Newspapers in Lebanon
According to ENINGBO.INFO, Lebanon is a country located in Asia. During the 1960s, the press in Lebanon developed into the most important and freest in the Middle East. Despite the civil war and consequent restrictions on freedom of the press, most newspapers have been able to maintain much of their position, not least by representing views in the Arab world. There are about fifteen daily newspapers in Lebanon. The most important are al-Anwar (‘The Light’; about 25,000 copies), as-Safir (‘The Ambassador’, 50,000 copies) and al-Nahar (‘The Day’; 80,000 copies). The French-speaking L’Orient-Le Jour (25,000 ex.) Is also considered to have great influence.
State Radio Liban (founded in 1937) broadcasts national radio in two channels. In addition, there are about twenty local stations representing various religious and political groups. State television, T谷l谷-Liban (TL, founded in 1959), broadcasts in Arabic, French and English in three channels. There are also several privately owned channels. In the years 1996-98, however, the government forced several private transmitters without a license to cease and also reduced the maneuvering space for the licensed. There are 687 radio and 335 TV receivers per 1,000 residents (2000).
Culture
According to ANIMALERTS, after the Arab conquest in the 600s, Lebanon became part of the Islamic cultural sphere. Islamic culture had its golden age during the so-called Abbasid caliphate (750–1250) when its influences reached far beyond the Middle East.
When the area was then built during the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, almost all Arab cultural development was halted. In the Ottoman Empire, the use of printing presses was prohibited. Lebanon’s well-organized churches succeeded in spite of printing the Psalter in Arabic in 1610 with the help of a smuggled printing press. Soon the entire Bible was printed on this.
In 1866 the Protestant American University of Beirut and the Catholic University of St. Joseph were founded in 1881 in the same city. Prominent Iraqi, Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian intellectuals were educated there.
Many Lebanese intellectuals who could not gain employment in the Ottoman Empire emigrated around the turn of the century to Latin America, the United States and West Africa, where they published newspapers and literature. US Lebanese Khalil Gibran gained world fame through his book The Prophet (1923).
Arab modernism, which, among other things, tried to reform free form and content in Arabic literature, often came from Lebanon. Many prominent Arab writers and cultural workers have been students in Lebanon or found themselves in political exile, such as Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish, who died in 2008, and poet Adonis (Ali Ahmed Said). Adonis, who has both French and Lebanese citizenship, was born in Syria and now lives in France.
From the horrors of the Civil War (1975–1990), a literature of resistance emerged that explored the impact of the war on individuals and relationships, often from a female perspective. Emily Nasrallah’s “Sailing Against Time”, Ghada al-Saman’s “Beirut’s Nightmares” and Hanan al-Shaykh’s “Zarah’s Story” are about how the woman’s psyche can be characterized by war.
Even the country’s film industry has been influenced by the legacy of the civil war and many films are still made with war motives or its aftermath. The film “The insult” by Ziad Doueiri in 2018 became the first Lebanese film that was nominated Oscar, in the category Best non-English language film.
In the feature film “Capernaum”, multiple award-winning and Oscar-nominated in 2019, Nadine Labaki addresses both the situation of Syrian refugees and African migrants in Lebanon. The supporting roles are done by amateurs with personal experiences of living on the outskirts of society. Nadine Labaki is the first female Arabic director nominated for an Academy Award for Best Non-English-language Film.
Lebanon has a long theater tradition. As early as 1848, the Lebanese, Marun Naqqash, wrote an Arabic version of the play “The greedy” by Molière. It happened in Syria and became the starting point for a modern Arab theater tradition. During the 1950s the theater life in Lebanon got a push and every summer since 1955 a big festival is held in Baalbek with music, dance and theater. The festival attracts audiences from all over the world.
There are many different styles of music in Lebanon: Arabic music, Christian music, indigenous folk music and pop. A singer born in 1935 as Nuhad Haddad, but known by the artist name Fayrouz, has for decades been one of the most popular in the Arab world. Very popular in modern music is singer Diana Haddad, who, based in the United Arab Emirates, has topped hit lists in many countries since the 1990s. Singer Michael Holbrook Penniman, called Mika, has achieved great success internationally. He was born in Beirut in 1983, but was forced to flee already as a small child and lives in the UK.
Typical instruments used in folk music are a kind of clarinet (mijwiz), the string instrument rhubarb, drum and tambourine. The national dance is called dabkah.
About our sources
2016
December
Collection government formed
December 18
Saad al-Hariri, leader of the Sunni Muslim Movement, becomes the leader of a government that includes most political parties except the Christian Falangist Party (Kataeb). The Falangist Party was offered a ministerial post but declined. Hariri’s main political opponent, the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah Movement, receives two ministerial posts. The government includes two new posts: an anti-corruption minister and a minister for women’s issues (however, the post is added by a man). Hariri says that the government will now begin work on developing a new electoral law aimed at general elections in May 2017. Hariri was previously prime minister between 2009 and 2011.
October
The presidential race resolved
October 31st
Parliament appoints Christian politician Michel Aoun as new president. The post of president has been vacant since 2014 when politicians could not agree on a candidate. The election of Aoun became possible when his two main rivals, Said Hariri, leader of the Sunni Muslim Movement, as well as Samir Geagea of the Christian Party of Lebanese forces changed and decided to support Aoun despite all differences of opinion. Aoun is affiliated with the Shiite militia Hezbollah, fighting on President Assad’s side in the Syrian civil war, while Hariri and Geagea are against Assad. After the election of Aoun, government negotiations begin.
June
Dismissal from the government
June 14
Two ministers from the Christian Falangist Party (Kataeb) are leaving the government, which they accuse of being dysfunctional and unable to solve the country’s problems. Since there has been no president for more than two years, the outgoing ministers cannot submit their resignation application in a formally correct way, but they simply stop going to work.
May
New power in local elections
May 8
For the first time in six years, Lebanese are voting. Local elections are held in Beirut and two districts in Beka Valley. In other parts of the country, local elections will be held in rounds until May 29. In Beirut, a grassroots movement has been formed that challenges the established parties, Beirut Madinati (Beirut is my city). Beirut Madinati, which consists of equal parts men and women as well as Christians and Muslims, comes in second with just over 30 percent of the vote but wins no mandate when the established parties come together and conquer all seats in the local congregation. Even in the subsequent elections, the traditional parties may experience setbacks. The Sunnis’ Future Movement, led by former Prime Minister Said Hariri, is shaken by low voter turnout in the strong strongholds of the movement. In Tripoli and some other municipalities in northern Lebanon, the Future Movement loses power.Hezbollah and Amal who represent the Shi’a Muslims also face opposition at home. The same applies to the drusts under Walid Jumblatt and Christian parties.
March
Rubbish collection
21 March
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are calling Hezbollah a terrorist organization. One of the GCC members, Saudi Arabia, is highlighting its dissatisfaction with Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon by ordering Saudi tourists to avoid the country. The Saudi government further announces that the country intends to keep the French weapons for the three billion that the country financed and which were intended for the Lebanese army (see November 2014). The reason is that weapons should not fall into Hezbollah’s hands.
Neighbors terrorist stamps Hezbollah
11th of March
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are calling Hezbollah a terrorist organization. One of the GCC members, Saudi Arabia, is highlighting its dissatisfaction with Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon by ordering Saudi tourists to avoid the country. The Saudi government further announces that the country intends to keep the French weapons for the three billion that the country financed and which were intended for the Lebanese army (see November 2014). The reason is that weapons should not fall into Hezbollah’s hands.
February
Assistance to Lebanon is stripped
February 19
Saudi Arabia decides to withhold $ 4 billion in military and security assistance, because Lebanon has not condemned the attack on Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran. Lebanon has long been a scene for the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
