UPDATE (1/31/10): Comments are closed on this post.
The coverage of Ethiopian Air Flight 409, which crashed into the Mediterranean sea close to Beirut just minutes after takeoff, early Monday morning, has reached that inevitable point: the reaction to the reaction to the coverage, or, as I like to call it, the third stage of good grief.
The crash itself was an absolute tragedy, and a equal-opportunity one at that, in that it spared no one, not least the family members of the victims. Spend a few minutes perusing this Facebook page set up to memorialize the deceased, as I did last night, and you’ll soon find a few minutes have turned into an hour, and you are thoroughly despairing. The pictures are heart-wrenching: wedding photos, summertime snaps of boys grilling meats in happier times, the owner of a well-known local restaurant, a cheery twenty-year-old boy hoping to surprise his parents in Africa, somebody’s boss.
Conspicuously missing from the Facebook page are the Ethiopian victims — here we get on to the tricky stuff. Like the ongoing analysis of what happened to the plane itself, this dynamic, evident not just on Facebook, but in newspaper stories and even official reports, which listed Ethiopian passengers separately from Lebanese ones, has been the subject of a tide of speculation and sniping in the media, here and abroad. Most of it is fair: If it’s true that Ethiopian family members were prevented from identifying bodies at the government hospital, or shoved out of camera shots by TV crews, this is outrageous and shameful.
But if, in reaction to the coverage, some are seeing the revelation of Lebanon’s “racist underbelly”, I’m not so sure. Regarding things like the Facebook page, I would caution that this has an obvious, practical explanation (if an insidious one): most of the Ethiopian families here are domestic workers (most of the victims, too, so far as we know). They don’t have a lot of free time or access to the internet to post pictures on Facebook. And for the rest, I think the problem is deeper than just overt racism. The nature of the relationship between the domestic workers and the Lebanese — a grossly unequal one — and the long history of social segregation (forced more often than not), has led to a cultural gap: If, after a tragedy, dissociated people are meant to come together under their commonalities, then this is nearly impossible in a country where the domestic worker and employee share next to nothing except, now and then, a taxi.
The bigger issue then (for another time, and another post), is the broader dehumanization of darker-skinned domestic workers, clearly a massive problem here in Lebanon, but perhaps no more than in the US, or UK, where the stories of abuse are just as perfidious as here. But simply racism? I suspect something more gray is at play.
***
This note of caution is needed even more so in the ongoing evaluation of what happened to the plane itself. So far, we know nothing. Without the black box, we have only the premature determination, by President Michel Sleiman, that there was no indication of terrorism (based on what?); the immaterial declaration, by the Minister of Transportation, that the plane made a “fast and strange turn” shortly before hitting the sea (some might call this crashing), culminating in a strange analysis, in the Times of London, calling the debate between “storms and sabotage” a ponder-worthy “mystery” (evidence of neither = evidence of both, right?). The black box is everything. Without it, there is nothing to debate.
Or is there? Today, OTV, a local channel, is reporting that a rocket may have been fired at the plane, and notes that several Hezbollah officials were supposed to be on board, but cancelled at the last minute. (Wait, does that mean Hezbollah was the target or the culprit?)
And then there are the important ramifications of the fact that the plane may have been used by Ryanair in past years — has anyone considered the IRA angle yet?
Patrick Galey, a local British journalist who I’ve picked on a bit lately for no particular reason (he actually led some solid coverage of the incident in the Daily Star), notes that Naharnet (the source of some of the Hezbollah speculation) should be attended to with “a shovelful of salt.” When a plane drops out of the sky and lands in the Mediterranean, I would say this applies to all the coverage. And you’d better do with an ocean-full.
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Joshua Hersh
Joshua Hersh is a writer who lives in Beirut. He was previously a fact-checker at the New Yorker, and his work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New Republic, the National (Abu Dhabi), and the New York Times. You can see ...
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More on these topics:
Beirut, domestic workers, ethiopian air, Lebanon, Media, plane crash, racism
Bou Le Fou says:
Joshua,
I have read the blog for Patrick Galey and I was disgusted for using the racism issue while talking about such a tragedy. I have posted a long comment on his blog. I do hope they will approve it.
Reading your blog gave me faith back that ethical journalism still exists.
Thank you and i will be definitely following you.
D. Asad says:
Racism has always been an issue in Lebanon; in particular the abuse of its domestic workers. What would not be ethical reporting would be for this discrimination to be covered up yet again. Remember, it was not just Lebanese nationals on the plane. For non-Lebanese to not only have lost their loved ones, but to also be denied the same access to information and compassion that is being showed to the Lebanese victims makes the tragedy even worse.
All effected families and friends are watching the news and reading the papers for information on this tragedy; not just the Lebanese. If coverage, support, and compassion are not shown equally to all then racism is obvious, and it is the duty of any honest and ethical reporter to share this information.
I am personally disgusted by those who would use this tragedy and the pain felt by those affected as a means for continuing the cover-up of the blatant discrimination in the region. My thoughts and prayers go out to ALL victims of this tragedy.
Nayla Moukarbel says:
Dear Joshua,
A quick word on the subject of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon including Ethiopians). You are right, it is not merely a question of racism; things are indeed more complex (and grey)than commonly portrayed. The 'dehumanization' as you mention of these women renders them invisible (and this, paradoxically, despite their high visibility since they are for most women of colour). The domestic worker is limited to her 'serving position', her personality, identity and even being are erased.
I talk about the complex dynamics involved in the Madame/housemaid relationship and the rules that govern it in my book: Sri Lankan Housemaids in Lebanon: A Case of 'Symbolic Violence' and 'Everyday Forms of Resistance'.
All the best,
Nayla Moukarbel (PhD)
Ras Mitat says:
"...Dehumanization of darker-skinned domestic workers, clearly a massive problem here in Lebanon, but perhaps no more than in the US, or UK..."
Are you kidding?
Ethiopian Airlines was at one point flying out of Beirut with 2 bodies each week of young Ethiopian housemaids. Lebanese authorities do nothing. Walk to the Ethiopian Consulate in Beirut and you'll see escaped housemaids looking for shelter, after years of physical and sexual abuse. Check women's prison and see how many housemaids were picked up homeless after running away from abuse.
Where do you see that consistency in UK or US? The fact that you are a journalist in Beirut and claim not to see or know this is shameful!
Alex says:
The story that will soon emerge is this: there was a dispute within the control tower, between traffic control and the weather monitors. The pilot was only following their conflicting instructions.
At the time of take off, the control tower was faced with two issues: a major storm mostly concentrated south of the airport; and an-incoming Etihad airways flight from the north. Ethiopian was initially cleared to take off in a northerly direction, but due to the incoming approach of the Etihad flight, Ethiopian was then instructed to fly south. The weather monitor had anyway observed a break in the clouds sufficient enough for a clearance. Ethiopian took off in a southerly direction, and right after doing so, the weather monitor saw that the clearance path had shifted to a south-easterly direction. Etihad was instructed to take this third path. Upon doing so flight radars showed that the aircraft had increased altitude by several thousand meters within a very short period (approx 1-2 minutes). This is thought to have caused the flight crew and passengers to lose conciousness and was to due to extremely gusty wind conditions. Another gust of wind blew the aircraft back further north, at which point the plane crashed and exploded upon hitting the sea.
ruth says:
"Ethiopian family members were prevented from identifying bodies at the government hospital, or shoved out of camera shots by TV crews"
the fact that you live in Beirut and can wonder if that statement could be true is what is outrageous and shameful.
Ethiopian girl says:
i would not be surprised if the plain was rocketed, this Arab people have no mercy when it comes to human life they think every one has an Arab life (chip human life).low life bastards hope they rote in hall R.I.P to the Ethiopian brother and sisters.
daCaptain says:
Joshua,
The Ethiopian version of Facebook is here http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=409&init=quick#/group.php?gid=304063565210&ref=search&sid=748508926.1549806245..1 and http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=409&init=quick#/pages/ET-409-Ethioipian-Airlines-Flight-409-Memorial/276316395746?ref=ss . We Ethiopians like to keep or own sites and not be contaminated by these Lebanese Arab zelots.
Ciao