
Lebanese journalist and blogger Lelia Mezher was one of several Lebanese bloggers who worked round the clock to keep the world informed about the crisis which rocked her country when different factions clashed in Beirut. Global Voices Online caught up with Mezher, who is involved with News Lab, in this quick interview.
* Who is Lelia Mezher? Occupation? Experience? Interests? Fears? Hopes?
I'm a Lebanese journalist at L'Orient Le Jour, a Lebanese daily newspaper, written in French. Actually it's the only French daily newspaper in Lebanon. I studied law and specialised in Internet Law and then did political science. I studied law in Lebanon then moved to Paris for my Internet Law (Paris I - La Sorbonne ) diploma and my Political Science diploma (Paris 2 -Assas).
After numerous internships in Paris between 2003 and 2006 (legal department at the Ministry of Economy, eGovernment agency affiliated to the Prime Minister bureau and an internship at Clifford Chance Law Firm), I didn't find a job their so I applied for an internship at L'Orient Le Jour. I started in July 2006, a few days before the Hezbollah-Israeli war. I got the job in August 2006.
My worst nightmare right now is the lack of freedom. With the Hezbollah imposing itself more and more, I'm afraid press freedom will dramatically drop, as well as women's freedom. I really hope Lebanese will get to a point where they learn from their mistakes and stop repeating them every once in a while. No religious community can win over the other - Lebanon is a country of diversity. On a more personal level, I hope I can evolve in my career and one day be proud of my country, and stop feeling that the government is never there to look after you.
* What is Newslab about?
NewsLab was a Canal France International – Anna Lindt foundation initiative. It’s my editor-in-chief Nagib Aoun who told me about it. A 10-day reunion in Alexandria to create a blog. When we met, 20 different women from 10 different countries, its was not easy to get along. But today I can say that we succeeded and we know what the blog is for. It allows u to remain free, especially in the Arab world. In Lebanon, we are free to write or say whatever we want, unlike in Egypt or Syria. So for me this blog had to be first and foremost for the Arab women. But not all of them write. Some completely abandoned the blog.
* What contribution have Lebanese bloggers had on voicing the concerns and fears of citizens on the ground during this current crisis?
In Lebanon, bloggers allow us to have an independent point of view of the situation since every political party has its own media here. There's no independent TV or newspaper except maybe L’Orient le Jour. Blogs were first considered as a threat to newspapers. Today they complete each other and blogs have become part of the sources of information on which you can rely.
* How has the Lebanese media dealt with covering the current crisis and how different was that coverage from what citizen journalists wrote on their blogs?
Strangely enough, not all the media was biased this time while covering the events. Journalists in many cases were indeed the voice of the people. One same impression of disappointment and sadness was everywhere. A big number of journalists managed to express the people’s feeling, unlike before. Maybe it’s the fear of a new civil war who created this reaction among the journalists.
Following recent reports of alleged coup plotters, police yesterday picked up and put Malawi's former president Bakili Muluzi under house arrest. Lilongwe-based Journalist Bright Sonani gives eyewitness accounts as events unfolded at Kamuzu International Aiport in Lilongwe where Muluzi was picked as he arrived from a trip from the UK:
After the dramatic arrest right inside the Kamuzu International Aiport grounds at around 2.45 pm, the UDF Chairman was 30 minutes later whisked into a waiting Malawi Armed Forces Military Plane the 16 Seater Dornier which flew him straight to Blantyre.
Muluzi’s son Atupele confirmed that his father has been charged with treason.
However, government yesterday declined to immediately comment on the arrest which drew tension inside the city of Lilongwe with running battles between the police and UDF supporters who, angered, with the development closed roads especially those leading to KIA…..
“They have arrested the former President apparently on treason charges. They don’t have a warrant, they refused him to leave the airport, they want to take him in a military aircraft to an undisclosed location,” said Atupele, who was the only top UDF politician and Muluzi’s closest ally allowed into the airport grounds, soon after the arrest.
Soon after the arrest Police also instantly moved in to disarm the former head of state’s government security personnel.
The arrest of Muluzi has followed eight senior security and opposition political figures who have since been granted bail.
Meanwhile Malawi's president Bingu wa Mutharika is in Japan for a meeting of African leaders.
There are mixed reactions to the recent arrests. While all this is happening, one Malawian blogger is running a poll on how Malawians look at the recent arrests.



“Disaster relief” is the mark stamped on these tents. But weirdly, they did not show up at any refugee camp, where thousands of homeless were still tortured by disturbing rains and wind, thirsty for a tent. Instead, the tents appeared in up-scale communities in uptown Chengdu.
On 21st, aftershock alert was officially released, which drove hordes of residents out of their houses to sleep on streets. In the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, streets were filled up with various tents, while among them the camps exclusively for relief use were detected.
According to regulations, such tents should not be used by anyone other than refugees and at any place other than relief sites.
They showed up at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and by no means accommodated any refugees, at a time when the whole country is struggling to house roughly more than 3 million homeless, who were yearning for these shelters and also a good sleep after facing so much death and suffering.

That's how the refugees live.

While the tent from Kuwait was found in……somewhere unsuited

The mark on tent
Chengdu as a rescue-and–relief pivot has huge relief material passed on through every day.
Indignant citizens could no longer sit calm and therefore questioned against the potential embezzlement. However, this finally led to a conflict between police and crowd on the night of 21st, May.
The beginning—– An all-out search by cyber-activists
It started on 10am, 21st, with a post named <Live: all-search ghost-hunting, who are living in relief tents?>
Its prologue stated:
近日,论坛里不断出现救灾专用篷的身影,不过,它们出现的地点不是灾区,不是救援站,而是在各大小区。希望有关部门严查并给大家一个解释,现在伊藤一个双 人帐篷能卖到700,最近灾区连连降雨,灾民严重需要帐篷,为什么在这种情况下,救灾专用帐篷还会出现在小区里?难道这些安安稳稳住在小区里的人比灾民们 更加需要吗?
Recently, in this forum, numerous pictures of relief tents were found. However, neither disaster areas nor aid sites were where they were spotted, but in residential communities instead. We hope any official agency could give an explanation. Now a single Yiteng tent sells for 700RMB; and also, it was raining ceaselessly at the quake-rocked areas, leaving refugees craving for tents. Why did these relief tents still show up here? Do the residents there need it more than those refugees?
After calling upon all netizens to unite for the “ghost-hunting”, the thread went on:
上午11点,成都全搜索特别行动组,马上前往这些地方,现场去抓这些最丑陋的人,希望大家各个群转发,关注我们的行动!!!我们将与110联系,一起把这批救灾帐篷的来源追查到底,向网友公开!!!
11am, we’ll start out to these places (where relief tents were found) and catch these ugliest people. Hope every one of you could spread it by QQ groups and take a heed of out action!!! We’ll get to the bottom of the matter, report to the police and make it open on the internet!!
Their first battlefield was a community called Shang-dong Sunshine.
上午11点50分,最新消息:我们的第一记者已经来到了上东阳光小区,正准备进入采访,抓拍下这些”坏人”的嘴脸。根据网友线报,这次捉鬼行动,由于 有人通风报信,小区内已经有一顶抗震救灾专用帐篷撤离了,而另外一顶还在!(但是主人却不在)全搜索捉鬼行动组,帐篷到底哪里来的,是买的,还是挪用的救灾物资?
11:50 am, latest news: our first reporters have been in the community, ready to work, taking pictures of these “bad men”. According to the clue from netizens, someone has blown the gab so that one tent has disappeared, while another remained… (The owner was not found). Where are they from? Bought? Embezzled?

12点48分,这个时候,许多小区内愤怒的业主站了出来,大家围住这个帐篷,在物管方的配合下,对这个救灾专用帐篷进行了拆除,并立即将其交到红十字会,送往灾 区第一线!为上东阳光的业主叫好,你们是好样的!!!
12:48 am, presently, many furious residents have stood out surrounding the camp. With the help of community managers, the for-relief tent was dismantled, and delivered to the Red-Cross and the frontline! Acclaim for the residents of Shangdong Sunshine!! You are so great!!!
During the action in Shangdong Sunshine, the activists noticed that the tent seemed to be used.
Their 2nd battlefield, Vanke City Garden community
Again there, no owner of the tent has been found.
然后去了万科城市花园,我们去万科城市花园的时候,已经看不到那顶”救灾帐篷”,据小区里热心人讲,在20日晚帐篷主人把帐篷搭起来的时候,周围人看 着就很愤怒,觉得救灾用的帐篷怎么能拿来私用呢,还有热心的住户拍了照片,现在上传的部分万科城花的照片就是业主所拍。可能是邻居的”鄙视”让他们受不了 了,所以当晚他们就把这顶帐篷拆除了。
When we arrived at the community, the tent has gone. According to a witness there, on the last night the tent has been propped up. But the surrounding people were provoked. How could the relief tents be of private use? Some people even took the pictures.(see below). Maybe the contempt of the crowd overwhelmed the owner, so that they removed it at the night.

Tent in Vanke community
Later, report from another community, Gingko Forest was uploaded.
“救灾”帐篷就搭在小区头,我们去的时候看到有一个年轻女子和一中年妇女正在帐篷中,但当我们问及”救灾帐篷”一事的 时候,这二位都说不是主人,当我们试图问到帐篷来源的时候,这二位都闭口不言,后来回来的一个小姑娘对我们的问题也基本上不做正面的回复。不过照片是拍到 了,大家可以看哈(因为图片中一小姑娘是未成年人,所以对其图片做了模糊处理)。
The tent was erected at the side of the community. We saw a young girl with another middle-aged woman inside. But the two denied them as the owners when we questioned the source of the tent, keeping silent. Later another girl returned, while gave no response either. We took the picture, but as she was under age, the picture was blurred.


And finally, they reported that in a few shops the relief tents were found on sale, 1300RMB/ each. Furthermore, they have reported to the rescue-relief headquarter at the district. The officials had promised to take action.
This post gained it pages of replies, particularly after that it was copied to the more influential tianya.cn. The embezzlement hurt not only volunteers but all warm-hearted people as well, who found their donation and goodness stained.
Some other pictures.

A wanted poster

Beautiful background, inopportune tents
The conflict at night
With the all-search group’s appeal, it could be reckoned that a lot of touched netizens indeed took action, which indirectly led to what happened at the night of 21st.
The following report was from Southern Metropolis Daily, which featured the incident on 25th.
Its description, in my personal opinion, is relatively objective among the mainstream paper media.
引发争执的帐篷搭建于20日傍晚,地点位于成都青羊区贝森南路和贝双街交叉口一角。帐篷的搭建者为附近兴苑小区一魏姓居民。一位邻居称,帐篷刚搭成,很多街坊就劝说魏姓居民将其撤掉,遭到拒绝。
The controversial tent was propped up on the evenfall of 20th, at the Bason Road. The owner was a resident of the nearby community, who surnamed Wei. A neighbor said though as soon as the tent was erected people came to urge him not, Wei refused.
On 21st, probably inspired by the thread aforementioned, some people acted, though their deed not recorded on the post.
有市民称,21日下午,一个中年男子和几位女子在帐篷里打麻将,有市民进去问帐篷哪里来的,男子回答“有关系弄到的”。当地居民称,曾有数名学生质问帐篷哪里来的,一女子回答:“市长问我我就说。”
Some citizens said, on 21st, afternoon, a middle-aged man played Mahjong with several women inside, when someone questioned where the tent was from. The man stated, he “took the tent because of connection”. Also, answering the questions of a few students, the woman alleged, “I’ll only tell if the mayor came to ask.”
The tent stood for the entire day.At night, when more and more furious citizens came around, denouncing the owner’s deed, they burst into a conflict with the coming police.
The newspaper then quoted the official police report of the conflict.
21日下午,东坡派出所一副所, 长带队,检查辖区内是否有人使用“抗震救灾”帐篷。在街头发现该帐篷后,民警要求帐篷搭建者魏某将其拆除。当地街道办事处的工作人员试图拆除帐篷时,围观的100多人不让,要求交出搭帐篷的人并通知媒体。
(According to the official report) On the afternoon of 21st, an officer took his team to check whether any one was using disaster-relief tents. Soon Wei’s tent was found, and he was required to have it dismantled. When the crew of the street office was trying to implement, the 100 people around refused, requiring the police to hand over the owner and inform the media.
A female police was a focus.
随后,10名防暴警察和派出所的其他增援民警赶到。警方称,东坡派出所一陈姓女警赶到后,群众针对她进行攻击。警方材料称,当时有人称帐篷是该女 警搭建的,下午她在帐篷内喝酒、打麻将。民警试图将该女警护离现场时,遭到了围攻。
Later 10 riot police and reinforcement hurried to the spot. The police said a policewoman surnamed Chen was besieged, under attack of the crowd. Some claimed it was exactly Chen that propped up the tent, and drank and played Mahjong in the afternoon. When the police tried to escort Chen out, they were under siege again.

In fear of being spotted, the mark was blotted.
当晚11时,围聚在该处的群众已达500余人。11时30分,警方再次调集60余名警察,将被困的民警解救
At 11pm, over 500 people have crowded at there. 11:30, another 60 police were dispatched, to rescue the surrounded out.
Later the policewoman denied she has anything to do with the tent.
Now let’s witness the incident in the point of view of a netizen, an account appeared at Tianya.cn, which was later deleted. But this site has copied the article.
事情开始是由于贝森路出现救灾帐篷,群众愤怒.然后其中一位群众质问在旁边的警察,警号为006677 的女警说:”关你们屁事!” 并打手打了情绪激动的问话者.后来这个女警被其3个穿警服,3个便衣的保护下想离开现场,但是被几百名群众围住,群众高喊:”道歉!道歉!”
It started when on Bason Road people furiously found a relief tent. One of the crowd questioned a policewoman with police No.006677, who rebuked “what the hell has it to do with you!”. She also hit the stirred questioner.
Later three uniformed and three plainclothesmen tried to protect her out. But hundreds of people blocked them in, exclaiming “apologize, apologize!”
在几名警察被愤怒的老百姓围住期间,有个别群众情绪激动,动手抓扯
During the process, a few angry people grappled with the police.


此事件女主角从开始到后来一直被身边的男警察保护着,但是她一直不说话,低头不敢看任何愤 怒的群众.她一直企图用手袋遮住胸前的警号,但是为了看到她的警号,群众情绪相当激动.中途有一队大概6个人的警察赶来查看情况,当他们一走进来马上就无法再走出去.其间,和群众发生了比较明显的打斗,然而,在面对数百倍于自己的群众们,这几个警察以其中一个被打晕而收场
The policewoman was always protected by her companies. But she remained silent, head low. She was always trying to cover up her police code. The crowd was rather provoked, trying hard to see her code. A 6-men team rushed here to check what was happening, but as soon as they came in, they found no way out.
During the course, there was obvious melee. But facing the crowd hundreds of times larger than them, one of the police was hit unconscious.


Later she witness recorded the police released tear gas.
我明显感觉到鼻子的不适和眼睛不停的被刺激的气味弄的泪 流满面
I can evidently feel my nose and eyes uncomfortable, tears over all the face.


The witness then told his girlfriend a crackdown was coming.
30-40个警察集结…警察们冲进人群,开始疯狂的殴打群众,其手段之残忍,5,6个人打躺一个以后还对伤者头部猛踹猛踢,见人就打,其中也不少妇女被打.
30-40 police were concentrated…..they rushed into the crowd, hit the crowd brutally. 5,6 police against one, kicking at the heads. Some of women were struck too.
The night of tumult and uproar finally ended in a dispersal and crackdown. Pictures and video clip on this incident seemed to have been uploaded to some websites later.
Next morning, the punishment result came out.
7人被刑事拘留30天、1人治安拘留15天、3人被给予治安警告,1人监视居住。
7 got criminal internment of 30 days, 1 security internment 15 days, 3 warned, 1 residential surveillance.
it's notable that one of the 7 who got 30-day internment was due to his uploading the video to the internet. He is accused of slander.
This week was the birthday of the late Venezuelan poet Aquiles Nazoa , but unlike other years in which there many festivities, the cultural life in Caracas was kind of silent. A couple of years ago around these dates, there were presentations full of humor and anecdotes remembering the poet, who used to write about the simple things of life.
Nazoa had always led a simple life. His poetry illustrated the beauties of daily life and the humorous soul of all Venezuelans. He was also one of the most furious advocates of Human Rights during the 1960s in Venezuela and this reflected his love for his people through his poetry. His work covered images of folkloric heritage, children’s games, colors, and dreams without putting aside political problems, freedom of speech and criticism of the bourgeois of the time. All of this was covered with a sharp and delicate, and at the same time, very authentic Venezuelan sense of humor. And as Dulceambar [es] writes, his works bring laughter to many. Nazoa is remembered by many, and Poética del Empedrao [es] writes that his greatest accomplishment is the eternal acknowledgement of his people.
According to Kalafia [es], it was on April 25th, which marked 25 years of his death. He describes Nozoa as:
Un verdadero maestro, ese que pone el alma en las manos de sus alumnos. Lo conocimos en la Escuela de Letras de la UCV y allì nos enseñò la vida secreta de las muñecas y los àngeles, el misterio del vuelo erràtil de los caballitos del diablo sobre las aguas de los rìos. Hoy queremos rendirle homenaje, al llamado jocosamente “ruiseñor de Catuche” porque es el poeta que supo captar y expresar el màs puro sentir venezolano, eso que llaman “la conciencia nacional”. Y por ser tan venezolano era tan poeta, y tan humorista y tan polifacètico.
Nazoa was a real teacher, the one that puts his soul on the hands of his pupils. We met him at the Faculty of Arts (UCV) and there he taught us the secret life of dolls and angels, the mystery of the flight of the dragonflies on river waters. We would like to pay him homage today to the poet humorously called “Cantuche’s nightingale” since he was the poet that best knew how to capture and express the purest feelings of Venezuelans, something we like to call “the national conscience”. Being so Venezuelan was the reason for him to be such a poet, so humorous, so versatile.
The blog Ilustres [es] gives some details of his life. Here we have the last activities, of great transcendence:
Durante la década de los 70, además de preparar libros como La vida privada de las muñecas de trapo, Raúl Santana con un pueblo en el bolsillo y Leoncio Martínez, genial e ingenioso(publicado después de su muerte), dicta charlas y conferencias, mantiene un programa de televisión titulado Las cosas más sencillas y proyecta la formación de un grupo actoral que pusiera en práctica el «Teatro para leer». Muere en un accidente de tránsito (…). En su memoria se creó por proposición de Pedro León Zapata, la cátedra libre de humorismo «Aquiles Nazoa», inaugurada el 11 de marzo de 1980.
During the 1970s besides preparing books like (The private life of rag dolls, Raul Santana with a town in his pocket, and Leoncio Martínez wonderful and ingenious) he gives speeches and conferences, he presents a program called Simple things and helps with the training of a theatrical group the “theater to read”. He died in a car accident. In his memory, and through Pedro León Zapata’s proposal it was created the chair at the university “Aquiles Nazoa”, which started on March 11, 1980.
Among his works there were an important number of humorous pieces written in verse for theater, with new versions of classics like Hernani and Cinderella, among others that made fun of marital life and “high class” ladies with their “new money” as a criticism to the new bourgeoisie. Here, a part of his Cinderella on YouTube [es].
Aquiles Nazoa was truly a wonderful soul to the Venezuelan body. Many literary prizes and elementary schools have been given his name. He adored children, people, pigs and dogs. He had a special devotion to people’s education and struggle for justice. And since without an example of his works this post would be incomplete, let’s do an effort in literary translation to bring to this space a little piece from the poet:
Verbos irregulares:
Estos son unos verbos que, a paso de tortuga,
Yo conjugo,
Tú conugas,
Él conjuga…
Como sin garantías todo el mundo se inhibe
Yo no escribo,
Tú no escribes
Él no escribe
Pues de escribir las cosas que uno tiene en el seso
Yo voy preso,
Tú vas preso
Él va preso
These are some verbs that, slow like a turtle
I conjugate
You conjugate
He conjugates
And since everyone is afraid with the lack of constitutional rights
I don’t write
You don’t write
He doesn’t write
For if one writes all the thoughts under the veil
I go to jail
You go to jail
He goes to jail
His biography here, and more of his poems (in Spanish) can be seen here.
Finally, some bloggers have fond memories of childhood alongside Nazoa's verses. Plomo al Arpa [es] writes:
Estudié toda la primaria y el bachillerato en el “Instituto Parroquial San Juan Bautista de La Salle”, frente a la plaza Capuchinos y al lado de la Escuela “19 de Abril” (Antigua Escuela Zamora) (…)Así me fui impregnando de San Juan, creciendo entre su gente y familiarizándome con su arquitectura, jugando en la plaza entre sus hermosas columnas de ladrillo rematadas por vigas de madera, sus palomas y sus borrachos, representando en actos estudiantiles las obras de un famosísimo libro llamado “Humor y amor”. Sentía particularmente cercano este libro porque lo que leía en él lo olía, lo veía, lo sentía en el camino al colegio, en mis juegos en terrenos abandonados, en mis paseos entre casas antiguas para hacer un “mandado”. Un día me conseguí con un poema que hablaba del palomar de la plaza Capuchinos y me pareció todo un detalle que un poeta le dedicara unas líneas a ese testigo de mis juegos y mis escapes de clase, después sabría que ese poeta había recorrido esas calles y estudiado al lado de donde yo lo hacía y que había hecho todo un universo con las cosas más sencillas que había percibido, muchas de las cuales forman parte de mi infancia. (…) el poeta de las cosas más sencillas, ese que me reenamoró de mi ciudad y de mi San Juan tan querido. Feliz cumpleaños Aquiles!!!
I studied all my life in San Juan Bautista de La Salle (a High School) in front of Capuchinos Square and next to the old Zamora School. (…) Thus, I grew up among that people and getting familiar with the architecture, playing at the square, with its beautiful columns made of brick and finished in wood, its pigeons and drunk men, representing little plays from a very famous book called Humor y amor (Humour and love). I felt particularly close to this book, since all I read and smelled the things that I felt it on my way to school, and in my childish games in abandoned fields, and in my walks through all the antique houses when they sent me to run an errand. One day, I came across a poem about the Capuchinos Square's pigeon house and I thought it was a wonderful detail that a poet could dedicate some lines to my games and when I escaped from school. Afterwards, I would know that this poet had run in the same streets and studied next to where I did and that he made a whole universe with the most simplest things that he had seen, and most of them, were also a part of my childhood. (…) The poet of simple things, the one that made me fall in love again with my city and my beloved San Juan. Happy birthday Aquiles!
Photographs from a Mango Festival in India at the cooks cottage.
Law and Other Things reflects on the litigation strategy in a case that could have an impact on the legal perspective of homosexuality in India.
groundviews on the disturbing trend of attacks on civilians in Sri Lanka.
Anbika's DiGi Home on the increase in the number of women in politics in Nepal.
David blames the South African government for the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa: “No one hates foreigners like South Africans do. South Africa is said to be officially the most xenophobic nation in the world. So much for being xenophobic and all that but why go to the criminal extent of murdering about 50 immigrants? South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki was reported to have described the saga as “disgraceful” but I say it is far more than disgraceful. It is outrightly criminal and those behind the attacks must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!”
Enset writes about the life of Ethiopian soldier, Kedir Mohammed: “Even as a refugee, Kedir never ended his activism and the struggle for justice, human rights and equality of citizens of his country. He joined a budding organization that was cultivated by the Ethiopian students’ movement that culminated in the formation of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP).”
As Fidel Castro comments on the US presidential campaign, Child of the Revolution calls him “the consummate manipulator”.
Haitian blogger kiskeácity links to an interview with Nicholas Laughlin, who is at the Calabash International Literary Festival in Jamaica talking about “Caribbean literature, imaginary roads, creoleness…”it all makes you a bit nostalgic…
Bahamian Nicolette Bethel says: “Bahamians appear to imagine that the world is monocultural. More specifically, we tend to associate specific nations with specific ‘races'. But the world is a multicultural world, and, colonial mythology aside, it is not divided into clumps of people who fit specific moulds.”