Space of Hope for Lebanon’s Missing

Promoting Transitional Justice through a Digital Memorial

in Conflict and Society
Author:
Erik Van Ommering Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam e.i.van.ommering@vu.nl

Search for other papers by Erik Van Ommering in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
and
Reem el Soussi Independent scholar reem.soussi@gmail.com

Search for other papers by Reem el Soussi in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/arcs.2017.030113
Keywords:
civil society; digital memorial; forced disappearance; Lebanon; transitional justice
Restricted access

All currencies in US Dollar

PayPal Logo

ABSTRACT

This article explores how a digital memorial for forcibly disappeared persons contributes to transitional justice in Lebanon. It presents the joint establishment of an interactive digital memorial by a collective of nongovernmental organizations, relatives of missing persons, and youth volunteers. The case study is situated in debates on transitional justice, calls for democratization of collective memories and archives, and discussions on new information and communication technologies. The article demonstrates how the development and launch of Fushat Amal (Space for Hope) is shaped and confined by postwar sociopolitical realities that are all but favorable to memorialization or justice-seeking initiatives. It highlights how digitalized memories can open up spaces that remain closed in the offline world, enabling survivors to share their stories, build collectives, demand recognition, and advocate for justice. At the same time, the authors discuss the limitations of digital memorials in relation to questions of access, ownership, and sustainability.

Contributor Notes

ERIK VAN OMMERING is a PhD student in the department of social and cultural anthropology of Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His research explores the linkages between formal elementary education and processes of conflict transformation, and is grounded in ethnographic field research in school communities in Lebanon. Aside from his academic interest he works in the humanitarian response to the Syria refugee crisis in the Middle East.

REEM EL SOUSSI is an independent human rights and public health professional based in Lebanon. Until recently, she worked as project manager with ACT for the Disappeared, a Lebanese human rights NGO. In that capacity she was in charge of the participatory development of Fushat Amal, an interactive digital memorial for the persons who went missing during Lebanon’s civil wars. Reem currently works as monitoring and evaluation consultant.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Conflict and Society

Advances in Research

Cover Conflict and Society
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
21
Keywords:
civil society; digital memorial; forced disappearance; Lebanon; transitional justice
Print Publication Date:
01 Jun 2017
Online Publication Date:
01 Jun 2017
Copyright:
© Berghahn Books 2017

  • Al Arabiya. 2016. “A Site That Revives Efforts to Know the Fate of Those Who Were Missing from the Lebanese War.” [In Arabic.] YouTube video, 2:25. Posted 9 February. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9kV0kvy1_M.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Al Jazeera. 2016. “‘Space of Hope’: An Internet Site for the Stories of the Missing in Lebanon.” [In Arabic.] Al Jazeera, 2 February. http://bit.ly/1PUdHgG.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Albrecht, Mara, and Bassel Akar. 2016. The Power of Remembrance: Political Parties, Memory, and Learning about the Past in Lebanon. Beirut: ForumZFD and Notre Dame University, Louaize.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.

  • Barak, Oren. 2007. “‘Don’t Mention the War?’: The Politics of Remembrance and Forgetfulness in Postwar Lebanon.” The Middle East Journal 61 (1): 49–70.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Battel, Gianluca Siega. 2011. “Beirut’s Sunset: Civil War, Right to the Truth and Public Remembrance.” Pace Diritti Umani/Peace Human Rights 2 : 129–154.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Boss, Pauline. 1999. Ambiguous Loss. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  • Boss, Pauline. 2002a. “Ambiguous Loss in Families of the Missing.” The Lancet 360: s39–s40.

  • Boss, Pauline. 2002b. “Ambiguous Loss: Working with the Families of the Missing.” Family Process 41 (1): 14–17.

  • Boss, Pauline. 2004. “Ambiguous Loss Research, Theory, and Practice: Reflections after 9/11.” Journal of Marriage and Family 66 (3): 551–566.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Boss, Pauline. 2007. “Ambiguous Loss Theory: Challenges for Scholars and Practitioners.” Family Relations 56 (2): 105–110.

  • Boss, Pauline. 2010. “The Trauma and Complicated Grief of Ambiguous Loss.” Pastoral Psychology 59 : 137–145.

  • Caswell, Michelle. 2013. “Rethinking Inalienability: Trusting Nongovernmental Archives in Transitional Societies.” The American Archivist 76 (1): 113–134.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chaaya, Manal. 2016a. “A New Activity for the Families of Detainees Is Being Launched Tuesday.” [In Arabic.] An-Nahar, 22 January. http://bit.ly/2sC4Glf.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chaaya, Manal. 2016b. “When Will There Be Space of Hope for the Families of the Detainees?” [In Arabic.] An-Nahar, 26 March 2016. http://bit.ly/2rNByEP.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chayes, Antonia, and Martha L. Minow, eds. 2003. Imagine Coexistence: Restoring Humanity After Violent Ethnic Conflict. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Choufi, Eva. 2016. “‘Do Not Let My Story End Here’: Recovering the Identities of the Missing in the War.” [In Arabic.] Al Akhbar, 27 January. http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/250752.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Church, Scott H. 2013. “Digital Gravescapes: Digital Memorializing on Facebook.” The Information Society 29 (3): 184–189.

  • Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon. 2006. Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon Pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution S-2/1. Geneva: United Nations Human Rights Council.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • De Waardt, Mijke F. 2014. “In the Name of the Victims? Victim-Survivor Associations Negotiating for Recognition in Post-Conflict Peru.” PhD diss., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Eppel, Shari. 2002. “Reburial Ceremonies for Health and Healing after State Terror in Zimbabwe.” The Lancet 360 (9336): 869–870.

  • Fattah, Hassan M. 2007. “Lebanon’s History Textbooks Sidestep Its Civil War.” New York Times, 10 January. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/world/africa/10iht-beirut.4163377.html?_r=0.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ghosn, Faten, and Amal Khoury. 2011. “Lebanon after the Civil War: Peace or the Illusion of Peace?” Middle East Journal 65 (3): 381–397.

  • Haskins, Ekaterina. 2007. “Between Archive and Participation: Public Memory in a Digital Age.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 37 (4): 401–422.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Haugbolle, Sune. 2010. War and Memory in Lebanon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Hess, Aaron. 2007. “In Digital Remembrance: Vernacular Memory and the Rhetorical Construction of Web Memorials.” Media, Culture and Society 29 (5): 812–830.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross). 2013. The Families of People Missing in Connection with the Armed Conflicts That Have Occurred in Lebanon since 1975: An Assessment of Their Needs. Beirut: ICRC.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross). 2015. “ICRC Action to Assist the Families of Missing People in Lebanon.” ICRC, 28 August . https://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-action-assist-families-missing-persons-lebanon.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ICTJ (International Center for Transitional Justice). 2013. Lebanon’s Legacy of Political Violence: A Mapping of Serious Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Lebanon, 1975–2008. New York: ICTJ.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ICTJ (International Center for Transitional Justice). 2014. Failing to Deal with the Past: What Cost for Lebanon? Beirut: ICTJ.

  • ICTJ (International Center for Transitional Justice). 2016. The Missing in Lebanon: Inputs on the Establishment of the Independent National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon. Beirut: ICTJ.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jaquemet, Iolanda. 2009. “Fighting Amnesia: Ways to Uncover the Truth about Lebanon’s Missing.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 3 (1): 69–90.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jones, Briony, and Ingrid Oliveira. 2016. “Truth Commission Archives as ‘New Democratic Spaces’.” Journal of Human Rights Practice 8 (1): 6–24.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Josias, Anthea. 2011. “Toward an Understanding of Archives as a Feature of Collective Memory.” Archival Science 11 (1–2): 95–112.

  • Krayem, Hassan. 1997. “The Lebanese Civil War and the Taif Agreement.” In Conflict Resolution in the Arab World: Selected Essays, ed. Paul Salem. Beirut: American University of Beirut. http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/pspa/conflict-resolution.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • LIC. 2003. Report on Lebanese Detainees in Syrian Prisons. Washington, DC: Lebanese Information Center.

  • Mehri, Nada. 2016. “‘Fus’hat amal’, une plateforme numérique pour garder vivante la memoire des disparus.” L’Orient Le Jour, 27 January . http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/967068/-fushat-amal-une-plateforme-numerique-pour-garder-vivante-la-memoire-des-disparus.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Minow, Martha. 1998. Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence. Boston: Beacon Press.

  • Moncur, Wendy, and David Kirk. 2014. “An Emergent Framework for Digital Memorials.” In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, 965–974. doi:10.1145/2598510.2598516.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Montgomery, Bruce P. 2004. “Fact-Finding by Human Rights Non-Governmental Organizations: Challenges, Strategies, and the Shaping of Archival Evidence.” Archivaria 58 : 21–50.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • MTV Lebanon. 2016. “Mid Day News – 09/02/2016 – Despite Everything.” [Partly in Arabic.] YouTube video, 1:10. Posted 9 February. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US5DP13B-k8.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Nora, Pierre. 2002. “Reasons for the Current Upsurge in Memory.” Transit 22. http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2002–04–19-nora-en.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Obeid, Ghinwa. 2016. “Online Initiative Shines Light on Missing.” Daily Star, 27 January . http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2016/Jan-27/334147-online-initiative-shines-light-on-missing.ashx.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Omaar, Rageh. 2010. “Lebanon: What Lies Beneath.” Al Jazeera English, 21 October . http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/ragehomaarreport/2010/10/2010102012746679392.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • OTV Lebanon. 2016. “In the Absence of Official Attention, Individual Initiatives Relating to the File of Enforced Disappearances Are Intensifying.” [In Arabic.] YouTube video, 3:05. Posted 27 January. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD5auKXebPU.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Podeh, Elie. 2000. “History and Memory in the Israeli Educational System: The Portrayal of the Arab- Israeli Conflict in History Textbooks (1948–2000).” History and Memory 12 (1): 65–100.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Pollack, Craig Evan. 2003. “Intentions of Burial: Mourning, Politics, and Memorials Following the Massacre at Srebrenica.” Death Studies 27 (2): 125–142.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Roberts, Pamela. 2004. “The Living and the Dead: Community in the Virtual Cemetery.” OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying 49 (1): 57–76.

  • Robins, Simon. 2010. An Assessment of the Needs of Families of the Missing in Timor-Leste. York: Reconstruction and Development Unit, University of York.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Saghieh, Nizar. 2012. Families of the Disappeared in the Face of Policies of Silence and Denial: What Doors to Transport Their Demands to the Judiciary? Beirut: International Center for Transitional Justice.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Schwartz, Joan M., and Terry Cook. 2002. “Archives, Records, and Power: The Making of Modern Memory.” Archival Science 2 (1): 1–19.

  • Silva, Romesh, Nader Ahmad, and Nada Al Maghlouth. 2014. How People Talk About the Lebanon Wars: A Study of the Perceptions and Expectations of Residents in Greater Beirut. Beirut: International Center for Transitional Justice.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Syrri, Despina. 2008. “On Dealing with the Past, Transitional Justice and Archives.” Balcanica 39 : 221–242.

  • Teitel, Ruti G. 2002. Transitional Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Teitel, Ruti G. 2003. “Transitional Justice Genealogy.” Harvard Human Rights Journal 16 : 69–94.

  • UMAM D&R (Documentation and Research). 2016. “The Missing Project.” www.umam-dr.org/projectInfo.php?fromTab=upcomingProjects&projectId=155 (accessed 1 March 2016).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Van Ommering, Erik. 2015. “Formal History Education in Lebanon: Crossroads of Past Conflicts and Prospects for Peace.” International Journal of Educational Development 41 (C): 200–207.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • VanSledright, Bruce. 2008. “Narratives of Nation-State, Historical Knowledge, and School History Education.” Review of Research in Education 32 (1): 109–146.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 2847 1336 88
Full Text Views 69 7 0
PDF Downloads 65 11 0