I was checking out on lebmanbojumbo’s blog the “Migrant’s workers rights and obligations booklet in Lebanon”, and I honestly don’t know what to think of the Cultural Practices and Social Manners sections [Manual].
Here are some of the recommendations for all domestic workers coming to Lebanon and my comments:
– In Lebanon, people may sometimes speak with a loud voice but this does not always mean that they are angry with you or don’t like you. They just communicate in a different way from what you may be used to.
How about Lebanese learn to talk quietly and respectfully to others including their domestic workers?
– They often say “NO” by raising their eyebrows, shaking their head from one side to the other or raising it high.
WTF? Seriously?
– You could be asked to wear a veil in a Muslim family.
So much for freedom of religion. How about ask the domestic worker if she minds before being asked to wear a veil or a cross or whatever?
– It is quite common for people in Lebanon to entertain a large number of guests till late hours of the night in their homes.
You are a slave. Deal with it.
– Your employer may ask you to work in the evening or on weekends.
You are a slave. Deal with it.
Ahmedo (geo), take this booklet and red it and then read it again to “hermelshit” Ali Mahfouz, and help those poor maid who slaves in lebanese homes!!!
embarrassing
apparently,There’s no such thing as tolerance and human rights
See this is where blowing things out of proportion starts: There’s nothing wrong with the last two clauses by themselves.
If these workers had contracts and got paid extra for working in the evening, with their consent, this brochure is simply an information manual on the working conditions. If you’re an IT employee your contract might say that certain deployment or maintenance tasks take place at night and so you might be required to work late in the evening. That doesn’t make you a slave, it makes you an informed employee.
However what’s different with foreign workers is that the framework of their employment is comparable to slavery, which is an entirely different issue, and of course anything within that framework might sound like slavery while in any other context it wouldnt.
Dear Najib, don’t u think that u r over reacting a little bit?
1. So what is we move our eyebrows and talk loudly??? why is it a crime to inform them about it? don’t indians move their head the same way to say No and to say Yes? I don’t see you replying: “How about indians learn to talk instead of nodding their heads??? WTF? Seriously?”
2. Since when is it illegal to inform our employee that we will entertain people late at night???
I bet you have a maid at home and she cleans after you and ur friends after your long nights eating and drinking and being loud !!!! I bet she also cleans ur dirty underpants so stop playing the sainte nitouche !!!
3. Since that ethiopian maid incident you and other bloggers have been accusing people yamin w chmel of discrimination and violence and ma ba3rif chou… I am not saying that hitting a maid whom ever she is is a good thing, nor that what happened in the small movie is right. But please can you explain to me why this happened IN FRONT of the ethiopian embassy and no ethiopian employee of the embassy reacted???
4. What’s wrong with informing them to wear a veil if they are in a Muslim family??? Have you ever seen lebanese women in KSA?? Aren’t they obliged to be covered in black from head to toe? I dont think that anyone asked them if they mind, like you are suggesting!!!!! why dont u accuse the saoudis of discrimination????
I really like your blog, as well as other like plus961 etc, but this time you’ve gone too far. I think we should all say Thank you to Caritas for making this manual!!!
lol if you want to piss off najib just keep referring back to this old post
https://blogbaladi.com/najib/lebanon/knocked-up/
Mark *hugs* thank you for posting this link! Hahaha, I’m sorry Najib but he got you there 😀
Not really. I never said anything I regretted and I apologize whenever am wrong. I reposted a clarification cause I refuse being labeled as racist and I was making a point back then that was badly formulated and misinterpreted.
It takes a lot to piss me off 🙂
Rita,
Honestly I think we are not doing anything at all to help and whatever we do can’t be overeacting when we see what’s happening.
1- The note about the eyebrows is insulting because it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the person is saying No. That’s not a Lebanese thing and it’s insulting to think they don’t know what nodding ur head means. As for talking loudly, It’s impolite to talk loudly when addressing other people whomever they are. There’s nothing related to our “culture” or any culture that should include talking loudly.
2- A domestic worker should not be enslaved to working all day. There should be working hours for her and she should be compensated differently if her employee has dinners or parties all night. When I have my friends or family over, I help her and my mum cleaning.
3- I fully blame the Ethiopians as well and have a post ready about this. What they are doing is very wrong.
4. I am talking about Lebanese. I am not concerned with Saudis. We have freedom of religion here, there’s no such thing in KSA. I am not saying she shouldn’t wear a veil. I am saying she should be warned in advance not be faced with whatever her employee orders her to do.
By the way I don’t blame Caritas or critisze them for this booklet. I am sure they did it out of good intentions as I love and respect them but they did it wrong in few aspects that I mentioned.
Najib,
1. you are right, but sometimes things are interpreted differently between cultures, you can’t change that.
2. Bravo 🙂 !
3. I didn’t see anyone (in any blog) blame the embassy, this is why I got upset
4. There is one problem you are all forgetting: the agencies hiring these people in their countries are not informing them at all about anything. They are promised a better life, they get here and they find our that they should work to get paid, and not watch TV, socialize and eat whatever they find in the fridge and get paid !!!
Anyway don’t think that I am against these people, I also have a maid, and I am proud that after spending 3 years with me, she requested herself to stay 2 more.
Peace 😉 !
Najib, I disagree about the eyebrows thing.
I distinctly remember going to Lebanon when I was 15 and asking a boy in the village whether it had an internet cafe.
He raised his eyebrows.
In Australia, this means “I am surprised”.
SO, I asked him again, in a louder voice. And this time, he raised his eyebrows and lifted his chin.
In Australia, this means, “I am REALLY suprised!”
So I asked him a third time, and he raised his eyebrows, lifted his chin, and made a kind of “tt!” sound in his throat.
Baffled by his refusal to answer (was there something shocking about my appearance? Was my Arabic too crap for him to understand me?), I asked him a final time, and when he said, “No!” we kind of stared at each other, him clearly thinking I was crazy and me thinking he had some sort of neck problem.
I would like to accuse the Saudis of discrimination. They don’t care. The whole world objects to their discrimination against women and non-muslims and nothing changes.
Najib,
About that note regarding the raised eybrows to mean NO that is actually a good one.
I have been to a bunch of African countries where that same motion means yes and that always got me confused.
how are there two people with the name Fadi?
I edited the other to be Fadin
thank you Najib