"Rescue, Recovery, and Religion: Humanitarian Aid and Spiritual Care in Times of Crises”

"Rescue, Recovery, and Religion: Humanitarian Aid and Spiritual Care in Times of Crises” “Spiritual Care in Times of Crises: The Case of the Lebanese Society in Time of Wars and in the After Wars” 28 February 2009 - 11:15-12:45 Lecture 5 www.ziadfahed.com ziadfahed@ndu.edu.lb Notre Dame University– Lebanon

Introduction • The Lebanese war (1975-1990-2006) was a multifaceted war • More than 150 000 civilians were killed and injured in those fifteen years of war • In such context of wars a series of humanitarian aid and spiritual care was needed to support the civilians all the way on.

Confessionalism • 18 religious community • Moral pact which is based on confessional (denominational) power-sharing • Establishing a consensual confessional (denominational ) democracy(dimocratia tawafoukia) of a permanent and final Lebanese nation-state (watan niha i) with a special mission: the inter-confessional living (co-existence- convivialite - al-aysh al mushtarak).

I - The impacts of the wars… Facing the sufferance as a common ground and common cause. 1.1 A country ruled by lord wars 1.2 The Emigration and its negative impacts on the country demographic structure 1.3 Radical groups attempt to rule the country and establish their own political system

The Lebanese coexistence through the years: • Negative coexistence • Passive coexistence • Positive coexistence : a positive recognition of religious diversity, sharing the responsibility of promoting and consolidating coexistence, while actively preserving cultural differences and securing equal opportunities

1.1 A country ruled by lord wars • Nobody was exempted from the consequences of the war. • The Lebanese war, similar to any other war, has no religion, no social boundaries and no differences. • The Lebanese government has entered a deep comma and was unable to avoid the clash during those years. • Citizens were left to the “lord wars”… have kidnapped their own people in the ghettos of fear, ghettos of hate and the ghettos of ignorance. • the continual brain washing of all the citizens replaced the moderation

1.2 The Emigration and its negative impacts on the country demographic structure 10.8 % of those who emigrate left Lebanon considered their emigration related to political or security problems, 8.5% willing to live abroad, 4.7% unavailability of education for children, etc. Economic advantage but religious minorities are demographically affected and we are witnessing a modification in the religious distribution of Lebanon and also the ME.

The wars leading to a significant Emigration. Christians and Sunnis –mostly city dwellers- had a low average children per family.

1.3 Radical groups attempt to rule the country and establish their own political system The case of Hizbullah is a case to study in this field. Based on Joseph Alagha, in his book The Shifts in Hizbullah’s Ideology (2006) this party has transferred from "extremism" to "moderation“. Alagha in his optimism shows that Hizbullah drew notably on the following two maximsof Islamic jurisprudence to justify compromises: the notion that "necessities permit what is forbidden" (al-darurat tubih almahdhurat) and that "what cannot be accomplished in its whole, cannot be left entirely" (ma la yudraku kuluhu, la yutraku kulluhu)

Guardianship of the Jurisconsult (wilayat faqih) as elaborated by Imam Khomeyni. The guardian must be obeyed. According to Prof. Richard Bulliet the Guardianship of Juriconsult has not make unanimity within the different shiaa leaders.

Imam Mohamad Mehdi Shamssedin who object the theory of guardianship of the Juriconsult has launched the “the human guardianship over itself” (wilayat el insan 3ala nafssihi)

Some of the different faces of suffering in time of crises in the Lebanese context – the Suffering as a common ground • The deformed and incomplete image from other religious groups. • Being absorbed by a majority. Majority/minority issues. • Radicalist politico-religious movements (Guardianship of the Jurisconsult – wilayat al faqih) • Poverty, lack of job opportunities. • The kidnapping of the lord wars to their own community in the ghettos of fear and the ghettos of ignorance. • Injustice and “deprivations of human needs” in a system based on Clientelism (zabayiniyat) as the only way to get rights. • More than 700 Lebanese detainee in Syrian jails since more than 10 to 20 years… and Syrian authority continue denying their presence despite many proves (Cf. SOLIDA). • Thousands of Lebanese went to Israel (running away from the revenge of Hezbollah) and they can’t return back to Lebanon. • National identity or religious identity

II. How university students evaluate the Spiritual and Humanitarian Aid in Times of Crises?

A study that I have conducted with a population of 600 university students we have asked them the following questions:

Overall what is the general percentage of those who are satisfied and those who are not satisfied with the spiritual support? Percent

Overall what is the general percentage of those who are satisfied and those who are not satisfied with the humanitarian support? Percent

Among those who practice their religion, what is the percentage of those who are satisfied and those who are not with the spiritual and humanitarian support? Percent

Among those who do not practice their religion, what is the percentage of those who are satisfied and those who are not with the spiritual and humanitarian support? Percent

Are you satisfied by the Spiritual support offered by your religious group in times of conflict and wars? Percent

Are you satisfied by the humanitarian support offered by your religious group in times of conflict and wars? Percent

Among the students who practice their beliefs what is the percentage of those who are satisfied by the spiritual and humanitarian care offered by their religion? Percent

An important percentage of young persons who are not satisfied from the spiritual and humanitarian support. And this is due to: • The negative role conducted by some religious leaders and their relation with some lord wars. • The corruption in the field of Humanitarian support. • The disappointment of the young generations • Discovering that the religious leaders don’t have the solution for all kind of problems. • A very complicated political situation in the country • Another point might be added as a summary to this presentation is the fact that the level of satisfaction of the humanitarian support is very close to the level of satisfaction from the spiritual support (49.5 % and 51.7 %). Which means that through the humanitarian support the civilians are judging their own religious groups. And this is the reason why different sects are using this approach to establish their groups in different locations especially in the poor areas.

III- The requirements for the recovering process in the “after war” 3.1 Culture of peace counters acting the culture of fear 3.2 Dialogue of life 3.3 Promotion of moral values 3.4 Truth telling and Reconciliation two conditions for sustainable peace 3.5 Purification of memory

3.1 Culture of peace counter acting the culture of fear Promote greater understanding, mutual respect, and cooperative action aiming at serving members of different communities. Promoting a sustainable peace as a common value to all religious cultures, and promoting communal living as the prime mission.

“We encounter God in the face of a stranger… God creates difference; therefore it is in one who-is-different that we meet God... God makes every person in the same image – His image- and each is different. The supreme religious challenge is to see God’s image in one who is not in our image”. (J. Sacks, the Dignity of Difference, 2002)

Counter acting the culture of fear • Through common projects joining different members from different religious groups; • By facilitating the work of different groups (NGO or others); • Through investing with youth generations in schools and universities etc. (summer camps, Music, Sports, etc.) • Creating alternatives.

3.2 Dialogue of life • Day-to-day basis… dialogue of life goes on in all situations of religious diversity. • Leonard Swidler talked about such dialogue describing it as: dialogue of the Head, dialogue of the Heart and the dialogue of the Hands (which will lead to the dialogue of the whole). • Such dialogue allows us to understand through our lives what we can’t understand theoretically (PaulKnitter, One earth many religions, 1995). • Dialogue of life is fragile • One of the limit of such dialogue “the Imperialism or colonialism of any language”.

Pierre Claverie wrote “Learning to live together and to go out beyond oneself allows those who share intensive experiences, to give the weight of flesh, the weight of their experience, to the words they use. In order that the words may express the same things, it is necessary to live together, to share an experience, the experience of human life with birth, living, suffering, love and death. Giving words the weight of flesh, for me, that's dialogue”. (Pierre Claverie, 1997).

The challenge that the post-conflicts generations are facing is to rediscover the value and the importance of the dialogue of life in all situations and to cross the psychological or sociological and political boundaries.

3.3 Promotion of the moral values Joining the different opportunities to Promote the moral values and working for justice, peace, human dignity and developing a “national (global) ethic”. The common struggle against unemployment, poverty, radicalism and terrorism is a priority in this regard.

3.4 Truth telling and Reconciliation… conditions for sustainable peace The Truth and Reconciliation Commission(The e.g. of South Africa) The process of truth telling allows to find words and explore all what happened. It is the way of healing, and no reconciliation without healing. The truth telling has the power to identify and acknowledge what happened not in a way to forget (nobody can forget), neither judge or condemn (nobody is perfect) but to define and recognize (and limit) the responsibilities. “Truth-telling is the condition for peace. Without truth, no peace. Without truth-telling, no peacemaking…When we lie, we die” (W. Brueggemann, 1998). Truth-telling is dangerous and costly.

Conditions to process toward a truth telling process as can bee leaded by a National community to progress in the healing process: • Conditions to process toward a truth telling process as can bee leaded by a National community to progress in the healing process: • Create proper and adequate committees that can facilitate and inspire trust. • Sit the rules and the right process to reach the healing and liberate while taking into consideration the limits and difficulties of such process. • Honor the stories of everyone and allow everyone to say them and say them again and again if needed.

Allow non-destructive expressions of anger toward the others. • Provide reassurance. As issues arise, inform the candidate of the consequences of his/her acts. • Assist in crossing the pain and offer option for solutions. • Help every one in his way to find his own answers and way of understanding. • Work for finding basic needs for everyone’s family.

3.5 Purification of memory The purification of memory is a dynamic process through which a person or a group identifies… determine the acts and responsibilities should lead to a firm decision to not repeating such errors in the future. The purification of memory in the Lebanese context aims at liberating the personal and collective conscience.

“Forgiveness breaks the chain… It represents a decision not to do what instinct and passion urge us to do. It answers hate with a refusal to hate, animosity with generosity… Forgiveness means that we are not destined endlessly to replay the grievances of yesterday. It is the ability to live with the past without being held captive by the past… at the heart of the concept of forgiveness is the idea of love… Love distinguishes between the person and the deed… I honor the past not by repeating it but by learning from it – by refusing to add pain to pain”. (Sacks J., 2002)

Conclusion • The Lebanese new public is marked by the years of wars. This is why it is important to see how can the purification of memory have an effective role. • The Lebanese new public is marked by (the new reality which is) the radical modification of the percentages and the size of the most representative religious groups. Those who were majority yesterday are minority today and vice versa. And the increasing number of emigrants confirm this reality. • The Lebanese new public is also marked by the radicalism of some religious-political movements this is why it is important to readopt (rebuild) the social contract which is based on the preservation of a country of common power sharing, offering “guarantees” and prosperity to all the groups including the minorities.

Conclusion • Moving from a “division of power” among the different sects to a real “power sharing” in a spirit of building one nation. • Could the civil society group start gaining power and mobilize the population or at least the young generations to create a national sense of identity instead of the current secterianism? • Reconciliation, forgiveness and Purification of memory are conditions for achieving the desired peace not only in Lebanon. • The post-wars Lebanese national suffering could be a possibility to call for national and courageous responsibilities. • To move forward in building a sustainable peace instead of the actual pacification (and cease fire).

Improving the level of satisfaction and of assistance in times of crises.

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIxBRA5qjA Guy Nattive and Erez Tadmor

"Rescue, Recovery, and Religion: Humanitarian Aid and Spiritual Care in Times of Crises”