Lebanese peace-makers visit the UK
Assaad Chaftari, a former senior militia commander in the Lebanese civil war in the 1970s-80s, and his wife Marie Aoun, spent 11 days in Belfast, Manchester, Oxford and London in September, 2013, at the invitation of Initiatives of Change.
They were hosted in Belfast by Jim Lynn and Alec and Gaby McRitchie. Jim had met Assaad on a visit to Lebanon last year, and they had agreed to explore ways in which the Irish and Lebanese could help each other in bringing reconciliation and change to their respective communities.
Assaad Chaftari was well-known to the Lebanese during the 1980s for being the deputy head of Intelligence of the Lebanese Forces Christian militia. He subsequently came to national attention in 2000 when he wrote an open letter to the Lebanese people apologising to the relatives of his victims and forgiving his enemies. One national daily newspaper commented that other warlords had admitted mistakes, but that Assaad was the first to apologise.
Rebuilding relationships between confessional communities
Since then he and Marie have devoted all their energies to rebuilding relationships between the confessional communities in their country. This has taken on increased urgency as the war in neighbouring Syria threatens to spread to Lebanon.
Assaad represents the Lebanese chapter of Moral Rearmament/Initiatives of Change on a multi-confessional partnership of 29 organisations working for civil peace. He is also working with a new group of excombatants, Muslim and Christian, who are engaging with young men across the country in an effort to deromanticise war and persuade them not to go down the same route as they had done.
Marie for her part works with a group of women on an initiative called ‘Linaltaki’ (Let’s meet) to organise summer camps for children, and dialogues for women across religious and racial divides.
Learning from each other: the Lebanese and Northen Irish experience
In Belfast, they were invited to the Northern Ireland Assembly where they briefed Members of the Legislative Assembly on their experiences and perspectives. They met with former combatants from the Nationalist and Loyalist communities, one working in an organisation for Restorative Justice and the other working for community development. They spoke to a Church of Ireland bible study and met a Methodist minister who has created a thriving centre in a deprived area.
Assaad commented, ‘There are a lot of similarities that can be drawn between Lebanon and Northern Ireland and many lessons exchanged between us.’
In Manchester, they were hosted by Greg Davis, who runs the ‘United Estates of Wythenshawe’, a youth and community centre on the Benchill Estate. Greg used to be a gang leader and worked as a nightclub bouncer. Then he had a change of heart and decided to help young people instead of harming them. He created a centre in a disused church, where young men could exercise, play sports, have internet access and produce documentary films expressing their interests. Assaad felt that his expertise could be helpful in some Lebanese cities.
Women as creators of peace
In Oxford, Marie spoke about her work in promoting dialogues between women of different faiths at an event organised by Creators of Peace. She spoke about a pioneering development in which they had begun to include Palestinian women from refugee camps. Such encounters are very rare because the Lebanese blame the Palestinians for triggering their civil war, and the Palestinians have bitter memories of their own suffering during those days.
In London they visited the Foreign Office and discussed the situation in Lebanon and Syria including the problems of security, the refugees and the Sunni-Shia divide.
Assaad also attended the Forgiveness Project Annual Lecture entitled ‘Zero Degrees of Empathy: Exploring explanations of human cruelty and kindness’ where he was invited to make an intervention. He gave a personal testimony of change and explained the role of Initiatives of Change in that change.
by Jim Lynn and Peter Riddell
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