07/10/2009 / LEBANON
When I heard that the
dancers were planning to make a stop in Tyre, I was quite surprised, considering
how conservative the place is. But then I thought, well, it has been given the
go-ahead by the authorities (rightly so), and it's an event organised by a
private organisation and in collaboration with the Lebanese Tourism Ministry.
Samba dancers too risqué for southern Lebanon
Photo posted on Facebok by Toni Yammine .
A Samba street party on its way to a town in south Lebanon was stopped in its tracks after a group of religious dignitaries labelled it "pornographic" and "against Muslim beliefs". According to one of our Lebanese Observers, the decision is a disgrace to the country.
The Brazilian dancers landed in the country on September 23 and had already put on four performances in central Beirut and the cities of Zahle (central Lebanon) and Batroun (east coast), all of them majority Christian areas.
In the hope of appeasing the largely Muslim population of the southern city of Tyre, Brazil's ambassador in Beirut suggested toning down the performance by donning the dancers in a bit more than is traditional.
His efforts however, were in vain. In the eyes of around 50 religious dignitaries, even a censored version of the show was too indecent for the residents of Tyre, and it was officially given the no-go by one of the group, Sheik Ali Yassine.
Contributors
“Once again, Lebanon will be associated with extremism and intolerance”
Darine Sabbagh is a translator and blogger from Beirut. She watched the first parade in Beirut on 23 September.
When I heard that the
dancers were planning to make a stop in Tyre, I was quite surprised, considering
how conservative the place is. But then I thought, well, it has been given the
go-ahead by the authorities (rightly so), and it's an event organised by a
private organisation and in collaboration with the Lebanese Tourism Ministry.
Its cancellation is a disgrace and a danger to the country's reputation. Once again, Lebanon will be associated with extremism and intolerance. This affair risks waking some old demons in Lebanon. My country is multi-faith, and what has happened only reminds us that we have a lot to learn if we want to live together happily."
The parade in Beirut
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Comments
Maybe they thought that Lebanon where only Christians
Submitted by Hibo on Sun, 18/10/2009 - 17:10.I think that most of the audience may have seen the news in Lebanon for the dance groups and may have seen a way to dress, so it was better for them to refrain from the audience that found the dress violated the sanctity of their homes or saw the decadence ..
We can not impose conditions on the dances, but administrators can place the demands of simple and in a graceful manner of the teams participating in the festival to wear less clothing sedition or less nudity ..
Respect for the Muslim population of the region.
This is not a sign of backwardness and even respected the other religions and this is something beautiful.
The West-abiding Muslims in the month of Ramadan and break their fast in front of them.
They come to the homes of Muslims who do not respect our religion, this is something else.
However, if they are not informed in advance that Lebanon is a state meet where Muslims and Christians are living together.
Maybe they thought that Lebanon where only Christians by what they hear from other peoples on the freedom of the Lebanese people. And about the freedom of dress and behavior, the freedom of personal freedoms. Were told that the existence of a large group of Muslims in Lebanon.
Hibo
i have few question to Darine Sabbagh
Submitted by Middle East news (not verified) on Fri, 09/10/2009 - 01:38.1- you have a lovely country but why do you have such a mentality ?
i mean christian areas ... muslim areas, who cares?
are you in a same country or you're just in 2 different countries.
2- if the samba dancers were able to perform in 3 cities, including Beirut (the capital) that contrary to what you have said is not a majority Christian area but a majority Muslim areas. (you see i'm even starting to think the way you do ...)
why the fuss, if some samba dancers perform or not in a small city?
this would apply anywhere in the world not only in lebanon or muslim countries, even in the U.S you'll find cities that would object to have a samba performance running through the streets.
3- the disgrace, the danger to the country reputation and the association with extremism is all unfortunately done by the the Lebanese them selves.
as i said if the lebanese would not make a fuss of the above situation nobody would notice because it's normal to have such a reaction in few cities or villages every country around the world (except Brazil). But now the global media would be interested and the country's reputation would be tarnished by the lebanese themselves.
the same situation happened earlier this year with a famous comedian, he simply canceled his presentation for security issue, but it was the Lebanese themselves that have tarnished the most lebanon's reputation afterward not the comedian.
4- You should know, that to us foreigners, we see you all as lebanese
we do not distinguish between muslim, christian, jew ,.... (we do not care what your religion is, being a christian will not make us love you more or less) for us the situation of your country is your responsibility as a whole.
so it would be better that you grow up as a nation and stop throwing the responsibilities on one another.
Unregistered user
It's an age old problem. A
Submitted by Johnny (not verified) on Sun, 11/10/2009 - 06:26.It's an age old problem. A lot of people feel upset upon seeing anything open or risque, so it will take a younger and newer generation who is open to new ideas for these "values" to change. The most important thing to take away from this is that they were still able to perform in Lebanon despite severe opposition, so even though this is a small step, it is a step nonetheless. Given time and trying, freedom will spread and people's minds will open.
Unregistered user
Calrification on Darine's comment
Submitted by Team Observers on Fri, 09/10/2009 - 09:20.RE point 2:
Darine said that central Beirut was majority Christian, not the entire city.
"The Brazilian dancers landed in the country on September 23 and had already put on four performances in central Beirut and the cities of Zahle (central Lebanon) and Batroun (east coast), all of them majority Christian areas."
Team Observers
Point 2 , further development
Submitted by political analyst (not verified) on Sat, 10/10/2009 - 01:10.as a political analyst i had many trips to the Middle East region, and i was very interested in what was happening in this small country "Lebanon".
back to the Beirut point,
Central Beirut is the region called now "Beirut Down Town"
this region was heavily bombarded during the lebanese war and had the highest percentage of destruction in the entire country.
before the civil war this region had the vast majority of it's inhabitant affiliated to the Sunni - Muslim faith, all the other religions were also present in big numbers but were not the majority.
After the war, this region was reconstructed as a business and touristic center rather than a populated area.
during and after the lebanese civil war the Lebanese population have gathered in different areas according to religious affiliation (east Beirut for Christians and west for Muslims).
the Beirut center now is located between what is called east and west Beirut, but is considered to be part of the west Beirut area.
Unregistered user