Lokman Slim

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Lokman Slim in the UMAM hangar, 2018

Lokman Mohsen Slim ( Arabic لقمان محسن سليم, DMG Luqmān Muḥsin Salīm ; * July 17, 1962 in Haret Hreik ; † February 3 or 4, 2021 ) was a Lebanese publisher , filmmaker , publicist and cultural mediator. As an independent social and political activist , he particularly campaigned for a culture of remembrance to come to terms with the conflict-ridden history of the country and the entire region. He was also known as a critic of Hezbollah , which was supported by Iran , but also of all other political-denominational forces.

Live and act

Slim came from a long-established and influential family in the Shiite- dominated south of Beirut , who had close ties to the country's Christian elites. His mother, Salma Merchak, who survived him, is from Egypt and has a Christian background. His father Mohsen Slim was a lawyer , landowner and from 1960 to 1964 a member of the Lebanese parliament . In 1977 he founded the Shiite-dominated Union des Forces Lebanaises , which mainly campaigned for the disarming of militant Palestinian groups in the country. In the further course of the Lebanese civil war , however, he moved his law firm to Paris .

The UMAM hangar during the exhibition "In Praise of Lebanese Fusion", Beirut 2018

Lokman Slim himself moved to France in 1982, where he lived for six years to study philosophy at the Sorbonne . After returning to Lebanon in 1990, he founded the independent Lebanese publisher Dar al-Jadeed, which published Arabic literature and articles that aroused controversy across the country. In 2004 he co-founded the documentation and research center UMAM, through which he provided a large part of the resources for the recording, compilation, preservation and promotion of Lebanese history . Slim has published several historical documents and works on art. Some of his books were censored and banned by the Lebanese news service Direction Générale de la Sûreté Générale (DGSG), including the first Arabic translations of the writings of the former Iranian reform president Mohammad Chātami . This case in particular caused great controversy in the Shiite community in Lebanon.

With his wife, the German director Monika Borgmann and Hermann Theißen , he made the documentary Massaker (2004) about the perpetrators of the Sabra and Shatila massacres . The film was screened at numerous festivals around the world and was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2005 Berlinale . Together with Borgmann, Slim made the documentary Tadmor (2016) about a torture prison run by the Assad regime. Tadmor was awarded the Political Film Prize of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation at the Hamburg Film Festival in 2016 .

During the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel , large parts of Slim's house in the Haret Hreik district of Beirut were destroyed by an Israeli air force bombardment . His archive was also badly affected by the devastation.

After participating in a round table on Märtyrer-Platz on the concept of foreign policy neutrality in December 2019, the Hezbollah critic received death threats, he was insulted as a "traitor" and his house was besieged. In a statement, Slim said not only himself but also his wife were exposed to these threats from Hezbollah. Slim disappeared during a return trip to Beirut on the evening of February 3, 2021. The activist was eventually found dead near the village of Zahrani in southern Lebanon . He was killed by four headshots and one shot in the back. His phone was found a few kilometers away in Niha in the south, another region under the control of the militant group.

Reactions

Shortly after the first news of the murder, Jawad Nasrallah , a son of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah , tweeted : "What a loss means to some people is actually a gain and unexpected goodness #NoneRevent". He later deleted the tweet and stated that he didn't mean Lokman Slim.

Najat Rochdi, United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator and UN Humanitarian Aid Coordinator in Lebanon, said she was shocked at the murder of Lebanese anti-Hezbollah activist and publicist after she was found . The murder of a courageous and committed intellectual would be a loss for the entire Lebanese people. Rochdi called for a thorough, quick and transparent investigation and trial in order to bring all those responsible for this "outrageous act" to justice.

Web links

Commons : Lokman Slim  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Tala Michel Issa: Who is Lokman Slim: A profile on Lebanese activist, Hezbollah critic shot to death. In: al-Arabiya . February 4, 2021, accessed February 4, 2021 .
  2. ^ A b Moritz Behrendt: The patron of ideas. In: zenith.me . February 4, 2021, accessed February 4, 2021 .
  3. ↑ Obituary - Truth as Provocation. In: medico international. February 5, 2021, accessed on February 5, 2021 (German).
  4. ↑ Christoph Reuter : Lokman Slim murdered in Lebanon: The fearless. In: Spiegel Online. February 4, 2021, accessed February 5, 2021 .
  5. ↑ a b Lara Deeb, Mona Harb: Lokman Slim. In: Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi'ite South Beirut, p. 232. Princeton University Press , October 27, 2013, accessed February 5, 2021 .
  6. ^ Jeanine Jalkh: Lokman Slim, la liberté à tout prix. In: L'Orient-Le Jour . February 5, 2021, accessed February 5, 2021 (French).
  7. ↑ Michael Kuderna: Christian groups in Lebanon: Struggle for ideology and rule in an unfinished nation . F. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1983, p. 103 .
  8. ↑ massacre. Internet Movie Database , accessed February 5, 2021 . Massacre by Monika Borgmann, Hermann Theissen, Lokman Slim. In: dvfilm.ch . Retrieved February 5, 2021 .
  9. ↑ 55th Berlinale: Awarded films. In: fipresci.org. Retrieved February 5, 2021 .
  10. ↑ Andrea Böhm : “Tadmor”: A trauma becomes a cinema. In: Zeit Online . October 6, 2016, archived from the original on October 19, 2016 ; accessed on February 5, 2021 .
  11. ↑ Michael Kottmeier: The political film of the FES 2016: "Tadmor" is the winner of the year 2016. In: fes.de . 2016, accessed February 5, 2021 .
  12. ↑ Markus Bickel : Lebanon: How Israel almost eliminated Hezbollah's harshest critic. In: Spiegel Online . August 13, 2006, accessed February 4, 2021 .
  13. ^ Christian Weisflog: Hezbollah critic shot dead: "He was a contentious person with clear principles" , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , February 4, 2021
  14. ↑ Kareem Chehayeb: Lebanese anti-Hezbollah activist found dead in his car. In: aljazeera.com . February 4, 2021, accessed February 4, 2021 .
  15. ↑ Laudy Issa: Lokman Slim, activist and Hezbollah critic, found shot dead in South Lebanon. In: beirut-today.com. February 4, 2021, accessed on February 5, 2021 (English): "Lebanese activist and Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim was found dead in his car this morning near Zahrani village, South Lebanon." Adam Chamseddine, Kareem Chehayeb: Lebanon: Prominent Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim found murdered. In: middleeasteye.net . February 4, 2021, accessed February 5, 2021 .
  16. ↑ Mona Alami: Murdered activist Lokman Slim was facilitating a Hezbollah defection before death. In: Al Arabiya. February 5, 2021, accessed February 5, 2021 .
  17. ↑ Rim Zrein: Breaking: Hezbollah Critic Lokman Slim Just Found Shot Dead In His Car. In: The961. February 4, 2021, accessed February 5, 2021 .
  18. ↑ UN Says Killing of Lokman Slim is a Loss for Lebanon. In: Naharnet. February 4, 2021, accessed February 5, 2021 .
personal data
SURNAME Slim, Lokman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Slim, Lokman Mohsen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lebanese publisher, publicist and activist
DATE OF BIRTH 17th July 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Haret Hreik
DATE OF DEATH February 3, 2021 or February 4, 2021