{"id":9148,"date":"2018-02-26T13:02:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-26T11:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=9148"},"modified":"2018-02-26T13:02:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-26T11:02:40","slug":"lebanese-social-worker-sisters-tackle-radicalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2018\/02\/lebanese-social-worker-sisters-tackle-radicalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanese Social Worker Sisters Tackle Radicalization"},"content":{"rendered":"

VOA NEWS<\/a>\u00a0– BEIRUT, LEBANON \u2014\u00a0<\/span>Within the confines of Lebanon\u2019s Roumieh prison they gathered together as men recounting lives led before they became seen as terrorists.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inmates whose affiliations spanned across Islamic State (IS) and a gamut of other Islamist groups were in discussion and, for once, religion and politics were not on the agenda.<\/p>\n

Instead, led by two pioneering social workers, the talk was to be of their fears, their hopes, their regrets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment you refer to religion or politics it becomes an endless debate,\u201d explained Nancy Yamout, who along with her sister Maya has been overseeing sessions that also include art therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cReligion is part of it, of course, but we\u2019re not sheikhs, we\u2019re social workers. We want to look at how they have reached this point socially and psychologically.\u201d<\/p>\n

For five years they have worked within the prison as they search for a new way to respond to radicalism, a search that is now taking them from the Islamists of Roumieh prison into neighborhoods of the dispossessed.<\/p>\n

Beyond the sectarian<\/strong><\/p>\n

A country deeply divided along sectarian lines, Lebanon\u2019s instability has increased with the Syrian war.<\/p>\n

Struggling with an influx of Syrian refugees, the country also finds itself under threat of bombing – the last deadly blast took place this June in the northern border town of al-Qaa and state security services claim to have foiled numerous other IS attacks.<\/p>\n

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\"This<\/div>\n<\/div>
This neighborhood in west Beirut is the target of the Yamout’s efforts to prevent radicalization.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Meanwhile some youngsters within Lebanon’s own borders are being lured by the likes of IS into the conflict.
\nSome of the main drivers behind this are well established.
\nRapha\u00ebl Lefevre, a fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, told VOA that recruits were \u201cyoung Sunnis who feel strongly about supporting the Syrian revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to the role of the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese Shia group which intervened to support Syrian Prime Minister Bashar al-Assad, he explained they \u201calso feel frustrated by Hezbollah’s intervention in the ongoing conflict there and domination in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same year the war began, 2011, the Yamout sisters entered Roumieh prison for the first time.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>
A bar of soap, one of many items the Yamout sisters bring in to Roumieh prison for the inmates.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

They had both lost friends to radicalization, and persuaded the authorities to let them in as they sought to understand what it was that drove people into the arms of islamist militants.<\/p>\n

But, as social workers, they wanted to look beyond the religious and political context of their subjects.<\/p>\n

Building trust<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nancy and Maya Yamout have slowly built trust among inmates in Roumieh\u2019s Block B, exclusively home to the prison’s 680 Islamist militants, as they go about conducting interviews rather than the more usual interrogations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t ask them why they are accused of terrorism,\u201d explained Nancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask them how they are doing, what are their happy memories, what kind of food do you like?\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest art sessions were created as a form of therapy, though the sisters had limited material at their disposal \u2014 the prison would not allow chalk because it could potentially be smeared by inmates across the prison\u2019s CCTV camera lenses.<\/p>\n

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\"One<\/div>\n<\/div>
One of the artworks created by an inmate in Roumieh Prison after art therapy. Some refused to draw or paint, considering it against Islam, but used photos instead. The words “I’m tired” and “tomorrow we will meet” are drawn over the work.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Such workshops act as a gentle entry into discussions exploring the circumstance that created men seen as monsters by much of the outside world.<\/p>\n

The Yamout\u2019s findings led them to explore the role of family, and the support mechanisms available.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re between 15 and 20, they are developing their ideology, and if the parents are not creating a sense of self worth, or even something like the Scouts or Red Cross is, others will,\u201d explained Nancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about a sense of belonging, of being wanted,\u201d added her sister Maya.<\/p>\n

And now, armed with their findings, they have moved beyond Roumieh in an effort to stop the cycle before it destroys more lives.
\n
\nReaching out<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having come to Lebanon from Manbij, the Syrian town controlled by Islamic State until August, Amal* has left one nightmare to be confronted with another.<\/p>\n

Living in a poverty-blighted neighborhood in west Beirut, she fears for the safety of her children in a place she says is rife with crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe children here will reach drug dealers, or extremists – I don\u2019t know,\u201d she told VOA.<\/p>\n

The Yamouts were pointed in the direction of the neighborhood by their contacts within Roumieh.<\/p>\n

Here, claim the sisters, is a toxic mixture that contributes to radicalization – poverty, but more importantly broken social structures and familial relations.<\/p>\n

Many here also lack Lebanese citizenship, making them vulnerable, according to the sisters, to those offering a new sense of identity and purpose.<\/p>\n

In response, the Yamouts and their NGO Rescue Me have set up workshops for youngsters, offering them therapeutic activities like mosaic-making and job training, and are also setting up an office in the neighborhood to offer more permanent support.<\/p>\n

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\"Nancy,<\/div>\n<\/div>
Nancy, Maya and their mother at their home, from which they run their NGO Rescue Me.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Oil on fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you support these kids, and give them enough, their self esteem rises and they gain the tools to work,\u201d said Maya.<\/p>\n

The sisters are tireless in their work, but the challenge they face is daunting, while their funding remains threadbare.<\/p>\n

Advocating for more focus on prevention of radicalism at its roots, with supporting families in vulnerable communities crucial, they argue that more effort needs to be made helping former prisoners leaving Roumieh\u2019s Block B into Lebanese society.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, they warn, no matter how many arrests are made, or how many end up in Block B, the cycle of violence and radicalization could continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message [of Islamist militants] can spread,\u201d warned Nancy. \u201cIt\u2019s like oil on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

*Amal’s name has been changed to protect her identity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VOA NEWS\u00a0– BEIRUT, LEBANON \u2014\u00a0Within the confines of Lebanon\u2019s Roumieh prison they gathered together as men recounting lives led before they became seen as terrorists. Inmates whose affiliations spanned across Islamic State (IS) and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":9149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,46,85,43,52,11,88,10],"tags":[844,564,852],"class_list":["post-9148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editor-selection","category-freedom-of-expression-and-media","category-human-rights","category-human-rights-online-library","category-international-justice-human-rights-online-library","category-issues","category-slider","category-world","tag-counter-terrorism","tag-lebanon","tag-social-activism","country-world"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9148"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9151,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9148\/revisions\/9151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}