This was shot off the monitor of the security cameras of Al-Wardieh Pharmacy in Beirut Lebanon on 12 July 2011.

After midnight, while my buddy mahmoud K. (pharmacist) was walking out the door of the pharmacy, this car slid off the main road after getting into an accident and then hit the pharmacy's main entrance and display, barely missing Mahmoud(you can see him jump away once he sees the car coming straight to him).. Nice reflex buddy!

Imagine the sum total of humanity – all of our religions and rebellions, our wealth and poverty, guns and love; our sex and celibacy, philosophies and knowledge, sciences and superstitions; our arts and our ignorances, our laughter and tears. Then imagine that sum total embodied as our Sun and all of our power being focused througha magnifying glass into a concentrated point of intensity. This point of intensity is Lebanon.

For such a full spectrum of human diversity to be represented on such a small pieceof land is truly mindboggling. It’s no wonder that so many of the Lebanese youth, especially Beirutis, are turning away from their parents conservative sectarian values and looking for a pressure release in drugs and hedonism. This is never the answer though.

The current social, political and economic upheavals of the Middle East and the world in general are expressions of the war between the old and the new; the fight

of people against power; poverty against wealth; liberty against repression; reason against religion, and knowledge against ignorance. This war has been brought about by two main dynamics - a rampant increase in the world’s population which has been facilitated by our exploitation of oil, and rapid advances in technology which has quickened the pace of relative time and allowed previously monopolized scientific knowledge to become accessible to the common individual.

When analysing the population issue it is clear to see that we cannot continue on our present course of growth and consumption. Old norms need to be challenged; our behaviour needs to change if we are to avoid a species apocalypse. We need to stop consuming the produce of our environment so quickly and thoughtlessly. We need to invest our thoughts and energies in peace and cooperation, not war and conflict. We need to invest our sciences and technologies in renewable, sustainable and clean energies. We need to value education over wealth. There’s a lot we need to do.

Rapid advances in technology have quickened the pace of relative time by speeding up the movement of, most importantly, people, ideas, knowledge and decisions.This means that time really is flying by – more and more things are happening in a shorter period of time, and this is a constant acceleration. Older generations who choose not to interact with new technologies and knowledge are becoming distanced from their children faster than any parents have become distanced from their children at any time in history. This distancing can be seen in the fracturing of societies around the world, the widening gulf in values, ideals and philosophies between generations. This is not to say that the younger generation will automatically produce enlightened leaders that will be able to pull humanity out of its self-created nightmare though; power is inherited and institutionalised – we need to break down the institutions of power that pitch man against man, and man against his environment. We need to revolutionise the institutions in which we operate before we can make any true progress towards enlightened living.

So, back to Lebanon, and another analogy. We’re living in pressure-cooker days and Lebanon can be seen as a valve on a pressure cooker. Emotions are going to become increasingly strained; the war of light against dark, new against old, etc etc, is going to be magnified in and around the borders of Lebanon. The Lebanese youth need to be prepared stand up for peace and social justice. They need to be the change they want to see in the world. They are already strong.

Knowledge really is power, it is also liberating, but with knowledge, power and libertycomes responsibility.

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Restless Ed

You don’t need to be a political analyst—and definitely not a clairvoyant—in order to “foretell” that Lebanon is moving into a major political and economic crisis. The reason I say “major” is because this country has been in a never-ending crisis. However, current events have escalated the seriousness of the situation to a point where everybody is afraid of an armed conflict taking place (for a brief overview of the current situation in Lebanon, you can refer to any of these articles: Political chaos in Lebanon ravages economy, instills fear — Amid opposition pressure, Hariri not backing down — Lebanon tightens security as political crisis deepens).

Diplomatic activity in the upcoming few days is key to the avoidance of a civil war. Neither party is showing signs of concession to where the opposing group currently stands. Even more, both parties are using the media as a means to shift public support to their own favor.

The propaganda being employed has reached a level of seriousness never experienced before by the Lebanese public. A couple of days ago, New TV, a Lebanese TV channel, aired two extremely controversial reports, intended to expose ex-Prime Minister Hariri (At the end of the article are the YouTube clips of the reports. the first video is an audio recording in English with Arabic subtitles; the second is in only in Arabic).

On the other side, another serious event took place on Tuesday. Non-armed combatant of one of the opposing parties—Hizbullah—swarmed the streets of Beirut in a “show of force” (as The Daily Star calls it) . In just two hours, they were able to assemble in strategic locations and then disperse as quickly as they gathered; their intention was to show the other party that they are willing to use force in case things did not go as they please.

Every day, we watch a press conference by a certain representative of one of the two parties, attacking the opponent “team”. Unfortunately, the political discourse between our politicians has become a mockery. We, as Lebanese citizens, are witnessing the whole Lebanese media being transformed into a virtual battlefield, where the two opposing forces haven’t yet engaged in an actual armed conflict; however, through their use of political propaganda, they are both kicking the hornets’ nest.

So again I tell you, I am not a political analyst nor a fortune teller; however, I am strongly pessimistic when it comes to our political situation. In the end, it makes me sad to say I am almost certain that the current “cold war”, which has been crippling the country for so many years, and which is now being escalated, will soon turn into a real armed confrontation: a new civil war!

Part 2 – Part 3

(Image sources: Photo of Joubran Bassil: forum.tayyar.org/ — Photo of Saad al Hariri: NowLebanon.com)

I’ve always wondered why so many non-Lebanese people hold an extremely pessimistic view of Lebanon. I guess I’ve known the reason all along: religious extremists. But since Lebanon is my home country, sometimes I tend to ignore this sad reality, and convince myself that Lebanon is the most developed country in the middle east as well as the one with the most open-minded people—which is true to some extent. However, every time I put on the news, the same hopeless and sad feeling takes over me. It’s impossible for one to escape from his or her own reality.

Lebanon is a really strange country. On one hand, a large part of society consists of hard-working, civilized folks who enjoy their own lives, and respect that of others. On the other hand… (I’ll leave it to the video below to fill in the rest)

Source: CNN

(Despite the on-going political and economic instability in Lebanon, fueled by the harboring of religious fundamentalism, the New York Times named Beirut as the best place to visit in 2009.)

Lebanon is one of the few countries that weren’t affected by the subprime crisis. Economists explain that the three main reasons behind this immunity are: the central-bank’s wise decision to prohibit commercial banks from stepping into subprime territory; the fact that Lebanon’s industry is mainly services-based; and the boom in touristic activities, which has luckily coincided with the worldwide crisis. Tourism has always been a significant contributor to our national income, and every summer people anticipate a large touristic turn up, hoping for a financial stimulus and a boost of the ever stagnating economy.

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In terms of touristic attractions, Lebanon is well endowed with countless historical relics and monuments, diverse national museums, and an abundance of eye-candy natural vistas. These fascinating national treasures have attracted millions of tourists to this small Mediterranean country, throughout the years—the majority coming from other Arab countries. In the last decade, however, different factors have become the main touristic magnet: the large variety of leisure activities and the vibrant night-life.

Lebanon is the only Arab country in which people, with the exception of religious extremists, enjoy a liberal lifestyle. Even though religion plays an important role in the government, it is still regarded as a significantly moderate nation, if compared to the neighboring Islamic republics. Nowhere else in the Arab-world do people enjoy the laissez-faire way of life, such as the one offered in Lebanon. During the last ten years, tourists from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan have been swarming Lebanese shopping malls and have become regulars at the clubbing scene in Beirut. These “pious” Muslims, have found the optimal locale—in terms of luxury and freedom from their dictatorial religious dogmatism—to spend the billions of US dollars, hibernating in their nine-digits-interest-swelling-secretly-held bank accounts (Islamic doctrine prohibits Muslims from earning interest on their money. However, the Banking Secrecy system in Lebanon opens a completely private backdoor for those petroleum giants.)

The clubbing frenzy, sweeping through the streets of Beirut, every night of the week, 365 days per year, for the last decade, have breathed life into post-war Lebanon. This once demolished capital has been transformed into the ultimate party-city in the Middle East. However, this transformation is seen differently by the religious fundamentalists; for them, Beirut has become the Sin-City of Arabia. Honestly, I fear that one day those religiously eccentric individuals will drag Lebanon into another war (I say “another” because religion/sectarianism has been the cause of the previous ones),  which will undo all the progress that has been taking place for the last decade.  Every time I drive down the streets of Beirut and I hear El-‘Adaan (Muslim prayer) echoing from the loud speakers of the mosques, I wish that, one day, the optimistic dance beats of the nightclubs in downtown Beirut will be loud enough to mute these resonating prayers, and not the other way around.