Think not what your country can do for you...

By Hassan Makki

ARIZONA - I always knew I wanted to be in the US, but I never narrowed it down to a city or a state, and I find it especially amusing that I ended up in Arizona, a state I never even knew existed not even as the setting of the Coyote cartoons. But here I am now, resident of Phoenix Arizona.

Ironically once again a Phoenician. Or was I ever? I am sure every one of us has battled with the idea of Arab versus Phoenician or identity in general: An inevitability when you are a Lebanese national.

I think Lebanon is a country drenched in arrogance but lacking nationalism and patriotism.

 Growing up in Lebanon left me terribly uninterested in its past. As far as my generation was concerned, we were born during a civil war.

We never really understood the causes of this war or why it ended. The idea of a Lebanese history was therefore out staged by a confusion about its present and future. This was coupled with our own future to think of, a future that our country obviously did very little to secure or help build.

But I am catching up with my history lessons now. I am sure you’d agree that giving those interesting sailors and traders a closer look could do no harm. So I picked up a book about the ancient Phoenicians.

 Reading about the history of the Phoenicians, I started to draw tremendous similarities between them and present day Lebanese dwellers. Especially when it came to trade, travel, and segregation.

Apparently Phoenicia was a confederation of states which had in common customs, language and alphabet.

But it was a group of states that never stood up for each other in the event of an external attack. The way I see it, Lebanon is a country that is great at improving what it is already good at, and just as good at falling further on issues it is behind in.

A conclusion I drew when I visited Lebanon last summer, and one that is further established in my mind after going briefly over lebanese ancient times. It felt like Lebanon had become more beautiful and touristy and accommodating, but I also observed a visible decline in our biggest issue; segregation.

Here is an anecdote for you. On a perfectly otherwise mundane summer day, one of the major Lebanese broadcasting stations, the Murr Television (MTV), was abruptly shut down.

The news obviously sent shockwaves across both the international and local communities. There were groups that were marching for the upholding of court rulings that called for the shut down, the same rulings that were denounced by the international organization Reporters Sans Frontieres as rulings that are backed by a “political pressure and a desire to settle scores with the anti-Syrian Christian opposition.”

How is it that when one of our TV stations is shut down without a legitimate explanation, half of the people actually stand with the side that did it? I usually like to blame everything on organized religion, but in this case, I think the blame lies on nationalism. 

Lebanon, even after years of civil war (which for some reason are dubbed “events” and never a war), is still a hotbed for segregation and political, regional, and religious divisions.

What boggles my mind further is the fact that this strategy still pulls through despite its obvious long term destructive outcomes to everyone.

I mean, how is it a good thing if I support an institution that muted a voice upholding some ideas in my country? Be it my ideas, or someone else’s, someone I disagree with even.

What would stop this same institution from shutting me up when it sees necessary? And having taken the stand I took, what would stop the now frustrated party I so dislike from cheering when the misfortune falls on my head? The way I see it, this is as complex and simple as the idea of divide and conquer.

During my engineering years at the American University of Beirut, we always started a solution by drawing out a model for the problem. And in the case of Lebanon, the simplest model would be a dysfunctional family. 

The child that grows up in a deteriorating parent relationship would have fewer reservations about going his/her own way and letting go of any ties to the family.

On the other hand, one who was raised in a nurturing home would want to become a part of this family forever and give his best back to it. The same can be said for a nation and its citizens.

The role of a country is to protect its citizens and harbor its people. A government that strips its people of a TV station sounds more like a reprimanding angry father than a warm mother’s bosom to me.

Hence we see Lebanon’s youth mass exodus which brings forth economic and social imbalances and keeps the status quo divided among sectarian lines.

Let us go back to nationalism. Of course in this issue I should draw from the country of my current residency. America, which is currently seen as the most nationalist country in the world.

If there is one thing that outsold Britney Spears records last year, it would have been the American flag.

I do not necessarily feel we in Lebanon need to go that far with wearing our nationalism on our sleeves, but I do feel that we have something to learn from America.

Nationalism builds pride and pride breeds ambition, resilience and talents we are so desperate for keeping in the country if we are ever to get Lebanon on the proper track to catch up with the times.

In Lebanon we need to think outside the box, outside the sect and outside the region even.

We need to challenge the present status quo. We need to push the idea of unity and cooperation for the good of the country, which in turn will give benefits back to its people.

 I want to note also that pride and arrogance are very different notions. One can hardly say we fall short in the area of arrogance especially towards other Arab countries.

What we do lack however is the pride that would push us to do more, and want to achieve more, simply because we feel more is achievable in our country.

 Wouldn’t it have been really nice if everyone marched together calling for the reopening of this wonderful media outlet, MTV?

MTV was a media outlet that gave us smiles, news and culture. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Reporters without Borders did not have Lebanon on the endangered list for free speech and freedom of press ? Would not that have been a victory to us all? We who are Lebanese and who have Lebanon’s interest ahead of that of any other country or sect.

I look forward to a day when I see all of Lebanon marching for one cause, which will take us a step further to being a free and high-standing country.

Maybe that night, I will want to watch a new episode of SL CHI too.

Note Lebanon’s annual report for 2003 was published by Reporters sans Frontiers (http://www.rsf.org/). It goes as follows: Press freedom declined sharply during the year. Despite universal protests, the privately-owned station Murr Television (MTV), was shut down indefinitely. Lawsuits against journalists increased as well as censorship.

Hassan Makki is a Lebanese Civil and Communication Engineer based in Arizona, USA. He wrote this article for Alternative.