Early Wednesday morning, Alem Dechasa, an Ethiopian domestic worker in Lebanon, used her bed sheets to hang herself in her room in the hospital where she was taken 3 weeks ago, after her boss had beaten her in public.
The Ethiopian embassy has filed a lawsuit against Ali Maafouz, the asshole who led this woman to take such extreme measures.
As this was taking place, I was preparing my follow-up post to my Open Letter to MTV Lebanon. The TV station has decided to ignore my letter, brushing it off as unimportant and with the underlying message that I should learn to take a joke.
While my letter was focused mostly on a skit that was homophobic, it was actually the result of numerous videos that bully, mock, and insult minorities. One such skit from the show has a couple joking about the suicide of their domestic worker.
I wonder when it stops being funny to them.
I doubt that Ali Mahfouz will be punished for his crimes, but I don’t think he bears the full responsibility here.
He is part of an entire system that encourages the mistreatment of anyone who is different, who is weak, who is helpless.
As a leading TV station in Lebanon, MTV’s irresponsible approach to “comedy” is very much to blame for his behavior. It plays a key part in spreading the racism and misogyny that lead to the abuse of domestic workers (among other minorities) in Lebanon.
Alem’s death will most probably be dismissed as a suicide.
But it wasn’t a suicide at all.
It was a cold-hearted brutal murder by someone who treated a human being like an animal, encouraged by a society that neglects the basic rights of minorities, or even worse, that mocks them.
MTV Lebanon, through your blatant racism, homophobia, and sexism, you are guilty of being an accomplice to abuse, torture, and murder. By deciding to ignore the pleas of people asking you to stop the abuse, you are a criminal organization.
Don’t tell me I can’t take a joke. Don’t tell Alem she can’t take a joke.
It has never been funny, and now it has become murderous.
ohmyhappiness 
Layal
March 16, 2012
Have you seen the video of a Sudanese mother whose four-year-old child came home crying one day because her Lebanese classmates told her “that she was dirty because she was black”?Poor Alem was just another one of the victims of our extremely racist,disgusting society.Somehow,they think it’s alright to look down upon anybody who is dark-skinned or non-Lebanese,Unless of course the ‘Non-Lebanese’ in this situation is European or American,then they’re “Jame3a Class”. Every time I hear of these things happening,it makes me shake my head in disgust and horror,and pray for the next opportunity to GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE.
Hala J.
March 17, 2012
The kind of attitude a lot of Lebanese people have toward minorities and non-Lebanese is absolutely disgusting. Honestly, we act so proud of our nationality and are so freaking “patriotic” but we treat others like crap. Not just that, but what do we have to be so proud of? We cut each other down at every opportunity, and the liar and cheater is considered “smart” while those who work hard and are honest are “simple-minded”. We can’t even go to one of the more beautiful areas of our country without throwing trash into it like it’s nothing. No wonder we have no common human decency. Homosexuals and domestic workers don’t stand a chance.
What a messed-up society.
Ephemeral
March 18, 2012
Racism is not a Lebanese thing, however, lately this sort of events are increasing so I wonder if racism is on the rise or we are taking more notice of it?
In all cases, a helpless female lost her life in tragic conditions, and the sad thing is that beyond certain blogs, and few seconds on main tv stations, these stories are becoming so mundane and banal.
This why we need to be more active, tell everyone that this is not Ok and that they should not get used to these sort of stories.
Any ideas on how to have a bigger impact? How to actually influence the public opinion? This needs a holistic approach, children should learn to respect to cultural differences as early as possible. It is a Saturday night, I cannot come up with bright ideas during the weekend, I will let you know if I have anything worth sharing later on.
ohmyhappiness
March 19, 2012
So? Any great ideas? 🙂
Ephemeral
March 21, 2012
Hey,
So yes, let me try. First of all whatever we will do, we cannot expect to erase racism, but we should make it less acceptable by the majority of the population. In other words we should make racism something that most will frown upon.
The way I see it, Lebanese are not inherently racist, mostly it’s due to ignorance. Society labels this and that particular group of people and gives it certain attributes that may or may not be true but we accept them as given facts. What do we know about for example about Ethiopians living in Lebanon? How are they influencing our culture? What exchange is happening between locals and foreigners? I would say not much. Can we counter this? Probably. I have got a few suggestions:
1. Host these foreigners and migrant workers in a special tv or web series. Let them talk about their lives, their hopes, their dreams, their good and bad experiences in Lebanon.
I think this would help in giving these migrant workers more of an identity in the public eyes.
2. I strongly believe that food is a fast way to access a culture. When I travel, I always make it a point to sample the local food, it adds so much more to the experience. Sight seeing alone is not enough. In addition food, like music, brings people together. So my suggestion would be to make some sort of food festival or gathering featuring the national cuisine of a group of migrants (one group at a time, more festivals for moi, please!). Lebanese will be able to sample unknown dishes and know their stories all while having a good time and making new friends.
3. Invest in the young. Young children are like blank pages waiting to be filled with whatever comes along. Unfortunately, most of the time, prejudice and lack of tolerance is something they acquire from their parents, close friends, and society at large. However, what if you can intervene at this early stage and teach children that being different is perfectly normal, in fact, life with no variety is frankly boring. Affecting children is a difficult task, you need to speak their language. But with songs, comic books, theatrical displays, animated e-books,…you can, hopefully, reach their hearts.
These are few suggestions, I can go on and give out some more, but I think it’s enough for now. I will wait for your reaction.
P.S, I have patented my ideas, ok?? 🙂
Keep on smiling.
ohmyhappiness
March 29, 2012
Sorry, for some reason I did not notice this post earlier! I LOVE your ideas. They’re all great. Seriously. So, now that you’ve patented them, you’re ready to work on them? 🙂
I think showing the dreams, hopes, lives, and problems facing migrant workers in Lebanon is an amazing idea that is quite simple. I’d love to work on that.
Thanks for your ideas. 🙂
Ephemeral
April 2, 2012
Hey, finally you got to read my ideas.
I am glad you liked what I proposed. For sure I am ready to work on them, and I have a small group of friends that can help out also. However, this requires an action plan and a bit of organization to get things rolling. Do you have any propositions? Where to start? Who to contact?Which format to use? and so on.
Waiting for your feedback.