DAHESH'S INNOCENT in CHAINS. The Notes...

[Mario]

INNOCENT in CHAINS. The notes...


Around 1983, Doctor Dahesh asked me to illustrate a cover for him. I didn't know exactly what the book was about. All I knew about the project were the specific instructions he gave me pertaining to the cover. After I completed the project, he would supply me with additional comments and requests (even though the cover was already done). For example, in the cover, I was supposed to paint him behind prison bars in a particular style (he provided me with a photocopy of a painting he liked, and in that painting, the prisoner was behind what looked like bamboo bars. Yet, he would sometimes say to me "draw me this way" (and he would provide me with a cut out from a newspaper featuring a cartoon showing a prisoner behind standard prison bars) or he would literally act out the way I was supposed to draw him. Yet, as far as I was concerned, that particular project was "over."

But then, one day, he called and asked me to remain a few days at adjoining cottage of the residence ( where he had asked me to go and assist a couple of Daheshist sisters). Totally unprepared for an overnight stay, let alone a few days' worth, I said "Doctor, um... there is one problem... I don't have any change of clothes with me...may I drive back to NYC and grab some and return?" To which he replied "Oh, you don't need to do that... Just ask (so and so) and she'll tell you... One time, I had to stay a full month in the same clothes" (which surprised me!).

I said "Well understood Doctor" and that was it...

Fast forward to the summer of 1986, at the same cottage of the (....) estate. I was given the manuscript to read so that I would illustrate it.

That book, supposedly, was the most important book that Dahesh had written. It was his autobiographical account of the infamous attempt on his life, his exile, and his escape. It was the actual book for which, 3 years prior, Doctor Dahesh asked me to illustrate the cover.

The manuscript was split into two parts. I would read each part from 12 a.m. until 6 a.m.

As I read, I jotted down notes... a lot of notes...

20 years later, I would like to share them with the world, for I believe it is time people knew what happened.

The following is the transcribed version of my notes taken while reading Innocent in Chains, with commentary where appropriate:

INNOCENT IN CHAINS. The notes.

(I write)

Here is the list of items needed, such as photographs of the key players:

The criminal Youssef Charbel
Edward Noon
Photo of the Doctor's House/Residence
Photo of the Haddad (or Hadad) residence
Photo of Georges Haddad
Photo of Joseph Hajjar
Photo of "Assohr Saamooeel" (?) (not sure who that was... "Brother in Law? Samuel")
The Criminal Mohammad Ali Fayyad
The Criminal Setrak
Elias Al Soory

Odette Khabsa
Doctor Khabsa
Magda, the Martyr
Marie Haddad (or Marie Hadad, as per her spelling)

The Village of E'zaz
The City of Hamah
The City of Aleppo

(next, as I was reading the manuscript, I would jot down numbers and enter remarks, sketches, and/or a theme of an illustration. )

PAGE ONE

INNOCENT IN CHAINS, PART ONE
August 28, 1944

1) Remark, certain renderings will have to be horizontal.

(First note is a little bit unclear, it reads in arabic... "something" about the vision of Edmond Risik)

1A) Picture of the Gallows at Nuremburg. I remember the Doctor having written something pertaining to both Nuremburg and the Guillotine (or the Bastille) In initial tests, I showed both images (Nuremburg Hangings and Guillotine using the familiar page split that Korolef often used (surely directed by the Doctor) in the DINAR. But for some reason, I opted to depict only the Gallows at Nuremburg (Nuremburg trials and I wrote a quote from the Doctor "Haakaza satakoon neehaayatuna" (that's how our end will be)


#2 (Here I drew the thumbnail depicting a 2-page spread, on the right, I wrote "Ehdaa'" (Dedication) on the left, "Al Intikaam" (revenge), then I wrote, "Image depicting revenge"

Then I note "Photo of the Sands Prison"

(At this point I start a new numbering system... Right back from #1)


1) Draw a picture which shows the plot to put Dr. Dahesh under surveillance.
Then I write "Edward Abi Jaoudeh, Youssef Charbel"

Montage: Illustration of Edward Noon and (I drew a circle with horns...my code symbol for Bechara El Khoury).
Montage of the newspapers and the lies (printed in those newspapers about Dahesh)

2) Nine (9) People Attack Doctor Fareed Abu Suleiman

3) I drew a sketch showing a car driven by Dr. Khabsa. Next to him was Joseph Hajjar, in the back seat, sitting to the LEFT (if the car was facing us) was Georges Haddad and to the RIGHT Marie Haddad.

I write "A brown car tails them."

Note: The car that chased Dr. Khabsa's car was brown and had 3 people in it: Elias Al Soury and two men)

After that, I write, "Lore and her sister" (Lore was Marie Haddad's sister and wife of Bechara El Khoury)

4) Doctor Dahesh, Joseph (Hajjar) and Georges (Haddad) in the car and they see the criminal Elias Al-Soury and some armed individuals

Fayyad on motorcycle.

(Here, if memory serves me, the Doctor sees Mohammad Ali Fayyad the commissioner of the "Bourg" district. Dahesh steps out of the car and confronts him and tells him something to the effect of "you'd better do your job!" )

Also, I add "Place an illustration of Nadeem Harfoosh and Doctor Dahesh accusing him and (warning?) about the destruction of Lebanon."

I am not sure, but I think he gets backs in the car and they drop off (?) Georges (by the way, that's the FRENCH spelling of George) at his house and then they (Dahesh and Joseph) return to the Doctor Dahesh's residence. There they see the criminal Elias Al-Soury waiting for them with his gang of thugs...

5) Elias Al Soory strikes " Dear Joseph's head", wounds him and his innocent blood flowed over his shoulders.
Joseph draws the sword and pierces the assailant's chest.

(Here, I need to mention that, once in Beirut, while visiting Doctor Dahesh in circa 1979, I saw him walking towards me with a cane. As he reached me, he stopped, grabbed the cane with both hands, and slid the handle to reveal its hidden secret! The cane concealed a sword! Then he sheathed it and walked away. While I cannot confirm nor deny what "sword" the late Joseph Hajjar used in order to defend himself, my intuition tells me that this was the same sword the Doctor showed me.

(Continues in the Members Section: http://www.daheshville.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113)

(To be continued)...

Copyright © 2006 by StudioView Interactive, LLC. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.

[Mario]

I recently saw this on the internet someone claiming that, on August 28, 1944, Dr. Dahesh was "...ambushed, beaten, jailed without cause and due process of the law for 13 days, deprived of his Lebanese citizenship (in direct violation of the Lebanese constitution), and expelled from Lebanon."

I admire those who are, in their own way, taking a stand for Doctor Dahesh and publishing eloquent speeches.

Unfortunately, stories do not become facts until we check them for their accuracy.

Doctor Dahesh was never beaten or tortured (which he eventually was) on that particular day. And, he certainly stayed in jail for more than 13 days!

Anyone who has read the letter of Doctor Dahesh to his lawyer Edward Noon, would have learned that... And, I am now double checking that Fact in Doctor Dahesh's own "Strange Tales and Wondrous Legends" (part 3) on Page 32, and the book confirms my claim (that I had initially published as part of "Innocent in Chains, the Notes") that he was taken out of his jail cell (and the REAL horrible events that followed took place) on OCTOBER 9, 1944!

What really bothers me is how can anyone who publishes such erroneous information ever claim ( in an email from them to me) that they are the: "...person entrusted by the Spirit and the Beloved with the spread of Daheshism and the laying down of the Daheshist teachings (not interpretations) ..."

I'd sure hate to see what the Anti-Christ would have written!

[Mario]

As I mentioned in the introduction to "Innocent in Chains, The Notes," Doctor Dahesh (on a couple of occasions, and after I created what would turn out to be the cover to the official "Innocent in Chains") mimicked how he wanted me paint him...

In other words, after my assignment of creating a cover (as per his specifications) for a book whose content was totally unknown to me (and in fact, not once did Doctor Dahesh ever mention to me what he had gone through...) and before he would ask me to create the last illustrations for "The Inferno" (which he never saw, since he passed away 2 months after) he gave me instructions for a project that — as far as I was concerned — completed.

Will it ever be published? Lord only knows.

As for me, I'll just keep working away... Lord knows I have a lifetime of images to finish...

No reason. No one assigned this project to me. I don't plan on profiting from it nor allowing anyone to use the work finished to-date. This story belongs to the world.

[Loup Solitaire]

Your heart can speak louder than thunder!

Mario you have and still are making his story known. If your feelings are strong, can they be wrong? I think not!

As I look at this picture, I see a deep sadness. Not a person who feels sadness of self pity, but a deep sadness for something else. Maybe everything else. I see fear in the face not for the self, but for something greater. Could he have felt sadness for the well being of mankind? Could the fear be of the possibility that he might be prevented from achieving a goal that he felt was being accomplished not for his own personal benefit, but for the benefit of all others?

You have made consistent effort to relate the story from your heart. Continue to do so. Your persistent effort will reveal truth. If not then maybe I am crazy for believing in miracles, reincarnation, the potential of mankind, and that even in death there is hope.

[Mario]

Thank you Ron...

Earlier, I ventured out for a midnight stroll and the moon was spectacular. I kept imagining what would happen if It was no longer there. Without it, Earth would wobble ... just like Planet Mars.

You're not crazy... miracles and spiritual interventions are taking place with subtlety and transparency, a constant reminder that we're not alone.

Here is a short trailer... I'm testing one particular approach on how to best implement this...

[Loup Solitaire]

Neat, really Neat!

I really liked it!

[Johnson]

Here is a short trailer... I'm testing one particular approach on how to best implement this...

Excellent piece of work...

[Mario]

Thank you Ron, David.

To be continued...