JOUN, Southern Lebanon: Some Lebanese, especially those with a sense of irony, like to share an American traveler s impressions of their homeland on the eastern Mediterranean:
William Thomson noted that Lebanon s religions and sects-there are 18 recognized ones in a country smaller than Connecticut-share a country but little fraternal feeling.
Of the Muslim sects, he wrote, the Sunnis excommunicate the Shia, both hate the Druze, and all three detest the Alawites. As for the Christians, the Maronites have no particular love for anybody and, in turn, are disliked by all. The Greek Orthodox cannot endure the Greek Catholics, and all despise the Jews.
They can never form one united people.and will therefore remain weak, incapable of self-government, and exposed to the.oppressions of foreigners , Mr. Thomson concluded.
Thomson s comments could be those of a contemporary observation. But he wrote them in 1870 in The Land and the Book, an account of his travels as a missionary in the Levant.
Breaking such deeply embedded and historical suspicions is no easy task, but Search for Common Ground (SFCG), an international non-governmental organization (NGO) specializing in conflict resolution, has launched a nationwide, grassroots initiative to train schoolteachers in techniques to mediate and resolve classroom disputes among Lebanese youths. The idea is to institutionalize listening and problem solving among 8- and 14-year-olds in the schools , says Sarah Shouman, SFCG s country director for Lebanon.
Lebanese youth argue and fight over childish issues much the same as other young people all over the world. Additionally, however, the political and religious prejudices of their parents can seep onto the playground, particularly at times of heightened internal tension, perpetuating the legacy of communal mistrust.
SFCG s pilot project focuses on seven schools, three private and four public, in cities as well as rural regions.
The trainers, from Lebanese civil society groups and from groups linked to the SFCG project, are from as religiously and politically diverse backgrounds as the schools to which they are sent. Training was carried out in Cyprus by Valerie Dovey, a South African peace educator who worked in post-apartheid South Africa.
The way we all communicated with each other was very nice, says Noha Chahine, a trainer who is a teacher at a Beirut school. It was challenging, but it showed that we all have a common goal despite our different backgrounds.
On a recent morning, Ms. Chahine and her fellow trainer, Tarek Abu Zeinab, held a session for eight women teachers at the public school in Joun, a village with a mixed Shia and Christian population. It s surrounded by olive groves on rolling chalky hills near the port of Sidon. The school has some 200 5-to-13-year-olds.
The women – Shia and Christians, reflecting the village – sat attentively at their pupils desks.
Much of the instruction is rooted in common sense and good manners, such as listening to others and accepting differences. When the teachers break into chatter, the burly, goateed Mr. Abu Zeinab stands at the head of the class with his arm raised, his fist clenched. Slowly, the women stop talking and look up.
You see? A way of getting children to stop talking is to stand and raise your hand, Abu Zeinab says. If you scream at children, you achieve nothing but create a climate of conflict.
Such skills would be taken for granted in the West, but educational training remains under-funded here.
We have a lot of conflicts because we suffer from social and economic problems here, says Hanna Haidar, a trainee who teaches English at the school. But I am learning many things.which will be helpful to us.
If the pilot program proves successful, SFCG hopes to expand it to another 100 schools in the next three years. The NGO also produces a children s television program called Kilna Bil Hayy (All of Us in the Neighborhood) in which six children – an Armenian, Christian, Druze, Palestinian, Shia, and Sunni – live in the same apartment building. Broadcast by Lebanon s LBC International channel, the show teaches children to embrace their unity and accept their differences.
While Lebanon has been fairly calm since 1990, when the 16-year civil war ended, a durable peace remains susceptible to sectarian divisions, disparities between rich and poor, external meddling, and factionalism.
In May last year, Lebanon teetered on the edge of civil conflict once more during street fighting that pitted Shia factions against Sunnis and Druze. While peaceful parliamentary elections were held in June, forming a coalition government has been stymied by political squabbles.
Politics here tends to be divided between anti-West and pro-West, and unfortunately, politicians have cemented those divisions in Lebanon , says Abu Zeinab, who has several years of experience in Lebanese civil society groups.
That s why this type of project is very important, he concludes. It brings people from all over Lebanon together. What we teach to the schools is that you are all Lebanese and that you are all one.
Nicholas Blanfordis a correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission from The Christian Science Monitor.
