Dr. Ali Awad’s Speech

In the scientific symposium about the book:

"Studies done in the field of: Crises information and dialogue, Security information, Humanitarian law in conflicts"

By the invitation of the cultural council in Jbeil on 20/12/2012

  For each book there’s message, and we wanted for our book’s message to be directed to three issues: the dialogue, infomation security and respect for humanity in the conflicts. All of those are hot issues currently plaguing our world.

  I'll start with the information and security issue, then the issue of respect for humanity and human dignity in conflicts and end by the issue of dialogue, which is the thorniest issue among them all. Unfortunately, it is the mother of all battles.

  I will speak in a scientific and objective frame and leave the political conclusion that is a must for the decent attendance.

* Security Information:

  Not building the human’s personality based on national values and right virtues of faith within the individual is the problem - the basis for the cognitive security in particular. The job becomes very difficult for the cognitive security if this thinking was poisoned, especially at the beginning of the intellectual construction in childhood, adolescence and youth. Moreover the upbringing on the citizenship, virtues and morality produces a behavior that prevents actions starting with "Deviation" - the smallest security offenses - up to a crime of sedition, whether it was sectarian, tribal or national.

  From here our urgent need for cognitive security appears, based on the spirit of religion, belief and morality. A need that the struggles with gap lurking temptations as well as programmed ones, depend on, in the structure of the state and in the lead stands the risk of the crime of corruption. Corruption is the first introduction of any internal strife. The corruption in the concept of security related information provides an incubator atmosphere for loss of citizenship.

  Shall I call it the crime of corruption or the crimes of corruption? And assert in scientific theory that the crime of corruption is considered the most dangerous, deadly and "cancerous" of all crimes. Its consequences expanded to include the political, economical, social and humanitarian dimension. The entire national dimensions, you can say. Those consequences affect the national security, national interests and moral values in the nation and state.

  Moreover, as for the issue of the media image of the role of the security man, the necessity to prevent attacks on the role of the security man is highlighted, depending on the narrow interests in the governance between loyalty and opposition or majority and minority. The national duty is for the journalists and politicians who may stand behind some of these journalists to support army and armed forces to support through a responsible national security information speech. I take from my own personal experience in a scientific and objective view to say: that the prestige of the state and its authority begin from the positive image of the security man in the mind of the citizen, and destabilizes with the malformation of that image.

  I summarize and say: The work requires to deepen the role of security information and employ it to serve the national consciousness and urgent issues of security nature, to keep pace with globalization in a one educational culture entitled "The modernization in the dialogue" and meanwhile, maintaining the privacy of the self and the entity at the core of the oneness of belonging and loyalty. Let’s use the media under a media code of conduct that puts ethical selections for the work of the media and confronts threats to national disintegration.

  Our book has researched in this context, asserting that the security information is the main tool to impose the stability through its oriented and deterrent force that may provide the chance for the governor to use the big stick.

* Respecting the humanity and human dignity in the conflicts:

  The heavenly religions are the first light of the legal rules that safeguard the rights of the fighters and victims of armed conflicts, civilians and protected sites as well as impose restrictions on the use of military means.

  Even the insult is forbidden by God Almighty, Holy Merciful. What a wonderful human dimension it is, in respecting someone’s individuality whatever his/her color, affiliation, religion, race is. Even the insult and ridicule "of certain folks from each other" enters in the circle of taboos. Then how does the Lord looks to violating the international humanitarian law and insulting the human’s dignity in an armed conflict?

  Even war has its limits... A saying that highlights the importance of mandatory prevention of insulting the human’s dignity in conflicts, suppressing violations of international law as well as prosecuting those responsible for them and performing the humanitarian work about civilian casualties and civilian-protected site. In those mentioned previously, the knowledge of the leader is crystallized - whether politically or militarily – for the core of the international humanitarian law and its application.

  The book has researched in this pure human dimension. We emphasized that the armed conflicts have a humanitarian impact, which is a profound impact because of the brutality of the "human" and grayness of the "international legitimacy" or its agent standards. This is what we witness now in this miserable East crisis of shameful humanitarian deficit about what we see on the screens from death, destruction, corpses and body parts, pools of blood from civilians, children and women who are protected under the law and religion.

  We have established, as well, in a study entitled (War of July 12th and the international humanitarian law) (p. 285) that the international humanitarian law during the war was nothing but ink on papers. An ink that was stomped on by the aggression’s feet and the eyes of international legitimacy is protruding and powerless.

  Even a victorious wolf won’t attack a defeated wolf with a fatal bite, but man has done so!

  Even jungle has its bill of rights, where is the bill of rights in the armed conflicts?

  We knew the war and what it is, and who knows war knows the value of peace even more.

* The crises information and dialogue:

  We quoted in a book that we had published in 1993 entitled (publicity and public opinion) the words of the philosopher Indian Tagore. The humanitarian philosopher unchallenged, saying “Violence is the only refuge for the limited mind” and we added: Any mind without a dialogue is a limited mind, because conversing opens human minds to wide horizons most important peaceful horizons, while violence finds a private environment in the limited mind.

  You will find in the book that you have a scientific study published in Al-Safir newspaper on February 26th, 2007 entitled (so that the Lebanese masses won’t return to the test tubes, stop shipping and let’s go for the conversing) and we said in this study literally (p. 159):

  The feelings of the masses are violent and bloody as well as exaggerated when those masses were not subjected to one national upbringing. Moreover, the absence of responsibility plays a role in this exaggeration. Their escape from the punishment is assured for the individuals of masses because of their huge tyrant mass.

  This phenomenon was demonstrated during the Lebanese civil war, when everyone had the rough and harsh power and sometimes brutal.

  We added: “Beware of repeat this phenomenon in the events of 2007 too”.

  We actually saw the repetition of this phenomenon after 2007 in the absence of dialogue.

  We said in that study literally (161): After we spotted the content of the agitational political-cognitive speech in the beginning of 2007 and when we know that social psychology proves that the masses - and after the traumatic incitement - repeat its previous mistakes. We wonder what does year 2007 has for us?

  We actually saw what the years after 2007 had hid for us in the absence of conversation.

  We said in that study (163): I've noticed through my own experience, during the Lebanese crisis, that the Lebanese movement of the masses - whether in the denominations war during a war of 2 years or in the war if sects in the 85-86 or in the political struggles during the 16 years of the crisis period - resulted from digging the deep layered psychological emotions in the conflicting parties in fanatical ways. Ways that revolve around injustice and fear. This led to giving the crisis harsh and violent dimensions.

  And we add: “Beware of digging the deep layered psychological emotions in the conflicting parties in the early 2007”.

  We actually saw what happened to us after digging the deep layered sectarian and doctrinal emotions in the years after 2007 in the absence of dialogue.

  We mentioned in that study (164): “I think the Lebanese people rose between the forties and the seventies from the ranks of developing countries when they spoke foreign languages and increased their assets in banks lavish banking secrecy and opened its doors to freedom, foreigners and their investments. Then came the two-year war and the crisis that followed to show how they neglected national education and the real culture of co-existence as well as unleashed the underlying primitive feelings of hostilities.”

  We added as well: “At the beginning of the year 2007, we say: Beware of unleashing those buried emotions again, because the one national education is still neglected.”

  We actually saw the chaos of primitive and hostile emotions after the year 2007 in the absence of dialogue.

  And we ended the study with the question (167): “Will our masses return to being test tubes in 2007 crisis experiments?” We ask since the sectarian or denominational perception for the homeland leads to the rise of political-societal infringes. Moreover, when the destructive propaganda interferes, it creates fanatical ideologies deeply in the masses. Those ideologies could destroy the element of citizenship in the majority, thus their loyalty to the homeland becomes destabilizing. This may reflect a behavior that will lead to civil clashes in the streets, and therefore the outbreak of civil crisis sharp and warning to become an internal armed conflict. Unfortunately, the conviction stands out, but it is too late - after the self destruction and mass hysteria - that conversing is the resolution mean and alertness. Conversing in a cognitive atmosphere is based on enlightenment and awareness without defamation or instinctive incitement. The media that respects the freedom of opinion and its plurality and serves harmonious orientations towards the unity of the country and the sovereignty of the state of unified power. We answered in the very same study: “So that the Lebanese masses won’t go back to being test tubes, we must head to dialogue immediately and without any delay.”

  This research was conducted five years ago, and we have actually seen, how street clashes occurred in the absence of dialogue.

  At a symposium held at the cultural board in Jubail on 16-12-2010 titled (shipping media in crisis) we said verbatim as follows (p. 39):

  “Shipping media was entered in the sectarian game after vehicles of fear, injustice, frustration and multiple loyalties has become in the solid Lebanese politics... This shipping prompted some audiences, especially after the effect of some external interventions, to climates of narrow national dimension and violent sometimes, that made the Lebanese narrow-wars-producing people.

  So, what is the solution?

  This solution is to commit not to use political sectarianism in the patterns of shipping media during the crisis, and to act immediately and discuss its confrontation problems as a priority in the national dialogue. In the absence of such a commission, the intriguing shipping media is reality inevitably. I assure you that our civil society did not come out of the war as rumored, it is still in it, and the war of words is much worse and dangerous of from the lead war.

  Opinion leaders should not forget that the shipping media after any security incident or political reality - One of intriguing dimensions - will generate confusion and tension. Then in preparation for violence, the congenital immune collapses, thus the society collapses as well as the homeland. (There will, unfortunately, be unstable problems certainly if the national dialogue didn’t regain its activeness).

  This is what we said in a scientific framework in 2010, and we have actually seen, how the intriguing did happen and today's society is collapsing. Our homeland is few steps away from collapsing as well..

  Today, it was added: When do we realize that clashing with hands, sticks, stones and knives – in the social sense - is more dangerous than the clashing of bullets and missiles? It’s a more brutal coalescence and inevitable translation of the rejection phenomenon of the other as well as the dialogue failure.

  We have suggested in the conclusion of a 2007 study and a 2012 symposium literally (p. 40):

  We have an obligation to the "Culture of peace and dialogue charter" announcement that the parties of the dialogue board chaired by the president, who enjoys the confidence and guarantee of everyone, are involved in setting it. President Suleiman has repeatedly warned, in each meeting of the dialogue board from the instigating shipping media on intriguing, and he always keened on the inclusion of a recommendation at the end of the dialogue sessions to adopt the moderated media discourse.

The terms of "Culture of peace and dialogue charter" are pretty simple:

- Focusing on a cognitive-political speech away once and for all from the falling shipping media.

- Not to resort to violence or to any form of armed conflict by describing it as a means of national-political policy.

- Reaffirming on the right of each sectarian component in the Lebanese society to live a life that is not suppressed by a dominance that would cancel his/her own conscience. That means that the proper religious education, tolerance and understanding of the virtues in listening to the other and sharing his/her mind on the basis that the suppression of the other and not conversing with him is a form of a psychological aggression that is considered much more injustice form than a physical aggression. The Lord God the merciful forbids sinning in the aggression.

  We all have seen that we have spent six years practicing the psychological and physical violence because of the absence of the serious national dialogue. This national initiative was launched by Nabih Berri and sponsored by President Suleiman. And we saw - after the restoration of serious dialogue in middle of this year – how all the components of the Lebanese society were on the same page and all agreed to a strategic declaration which is Baabda’s declaration.

  Is the peaceful agreement on any national declaration enough without its implementation?

  We all do not think so, taking into account the seriousness of linking political, media related, military and security conflict happening between the Lebanese internal situation and the crises in the region, especially the Syrian crisis, putting the stability of the state is at serious risk.

  Therefore its of great importance for all the political components to substantively commit to implement the Baabda’s declaration, a declaration to build the Lebanese conversations after Geneva, Lausanne, Taif and Doha. And a declaration to build a whole road map for homeland entity.

In a scientific and objective manner. Our book has searched in this context for three considerations:

1- Reading what is going on from local and regional events indicates that the coming days will witness an escalating danger and we fear the reflection of its repercussions from the Syrian and Arab arenas. Despite all attempts of self-distancing, serious repercussions occurred. If we do not implement Baabda’s declaration, will we succeed in controlling the street after the political and religious shipping has reached the dangerous aspects and some leaderships has become governed by similar essences as the street? Where is the consideration of the silent and moderate majority of the Lebanese, the third force, who want the security before the bread loaf and civil peace?

2- The most prominent phenomenon in our country since independence is that we did not know, unfortunately, how to handle our political conflicts through conversing in a timely manner without resorting to violence.

3- I always wonder: Can the general situation slip toward violence as previously in a phase.

  The absence of national dialogue in any major political crisis leads to the sliding situation towards the intriguing against the will of the people of the nation, and this saying is certainly true in Lebanon as well as in all the current Arab scene.

My Brothers in Arab countries,

The building of Justice is much harder than injustice demolition..... The realization of truth is much harder than revocation of falsehood ....... Looking to the future and dealing with it realistically is far more important than stopping at the details of the bitter past .........

I remember well that when I came out of prison, the biggest challenge I've ever had to face is a large number of black people who wanted to prosecute whoever was linked to the former regime, but I stood without it and resorted to dialogue, and the days showed that this option was the best one and otherwise South Africa would have drifted to either civil war or to the dictatorship once again. So (the Truth and Reconciliation Commission) was formed, where the aggressor and the victim sat upon and came clean. It's a bitter policy but effective.

This is what made the story of South Africa one of the most spectacular stories about the humanitarian success nowadays..

Nelson Mandela, Johannesburg.

From Mandela's message to the Arabs at the beginning of the events of the Arab world.