How Lebanon’s Armed Forces Spend Your Money

It’d be interesting to see if there are many other non-military countries that have their armed forces spend so much money on self-indulging propaganda.

The latest is a Lebanese Army billboard spread all across the country titled: “Sha3bak Bi7ebbak,” which translates to “your people loves you.”

Underneath the caption is a picture of ordinary men, which I’ll assume are army personnel, helping out in the olive picking season which befell Lebanon back in October. This is the billboard in question:

I don’t get what’s the point of an army telling itself that the people of its country love it. I also didn’t know olive picking was part of an army man’s job description. In fact, isn’t it odd that our army would dispense people to go get their Kodak moment on when the country is on the precipice of collapse and while Tripoli burned?

Sounds like a grave misuse of resources if you ask me.

In the general scheme of things, I will never get why our army and internal security forces feel the need to fill our roads with posters to celebrate their anniversary, to celebrate their importance in keeping our independence come November 22nd or to celebrate anything that they feel should be celebrated.

I will never get the messages these billboards are trying to pass on. Are they trying to remind us that there are armed forces we should love? I daresay a billboard will not induce any affection in me. Are they trying to bring people together by rallying behind a common cause? I daresay that’s not working at all. Or is this just another manifestation of a country that loves appearances with our armed forces being unable to separate themselves from the need to show off?

Instead of buying themselves weapons, instilling new training programs or simply making their entire workforce efficient our armed forces use our tax money and whatever donations they get in order to fill our highway with billboards whenever the occasion arises. And in my opinion, that’s just sad.

El Awedem Ma3ak

It started with a few sporadic ones spread along the highway to the North. My drive to class everyday is now littered with posters of our prime minister looking at me from in front of the Tripoli Citadelle to let me know that I am beneath his people.

“El Awedem Ma3ak.”

Check the rest of this entry here. It is my first article for NowLebanon.

Censored Billboard on Lebanese Highway

I don’t get this at all.

Why would anyone do this to a billboard that they plastered all over the highway?

Do they think it will shift male drivers’ attention from the road? I can think of other ads that do that much better. Shouldn’t they be worried about that alfa-BLOM bank billboard that messes up your vision before you can shift back your focus on driving?

Since when are we a country that’s afraid of showing cleavage in posters? Who allowed such a thing to happen in the first place?

Newsflash: Lebanon is not an uptight and ultra-conservative country.

This is horrifying.

Natalie Portman’s Dior Ad Causes Controversy in Lebanon – Israel Related, Obviously.

The Dior Ad I drove by all the time and never thought could cause drama

What do you know, just when I thought we’d get at least a few weeks off from the crazies, they’re back at it again. This time, however, the casualty is not a performer or a physical presence of someone who’s associated with Israel. They want a poster featuring Natalie Portman in her Dior ads to be taken down.

Why? Because she’s a known “Zionist.”

Cue the outrage.

What does her being a Zionist have to do with a poster of her promoting a cosmetics company? Are those cosmetics killing the children, women and men of Palestine? No. Is her picture causing their death as well? No.

According to this article, a Lebanese blogger said: “Since each contact or with an Israeli occupation in Lebanon is considered a crime, you do not think hanging a poster size of 15 meters with the Zionist Jerusalem is illegal?”

Simply, no. How in the name of everything that is Holy is hanging a poster of Natalie Portman contacting someone who is Israeli? How in the name of everything that is sacred does a billboard ad be considered as dealing with Israeli occupation?

Another blogger wrote: “Portman, who was born in Jerusalem and whose real last name is Hershlag, has spoken at length about her love for her home country and how she wants to move back there once there is peace.”

Many Jews believe it is their religious duty to return to their promise land, regardless of what we think of that or not. Her support for the state of Israel is simply a byproduct of her culture, just as there are millions of Americans, French, Italians, Arabs (yes, the do exist), British, German, etc… people who share her line of thought. You are entitled not to support her or her ideology, which is something I don’t do. But you calling for a removal of a poster featuring her is simply nonsensical, childish, useless and will reflect negatively on you, first and foremost, and on your country.

What do those calling for the billboard removal hope to achieve? Much needed publicity, maybe. Apart from that, there will be hundreds, even some who are as anti-Zionist as they go, who will laugh at their meaningless and ridiculous attempts of exposure.

You know what, next time BDS and the like want to take a stand, how about they stand for something useful with which they can actually get support, not against an actress whose movies are released in our movie theaters without hurdles and who was won an Oscar for a movie they have definitely seen, despite her being a “Zionist.”

Enough is enough when it comes to this silliness. But hey, at least Natalie Portman, unlike Lara Fabian, will probably not hear of this. I guess that’s a good sign, somehow.