Culture of Racism in Lebanon

February 2011

by Simba Shani Kamaria Russeau COSV - Coordination Committee of the Organizations for Voluntary Service

This study is part of the Multimedia Virtual Space for Human Rights project funded by the European Union. It is carried out by the Italian NGO COSV (Coordination Committee of the Organizations for Voluntary Service) in partnership with three Lebanese NGOs: KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation, the Permanent Peace Movement (PPM) and the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH). The establishment of a Multimedia Virtual Space for Human Rights is the key objective of a two-year project (2009-2010) that aims at strengthening mutual cooperation among civil society organizations for a better integration of human rights, democratization and good governance in national development plans. An open coalition of NGOs has been drawn up for the management of the virtual space and the project includes, among other activities, researches on various human rights topics in Lebanon ranging from freedom of association to trafficking and racism. For more information on the project, please consult http://www.humanrights-lb.org Apart from the 4 project partners, the NGOs taking part in the Human Rights in Lebanon Coalition to date are: Amel Association, Amnesty International Lebanon, Association Libanaise pour lEducation et la Formation (ALEF), Association Najdeh, INSAN Association, Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (LACR), Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE), Lebanese Center for Civic Education (LCCE), and Support of Lebanese in Detention an Exile (SOLIDE).

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), COSV (Coordination Committee of the Organizations for Voluntary Service), KAFA (Enough) Violence & Exploitation and the Permanent Peace Movement (PPM) and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

COSV (Coordination Committee of the Organizations for Voluntary Service), Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), Kafa (enough) Violence & Exploitation, and the Permanent Peace Movement (PPM).

COSV, Furn El-Chubak, Sammout Street, Najm Al-Din Bldg., 5th floor, Beirut, Lebanon +961-(0)1-288717 www.cosv.org

Table of Contents
About Coordination Committee of the Organizations for Voluntary Service (COSV) Summary Key Recommendations Background Slavery, Islam and Christianity The Zanj Revolt European Colonizations Promotion of Cultural Racism Culture of Racism in Lebanon Migrant Workers/Refugees Female Foreign Migrant Workers Male Foreign Migrant Workers Refugees Mixed-Ethnicity Lebanese African/Asian/Arab tourists Lebanese University Students Advertisements Language Regional Comparison Purpose, Objectives and Methodology Building and sharing the knowledge 24/7 Campaign Conclusions and Recommendations Notes 4 5 7 8 8 10 11 13 14 15 18 20 21 22 23 25 28 29 30 30 31 32 34

About Coordination Committee of the Organizations for Voluntary Service (COSV)

COSV was born in 1968, in order to establish a body able to coordinate the various groups formed in those years in Italy to support the countries striving to emancipate from colonial domination or dictatorship. While we have been continuously updating our mission in the last 40 years to fit the emerging needs and wishes of countries where we operate, we have always tried to hold to fundamental principles that inspire our work. First of all we intend to uphold a culture of cooperation intended as mutual solidarity between peoples. We particularly want to implement a cooperation strategy based on peer interaction in view of a common goal, which is the economic, social and human development of communities. Moreover, we want to qualify clearly our relationship with local partners by relying on the concept of partnership, in other terms, on the necessary process of discussion between different parties working together to carry out interventions aimed to the development of a geographical area. Going over the list of hundreds of projects implemented in so many countries in the four decades of our existence reminds us the innumerable people we have worked with: first of all our local partners, with which we have built veritable alliances. During these years, we have carried out interventions in many areas: from the more traditional ones, such as healthcare, vocational training, agriculture, primary education, environmental protection and sustainability, to increasingly complex projects: founding small and medium enterprises and cooperatives, developing capacities for public administrators and local institutions started by civil societies; protecting human rights and the environment; functional rehabilitation of basic public services (clinics, schools, social centers).

Summary
I have a lot of guy friends, but at the same time, its so funny because none of my guy friends would ever date a black girl. Theyre not racist, but because they have racist families, they dont want the headache. Once when I went to a guy friends house, his mother looked at me with a suspicious eye and asked her neighbor, who was sitting next to her, her opinion of me. The neighbor told me to turn my face, scrutinized me from head to toe, and then commented in Arabic, She would look better if she washes the dirt off her body. I caught the comment and never went to the house again. After this and other similar incidents, I learned that my father would have never married my mother had they met in Lebanon. - Hala, age 26, Nigerian-Lebanese1

Racism is a taboo topic in Lebanon, where the majority of Lebanese will deny that racism exists in their country but according to a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) survey, 17 out of 30 private beach resorts admitted to having a policy of denying African and Asian domestic workers admission into the pools. One beach resort allowed maids to enter the beach but were not allowed access to the pools because Lebanese are not used to the sight of maids swimming, said HRW. I was recently at a beach resort and my maid was watching over my two year-old son who was playing in the pool while I was basking in the sun a couple of meters, says Tania, a Lebanese mother of three. Suddenly the life guard approached and asked me to remove my maid, who was sitting with her feet in the pool, because one of the ladies felt disgusted from that sight! Africa and the Middle East have historical ties dating back to the pre-Islamic era. As an article in the ColorQ World2 states: Cultural mingling between the Sabaen of southwestern Arabia and Ethiopia was due to the rule of the Habashan family, which saw the creation of a powerful empire known as the Axum kingdom. Mainly due to wars, economic hardship, and religion - ethnic diversity has become a commonplace within African and Asian society. Basil Davidson writes, seventh and eighth century wars in Arabia forced a large number of Arab refugees from Arabia and the Persian Gulf to African coastal cities of Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.3 Intermingling amongst Arab and Bantu cultures produced the Swahili language, which is written in Arabic script that John Middleton who quotes Ibn Battuta in 1331 as saying, Mogadishu, then a Swahili town, that Swahili businessmen each had personal ties with Asian merchants, whom they entertained and accommodated in their own houses.4 In modern times, globalization and the need to export labour has played a major role in the migration of individuals from Africa and Southeast Asia to the Middle East. Many come in search of perceived economic opportunities while others, like refugees, come in search of security. Diversification has sparked a new debate, especially in Lebanon, on the impact of race and class in constructing a caste social system that both morally and economically justifies discriminatory practices. Stereotypes of different cultures passed down from generation to generation play a pivotal role in racist behaviors and negative responses to cultural interactions and preserved belief systems. Consequently, societal stereotyping has taken on the form of racism with distinctions based on skin1 2 3 4 Hayeon Lee, Its All in the Mix, Now Lebanon 2010 ColorQ World Black African and Arab imtermarriage in East Africa Basil Davidson, p. 178 John Middleton, The World of the Swahili, p.22
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color, labour status and economic status. In Genesis and evolution of factual-doctrinarian racism, Quince Duncun Moodie argues that, what he calls factual racism, was based on doctrinarian beliefs of the existence of sub-races and a superior race. Colonization, Moodie argues:

Established, based on its concept of race, a universal doctrine of the hierarchy of human groups, attributing intellectual, emotional and moral value to such difference.

In his study titled, Perceptions of Race in the Arab world, Mark Perry also insists that religion, cultural identity and invented philosophical theories play a major role in spreading the doctrine of racism. Understanding the existence of racism in Lebanon, and the marginalization of migrant and ethnic groups, as societal practice requires the examination of the historical roots of labour, religion, Arab and French colonization in the region. Many studies have been conducted on the existence of discrimination against migrant workers, mainly those coming from Africa, Sri Lanka and the Philippines to Lebanon. Evidence presented by these studies documented widespread abuse due to the labour laws, which categorizes these workers as servants rather than employees. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the roots of racism in Lebanon and whether various approaches like awareness rising, cultural activities, public discussions, etc., could be beneficial in locating differences and bridging the gaps. For the purpose of this study, interviews were conducted with migrant workers, foreigners, mixedethnicity Lebanese and Lebanese University students on the issue of racism in Lebanon. These complex issues were tackled with multi-disciplinary and multi-layered actions. The objective was to engage the Lebanese people and raise awareness about the issue. The actions included building and improving our knowledge of the culture of racism, sharing this knowledge, and engaging people in the conversation about racism and culture. Supermarket products, advertisements, language relations between migrant workers and Lebanese and sectarian segregation were some of the reasons interviewees cited as possibly influencing the current social structure based on the caste-system. Also impacted, are mixed-ethnicity Lebanese, Asian, African and African-Arab tourists and students who face various levels of discrimination due to being looked upon as part of this marginalized labour class.

Key Recommendations
In the case of migrant workers, Lebanese politicians, major non-governmental actors and the General Security should understand the importance of investing and cooperating with various local NGOs. These newly established NGOs should not be viewed as competitors but rather partners, because neither side will cancel the role of the other. Expertise, as well as cooperation among members of the NGO sector is also important, in order to avoid overlapping and repetition of work. It is important to include active actors of the civil society in the policy-making process as it relates to labour laws, in the monitoring of recruitment agencies, the justice system and social care centers for migrants. Although the Lebanese constitution states that all Lebanese are equal in the eyes of the law, amendments to the law that include discriminatory and racial protection for African and Asian Lebanese should be made. Racial stereotyping workshops and trainings should be conducted with members of Lebanons military and law enforcement community to curb discriminatory practices of street harassment. Educational programs confronting issues of race and discrimination should be incorporated into the public school system. Public awareness raising campaigns by NGOs should be implemented via advertisements and television that paint positive images and stereotypes of African and Asian individuals to combat negative historical beliefs. Effective lobbying towards Lebanese policy-makers by local civil society groups to create legal mechanisms

Background
In Lebanon and a number of other countries in the Middle East, discriminatory practices based on race have been commonplace, mainly due to the existence of foreign migrant workers who work in lowwage conditions and the historical role people of color held during the times of slavery.

Slavery, Islam and Christianity

Africans were among the first to accept the new religion of Islam brought by the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) in 612 when he sent the first group of early Muslims to be protected from Arab persecution by the Negus of Ethiopia. It was African lungs from Ethiopia who carried the first call to prayer by Bilal the Ethiopian who is seen as one of the most revered legends of Islam. According to scholars, when Bilal first heard of Islam he called it the ancient religion. Unlike in the Arab region, Islam spread throughout Africa peacefully where as wars like the Riddah, were used to conquer Arabs into accepting Islam. This is mainly due to the similarities indigenous Africans had, both culturally and ethnically, to Islam and Arab paganism, such as animal sacrifice, communal prayer, ancestry worship and the spirit or jinn world.

The religion of Islam made each Muslem merchant or traveler an embryonic missionary and the appeal of the religion with its similarities to the African religions was far more powerful than the Christian appeal. - Asante5

Nineteenth century religious historian, Edward Biyden, argues that although the existence of racial prejudice in African-Arab relations was prominent, mainly due to the slave trade practice, the influence of Islamic culture prevented a rise in extreme racism. In fact, the practice of slavery in the Arab world towards the preferred slaves in the Slovic regions of Europe historically presents a non-existence of bias based on color. Bernard Lewis argues that, Arab discrimination towards blacks was a result of the existence of slavery historically rather than color due to Islams positive portrayal of Africans by the Prophet Muhammad. To back his claim, Lewis cites two Qur anic verses that denounce the use of color to enforce discrimination:

Among Gods signs are the creation of the heavens and of the earth and the diversity of your languages and of your colors. In this indeed are signs for those who know.

Culturally, Islamic tradition allowed freed slave to not to only climb the social ladder but also to attain high governmental positions. Slaves were also educated and by inheriting an Arab identity via intermarriages allowed for their freedom and mobility among the social ranks. East African women were the main targets of the Arab slave trade. Acquired mainly as domestic slave, wet nannies and sex-slaves. If Lewis theory is right, linking historical relationships between slavery and the Arab world, then perhaps the treatment of migrant domestic workers is possibly a social trait. According to Lewis, the Arab slave trade targeted women in countries where trade or conquered lands existed. Suggesting that the present day beliefs that all Eastern European women are sex workers and women of East African descent are perceived as domestic or sex slaves.

5 Asante, Genocide in Africa, Pre-Colonial Black Africa, pg. 102

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The Zanj Revolt

One of the largest and most under-reported African slave rebellions to occur in the Middle East was in early Iraq by tens of thousands of East African slave labourers known as the Zanj. Historically, the Zanj revolt could be likened to Haitian Revolution, which was known as the first rebellion by slaves in the Western hemisphere. Subjected to cruel working conditions in what is known as Basra in modern day Iraq, the Revolt of the Zanj or the Revolt of the Blacks, after becoming aware of their large numbers stage three rebellions.

The Zanj forces, hardened by years of brutal treatment, repaid their former masters in kind, and are said to have been responsible for great slaughters in the areas that came under their sway. The largest of these rebellions lasted from 868 to 883. After numerous military victories, the rebellion was only suppressed with the lucrative offer of amnesty and rewards to any rebels who might choose to surrender. 6

Despite large numbers of Arab armies sent to quell the revolt, the Zanj forces were successful in overcoming their oppressors and even built their own capital, which was known as Moktara or the Elect City came within reach of Baghdad and flourished for many years. The Revolt of the Zanj stands as an important episode in the history of Africans and Black resistance movements, mainly due to the fact that the height of their success was during the Abbasid Empire that presided over Mesopotamia, Western Persia, Iraq, and territories in North Africa, Central Asia, the Caspian and Red Sea.

Africans have conquered the country of the Arabs as far as Mecca and have governed them. We defeated Dhu Nowas (Jewish King of Yemen) and killed the Himyrite pinces, but you, White people have never conquered our country. Our people, the Zenghs revolted forty times in the Euphrates, driving the inhabitants from their homes and making Oballah a bath of blood. -Al-Jahiz, 9th century African Muslim author of Risalat Mufakharat al-Sudan ala al-bidan (The Superiority of Blacks over Whites)7

Although the Zanji or African Iraqis can be credited with a successful revolt, the repercussions can still be felt today. Now numbering more than one million and mainly concentrated in the Iraqi region of Basra, they remain one of the most marginalized of communities in Iraq. Unlike descendents of slaves in Gulf Arab states who enjoy integration and all the perks of having Arab identity, African Iraqis are subjected to life as a second-class citizen, political, economic and social injustice.8 In conclusion, it seems social traditions continues to maintain segregation based on race. Race in the case of the Arab slave trade initially focused on individuals from the slovic region and eventually ended up with the enslavement of millions of East Africans. However, discrimination based on historical relations still echoes today as Blacks are still labeled as abid or zanj, African and Eastern European women are still viewed as sex products.

6 Runoko Rashidi, African Presence in Early Asia. 7 Al-Jahiz, Risalat mufakharat al-Sudan ala al-bidan (The Superiority of Blacks over Whites) 8 Al Jazeera English, Black Iraqis claim discrimination, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/ middleeast/2010/01/201011153951276431.html
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European Colonizations Promotion of Cultural Racism

The European expansion and the spread of Christian doctrine promoted a racist ideology based on the supremacy of the white race and their inherent right to enslave subordinate ethnic groups. Consequently, societal stereotyping has taken on the form of racism with distinctions based on skincolor, labour status and economic status. In Genesis and evolution of factual-doctrinarian racism, Quince Duncun Moodie argues that, what he calls factual racism, was based on doctrinarian beliefs of the existence of sub-races and a superior race. Colonization, Moodie argues:

Established, based on its concept of race, a universal doctrine of the hierarchy of human groups, attributing intellectual, emotional and moral value to such difference. 9

Moodie suggests that racism stems from negative beliefs or values that are taught and passed down. For example, many slaves were used as wet-nannies or mother substitutes that fed, cared and raised their masters children. The same could be argued about the modern-day labour supply of migrant domestic workers who leave their families and children to care for their employers child. In his argument, Moodie asks, What fear could these children have towards these women? And yet, they end up racist. According to Moodie, the construction of racism is not a concept promoted by the ignorant but was a doctrine created by some of Europes most brilliant thinkers and innovators. For example, Conde de Buffon who in 1774 agreed with the idea that the original color of the human beings was white but who in contact with the tropics underwent a degeneration thanks to which he became increasingly black and lost some mental faculties. He is the first to apply to these human groups the word race. This theory would be developed by one of his follower, Cornelius de Pauw, who specifically pointed out that human being become black and stunted in the equatorial zone. Moodie adds, that other thinkers like P. Kamper in 1781 went deeper into the theories of Pauw and Buffon by contributing a description of the facial features of each country, arriving at the conclusion that the features of the black are monkey-like.10 Scholars have also pointed out the prominence of racism during the Crusades. The Catholic Church used racism to present colonization as a moral duty. Even French scholars like Voltaire had a hand in justifying the practice of slavery, as Moodie states:

For Voltaire, the black was a different species of being, hardly human. He compared blacks to monkeys, elephants and wrote that blacks have a language that I do not understand. The French philosopher claimed that the naturalist theory whereby blacks were the product of the degeneration of human beings in the tropics was false and when transported to the coldest countries blacks procreate animals of their own species, and mulattos are only a bastard race.11

During French colonization racism became institutionalized as a means of governing African, Asian and Arab colonies. Laws like the Negro Code, which was established by Louis XIV, dictated the relationship between the French master and slaves. Articles in the code prevented a rise in social status and imposed baptism into the Catholic faith. Others like the Code of Indigenism, which consisted of a body of laws promoting racism, physical punishment and lack of civil rights. They also suggest that the establishment of French rule, in Lebanon, during the early 1920s played a major role in shaping cultural racism in Lebanese society through the use of African soldiers as a
9 Quince Duncun Moodie, Genesis and evolution of factual-doctrinarian racism 10 Quince Duncun Moodie, Genesis and evolution of factual-doctrinarian racism 11 Quince Duncan Moodie, Genesis and evolution of factual-doctrinarian racism
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humiliation tactic. The French governor of French West Africa, Louis Faidherbe, created the Tirailleurs Senegalais or Senegalese riflemen in 1857. Despite their name they were comprised of slave and low class men from Senegal, Mali, the Ivory Coast, Chad and Madagascar. According to scholars, French colonial use of African soldiers was a means of psychologically defeating the colonized. Military occupation was the rule of choice for the French in the Levant due to numerous uprisings like the Syrian and Druze revolts. Their armies consisted of French officers and specialized units comprised of North Africans, Madagascans and Senegalese. In the 1920s anti-French propaganda relied on rumors of rape of Muslim women by French soldiers and torture by those in the African ranks.

The French will rape your women! The Senegalese will kill your children!12

Author and historian, Elizabeth Thompson, in her book Colonial Citizens highlighted the use of gender and race as a key battleground between colonial resistance and French rule in Syria and Lebanon. According to Thompson, the Senegalese units were used by the French to destroy villages, abuse Lebanese families and to punish outraged demonstrations. These African soldiers became a symbol and reminder of French domination and used by colonial resisters fuel to future revolts. Sexual and racial imagery were used as propaganda to encourage Lebanese men to defend their manhood.

Senegalese soldiers are often singled out in womens memories of the mandate period as especially threatening. Parents warned girls to avoid them on the streets, and would even keep them home for fear of assault.

When they wanted to scare the children, the French would say The Senegalese will come to you now! recalled one woman. These warning were of a piece with the racial undertones of rebel leaflets quoted above, referring to the supposed bestiality of Senegalese soldiers, whose filth might violate their pure women.13

During a discussion with a twenty-year old Lebanese, she recalled a story told by women in her village about how during the French colonization Black soldiers would rape women and the men would feel helpless because they were unable to protect them. Images like these have possibly been carried from generation to generation. This could explain the large Lebanese migration to West Africa, which many African migrants cite as the occupation and exploitation of their resources. Many conclude that the segregation and discrimination that they face as migrant workers in Lebanon is mirrored in their native countries.

12 Elizabeth Thompson, Colonial Citizens 13 Elizabeth Thompson, Colonial Citizens

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Culture of Racism in Lebanon

The Lebanese constitution states that all Lebanese are equal in the eyes of the law, but no mention is made of the rights of foreigners.

In the absence of a unified civil law, such discrimination will continue. The Lebanese legal system follows different rules of law that vary from one community to the other. It is a situation that naturally leads to inequality among people. - Lebanese lawyer, Amal Takiedine

Lebanon has captured the attention of international media due to various reports by human rights advocates highlighting the use of race, class and identity to implement discriminatory practices. Such as, Without Protection: How the Lebanese judicial system is failing migrant domestic workers, by the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) that concludes mistreatment of migrant domestic workers at the hands of their employer is rarely punished due to discriminatory labour laws that allows the existence of modern-day-slavery and social caste system.

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Migrant Workers/Refugees

Due to social and economic hardships, millions of African and Asian men and women migrate to the Middle East in search of economic opportunities to improve the livelihoods of their families back. For many, these remittances allow families to build houses, pay for educational fees and in some cases improve the social status of families in their home countries. Migrant workers comprise a large segment of societies in the Middle East. For instance, foreign workers make up 87 per cent of the population in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, 69 per cent in Kuwait, 49 per cent in Bahrain, 30 per cent in Oman, 25 per cent in Saudi Arabia and nearly 90 per cent in Dubai. In Lebanon it is estimated that one in four is a migrant worker. The practice in which all non-nationals enter countries in the Middle East known as the Kafeel sponsorship system, which maintains that migrant workers must be sponsored by a local individual. This system keeps many at the mercy of their employers, and has been likened to modern-day slavery.

Domestic workers are considered servants and confiscating passports is seen as securing the employers investment. The passport and other identity papers are returned when the worker is released at the end of their contract. - Najla Chada, Director of the Caritas Migrant Center in Lebanon

According to an opinion piece in November of 2005 in Ya Libnan, even journalists have contributed to this negative portrayal of migrant workers. Referring to an article published in the Daily Star titled, The Discreet Charms of the Domestic Worker, where author Nahla Atiyah highlights the kind of ignorance that confirms the level of racism that exists in the country. In the piece, Atiyah claims that the abusive treatment that most domestic workers are subjected to be acceptable because most women travel to Lebanon disguised as domestic workers, but are in fact evil backstabbing thieves. She ends by saying, I guess it would help to reach out to our domestics. To better understand what goes on in the deep folds of their minds. I might then better figure out why my Filipina, miles away from home and here to send her father to the hospital and brother to school, squanders her very first pay on a walkman blasting the latest music chart.

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Female Foreign Migrant Workers

Before leaving Madagascar, Dima 19, was told that she would find good employment and an opportunity to provide much needed money for her family that was struggling due to extreme poverty and lack of employment at home. However, it was only several hours after arriving to the home of her new employer in Lebanon that she was confronted with a different reality.

The male employer picked me up from the airport and when we arrived to the home he told me to take a bath. He insisted that I leave the door slightly open and while I was in the bath he entered and raped me.

He bragged about never having been with a Black woman before and his excitement at having a taste. I was forced to bury the scars that had been inflicted on me and carry on with my household chores. The situation came back to haunt me, several weeks later.

This time he tied my hand to the bed and spread my legs apart and tied each to the bed and raped me repeatedly. Then he invited two male friends over and they also took turns raping me.

After less than a month of being employed in Lebanon I seized an opportune moment to escape. While the family was getting into the car I started running. I couldnt bear living like this anymore. -Dima, age 19, domestic worker from Madagascar

Today, the feminization of migration resulted in women, making up nearly half of the global migrant population, leaving their families and children to care for anothers household. The share of women migrating for employment rather than family reasons has increased over time, though their performance in host countries labor markets varies significantly according to country of origin, says Maurice Schiff, World Bank lead economist at the Development Research Group. Global employment trends indicate that of the 3 billion people employed around the world in 2008, 1.2 billion were women (40,4 %). The economic crisis is expected to increase the numbers of unemployed women by up to 22 million in 2009 and women looking for decent work would face new hurdles in finding decent employment, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in its annual Global Employment Trends for Women report, released in early March. According to the ILO, the global vulnerable employment rate ranges from 50.5 to 54.7 per cent for women in 2009, and 47.2 and 51.8 per cent for men, indicates that the burden of vulnerability is still greater for women. Women will most likely cope by engaging in longer working hours or by taking multiple low-income jobs but still having to maintain unpaid care commitments. While the decline in remittances can be attributed to several factors such as movements in exchange rates, increase in the costs of living, political reaction to weak job markets in destination countries and immigration controls, it is tied most closely to migrant employment in the labour markets of destination countries. The ILO estimates that nearly 22 million women worldwide employed in the tourism, textile and garment industries will lose their jobs due to their relationship to export markets.
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During the 1960s, women accounted for nearly 45% of the total migration mainly to reunite with their spouses who were already employed abroad. Today, gendered patterns in migration have changed as the labour market demand for domestic servitude increased in the Middle East resulting in female migrant labour becoming the main export for many countries like Madagascar, Philippines, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Instead of being treated as human beings they are viewed as commodities. Social status, in countries like Lebanon, has been a driving force behind the increase of employing a domestic worker from abroad. However, women migrants employed as domestic workers face discrimination on the grounds of their nationality, gender, legal and economic status. Restrictive contracts deny most female migrants their rights to freedom of movement due to their status as slaves serving a master rather than an employee in the workforce. They also face exploitation by excessive hours of work, confinement and non-payment of wages. Hundreds were reported to have suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of employers. In the current financial climate many families, faced with a life of extreme poverty, are desperate to find a way out. Forcing women, who make up nearly half of the global migrant population, to leave their families and children to care for anothers household.

Many people in Madagascar are living in poverty. Every day applications are being processed for women seeking work abroad. -Aimee Haryl, Madagascan community leader

A majority of migrant domestic workers interviewed had migrated because of family pressures, their status as single women, to leave abusive spouses, better education for their children and to complete housing projects. Bernadette, a 33-year old single mother from Sri Lanka, needed a means to provide for her daughter. The option of working overseas sounded very promising and gave her an outlet to leave an abusive husband. For almost four years she has been working in Lebanon as a domestic worker. Daily, Bernadette wakes at 6 a.m. to endure 18 hours of grueling labor. According to Bernadette, There are jobs in Sri Lanka but they pay very little money and I needed money to take care of my daughter. US $150 is not enough money, which is almost 20.000 Sri Lankan rupees. I have begged repeatedly for a raise because the work is difficult and I have done my time but always they refuse. I have no day off and Madame wont even allow me to travel to Sri Lanka to see my family alone. She insists on coming with me to see what Im doing with the money I earn. I have my land but now I want to build my house. After 2006 when the Philippines enforced a ban on workers traveling to the country an influx of workers from Madagascar poured in increasing numbers to more than 5,000. During this time, Lebanon also became a major destination for Nepalese women who comprise more than 90 percent of the 17,000 Nepalese migrant workers in the country. Nepalese community leader and migrant worker Dipendra Upetry said, At least fifty to sixty women enter Lebanon every day from Nepal to work as domestic workers. Most are between the ages of 18-25 years old and some come under false employment contracts? People are desperate for work in Nepal and more women are leaving their families and working as housemaids because the employment agencies are advertising a need in this area. The bad side is that a lot of Nepalese men in Lebanon are trafficking women from Nepal because they earn a commission from local Lebanese recruitment agencies once the woman is hired. The flow of domestic labor, a low-skilled and unregulated sector, has remained stable throughout the financial crisis in destinations in the Middle East. Estimated at some 200.000 people - about five percent of Lebanons population - rights groups warn that migrant domestic workers, most of them women from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia, remain unprotected by labor laws and subject to a range of human rights violations including forced confinement, rape and unpaid salaries by their employers. Several months ago, after reports surfaced of a high rate of domestic suicides, the Madagascan and
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Nepalese government enacted a ban prohibiting domestic workers from travelling to Lebanon. Given that their working environment is the private homes of individuals, monitoring labour conditions and ensuring employers adhere to the rights set out in the new contract, approved by the Ministry of Labor in March 2009 has proven until now unenforceable. In modern day Lebanon, the situation is also complicated by the economic difficulty, decades of war, corruption, and sectarianism (citizenship privileges). As a result Lebanese employers often fail to understand the need to improve the working conditions of migrant workers, based on the idea that if a Lebanese settle for living in poor conditions, then it is absurd to demand them to give foreigners rights. More than 70 percent of the 200 cases interviewed for this report, workers told us that labor agents and subagents made false promises about working in the Middle East and Lebanon. They were told that the country of destination would be paradise; the salaries would be very lucrative and acceptable working conditions. The following is an observation of a Madagascan woman who was forced by her family to come to Lebanon as a domestic worker. According to the Madagascan community leader, Aimee, the girl didnt want to leave her family, was pregnant and the recruitment agency lied about her age. She was documented as being twenty-years old on her passport but was in fact only sixteen.

We arrive at the Hospital Psychiatrique de la Croix in Jal El Dib. After knocking on the door a nurse dressed in all white answers the door. The male employer and his Filipino maid enter along with Aimee who has come to translate. Aimee is a social worker at the Madagascan consulate. We are escorted to the waiting room, which has an amazing view of Beirut. As the sun slowly peers into the windows, Yvonne appears wearing a pink tank pajama top and pants. Her hair is standing straight up and hasnt been done for days. She is in a daze as her frail body wanders aimlessly into the waiting room where Jess, the Filipino maid, and her employer await to greet her. She expresses some excitement but is too drugged to even respond or become aware of what is happening around her.

Yvonee. Its Baba, says the male employer. Haram, she needs water and should not be given more medication because she is not lucid.

Yvonne, who is originally from Madagascar, arrived in Lebanon several months ago and according to Aimee she was not interested in coming to Lebanon to work but was forced by recruiters. The employer says that after several months she just had a nervous breakdown and was no longer sane so they brought her to the hospital.

Although she was treated well by her employer, being forced by Madagascan recruitment agencies and her family caused her great pain and suffering. -Interviewers observation of Madagascan worker

In another case, a trained Madagascan nurse was deceived by a Lebanese recruiter who used a false employment contract that stated that she would be employed at a hospital, receive a lucrative salary and learn Arabic. Abbe explains, I was a trained nurse and French interpreter at a military hospital in the Madagascan province of Antsiranana. For three years I cared for many Arab seamen whose ships were stationed for three months at a time along the coast. Because the hospital was French run, the director accepted an offer to send a nurse to Lebanon for three years to learn Arabic. I was presented with a three-year contract, which included a car to transport me to the hospital, lots of work and a salary of US $1.000 per month. However, when I arrived I was placed in a house with another Madagascan woman to take care of the house, three kids and a newborn. We didnt sleep day or night; we had to be up whenever they baby cried. The baby was never supposed to cry. We didnt even have time to shower or eat during the day. They didnt even give us leftovers to eat. With our small salary of US $150 we had
17

to give the employer money so she would buy food for us. So basically we were working for free for the Lebanese.Migrant domestic workers are among the least protected workers in the region and Lebanon. They are excluded from labour laws, local justice mechanisms and lack assistance from their home embassies. Exposing them poor working condition, abuse, lack of food, social networks and subjected to condition akin to slaver. One twenty-five year old woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who came to Lebanon to escape war in her country said, One time, Madame found dust on the furniture. She told me that the house was dirty like my skin. I was confined to the house for four years. I came on a six-year contract and was forced to awaken daily at 5:30 A.M. and worked eighteen hours of back breaking labour without a day off. Even the dogs are allowed to go out but were stuck. Were like slaves here. Traditionally, households would employ young Lebanese women from poor rural areas, Palestinians, Syrians or Egyptians as domestic workers. The days, Arab women rarely accept work in the home viewing it as degrading or unacceptable to the works social status and their need to assert their equality to men. According to a quote of an Egyptian during the late nineteenth century Perry writes:

So inwrought, indeed, is the institution into the domestic and social life of the country, that the possession of one or more slave is essential to respectability amongst ones neighbors as is that of a servant for menial work in a European family; and this social consideration has, probably, more to do with the maintenance of the institution than any question as to the relative cost of slave and free labour.

.In most places the position of a person is measured by the number of slaves he possesses especially is this true in the case of women who take peculiar pride in telling how many slave girls they have under their command.14

Perrys use of this quote could be interpreted as a need by countries in the Middle East and North Africa to emulate their European rulers.

Male Foreign Migrant Workers

Life is hard here because of the racism we face daily. Because the Lebanese know that we speak Arabic when they want to speak poorly of us they do it in French.

Being African and Muslim living in this area means that we are constantly being looked down upon. -Salah, Sudanese migrant worker in Lebanon

Its a Saturday morning and Omar, Ahmed and Salah enjoy their weekend off by preparing food, drinking whisky and enjoying meeting and talking with other Sudanese men who pass by for a cigarette and a delicious meal. The three are migrant workers from Sudan and are currently residing and working in Monsourieh. Upon entering their tiny two-bedroom apartment, a large poster of Bob Marley greets you.
14 Mark Perry, Perceptions of Race in the Arab World
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Ahmed has been in Lebanon for over five years. He says he mainly worked as a farmer in Sudan and had dreams of going to University to study to be a psychologist because he likes meeting new people and understanding how their minds work. Due to dire economic and political instability and the urgency of caring for his family he traveled to Lebanon to provide them with a more stable life. Limited figures exist on the number of male migrants in Lebanon, but estimates are certainly in the thousands, with significant numbers coming from Africa and Southeast Asia. Overlooked, in comparison with other foreign workers in Lebanon, African and Southeast Asian male migrants must deal not only with challenging labour conditions, but also societal racism. Like many of the foreign female migrant workers in Lebanon, male migrant face breeches of contractual agreements upon their arrival. One African worker said, I came to Lebanon in 1987 with a Lebanese businessman that I met back home. I was offered a five-year contract with a $200 monthly salary to be his personal cook and afternoons off. The offer was very lucrative compared to my current salary of five dollars a month in my country. However, when I arrived the verbal agreement changed. I was given a monthly salary of sixty-six dollars, in addition to cooking I was expected to maintain the garden, cleaning and construction work. My passport was confiscated and never allowed a day-off. 15 Unlike many migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, most male migrants interviewed reported the ability to live outside the home of their employers, weekends and afternoons off and relatively more freedom due to the nature of their employment being in businesses like shops rather than private homes.

I have a good boss. Most employers take your papers when you arrive in Lebanon but I was given my passport back because my boss says this belongs to me.

The company that brought me to Lebanon closed due to financial concerns and political instability. To ensure that I remain in the country, My employers found another cell phone company to pay the necessary fines to renew my work visa.

I also received a ticket to visit Nigeria and three months salary since I had six months remaining on a two-year contract.

I am lucky. Everyday after 5pm and on the weekends I am free. No one bothers me. When I hear the stories about how the women are treated here it makes me want to cry. -Adam, 32, Northern Nigeria, migrant worker in Lebanon

Male migrants like Eric from the Philippines say he is also one of the lucky ones and after almost eleven years in Lebanon he has worked his way to a higher salary as a soux chef in a restaurant. According to Eric, Hardships faced by female migrant domestic workers in Lebanon is because of the employment agencies. For workers like myself who came before recruitment agencies became big business enjoy greater freedoms since one of the main factors limiting the movement of most workers entering the country now is contractual agreements set by employment agencies. Racism was one of the main issues reported by most male foreign migrant workers. Daily they say they are faced with the typical harassment from Lebanese police officers, accused of theft and routinely treated with a level of disrespect not welcomed by any human being. One Egyptian worker in Lebanon said, Once when I was riding the bus I was forced to stand despite there being room for seating but no one offered to let me sit next to them. As we continued the bus began to fill to capacity but the driver kept stopping for passengers. Then a Lebanese man outraged, yelled at the driver and asked if he thought we were in Egypt.

15 Hayeon Lee, African Men in Lebanon, October 2009, http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails. aspx?ID=117585

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Refugees
One night in August 2005, as I was leaving the University to meet my husband who had just arrived to pick me up from work, a group of men attacked our car. My husband was seriously wounded and I was left blind.

I didnt ask America for this war. I cant accept myself. I am broken inside living this life of begging.

The war is on the Iraqi people. They are fighting me inside my country and they are fighting me outside my country. I want them to allow Iraqis to work but the laws here are very difficult for us. -Inam, Iraqi refugee, former Professor of Engineering at the University in Baghdad

Many Iraqi and Sudanese refugees reported that they restrict their movements due to fear of harassment by Lebanese police and soldiers due to frequently being singled out because of their distinct African and Arab features. Lebanon is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and many Iraqis and Sudanese granted UNHCR status have been detained for being illegal in the country. According to human rights groups, Lebanon has the largest number of detained refugees and asylum seekers than any other country in the region. More than ninety percent of Iraqi and Sudanese refugees interviewed experienced bouts with daily racism. An Iraqi schoolgirl living in the southern suburbs complained of harassment, telling us, I didnt like going to school because the Lebanese kids would call me black and make fun of me. A Sudanese family from the Nuba Mountains currently living in the Shatila Palestinian camp said, People dont treat you like a person. They dont listen to you and call you ya saouda, ya chocolat. I can never respond. Always my kids come home very upset and said that they were being picked on and being beaten up by Lebanese kids in the school so I went to speak to the director and she told me that she could do nothing because they have a lot of kids in the school.

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Mixed-Ethnicity Lebanese
After a day of visiting relatives, Karim and his mother take the bus back down to Beirut along the way the vehicle is stopped at a military check-point, a scene that is common for most Lebanese and a nightmare for many African and Asian migrants. Karim, who is half-African Lebanese, was traveling with his African mother when the soldiers entered the bus and asked for everyone to show their identity papers. While searching the bag for his wallet to obtain his military standby card and identity papers, one of the officers in charge orders the arrest of Karim.

For Several hours I was held in custody and subjected to countless physical and verbal abuse; all the while not one soldier even bothered to check my wallet for my Lebanese ID and military card.

It wasnt until my mother shouted that they call a relative who is known in the military that the soldiers stopped mistreating me and checked my papers. Even then they tried to save face by claiming that my military card was new but in fact it has been standard for over ten years. -Karim, African-Lebanese

Most African and Asians in Lebanon represent the status of being servants, which causes the majority of Lebanese to categorize their prejudice towards people based on the color of skin or their Asian features. For light skinned Black women and Asian professionals, students or Lebanese the treatment goes a step further of continuous harassment due to the majority of Ethiopian and Filipino domestic migrants having a reputation of prostitution. Many of the African-Lebanese interviewed were born and raised in the country of their mother and decided to travel to Lebanon, their fathers home country, either to further their education, economic opportunities or to get acquainted with the roots of their father. Despite having Lebanese roots, the color of their skin is the main reason for daily battles. Harassment from policemen who periodically demand to see their papers, just to make trouble but unlike refugees and migrant workers once their Lebanese nationality is proven these policemen quickly apologize for their mistake. Racist comments are the norm and men are usually mistaken for being Sudanese, while women for Ethiopian. One mixed-ethnicity Lebanese, told us, Three years ago a friend and I were arrested after a fight instigated by a Lebanese store owner. When we tried to explain to the police officer what happened, he told us to shut up or I will put you in jail directly. We were released and handcuffs removed after paying a bribe to the store owner. Despite the treatment, Lebanon is home and many say that a solution needs to found so that other mixed-ethnicity Lebanese that may come in the future are made to feel comfortable in their own country.

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African/Asian/Arab tourists
I have never traveled to Lebanon but a lot of my friends have told me that they went for vacation and were not treated very well. They said they were looked down upon for being Arabs. -Ahmed, 20, Jordanian University student

Located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, Lebanon has traditionally enjoyed being a major destination for Arabs from the Gulf States and more increasingly tourists from the Asia Pacific and Europe. Lebanon has a reputation of being a hospitable country that caters to the needs of its visitors. With summer in full swing the public and private beaches are packed with tourists and Lebanese enjoying a bit of relaxation. However, for dark-skinned and Asian tourists, students and Lebanese - reality paints a different picture. My friend, who is African-French, came to spend his vacation with me in Beirut last summer and we were all supposed to meet in Gemmayzeh for drinks, says French student Amelie. I heard him shouting my name from outside and I went to see what was the problem. A Lebanese guy was trying to prevent him from entering the bar because he was Black, even though he explained to him many times in French that he was on vacation from France. Bira, who is an African Brazilian, was visiting his half Italian son. One day while walking to the market in Gemmayzeh, which was a few meters away from where he was staying, the police stopped him and asked for his papers. Because he just wanted to get some items from the shop he didnt bring his Brazilian passport but offered to go and get it. Instead, he was ordered to put his son down beside him and then handcuffed. After the officer went to speak on his walkie-talkie, he asked Bira where he was from. Im from Brazil, says Bira. Responding, the officer removed the handcuffs and told Bira, welcome to Lebanon and left. As this report was being prepared, a Sierra Leonean family contacted us asking for assistance in investigating a case involving their daughter. According to the family, their daughter, who was travelling to Lebanon to visit her aunt, arrived at the Beirut International Airport. Although she had acquired the proper tourist visa before leaving, she was told when she arrived that she did not have the proper visa. The Sierra Leonean woman says that she was denied entry and detained by airport police for several days. After being sent back, the family says that she arrived home with her head shaved, bruises on her body from beatings and wearing torn clothes. The Sierra Leonean Consulate contacted the police to inquire about the allegations but they denied everything. Activists in Lebanon are currently investigating the case. More than eighty percent of Arab, African and Asian students, professionals and tourists interviewed were not offered the same level of treatment as white individuals they accompanied. Many reported being denied entry into bars, clubs, restaurants and private beaches. Some stated that on several occasions places where they had made reservations in advanced denied their entry and were told that seating had reached capacity, but walk-ins continued while they remained outside in wait.

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Lebanese University Students

Its not common or normal for us to see Black and Asian people driving nice cars or having expensive things so of course we may think that they stole it. -Kamal, 19, Lebanese University student

During a recent discussion in an Ethics class at the American University of Beirut (AUB), students were presented with an article detailing the slave-like treatment of an African woman. The following are responses to several questions posed to them.

When asked about discrimination the students had this to say: We live in a country that is raised on a culture of discrimination because of the civil war many families raise their children to hate other Lebanese according to their sect. Because our parents grew up during a time of civil war they didnt have access to anything and so our generation was raised to believe that we are better than anyone else and that we should have the best. We are a very superficial society and its very important how you look in public by the clothes you wear to the kind of car you drive. I mean one time I went to the bank to meet my father and was kicked out because I came dressed in shorts and flip-flops. Racism in Lebanon is because there needs to be education in the schools about the different kind of cultures that exist and to not be prejudice towards others because of their skin color. In Lebanon we are only exposed to Black and Asian people as workers in the country who hold the lowest of jobs and are looked upon as less than us because they are poor and uneducated. Even here at the American University of Beirut you dont see variations of cultures but I think that if we were exposed to it then things would get better. For us, Koreans are considered a very smart people because they have a strong economy and they are educated and very intelligent and they are not like the other Asians that come to work in Lebanon.

When dealing with the issue of domestic worker suicides they had this to say: Look you have to understand that we live in a country where seeing dead bodies is normal and doesnt affect us. So when a domestic worker kills herself and her body remains in the street its not because she is a worker that we dont do anything. I mean I also saw a Lebanese man who was run over by a car lying in the middle of the autostrat and no one seemed willing to do anything.

When asked if changing the labour laws to benefit all workers in Lebanon, including Lebanese the students replied: Well honestly changing the labour laws wont really change anything because no respects the laws in this country. Its more important that mentalities change because if we can change the way people think and judge then it would have more of an impact than changing the laws because like the last person said we dont respect the laws that exist already.

Lebanese are prejudice towards one another. I experience prejudice always because I wear hijab, so I think that these women shouldnt complain. -Zeina, 19, Lebanese University student
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Would it be a good solution to allow migrant workers to live and work in Lebanon like they do in the West where they have their own living quarters and could this type of set up boost the local economy? If we were to change the laws and allow migrant domestic workers to live on their own and come and go as they please then the situation might be harder for them because they dont make enough each month to pay for living expenses, food, transportation, etc. So its better that they remain as live-in for their own benefit.

When asked about Syrians the students pointed out that the Lebanese discrimination of Syrian workers is not only because they are seen as low level workers but also because of the historical background: Some of us have family members that were detained, tortured and subjected to Syrian harassment during their occupation of Lebanon and this is really where the discrimination comes from. I would work in construction if that was the only job that I could get even if I had a University degree because its work but also because construction is a skill that only became looked down upon when cheap Syrian labour started to shape the profession. I would only work in construction if I was the engineer. The lowest work you could do in Lebanon is to work as a domestic worker because you are forced to serve people and the second worst job would working in Sukleen.

Question: But what about waiters in the caf arent they in a position of serving others who are oftentimes annoying? Response: No working as a waiter is a good job because you make money from tips and the education level of the people working as a waiter is high because most are University students so that places it in a higher class. If I was working abroad, then I would probably work in construction or any other low level job but here never. Although the majority of the class denied that the treatment of domestic workers was racist when presented with an incident of an African-Lebanese who was mistreated due to the color of their skin all of them agreed that this was racism. This is racism because if they are Lebanese then they should not be treated this way, says Kamal. Even more interesting was the reaction from most of the students who seemed unaware of the existence of mixed-ethnicity Lebanese in the country. Nevertheless, if you bring up the issue of racism in Lebanon most Lebanese will say, of course as a foreigner you would call it that.

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Advertisements
A popular and widely used form of communication, known as advertising, was created to persuade a mass audience in the value of buying or believing in products, ideas or servicProducts created by Western companies like the Negro cleaning supplies, have been tailored to cater to racist stereotypes. These kinds of stereotypes are also publicized via agencies, newspaper ads, foods and television. Analyst for the Arabic daily, Asharq Al-Awsat, Osman Mirghani writes in an article titled, Are we racist?, that recent incident with Sudanese refugees who were verbally and physically attacked by members of the Lebanese General Security highlights existence of racism and the use of terms and jokes that historical societal behaviour and a desire to assert superiority has resulted in the continued discriminatory practices.

Mirghani says: There are manifestations of racism in our society whose existence we deny, either through ignorance, or indifference, or because we do not believe that what is being said or done could be hurtful, offensive, or humiliating to others. Of course there is racist behavior that some may display in order to demonstrate their feelings of superiority or to demonstrate their contempt and disdain for others.

This has nothing to do with this incident in particular, and is something that is not just found in Lebanon, for there are a number of phenomenons that indicate the presence of discrimination amongst different components of our society, and illustrate practices that do not go beyond any simple definition of racism. One needs only to look at the jokes that are occasionally circulated, which mock certain groups or races in order to quickly see that we do practice discrimination, even if unintentionally.16

It is not uncommon to see maid agencies advertising their migrant domestic worker service. In the past images were displayed of African and Asian women as commodity available for purchase. Some even promoted offers to increase sales like one sign that read, Get two brooms with your maid, or like this newspaper ad displays. Popular songs like Elie Ayoubs, Bent El Serelankiyi, portrayed racist stereotypes about domestic workers and made fun of their culture, social status and a perception by Lebanese of their dumbness.

The irony is that the recent incident took place in a country whose expatriate population is larger than its domestic population; therefore Lebanon should be more sympathetic to the emigrants who are living there.17

16 Are We Racist, Osman Mirghani, Asharq Al-Awsat 17 Are We Racist, Osman Mirghani, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Advertisements for office space is commonplace in local Lebanese newspapers with an emphasis on space suitable for servants, like blogger Pazuzu points out in a recent post:

In my daily search for an apartment in Beirut I come across the weirdest shit ever. But just when you think that youve seen it all already, there is always something more...

The screenshot you see above is from the online version of Al-Waseet, a classifieds magazine in Lebanon. It advertises for an office in Beirut, which is suitable for a servants or engineering office. And yes in Lebanon they refer to migrant domestic workers as servants. What puzzled me is that they would advertise for an office this way, what is so specific about a servants office? All I knew is that this ad is racist, simply put. Offices such as these are provided with a special storage space for domestic workers who arrive to Lebanese in mass. Many are stuffed to capacity in overcrowded rooms and some women say they are raped, lack food and are subjected to horrible conditions. The agencies cater to employers looking to hire migrant domestic workers who are stuffed in the storage space like stock. Potential employers are handed a catalogue of the merchandise and assisted in choosing the servant they desire according to their preference regarding skin complexion, religion, and degree of beauty, degree of obedience, language proficiency and age.
Some of those who responded to the incident of the Sudanese migrants in Lebanon raised the question of; who is an Arab anyway?

What is it that unites Arabs, is it race, or color, or language that counts? If we are to talk about race, this would mean that the Arab identity would be restricted to those who descend from a few well-known Arab tribes, and this would exclude many from Lebanon to Sudan, and from the Gulf to the Mediterranean, and from Egypt to Iraq, especially as our countries today include different nationalities, races, and religions, from Kurds to Cops, and from Armenians to Imazighen.

While if the talk is about skin color; then is this white, or brown, or black, as our societies are a blend of all of these colors? If we said that skin color is an indication of Arab identity, then a number of countries would need to be excluded from the Arab League, while others countries
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would need to be divided.

There are of course those who say that an Arab is anybody who speaks the Arabic language, because it is the Arabic language and culture that brings together the different components of Arab countries. Islam is even wider than this for it brings together Arabs and non-Arabs, and extends far beyond the borders of the Arab world.18

The brand NEGRO was created and launched in Lebanon almost 60 years ago. Today NEGRO is the leading brand for steel wool products in Lebanon as well as in several countries of the Middle East region. This household cleaning product found in many Lebanese grocery stores features a caricature of a shirt-less Black man flexing his muscles as his mighty physique punctures the Negro products slogan: or leef al-3bd. The slogan literally translates to loofah of the slave or slave loofah. 3abd, a derogatory term equivalent to the Wests N-word carries a shameful historical legacy of referring to Black people as slaves.

18

Are We Racist, Osman Mirghani, Asharq Al-Awsat

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Language
Words in the Arabic language that have historically existed to represent a certainclass or ethnic group are also major contributors to this culture of racism. Even the use of the word aswad (black) is often used in derogatory manor, as is the word serelankiye (Sri Lanki) often refers to the job that a woman has in Lebanon (maid) rather than just a nationality. A girl who has a strong tan would also be ridiculed and called serelankiye. Another derogatory term for African is Zonji, which is in relation to the Zenj culture. Though in other Arab countries, such as Mauritania, black individuals would refer to themselves as Zonouj (plural for Zounji). This word was the original terminology used by Arabs to describe Black Africans Throughout the Arab world an African person would often be called abed, which is also the same word for slave. The word abed would also integrate other terms to refer to certain food items, like fosto abeed (slave/African peanut). A person with a dark complexion would be referred to as aswad fahme, meaning black like charcoal. During a police raid on a party organized by the Sudanese community in Lebanon, the police officers attacked the attendees, insulting them and repeatedly calling them fahme. Speaking about the incident, writer Nesrine Malik comments in the Guardian on the subtleties of intraArab discrimination:

According to Sudanese and Lebanese newspaper reports (in Arabic), the detainees were referred to as animals who learned how to wear nice clothes and black pieces of coal, and lined up flat on their bellies. Some members of the police, seemingly ignorant of the fact that there are any Arabic-speaking black Arabs, asked some of the Sudanese how they spoke Arabic so fluently. The Sudanese responded that they were Arabs from Sudan. In disbelief, the officers thought that they were being mocked, and another round of beating started.

The Lebanese authorities have launched an investigation, but deny that there was any racial motivation to the raid. On the skin-colour and race spectrum, Sudan is possibly the most African of the Arab League nations. Lebanon on the other hand, or at least the image the country portrays in the media, is fair and Occidental, both in culture and race (Lebanese applicants at my university regularly ticked the Caucasian box on application forms).

This incident highlights the unspoken, unsettling chasm between the two nations in terms of popular perceptions of different races in the Arab world. While mistreatment of migrant workers attracts coverage, the subtleties of intra-Arab discrimination rarely do.19

19 Nesrine Malik, Pan-Arab narrative a myth in Lebanon, Guardian June 2010

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Regional Comparison
Intra-Arab discrimination is a topic very rarely discussed in the Arab media. Countries like Yemen, Jordan, Iraq and Gulf states have a large black community. In countries like Yemen, Jordan and Iraq many of inhabitants are considered Arab but historically represent African-descendents. Most speak of marginalization due to their historical stereotypes of being descendents of slaves. For most, they live in communities that are isolated from the majority so as to create a sense of belonging. However, in Gulf states integration is widely seen amongst families. On the issue of skin-colour and race, Arab identity is more of a factor than a persons skin. In comparison to the rest of the region, Lebanon considers itself as a higher class than the rest of the Arab world. Most tourists, students, workers and professionals from the Arab world have cited discrimination and mistreatment. Although Lebanon is a member of the Arab League, most Lebanese question their Arabness and dispute that it should be based on the fact that they speak Arabic. Lebanese are the largest non-African migrant minority in West Africa, which dates back to the nineteenth century. They amass an enormous wealth, through markets like the diamond industry in Sierra Leone, and enjoy a status, which some West Africans have described as a colonialist mentality. Arabs in the region are in fact members of the same family in race, language and history but for Arabs of African descent a silent part of their history continues to echo to this day and leaves them a marginalized segment of society.

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Purpose, Objectives and Methodology

Building and sharing the knowledge
This research is part of the Multimedia Virtual Space for Human Rights project that has created an open Coalition of NGOs for sharing and disseminating information and giving voice on the situation of human rights in Lebanon. The study worked to acquire and compile information on the culture of racism in Lebanon and shed light on the issues of these marginalized communities. In order to build this knowledge base, the research has been conducted through academic approach, compiling and collecting media coverage on the subject. During the research were conducted numerous interviews with community members, community leaders, and other groups and entities that work on the subject. Lectures and focus groups in universities included public discussions about of racism, domestic labor, refugees, etc. Discussions are the best way for making awareness about those topics. They can easly help the associations to improve the perception of Lebanese society on culture of racism. It was through these discussions, for example, that the Coalition learned that the Lebanese society in general, and the Lebanese youth in specific, did not regard the plight of domestic right as an issue of racism, but rather of class. Lectures, public discussions and cultural events were aimed at challenging stereotypes based on gender, class, ethnicity and status. In a sense re-defining identity was at the core of these activities. This study also held public discussion, in which different stakeholders, as relevant groups and associations, migrant community leaders, and Lebanese people, had the rare opportunity to meet in one place and speak. The Multimedia Virtual Space for Human Rights Coalition believes that social injustice can only be alleviated through social awareness. In order to increase this awareness we started sharing the information we acquire through a blog and facebook account20.

20 The blog at http://www.humanrights-lb.blogspot.com/ and the facebook account at http://www. facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001728050762

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24/7 Campaign
A major component of the research was in the awareness raising campaign, which sought the collaboration of various other local NGOs working on the issue of human rights, women and migrant domestic workers21. The main focus of the campaign was to challenge the traditional stereotypes of African and Asian women. The campaign entitled 24/7 demands better work conditions for migrant domestic workers, including the right to a weekly day-off. Social media tools were also at the core of the campaign so that a wider audience could be reached. Bloggers and twitter users from the MENA region were active participants in speaking and sharing information relating to racism22. An interesting component of the twitter discussion was on words in the Arabic language that contribute to racist stereotypes. A Facebook account was also created for online discussions, sharing of articles and organizing23. Both the Facebook and Twitter components of the campaign are still actively in use. The online community is still actively using the Facebook group and Twitter hashtag to share information and links. The coalition held a number of events to raise awareness about the rights of domestic workers. Nowadays side cultural events, as a food festival or a music show are efficient medium for raising awareness. The cultural food festival was held at the Souk el Tayeb in downtown Beirut. The purpose of the food festival was using food as a means of sharing culture. Also the women were put in positions of venders selling their foods from Africa and Asia as a means of challenging stereotypes of them as simply maids but as businesswomen. Following the food festival there was a march from Qarantina to Ain el Mreiseh were a concert was held on the Corniche featuring local Lebanese bands including a hip hop crew that consists of mixedethnicity Lebanese and a Sudanese-Ethiopian band, which was the first time that a migrant worker had performed publicly for Lebanese.

21 The coalition of the 24/7 Campaign is formed by Nasawiya, Kazamaza magazine, Kafa (Enough Violence & Exploitation), Insan Association, Visual & Performing Arts Association (VAPA), Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), COSV, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International - Lebanon, Souk el Tayeb, MigrantRights.org, Collective for Research and Training on Development Action (CRTD.A), Nahwa Al-Muwatiniya (Na-aM), Taste Culture and concerned individuals. 22 The website of the campaign at http://twenty-four-7.org/ , the Twitter account at http://twitter.com/ Twenty_Four_7. 23 The Facebook account is available at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117842898230232.
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Conclusions and Recommendations

In considering the implication of these findings, there is an urgent need for developing meaningful strategies to address racist harassment, stereotyping and discrimination. This report makes a number of recommendations: The human rights organizations involve the Ministry of Culture, Justice and Social Affairs, community leaders and Embassies to define guidelines for reach policies on combating racism in order to achieve the following points: Clearly define what racism and racist harassment is and the short and long term effects on minority communities; Identify a number of cases, representing different settings and situations and create practical and meaningful guidance on how racism could best be addressed and eradicated; Establish key factors governing the development of policies that combat and protect those subjected to racist harassment; Publicly acknowledge new laws and policy regarding discrimination on the basis of race/ ethnicity/color, making it clear to Lebanese society what is racist harassment and the legal implications of violating the newly established laws; Set out legal consequences and judiciary mechanisms to prosecute those who engage in racist behavior; Establish an independent Equality Commission to monitor and follow up with all parties concerned to ensure that judiciary and legal measures are upheld. The Equality Commission should include members of the minority community.

The Lebanese government in partnership with civil society groups establishes an inter-agency commission or non-governmental society free of religious affiliation to: Create sensitivity trainings/workshops for members of the law enforcement community on how to steer clear of engaging in racist behavior and harassment; Establish effective mechanisms for tracking and monitoring incidents of racist harassment and discrimination; Facilitate effective communication among governmental agencies, law enforcement, civil society and minority communities.

Civil society in conjunction with minority/ethnic community leaders or groups partner to strategize several media and public awareness campaigns, which include television, radio, billboards and the arts, to encourage individuals/businesses to report, be aware of and steer clear of incidents of racist harassment or behavior.

In other countries as Canada exist positive example of intercultural scholastic program to increase students awareness of racism, racist behavior and stereotyping to develop their understanding of and respect for cultural diversity. This kind of program could also be established throughout the Lebanese public and private school with the aim of: Monitoring a broader educational strategy aimed at reducing racial prejudice; Promotion of good race relations within Lebanon and the region;

Production and facilitation of training resources for use by youth and civil society organizations, which focus on the existence and range of Lebanons ethnic and cultural diversity;
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 Establishing initiatives that develop strategies aimed at addressing the violent and negative sub-cultures that exist within Lebanese society in regards to racism and racist harassment towards members of minority groups.

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Notes

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