War
My friend called me today to tell me about a weird dream she had last night, it’s a political dream. She saw all our friends being killed one after the other because they were discussing politics. And she was so afraid because she is a journalist and she writes about the Lebanese youth and their political activities. And in the dream she called me to tell me about our assassinated friends and how they died and to warn me not to speak about politics with anyone, so I would not face the same fate. But she was afraid of being killed after this call. Despite some funny details I find that this dream very interesting and it reflects the tacit fear that we are facing everyday. In fact the recent developments in Lebanon are spreading terror among us and fear of a new civil war.
This fear is stronger then the one our parents witnessed on the eve of the first war and that because they didn’t know then what they where going to face. But a person that has experienced war fear it more then a person that has never lived it. Personally I can’t stand the idea that the war could start again. During the civil war I was still a child and we had to move every week and eventually we traveled to France. And when the war ended we returned. When we were back every time I saw the destroyed buildings in downtown I cried. I remember how we used to dance me and my brother when we hear the gun shots and how I always cried because my mom won’t let me go out to see the bombs with my father when he went out to the balcony. Now I look back at this period and ask myself how my parents survived. I know that I can never live again under these conditions. But are all Lebanese like me, are they ready to do everything to avoid a second war. I know that most of them deep inside hate war, but they are not aware that their actions could lead them to a new war. They say that every 15 years Lebanon must have a war but that is true only if the Lebanese don’t change. If they still feel hatred towards Lebanese from other confessions if they are still unable to discern between a party and a religion or a community.
In fact I’m afraid if a new war regenerates in Lebanon I will lose all my confidence in this country and in the Lebanese people and I will join the five million Lebanese living outside the country.
This fear is stronger then the one our parents witnessed on the eve of the first war and that because they didn’t know then what they where going to face. But a person that has experienced war fear it more then a person that has never lived it. Personally I can’t stand the idea that the war could start again. During the civil war I was still a child and we had to move every week and eventually we traveled to France. And when the war ended we returned. When we were back every time I saw the destroyed buildings in downtown I cried. I remember how we used to dance me and my brother when we hear the gun shots and how I always cried because my mom won’t let me go out to see the bombs with my father when he went out to the balcony. Now I look back at this period and ask myself how my parents survived. I know that I can never live again under these conditions. But are all Lebanese like me, are they ready to do everything to avoid a second war. I know that most of them deep inside hate war, but they are not aware that their actions could lead them to a new war. They say that every 15 years Lebanon must have a war but that is true only if the Lebanese don’t change. If they still feel hatred towards Lebanese from other confessions if they are still unable to discern between a party and a religion or a community.
In fact I’m afraid if a new war regenerates in Lebanon I will lose all my confidence in this country and in the Lebanese people and I will join the five million Lebanese living outside the country.
posted by SH at 3:27 PM
9 Comments:
War in the traditional meaning of the word is not a possibility, rest assured my friend :)
How can you be sure when our "leaders" are begining to lose their minds(That's if htey have ones) and the people are blindly folowing them and rationality is totaly out of the picture.
Well, you have a point. But today, most importantly, we must concentrate on keeping our heads cool and keep thinking straight. It is a period we have to go through. People nowadays claim to be more patriotic and loyal than the Cedar itself. What can I say? We are simply teenagers trying to live in a very mature country. Sometimes we don't understand loads of stuff, because we refuse to listen!
You are 100 % right. You know what irritates me the most is that every Lebanese considers himself an expert in politics; I think this is an important problem here. As a political Science graduate I find it frustrating to discuss politics in this country. I feel like this person in Ziad Rahbani's play who lost his mind during the war (the Hajji guy).
There are so many reasons to let go of this country. So many reasons to give up trying to put some common sense into its leaders. But we can't just stand still because quite frankly it is our home we are talking about. :) So we once were like that girl, learning how to play the piano amidst it all, but I guess now we must start changing things around us, before they change us :)
I see that you are a big fan of Ziad like me, but what happened to this piano girl when she grew up?
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I guess she took violin lessons. The piano was all too black and white for her liking :P
SH... This is unfair! Think about all those waiting to read you next post :)
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