Jennifer Lopez, The Lebanese Flag and Silly National Pride

It took Jennifer Lopez holding the Lebanese flag at her Dubai concert for some Lebanese to feel proud about their country’s independence day. They thought it was her way of wishing our country a happy independence day. And they ate it up.

Soon enough, everyone was talking about exactly how genuine a person Jennifer Lopez is and how honorable it was of her and how proud they are as Lebanese that their – our – country was recognized this way. Well, they thought wrong.

A friend of mine who went to the concert in Dubai told me that when she grabbed the Lebanese flag, Jennifer Lopez shouted “Dubai!” which meant that she thought our flag was that of the United Arab Emirates. I’m surprised no one bothered bringing that up till now actually.

It is always customary of artists going for concerts abroad to hold the flag of their hosting country. Jennifer Lopez didn’t bother with the UAE flag. Isn’t that an insult to the country that actually paid enough to bring her to sing on its grounds? And what makes Lebanon so important that she’d rather hold our flag at a concert not even held on our land?

Our sense of fake chauvinism knows no limit it seems.

Lebanon has its flaws. It’s a hopeless place to live in sometimes. It has a lot of shortcomings and I’ll be the first to point them out as I’ve done many times (here’s a sample). But I don’t need Jennifer Lopez holding my country’s flag for me to feel overwhelmingly happy about the country I live in. And frankly I find it sad that some Lebanese need this “validation” coming from a pop star of their country for them to feel some ounce of national pride which so ironically happened to be on a national day that they are too willing to dismiss as absolutely useless.

Jennifer Lopez doesn’t know what Lebanon’s flag looks like. She probably doesn’t even know we exist. The whole flag debacle is all mere irony. Now how’s that treating your silly national pride?

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12 thoughts on “Jennifer Lopez, The Lebanese Flag and Silly National Pride”

  1. Hahaha i Kept telling everyone from the start that she made a mistake and thought it was UAE’s flag! but still it’s kind of hilarious, i mean shouldn’t whoever is backstage give her the right flag or at least tell her this isn’t UAE’s flag.
    Some lebanese unfortunately need someone famous to believe in their country so they’d believe in it too.

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  2. Just for the record … J-Lo goes on stage and sees a group of people at the very front carrying a flag which happens to be a Lebanese flag … she snatches it from them and then goes on her microphone waving the flag and says … “Thank you DUBAI !” … Bless her soul … Just for the record … ( My status on Friday 23rd November 2012 ) … need I say more?

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  3. omg it was HILARIOUS! everyone around me was shocked at what a fool she made of herself!! i mean come on you’re coming to Dubai and making all that money to perform…shouldn’ve you at least know what the UAE flag looks like???

    what’s even funnier, is the Lebanese blogs, and people commenting on them…actually thinking it was “her way of wishing us a happy independence day…..” seriously? she clearly said:”Dubai!!!! this is my first time in Dubai!” lol

    why and how the hell would JLO mention Lebanon…imagine her holding a Canadian flag in a concert in the U.S.?

    nevertheless, it isn’t the fault of the Lebanese…cuz they’ve always had this “silly national pride,” it was JLO’s fault, the least she can do is a 10 second wikipedia search about the country she’s performing in before going there….pff what am i saying, she was just payed 1 million dirhams (250K) to be a special guest at an audi showroom in dubai…i don’t think she gives a shit.

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    • Precisely! Why would she carry a Lebanon flag and not a UAE flag during a concert in Dubai? Some overly proud Lebanese will say that this is a testament to our country’s greatness.
      But it’s entirely unfounded. Enno shou jeib la jeib.
      Your simile is spot on as well. But yeah, I don’t think she cares at all which country’s flag she holds or what that means. Problem is with those of us extrapolating this to some meaning it simply doesn’t hold.

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