête!

(Et, en fait, pour vous aux États Unis, Happy Fathers Day!)

~LZ

Stupid of the Day Award 2

I'm sure most of you by now have seen Obama's fly swatting techniques thanks to the media ever so eloquently shoving it down people's throats. It's almost on every news website, and in more than one case, made the top 10 news items. I'm sure the Iranians with their "green revolution" are thrilled at the fact that they have to compete with a fly swatter for news coverage.

But, if you have been living under a rock for a week now, Obama swatted a fly and the Iranians are having a revolution.

However, I think that the story that is most newsworthy and that also deserves our Stupid of the Day Award is PETAs response to Obama's fly swatting capacities.

PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, just came out with a statement condemning the fly swatting as "execution" and asking the President to be nicer to "the least sympathetic animals."

Followed by the following gem:
"In a nutshell, our position is this: He isn't the Buddha, he's a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act."

And by bestowing on us such great philosophical knowledge, we here at BG et LZ, bestow on them our highly coveted Stupid of the Day Award.


BG

Jihadists Don't Blog

BG, we are "bridge bloggers," oh, and apparently jihadists don't blog (i have this great image right now of a jihadist with a giant beard, osama like turban and sandals squinting at c omputer screen trying to pour out his emotions on a blog...haha)

The BBC just published an article about blogging in the Arab World

The studied, organized by the Berkman Center for the Internet and Society at Harvard, looked at 35,000 active Arabic blogs (ie that are written in Arabic)

Their goal "was to produce a baseline assessment of the networked public sphere in the Arab Middle East, and its relationship to a range of emergent issues, including politics, religion, culture and international affairs."

They concluded: (1) the Arabic blogosphere is organized primarily around countries, (2) Egypt formed the largest cluster on the Arabic blogging map. The study also singled out Saudi Arabia, Kuwait & Syria (3) That within a given country, the make-up of the blogging cluster is varied,

and

(4)

The report also identified two large cross-national groups of what the authors call "bridge bloggers." One group is located in the countries of the eastern Mediterranean and frequently blogs in English in addition to, or instead of, Arabic. ...

Report co-author John Palfrey noted that these bridge bloggers were important because they serve as cultural interpreters for many in the West. Bridge blogs, he said, are often where "the water-cooler chatter" of the Arabic-speaking world gets into the wider public domain.

:P

I was a bit surprised that Egypt would be the top considering the arrests of bloggers that have been taking place there, but I guess when you live in a repressive society, blogging (provided it's not blocked by the governement) is the best way to express your anger and connect to the public...

Check it out here

~LZ

Score one for the ladies!

I think it would be a huge exaggeration to say that women have full rights and are treated as equal and up to par with their male counterparts in society. Women are discriminated against left and right and are barely respected in some circles. Heck, some people even use science to undermine women and their creative/thinking/mental abilities.

And you certainly don't need me to tell you that the rights of women in the middle east are dismal at best. The injustices dealt to women in the middle east on a daily basis fall within a wide range of discrimination. Although some women are stronger than others and usually take woman power to a whole new level, women in general still have a lot to go in their emancipation struggle so to speak. For some countries in the middle east, it is not enough that most women have no rights at all, but some are even further discriminated against based on looks solely. Most women are used as sexual objects that are there to support their lovers' needs and when things just go awry, the woman is more times than not the victim. Some injustices are unfortunately sanctioned and supported by the "law".

However, Lebanese women (albeit one) have jumped a major hurdle towards their desire to have full rights under the law. In a recent court ruling a judge has given the right to a woman to transfer her Lebanese citizenship to her kids.
Wait, wait, WHAT?
Are you saying that a child born to a Lebanese woman can't be Lebanese unless the father is Lebanese too?
YES, that is what I'm saying, and it is a messed up law that is archaic, inhumane, unjust, unfair, sexist, discriminatory and that needs to be changed as soon as possible.

The law itself is un-constitutional, given that the constitution states that all citizens are equal in rights before the law, and this law clearly does not treat all citizens equally. And any law that violates the constitution is, well, un-constitutional. (I frankly don't know how anybody can possibly argue with that logic!) But, kidding aside, it really is un-constitutional, and everybody in Lebanon knows that even the politicians that are hesitant to change it. The fear is that if Lebanese women, and especially so those married to foreigners (read Palestinians), are given the right to transfer the Lebanese citizenship to their offspring, then a lot of Palestinians will take advantage of this and gain Lebanese citizenship that way. I personally think that that fear is unfounded, and if the law is repealed, I personally can't imaging that there will be lines and lines of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians queuing to get married. Maybe a few will gain citizenship that way, but to say that tons of Palestinians will start marrying Lebanese women just for paperwork is frankly an insult to women. How cheap do our politicians think our women are?

I think that this woman's case is an excellent example of a good and healthily functioning judicial system, even though it took a dying husband for her to get her rights, but you gotta start somewhere!

BG

Arabic Sound Bite n° 4 - Live from Paris

Hey guys!

So I don't know if any of you actually went to the concert at L'International yesterday, but I did and it was AMAZZIIINNGGG!

Sadly, we did not make it in time for Lumi (they were supposed to go on at 8pm and even for Paris that is early!) but The New Government was amazing! You can download their music for free here if you are interested: http://www.thenewgovernment.net/tngsite/index.asp

On another note, my brother was visiting me here in Paris and left for Beirut today. I decided to check to see when his plane had arrived, and was surprisingly impressed with the Beirut-Rafik AlHariri Intl Airport website. When did this get updated?


Impressed, that is, except for the slight spelling errors... :P


(click on image to enlarge)




~LZ

Photoshop, Middle Eastern style! 3

Apparently, now the Iranians are doing it too!
At least the bad ones are.

See, I told you all this doctoring things and making them up is a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean genetic thing.

It turns out, that Ahmadinejad et al. have doctored a few pictures to make the pro-establishment rally look a bit bigger than what it was supposed to be.

Here's a link with explanation and all for your enjoyment:

LINK

Link lifted from Sand Monkey.

BG

UPDATE-Making the Case Against Nabih Berri #2

Berri to become next parliament speaker.

With the recent support of Aoun and his clan, Berri's got the support of most members of parliament.

This is horrible.

I will now proceed to drown my sorrow at the mockery of democracy we have in Lebanon with a newly opened bottle of Grey Goose. Hey, don't be judging, it is after noon anyway!

BG

Yawn

So, is anybody surprised that an Israeli minister from the far right coalition of Yisrael Beiteinu was caught on tape slandering Arabs?

Or, is anybody surprised that Netanyahu's speech was considered by the Obama administration as a positive step forward, while actually it is only a repositioning to a previously held position that the Israeli's had retraced from, thus negating Netanyahu's speech and position as a step forward and affirming it as a return to status quo ante? (And not even that, given the many restrictions he wants to impose on any future Palestinian state.)


BG

For all you Lebanese in Paris...

If you guys are in Paris and interested in listening to some Lebanese underground bands tonight and tomorrow night, check out L'international in the 11th arrond.

Tonight The New Government and Lumi (my personal fav) are playing

Tomorrow it's Scrambled Eggs and Rayess Bek (who raps in Arabic and French)

If you want to listen to their music to see if you're into it, you can see each of their MySpace pages which is linked to from the L'international site. (Check out "Two Tears" or "Staying Here" by Lumi or "Samm" by Rayess Bek)

Entrance is free and drinks are cheap--so why not?

I'm going to be there tonight, maybe tomorrow, so see you there? :)

~LZ

Flying Kebab Episode 3

Hey guys,

Sorry been low on the updates. Brother has been in town and requires my constant attention. :P

Episode 3 of Flying Kebab titled "Forty Percent"" is now up!

Check it out here

OPens up with that band I mentioned before, Mashrou3 Leila

I also really like the closing scene of the episode which takes place in a typical Lebanese village in the mountains, reminds me of home...sigh (i'll be there is 2 weeks!)

~LZ