After promising to take “severe disciplinary actions” on Tuesday against the two staff members involved in a racist incident, MEA stated today that it fired one of the two employees over racist allegations. [DailyStar]
For those of you who missed it, you can read the whole story [Here].
To be honest, I was informed of the incident but didn’t post about it because I strongly believe the problem will not be solved by pointing out random incidents from time to time, for this is not an isolated case but “a wide-ranging and systemic problem”, as Mustapha argues.
It’s good to hear that MEA has responded positively to this incident by firing the female employee (whose name was not mentioned for some reason), but this doesn’t meant such incidents won’t be repeated in a more discreet manner.
Only yesterday tens of Syrian workers were attacked in their residences in Achrafieh and beaten brutally for no reason whatsoever and no one bothered even mentioning it or signing a petition for it. The same happened with Sudanese workers who went on a hunger strike yet no reaction whatsoever. Add to that the Ethiopian maid who was beaten up in front of her embassy, the racist beach resorts and the list goes on and on …
Racism is a major problem in Lebanon and it should be dealt with by raising awareness, providing trainings and banning such practices inside schools, companies, banks, governmental institutions etc …
Also and more importantly, parents should raise their children to respect others no matter what their races, colors or religions are.
I don’t understand what you mean by
” I strongly believe the problem will not be solved by pointing out random incidents from time to time”
So you’re saying we should keep quiet when racial events take place? On the contrary I believe we should point out these incidents whenever they happen. In this case for example the incident was pointed out and the employee got fired and an example set. If this doesn’t start fixing things what will?
And yes racism is a major issue in lebanon and awareness should be raised but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t highlight racial events and punish those who commit racist acts.
I am saying I don’t like how everyone makes a big fuss out of an isolated incident and then ignores the rest or even ignore the same event the next day. We need to be able to point out all incidents and behave in a similar matter and apply the same pressure on MEA and others.
I never hesitate to post about such issues and will definitely post again but it’s becoming more like “lets sign a petition” and invite all our friends to a fb event and tweet about it and if nothing happens, forget about it and move on.
I like to act upon things that annoy me and I can’t find a proper platform to punish those accused of racism in Lebanon and creating a buzz using the social media tools is not causing the change needed.
Dude you’re not making sense. People are making a fuss out of this “isolated” incident because this incident happened. Because people made a fuss things got fixed. You’re arguing that we shouldn’t have made a fuss out of this? seriously?
You’re also so wrong in thinking that social media isn’t causing the change needed. This incident is a perfect example of how wrong your statement is. Because of social media a racist MEA employee was fired. That’s change! How can you not see that?
As a blogger I’d have assumed you understood and respected the power of social media and not looked down on it as if it’s some platform for just food reviews.
I am saying we should find a way to make a fuss out of every similar incident or else it will be treated in an isolated matter by punishing one employee or reprimanding them. I said social media in lebanon is making a change but not the desired one yet. I am hoping for a better way to engage those racist acts and force companies to take pro active measures to prevent them instead of reacting to a social media buzz
What if MEA didn’t do anything about this employee, what would we have done? Absolutely nothing or maybe sign another petition.
It’s good that social media is influencing companies and businesses to a certain extent but I strongly think there should be a united effort (not a fb group) to exercise proper pressure on companies and file lawsuits or inflict penalties if they don’t comply to certain regulations.
Maybe we could lobby for a law or pressure the government to adopt one forcing certain Anti racism awareness methods and by laws etc … That’s one example
Regarding the Syrians being attacked in Ashrafieh, see here:
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/169124
and compare it with this blogbaladi’s post:
https://blogbaladi.com/attention-women-of-mar-mikhail-gemmayze/
I’m not justifying anything, but few weeks ago I heard on mtv that a woman, a foreigner, was raped in Mar Mikhail (and she went to the police station where she was told that nothing could be done). Few days earlier, I was walking in Mar Mikhail by night and I saw a woman which looked European to me in a very confused state, being helped by another girl to get a cab. Not sure if it’s the same woman, but since this thing continues according to the blogbaladi post, an end must be put to this in our neighborhood. Even if those poor people aren’t the ones who have been committing the atrocities, it’s hard to believe that no one of them knows nothing about it.
Waynak ya Charbel Nahhas?
wala 3eb i feel so bad for the Filipinos and others. This act should not go unnoticed , speak against racism always. this is unacceptable . I can imagine how racist they were. I wish i was there. and leabnese want to be treated like kings everywhere wala 3eb
About the Achrafieh thing, more from the Lebanese Army
http://bit.ly/QdfDyJ