Beirut for suckers.


I was strolling in what used to be the love of my life , Beirut .
Even though I still have great affection for this place , the general atmosphere is now really getting to me . The Lebanese are the main reason for this state of mind .
I am getting weary with their incessant quibblings . Their Bey , their Sheikh , their Sayyid, their Comrade , their Warlord , their local Thug, their Pimp , their General and their Monsieur le Colonel .
I am getting tired of their personality cult insidiously seeping and implanting itself in the Lebanese psyche . That same personality cult , the cult of the "Other", the one who will admire, approve, save , embrace , permeates nearly everything .
From the poor siliconized women with identical nose jobs to the latest cellular phones carriers.
The plea is almost identical :" Please accept me , please recognize my worth , see how good I am, please love me ".
This whole charade is obviously masqueraded under heavy make up, high heels, outward sophistication so pleasing to Robert Fisk and Co. Masqueraded under political slogans, endless regurgitated jargon, BMW's and Mercedes Benz , Louis Vuitton and fake bronzage*.
Downtown Beirut is polished , very polished . Like the polished nails and shoes of its passers.
Shiny like the diamonds of Madame and the shiny Timberlands and car of Monsieur .
I err aimlessly in my ex lover's arms , Beirut .
I see smoke everywhere . Everyone is sucking onto something .
Arghilehs **,pipes , cigars, cigarettes ,politicians , bosses , lovers, husbands, boyfriends, wives, mistresses .Everyone is sucking up to everyone else . A total regression to the oral stage , but where is Mr. Mom ?
I sit in my favorite cafe , cappucino after another, and I suck on my pen , drawing out words , sentences ,phrases, anything that will give me some Truth in this fake place .

* Bronzage is French for tan (just in case you don't know French)
** Arghileh is a water pipe in Arabic (Just in case you don't know Arabic, most likely)

Painting by Lebanese American Artist : Nabil Bader

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Endless Beginnings...

Image
For God's sake, tell me where to begin? I was set out to write about Father's day and the thousands of fatherless Iraqi children.The thousands of killed fathers, the thousands of fathers trying desperately hard to feed their families, daily putting their lives at great risk, in a country gripped by demonic violence. The exiled fathers, selling scraps in Amman and Damascus, bearing the brunt of daily insults. Or the unemployed fathers, feeling torn inside watching their kids go hungry. Or maybe the head bent down father, slouched posture, hiding scars beneath a worn out shirt. The father that has been imprisoned, humiliated, tortured and sodomized, unable to look his children in the eyes... Or maybe I should write about sexual torture and sodomy instead... The further horrors emerging from Abu Ghraib and the Taguba report... More reports of "abuse". And I am sure Abu Ghraib is not over. I am certain that more Abu Ghraibs are taking place in Iraq, in those shadowy deten
Read more

Why ?

Image
Yes why? What for? What does it say about you? What does it say about your countries? What does it say about your institutions? What does it say about your governments, your "culture", your "civilization", your history, your "progress", your "values", your concepts...? Have you ever stopped and pondered these questions? Have you ever stopped and asked yourselves ; how come? How come we are so advanced, how come we are so democratic, how come we are so great, how come we are so free...And how come we allow so much murder, oppression, abuse, go unaccounted for ? Have you ever asked yourself this question ? I was just listening to the BBC World radio. A report from Oxfam - and in your eyes that makes it credible - over 70 % of us Iraqis, no longer have access to clean drinking water. I say no longer have because I remember not so long ago, one could turn on the tap and drink. As simple as that. The report goes on to say that over 50% of Iraqis are u
Read more

Not so Kind...

Image
I am very pissed. I do not have many kind words towards my fellow Iraqis. Let me qualify here, before you start jumping to conclusions. I have no kind words towards that category of Iraqis who gave it away for Free to the Americans and the Iranians. I have absolutely no respect for them, no consideration and zero sympathy. I have zero respect for those bastards living and working in the Green zone. I have total disdain for those who voted and now come meagerly complain about "lack of the promised democracy"..."but we voted" broken record. Sure you voted. You voted for your sects and your wallets. I have absolutely no sympathy for those who applauded and filled their blogs with hurrays "Saddam is gone" and now cry over poor Iraq...and congratulate themselves with cheap words of sympathy coming from the occupier. It took a bunch of your kind to make it happen. Now you have lost it all. I do not want to be too cruel and say you deserve what you are getting be
Read more