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ANMag Issue 27 Editorial
The Forgotten Lebanese
By Shadi Tabbara, Editor-in-Chief
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Around 100,000 citizens from Lebanese origin live in Germany. Some 5,000 of them live in Essen, making the latter the third largest Lebanese community in Germany, right after Berlin and Hamburg. Contrary to the mostly successful Lebanese emigrants scattered all over the world (Latin America, Africa and the Arab Gulf), the Lebanese society living in Essen is the community most at a disadvantage and continues to be the least integrated group. These forgotten Lebanese came to Germany between 1982 and 1990 and continue, till date, to be the outcasts of the German society even with all the help that the German associations and government organizations provided. Although the composition of this group is not the same as the one in Lebanon, however, there are Christian Maronites (representing 1%), Muslim Shiites (representing 10-15%), and Muslim Sunnis (representing 80-85%) of which the vast majority comes from Kurdish-Lebanese origin (about 60-65%). Why Germany? And why do they continue to maintain such a low level of life even after more than 20 years of their immigration? These are only few questions that arise when talking about the forgotten Lebanese. [More]
April '08: On Human Rights, Amongst Other Disturbing Matters
By Mohamad Sobh, Acting Managing Editor
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia − One can only marvel at the duplicity of international politics, at the double standards we are witnessing day in and day out, and to make matters worse, nobody is giving these diabolical events any notice.
Tibet's current turn of events has compelled us to place the issue under the moral microscope, and to attempt to dismantle the diversions and smoke screens put into place to arrive at a crystal clear view of what is the heart of the issue under scrutiny. [More]
March '08: Sorry, the Requested Page Is Unavailable...
By Shadi Tabbara, Editor-in-Chief
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – On Tuesday, February 12, 2008, the Arab governments decided to abolish the rest of the little freedom that we, the people, enjoy; whereby the absolute majority of Arab Ministers of Information decided to adopt the “Principles for Organizing Satellite Broadcast and Television Transmission and Reception in the Arab Region.” This document, sponsored by two key Arab countries, renowned for their disregard to human rights and freedom of expression, advocates the regulatory bodies of Arab League members to take action if satellite channels violate principals that negatively affect the image of the country and leaders of the same and other Arab Nations. [More]
February '08: Playing Chess with the Lebanese Counterparties: Why Lebanon is the Board
By Shadi Tabbara, Editor-in-Chief
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Around 3000 and 2500 BCE (Before Common Era), the Phoenicians were traced in the region covering Lebanon. These significant people did not establish larger kingdoms unlike most of the other civilizations; rather, they chose to limit their states to single cities that accepted compromises with stronger neighbors and paying for peace and freedom so that they had autonomy to trade. Thousands of years later, the Lebanese people kept the roots of their ancestors with their influence but sadly kept the same strategy of paying for their peace and liberty on their people’s account. [More]
Janurary '08: Happy One Year Anniversary - Not
By Shadi Tabbara, Editor-in-Chief
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – On December 2, 2006, and in an attempt to pressure the Seniora government into resigning, the pro-Syrian March 8 coalition started an open-ended sit-in in the heart of the Beirut Central District and paralyzed life in the capital's most important commercial area and raised fears of violence between both camps. One year after the establishment of tent city, and one year and a half after Hezbollah’s initiation of the last war with Israel, the Lebanese community is struggling with uncertainty, instability and a presidential vacuum. With the current scenario at hand, will the tip of the iceberg, that is the election of a Lebanese president, unveil the problems and find solutions to them or will it just keep them hidden and postponed for a new future political deadlock? [More]