Radio interview: Syria, Lebanon and the media

Here's a link to my interview on Los Angeles Public Radio with Ian Masters. I speak about the coverage of Lebanon and Syria and the need to look beyond dichotomies to the complicated local dynamics. I also touch upon the new media scene in Syria, which will be featured in a forthcoming piece.  

Peace please!

Despite the last few days of reverberating machine gun volleys, the loudest sound in Hamra tonight was that of street paving. Though there was some minor inconvenience to the patrons of Bar Bar (above) all was well in Ras Beirut. The bars and restaurants were full and the roads were jammed with traffic. Lets hope it stays this way.  

Avoiding the news?

Once again, Al Jadeed is the only channel covering the clashes in Beirut, where armed men are holed up in a building on Caracas street and army reinforcements have been called in. 

It's a bit disconcerting when reporters have to strap on helmets and flak jackets to cover a story within the city that is not considered newsworthy for Lebanon's six other channels, especially big players like LBC and MTV. Maybe we should be more concerned if they do get involved. 

Al Jadeed TV scoops the competition

Soon after the shots rang out on Sunday night, local TV channel Al Jadeed rushed to the scene when most other local stations were fast asleep. Through a series of rooftop and street side cameras,  Al Jadeed delivered gripping coverage of the clashes, providing a close-up view of the shadowy combatants  that terrorized neighborhood residents for hours. This came in stark contrast to other local stations which opted to air soap operas or reruns, including Future News, a supposedly a 24 hour news station.

On Al Jadeed, the streets were ablaze with explosions and automatic weapons fire while on Future "News," which is owned by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, an animated chef discussed his cooking technique:

Last night, Al Jadeed did it again after a busload of Lebanese had reportedly been "kidnapped" near Aleppo, Syria on their return route from a religious pilgrimage in Iraq. The abduction was the work of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), state-owned Syria TV reported. It said the women of the group were set free while the men would be held hostage.

The FSA denied any involvement in the kidnapping claiming it was staged by the regime. But bolstering its story, Syria TV interviewed several of the women who were transferred to Damascus before being flown back home to Beirut. All confirmed they had been captured by FSA rebels, and many said they were treated harshly. One articulate woman spoke for several minutes condemning the FSA repeatedly: 

"They want freedom" she asked. "This is not freedom, these are people who want to destroy their country"

As the women boarded a plane home, Al Jadeed rushed to the Beirut airport to get its own coverage of the story:

Reporter Nawal Berri (above) pushed her microphone through the crowds to get as many interviews as possible with the witnesses: 

She persistently asked each passenger if they could identify the assailants, and in contrast to what was reported by state TV, many interviewed said they were not abused in any way by the captors, whom had not identified themselves as members of any armed group. The handful that did confirm the assailants were FSA described them as wearing military clothing, while others said the men wore civilian clothes. One woman pilgrim said she had only heard about the FSA through television reports.

  

While on air, both Berri, the reporter, and news anchor George Saliba made the obvious conclusion that the victims' stories did not match.

Meanwhile regime supportive channels in Lebanon (OTV and Al Manar) sent their own reporters to the airport. But there was far less discrepancy in the stories they filed. Their interviews seemed to confirm those of Syrian State media and news anchors concluded, without a shred of doubt, that the FSA were the perpetrators. 

 

Other stations ignored the events altogether such as popular local news channel MTV, which aired a Texas Hold'em poker match instead:

But in another move that is rare in Lebanese television news, Al Jadeed stuck with the story. The next day reporter Berri was back on the streets to interview the women again upon news that one of them had identified her captor by name as an FSA commander.

The reporter could not find the name the woman had mentioned but printed out a photo of an FSA commander with a similar sounding name, which was actually FSA spokesman, Ammar Al Wawi, who has been very visible in the press.

"That's him," the women confirmed repeatedly, despite the fact the image belonged to a different name. "He is a member of the FSA, right?"  

Following the report, Al Jadeed phoned Al Wawi who denied the woman's story, saying he was based in Damascus, miles away from Aleppo:

Whatever the truth is behind this reported abduction, viewers will likely appreciate that Al Jadeed and its intrepid reporters have stuck with the story. Of course the channel has its share of problems. They have often have terrible production problems, especially with audio, and some of their packages are superficial if not propagandistic. But throughout the recent turmoil, whether it is making phone calls or broadcasting live from a dangerous place, Al Jadeed have clearly been working hard to get answers from several sources, while other channels are happy to either toe the regime line or just ignore the news altogether.

Shadow men and their impunity

This was among the most memorable images from last night's hours long firefight involving intense machine gun barrages and rocket propelled grenades in the neighborhood of Tariq Al Jadeedi. The battle reportedly pitted rival pro- and anti-Syrian regime factions against one another following yesterday's mysterious killing of two anti-regime clerics. 

Watch the full video as these shadowy gunmen shoot in the direction of the mounted camera of local news channel Al Jadeed (via @leshaque):

All this occurred around 3:00 AM, but was looped repeatedly by the station, which was the only one to provide constant coverage last night. Once the rival gunmen or their bosses decided they had enough, the army was called into the rubble-strewn streets and has presumably taken up positions.

A couple of hours later, the sun has risen, the birds were singing and the violence seems to have died down. Hopefully it will stay this way after the young fighters wake up. 

Persian drama?

No I don't mean the military kind. Hezbollah's Al Manar TV is airing Iranian soap operas. I wonder how successful they will be and to what extent the move is a reaction to Turkish soap operas which have taken the region by storm. Almost every major Arab broadcaster is now airing multiple Turkish drama serials, known for their relatively liberal social norms and striking actors who have now become stars across the region and yet attacked by some religious leaders.

Perhaps Al Manar is trying to provide a more 'wholesome' coach potato alternative. There could also be a cultural value aspect. While Iran's military support has been critical to Hezbollah, the Iranian leadership seems to have made few inroads on the social side with barely a single Persian restaurant operating in Beirut (sadly), let alone any major cultural events.

But Iranian drama faces an uphill battle. The buzz surrounding Turkish shows has partly been driven by a groundbreaking decision to dub them into a colloquial Arabic accent, rather than less personable formal Arabic, used for years to dub the formerly dominant genre of Latin American soaps. Yet as seen in the photo above, Al Manar has chosen to go with Arabic subtitling instead, which could prove less attractive to viewers.

Above all, whether Mexican, Turkish or Iranian, the rising popularity of imported dramas raises bigger questions about the quality of locally produced Arabic language serials, where scripts and production values leave a lot to be desired. Since most of these productions take place in either Egypt or Syria, it will be interesting to see what impact the revolts may have on the sector, which struggles with censorship and cronyism.      

Reclaiming city spaces

With fighting in Tripoli and little progress on public services, it's always nice to see positive events happening in Lebanon, especially involving young people. Today I had the opportunity to attend "Welcoming City" an outdoor exhibition created by AUB architecture professors and students that helps residents discover and engage public spaces in Beirut a time of unchecked urban sprawl and privatization of the city. 

The first stop was the famed striped lighthouse (above), which is no longer in service. Thanks to the organizers, we were able to access it from the inside:    

We could enter the workshop of the man in charge, Victor, whose family has run the place for over 100 years:

Victor, who seems like a swell guy, actually lives in the tower with his family and was on hand to answer any questions we had. He explained that his son now runs the new lighthouse on the corniche, seen here:

Photo credit: Reemolution

But why is there a new lighthouse anyway and why was the old one decommissioned? According the event organizers, a wealthy businessman decided to build a massive tower in front of it about 10 years ago and was allowed to do so because he offered to build the new lighthouse above to replace it. The downside, according to architecture professor Sandra Rishani, is that this move set a precedent for the building of towers along the waterfront, effectively blocking much of the city's residents from access to the sea view including the old lighthouse, barely peaking out in the far right of this picture: 

What better metaphor for unchecked urban growth than a landlocked lighthouse?

The tour then took us to an exhibit called "Corniche Extended" whereby students conceived of a flying piece of sidewalk that could magically transport citizens to restricted spaces such as this private pier, one of many in the city:

So how did they accomplish this? Ingeniously, the students were able to borrow an old train car (think "Wild E Coyote" cartoons) from Lebanon's defunct rail company. They then added tiles and railing to mimic the style of the public promenade or corniche (above); i.e. a flying public space in the private sphere:

And after some pumping and pulling:

Away we went:

There were a lot of other great sites on the tour including this abandoned home, with the only picket fence  I've ever seen in Lebanon:

...accessed for the first time in decades since its abandonment, presumably during the civil war, by this staircase, also built by students:

Then there's the curious ringing telephone booth in an abandoned plot-turned sunken garden. Pick it up for a surprise message:

And of course the flying chair:

I'll let you check these out for yourself, so as not to give too much away. The exhibit will be up till the 18th, with details posted on the Facebook page.

It's a beautiful time of year for a walk around the city, and what better way to enjoy it than with the innovative, enlightening and inspiring work of students. That they were able to negotiate the use of these private locations and receive and install equipment on them from two defunct or poorly functioning state entities (the telecom company and the rail company) speaks volumes about the power of determination, even in a collapsing political context like Lebanon. Their slogan: "Beirut can still be a city where all can live and share, where all can inhabit and use..."

Special thanks to co-organizer Professor Sandra Rishani, who keeps a fascinating blog about public space in the city called "Beirut The Fantastic." 

Al Manar Prime Time

Weight-loss drinks and diet pill commercials are the rage on Lebanese TV, particularly on Hezbollah-backed Al Manar. 

Following Sec. General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah's speech tonight, back-to-back ads from "Life Care" filled what must be the most coveted 2 minute spot between the speech and the beginning of Al Manar evening news. 

I wonder how much these prime time Nasrallah slots go for, either during such regular speeches or his more infrequent hours-long interviews. The audience size is definitely marketable.   

The State Dept. and its "emergency" messages

I, and probably thousands of others living in Lebanon, eagerly opened today's email from the US embassy expecting to read some shocking news. But despite the "emergency" subject line, there was nothing remotely newsworthy in the 21 paragraphs that followed, which read more like shoddily written year-in-review piece rather than an urgent warning.

So what happened to Americans in Lebanon over the last 12 months? One, yes one, was injured in May 2011 protests at the southern border--a world a way from the capital-- when troops from Israel opened fire on unarmed protestors on the Lebanese side.

Though this event occurred a year ago, it has been featured as the only American casualty in Beirut in numerous "emergency" messages that have been broadcast since then. Ahead of today's message, "emergency" warnings were issued for Lebanon on September 23, 2011; October 13, 2011 and March 13 2011. That's a total of 4 emergency messages over a year-long period when one American was injured.

I wonder how Americans fared in the United States during that same timeframe. Obviously the State Dept. needs to warn Americans against traveling to Lebanon because it would be safer for them to stay home. Or would it?

The latest nationwide figures released by the FBI indicate that there were over 1.2 million violent crimes in 2010, including nearly 800,000 aggravated assaults and 15,000 murders.

And while the panicked tone of the US embassy's Beirut emergency message warns of "the potential for spontaneous... and sporadic violence" ..."without warning" the single event that claimed an American injury was a well publicized demonstration that was live on every television channel for hours on a well-known annual calendar date (Nabka Day) and in a border area that has seen violence in the past and is actually restricted to foreign nationals and Lebanese as a result. Is such violence more predictable in America, where school shootings and random acts of violence have become old news?

In fact, a violent crime occurs every 25 seconds in the US, and a murder every 35 minutes, FBI statistics show.

Of course US national crime stats cannot be directly measured against those in Lebanon, which is only the size of a medium American city. And yet according to the FBI, American metropolitan areas with populations over 100,000 reported 130,000 violent crimes and some 1,600 murders per year. Detroit for example, had 300 murders; Baltimore had over 200.

You be the judge. Should the State Department being issuing warnings about tiny Lebanon or about American cities, small and large?


    

Street colonizing and tambourine resistance

For the past few days, the highways and overpasses of East Beirut have been decked in the orange flags of the ruling Free Patriotic Movement party:

Of course the FPM is not unique in this practice. The unregulated territorialization of public space is a favorite tactic of Lebanese ruling parties, as I have documented in this post featuring a recent campaign by the Lebanese Forces. 

A similar phenomenon is now underway in the Corniche el Mazraa neighborhood, where a dense cluster of blue Future Movement flags were erected on the main thoroughfare and guarded by a few tough-looking characters seated on the curb in plastic chairs. The presence of twin army tanks on either side of the partisans reinforced the tense territorial ambiance. Mazraa, a politically-mixed neighborhood, has been the site of many clashes in recent years. 

Unfortunately I have no picture of the blue men in plastic chairs. I decided against shooting them after being nearly assaulted for doing that last year. 

Rather than contribute to desperately-needed national reconciliation efforts, party street canvasing reinforces sectarian and militia-era boundaries, keeping an unhealthy dose of post-war fear and hatred in the air. 

What's more, street canvasing feels like a bullying tactic toward politically unaffiliated Lebanese who are fed up with the country's draconian party practices. These are not your streets, citizens are basically being told. They are owned by the same parties that have wrecked and ruled this country for decades and will continue to do so whenever and wherever they please. 

Recently, when an independent group decided to take its own random street action, erecting a canvas over the same exact highway sign, it was abruptly removed by authorities within hours.

By contrast, the orange flags posted on the top picture have been up for days with little interference from the police. 

***

And the good news?

Amid this backdrop of polarizing acrimony, yesterday hundreds of young Lebanese marched against the ruling sect-based regime in a rally organized by the secular group Laique Pride. 

The march began in Sanayeh, then moved down through Hamra: 

Ending in Raouche: 

I'm no fan of militant secularism, but the march was refreshing in that it spoke to young people's desire for change from the fear-driven sect-based system that keeps its virtually unaccountable leaders afloat. 

Unlike most political rallies, there was no aggressive brandishing of party colors or gang-like hand signals. It did have and a mobile drum circle:

Clowns:

Inclusive slogans:

An oven on wheels...

Baking 'secular Kaak' (bread) as indicated by the sign:  

And an open mic for young and old:

Here's a short clip of the march I shot on my phone: 

It was a far cry from a political rally organized by the Future Movement on the same day. Rather than a spontaneous outpouring, I spotted scores of buses, likely hired by political bosses:

The same parking lot was swept clean hours later, when the supposed "popular rally" was dismissed: