Honour culture is basically a short term for a group of different behaviours. The most important characteristic is the importance of honour and reputation. This means that insults to honour cannot be accepted. In honour cultures therefore, insults are not very common, and people are usually very polite to each other. When somebody feels disrespected, it often means that they must make sure that the insult is paid back, to protect their honour and make sure that people know that this person cannot be insulted. Violence is often the result. Many scholars define cultures of honour as cultures where it is very important that a man can and will use physical violence to protect his family, his property, and his reputation. Honour culture is very connected to ideas of masculinity and traditional gender roles. Honour culture, which values reputation above almost everything else, shapes many behaviours. It often goes along with weak justice and policing systems – although whether it is the result of these systems or the cause of them we don’t know. So honour culture means the willingness to resort to violence to protect your reputation or your honour, and the importance that is placed upon reputation and honour more generally. This has many side-effects, which are often brutal. One of these is what happens when somebody is killed. When somebody is killed in a country with strong honour culture, the most important thing to the family of the victim is not that the murderer is arrested and put on trial. The most important thing is revenge, so that it is clear that they are willing to resort to violence to defend the honour of their family. This often means that the family demands the life of the murderer or somebody from their family. In the best case, they will demand money to pay for the harm done to the honour of the family. The amount of money involved is often huge. Families pay because they know that the victim’s family will most likely demand the death of the murderer otherwise. Just to be clear, this is not just for murder. This is for all deaths, even accidents. With the high number of road deaths that happen on Lebanon’s roads every year, you can imagine how much of a problem this is just in Lebanon. If the family decides that their honour has not been respected enough with the price paid, this can result in blood feuds that last generations. While to those of us who come from Europe, this all seems very medieval but it’s a part of life in the Middle East. This was shown pretty dramatically by something that happened recently between Amer’s village and a neighbouring village in Syria. It started at a checkpoint. A man accidentally killed another man. Let’s call the man who died Salman. Let’s call the man who killed him Wissam. Wissam, the killer, was from Amer’s village, Shaqqa. Salman, the man he killed was from a nearby town, Shahba. In Europe, it would go to the police, to court, and the matter would be finished. But in honour cultures, this is not how it works. Salman’s family would not accept money. They wanted revenge. So they went to Shaqqa to find Wissam. They couldn’t find him, so they kidnapped his brother and took him back to Shahba. They demanded Wissam in exchange. But Wissam and his family knew that if he went to Shahba, Salman’s family would kill them. Eventually, Wissam’s brother escaped and returned to Shaqqa. Salman’s family was not happy. So they made a checkpoint on the way to Shahba, and they kidnapped two random people from the street. This argument between two families became the problem of the whole village. So a big group from Shaqqa gathered, brought their guns and went to Shahba to get these two people back. There was a fight and Salman’s brother died. Now this family had two sons who their culture demanded they avenge. So they gathered a big group of people from Shahba and surrounded Shaqqa. They blocked the roads. The people of Shaqqa were terrified, they were too afraid to leave their houses, because they knew that the people from Shahba would kidnap anybody they could find from Shaqqa. This lasted for weeks. Nobody could enter or leave Shaqqa. The blood feud between these families is likely to last for generations. This story is complicated even when I try to tell it in English, so we’re sorry if we lost you. The basic point is that honour culture causes huge escalation in fights. And that this one death will probably have implications for generations to come. But blood feuds are not the only impact of honour culture. Another kind of death is also caused by this: honour killings. Honour killings are an official legal category in Syria and Lebanon, as well as many other countries in the region. When a family kills one of its members because they brought shame onto the family, it is called an honour killing. Women are usually the victims of honour killings. This happens often when a woman, particularly young, unmarried daughters, have sex outside of marriage, or run away with a man without asking the family. It also happens if the girl is raped. Or it happens to married women whose husbands think that they are cheating on them. This is such a huge stain on the family’s honour that the only way to protect the honour and reputation of the family is to kill the girl or woman. This is one of the reasons that rape is such a widely-used weapon of war in these countries – if a soldier rapes a girl, he doesn’t need to kill her, her family will do it for him. I said that honour killings are an official legal category. This is because this type of murder is often seen as more legally acceptable than normal murder, so the punishment is not as severe as a normal murder. Until 2009 in Syria, there was no punishment for this type of killing. After this, there was a minimum of two years in prison and a maximum of seven years in prison for this type of killing. Normal murder, in contrast, was punished with 20 years of hard labour. In March this year, Syria repealed this law, and honour killings are now treated like any other type of murder. Lebanon did the same in 2011. But honour killings still happen, and there are many horrific stories: mothers killing daughters, brothers killing sisters. All because of something called honour. These are less accepted in Lebanon than in other Arab countries, but in Algeria for example 27% of people think that this is acceptable, according to a recent survey. Blood feuds and honour killings are two of the more extreme results of honour culture, but honour culture pervades many aspects of life here. Honour is everywhere in Arab countries. It is one of the reasons women are often so controlled by men – the woman’s behaviour reflects on the man’s reputation. So daughters are forced to wear hijabs, or to marry specific people. Women are not allowed to work, or to go out alone. In many communities, a woman is not seen as a full person but as an extension of a man. A man’s honour is linked to his ability to control the women in his life: his wife, his daughters. Women go from representing the honour of their fathers to the honour of their husbands when they marry. But it is also seen in smaller parts of culture. Keire is Irish, and in Ireland insults are a part of everyday life. People joke and laugh at each other all of the time. But not in these cultures. In places where honour is the most important thing, insults are not used lightly, because they can become something much bigger. You cannot believe how many people I accidentally insulted when I first came here. And to be honest, how many people I still accidentally insult. Old habits die hard. To us, honour culture also has more subtle impacts: it affects how women see themselves, with self-worth defined by their relationship with men. It also affects how men see themselves, with honour culture leading to a particularly extreme idea of what it means to be a man. Men are often arrogant, and aggressive. Maybe that’s why there are so many car crashes. ثقافة الشرف جوهرياً هي مصطلح قصير لمجموعة مختلفة من السلوكيات. الصفة المميزة الأهم بثقافة الشرف هي أهمية الشرف و السمعة. هذا بيعني إهانة الشرف غير مقبولة. منشان هيك بثقافات الشرف ، الإهانات مش كثير شائعة، والناس بالعادة مُهذبين مع بعضن. لما بيشعر شخص ما بعدم الإحترام، هذا بيعني أنوا لازم يتأكدوا من رد الإهانة،لحماية شرفهم وليتأكد أن الناس بيعرفوا أنوا مش ممكن إهانة هذا الشخص. غالباً بيكون العنف هو النتيجة. بيعرف العديد من علماء ثقافات الشرف إنها ثقافات كثير مهم على الرجل إستخدام العنف الجسدي لحماية أسرته،ممتلكاته ، و سمعته. مرتبطة ثقافة الشرف إرتباط قوي بأفكار الذكورية والأدوار التقليدية للجنسين. ثقافة الشرف، بتقدر السمعة فوق كل شي تقريباً،بتشكل العديد من السلوكيات. غالباً ما بتترافق مع ضعف أنظمة العدالة والشرطة-ما منعرف إذا كان هذا نتيجة لهذه الأنظمة أو سببها.
So honour culture means the willingness to resort to violence to protect your reputation or your honour, and the importance that is placed upon reputation and honour more generally. This has many side-effects, which are often brutal. One of these is what happens when somebody is killed. لما حدا ينقتل ببلد في ثقافة الشرف قوية، أهم شي لعيلة الضحية هو مش أنو ينحبس القاتل وينحط بالسجن. أهم شي الإنتقام،فا من الواضح انهم عأستعداد ليلجئوا للعنف للدفاع عن شرف اسرتهم.هذا غالباً بيعني أنو العيلة بتطالب بحياة القاتل أو شخص من عيلته. بأحسن الأحوال ،رح يطالبوا بمصاري لدفع ثمن الضرر يلي لحق بشرف العيلة. غالباً بيكون المبلغ كبير. بتدفع العائلات لأنهم بيعرفوا أنو أهل الضحية على الأرجح رح تطالب بقتل القاتل. بس لكون واضح،هذا مش بس للقتل. هذا لكل الوفيات، حتى الحوادث. مع إرتفاع عدد الوفيات على الطرق يلي بتصير بلبنان كل سنة،فيك تتخيل حجم المشكلة يلي بتصير بلبنان بس.إذا قررت العائلة أنو شرفهم ما أُحترم كفاية مع الثمن المدفوع، هذا بيقدر يأدي لنزاعات دموية بلأجيال الجاي. While to those of us who comes from Europe, this all seems very medieval but it’s a part of life in the Middle East. This was shown pretty dramatically by something that happened recently between Amer’s village and a neighbouring village in Syria. بلشت على حاجز. زلمي بالغلط قتل لزلمي ثاني. خلينا نسمي الزلمي يل مات سلمان. وخلينا نسمي الزلمي يلي قتلوا وسام. القاتل وسام،كان من ضيعتي ،شقا. المقتول سلمان من مدينة قريبة ،شهبا. بأوروبا ، بيروح على الشرطة،على المحكمة،وبينتهي الأمر. لكن بثقافة الشرف، ما بتمشي الأمور هيك. عائلة سلمان ما رح تقبل مصاري. كان بدن ينتقموا.فا راحوا على شقا ليلاقوا وسام. ما قدروا يلاقوه،فا خطفوا خيوا و أخذوه على شهبا. طالبوا بوسام ليبادلوه بخيو.بس وسام وعيلتوا بيعرفوا إذا راح على شهبا ،عيلة سلمان رح تقتلوا.في النهاية،خيو لوسام هرب ورجع على شقا. عيلة سلمان ما كانت مبسوطة. فا عملوا حاجز باول طريق شهبا،وخطفوا شخصين لا على التعيين من أهل شقا. هذا الجدال بين العيلتين صار مشكلة لكل الضيعة. فا مجموعة كبيرة من شقا تجمعوا،جابوا سلاحهم وراحوا على شهبا ليرجعوا هذول الشخصين. كان في قتال و خي سلمان توفى. هلق هذه العائلي عندها ولدين بتطالبهم ثقافتهم بلإنتقام. فا جمعوا مجموعة كبيرة من شهبا وحاصروا شقا. سكروا الطرقان. أهالي شقا كانوا مرعوبين ،كانوا كثير خايفين يطلعوا من بيوتهم،لان بيعرفوا الناس من شهبا رح يخطفوا أي حدا رح يلاقوا من شقا. هذا ستمر لأسابيع. ما حدا قدر يفوت أو يطلع من شقا. من المحتمل أنو يستمر الثأر بين هذه العائلات لأجيال. This story is complicated even when I try to tell it in English, so we’re sorry if we lost you. The basic point is that honour culture causes huge escalation in fights. And that this one death will probably have implications for generations to come. But blood feuds are not the only impact of honour culture. Another kind of death is also caused by this: honour killings. جرائم الشرف هي فئة قانونية بسوريا ولبنان،وكمان بالعديد من دول بالمنطقة. لما عيلة بتقتل واحد من أفرادها لان جاب العار للعيلة،هذه بتتسمى جريمة شرف. النساء عادتأ الضحايا بجريمة الشرف.هذا بيصير غالباً لما مرأة، الصبايا بشكل خاص، بنات مش متزوجات ،عملوا سكس بدون زواج، أو هربوا مع رجل بدون ما ياخذوا أزن من الأهل. وكمان بتصير إذا لبنت تعرضت للإغتصاب.أو بتصير لنساء متزوجات أزواجهن بيفكروا أنهم عم بيخونوهم. هذه وصمة عار على شرف العيلة أن الطريقة الوحيدة لحماية شرف العائلة وسمعتها هي قتل البنت أو المرأة. هذا واحد من الأسباب يلي بيخلي الإغتصاب سلاح حرب واسع الإستخدام بهذه البلدان-إذا جندي اغتصب بنت ،هو مش بحاجة ليقتلها ، عائلتها رح تقتلوا ياها. أنا قلت أن جرائم الشرف فئة قانونية رسمية. هذا لأن هذا النوع من الجرائم غالباً بينشاف على أنه مقبول قانونياً أكثر من الجرائم العادية،فا العقاب مش شديد مثل الجريمة العادية. حتى سنة 2009 بسوريا، ما كان في عقاب على هذا النوع من الجرائم. بعد هذا التاريخ،كان في أقل شي حبس سنتين بالسجن و أكثر شي سبع سنين بالسجن لهذا النوع من القتل. لبنان عملت نفس الشي سنة 2011. بس جرائم الشرف بعدا عم تصير،وفي العديد من القصص المُروعة: إمهات تقتل بنات،أخوي يقتلوا خوات. كل هذا منشان شي بيسموه الشرف. جرائم الشرف مقبولة أقل بلبنان من الدول العربية الأخرى،بس حسب دراسة مؤخرى في الجزائر على سبيل المثال 27% من الناس بيعتقدوا أن هذا مقبول. Blood feuds and honour killings are two of the more extreme results of honour culture, but honour culture pervades many aspects of life here. الشرف بكل مكان بالدول العربية. هو واحد من أسباب .سيطرة الرجال على النساء-سلوكيات النساء إنعكاس لسمعة الرجال. فا البنات مُجبرين على لبس الحجاب،أو الزواج من رجل مُعين. مش مسموح للنساء يشتغلوا،أو يطلعوا من البيت لوحدن. بالعديد من المُجتمعات،ما بينظر للمرأة كا شخص كامل بينظر الها كا إمتتاد للرجل. شرف الرجال مرتبط بقدرتهم على السيطرة على النساء بحياتهم:مرتو،بنتو. النساء بينتقلوا من تمثيل شرف أبائهن الى تمثيل شرف أزواجهن لما يتزوجوا. لكنه بينشاف كمان بأجزاء أصغر من الثقافة. كيرا ارلاندية،و بارلاندا الإهانات جزء من الحياة اليومية. الناس بتمزح وبتضحك مع بعضها كل الوقت. بس مش بهذه الثقافات. بلأماكن يلي بيكون فيها الشرف كل شي، ما بيتم إستخدام الإهانات بإستخفاف،لانها ممكن تصير شيئ أكبر بكثير. You cannot believe how many people I accidentally insulted when I first came here. And to be honest, how many people I still accidentally insult. Old habits die hard. بالنسبة إلنا، ثقافة الشرف إلها تأثيرات أكثر دقة: بتأثر على كيف النساء بيششوفوا أنفسهن-مع تحديد قدرات الذات من خلال علاقاتهن بالرجال. كمان بتأثر على كيف الرجال بيشوفوا انفسهم،بتأدي ثقافة الشرف لفكرة متطرفة بشكل خاص عما بيعنيه أنك تكون رجل. الرجال غالباً مغرورين،وعدائيين.يمكن منشان هيك في كثير حوادث سيارات.
3 Comments
2/1/2021 03:19:50 pm
the transcriptions are randomly arranged. if the audio and the trasncription /translation can be correspondingly placed it will be a better option. Now the arabic part is somewhere down and the english part is far above. Moreover the arabic is not fusha arabic??can you arrange fusha arabic as its pure arabic. thanks
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anonyma
5/1/2021 09:19:58 pm
It's called Real Arabic for a reason. There is no such thing as a pure language. Languages are living beings, they change with time, as does society. And Urdu and Hindi are the same language.
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Elsa Di Valerio
6/1/2021 12:11:52 pm
It's a podcast targeted at producing material in spoken Arabic. Spoken Arabic (here; Lebanese dialect) isn't fusha. I was personally incredibly grateful to discover a podcast with published (free!) transcripts AND a translation of a spoken dialect as they're difficult to come by.
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The page gives you the transcripts of the podcasts, both in English and Arabic, with difficult words highlighted and translated.
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