Monday
Jul122010
UPDATED "Praising Fadlallah" Follow-Up: The Public Apology of the British Ambassador
Monday, July 12, 2010 at 10:37 
UPDATED 12 July: Frances Guy, Britain's Ambassador to Lebanon, has now paid public penance for her original comments --- now removed by the Foreign Office as incompatible with British policy --- on the death of Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah.Guy's latest entry in her Foreign Office blog, "The Problem with Diplomatic Blogging", no longer makes any reference to Fadlallah and the possibilities of inter-faith discussion, "a real debate, a respectful argument" and "leav[ing] his presence feeling a better person". Instead:
UPDATED Middle East: CNN Senior Editor Fired over Twitter Remark about Lebanon’s Sheikh Fadlallah
I have no truck with terrorism wherever it is committed in whoever’s name. The British Government has been clear that it condemns terrorist activity carried out by Hizballah. I share that view....
I have spent most of my career in the Arab world working to combat terrorism, and the extremism and prejudice which can fuel it. I am sorry that an attempt to acknowledge the spiritual significance to many of Sayid Fadlallah and the views that he held in the latter part of his life has served only to further entrench divisions in this complex part of the world. I regret any offence caused.
In our coverage of the firing of CNN editor Octavia Nasr over her Twitter comment offering "sadness" for the passing of the late Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah and her respect for him, we noted that --- before Nasr's comments --- the British Ambassador to Lebanon, Frances Guy, had offered her own praise for the cleric on her blog on the Foreign Office's pages. The entry was titled, "The Passing of Decent Men". We later noted that, with Nasr gone, pressure was building on the British Government to denounce Guy's words.
Well, well, looks like Foreign Secretary William Hague has courageously ordered the removal of the blog entry. Before he did so, however, The Guardian of London saved a copy:
One of the privileges of being a diplomat is the people you meet; great and small, passionate and furious. People in Lebanon like to ask me which politician I admire most.
It is an unfair question, obviously, and many are seeking to make a political response of their own. I usually avoid answering by referring to those I enjoy meeting the most and those that impress me the most. Until yesterday my preferred answer was to refer to Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, head of the Shia clergy in Lebanon and much admired leader of many Shia muslims throughout the world. When you visited him you could be sure of a real debate, a respectful argument and you knew you would leave his presence feeling a better person. That for me is the real effect of a true man of religion; leaving an impact on everyone he meets, no matter what their faith.
Sheikh Fadlallah passed away yesterday. Lebanon is a lesser place the day after, but his absence will be felt well beyond Lebanon's shores. I remember well when I was nominated ambassador to Beirut, a Muslim acquaintance sought me out to tell me how lucky I was because I would get a chance to meet Sheikh Fadlallah. Truly he was right. If I was sad to hear the news I know other peoples' lives will be truly blighted. The world needs more men like him willing to reach out across faiths, acknowledging the reality of the modern world and daring to confront old constraints.
May he rest in peace.
Reader Comments (12)
Scott, I'm sorry, but this is not worthy of your high standards. The British government is "censoring" the blog post? Hardly. They are disassociating themselves from the fawning and abject praise of an advocate of the murder of innocents. If a British diplomat praised a well known apologist/instigator of Baruch Goldstein (not that this would ever happen), he would be fired immediately, and yes, his blog post would be "censored". Wouldn't it? Would it ever occur to you to cry censorship? Yes, and no.
I suppose you think you're being high-minded to look past his support for murder, and his opposition to peace (did you read the Times obit? On his deathbed a nurse asked what he needed, and the holy man replied 'for the Zionist entity to stop existing' Oh how sweet). Context, yes? But please, reflect that the cost of your highmindedness is borne not by you, and not by your people.
A different reaction would be to expect minimal standards of decency from both sides of this awful conflict, and to consider those incapable of such standards, at the very least, part of the problem. And to think that for such people to be self-proclaimed men of God is an aggravating not a mitigating factor.
And surely, surely, you can see that "he was against wife-beating" is a truly laughable defense.
John,
If the Foreign Office had come out and criticised the blog post, perhaps using the arguments you are putting, then fair enough. But that's not what happened --- the post was pulled without explanation as if to pretend that it never existed.
To me, that's an evasion. If Gay was wrong, then say so. If FO doesn't think she was wrong, then say that.
I've made my points earlier about what I would like to see in a discussion on Fadlallah and the wider political and religious issues, in the hope that it would produce something constructive. (I would be quite happy, for example, if there was consideration and critique of the claims of "support for murder" and "opposition to peace" as well for his claimed leading role in presenting religious views that could bring advance and reconciliation. At that point, I feel I could put my opinion without it being part of a two-dimensional boxing match for political match.)
So far, I don't see anything approaching that discussion coming out of the Nasr and Gay episodes.
S.
john - what was so decent about giving the nobel peace price to the butcher of sabra and shatilla? The thugs who are in charge in Tel Aviv have invaded Lebanon three times, carried out with the aid of the Chrisitan Phalangists a merciless massacre of women and children in sabra and shatilla. And the recent murder of nine turkish nationals outside israel's territorial waters and guess who is going to carry out the inquiry. The Israelis themselves even some sections of the israeli media are making a joke of this inquiry. Just hear the way that your typical Israeli and US politicians talk. Their hatred and arrogance towards Muslims and Palestinians comes across so clearly. In contrast to that, Fadhlallah, also much maligned by some sections of the shia ulama for his liberal opinions on many matters, was as the British ambassador has put it capable of respectful argument and being in his presence was enhancing. Compare this with the foul mouthed US and Israeli politicians who have nothing but condescencion for their fellow brethren in humanity and for Israelis their semitic cousins. To be anti-semite is also to be anti- Arab and by extension anti-Muslim. For we are from the same tree and we are to return to the same Lord to whom we will have to account for our wrongs. It is still not too late for Israel to give up the lands it has occupied illegally and live in peace with its palestinian brethren and turn its swords into plough shares as the biblical scriptures command. Let God's will be done.
Rgrassroots
"Let God's will be done."
There are no Gods - they exist merely as a figment of imagination in people's minds.
I have heard that there was a God once - but it is said that he died in Auschwitz.
But IF there ever was a God - and his Will was to be done - then it was done in 1948, when the combined forces of all the Arab armies could not evict the Jews from their homeland. They were evicted once and I don't think that they will allow it again. I am afraid that you are going to either have to accept that they are not leaving again ever - or get a much bigger Army than 1948. The sun will rise again tomorrow - and no amount of wailing will stop it. The same applies to the Jews return to Israel.
Barry
Rgrassroots,
Did I say Sabra and Shatilla was decent? No, I didn't, and it wasn't. The point is precisely that: decency would be to oppose murdering Arabs and Jews alike.
Scott,
We're not going to agree on this, but I must compliment your attention to your readers, especially given how much high-level content your site constantly produces. Thanks for taking time to respond to little old me, now back to work on Larijani and Rafsanjani!
John,
My thanks for your gracious comment. There is so much I would like to discuss beyond the immediate furour over the reactions to Fadlallah's death --- my hope is that we can find a dialogue to take us beyond notions of violence and conflict to look for grounds of agreement and co-operation.
Unfortunately, I have not had the time to pursue this at the moment so I hope our paths --- and those of other readers --- will cross at a point in the near-future.
S.
Dear sir,
with all the respect, I find your responce quite easy and irrelevant. For whom God died in Auschwitz? These easy conclusions are produced by a heated debate I guess. It is understandable but nevertheless meaningless if we reproduce them without reconsidering their frame of thought.
By the way even for the Rabbinic Judaism (wich represents in History an entity much more important and tremendously fruitfull for humanity in contrast to the Israely state legecy) the will of god was not "done" in 1948, AT ALL. This position should be moderated as well. Otherwise we are part of the problem.
Rgrassroots: I like your comments. Many are unaware of the Shabra Shatilla massacre, and this was Israel's way of peace, love, religion? The founding of Israel was followed by Operation BroomSweep, and Ben-Gurion's fervent wish to "rid the country of every single Arab." This is what pro Zionists embrace, and it is an odious embrace. We need to rid ourselves of all these extremists, including the Zionists, the US evangelical movement, the Islamists.
The third world war is upon us, and it will be, as many wars were, because of the work of these "religions".
Censoring a blog is foolhardy, it's a shame. The same was done by CNN when they fired a 20 journalist. It is clear that CNN is pro-Zionist, the evidence, the proof is in the media, and yet when one says this, gentiles and arabs are accused of being anti-jewishl, and of using a rhetoric that has been used against jews for hundreds of years. This is their denial.
"It is clear that CNN is pro-Zionist"
...... and????
Are you implying that to be a Zionist or even support the concept of Zionism is something to be ashamed of?? There are many in the world who support Zionism - even non-religious people.
Barry
to Baz:
Thanks for asking the question.
To be proud of the state of Israel is not a bad thing, not at all. But
when I use the word Zionist, or pro-Zionist, I refer to the philosophy
that Israel is first and foremost the State of the Jewish people, and
should remain so at any cost. This I disapprove of. When Ben-Gurion
wanted to rid the country of Arabs, this was a genocidal message, and
many pro-Zionists accept that message.
I believe that all people have the right to a life that respects their
basic human rights. Pro Zionist factions in Israel and in the US have
aligned themselves with ultra right extremeists, and evangelical
movements in the US, who are implementing genocidal programs all over
the world, but especially in Uganda, and other African countries, as
they breed hatred for gay people and implement anti gay laws.
Pro Zionist factions are right wing extremists and nationalists who
would continue to brutalize (Shabra Shatila Massacre) innocent
victims, and make no apologies for it, and hide under the cloak of
self-protection and protection of the mother land. I mean really, a
country or people that beleive that a "god" left them an entire
country, even though the Palestinians have been there since the 3rd
century. I beleive that this is a fundamentalist viewpoint, and thus
pro-Zionist, in that sense, is indeed something to be ashamed of, as
would anyone supporting the extermination of Jews, or the occupation
of Tibet.
Hi Barry,
If you read the blog I wrote, http://rangdrol.vox.com/" rel="nofollow">http://rangdrol.vox.com/ "CNN-pro-
zionist-or-just-a-censor?" it shows that there is ample evidence
within the news media that CNN actively censors its own journalists
and stories that come across its desks, making sure that Israeli
government actions are "cleaner" than they actually are. This shows
some bias that is pro Israel, and this isn't new, the article I
pointed to in the British paper, (the Advocate?) was printed in 2001,
if I get the year right.
Take care,
Rangdrol
You're quite right about CNN - check out this edition of the Listening Post programme on Aljazeera English:
This week on the Listening Post's radar: the tweet that ended the 20-year career of a CNN journalist and a Russian social networking site that is not for the masses but strictly for those of class.
It has been a communication tool in many a recent political protest, it is a PR tool for numerous celebrities, but for Octavia Nasr, CNN's former Senior Middle East Affairs Editor, Twitter was a career-ender. A tweet expressing her sorrow following Lebanese Shia cleric Ayatollah Fadlallah's death set off a storm amongst many conservative and pro-Israel groups in America.
Sheikh Fadlallah's opposition to Israel's occupation of South Lebanon, his ties with Hezbollah and his designation as a terrorist by the US government made him hugely controversial in the US. But Ms. Nasr's tweet was a reflection of the respect Sheikh Fadlallah commanded in Lebanon and the wider Arab world for his spiritual learning, his advocacy for women's rights and the influence he had over so many.
CNN was not willing to accommodate the nuances of the Ayatollah's persona in its assessment of Ms. Nasr's offending tweet. In our News Divide this week we look at what the firing of Ms. Nasr reveals about CNN and the editorial limitations of reporting in the American media.
Video here: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/listeningpost/2010/07/201071614621645696.html" rel="nofollow">http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/listeni...