LBC Show: Lebanese Families Want More Babies for Bigger Sects

Lebanese mother Salma Rouhana struggles as she tries to remember all of her kids’ names. It’s no wonder, given the fact that there are 17 of them.

Ahmar Bel Khat Elaarid, which means the “Red, Bold Line,” is Lebanon’s version of the Jerry Springer show. On May 15, Rouhana, along with several other men and women, sat down in Ahmar’s studio for an episode called, “[Babies] For the Family or For the Sect?”

At one point in the show, Jalal al-Ayek (father of seven kids) conveys to the show’s anchor, Malek Maktabi, his wish to have 100 children if he could: “I ask God almighty to give me 100 instead of ten kids, and 1,000 instead of 100.”

“Regional [and] political circumstances obliged us to think this way: We the Shia have been oppressed historically and we’re now facing the Zionist occupation by bringing as many kids as we can to life and training them to face Israel.”

Elie Touma, another guest on the episode comes from a family of nine brothers and sisters and wishes he could do the same when he starts his own family, if only he had the financial ability. The reason is, he tells Maktabi: “We, the Christians are the masters of this country; this country belongs to us, the Maronites in particular. No one can play the role of leader over us, but they’re more than welcome to live with us when they admit it.”

Of course, social activists and a professor are brought in during parts of the show to explain to the audience how this kind of thinking can be very dangerous.

This is a real shame. Ahmar started out as a very interesting talk show on LBC in 2008, and now it has clearly devolved into a bizarre circus act as demonstrated by Mohammad al-Zabadani, father of 22 brothers and sisters, who put on a Dabke dance performance at the end of this episode.

Make it stop. Make it stop!