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The Tueni legacy
Are the
freedoms and ideals Gebran gave his life for in jeopardy?
nowlebanon.com,
Lebanon, December 12, 2007
By Zahra Hankir
Two years after
his tragic assassination, editor and publisher of An-Nahar
and Member of Parliament Gebran Tueni is still remembered as
one of Lebanon’s most vociferous promoters of freedom of
speech. His legacy – both journalistic and political – is
firmly tied to the leading role he played in the 2005 Cedar
Revolution.
As founder of
Nahar ash-Shabab, An-Nahar’s weekly supplement on youth
issues, Tueni believed in the potential for younger
generations to bring about change. The idea for a "shadow
government," composed of youth leaders from universities
across the country, was inspired by Tueni and became a
reality after his passing.
An-Nahar
journalist Mohammad Salam told NOW Lebanon that the memory
of Tueni brings to mind the struggle for "freedom, in the
context of the press." Indeed, Tueni’s most famous utterance
was, "The difference between darkness and light is a word."
That phrase, adopted by An-Nahar as its slogan, embodies the
very cause that Tueni died for: speaking out, no matter what
the cost.
Remembering
Gebran
On Sunday,
December 10, 2007, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN)
and An-Nahar held the second annual Gebran Tueni Award
ceremony. The event commemorated Tueni and awarded Michel
Hajji Georgiou, political editor at Lebanese daily
L’Orient-Le Jour, for his efforts and contributions to press
freedom.
Nayla Tueni,
Gebran’s daughter and the deputy-general manager of
An-Nahar, spoke fervently at the event, challenging the
Lebanese to take responsibility for ensuring that her
father’s legacy and spirit remain alive.
In an exclusive
interview with NOW Lebanon, Nayla Tueni elaborated on these
concerns. "Is it reasonable that we have a presidential
vacuum in Lebanon?" she demanded. "Is it reasonable that we
amend our constitution, after everything we and our martyrs
paid for? The politicians didn’t fulfill the responsibility
they had toward their martyrs. This is why [Gebran’s] legacy
is threatened."
Many today are
questioning whether the sacrifices made by Gebran Tueni and
others over the past three years have been properly honored
by Lebanon and, in particular, its political class.
Nonetheless, Nayla Tueni explained that it is her fellow
youth, and their devotion to Lebanon and its martyrs, who
reassure her that her father’s legacy will never be lost:
"They’re the ones who will take the cause, rise and go on."
Through Nahar
ash-Shabab, launched in the early nineties by Tueni,
Lebanese youth were given an opportunity to publicly express
their political and social opinions. According to Melkar
al-Khoury, managing assistant director of the Foundation for
Human and Humanitarian Rights, "by giving this platform to
the youth, Gebran was someone who went beyond political
parties and beyond indoctrination."
How free is
free?
According to a
report by Paris-based international NGO Reporters sans
frontières (RSF), Lebanon ranks 107 among 168 nations
surveyed worldwide in terms of freedom of the press. In
2005, the country plummeted 21 positions, from 87 to 108.
The assassinations of both Tueni and Dr. Samir Kassir, a
prominent academic and fellow An-Nahar journalist, are some
of the most overt indications of why the ranking fell. May
Chidiac, a leading television journalist, was also targeted
shortly before Gebran in 2005, but miraculously survived the
attack. All three have been known for their outspoken
anti-Syrian positions.
The factors
used by RSF to measure freedom of press include "every kind
of violation directly affecting journalists (such as
murders, imprisonment, physical attacks and threats) and
news media (censorship, confiscation of issues, searches and
harassment)." In addition, it also monitors the "degree of
impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these press
freedom violations." This factor is particularly relevant to
the case of Lebanon, given that those responsible for the
deaths of both Tueni and Kassir, and indeed many journalists
before them, have yet to be brought to justice.
Nonetheless,
press freedom in Lebanon remains much more robust than
elsewhere in the region, where media is often monopolized by
the state and journalists suffer under judicial systems
which directly or indirectly limit their self-expression.
But Salam stressed the importance of keeping in mind that
Lebanon has "paid dearly for this margin of freedom,
irrespective of how wide or narrow it is now."
Salam contends
that the "ghost of killings" hang over journalists’ heads,
and that "this is serious and dangerous because it has led
journalists to a sort of auto-censorship," noting that
though they may be outspoken, most journalists still
exercise caution when covering certain topics.
Toward a freer
press?
Several
organizations in Lebanon, including the Samir Kassir
Foundation, monitor the freedom of the press in Lebanon. One
such NGO is the Foundation for Human and Humanitarian
Rights, an advocacy group that issues annual reports on the
status of human rights in Lebanon, including that of the
Lebanese press.
According to
Khoury, a line can be drawn at the Syrian withdrawal of
2005. "Before that, the pressure was mainly from the
intelligence services, whether Syrian or Lebanese," said
Khoury, pointing out that many journalists received threats
or – like Selim al-Louze and Kamel Mroue – were even killed.
Since the
Syrian withdrawal, Khoury said, self-censorship has emerged
as a significant phenomenon: "Even if some taboos have been
broken, [such as] talking about Syrian activity in Lebanon,
journalists tend to have their own censorship vis-à-vis the
direction of the media they’re working for or the political
factions they don’t agree with."
For example,
during last summer’s July War, Michel Eddé, chairman of
L’Orient-Le Jour, received phone calls accusing the winner
of this year’s Gebran Tueni Award, Georgiou, of being a
Zionist agent because "he wasn’t going along with the
general trend of resistance media."
Likewise, some
taboos still persist within Lebanon. Many Lebanese
journalists, for example, are very cautious when writing
about Hezbollah and other controversial sectarian and social
issues – some of which are simply dodged altogether. Khoury
gave as an example, the invisible line that was erected
under the presidency of Emile Lahoud, which even
caricaturists did not cross. In mid-2006, masses of
Hezbollah supporters rioted in the streets in protest after
LBC aired a segment portraying Hassan Nasrallah on its
sketch comedy program, Basmat Watan, demonstrating that even
if the media is brave enough to cross these invisible lines,
very real consequences can emerge on the ground.
Press freedom
is obstructed in a different sense by the political
affiliations and leanings of individual journalists and, in
particular, the organizations they work for. According to
Khoury, "Some newspapers indirectly launch racist statements
vis-à-vis Syrian workers, or Palestinians, or even Iraqi
refugees." Khoury said that the concept of freedom of
expression is "not very clear in the heads of journalists
and the owners of the media, [who directly or indirectly]
impose their own doctrines and religious and political
agendas… Every media group has its political calculus."
Preserving
Gebran’s legacy
Two years after
his death, Tueni is sorely missed by An-Nahar and, indeed,
by Lebanon as a whole. It is his outspoken voice, Nayla
Tueni told NOW Lebanon – more important than ever in today’s
context – that is missed the most.
So long as
journalists remain constrained in any way – whether by
intimidation or even by the political biases of their
organizations – the voice and spirit of Tueni must serve as
a reminder of what the press in Lebanon should be: a forum
for expression, free from political and sectarian
constraints and, most of all, free from fear.
For Salam,
despite setbacks, Tueni’s legacy can never be truly lost:
"If it’s going to be lost, it means that we are giving it
away. And I don’t think that any of us are prepared to give
it away."
Ideals, after
all, cannot be killed – as long as voices still exist to
promote them. |
