Du choc des titans et de la culture de la guerre

Mon article paru ce matin dans l’Orient-le-Jour (Beyrouth – Liban) sur la nécessité de déconstruire la culture de la guerre et d’édifier une culture de la paix. C’est le énième article que je publie sur ce sujet depuis les années 90. La guerre est continue au Liban. Elle n’est pas que physique, elle est surtout […]

I Urge you Not to Lose Faith in Humanity

My name is Kalima [my nickname, for security reasons] and I am Syrian. I left my country two years ago, following the massacre of my mother, father, brother, uncle and grand-parents. I was fortunate enough to be rescued and to be able to escape to Europe via Turkey, but many others weren’t. I have been […]

Bomb Shelter

I walk down the stairway of oblivion To where my body and soul have found refuge. The water beneath me surrounding me crawls on my skin, fills my nostrils with heavy damp air. Water brought from the deep dark earth, sucked up by rotating motors, through cold metal pipes… Touch with my bare hands Feel […]

Pity our Nation?

I woke up this morning with those three words in my head “Pity the Nation” while thinking of Lebanon, Lebanese, of our sad situation caught in a never-ending cycle of wars, both physical and psychological. “Pity the Nation” is the title of Robert Fisk’s publication in England (1990) and the US (1991). Strange how the […]

"Against the Current" Jihadist!

I am both Lebanese and Canadian. I was born in Lebanon, survived the 80s physical war, left for Montreal in 1999 to pursue my studies, was stuck in Lebanon during the Summer 2006 war, and decided, along with my husband, to leave Canada and live again in Lebanon. I am what many define as ‘against […]

A never ending fight for Peace in the Middle East?

When I came back from Montreal (Quebec, Canada) to Lebanon in 2006-2007, all my friends called me ‘crazy’: ‘How can you leave a stable and secure environment for a volcano?’ I had my personal and family reasons, and I was convinced of the inevitable change yet to occur in the Middle East. I wanted to […]

Feminist and Peace Activist

A student of mine, studying Theology, future clerk, asked me a while ago: ‘‘Why, a woman ‘like you’ (describing me as ‘young trendy secular woman’), not attached to any religious function, is interested in religions, cultures, philosophy, politics, etc. in a country like Lebanon where the production of knowledge – if it exists – on […]

Men are Natural Warriors, but a Woman in Battle is Truly Blood-Thirsty

I was lately told that I am not a warrior and it offended me. True I am not villainous, I do not use physical weapons or Machiavellian schemes, nor do I play games to get what I want – even if there are women who do in the Middle East. True I am a pacifist […]

Les Femmes et la Guerre

Par Madeleine Gagnon (VLB Editeur, Canada, 2000) Un ouvrage certes non récent, mais dont le message est encore d’actualité, et qui touche les femmes au Moyen-Orient victimes d’innombrables guerres. Madeleine Gagnon en a rencontré entre autres en Israël-Palestine et au Liban. Ces femmes ont perdu leurs proches. Nombre d’entre elles ont en outre subi sévices […]