HMA Tom Fletcher (British Ambassador to Lebanon), main supporter of "ONE LEBANON, United for Tomorrow": ‘United for Tomorrow’: Lebanon’s Live Aid? August 4, 2013 I look back at Live Aid, and its 2005 successor Live 8, as extraordinary moments where politics and culture came together with breathtaking power. What Bob Geldof and others achieved was not just to highlight the importance of Africa, but to move the needle – mobilising a generation to believe that our obligations to confront poverty were about justice not charity. That movement spawned the Jubilee debt campaign, One, the G8 Gleneagles Summit, the MDGs, the 0.7% aid target. Through force of will, a bit of swearing, celebrity and the right argument, the paradigm shifted. I’ve often asked myself whether such a movement could work here in Lebanon. What I hear often is fatalism (‘there’s nothing we can do, this is Lebanon’), frustration (‘whatever we try, politics will get in the way’) and apathy (‘we should emigrate, party or fight each other’). Yet every day I meet people who are fighting not each other, but for Lebanon. The entrepreneurs who build businesses despite the challenges. Those arguing for coexistence rather than division. Talent that refuses to conform to the rules of patronage. At the graduations I attend where students don’t talk about what divides but what unites them. In the silent majority, working against the odds (insecurity, traffic jams, power cuts, wasta) to raise their families. That’s why I’m excited about an initiative for International Day of Peace in September, ‘One Lebanon – United for Tomorrow’. Those behind it have a vision of a concert that showcases Lebanon’s talent. A citizen-driven moment when the Lebanese show their resilience and hope. An opportunity to confront the tired old adage that the Lebanese are great individuals but a poor team. It would be wrong to call it apolitical, as it is an exercise in political mobilisation. But it aims to do so without the usual party or confessional labels. It is a big ask, and time is short. But I reckon this just might be a game changer. It depends on whether people feel mobilised to help. My old band Freshly Squeezed were, ahem, ahead of our time. So I promise not to sing. But I’ll be cheering every step of the way. You can support the initiative on the hashtag OneLebanon. Tom Fletcher
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 18:13:37 +0000
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