Text Box: religious diversity, there's a moral abuse in the form of religiously divisive speech. Here's an example of a reporter words who liberally use such divisive terms, from a news website called electronicintifada.net: “In mixed Beirut neighborhoods, tensions rise between Sunnis and Shiites after each bombing. Tempers flare, small fights get out of hand (...). (A Shiite friend who lives in a mainly Sunni neighborhood told me that for several days after Eido's killing, he found a broken egg each morning on his car.)” This blatant labeling of Lebanese citizens by their religion is as politically incorrect and oppressive as labeling people “black” or “white”, and making assumptions about their political views based on their race. This is reminiscent of pre-civil rights era, when it was acceptable to harass women and presume them to be inferior to men in the work place, or to call African Americans by denigrating terms. Assuming that a Lebanese citizen is a partisan of a sectarian system is also a form of harassment. This assumption negates the intellect of the Lebanese people, and the fact that Lebanon was historically founded on the respect of individual freedoms. For millennia Lebanon has been a refuge for minorities fleeing conformist and oppressive majority rules Text Box: By Hala Chaoui In the fifties, no one thought twice about being racist towards African Americans or discriminatory towards women. Similarly, today, no one thinks much of segregating Lebanese people into religious sects. Yet, religious segregation is morally oppressive to Lebanese people. Imagine if, during the apartheid struggle in the 90's, the United States segregated South Africans by race and publicly supported one race against the other. It is equally as appalling to most Lebanese citizens when others sort them by their religious affiliation, and pretend that they support one sect against the other. The same way an anti-racist movement existed and was recognized in the Apartheid crisis, an anti-sectarian movement exists in Lebanon and deserves respect and recognition. Those who label Lebanese people by their religious affiliation are presuming them incapable of change. Yet, there is growing and refreshing activist movement in Lebanon based on secularism, individual rights, and even issues such as the lack of professionalism in the Middle East. Those who uphold these principles also reject segregating the Lebanese by their religious identity. Secularism is not intended here as synonymous to vilifying religions, but rather to stop political parties from playing on fabricated sectarian divides to gain power. It's a destructive political manipulation, and the majority in Lebanon has responded to it with a strong national sentiment. This first happened in the peaceful Lebanese marches of 1989, the original "Cedar Revolution". Many have since used bumper stickers saying "My religion is Lebanon" and wore pendants in the shape of the map of Lebanon to undo the oppressive stigma that they are backward enough to be divided by religion. Counteracting this Lebanese national sentiment, and support for Text Box: from all over the Middle East. It is religious segregation, a form of racism, to assume Lebanese people are partisans of a sectarian system. When Christiane Amanpour reported about "God's warrior" on CNN, she did not mention those who find sectarianism denigrating, an attack on religious diversity and on sophisticated political thinking. She said in a Larry King interview, "There are powerful segments of each religion who believe in being powerful literally, in the seat of power, and shaping and changing the culture and the way the country is run." This may be so, but imagine if someone negotiated with a drug lord as if they represented their community, and in doing so obviated an educated dignified leader of this community! This would be oppressive, just as it is when a Lebanese religious clan leader is treated as a representative of Lebanon, and the Lebanese, who uphold anti-sectarianism, and secularism in politics, are obviated. The US media has a choice in its speech to not practice religious segregation against Lebanon and to not obviate the majority in Lebanon who reject fabricated sectarian problems and have a dignified vision of their country. It's a choice to not humiliate Lebanese people with a sectarian label that they find infuriating, since they, in majority, believe in a sophisticated religiously diverse society.

YOUR VOICE: (This section is dedicated to you— our members.  Make your voices heard by sending us your letters and opinion articles to joellej@la-cd.org.  Please limit your article to 600words.)

YOUR VOICE:   Stop Religious Segregation!

“This blatant labeling of Lebanese citizens by their religion is as politically incorrect and oppressive as labeling people “black” or “white”.”