Ghassan Charbel's deleted article in Arabic

After alhayat deleted from its archives Ghassan Charbel's shameful obituary of King Fahd, the Arab Digest has found a copy of the Arabic original, and not the English one (also deleted). We will try to find the English copy and publish:

حارس الجذور وصانع النهضة

2005-08-02

غسان شربل

يحصد القادة الاستثنائيون أوسمة كثيرة. لا ينتظر التاريخ غيابهم ليعلن استضافتهم. يفتح لهم ذراعيه باكراً وقبل ان يحين موعد سرد المآثر وتعداد الانجازات وقراءة المراحل.
يحصد القادة الاستثنائيون أوسمة كثيرة. لكن قلة منهم تتفرد بالوسام الأصعب. الوسام الأشد لمعاناً والأقدر على مقاومة سيف الوقت. انه وسام حب الناس للقائد حين يلمسون في مسيرته ما يحفظ تاريخهم ويحصن حاضرهم ويطمئنهم الى مستقبلهم. وحب الناس أكبر الامتحانات. لا ينتزع قسراً ولا يشترى.
انه خيط من الود بين الشعب والحاكم. الحاكم الوافد من انتظار الناس. مجلسه مفتوح ليتسع لكل زائر وسائل. وقلبه مفتوح لكل حامل شكوى أو حاجة. وعقله مفتوح لكل حامل سؤال أو استفهام.
كان فهد بن عبدالعزيز من تلك القلة النادرة التي فازت بوسام محبة الناس وتقديرهم فاكتمل عقد الأوسمة.
ثمة مفتاح يجعل الحاكم الناجح حاكماً استثنائياً. انه محبة الناس. ومن يعرف السعودية والسعوديين يعرف ان السعودي كان يعتبر فهد بن عبدالعزيز ملكاً واباً وملكاً وشقيقاً وملكاً وصديقاً.
كان فهد بن عبدالعزيز يدرك عراقة الماضي وحجم الإرث وخصوصية المكان. ولهذا كان حارس الجذور والثوابت. لا يفرط بها ولا يتهاون. وكان يعرف ان الثوابت تحمى بادراك المتغيرات وان أفصح دروس التاريخ الانهماك بصناعة المستقبل. لهذا كان حارس الجذوردائماً وفاتح النوافذ دائماً.
كان يعرف ان الضعف ليس قدراً. وان الندية في مخاطبة الكبار مشروطة بترتيب شؤون البيت وتسليح الأجيال الجديدة بأوراق القوة في عصر العلم والتكنولوجيا والسباق المحموم نحو التقدم. ولهذا فتح أمام الشباب السعودي ابواب أرقى جامعات العالم فعادوا منها للمشاركة في ورشة التنمية. وكان يدرك ان السعودية التي تتمتع بموقع ديني متميز في العالم العربي والاسلامي قادرة على ان تكون ايضاً بفعل ثروة النفط قوة اقتصادية صاحبة ثقل سياسي توظفه في خدمة الأمة وقضاياها وفي خدمة التعاون الدولي القائم على احترام المصالح واحترام الفروقات.
وعلى عادة القادة الاستثنائيين كان لفهد بن عبدالعزيز اسلوبه. التبصر والتمهل لا يلغيان القدرة على المبادرة. والاقدام محروس بقاعدة ان الحكمة تاج الشجاعة. وفي العلاقات الخارجية كما في الداخلية قيم الوفاء واحترام الالتزامات والتمسك بالعهود. ولهذا كان رصيده أوسع من مساحة السعودية على شساعتها فبادلته شعوب ودول ومدن مشاعر الود خصوصاً انه كان سباقاً في مساعدة محتاج ونصرة مظلوم ومواساة متألم. في العلاقات العربية والاسلامية كان داعية توافق وتعاضد. وفي العلاقات الدولية كان داعية تعاون وتفاهم. واقترنت الرحابة القادرة على امتصاص خلافات الاشقاء والأزمات بالقدرة على اتخاذ القرارات الصعبة والمؤلمة حين يصير اتخاذها انقاذياً للوطن أو الأمة أو الحق. تلك الرحابة جعلته يحتفظ بحبه لمدن حتى حين يتهور حكامها وتضللها اذاعاتها.
كان فهد بن عبدالعزيز مولعاً بالانجاز. ارتبطت باسمه خطوات اقتصادية عملاقة. كما ارتبطت باسمه محطات سياسية وضعت السعودية على طريق توسيع المشاركة وتدعيم ركائز الاستقرار الذي أظهر تماسكاً في وجه رياح الارهاب ورياح التشكيك. ولعل أكبر انجازات أي حاكم هي ان يترك بلاده في أيد أمينة حين يغيب موظفاً رصيد حب الناس له في تسهيل مهمة من انتقلت اليه الأمانة ومعه من هو أمين على عهده.
يغيب فهد بن عبدالعزيز ويبقى حاضراً. بصماته ماثلة في صناعة المستقبل. وعلى عادة الفرسان يغادر الحلبة الى التاريخ وذاكرة الناس.

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"Art is a hammer to shape reality": PalFest breaks the siege of Gaza

By Ayah Bashir from 

The Electronic Intifada website, 

Gaza City 

Amid the focus on the economic hardships caused by Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, it has been easy for many to overlook the fact that the territory’s 1.6 million people have been kept under a cultural siege as well.

This is ironic because much international debate has emphasized the rights and wrongs of cultural boycott of Israel in the context of the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions(BDS) campaign.

For years, the Palestine Festival of Literature — PalFest — has been trying to break this siege.

PalFest began in 2008 in the West Bank, and tried its best to come to Gaza in 2009 with the clear objective of connecting international writers with Palestinian writers and audiences in Gaza. However, Israeli occupation forces denied organizers entry permits through the Erez crossing in the north of the Gaza Strip. In 2010, PalFest organizers tried again to enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing — along the Strip’s border with Egypt — but were also denied entry by the regime of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in February 2011.

Undeterred

Academics, intellectuals and students had eagerly followed the news of whether or not the authors invited by PalFest would be allowed into Gaza this year. Undeterred by the disappointing denial, some authors last year were able to take part via video conference (see video of Haidar Eid’s 2010 introduction).

On 5 May this year, some 14 months after the Egyptian revolution began, we were finally able to welcome PalFest — and an impressive group of writers, artists, bloggers and social activists — to Gaza.

This would scarcely have been possible without the uprisings in the Arab world. This gathering demonstrates that despite the Palestinian cause being hijacked by dictatorships for many years, it continues to bring Arabs together as well and helps foster a re-emergent sense of pan-Arabism.

Not without a struggle

Egyptian novelist and PalFest founder Ahdaf Soueif, wrote in the independent daily al-Shorouk about the motivations behind the festival: “Civil society brings to life the conscience of the world, travelling by sea and air to express solidarity with our brothers in Gaza … the world asks: Will the Egyptian revolution, the awakening of Egypt, change the circumstances under which Palestine lives?” (“Palestine Literature Festival,” 2 May 2012 [Arabic])

And although PalFest did finally come to Gaza this year, it wasn’t without a struggle. It is well known that the Egyptian government has contributed to the Israeli-engineered siege on Gaza. In spite of bureaucracy, restrictions and delays from the Egyptian foreign ministry to issue entry permits for the 43 writers, PalFest participants were so determined that they undertook a media campaign until the permits were granted.

A joyful, but delayed welcome

On 5 May at 2pm, and after thorough preparations inside and outside Gaza for the upcoming events, six BDS activists were on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing and the guests were on the Egyptian side.

But the hours passed and the sky began to darken. PalFest producer Omar Hamilton called. “Things are fine with most of us, but still there are issues with some of the participants’ papers!”

It was Alaa Abed El-Fattah, his wife Manal and their infant son Khaled who were sent back, but not for long as they joined the group the next day.

Only at 7pm, ululations and chants rolled through the place where the hosts were standing when they saw the bus approaching.

Healing wounds not breaking legs

“Culture, art and academia contribute directly to shaping the individual and collective consciousness,” said Dr. Haidar Eid, PalFest’s partner in Gaza and a professor at al-Aqsa University, at a press conference and welcoming ceremony at Rafah as soon as the guests crossed.

Eid, active with the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PACBI), spoke about the growth of BDS campaigns around the globe that aim to pressure Israel to end its policies of apartheid, colonization, abuses of human rights and regular violations of international law.

Solidarity with the Palestinian people through BDS is one of the key unarmed forms of resistance, he said. “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it,” Eid said, quoting Bertolt Brecht.

Eid also recalled the words of Mubarak’s last foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who once promised to “break the legs” of Palestinians if they dared “breach Egypt’s national security.” This time, “our brothers and sisters from Egypt are coming to kiss the feet of Gaza children, to heal the wounds created by the dictator’s regime,” Eid said.

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Crimes against humanity: Syrian soldiers bury a man alive!

This is by far the worst video out of the Syrian revolution, a Syrian man is buried alive. The soldiers say "he is from Qusair (a Syrian rebel town). We haven't been able yet to verify the authenticity of this horrible video.

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The new French PM's last name might affect the Franco-Arab relations

The new French President has named his Prime Minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault. He is fluent in German and quite accustomed with corridors of power in Berlin. But in the Arab world, his appointment has been received with much laughter and many questions. His last name means in Arabic "his penis"; a coincidence that has stirred many questions on whether this would be a problem on his Middle East tour, as the Arabic press has to find ways to cope with his last name. For now, Arabic speaking journalists are having fun discussing it.

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Hitler reacts to Lebanon electricity problem

A funny video by Lebanese activists

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Quality of Saudi-sponsored journalism

The Saudi owned Al-Hayat newspaper is removing shameful translated articles by its editor Ghassan Sharbel who continuously heaps praise on Saudi kings and princes. After the removal of his article on the late King Fahd "The Custodian of the Ancestry and the Architect of the Renaissance", previously here, the Arab Digest is publishing his obituary of the former crown prince Sultan Ben Abdul Aziz before its gone!

Photo above, Sharbel, and below is his masterpiece:

Residing In His Smile

Sun, 23 October 2011

Ghassan Charbel

His smile was his passport to the hearts of his countrymen and his visitors. A smile is a key, a thread of affability. A smile is a window, into the cordiality of a man, and his desire for amicability; into his ability for dialogue, for coming together with others and deeply listening to them. For building bridges of trust, spreading hope, and making the present full of promises for the future. It was as though his smile was his weapon. Neither could crises inhibit it, nor could calamities abolish it. It was as though it was his message, and his affirmation that the horizon is open to better days. The bodies of some great men may tire, but they may have smiles that never do. It is as though it has become the property of their admirers. Some great men leave a message of reassurance, even if they themselves have departed:

Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz

In the school of the founder King Abdul Aziz, he was both a son and a student. It was a school of deep roots, of steadfastness in belief, and a love for the homeland that translates into love for the citizens. And his was a will to establish, to build and to fortify. And the secret to such fortification is cohesion between the leadership and the people, and mutual allegiance and faithfulness. The secret is open doors, open hearts, and direct contact. The secret is sincere fulfillment of promises, and honesty in pledges.

In the school of deep roots, the people’s love is the most effective weapon for the official. Power is guarded by dreams, and courage is guarded by wisdom. No decision is taken out of anger, and no policy is built upon vindictiveness. There is a practice in this creed that is always guided by its values of moderation, tolerance and solidarity. And a part of the Arab culture is a sense of moderation that does not see in disagreement a chance for estrangement, nor in a break justification for a confrontation.

He remained patient in the face of excessive policies by some of those who were fooled by a rash interpretation of the delusions of power. In the crucial hour, however, he was firm in confronting those adventures aimed at abolishing states and the rights of whole peoples. But he also had the ability of turning the page on dissonance in order to mend bridges. And he was quick to seek to heal wounds, start dialogues, and bring the belligerents together to encourage them to search for peace.

Guided by these values, Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz carried out his duties in all the posts that he occupied. He was always keen on empowering the state, with an eye on the present and an eye on the future. He held on to core principles and was deeply aware of the requirements of modernization. Over five decades, he sponsored, from his position in the Ministry of Defense, building the armed forces. To begin with, Saudi Arabia is located in a turbulent region. The Islamic and economic position of the kingdom makes it always in the crosshairs. For this reason, he was keen on elevating the armed forces to the level that guarantees defending the country and maintaining its ability to take decisions.

Prince Sultan was the kind of statesmen on whom one could rely in crises, for their courage that goes hand in hand with their wisdom. And for their openness that shows no complacence and steadfastness that shuts no doors. Since he became Crown Prince, he was a strong supporter for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, and a protector of the realm. These qualities were an element of reassurance at home, and an asset for Saudi Arabia abroad. Prince Sultan’s approach contributed to solving old and intractable problems, such as those pertaining to borders and beyond. For this reason, the news of his death was met with a feeling of loss in both nearby and faraway capitals.

Prince Sultan’s preoccupation with the concerns of the state was also accompanied by a permanent preoccupation with charitable work; with helping the needy, treating the sick, giving hope for the anxious and restoring it for families. Then increased responsibilities led to assigning the responsibility for this charitable work to institutions, especially after the many successes abroad as well as at home. And perhaps it is such contributions that made the title of the ‘Sultan of Charity’ go hand in hand with every talk in Saudi Arabia about Prince Sultan.

Great men forge their images with their abilities for leadership and the people’s love for them. Prince Sultan was one such man, born of proud men and proud mountains. We grasp the cruelty of his absence on Prince Khalid bin Sultan, the publisher of Al-Hayat, despite the fact that he is accustomed to tribulations. If there is any consolation here, it is that Prince Sultan will remain in the memory of his many admirers, residing in his smile.

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