The Jews of Lebanon Project

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The beautiful Magen Abraham synagogue in Beirut was built in 1925 and is a testament to a time when Jews were a significant part of Lebanon’s multi-religious mosaic. The community numbered as many as 14,000, and traced its roots in the area as far back as 1,000 BC.

The temple is now in tatters and the old Jewish quarter of Wadi Abu Jamil is practically a ghost town amid the rising skyscrapers of the central city. While Lebanon’s Jewish population actually rose after the creation of Israel in 1948, Jews began leaving when the Civil War divided the country along sectarian lines in 1975. Exodus began in earnest after 1982, when Israel invaded Lebanon. Estimates of Lebanon’s Jewish population vary from between 50 to 1,000. No one is certain because those who are left often keep their religious identity secret and the country itself hasn’t had a census since 1936.

But a 21 year-old Lebanese-American Muslim is on a quixotic quest to turn back the tide. Late last year, Aaron-Micael Beydoun launched a website, The Jews of Lebanon(i.e.www.thejewsoflebanon.org), to be a forum for documenting that community’s history here, and for keeping track of Lebanese Jews abroad. This year, Beydoun announced that he will start an NGO who’s mission will be to revive Lebanese Jewish life in Lebanon itself, beginning with the restoration of the Magen Abraham synagogue. The goal is to remind Lebanese — and the world — that peaceful coexistence between religious groups is the country’s norm not the exception.

Whether Lebanon is ready for a Jewish revival is open to question. Supporters of Hizballah — the anti-Israeli Islamic militia — say their beef is with the Jewish state not Jews themselves. But “Jew” is still an insult in the discourse of Lebanese street politics, often used to tar those suspected of collaborating with America and Israel. Presumably, the Lebanese Jews who live here keep a low profile for a reason.

Nor is it likely that many Lebanese Jews in exile will soon return to such an unstable country. Ever since the war with Israel this past summer, Lebanon’s middle class has been leaving en masse. The trend has continued now that the political system and the economy have been paralyzed by an ongoing campaign led by Hizballah to topple the government. Until the dust settles in the Middle East (whenever that may be), the Jews of Lebanon might be better off staying in Montreal.

–Andrew Lee Butters/Beirut

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‘Exodus’ of Iraq’s ancient minorities
By Patrick Cockburn Published: 26 February 2007

Iraq’s minorities, some of the oldest communities in the world, are being driven from the country by a wave of violence against them because they are identified with the occupation and easy targets for kidnappers and death squads. A “huge exodus” is now taking place, according to a report by Minority Rights Group International. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 30 per cent of the 1.8 million Iraqis who have fled to Jordan, Syria and elsewhere come from the minorities. The Christians, who have lived in Iraq for 2,000 years, survived the Muslim invasion in the 7th century and the Mongol onslaught in the 13th but are now being eradicated as their churches are bombed and members of their faith hunted down and killed along with other minority faiths. The report, Assimilation, Exodus, Eradication: Iraq’s minority communities since 2003, written by Preti Taneja, says that half of the minority communities in Iraq, once 10 per cent of the total population, have fled. They include Mandaeans, whose main prophet is John the Baptist and Yazidis whose religion is an offshoot of Zoroastrianism and may be 4,000 years old. Other minorities who were persecuted under Saddam Hussein are under attack again. The so-called Faili, or Shia Kurds, who were stripped of their belongings under the old regime and expelled to Iran are now being forced to run again - forced out of Shia areas such as Sadr City because they are Kurds and Sunni cities such as Baquba, because they are Shia.

The small Jewish community, whose members arrived in chains as slaves, has been all but destroyed by persecution and the pervasive suspicion that Jews have collaborated with the US-led invaders. Christians were tolerated in Iraq under Saddam Hussein whose policies were generally secular, though they became more Islamic in his latter years. “Because America and Britain are Christian countries, the [fundamentalists] blame us for the war,” said Roger William, who father-in-law owned a casino and dance hall in Baghdad before 2003, according to the report. “We are terrified. We don’t know what the future will hold.” Christians are frequent targets of kidnappers because they are thought to be rich and to have no militia or tribe to protect them. Mandaeans are traditionally jewellers and goldsmiths and this again makes them attractive targets for abduction. They say that 504 members of their community were killed in six months, of whom 90 per cent were goldsmiths. “For Mandaeans, the biggest threat is extinction,” said Bashar al-Sabti, a spokesman for the Iraqi Minorities Council. “The killing is equal to three deaths for every one person left alive.” Not everybody runs. Mr Sabti, speaking after his jewellery shop in the centre of Baghdad, had been bombed, said: “The body of Iraq is filled with pain and wounds. But we must not grieve this body before it is dead.” One of the worst affected minorities is the small, 35,000-strong Palestinian community, many of whom had been in Iraq since 1948. Seen as being under the special protection of Saddam Hussein, they have suffered severely since his fall. Umm Mohammed, a 56-year-old grandmother, said the militias “are monsters, they killed my two sons in front of my house and later shouted that we Palestinians are like pigs.”

A suicide car bomb exploded yesterday near the College of Administration and Economics killing 40 and injuring more than 30, mostly students. The college is part of Mustansariyah University, which Sunni insurgents denounce as controlled by the Shia Mehdi Army. The groups most at risk * MANDAEANS Before 2003: 30,000 Now: fewer than 13,000 The Mandaeans, one of the world’s oldest Gnostic religions, are concentrated in Baghdad and in the Nineveh plains. * YAZIDI Before 2003: not known Now: about 550,000 Largest group of Yazidi, also known as the “Cult of Angels”, lives near Mosul, practising a monotheistic religion that includes elements of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. * JEWS 2003: a few hundred Now: 15 Brought to Iraq as slaves by the King Nebuchadnezzar 2,600 years ago, the Jewish community flourished and once numbered more than 150,000. * PALESTINIANS 2003: 35,000 Now: 15,000 Arrived in Iraq as refugees since 1948. Resentment about their perceived special treatment is thought to be behind the violent attacks they now face. * TURKOMANS 2003: 800,000 claimed Now: as low as 200,000 The descendants of the Turkish-speaking tribes have long been involved in a battle against the Kurds for the city of Kirkuk. Since 2003, more than 1,350 have been killed. ‘These cultures will become extinct’: Layla Alroomi, 65, consultant paediatrician, London People have always called us “dirty” or “unbelievers”.Things have got much much worse since 2003.

I visited a slum in Damascus, Syria, where most of the Mandaean community who left Iraq now live. I met a boy of 10. His name was Selwan and when he was eight he was kidnapped. Half of his face was burnt away. I also met a beautiful Mandaean woman of 33. Last year she was in a car with her husband when armed extremists took the woman out, put her in their car. Four of them raped her. She had been pregnant but that night she lost her baby. The Mandaeans by their religion are pacifist. They don’t carry guns. Now most Mandaeans who have left Iraq live in the slum I visited in Damascus.If the international community does not do something to help, I think these ancient cultures will become extinct.

© 2007 Independent News and Media Limited

“Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path,
for they draw only corrupt blood.” {Gibran}

All friends and supporters of this moral and humanitarian endeavor are asked to please register their email address as we pursue the establishment of an NGO that will have the capability of engaging and successfully carrying out this project. This isn’t a formal registration and is only a means of communicating with those who may be interested in being on the mailing list which will be published periodically so as to keep people up to date with the process of our work. The mailing list is for all who are interested in the project, even if you are not planning to formally enroll and participate in the NGO.

The NGO is the only means of success. Our aim will be to preserve the Lebanese Jewish community, preserve and maintain Jewish sites scattered across the country, raise awareness amongst the greater Lebanese society, and ultimately promote religious tolerance and coexistence between ALL religious communities in Lebanon. This will be the first such movement in Lebanon and around the world and will be strictly humanitarian.

I want to thank the many who have already registered and those who will henceforth. We will prove to our country and to the world that religious tolerance and coexistence, and particularly Lebanon’s greatest manifestation of its religious diversity, it’s Jewish children, is the salvation for world peace. We will initiate an unprecedented project and trend within our society and the world, and in due time, we pray that our noble ambitions can be realized.

Warmest personal regards,
Administrator

Register here: Mailing List Registration

Jewish children performing in a play in Beirut.

__________________________________________________________________________

It hurts because I can’t help.

It hurts because I can’t do more.

It hurts because they don’t understand.

Who would these children have been had we not watched them immigrate? Maybe the next leader, teacher, artist? Instead of contributing to our dear country, their fate, like the fate of us all, is immigration and contribution to every country but our own. Damn those who call themselves our leaders, we are raised in nostalgia because of their incompetence.

Interviews from the Montréal Conference with 30LL.org, a great site by Lebanese youth, the future of our country.

Click Here to Listen

Pictures, audio, and video from the actual conference will be coming soon.

Emotional plea by a Jewish youth in Lebanon:

I am sitting a few minutes walking distance from the Maghen Abraham, writing this letter, but frankly I am at a loss for words. I am not sure what to say, or for that matter what to feel. The past few years have been a monumental struggle for me, a struggle for finding my identity, my roots, my past. My struggle might be unique in its details, but at its core it is all too common.

Perhaps you will not understand the feelings I am trying to convey. Perhaps words cannot do justice to these feelings to begin with. These feelings are better kept in one’s heart, but I have decided to attempt to at least give you a sense of the struggle that rages in me, even today, when I can safely say that I feel confident about my belonging and identity.

It pains me that I have not had the chance to experience the life that some of you in the audience might have experienced in the past in Lebanon. It pains me immensely that I have to pass by the Maghen Abraham every day without being able to enter, if only to view the destruction, to say a prayer (even though I do not know how to say prayers), to stand there and imagine and visualize what the 1940s, 50s, 60s were like. It pains me that some of you, in the audience, wish to deny that I - a Lebanese Jew - exist. That my family and friends exist. It pains me immensely that I have to keep my identity hidden in my own country, but also that I have to prove my Jewishness to you, my fellow Jews, my fellow countrymen and women. I do not consider myself or my family more Lebanese than you the Lebanese Jews in the audience, just because my family chose to stay in Lebanon. No, I do not espouse such elitist views, nor do I wish to impose labels on you. It is up to every individual to define and exert his or her identity based on his or her experiences and feelings. I might not know how to pray, and I might not have had the chance to go to shul / knis, but I am a product of the context and situation I was born into. I might not sound convincing, and I might not impress you with my words, but I seek neither to convince nor impress. And if it matters, I am writing this with tears in my eyes.

If you wish, you may choose to believe that I am not Jewish. You may choose to believe I am not Lebanese. You may choose to believe that I am your enemy in disguise. Go ahead and do it. But I ask you, if I am all these, so what? Is the wish to spread awareness and battle anti-Semitism, the wish to see renovated rather than destroyed Synagogues, the wish to see cemeteries taken care of, the wish to see a Jewish community living openly and being looked at as equals, an act of enmity? If all this is enmity, then I wonder, what does friendship look like? And if you would like, consider me an enemy - I have no objections, as long as you pay attention to these wishes, as long as you listen to those who have been able to reap your trust.

I have this much to say, and no more. I do not believe in throwing fancy words around, words that are void of real feelings and only scratch the surface of the struggle. I believe in expressing honest feelings, the reality of the struggle, the immense pain in my heart. The depth of this issue, its importance for me and my family, necessitate not an amalgamation of fancy words, but a reference to a set of realities that need to be addressed. In the end, I am but one person, ignore me if you will, but do not ignore the question, the issue, the problem, the “non-existent” Jewish community in Lebanon, or whatever else you want to call us.

Maghen Abraham is the symbol of our community. Every day I pass by it, I cannot help but assure myself that it will be the symbol of our renaissance. I wrote my thoughts and feelings in this letter as they came along, but I knew its conclusion from the very beginning. I cannot afford not to know it. For you, it might not be a reality you live with every day, but we are not blessed with that luxury. So I say, let the elderly revel in the nostalgia, but at least give our youth a chance to live it.

Emotional plea by a Jewish youth in Lebanon:

I am sitting a few minutes walking distance from the Maghen Abraham, writing this letter, but frankly I am at a loss for words. I am not sure what to say, or for that matter what to feel. The past few years have been a monumental struggle for me, a struggle for finding my identity, my roots, my past. My struggle might be unique in its details, but at its core it is all too common.

Perhaps you will not understand the feelings I am trying to convey. Perhaps words cannot do justice to these feelings to begin with. These feelings are better kept in one’s heart, but I have decided to attempt to at least give you a sense of the struggle that rages in me, even today, when I can safely say that I feel confident about my belonging and identity.

It pains me that I have not had the chance to experience the life that some of you in the audience might have experienced in the past in Lebanon. It pains me immensely that I have to pass by the Maghen Abraham every day without being able to enter, if only to view the destruction, to say a prayer (even though I do not know how to say prayers), to stand there and imagine and visualize what the 1940s, 50s, 60s were like. It pains me that some of you, in the audience, wish to deny that I - a Lebanese Jew - exist. That my family and friends exist. It pains me immensely that I have to keep my identity hidden in my own country, but also that I have to prove my Jewishness to you, my fellow Jews, my fellow countrymen and women. I do not consider myself or my family more Lebanese than you the Lebanese Jews in the audience, just because my family chose to stay in Lebanon. No, I do not espouse such elitist views, nor do I wish to impose labels on you. It is up to every individual to define and exert his or her identity based on his or her experiences and feelings. I might not know how to pray, and I might not have had the chance to go to shul / knis, but I am a product of the context and situation I was born into. I might not sound convincing, and I might not impress you with my words, but I seek neither to convince nor impress. And if it matters, I am writing this with tears in my eyes.

If you wish, you may choose to believe that I am not Jewish. You may choose to believe I am not Lebanese. You may choose to believe that I am your enemy in disguise. Go ahead and do it. But I ask you, if I am all these, so what? Is the wish to spread awareness and battle anti-Semitism, the wish to see renovated rather than destroyed Synagogues, the wish to see cemeteries taken care of, the wish to see a Jewish community living openly and being looked at as equals, an act of enmity? If all this is enmity, then I wonder, what does friendship look like? And if you would like, consider me an enemy - I have no objections, as long as you pay attention to these wishes, as long as you listen to those who have been able to reap your trust.

I have this much to say, and no more. I do not believe in throwing fancy words around, words that are void of real feelings and only scratch the surface of the struggle. I believe in expressing honest feelings, the reality of the struggle, the immense pain in my heart. The depth of this issue, its importance for me and my family, necessitate not an amalgamation of fancy words, but a reference to a set of realities that need to be addressed. In the end, I am but one person, ignore me if you will, but do not ignore the question, the issue, the problem, the “non-existent” Jewish community in Lebanon, or whatever else you want to call us.

Maghen Abraham is the symbol of our community. Every day I pass by it, I cannot help but assure myself that it will be the symbol of our renaissance. I wrote my thoughts and feelings in this letter as they came along, but I knew its conclusion from the very beginning. I cannot afford not to know it. For you, it might not be a reality you live with every day, but we are not blessed with that luxury. So I say, let the elderly revel in the nostalgia, but at least give our youth a chance to live it.

Good evening. I want to thank you for bestowing me with the opportunity to speak to you about my cause. A cause initiated, upheld, and sustained through the steadfastness of my beliefs and resoluteness in my principles. Unwavering, undeniable, and fundamental are our most sacred rights, our human rights, our right to live a life of dignity and equality. The rights I demand for myself are the rights I solicit for others. I’m resolute in this understanding because I speak to you this evening, not as Aaron-Micael Beydoun, not as an American, not as a Lebanese, not even as a Muslim, but as a human being. So I ask those of you who have honored and privileged me in your attendance, to please join me around the table of humanity, here in the celebrated city of Montréal.

I’m not typically disposed to emotional exhibitionism but I can not help but feel the distressed seclusion of our Jewish brethren in Lebanon. My endeavor was inaugurated from my personal sense of obligation, my refusal to accept that another brother and partner in the modus operandi , the message we call Lebanon was misplaced from the delicate equation. I will not believe that we have become so blinded as to forget our own people at the expense of the hollow political and ideological slogans paraded in the name of the so-called causes in the capitals of the region and around the world. I ask the purported leaders of the world, what is nobler than this cause? What is more honorable than the cause of humanity? The cause we subscribe to is universally applicable, and the formula we are trying to replenish and renovate in Lebanon is example for the world. That living together as one people IS a possibility, that the children of our great Patriarch Abraham can live together and not in seclusion scattered in segregated countries around the world. It’s very straightforward, I respect and honor all nations and peoples of the world, and I believe all nations and all peoples deserve to live a life of security and prosperity within their own respective borders. But it is Lebanon who has the role to play, situated geographically, culturally, religiously, and ideologically, at a crossroads. Some classify this as the problem in Lebanon, yet I see them as the problem. A history of over 6000 years, our ancestors gave the world its alphabet, continents were named after our princesses, the first law school in the world was established in Beirut and yet what do we have to show for it today? Our Phoenician ancestors were leaders in the world and today we excel in political prostitution, cultural bankruptcy, and most deplorable, sectarian fanaticism. How long will we wait before it’s too late? We’ve practically expelled an entire community and today they are tucked away in the suburbs and villages of Lebanon. Fact is, if we fail to recognize the misdemeanor we have created, we have shamed our ancestors, disgraced our history, and have only set a precedent surely to be followed by future generations. Yesterday the Jew, who will it be tomorrow?

The earliest mention of the community is in and around 1000 BC, in the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre. According to the Bible, Solomon and Hiram, king of Tyre, shared the same language, if not the same beliefs. In 132 AD, following the Bar Kokhba revolt, several Jewish communities moved to geographical Lebanon. The Beirut synagogue was destroyed in 502 AD in the famous earthquake that demolished the town. Caliph Muawiya established a Jewish community in Tripoli, and another existed in Sidon in 922. A synagogue was built in Bhamdoun in 1915, and together with the Aley synagogue built in 1890 (which still stands practically destroyed today, it catered to the middle classes who took to the mountains in summer. Jewish communities flourished in Lebanon- in Beirut, in the mountain villages of Deir Al Qamar, Barouk, Hasbaya, etc. Jews carried typical Lebanese family names, names that Christians and Muslims also carry another subtle yet symbolic marker of the solitary resemblance between the various communities. Jews welcomed the proclamation of Greater Lebanon in 1920, and six years later, when a new Constitution came into force, they were the only Middle Eastern Jewish community to be constitutionally protected. Jewish holidays were official state holidays. Two Jewish newspapers were created during this period, Al-Alam al-Israili (the Israelite World) and Le Commerce du Levant, an economic periodical still publishing today. Those were also the years when the main Maghen Abraham synagogue that week to renovate today was built in Beirut, as were at least 10 additional synagogues. During the French mandate Jews excelled into becoming considerable economic forces contributing to the country. They established cultural, educational, and religious institutions, and at the turn of the century they strengthened their relations with non-Jews. The Jewish community was one of the first to endorse the idea that Lebanon carries a unique identity amongst its Arab surroundings. They were an essential factor, part of the common denominator that brought together the religiously diverse Lebanese people. No surprise, Beirut continuously welcomed an influx of Jews, particularly from other Arab states where Jews were harshly expelled after 1948, and even Jews from Eastern Europe, Greece, and Iran made their way to Lebanon. Lebanon was certainly a key refuge because of its liberal and tolerant attitude towards its own Jews and those seeking asylum in the country. They were and still are officially recognized by the state, and included merchants, physicians, soldiers, civil servants, bankers and craftsmen, and were once fully integrated into Lebanese economic, social, cultural and political life. Government, political, religious, and social figures used to attend all religious and formal ceremonies the community held, or would send a representative which is still customary in Lebanon. I’m very fond of an event in 1952, when Jewish celebrations still prompted multi-denominational gatherings. In 1952, 3,000 people attended a Passover ceremony in Beirut. In attendance were officials from all religious groups, including Prime Minister Sami al-Solh, Abdullah al-Yafi, MP Rashid Beydoun, Joseph Chader, one-time President Charles Helou, major independence icon, Pierre Gemayel and the Maronite-Catholic archbishop of Beirut. The broadminded atmosphere in the country allowed the community to grow to a reportedly 14,000, and Lebanon was the only Arab country who witnessed an increase in its Jewish population after 1948.

In 2002, I came across my first reference of a Jewish community in Lebanon. It was an oxymoron to me, it didn’t make sense, and I didn’t understand. I never knew what Sephardic, Mizrahi, Ashkenazi, etc even meant. Naturally, I asked questions, and they were insufficiently answered. I felt as if I had discovered a secret, a magic carpet locked away in an attic somewhere. The more I asked, the more I learned, the more I learned, the more curious I became, the more curious became, the more fascinated I became. I was only 17 years-old, trading my time from indulging in adolescence, I researched and paved the road to where I am today. 9 months of formal work with the website, and a lifetime of ignorance, I speak to you this evening with a deep sense of nostalgia for a community I never knew, and lessons in compassion I never thought comprehensible. I’m not an authority on the demographics of morality, I’m 21 years-old, but I do believe, that this is an issue that must be engaged and resolved and I refuse to succumb to forged clichés which are loosely attributed to Lebanon, the Jewish community, or even myself personally. We should never trust our intuition. Most of the generalizations and political clichés don’t show any evidence of methodical inquiry. There is the classical philosophical distinction between propositions (which can be true or false) and pseudo -propositions which have no meaning whatsoever, no truth value. Aristotle said these are forfeited ideas, things we can’t even make sense of. These are used in metaphors and figures of speech, and every day life- we say them but they don’t really make sense if we analyzed them literally or meticulously. Concern is; these “beliefs” are entertained into being truth when in reality they are fallacies, built on pure speculation and weak evaluation. I have heard offensive estimates as to how many Jews really remain in Lebanon. The most common estimate places the marker at 50, 100 by the most liberal estimate. Who are these 50 Jews? What are their names? Where do they live? Reality is, there are much more than 100 Jews living in Lebanon, some Jewish sources place the marker between 1000-1500, just this past Tuesday, I received word from the President of the Jewish community in Beirut also insinuating such a reality. I am presently working to consolidate a working relationship with the officially recognized leaders of the community so as to help as effectively and efficiently as possible. Within the next two weeks I will open a fund to help an impoverished middle-aged women named Liza Srour who lives in Beirut. She needs our help, and I ask you all to visit the site once we have established the fund. Moreover, I am personally aware of some Lebanese carry fake identities today which were easily accommodated during the civil war; fake names, religions, etc. Most disappointing are the stories of some their youth, told lies that they are of different faiths. They are told these lies by their parents to protect them, and to protect their families. These measures were mostly adopted during the 1970’s and 1980’s at the height of the chaos in Lebanon and most despicable, the sectarian killing which spared no community, no neighborhood, and no family. The Lebanese slaughtered ordinarily based on the on the premise of a person’s religion, which used to be conveniently advertised on every identification card. Local attitudes became increasingly politicized; no Lebanese was safe, whether Jew or non-Jew it was irrelevant. Today they live very quietly, and scattered mostly across Beirut and the Mount Lebanon region. We get a steady flow of messages on the site of people who are either Jewish or have Jewish neighbors and friends, or messages from people who talk about their once privileged lives in pre-war Beirut and the relations they had with Jews. Ultimately, I ask those who flaunt these premature estimates of there only being 50 Jews in Lebanon to realize that in effect, they are only hindering any attempt to help this silenced community. Frankly, a caricature of the reality is being delivered, collectively. They say there is no possibility of a Jewish renaissance in Lebanon, I think they are mistaken, and in due time, we pray this can be realized.

This project is of concern to all Jews, particularly non-Lebanese, because today, more than ever, the world needs hope. Hope that it is possible to live together, that citizens of different religious faiths and persuasions can live together in the context of their citizenship but most importantly, their values. If we fail in Lebanon we fail throughout the world, the unfortunate Jewish experience in Lebanon is not peculiar to the Jewish community as opposed to non-Jewish communities in the country or parallel to the fate of other Jews from Arab countries. The cheapest and most abundant weapons are love, let the Jews in Lebanon live and prove once again, that we can live together, that our world’s problems may be political but not communal. Likewise, I am not promoting and I’m not naïve into believing that those who left Lebanon will likely return permanently, the very basic lessons in sociological and anthropological reason is affirmative, this isn’t reason built on conjecture, but on reality. I’m not advocating a mass exodus of the Jewish people out of Montreal and back to Beirut; I’m saying we have a duty to support this initiative. For the past 3 or 4 years of my life I’ve remained steadfast in the face of paranoia, insults, skepticism and doubt, and yet I kept working and I will continue to work until we once again see the Jews of Lebanon living openly and securely. I do not believe in the nonsense of a “clash of civilizations”; religious conversion has been consistent throughout the history of the world and in Lebanon, many Christians and Muslims were likely to have been Jews at one point, we don’t have a religious problem in Lebanon we have a feudal political arrangement built on tribalism, not necessarily sectarianism. I refuse to believe that a Jewish community will not thrive again in Lebanon. They are there, they are more than a couple hundred souls like some publicize, they’re not likely to be leaving anywhere, and though it’s premature to conclude or declare anything, but the community is said to be preparing the work to repair the main Synagogue in Beirut. My role is to prepare society through awareness and education, through a grassroots mechanism.

I cannot assess local attitudes towards the idea of a Jewish community, and bluntly, I do not believe society is ready to accept a Jewish community. However, and it’s public for anyone to see, feedback to our project and site from non-Jewish Lebanese has been overwhelmingly supportive and sympathetic. From all religions and denominations, people are now asking questions, the youth are curious because they were neglected of 15 years of their youth due to civil war. It’s not a coincidence that media is now regularly reporting stories on Lebanon’s once vibrant Jewish community. Just in the last few weeks alone, over 4 articles have been published in various press, including one by the ever public and lovely, Ms. Liza Srour. I regularly receive emails of people asking how they can help, what can they do, and people around the world asking to offer financial assistance. I’ve had students in Beirut writing their doctoral theses on the community, and even filmed documentaries. Most recently, the Lebanese Government, in particular the Ministry of Culture has offered us assistance though it’s still premature to declare anything formal at this point, they are nonetheless helping me. The trends in Beirut are promising, at least within the social context, secularism and fighting sectarianism is more openly discussed and there are more and more NGO’s being established in that regard.

So where are we going? In the tangible sense, we want to see the renovation, not just the preservation, of the Maghen Abraham Synagogue in Beirut. We want to clean and maintain the Jewish cemeteries scattered across the country. We want to promote awareness since most of the youth are unaware a Jewish community ever existed, let alone, still exists. Awareness through promoting the site, promoting the project, and advertising the project will require financial assistance and we hope to soon be able to accommodate donations securely through the website.

I want to declare my intent and the intent of those in Lebanon that we plan to launch an NGO, an organization that will have the capabilities to engage and carry out this ambitious responsibility. We will compel society to listen and to learn and we are steadily penetrating the public with our message of love, tolerance, and coexistence. Undoubtedly, Lebanon is the most diverse and pluralistic country in the region, we must utilize this diversity and most importantly its liberal thinking to our advantage. We plan to engage the university campuses where the diversity and liberality is overtly manifested. Working under the umbrella of an NGO, we raise the standard of professionalism, express more determination, and provide any certification and documentation to those who seek to discredit and mislead our campaign, and they are many.

Through my modest undertaking, I hope that I can help set a precedent for more of our world’s youth and young thinkers, don’t ever compromise on your beliefs, even if the weight of the entire world is against you. No matter what your background is, no matter what you believe in, if you don’t have faith in yourself foremost, don’t expect others to have faith in you either. The world has become so polarized along trivial lines we have lost sight of who we are, where we come from, and where we are leading our lives. We are joined together this evening not by our ethnicities, cultures, or religions, but by our values and I hope that we learn to embrace and unite around common values and a common vision for our lives rather than subscribe to division and hatred which almost always, is prescribed ignorantly and adhered to blindly.

When was the last time anyone in this room was admonished to respect another person’s beliefs? We don’t respect beliefs we evaluate reasons- this is a fundamental problem. A problem with religion is it stops discussion; I’m not in any way advocating atheism, just acknowledging the importance of humility and recognizing the equal value of the other, friend or foe, and the importance of an individual regarding him or herself as a human being. Ideology has imprisoned our minds and segregated our societies but I ask: Are we morally and intellectually equipped to deal with the growing and changing human knowledge in the context of unchanging human needs? I think no. But I believe that this endeavor is a strand within the fabric that will soon wipe away the ambiguous iniquity that has stained our world.

Our most valued possession as human beings are our rights; inalienable, undeniable, and unconditionally permissible. By no coincidence one of the authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is from Lebanon, Dr. Charles Malek.

Partnership is the essence of good citizenship. What we seek is a Jewish community that is an active participant in public life, with a promising future enriched by participation, a future that holds hope for peace and love for all.

I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here this evening, I’m truthfully humbled.

God Bless and Thank you.

Good evening. I want to thank you for bestowing me with the opportunity to speak to you about my cause. A cause initiated, upheld, and sustained through the steadfastness of my beliefs and resoluteness in my principles. Unwavering, undeniable, and fundamental are our most sacred rights, our human rights, our right to live a life of dignity and equality. The rights I demand for myself are the rights I solicit for others. I’m resolute in this understanding because I speak to you this evening, not as Aaron-Micael Beydoun, not as an American, not as a Lebanese, not even as a Muslim, but as a human being. So I ask those of you who have honored and privileged me in your attendance, to please join me around the table of humanity, here in the celebrated city of Montréal.

I’m not typically disposed to emotional exhibitionism but I can not help but feel the distressed seclusion of our Jewish brethren in Lebanon. My endeavor was inaugurated from my personal sense of obligation, my refusal to accept that another brother and partner in the modus operandi , the message we call Lebanon was misplaced from the delicate equation. I will not believe that we have become so blinded as to forget our own people at the expense of the hollow political and ideological slogans paraded in the name of the so-called causes in the capitals of the region and around the world. I ask the purported leaders of the world, what is nobler than this cause? What is more honorable than the cause of humanity? The cause we subscribe to is universally applicable, and the formula we are trying to replenish and renovate in Lebanon is example for the world. That living together as one people IS a possibility, that the children of our great Patriarch Abraham can live together and not in seclusion scattered in segregated countries around the world. It’s very straightforward, I respect and honor all nations and peoples of the world, and I believe all nations and all peoples deserve to live a life of security and prosperity within their own respective borders. But it is Lebanon who has the role to play, situated geographically, culturally, religiously, and ideologically, at a crossroads. Some classify this as the problem in Lebanon, yet I see them as the problem. A history of over 6000 years, our ancestors gave the world its alphabet, continents were named after our princesses, the first law school in the world was established in Beirut and yet what do we have to show for it today? Our Phoenician ancestors were leaders in the world and today we excel in political prostitution, cultural bankruptcy, and most deplorable, sectarian fanaticism. How long will we wait before it’s too late? We’ve practically expelled an entire community and today they are tucked away in the suburbs and villages of Lebanon. Fact is, if we fail to recognize the misdemeanor we have created, we have shamed our ancestors, disgraced our history, and have only set a precedent surely to be followed by future generations. Yesterday the Jew, who will it be tomorrow?

The earliest mention of the community is in and around 1000 BC, in the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre. According to the Bible, Solomon and Hiram, king of Tyre, shared the same language, if not the same beliefs. In 132 AD, following the Bar Kokhba revolt, several Jewish communities moved to geographical Lebanon. The Beirut synagogue was destroyed in 502 AD in the famous earthquake that demolished the town. Caliph Muawiya established a Jewish community in Tripoli, and another existed in Sidon in 922. A synagogue was built in Bhamdoun in 1915, and together with the Aley synagogue built in 1890 (which still stands practically destroyed today, it catered to the middle classes who took to the mountains in summer. Jewish communities flourished in Lebanon- in Beirut, in the mountain villages of Deir Al Qamar, Barouk, Hasbaya, etc. Jews carried typical Lebanese family names, names that Christians and Muslims also carry another subtle yet symbolic marker of the solitary resemblance between the various communities. Jews welcomed the proclamation of Greater Lebanon in 1920, and six years later, when a new Constitution came into force, they were the only Middle Eastern Jewish community to be constitutionally protected. Jewish holidays were official state holidays. Two Jewish newspapers were created during this period, Al-Alam al-Israili (the Israelite World) and Le Commerce du Levant, an economic periodical still publishing today. Those were also the years when the main Maghen Abraham synagogue that week to renovate today was built in Beirut, as were at least 10 additional synagogues. During the French mandate Jews excelled into becoming considerable economic forces contributing to the country. They established cultural, educational, and religious institutions, and at the turn of the century they strengthened their relations with non-Jews. The Jewish community was one of the first to endorse the idea that Lebanon carries a unique identity amongst its Arab surroundings. They were an essential factor, part of the common denominator that brought together the religiously diverse Lebanese people. No surprise, Beirut continuously welcomed an influx of Jews, particularly from other Arab states where Jews were harshly expelled after 1948, and even Jews from Eastern Europe, Greece, and Iran made their way to Lebanon. Lebanon was certainly a key refuge because of its liberal and tolerant attitude towards its own Jews and those seeking asylum in the country. They were and still are officially recognized by the state, and included merchants, physicians, soldiers, civil servants, bankers and craftsmen, and were once fully integrated into Lebanese economic, social, cultural and political life. Government, political, religious, and social figures used to attend all religious and formal ceremonies the community held, or would send a representative which is still customary in Lebanon. I’m very fond of an event in 1952, when Jewish celebrations still prompted multi-denominational gatherings. In 1952, 3,000 people attended a Passover ceremony in Beirut. In attendance were officials from all religious groups, including Prime Minister Sami al-Solh, Abdullah al-Yafi, MP Rashid Beydoun, Joseph Chader, one-time President Charles Helou, major independence icon, Pierre Gemayel and the Maronite-Catholic archbishop of Beirut. The broadminded atmosphere in the country allowed the community to grow to a reportedly 14,000, and Lebanon was the only Arab country who witnessed an increase in its Jewish population after 1948.

In 2002, I came across my first reference of a Jewish community in Lebanon. It was an oxymoron to me, it didn’t make sense, and I didn’t understand. I never knew what Sephardic, Mizrahi, Ashkenazi, etc even meant. Naturally, I asked questions, and they were insufficiently answered. I felt as if I had discovered a secret, a magic carpet locked away in an attic somewhere. The more I asked, the more I learned, the more I learned, the more curious I became, the more curious became, the more fascinated I became. I was only 17 years-old, trading my time from indulging in adolescence, I researched and paved the road to where I am today. 9 months of formal work with the website, and a lifetime of ignorance, I speak to you this evening with a deep sense of nostalgia for a community I never knew, and lessons in compassion I never thought comprehensible. I’m not an authority on the demographics of morality, I’m 21 years-old, but I do believe, that this is an issue that must be engaged and resolved and I refuse to succumb to forged clichés which are loosely attributed to Lebanon, the Jewish community, or even myself personally. We should never trust our intuition. Most of the generalizations and political clichés don’t show any evidence of methodical inquiry. There is the classical philosophical distinction between propositions (which can be true or false) and pseudo -propositions which have no meaning whatsoever, no truth value. Aristotle said these are forfeited ideas, things we can’t even make sense of. These are used in metaphors and figures of speech, and every day life- we say them but they don’t really make sense if we analyzed them literally or meticulously. Concern is; these “beliefs” are entertained into being truth when in reality they are fallacies, built on pure speculation and weak evaluation. I have heard offensive estimates as to how many Jews really remain in Lebanon. The most common estimate places the marker at 50, 100 by the most liberal estimate. Who are these 50 Jews? What are their names? Where do they live? Reality is, there are much more than 100 Jews living in Lebanon, some Jewish sources place the marker between 1000-1500, just this past Tuesday, I received word from the President of the Jewish community in Beirut also insinuating such a reality. I am presently working to consolidate a working relationship with the officially recognized leaders of the community so as to help as effectively and efficiently as possible. Within the next two weeks I will open a fund to help an impoverished middle-aged women named Liza Srour who lives in Beirut. She needs our help, and I ask you all to visit the site once we have established the fund. Moreover, I am personally aware of some Lebanese carry fake identities today which were easily accommodated during the civil war; fake names, religions, etc. Most disappointing are the stories of some their youth, told lies that they are of different faiths. They are told these lies by their parents to protect them, and to protect their families. These measures were mostly adopted during the 1970’s and 1980’s at the height of the chaos in Lebanon and most despicable, the sectarian killing which spared no community, no neighborhood, and no family. The Lebanese slaughtered ordinarily based on the on the premise of a person’s religion, which used to be conveniently advertised on every identification card. Local attitudes became increasingly politicized; no Lebanese was safe, whether Jew or non-Jew it was irrelevant. Today they live very quietly, and scattered mostly across Beirut and the Mount Lebanon region. We get a steady flow of messages on the site of people who are either Jewish or have Jewish neighbors and friends, or messages from people who talk about their once privileged lives in pre-war Beirut and the relations they had with Jews. Ultimately, I ask those who flaunt these premature estimates of there only being 50 Jews in Lebanon to realize that in effect, they are only hindering any attempt to help this silenced community. Frankly, a caricature of the reality is being delivered, collectively. They say there is no possibility of a Jewish renaissance in Lebanon, I think they are mistaken, and in due time, we pray this can be realized.

This project is of concern to all Jews, particularly non-Lebanese, because today, more than ever, the world needs hope. Hope that it is possible to live together, that citizens of different religious faiths and persuasions can live together in the context of their citizenship but most importantly, their values. If we fail in Lebanon we fail throughout the world, the unfortunate Jewish experience in Lebanon is not peculiar to the Jewish community as opposed to non-Jewish communities in the country or parallel to the fate of other Jews from Arab countries. The cheapest and most abundant weapons are love, let the Jews in Lebanon live and prove once again, that we can live together, that our world’s problems may be political but not communal. Likewise, I am not promoting and I’m not naïve into believing that those who left Lebanon will likely return permanently, the very basic lessons in sociological and anthropological reason is affirmative, this isn’t reason built on conjecture, but on reality. I’m not advocating a mass exodus of the Jewish people out of Montreal and back to Beirut; I’m saying we have a duty to support this initiative. For the past 3 or 4 years of my life I’ve remained steadfast in the face of paranoia, insults, skepticism and doubt, and yet I kept working and I will continue to work until we once again see the Jews of Lebanon living openly and securely. I do not believe in the nonsense of a “clash of civilizations”; religious conversion has been consistent throughout the history of the world and in Lebanon, many Christians and Muslims were likely to have been Jews at one point, we don’t have a religious problem in Lebanon we have a feudal political arrangement built on tribalism, not necessarily sectarianism. I refuse to believe that a Jewish community will not thrive again in Lebanon. They are there, they are more than a couple hundred souls like some publicize, they’re not likely to be leaving anywhere, and though it’s premature to conclude or declare anything, but the community is said to be preparing the work to repair the main Synagogue in Beirut. My role is to prepare society through awareness and education, through a grassroots mechanism.

I cannot assess local attitudes towards the idea of a Jewish community, and bluntly, I do not believe society is ready to accept a Jewish community. However, and it’s public for anyone to see, feedback to our project and site from non-Jewish Lebanese has been overwhelmingly supportive and sympathetic. From all religions and denominations, people are now asking questions, the youth are curious because they were neglected of 15 years of their youth due to civil war. It’s not a coincidence that media is now regularly reporting stories on Lebanon’s once vibrant Jewish community. Just in the last few weeks alone, over 4 articles have been published in various press, including one by the ever public and lovely, Ms. Liza Srour. I regularly receive emails of people asking how they can help, what can they do, and people around the world asking to offer financial assistance. I’ve had students in Beirut writing their doctoral theses on the community, and even filmed documentaries. Most recently, the Lebanese Government, in particular the Ministry of Culture has offered us assistance though it’s still premature to declare anything formal at this point, they are nonetheless helping me. The trends in Beirut are promising, at least within the social context, secularism and fighting sectarianism is more openly discussed and there are more and more NGO’s being established in that regard.

So where are we going? In the tangible sense, we want to see the renovation, not just the preservation, of the Maghen Abraham Synagogue in Beirut. We want to clean and maintain the Jewish cemeteries scattered across the country. We want to promote awareness since most of the youth are unaware a Jewish community ever existed, let alone, still exists. Awareness through promoting the site, promoting the project, and advertising the project will require financial assistance and we hope to soon be able to accommodate donations securely through the website.

I want to declare my intent and the intent of those in Lebanon that we plan to launch an NGO, an organization that will have the capabilities to engage and carry out this ambitious responsibility. We will compel society to listen and to learn and we are steadily penetrating the public with our message of love, tolerance, and coexistence. Undoubtedly, Lebanon is the most diverse and pluralistic country in the region, we must utilize this diversity and most importantly its liberal thinking to our advantage. We plan to engage the university campuses where the diversity and liberality is overtly manifested. Working under the umbrella of an NGO, we raise the standard of professionalism, express more determination, and provide any certification and documentation to those who seek to discredit and mislead our campaign, and they are many.

Through my modest undertaking, I hope that I can help set a precedent for more of our world’s youth and young thinkers, don’t ever compromise on your beliefs, even if the weight of the entire world is against you. No matter what your background is, no matter what you believe in, if you don’t have faith in yourself foremost, don’t expect others to have faith in you either. The world has become so polarized along trivial lines we have lost sight of who we are, where we come from, and where we are leading our lives. We are joined together this evening not by our ethnicities, cultures, or religions, but by our values and I hope that we learn to embrace and unite around common values and a common vision for our lives rather than subscribe to division and hatred which almost always, is prescribed ignorantly and adhered to blindly.

When was the last time anyone in this room was admonished to respect another person’s beliefs? We don’t respect beliefs we evaluate reasons- this is a fundamental problem. A problem with religion is it stops discussion; I’m not in any way advocating atheism, just acknowledging the importance of humility and recognizing the equal value of the other, friend or foe, and the importance of an individual regarding him or herself as a human being. Ideology has imprisoned our minds and segregated our societies but I ask: Are we morally and intellectually equipped to deal with the growing and changing human knowledge in the context of unchanging human needs? I think no. But I believe that this endeavor is a strand within the fabric that will soon wipe away the ambiguous iniquity that has stained our world.

Our most valued possession as human beings are our rights; inalienable, undeniable, and unconditionally permissible. By no coincidence one of the authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is from Lebanon, Dr. Charles Malek.

Partnership is the essence of good citizenship. What we seek is a Jewish community that is an active participant in public life, with a promising future enriched by participation, a future that holds hope for peace and love for all.

I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here this evening, I’m truthfully humbled.

God Bless and Thank you.