Portraits of Justice #11: Alex {Beirut, Lebanon}

It's week #11 with the Portraits of Justice Project

This week I invite you to hear from my friend Alex, from Beirut, Lebanon. Alex is inspiring in many ways. He's founded a non-profit recycling program in a country without an existing social recycling program. As well, Alex helped start an inter-religious exchange in schools - within communities that are intolerant of one another. Read more about this reconciliation project below!

Located just north of Israel, and West of Syria, Lebanon deals not only with its own history of colonization and civil wars, but with a population that is nearly half refugees from Palestine and Syria. 

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"I only hear about justice in books, I've never seen justice, maybe anywhere in the world. Justice for me is a philosophical word, a relative word as well. All countries in the world seek justice, it is a lifetime process to be accomplished."

"If we are talking about minimal justice, the minimum to live as a human being, I never see it in my country. I live in Lebanon, an Arab country. We've been colonized for centuries. The last century we've been colonized by the Ottoman Empire and the French, we've had 15 years of civil war, We've had neverending Israeli attacks, since the creation of Israel in 1948. Recently we have had what we call the Arab Spring – I don't call it Spring. I call it Arab Winter, because it is still war. We as a Lebanese country we are surrounded by Syria. We are 4 million citizens, 1.5 million Syrian refugees, half a million Palestinian refugees, and a few hundred thousand Iraqi - about half the population consists of refugees."

Lebanon is just North of Israel, and shares
the majority of its borders with Syria

"On the local level, poverty is everywhere. 50% of the Lebanese population is under the poverty line. Sectarianism* is also an aspect of my country, we have 18 denominations that co-exist together. I don't know if they were forced at point of history to co-exist and live together. We are Muslim and Christian people. We are now facing Muslim extremism, so we now have ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria."

"On a local level, on personal level, if you want to seek a job you need to belong to a religion or a political party. You never get it on your competence. So your CV (resume) is read first to see if you are a Christian, and you are going to a Christian company or a Muslim company – it's nothing to do with justice.

If you want to go to a hospital, there isn't a medical health care system in my country, and maybe in all Arab countries. People live to save money. There is an Arabic saying in my country, “Save money for your black day.” The black day is when you go to the hospital and spend all the money you have for medical care."

What would need to change for justice to start happening?
"Education is an important factor to taken into consideration for a long term change. The change cannot be realized today or tomorrow or in a year, it's a long term process. Education is an important factor for me in change. I can give an example..."

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"Where we live in Lebanon in cities it is known that, for example, in the North it is for Christians, in the South it is for Muslims, and the West is for something else. So people that were raised in a Christian community don't know how the Muslim community live.Because the Lebanese civil war was based on sectarianism, Christian and Muslim hated each other. "

"There is a project I worked on with a couple of friends. We went to a Muslim school and a Christian school as a day exchange for students. For example, on Monday students from a Christian school go to a Muslim school and experience living with a Muslim student and study together, Science and literature. A Muslim student will also go to a Christian community. They will see each other praying as well. Its a small project that was realized two years ago. Now this experience is extended to many many schools in Lebanon to teach people how to co-exist together and love each other. Its a small project for reconciliation."



"The church not prominent in my country to fight for justice. All projects are done individually, its not the church meeting and deciding to do something. It's about individuals, and its about Christian movements that take care of aspects. When we received the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, we decided to as an Orthodox Youth Movement to take 1% of everyone's monthly salary and give it Syrian refugees. And we dedicate one or two hours a week to teach Syrian students, because the Lebanese academic system is completely different than the Syrian, so they can't integrate into the Lebanese system."

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Does something here encourage you or spark your curiosity? 

Please leave your comments below, I love hearing from you!!

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*Unfamiliar with this term? 'Sectarianism, like racism, is a form of bigotry, discrimination, or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, nationalism, class, regional or factions of a political movement'. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectarianism for a very basic but more expansive understanding. If you want some academic sources on this, just let me know!

Portraits of Justice #10: Cydney {Halifax, Canada}

Happy week #10 of this project, Portraits of Justice!

Today I introduce you to Cydney, from Canada's east coast,  and invite you to hear her understandings of justice as connected to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The commission confronts Canada's colonial history of the Indian Residential Schools that resulted in a century of genocide and trauma for Indigenous populations.

 With the recent conclusion of the TRC ceremonies, the responsibility of taking action for reconciliation has been commissioned to the government, various public sectors, the churches, and every citizen of Canada. It is but the beginning. 

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"In 2011 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) came to Halifax. I went and heard some of the testimonials and stories - that itself was very powerful and moving. On the last day, they invited everyone who had even been remotely associated with the event to come to a local venue. They set the entire sports floor with seats and had a giant family reunion. They served a giant meal, and everyone was there, first nations people and allies."

"Behind the stage there were about 3000 cupcakes. We put a candle in every cupcake, and took them out to the floor and gave them to everybody and while we sang happy birthday. Because in the residential schools you didn't get a birthday, we had a giant birthday party for everyone who was there. They sang happy birthday in English, then in Inuktitut, Amiga, Obijiway, Mohawk, Algonquin...we sang happy birthday for like an hour in all these different languages! There was this 80 year old woman who was bawling her eyes out, because from the age of 5-15, she didn't have a birthday, and after that she was so messed up that it didn't matter to her. It was really beautiful, to see that it mattered now."    

"The TRC sticks out to me most. It's a good attempt at justice. It's not going to fix anything or everything, but I think the start of justice and reparations is telling stories. I think that narratives and storytelling is how you find commonality with other people, and is the way that you start any kind of process to tackle any issue. You start telling stories. That's not exactly what justice looks like, but it is what justice sounds like, is focusing on narratives and storytelling. Everyone's story is important."

"My dream way is that (Christians) would lead the charge for justice because they are divinely inspired to do so, and understand why equality is appropriate, and good and right. Whether they are able to do that is inhibited in a lot of ways by a lot of things. The role church is to inspire people...and interpret scripture in a way that doesn't alienate people and that doesn't promote more injustice"

Portraits of Justice #9: Milka {Lahore, Pakistan}

This week's Portrait of Justice features Milka, from Lahore, Pakistan. Being a Christian in Pakistan means that she is among the <2% minority in her country. Being a Christian woman in leadership, in a predominantly muslim and patriarchal society, makes her even more of a more of a minority. I'd estimate she represents less than .1% of the Pakistani population.

Milka is a strong and beautiful person who has not let her constant encounters of injustice prevent her from laughter and the pursuits of equality in the heart of Asia. Her story is one that encounters injustice much more than justice, something more unfamiliar in Western context. This is a story that the will promise to linger in your mind as you walk on

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[In] the "Pakistan context we are not finding the justice being a christian, being a minority. In Pakistan the majority are Muslims, 97% are the Muslims. Only less than 2% are Christians. There is no justice, every thing is according to the Islamic law. Christians don't have a right to speak. If they have a right in any case, they need a witness. One muslim witness is equal to two christian witnesses. Even in the constitution we have blasphemy law, and the blasphemy law is this: if you say any single word against prophet Mohamed, you are the blasphemer. Nowadays the Muslim people who are in the majority are taking advantage of that law. For personal reasons they are falsely blaming the minorities, even assassinating and torturing them. One of our christian ministers was assassinated by the majority."

"There is no justice. If we are raising our voices, they (the Muslim majority) are saying 'no, they are blasphemer!”. They are facing false witnesses, in false cases. Still the government is supporting the Muslims, not the Christians. They are behind this. They started to burn the churches, they started to burn the christian communities. If we are saying that the Muslims are doing these things, we are showing them evidence and names. Our police and army, our government are not taking action against this. They are saying they will work on it, that they will find those persons and who is behind it, and until now they have not found those persons. They are saying "they are not muslims, they are the fundamentalists who are doing those type of things."

"The government structure should be changed. We are raising our voices that the constitution should be changed. While you are burning churches, that is also blasphemy. If you are abusing Christians, that is also blasphemy. But they are not taking attention on this"

"We are working, and having dialogues with the Muslims on these issues, on the blasphemy laws. We are talking and trying to figure out these things."  

"In Pakistan Christians are less educated. They use to work in the Muslims houses as servants. While they were working in the houses as a servant , the Muslims have the power. They are torturing them, they are raping them. They are forcing them to convert and accept it."

"While I was in school I was the only Christian girl in my class. The girls use to say to me, why are you not accepting this? You should accept Islam, you should be a Muslim. I use to say to them, you should be a christian, would you accept it? They are saying no, ours is the best religion of the world. In our colleges and schools we are facing discrimination. That justice we do not have."

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Tell me something beautiful you have witnessed:

Milka doesn't need to think about this question, and launches in to a story, "They have let me lead SCM Pakistan. I am very blessed and happy that God choose me for this purpose. I have studied theology, and living in Pakistan, I thought that I will never go anywhere, I will just stay and my whole life will be in Pakistan. Through the SCM that changed."

"I have a good family who always support me." The emotion this statement was said with causes Milka to shed a tear as that support has been so life giving.

 Hind, from Jordan, who is sitting with during the interveiw leans in. "Milka, you have a family here as well that supports you"

"That is so true!" Milka responds.

With that our conversation found laughter. It found the joy that community offers, and that our strange and beautiful gathering had given us. We represented Canada, Jordan, and Pakistan, 3 countries from 3 different regions that were telling very different stories, but had found solidarity and a family all the same. To me, it was nothing less one of those #beautifulpeoplemoments, the ones you never forget. 

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Milka was interviewed and photographed in Bogota, Colombia

(c) Bthatlovelyphotography 2015

Portraits of Justice #8: Rachel {County Waterford, Southern Ireland}

This week I introduce Part II of a Portrait of Justice featuring Ireland. Rachel is a Masters student from the sunny Southern part of Ireland, and is engaged in interfaith/interdenominational dialogue in her home community. Her experience of conflict in Ireland is drastically different than what was shared in Part I  of a Portrait of Justice in Ireland. 

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For me justice is very equality based. When I study every thing is the same, everybody is treated the same, there is not much of a difference between a man and a woman. I could do the exact same job as a man even though I am a woman. That's what justice is for me anyway.  

Something beautiful for me is becoming a part of SCM (Student Christian Movement) Ireland. Something that I have witnessed, that I have never witnessed before, is that we have so many people coming from different Christian traditions. To be able to come together and dialogue is an amazing thing, especially because of the troubles up North.

Down where I am from we don't judge based on our religion. Everybody is the same. I don't say 'oh, I'm Rachel, I'm a Catholic!' And my friend wouldn't say, 'oh, I'm Victoria, and I'm a Protestant!” We're just friends and we get on. Where as on the other side, where Johnston is from, there was no friendship basis there at all. So that is something beautiful you would see – that something so bad could happen up in one end of the country, but something so amazing down at the other end.

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Say something about this portrait and story, or about this project! I look forward to it!

Portraits of Justice #7: Johnston {Belfast, Northern Ireland}

This week I introduce Part I of a Portrait of Justice featuring Ireland. Johnston McMaster, professor at Trinity College in Dublin, is a wise soul who has been witness to the cycles of violence and pursuits of peace in Northern Ireland his entire life. I had the opportunity to meet, laugh with, and photograph Johnston after hearing him speak in Bogota, Colombia. 

Stayed tuned for next week's Part II, as a very different perspective from Southern Ireland will be shared. 

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"What is justice like in my country? It is about equality, about sharing of political and social power. It is economic justice and it is justice related to gender equality as well."

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"While in Cork (Southern Ireland) I could have been in Toronto, it was that far removed from what was going on in Northern Ireland. It's a life time. Let me put in another way - in terms of my professional work, the context has never been anything else than the conflict and the violence. Even though it's meant to be peace process now, it's fragile, and has a long way to go. We are not all together post conflict, not just yet."

"There is a sense in which I think the churches generally in Northern Ireland have taken flight. They are struggling to engage in reconciliation and peace building because they have not worked out a theological praxis of reconciliation and peacebuilding. Reconciliation and peace in the church has very much been reduced to the vertical, without a horizontal dimension, a social dimension."

Does this have to due with Protestant and Catholic divide in community?

"It has to do with the sectarian division, but it also a conservative division. Ireland as a whole I think is socially and theologically and morally conservative. So when working out a public theology is difficult for Irish churches generally. I think they're all in a situation now where there has been a retreat from the public square. There is an inadequate or no real public theology, or knowing how to engage with the public on social issues."

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"One of the amazing things after 35 years of violent conflict, or during violent conflict, is how many people have refused to be victims, and in a very real sense have become survivors. The beautiful thing in many cases has been the number of people who somehow or other, maybe for different motives, have been able to come to a place of forgiveness. It has been liberation for them and has been part of their journey out of victimhood towards survival and more than survival. They are also in many cases people who are making positive contributions to peacebuilding."

Is this what justice looks like in your country, in your home? Does Johnston's story remind you of your own? Leave a comment below and let us know! We'd love to hear from you!