hummus for thoughtThe “I Am NOT a Martyr” Campaign (#notamartyr) has less than a day of existence and can already boast over 1,000 followers on its Facebook page. You can understand why: We Lebanese are pissed at innocent victims being called martyrs in someone else’s war. Yes, someone else’s war. 16 year old Mohammad Chaar is neither a Martyr […]
The following post was posted by Rita Nehme as a status a few moments after yesterday’s explosion and re-posted here with her permission. Is it tomorrow yet? Have we gotten over it? Over the shock, the fumes, the debris? Have we buried the bodies? Have we called them martyrs yet, a title stuck onto the […]
I just came back from the movie screening of “I am Breathing” which was presented by the Lebanese Association for Neuromuscular Diseases or “LAND” in partnership with the British Council at Metropolis Empire Sofil. My mind has been occupied with countless imagined scenarios of what it might have felt like to be in Neil Platt’s place. […]
Compassion in World Farming UK has launched a petition aimed directly at the Lebanese Agriculture Minister asking him to shut down the notorious Karantina Slaughterhouse. And who can blame them? Last year, my class and I visited the Karantina Slaughterhouse and what we found was disturbing to say the least: tortured animals being beaten to […]
The houses in my old refugee camp felt enormous. My neighbors’ homes had grown into strange dimensions because they had to make use of every inch of available space out of desperation. My old house stood still and unbending, vacant of glory and burdened with memories. It was no longer mine – my father had […]
This Sunday the 1st of December, the Achrafieh 2020 team is organizing its 4th “Car free” day. After Achrafieh, Mar Mikhael, Rmeil/Geitawi, Gemmayzeh is now allowing us to see how it might look at its full potential. Let’s face it, our streets aren’t exactly pretty. The lovely smell of car exhaust mixed with the sweet […]
It cannot be easy. To know that you’ve participated in something which you would never be able to justify can rip one’s conscience apart. Many fall into self-medication to treat for mental illnesses of the likes of depression and PTSD; others isolate themselves and become socially dysfunctional; others kill themselves. But every once in a […]
A friend of mine shared this article originally entitled “Tributum ad Cedrum Libani – Hommage aux Cèdres du Liban” written by Mario Macaron and posted on L’Explicite. I was touched by its straightforwardness and persistent realism mixed with a healthy dose of optimism. And so, with Mario’s permission, I’ve translated it into English. While not a […]
“I have almost given up trying to plot the changes and the turns [in Lebanon], each of them denser and more complicated than the preceding ones, each of them astounding me with Lebanon’s capacity for money-making, conspiracy, and both individual and mass murder. Yet the so-called traditional leaders and their variously mediocre progeny remain unchanged, […]
