Magda Haddad

[Johnson]

Yesterday, January 27th was the 63rd anniversary of the death of Magda Haddad.

I just came across a book Dr. Dahesh wrote "The Lyre of Grief" that he had written for her as a eulogy or rather many eulogies over a period of 34 years. In the English narrative to the book I saw the date of January 27th, which I realized was yesterday.

She put an end to her life on January 27, 1945 in protest against the then Lebanese government's act of depriving Dr. Dahesh of his rights, freedoms and savagely stripping him of his citizenship.

I had missed Sandrine's and Ron's posts in French yesterday (as I cannot read French) commemorating this day... sadly I did not put two and two together... and I just came across it as I was searching for mention here in Daheshville.

It is a story of such pain, the likes of which I could only dare imagine. I just wanted to make a remembrance here in the English forum.... God be with the spirit of you Magda, wherever you are...

[Loup Solitaire]

Brief mention of Magda Haddad

While searching upon her name I located the following link:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853095,00.html

Interesting?

[Johnson]

While searching upon her name I located the following link:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853095,00.html

Interesting?

Sad and pathetic...

[Loup Solitaire]

Under Westward Ho, did you notice the date "Monday, Apr. 21, 1947"? There are historical facts sprinkled in this story such as names. For example "George Wadsworth", US Minister. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wadsworth_(diplomat) He is an obscure piece of US history rarely mentioned. And mention is made of Selim Takla who played some role in liberation of Lebanon from France. There is a book on Amazon Ca. Selim takla 1895-1945: Contribution Independence Du Laban (Paperback)

On the surface this article may not be complimentary of Daheshism. But if you look deeper there may be clues to the politics of the day in Lebanon. I think it is interesting that this story has opened windows on other information.

[Mario]

God is patient but never forgets...

Imagine being a mother and having to witness, live, the autopsy of your own daughter.

Not only did the autopsy prove Magda was not pregnant, but she died a virgin.

I suppose the author of that article might find that worthy of pocking fun at as well. This is the price we pay for living in this great nation where freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution.

[Loup Solitaire]

Imagine being a mother and having to witness, live, the autopsy of your own daughter.

Not only did the autopsy prove Magda was not pregnant, but she died a virgin.

I suppose the author of that article might find that worthy of pocking fun at as well. This is the price we pay for living in this great nation where freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution.

Although the author may not have been an advocate of Dr Dahesh, I really didn't interpret it as "poking fun" at any thing. I am curious about the original date and source of the article.

I believe you have mentioned the issue of the autopsy before. Was this forced upon the family?

[Mario]

Well, if we must get technical about it... no, he didn't directly poke fun at Doctor Dahesh.


Many a traveler has remarked the resemblance between Southern California and Lebanon—the same sunny skies (and unusual rains), golden beaches, orange groves, snowcapped mountains, religious cults, and taste for gossip with an overripe flavor.

Okay, setting the stage... "Religious Cults."


Even California has produced no more overripe character than Dahish the Amazer, a dynamic hypnotist who set himself up in Lebanon as a second Christ, built up an ardent circle of cultists.


Doctor Dahesh is then a "dynamic hypnotist" who set himself up as a second Christ...

Is this based on the author's own first-hand witness account? Never did Doctor Dahesh endorse hypnotism. And so he believes he is Christ Returned. That's his right under the constitution. Did he force anyone to believe in him? No. Hence, this reference to "cult" is defamatory.



At the top of his vogue, in 1944, the souks (bazaars) of Beirut peddled many a rumor of orgies in his modern villa in the Mazraa section of the city.


Seems to me he believes in these rumors because, nowhere in the article is there any contrary point of view.


Over their tea at the Patisserie Suisse, over cocktails at the seaside Normandie, Beirutis whispered that Dahish was getting into trouble with the Government. Lebanon's good, round President, Sheikh Bechara El Khoury, frowned on Dahish.


Yes, Bechara El Khoury wanted to get rid of Doctor Dahesh because his sister in law was a Daheshist.



Worried. El Khoury is a natural worrier. In the fall of 1944 he had plenty of troubles—his wife's illness, his scapegrace son's escapades, his efforts to get rid of the French (who had jailed him for opposing them in 1943).
As if those were not worries enough, Khoury's sister-in-law, Mrs. Margaret Haddad, had become Dahish's most fanatical disciple.


I resent anyone calling the late Ms. Marie Haddad a "fanaticle disciple."


I knew Mrs. Marie Haddad. She was as quiet and reserved as a her martyred daughter's shadow.


As the stories made the rounds of Beirut, the Government decided to act.


Not exactly true. What Khoury did was to strike a deal with a bunch of his political allies and together, they broke the law. See, even when Khoury tried to legally outlaw "spiritual Seances" the "Law" said "No" to him.


You see, Doctor Dahesh was NEVER TRIED. There was NEVER a COURT in session. NO JUDGE. NO JURY.


Foreign Minister Selim Takla, buzzed the bazaars, was drafting a deportation order for Dahish. Then, on the night of Jan. 11, 1945, Takla entertained U.S. Minister George Wadsworth (now Ambassador to Iraq) at dinner. Wadsworth left the Foreign Minister, apparently fit and smiling, returned home to find a message that Takla had dropped dead.


May God rest Takla's soul... I am sure he is in "heaven" (And, no, I did not just poke fun at Takla.)


"Ah ha," said the Dahishites, "you see what happens to the enemies of Dahish!"


Actually, the Daheshists predicted the destruction of Lebanon... and everyone said "Ha Ha!" to them...


Khoury's worries increased. Margaret Haddad's daughter, Magda, also a Dahish admirer, committed suicide. In Khoury's eyes, Dahish had become not merely a nuisance but a menace.


That guy should get his facts straight. Khoury had Doctor Dahesh framed, caught, jailed, tortured and exiled ... AFTER illegally stripping him of his citizenship in 1944. BEFORE Magda committed scuicide. And incidentally, Magda's plan was to kill her uncle, Magda. But Doctor Dahesh, who successfully returned to Beirut and went into hiding for the subsequent FIFTEEN YEARS sent her word NOT to do it. She turned the gun on herself.


Khoury determined to get rid of him.


See paragraph above.


Before he acted, Khoury's mind began to wander. When one close friend visited the President's house to inquire after his health, Khoury meandered into the room in his nightdress, asked "And who is this?" Once, when he was being taken to his car for a visit to the doctor, he refused to enter, saying that he must take his eggplants with him.
"Ah ha," said the Dahishites, "you see what happens to the enemies of Dahish."
Unwanted. On Jan. 30, Khoury disappeared. While his Ministers wondered whether his job should be declared vacant, he went quietly to Palestine to consult a Jewish neurologist. Two months later a cured Khoury returned to Beirut.


Who knows... I do know that Khoury became insane. When he died, "someone" sent word to his family to exhume the body. And so it was. When they opened the coffin, and to their horror they discovered that...(click to see in the members section)


Thereafter Dahish was not long for Lebanon. Police nabbed him, beat him up, whisked him across the mountains to Aleppo in Syria. The battered hypnotist went off to live quietly in the little village of Kamishli in the Jezireh, on the upper reaches of the Euphrates.
Last month Beirut gossip mills had new grist. The Amazer, they said, had asked for a U.S. visa. His destination: California, to attend a spiritualist convention.


What a crock... "waiter, I'll have whatever he's having!"




As for the issue of the autopsy: Marie Haddad wanted to make sure no one falsifies the records. After all, the Khoury family had claimed that Madga killed herself because she was bearing Doctor Dahesh' s child.

That was proven to be false.

I have documents in Arabic that need translating...

[Loup Solitaire]

Mario!

Look! Please don't be offended because I made reference to the article. I have no reason to concur with what it says. My main point is simply that it appears to be an old article republished from "I don't know where" and "I don't know why". Because it mentions names from the period, I thought it of some historical significance. For that reason alone, I thought it worthy of discussion. It also reflects upon how media of the day distorted or influenced the news. To find it on the web site that I found it was even stranger.

It is good to point out the horror that the family went through. I can't imagine going through such an experience. And for that I thank you for the detailed review. It was educational though uncomfortable.

[Mario]

I am sorry!

Ron, I never said you did! And I apologize if I gave you that impression.

We were discussing (or debating) whether or not this "author" was outwardly making fun of Doctor Dahesh.

You, and you were correct in saying so, indicated that he did not (blatantly, that is).

So, I took it upon myself to slice and dice and expose the hidden sarcasm in this piece.

Was I a little frustrated? Yes. And that has to do with our inherent cultural differences and there is nothing we can do about it.

Listen, do you remember the old Star Trek? You're Spok and I'm Doc!

[Johnson]

Mario... thank you for the analysis that only someone with you perspective and experience can provide. The American lack of knowing this part of history can only be enlightened by the fact that we at least are having a discussion about it.

Ron, I didn't read anything disparaging in what you presented... I think it was great information and it gave us something to talk about and delve deeper in to. Thank you.

I imagine this reporter conceivably maybe never even set foot in Lebanon or just relied upon sources of sources, etc... Obviously, he never met Dr. Dahesh... otherwise his first hand accounting may have read a bit different.

I think I recall hearing a story where a reporter was in fact given audience with Dr. Dahesh... and he left amazed and by what he experienced, and was no longer quite the same skeptic.

[Mario]

Firstly, Ron, I really apologize for not having prefaced my exposition online with a disclaimer that the proverbial missiles I was about to fire were aimed at the author and not you. For what it's worth, I think it is positive that each one of us can feel free to let off steam.

And Ron, you've got to keep digging up and exposing information... so that they can be addressed.

Secondly, I'll go on record and say that if I were to cast the character of Bechara El Khoury, I would have someone like Anthony Hopkins play him.

I know, Daheshists everywhere are probably keeling over.

But the fact of the matter is people are complex. They are tested. They have it within them the power to let good conquer evil.

The way I see it is that we have educated and "historic" figures committing vile crimes, including Marie Haddad's brother, Michel Chiha... the father of the Lebanese Constitution... It is a tragic story.

And the real tragedy here is that Magda did something she wasn't supposed to do: Kill herself.

Madga's suicide changed everything...

What was amazing to me was to later find the wealth of eulogies written by Doctor Dahesh about her. It became clear to me that her death killed him as well. Yet, he suffered in silence and still found time for laughter. I feel I can say that because, not once, during the time Doctor Dahesh stayed for days and weeks together, did he hint of either Madga or his ordeal with the Government of... I am sorry... the Gang of Lebanon.

But there is a greater question that begs to be asked: Why care about one woman killing herself when there are millions dying all over the world everyday due to murder, poverty, and war?

What if... what IF... everything is interconnected?

A nation can turn a blind eye to the crimes committed against one man in his homeland, where—years later—hundreds of its beloved sons and daughters would be send to die a senseless death.

[Ziyad]

The story of Magda is very touching and her personality reminds me of Antigone, who stood up to the cynical Créon.

Does anybody know where can I find the book that was translated by Karam Melhem Karam's ? The book is called Magda the Daheshist, I think.

I would love to read it.

[Ziyad]

if I were to cast the character of Bechara El Khoury, I would have someone like Anthony Hopkins play him.

Good choice. Hopkins is a great actor but the Hannibal Lecter character will always be predominant.

This brings me to the big question : who would you cast to play Dr Dahesh's role ?

For the elder Dahesh, I think Ben Kingsley would do a great job. He was very credible as Gandhi in Attenborough's film.

I can't think of anyone for the Dahesh of the 40's

[Mario]

The story of Magda is very touching and her personality reminds me of Antigone, who stood up to the cynical Créon.

Does anybody know where can I find the book that was translated by Karam Melhem Karam's ? The book is called Magda the Daheshist, I think.

I would love to read it.

Your best bet is to contact an individual who (online) goes by the name of "Mike Masri" (through Dahesh Heritage) http://www.daheshheritage.org/dahesh

Here is the contact info from the page:

Dahesh Heritage, Fine Books.
1775 Broadway Suite 533, New York, NY 10019.
Tel: 212 265-0600 Toll Free (800) 799-6375, Fax: (212) 265-0600
E-mail: [email protected].

Good choice. Hopkins is a great actor but the Hannibal Lecter character will always be predominant.

This brings me to the big question : who would you cast to play Dr Dahesh's role ?

For the elder Dahesh, I think Ben Kingsley would do a great job. He was very credible as Gandhi in Attenborough's film.

I can't think of anyone for the Dahesh of the 40's

Yes, Kingsley would be a great choice. As for the younger Dahesh...I would say either Robert Downey Jr. (he's 43) or... Johnny Depp (he's 40)

[Sandrine]

The story of Magda is very touching and her personality reminds me of Antigone, who stood up to the cynical Créon.

You are right Ziyad, Her story is "Very Touching" ... That's why Magda is inspiring us every day ...

She will be in our hearts forever and somehow, she gives us a lot of the strenght and courage that we always need ...