I was wrong. The guards didn't tell Zeid Hamdan to "go home". The judge did! Also, according to the article, there is an explanation for the 'tweet from jail' question:
As he was put into handcuffs, Hamdan managed to pass his mobile phone to his lawyer."I gave him my Facebook code and asked him to do an announcement to my Facebook profile, which he did."
I was wrong again. It was Facebook, not Twitter. What I find confusing is how a person can pass a mobile phone to someone else while being put in handcuffs without being noticed. And why did the lawyer need Zeid's phone to post on Facebook? Everybody knows that you can access Facebook from any payphone or telex office.
I have a feeling that all this is just a mistake. Someone wanting to do good with the president but not being clever or someone wanting to harm the president and give him a bad image. I don’t know, it’s so stupid, you know.
That's reportedly what the guards told Zeid when they released him last night.
I saw this video last year and promptly forgot about it, until I heard that Zeid Hamdan got arrested yesterday. First, here's the story as I understand it:
Zeid Hamdan made the music video over a year ago. In the past few days/weeks, he was taken in for interrogation three times for the 'crime' of 'slandering' President (General) Suleiman in his music video. At the end of the third session (yesterday) he was arrested, only to be released a few hours later. During his incarceration, he managed to tweet that he was in jail, and asked all of his friends to mobilize. And mobilize they did!
The (now) infamous video
The story seems pretty straightforward. But I have a few questions, and searching online, I can't find any more details that might help me answer those questions. Before I get into it though, let it be known that I FULLY and UNEQUIVOCALLY support freedom of speech in all forms, and condemn any government or entity that tries to curtail this freedom.
That being said, here are the points I would like to raise:
1) How was he able to send that tweet from a holding cell? Did his guards forget to take his cellphone? Or does he have a twitter implant?
2) Within a few hours of his tweet, facebook and twitter were being flooded by demands for his release. A protest was planned. People were rightfully enraged by the news. This might lead one to speculate that the government, seeing what a small protest over a polarizing issue has led to in other countries, decided to nip this problem in the bud and release him. While this may be the most obvious reason for the briefness of his stay in the can, is it the real reason? The Lebanese government we all know and love is a slow, sticky, lumbering and often smelly beast. While not outside the realm of possible actions our great bureaucracy can take, it is nevertheless extremely uncharacteristic.
3) Who is(are) the moron(s) who decided to arrest Zeid Hamdan in the first place? The video is on youtube and has been disseminated to many, many other websites. Zeid Hamdan has no control over it. They can't force him to 'take it down'. So this(these) complete buffoon(s) in the security apparatus, in the better interest of our president's good name, decided to arrest the guy who made the video, bringing the video front and center on every Lebanese computer screen. They unwittingly made the video (and its creator (and its 'slanderous' message)) famous!
Considering the arrests and censorship that have occurred, this guy has balls!
I am reminded of a blogger whose blog disappeared off the face of the earth a couple years ago, Tantalus of the infamous I Hate Lebanon blog. His posts about the Lebanese establishment were less than glowing, to say the least, and one day the blog vanished, as did his email address.
If nothing happens to this Hanibaal, then my theory that the people in our government who are monitoring this stuff either do not speak English or are not interested in English commentary will have been corroborated. But if that is the case, what happened to Tantalus?
In a completely unexpected move, the entire forum at tayyar.org has been taken offline. Remember that trend I was talking about? One can't help but wonder who else will start getting censored/arrested for criticizing our political leaders.
As an exercise, try doing a google search for the following:
hate -insert your favorite Lebanese political figure's name here-
As you'll see, there is no shortage of hate sites out there. Who's gonna be next?
I don't know what these dudes posted on Facebook, but unless they threatened his personal safety, why should the government care? It's not like they insulted the Sayyid! Am I right? And why do our laws protect our 'sister state' at the expense of our fellow citizens' freedoms?
With these stories, and with the proposed bill earlier this month to block voip in Lebanon, I'm starting to see a trend. There's trouble in InternetLand.
I, for one, will immediately be selling all of my farmville crops, trees, decorations, animals, etc. and buying a farmville bomb shelter...
...until they make farmville illegal on the grounds that it's creating a labor shortage in our agriculture sector.
Update: The Facebook post that caused all this commotion has been removed, but the folks at tayyar.org have posted a copy. Let's see how long it stays up there.
I spent a little time perusing the Ouwet Front website today and I have to say, the people who post there are completely insane. I attempted to partake in the Geagea lovefest by commenting on one of their embarrassing posts, but alas, it was not meant to be. Their comments are moderated, and mine has yet to clear the Ouwet Front censorship gauntlet.
Here's what i wrote:
5. faylasoof | October 21st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
I’m no fan of Aoun, much less “Dr.” Geagea, but I have to say that you do yourselves and your political beliefs/ambitions/followers/leaders no favors by posting this inane drivel. It’s a testament to Lebanon’s sorry excuse for a political culture that followers of this leader or that stoop to such intellectually challenged nonsense to “put down” their opponents.
Grow up and at least pretend that you respect our country and its future by engaging in a more mature discourse.
Or do what I do, which is bash them ALL for the lying, corrupt, murdering, hypocritical, genocidal maniacs that they are, no exceptions.
This website/blog/Geagea-shrine is imbecilic. Stop worshipping your leaders and hold them accountable. Do something - anything - to help our country, and stop disrespecting yourselves and your homeland.
It wasn't until after I clicked 'submit' that I was informed that my comment was "awaiting moderation." Figuring that there was no way they would allow the comment through (every comment I saw on the site was in fawning agreement with the fawning poster, so they either have a VERY homogenous reading base, or they don't believe in freedom of expression), I decided to taunt whoever moderates the comments there:
6. faylasoof | October 21st, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Dear moderator:
I DARE you to allow my previous post to be shown.
Or, you can go ahead and prove you’re a coward.
Love and kisses,
faylasoof
A quick jab at the weak point of Geageaniacs the world over - their legendary bravery (especially when the enemy is asleep, defenseless, or pleading for mercy). Impulsive? Yes. Slightly childish? Probably, but I couldn't resist. There's something about mindless adoration that baffles, disgusts, and at the same time intrigues me, and I feel the need to poke it with a stick just to see what happens.
It's been a few hours, and our esteemed moderator hasn't bitten yet. I will now post a comment on Ouwet Front containing a link to this post. I think that may make the internet implode.
UPDATE: My comments made it through. Both of them. And I got a nice response from one of the Ouwet Front bloggers:
10. N10452 | October 21st, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Faylasoof,
You are the imbecile who dont even read our posts before spreading your bull shit here ..
And i dont need to prove to anyone anything … so khaffif falsafe cause hay2itto 2essem 3ala mousamma ..
O children of our leaders, I humbly beseech you! You are the true power holders in the country. It is you who the masses must depend on for change! It is only for the benefit of their spoiled children that our leaders will get off their asses and do something. Please, talk to your daddies about getting DSL deployed everywhere in the country.
