I like to compare living in Lebanon to standing on quicksand. The longer you stay, the faster you sink in the bundle of developments, traditions, expressions and customs, slowly losing the precious perspective needed to be able to see things for what they truly are. Continue reading “Vocabulary of Failure”
Prisoners to Oblivion I
To talk about them is to keep them alive.
While they live in each of their mothers’ bitter tears and in every beat of their fathers’ weary hearts, we must utter their names to keep them alive.
While they live through their pictures, hugged and kissed by those they left behind, we must tell their stories to keep them alive.
And while they live in freedom and dignity in our memories, those they barely had time to build before they left, we must remember them as our own children, brothers, sisters, husbands and friends, just to keep them alive. Continue reading “Prisoners to Oblivion I”
صرخة من المكسيك: احرقوها – A Cry From Mexico: Burn It!
Update Note: Eye on the East has the pleasure to introduce its first guest writer Jorge Seeman, a Mexican-Lebanese residing in Mexico City, who contributed the following post. You will find an English translation at the end. After initial refusal to publish Jorge’s article, Lebanese daily An Nahar published an edited version in its May 14, 2012 issue, almost a month after it was posted in its unedited version on Eyeontheeast.org . Some truths are still too much for the local Lebanese media to handle…
انتفاضة شعبية مكسيكية أوصلت الجنرال Porfirio Diaz الى رئاسة المكسيك اواسط القرن التاسع عشر. مطلب جوهري واحد وقفت وراءه الامة كان الباعث على هذه الانتفاضة هو أن “لا تجديد” للرئيس بعد اليوم, ايا كان هذا الرئيس. اما هذا الجنرال – الدكتاتور فقد أغوتة السلطة – و السلطة تفسد: تنكَّر لهذا المطلب الشعبي الجازم فحكم بلاده على امتداد خمسة و ثلاثين عاما. Continue reading “صرخة من المكسيك: احرقوها – A Cry From Mexico: Burn It!”
And Yet Again, Bigger Isn’t Always Better
It wasn’t long ago when Lebanon seemed absolutely obsessed with setting world records. We had the biggest hummous dish, the biggest tabboule, the longest kebab and largest glass of wine. There also was the largest ceramic plate, largest dabke and largest national flag. I remember seeing a young bride desperately trying to surround her entire village with her dress to set the world record for the longest bridal train, but I’m not sure if that made it to the book… Continue reading “And Yet Again, Bigger Isn’t Always Better”
Living Like There’s a Tomorrow
If we can rarely enjoy a day in Lebanon without countless and extensive electricity cuts, can we ever expect to see the light at the end of the tunnel?
A day in a life of a Lebanese is a dichotomy between everything that is wrong in our small little world and every way to make it better. The light at the end of the tunnel is our hope for the better life we aspire, our dream of the better place we deserve, our faith in the good will of everyone else to make it happen. Continue reading “Living Like There’s a Tomorrow”
Political Partying
If politics is said to run in Lebanese blood and party is said to be among the things they do best, shouldn’t political parties be the next best thing the Lebanese can do? Continue reading “Political Partying”
Small Acts of Resistance
Acts of resistance may sometimes be small, but their consequences are sometimes immeasurable.
Resistance can be national or local. It can span across years or simply months. Resistance can be characterized by its political affiliations or religious undertones. It can take place on higher ground, the high seas or the online world. Resistance can be peaceful or violent. It can earn the brave a slap in the face or push them to perform the ultimate sacrifice. Resistance can be of massive proportions, but it can also consist of a simple and small act. Continue reading “Small Acts of Resistance”
The Road to Secularism – Part III
If all roads lead to Rome, is Lebanon’s road to secularism doomed from the start?
When I look back at the beginning of our road to secularism, I see an empty path that slowly gained loyal adherents along the way. I see glimmers of hope from those that believed that one day, no matter how far, they would not be forced to go to Cyprus to have a civil marriage. Continue reading “The Road to Secularism – Part III”
In Memory of the Children
We meet them after they have given the world their last breadth. Their bodies bearing witness to what they could fight against no longer, for those who only dared to look. Their eyes bearing witness to their innocence and youth, for those who could only see. We become surrounded by their images, their stories and their dreams. We feel we have known them and that part of us has died with them. We feel we are one and the same and that we must go on so that their deaths not be in vain. These are the children and the young revolutionaries of the Middle East… Continue reading “In Memory of the Children”
I Live…(The Proud Version)
- I live in a country where a hometown means that everyone knows who I am, what my father does, where my mother is originally from, what car my uncle drives, and who my cousins are married to all at once Continue reading “I Live…(The Proud Version)”
Eye on the East 