Lorena's Epiphany

Citizens For Real Change

April 1, 2010 at 12:38 pm Leave a comment

This poster’s plastered along the roads of Achrafiyeh. It caught my eye for four main reasons:

1. There was blood.
2. It was well-designed.
3. The guy looked like one of my friends.
4. It was an ad for a blog. People in Lebanon are finally embracing (and promoting) blogs on the streets!

From the blog, I got more of a sense of what this was all about:

“CFRL (Citizens for Real Change) is a movement by the people for the people. We have no political or religious affiliation. We are looking for like-minded volunteers and activists who can turn this vision of a safe, transparent Lebanon into a reality.“

MANIFESTO
- We want to live in a country where everyone is under the rule of law.
- We want a government that protects all its citizens, regardless of status.
- We are opposed to political covers for crimes committed by powerful and influential individuals.
- We want a law that controls the issuing of firearms by various security forces.
- We want the strict ban of weapon possession in public areas.
- We want a law to ensure the employment of experienced individuals in the security field (i.e., bouncers, bodyguards, security personnel…)
- We propose a special brigade, trained in handling violence of any kind, be placed to protect public and entertainment venues.
- We demand a zero-tolerance policy applied on all troublemakers and shooters in public areas.
- We demand that all associated parties to the crime, not just the executioners be susceptible to punishment under law.
- We demand a swift, transparent, independent and non-corrupt judicial system.”

I like where this is going. Finally a Lebanese grass-root organization making its voice heard. Corruption is one of the largest menaces to our culture and with that corruption, comes violence by (usually) the most influential political parties. Time to end it! I’m very curious to see how Citizens for Real Change plans to do this..

If you agree, sign their petition. (82 signatures so far)
Check out Citizens For Real Change for more..

Entry filed under: Floating. Tags: awareness, blog, campaign, Citizens For Real Change, equality, grass root, Lebanon, petition, safety, streets.