How much more is there left for us, not the history books, to say about the Lebanese civil war? Quite a lot, apparently.
Earlier this year, Lebanon-based “Agenda Culturel” launched its “Between Amnesty and Amnesia, where is the Memory of the Civil War?” series, gathering testimonies through seven questions centered on personal experiences and how memories of the war are still reflected in our lives, identity, traumas and aspirations for this country’s future. I really did not think I had more to say about the war, any more than I already have, nor even wanted to. But these questions made me realize that there were still things I wanted to share. So long as we, as a country – as we are far from being a nation – fail to remember in order to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, we will all still have much to say about what erupted on April 13, 1975.
Continue reading ““Between Amnesty and Amnesia”: Remembering the 50th Anniversary of Lebanon’s Civil War”
Today, Fouad Al Turk bids us farewell, yet we refuse to reciprocate. Today, Fouad Al Turk stands still and silent, on the hills overlooking his beloved hometown of Zahle, yet unrecognizable from his usual dynamic and eloquent self. Today, Fouad Al Turk refuses to admit that he is among the few who embodied the very essence of diplomacy and the best of Lebanese diplomacy, yet we know all too well that his is a breed that is slowly fading away… 
Eye on the East 