National Reconciliation through Architecture and Film

Posted by finkployd in Info
Saturday, April 9. 2005

...the Memory for the Future movement brought some gravitas to the civil war commemorations Friday by announcing its program for the upcoming six days.

At a news conference held at the Phoenicia Inter-Continental hotel, four of the movement's members revealed the launch of a national contest to design a monument for the war, a competition for a short-film on peace, the undertaking of a census on the number of civil war casualties and the resumption of the "Understanding the War" campaign.

The four components of the program fall under the umbrella of the movement's overall objective to foster dialogue around the war in a bid to promote national reconciliation. Founded in 2000 by Amal Makarem, the organization today gathers some 40 journalists, lawyers, historians and others.

"To understand the war helps us to understand the present," Makarem said simply.

The war monument contest is open to all landscape architects - both professionals and students, announced committee member Karim Mroue.

"It's a monument we are planning to build in Solidere for the victims of the war," the real estate developer explained.

"At present time its exact location is still under negotiation, but it will probably be either at Martyrs' Square or at another square dedicated solely to the monument."

The selection process is scheduled to close by April13th 2006 - the newly declared "National Unity Day," on which the war broke out.

Tied in to the monument for the war is the census being launched by the movement to create a comprehensive database on the victims of the 15-year-conflict. The name of every casualty will eventually be engraved on the war monument to be erected.

"We are calling on all Lebanese to send in the names of people they knew who died during the war, with details as to where, when and how," Makarem said.
"We are also looking for information on those who disappeared. All of this will be collected into a database, with accurate figures and facts on what happened during the war years.

If it's national reconciliation they're after, then maybe the "how" should be limited to the direct cause of death [bomb, bullet, etc...]. Accurate figures and facts are great, but extrapolating them into "what happened" is not only dangerous, but downright stupid when attempting to maintain a delicate balance. Any such information could result in the rekindling of hate and animosity, especially as the heads of the militias that fought the war [read: the militias that slaughtered 50,000 a piece {at least}] are still leading this country... where? no idea.

The official figures we currently use are low estimates, provided by the Lebanese security forces. We need to update these, and clarify them."

The second competition launched was presented by media consultant Jad al-Akhawi, son of the legendary Lebanese radio broadcaster Sharif al-Akhawi, whose name has been given to the prize of the contest.

"He was famous during the early years of the war, notably because he warned people which roads were safe to take, so as avoid checkpoints where kidnappings were taking place. He was a guiding light for many Lebanese," Mroue said of the Radio Lebanon anchor.

The prize will be granted to the best short film on civil peace by a Lebanese producer.

The movement also announced the continuation of its "Understanding the War" campaign, launched in 2003 through local media. The campaign urged youth to send in any questions they had pertaining to the war. The response was overwhelming.

"We received thousands of questions, from all over the world," Makarem recalled. "It's a valuable process, because it helps to provide clarification on the issue, which is essentially what our work is about.

And based on all the questions we receive, we will organize a follow-up conference to the one held after the previous launch, to discuss them."

In the eyes of the committee members, the time is ripe for a discussion on the war, most notably due to the current political upheaval facing the country since former Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.

"Recent events have made the Lebanese even more involved in the national project of putting an end to war and hostilities," said lawyer Ziyad Baroud.

"And it precisely because the society in its entirety is so involved at present, that we must seize the momentum and make people think about what has happened.

"After all, it's been 15 years since the war ended - it's high time for us to reflect upon the past, which is an exercise that has not been undertaken yet, and that is one of the reasons why the Lebanese feel insecure. I sense a real change now in 2005. There is a readiness for reconciliation among the Lebanese," Baroud said. -dailystar

As Ziad Rahbani so beautifully put it, we all want the truth, but the truth is not based on opinions. There are too many opinions as to what happened during the civil war, and very little in terms of fact to establish right from wrong opinion. If we are to manifest dialogue, we must focus on the picture at large, not the details. Only when we accept that we are all responsible, and all victims, will we be able to understand the underlying concepts. But, first and foremost, we must vote the militia heads out of the government, out of any position of power, and claim our country as our own, a country for the Lebanese people, with only one agenda... the prosperity of the Lebanese as Lebanese. is that possible?

-finkployd

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Thanks for allowing me to beleive again in my country and in the people of my country....!!!

Such initiative will restaure my proudness to be lebanese and my faith that my country will be able to handle again and against all the surrounding pressures, the flag of unity and tolerance.

Let us be united in mourning our thousands of useless victims in order to be able to unite for the rebuilding of our nation.

#1 sylvie Mouradian on 2005-04-16 19:50 (Reply)

chere silvie,
we are all but drops in the ocean of life, but together, united, we stand strong and can change the flow of even the greatest streams.
today, we are fighting for our freedom.
tomorrow, we must learn to live with our freedom, as per riad el solh's words.
our country calls for our return, to return with our knowledge, our ethics, our culture, our heritage, and reinject it into the bloodline of Lebanon, the pinnacle of the middle east.

#1.1 finkployd (Homepage) on 2005-04-16 23:57 (Reply)

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