Comments on Steve in Beirut: Them - and Us

Just a quick response to Jonathan: I have to say, ...

2006-09-29T09:26:00.000+01:00

Just a quick response to Jonathan: I have to say, although modesty isn't high on the list of Steve's qualities, I can't fault his personal integrity. He's right - he did deliver excellent workshops in challenging circumstances exactly as promised (I know because I was asked to evaluate one of them. And as far as any personal agenda is concerned, he was pretty clear, certainly to the rest of the team, where he was coming from even before we left. I'm not sure that I can engage easily with his perspective on life, the universe or the trip but he's never pretended to be documenting anything other than his own personal experience.

Hi jonathan! Thanks for following the blog. Please...

2006-09-27T14:02:00.000+01:00

Hi jonathan!

Thanks for following the blog. Please continue - and continue to write.

Re: My agenda. It hasn't 'slipped' and, in my humble opinion, there isn't a 'true' agenda and an 'untrue' agenda. In fact there isn't any real agenda any more than any of us has 'an agenda'.

I was asked to deliver a workshop to Volunteers in Lebanon and I did that to the absolute best of my ability. You judge how well you think it went from my posts; I'm an excellent teacher; that's why I was asked.

But I also have other aspects to myself: I'm a playwright and theatre director. And I'm also very interested in what goes on in the world. Recently: the thirty-four day bombing of a country that has no airforce to speak of; a campaign that led to the murder of 1300 of its civilian population.

This caught my eye.

In London, like tens of thousands of other people I went on protests about this - and my Prime Minister's strange refusal to call for a cease-fire.

And there it would have ended, but a few days after the end of the bombing, I was lucky enough to be invited to work with some young people in that country and I accepted.

And then, when I was there, and only when I was there, I heard about 'The Celebration of Victory' - just a couple of days before, as it happened.

Well... I felt I'd be completely mad to miss it.

To have missed it would have been been like having a lie-in the day the Berlin Wall came down or staying at home for a quiet drink on 9/11.

This was history in the making. People, from all round the world, particularly the Arab world and Muslim world - over a billion in number - will remember this event for years to come. Both the 'celebration' and the 'victory'.

But, to tell you the truth, and I won't hide it, I was nervous. People warned me off. Said it was dangerous. There might be hot-heads in the crowd. That the Israelis might bomb the platform while Nazrullah was speaking. But I made a decision. And went. And I'm glad I went. These things didn't happen. Other things happened. And I wrote about them afterwards. And ...

And that's all.

I just wrote down what I saw there. That was my agenda, if I had one: I was there and I wrote down what I saw there and felt there. That's all.

As for your writing, I'm assuming you have, if not visited Lebanon or lived there, some pretty clear ideas about the country, else you wouldn't have been following the blog. That's great. I'd be interested to know what they are and how they're developing.

We all need to shed as much light as possible on what is both a highly complex thing. And probably a very simple one, too.

So, do write back. I look forward.

Hi Steve,I've stumbled across your blog and have b...

2006-09-27T12:38:00.000+01:00

Hi Steve,

I've stumbled across your blog and have been following with interest for the last few days.

It seems a shame to me that your "agenda" has slipped - wasn't this trip supposed to be about workshops with volunteers? Or was this just an excuse to enable you to pursue your true agenda?

More biscuits and more lemonade.and some Chateau M...

2006-09-26T14:14:00.000+01:00

More biscuits and more lemonade.
and some Chateau Mussar.
more power to you Steve. The pictures are great as is the debate.
We're all coming over for the storeytelling festival

Nick

no, I'm not saying you can't say anything by not b...

2006-09-26T13:00:00.000+01:00

no, I'm not saying you can't say anything by not being there. But can you say anything about Sharapova's style of tennis if you've never seen her play. Or if your own knowledge of Sharapova is through the tennis correspondent of a newspaper which, for some reason, is against her?

ohhhh my god !!! censorship might have been better...

2006-09-26T12:36:00.000+01:00

ohhhh my god !!! censorship might have been better !!!! are you're friends going to think i worship Israel bombings ?
steve, i'd really like to come with you to beirut. I don't worship Israel either you know ...
are you really serious when you say that i can't talk about thing i haven't seen through my eyes ? well, this is going to shut my mouth for a large range of topics ;-) ... i won't even been able to comment on Wimbledon ?
but, hapilly, i happen to live next to the Great Mosquee in Paris, so one thing i can tell: i don't like the parisian fundamentalists and their wifes in hijab... and to me, Nazrullah looks the same: hatefull to western world i belong to, hatefull to whatever i believe in ... maybe for some really good reasons, like the destroyed bridges etc ... still, to me Nazrullah is exactly what Bush and his crazy christians need and want: someone hatefull enough to justify their own fundamentalism.

Hopefully, Nazrullah 's isn't the only one to have right to speak for lebanon and he has contradictors
!!!