The Hypocrisy of the Lebanese Forces

Some LF supporters protesting against the visit in Elige yesterday

Michel Aoun is visiting Elige. A headline that, in any normal setting, would just be that: something to get the press to talk.

But this is Lebanon and Michel Aoun visiting Elige, a convent in Jbeil where many Lebanese Forces martyrs are buried, sparked immense controversy among Christians first and foremost.

He is not allowed to visit and desecrate the place VS he’s going there ghasb 3annkon.

Mante2 bila33e men l meyltein.

My readers already know that when it comes to how I lean, Michel Aoun doesn’t get my vote. And I’m definitely not voting for his party next year. But regardless of me preferring the Lebanese Forces over his party, there’s something that I felt gnawing at me yesterday as I contemplated the Elige dilemma. And it is hypocrisy.

The Lebanese Forces are hypocrites when they ask everyone to put their war crimes where they belong – in the past – but they cannot do the same for the war crimes of others. I, for one, am sure Michel Aoun did not kill most the martyrs buried in Elige and I’m also sure he wasn’t a civil war saint either as his supporters would love to potray him. Michel Aoun may have spoken harshly against those martyrs before. He may have humiliated their memory and he may have been a “Michel Aoun” about them. But that’s on him. And if he wanted to visit their graves to pay tribute and maybe – just maybe – apologize for what was said against them (you know that would work well with his electoral plan), then what’s the harm in that?

Lebanese Forces supporters should know how well Samir Geagea’s apology played out. He’s the only politician so far to have spoken in such a way about the civil war.

The problem with many Lebanese Forces supporters is that when you speak out the words Michel Aoun to them, their blood pressure starts to rise. It’s the same with those who support Aoun when you say those two syllables… Geagea. You see them throw a fit even worse than that of an Lebanese Forces supporter. You see them shiver and inundate his supporters with all kinds of stereotypes. According to them, I am an illiterate high school dropout .

The divide between the supporters of both groups is way too great and it has never been more obvious than with Aoun’s “planned” visit to Elige. However, the Lebanese Forces cannot simply ask everyone to get over the “Geagea is a murderer” stereotype (one that I, for the record, do not agree with) while they have no problem hanging the dirty laundry of others for everyone to see if it serves some purpose that they think they have.

He who lives in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

The Lebanese Forces are also hypocrites on another front: had one of their allies, say Walid Jumblat, decided to visit the martyrs at Elige, would they have reacted in the same way? One would say Jumblat’s party has killed way more Christians than Aoun. But I’m not a civil war expert so take that with a grain of salt. And for the record as well, I want to keep my civil war knowledge as limited as possible for the time being. Odds are the Lebanese Forces would have saw Jumblat’s visit as a great step towards national unity. But not Aoun’s.

And let’s assume in a hypothetical scenario that in the coming few months Samir Geagea decided to have an electoral tour in Zgharta. The Lebanese Forces supporters there, fewer than those who support Sleiman Frangieh, would want that visit to happen. And yet the same outrage that was sparked with Aoun’s planned visit to Elige would happen. The Lebanese Forces supporters would be on the other side of the debate right now. Now, ponder on this: would you have wanted Geagea to go there or not? If yes, why can’t you extend the courtesy to someone else?

The Lebanese Forces are proud of going “7asyou la yajro2 l akharoun.” They should have done that regarding Elige and actually did what others wouldn’t do unto them: let it pass and let the people judge.

It is sad that in 2012, almost all parties are still ready to use up civil war arguments to prove a point to their supporters. The Lebanese Forces supporters are now proud that they stopped Aoun’s visit. The Aounists now hate those war criminals even more. The idea that those “ze3ran” are the reason the country is ruined is at all time high in their minds. It is said the civil war has become in the past. Elige would most definitely disagree with those who say so.

Miss Lebanon 2012 is Rina Chibany – 1st Runner Up Is Her Twin Sister

I’m sure we can somehow twist this into a Guinness record. If not, then let’s get triplets next year.

Miss Lebanon (Rina) and the 1st runner up (Romy) are twin sisters. While I haven’t watched the show in its entirety and cannot judge content (i.e. how they answered those nonsense questions), I can judge based on appearances. And let me tell you, that Rina Chibany is more than a good choice as far as looks go.

Not sure which one is which but you get the drift

I had made some assumptions about how the pageant would turn out (click here). I’m not sure how correct they are but according to what I’ve read, the pageant was not drama free.

One of the girls, Marianne Bechara, withdrew halfway through the competition due to rumors that she had bought her way to the title. Apparently her father dragged her out of there.

Observations:

  • Ziad Baroud was a member of the jury. I guess that will be one of the highlights he will use in a few months to sell his MP candidacy.
  • Maxime Chaaya climbed Mount Everest. And should therefore be present everywhere.
  • Wael Kfoury’s songs have become overly redundant and depressing.
  • The contestants were better than previous years.
  • The presenter was very, very pregnant. Nothing against pregnant women but couldn’t they find someone who wasn’t ready to deliver?
  • #MissLebanon trended worldwide on Twitter. But I’m actually more excited about the trend just below it. TVD in 12 days. Hell yeah – sorry Rina for having Nina Dobrev steal a second of your moment.

  • The pageant organizers were very active on Twitter, tweeting the scores and details of the contestants.
  • A Facebook page for the winner surfaced moments after the results, continuing with the social media trend.
  • Nancy Ajram and Dominique Hourani Ragheb Alemeh’s wife were also part of the jury.

I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist seeing as many people seem to believe that the winner, Rina, deserves to win. But it feels to me as if the whole “twin” thing was a marketing ploy to get in people to talk. And we obviously are. They probably didn’t tell the jury they wanted the twins to win but by repeating over and over again (more than once in the thirty minutes or so that I saw) that those contestants were twin sister, the jury members were primed into choosing them over others.

The novelty of it is just too tempting.

Either way, here are some pictures of the current Miss Lebanon – not sure about the rest of the points, but I was right about the bikini 😉

What To Expect Tonight on Miss Lebanon

I found out a few minutes ago that the Miss Lebanon pageant is taking place tonight, in less than an hour actually. I remember watching it last summer and having more fun reading all the tweets that made fun of the pageant.

So here’s what we can expect from Miss Lebanon this year:

  • No bikinis.

Because the Arabs might be watching and God forbid they see the skin on the torsos of the Lebanese women. Some über conservative Lebanese might be appalled too. The sacrilege, I tell you!

  • Plastic. 

The noses, the boobs, the cheeks… even the hair. The girls that were chosen will, similarly to every year, have absolutely nothing to do with how Lebanese girls actually look like on the streets. Of course, their answer to questions regarding plastic surgery will be: “Of course I’m against! Beauty is on the inside.” Aww? No.

  • 9.9999!

The jury will be literally paraded all evening. This certain current nobody was a previous somebody who has nothing to do with judging a beauty pageant. That person who shares my last name will also be there because the ministry of tourism needs to be represented. And the stratosphere grades will start rolling by. All of the girls are top class super models.

  • Peace & social media.

Be sure that all of the questions the girls will be asked will revolve around these two themes. How would you use social media to promote peace? How would peace benefit Lebanon’s tourism? How would you use social media to promote the peaceful Lebanese tourism? Every combination that you can come up with regarding these two themes will be asked. Of course, the answers will vary from the “Uhh – brain freeze – uhh, mom!” to the 23 minute debate about the importance of vitamins in meals. Irrelevant? You bet. Also don’t forget the importance of world peace wel mou7afaza 3al arze.

  • The winner. 

The winner will be so obvious from the get-go that you wouldn’t even bother being emotionally invested in any of the participants. Not that you should – unless you’re her mother of course. She will get the most applause. She will get the most points even though you are more than sure she doesn’t deserve them. You will ask around and eventually find out that her father or mother or great great cousin two degrees removed was some hotshot person in society. And it will make sense.

  • The feminists.

You should never forget these. They will be on the prowl the moment the jingle starts. They will bring down the girls for promoting the materialistic image to women (while they nibble on popcorn, criticizing the makeup of this and the dress of that). They will inundate you with sermons about the need to have women get past this rudimentary male-enforced view. Bla bla bla.

  • The lip-synching.

The pageant will have a top notch musical guest who will not sing one note. Don’t even bother wondering if whoever they’re bringing is actually singing or not. They’re not. They won’t even bother doing a good job at it. As they say, temmo/a bi meil wel ghanniyeh bi meil. 

  • The jingle.

They remix it every year and it has been around since 2003. “Kell shi ma32oul ysir 3enna l layli” – not quite. But the contestants will dance to it as if their life depended on it.

Have fun watching 😛

 

iPhone 5 in Lebanon: The LTE “Issue”

Many people have been asking which countries they can purchase an iPhone 5 from and have it function normally in Lebanon.

The confusion is because the iPhone 5 will support different frequencies of LTE depending on the country you get it from. For a full list of those frequencies, click here.

What many Lebanese users are forgetting is the following.

  1. We are not getting LTE in Lebanon anytime soon. I have it from trusted sources within Alfa and MTC that it will be a few years before LTE goes out of trial phase in Lebanon, which obviously makes sense. I mean it hasn’t been a year even since 3G was rolled out.
  2. By the time LTE becomes available in Lebanon, Apple would have released iPhone 10 and odds are you would have given up on your iPhone 5 by then and upgraded.
  3. The iPhone 5 keeps the same frequencies the 4S and the 4 used to connect to 3G and older cellular generations and as we all know, older generation iPhones work well  – or as well as a smartphone can work – in Lebanon.

What does it all mean?

It means that you can buy an unlocked iPhone 5 from the US, France, Italy, Australia – any country basically – and have it work in Lebanon. Your only problem remaining is to find a nano sim. Good luck with that.

Begin Again – Taylor Swift [Single Review]

As a follow up to her pop release, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (my review), a song that underperformed on country radio, Taylor Swift is back to cater to her core audience with a bonafide country release in the form of Begin Again, a single about that first date you go on after a bad breakup as you watch love “begin again.”

The song boasts an acoustic, mellow but engaging melody. It is a country song that is story driven and lyrically great. Taylor Swift is back with Begin Again to do what she does best: conjure up great lyrics and a catchy melody. Begin Again is the song that her country audience wished she had released to introduce her new project: Red.

The song starts with the character standing in front of her mirror, getting ready for that date, and comparing what she’s doing with what her ex would have thought. Wearing heels, listening to a song were all things he frowned upon even though she liked doing them.

“Took a deep breath in the mirror. He didn’t like it when I wore high heels, but I do. Turned the lock and put my headphones on. He always said he didn’t get this song but I do, I do.”

As she goes to the cafe, she’s surprised that her date is already waiting for there. And as he does those little gestures of pulling the chair for her or waving at her, she slowly sinks into him during the chorus as he laughs at her jokes, her ex never thinking she’s funny and how she’s finally seeing something begin again.

“And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid. I think it’s strange that you think I’m funny ‘cause he never did. I’ve been spending the last 8 months thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end. But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again.”

The second verse holds no reference to her ex again, interestingly, to show that whatever’s starting across that table in the cafe is helping her get over him. The talk is about the music that her ex may not approve of and her guard starts coming down.

“You said you never met one girl who has as many James Taylor records as you. But I do. We tell stories and you don’t know why I’m coming off a little shy. But I do”

And they continue knowing each other with Christmas tradition discussions at the song’s bridge, which sounds rather chunky compared to the previously smooth lyrics.

“And we walk down the block to my car and I almost brought him up. But you start to talk about the movies that your family watches every single Christmas. And I wanna talk about that. For the first time, what’s past is past.”

The song overall is Taylor Swift in her element. She sounds much more comfortable singing this than she does on “Never Ever.” Her vocal delivery of the song is quite interesting as well and suits her vocal range. Begin Again may not be ground breaking like some of her other offerings but it a song that is excellent in itself and good enough to bring her back to country radio.

Begin Again shows maturity in the way Taylor Swift can craft her sentences. It’s no longer the teenage love she inundated airwaves with but a rather more grown up approach that would resonate with anyone of any age who is getting over an abusive relationship. It also forebodes what will be an eclectic album. But more of this and less of Never Ever, please.

8/10