Archive: lebanon
30th January 2013
Whenever I write about the Lebanese rumpus over civil marriage, I have to keep reminding myself that it really is aboutcivil marriage and not gay marriage. The opponents of civil marriage in Lebanon are exactly the types you would expect to find in other countries… Read more
29th January 2013
In an extraordinary fatwa yesterday, the Grand Mufti of Lebanon threatened to excommunicate any member of parliament or government minister who supports the legalisation of civil marriage.
"Every Muslim official, whether a deputy or a minister, who supports the legalisation of civil marriage, even… Read more
28th January 2013
It wasn't a high-society occasion and the bride and groom were not celebrities but it has become Lebanon's most talked-about wedding in years. Even the president and government ministers have expressed opinions on it.
Khouloud Sukkariyeh and Nidal Darwish tied the knot last November in what is… Read more
13th March 2012
Daft attempts to control what is published on websites have long been a speciality of the Saudi authorities (here and here, for example) but now the infection seems to be spreading to Lebanon.
The Lebanese information minister, Walid Daouk, has proposed a law that would require all website owners… Read more
4th August 2011
The turmoil in Syria is threatening to spill over into neighbouring Lebanon. On Tuesday night, a small group of protesters holding a vigil outside the Syrian embassy in Beirut were attacked by pro-Assad thugs (see video above).
"It was all planned. They came, started chanting for Bashar and then… Read more
28th July 2011
Lebanese musician Zeid Hamdan was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly defaming President Michel Suleiman in a song. If convicted, he could be jailed for up to two years.
Most Arab countries have laws against insulting – or, in some cases, merely criticising – the head of state. In Egypt, for… Read more
29th May 2011
On Syria's 11th Friday of protest, dedicated to the spirit of the great Syrian hero Youssef al-Azmeh – who stood in Maysalun with his small band of patriotic soldiers and defied the huge might of France's colonial army, preferring death to servitude – I think of all the brave men and women in my… Read more
7th March 2011
Thousands of people demonstrated in Beirut on Sunday, calling for an end to sectarianism in Lebanon. The size of the protest (around 8,000, according to Reuters) was considerably larger than a week earlier, when just a few hundred braved bad weather for a similar demonstration.
Lebanon's political… Read more
23rd October 2010
A symposium was held in Beirut earlier this month under the auspices of the Florida-based International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association – basically aimed at promoting Lebanon as a "gay" tourist destination.
Some members of Lebanon's LGBT community were uneasy about it (to say the least) and it… Read more
14th October 2010
I won't say much about Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon, which is being extensively covered elsewhere. But I was delighted to see that Memri, the "media research institute" described by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as an indispensable tool, has got another scoop.
Yesterday, it informed… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
