Cut it out: censorship in lebanon

Cut It Out: Censorship in Lebanon | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The fight over freedom of expression in Lebanon is escalating over domestic film & theater. by Doreen

Khoury Published on July 12, 2012 BLOG SADA _Sada_ is an online journal rooted in Carnegie’s Middle East Program that seeks to foster and enrich debate about key political, economic, and

social issues in the Arab world and provides a venue for new and established voices to deliver reflective analysis on these issues. Learn More International media attention given to Lebanese

censorship usually focuses on the banning of Western films, like _The Da Vinci Code_ or the animated _Persepolis_. But the real victims of the Directorate for General Security (DGSG, from

_Direction Générale de la Sûreté Générale_) and its zealous censors are local film and theater directors, who face an often arduous process to secure permits for filming, screening, or

staging creative works. DGSG’s follows its own internal mandate, and its directives can be stretched in any direction: censors decree that creative works should not “pose any danger or harm

to Lebanon,” nor should they upset “political or military sensitivities” or incite “sectarian or factional discord.” Unlike cases of paper publications, the censorship process for local film

and theater unfolds entirely outside the courts. While publications can only be censored if a lawsuit is brought against them (and authors and journalists can defend themselves in the Court

of Publications), directors cannot question or appeal the General Directorate’s decision to bowdlerize or entirely ban their work. In recent years, local civil society organizations have

begun to speak up against this practice; these voices seek not only to curb censorship, but to limit the DGSG’s extensive powers and curb its considerable autonomy from even the ministers of

the interior, who have thus far been unable to assert control over it, particularly in matters of censorship.  Last year, a coalition of the major cultural organizations in Lebanon (such as

Metropolis DC, Ashkal Alwan, Né à Beyrouth, among others) grouped under _Marsad al-Raqaba_ (“The Censorship Observatory”), and organized the first collective effort to provide a

comprehensive assessment of censorship exercised by state institutions. Led by prominent human rights lawyer Nizar Saghieh, the Observatory’s research exposed the degree to which political

and religious leaders are directly involved in censorship cases. It documented how the General Directorate’s censorship department routinely sends films and other creative works that might

upset religious institutions to these bodies (like _Dar al-Fatwa_, the highest Sunni religious authority, or the Catholic Information Center), and almost always complies with their wishes on

whether to excise scenes or ban a work altogether. In May, for example, following a request from the Catholic Information Center, the DGSG asked that Joe Bou Eid’s _Tannoura Maxi_ remove

certain scenes that were allegedly “offensive to Christianity.”  Similarly, individual political figures are also routinely consulted on creative works that mention them or their parties.

Films on the civil war have been routinely censored since the nineties on the basis that references to the conflict “threatens civil peace.” In actuality, however, it only threatens the

peace of mind of the warlords who are still in power. For example, Randa Shahal, who represents an older generation of Lebanese directors who tackled the civil war, saw many of her films

brutally cut—the most famous of which is _A Civilized People_ (1999). Simon El Habre was forced to excise six minutes of his 2009 documentary _One Man Village_ (the banned scene can be

viewed here) because it mentioned the role of the Progressive Socialist Party during the civil war. Last year, Danielle Arbid’s film _Beirut Hotel _was banned because it referred to the 2005

assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.  Marsad Al-Raqaba’s efforts have been followed by others. Encouraged by the region’s year of uprisings, activists have acquired an

increasingly diminishing tolerance for security forces’ control over creative expression. Only last week, the Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom (SKeyes)—an organization

established in 2007 by the Samir Kassir Foundation to monitor and publicize violations of freedom of the press and artistic expression in the Levant—launched _Mamnou3_ (“_Prohibited_”), a

mockumentary series that parodies the internal workings of the DGSG’s censorship department. In one clip, an officer of the Directorate smiles smugly as he edits a famous theater director’s

script, pleased with his own creativity in altering the text to suit “public morals.” Since Lebanon lacks Internet regulation, SKeyes hopes to avoid a possible ban by focusing the campaign

online and promoting it via social media platforms. Although it is too early to gauge whether _Mamnou3_ will provoke a backlash from the General Directorate, the campaign has already

received considerable media attention in Lebanon and beyond, and the first three episodes released on YouTube have already attracted almost 11,000 views in the week since their release.

Seven additional episodes are planned.  Both SKeyes and Marsad Al-Raqaba call for ending the General Directorate’s lack of oversight and establishing instead an independent regulatory body

to apply a rating system for films or plays. The new body would also receive complaints after works have been screened or staged and rule on whether or not the work should be censored—rather

than the current practice of censoring a film or play while still under production.  Daunting challenges remain, and a number of forces impede progress: an intransigent political class,

aggressive security forces unwilling to surrender arbitrary powers, and conservative citizens who worry about uncensored creative expression. Civil society organizations will have to put

aside their differences and work harder at coordinating their efforts—much like the defenders of censorship have; in the early 2000s, religious leaders established the Commission to Preserve

Values in an effort to monitor media ethics and morals. The organization has made a number of complaints to the office of the public prosecutor regarding scantily clad women in TV programs

and on billboards, and has called on the state to preserve “people’s dignity” and to censor TV programs, films and publications. In its most recent statement on May 23, the commission called

on the media to practice self-censorship and on the government to ensure media compliance with ethical standards. Significantly, the statement began by describing the military establishment

as the “custodian” of Lebanon—linking between censorship and the security forces. Despite this, there remains much hope. In the past two years, thanks to Marsad al-Raqaba’s efforts, the

previously-opaque censoring process is much clearer—and knowledge of it is half the battle. A number of government officials have lent their support; former Minister of Culture Tarek Mitri’s

pressure helped to reverse the ban on the film version of _Persepolis_ (which had been banned because it allegedly displeased the head of DGSG General Wafiq Jizzini—who is purportedly close

to Hezbollah). Former Minister of the Interior Ziad Baroud also tried to stop the DGSG from cutting the scene mentioned above from _One Man Village._ Mitri has also been a vocal supporter

of abolishing pre-production censorship to allow films and all cultural products to circulate freely.  And as the ongoing _Mamnou3_ campaign itself shows, creative expression is alive and

kicking in Lebanon—as are creative ways around the censors’ excisions. _Doreen Khoury is a program manager at the Beirut office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. Her work focuses on

electoral reform, censorship, and social media. In September she will begin a fellowship at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin._ Carnegie does not

take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its

trustees. BLOG SADA _Sada_ is an online journal rooted in Carnegie’s Middle East Program that seeks to foster and enrich debate about key political, economic, and social issues in the Arab

world and provides a venue for new and established voices to deliver reflective analysis on these issues. Learn More