Tag Archives: Israel

Welcome To The Republic of Cheap Controversy

We, as Lebanese, sure know how to breed controversies. We love it. We adore it. We feed our need for gossip off of it. And it happens so often without it becoming redundant.

We have a need for it.

The latest:

Yes, you guessed it: Mashrou3 Leila’s decision not to open for RHCP.

The discussion regarding Mashrou3 Leila nuclear bombing themselves by giving up their opening gig for the RHCP took a turn that I didn’t foresee. It became less and less about how they got to their decision and more about whether their decision was correct or not.

Of course, the debate isn’t about supporting the Palestinians or not. It’s not about hating Israel or not.

Were they bullied? Or did they reach their decision out of conviction? And it is here that I believe is the issue’s main question.

Mashrou3 Leila signed to be the RHCP’s opening act a long time ago. They knew RHCP had a concert in Israel and yet they still signed the contract. To say they didn’t know about the Israeli concert would infer they are massively ignorant, which they are not. So for all matters and purposes, they didn’t care about the next stops on RHCP’s tour.

And they canceled their gig. Were they bullied into it? Well, speaking from experience, the anti-Israel crowd have a knack for making anyone who doesn’t play for them feel as if he’s an accomplice to killing all the Palestinian children.

You’re not with us? Then you’re a traitor and I hope you can sleep at night knowing the blood of Palestinians is on your hands and knowing that you are also stealing their land. 

It is the same Bush-era logic that they love to hate: you are either with us or against us. You can’t be in between.

Select Lebanese bloggers know how it is when you don’t write in agreement with them. They will bash you. They will threaten you. They will call you names. They will make you feel as if you’ve done something wrong which you perfectly know you didn’t. And if you’re tough enough, you won’t budge.

Mashrou3 Leila budged. And the ripple that they caused was deafening. For instance, BeirutSpring, a renowned Lebanese blogger who doesn’t address all issues that happen in Lebanon and when he does, he addresses the issue with one short and straight to the point post, wrote not once (click here) but twice (click here) about Leila. That second post has a ton of comments, some of which are proclaiming exactly what I alluded to before. Treason and then treason and then treason some more.

The BDS people should be proud. Commenting from their awesome new Macbook.

Another controversy:

We might also be the only country in the world where enforcing a smoking ban is met with a wave of anger and disgrace and people throwing around brilliant logic to justify opposing the ban. You want a taste of that logic? Click here.

Has any other country in the world caused so much controversy by simply applying a law straight out of the 1980s in 2012? Definitely not.

But in Lebanon it did. A smoking ban became an issue of national debate even though it shouldn’t. Smoking somehow morphed into a basic human right, which it isn’t. Some restaurants are even opting not to follow the law – and they’re proud of it (click here).

Some people have said: “the smoking ban supporters preach. The restaurant owners speak facts. The former need to rest their case – they’re not making sense.” Our need for controversy transcends our ability for logical reasoning. So we go with the flow of beautiful rhetoric that pleases our brain cortices and tickles our enthusiasm. Scientific studies? The hell with that. For reference, this is a British case study that shows a positive economic impact for smoking bans (click here).

Previous controversies:

The Lebanese Olympic squad and its Israel-related incident may or may not have happened. But it sure has caused a frenzy. I even asked this simple question: wouldn’t it be a greater victory if we play and win? Wouldn’t it be greater if we debate them and put them where they belong?

All hell broke loose. Because expressing your opinion is frowned upon – unless your opinion is mainstream. Getting called a traitor? It’s become my favorite pastime lately.

The Republic of Cheap Controversy:

When you realize that two of those controversies happened within a week and the third one happened within a month of the other two, you get three national “debates” that have led nowhere except have people go at each other’s throats in such a short timeframe. That’s also without taking into consideration Michel Samaha, the Mekdads or Myriam Klink or anything else that happened in the past couple of months. The republic of cheap controversy unfolds in front of you.

It’s not a republic of shame as LBC wants you to believe. It’s not the republic of anarchy as I’ve told you before (here). It’s another face of Lebanon, one that we don’t notice because it has become so deeply engrained in the fabrics of our society that we don’t notice it anymore – we don’t even notice how often we do it.

Our controversies address deep issues sometimes but more often than not they simply scrap the surface of far deeper problems without diving in. We live off of that – discussions that give us something to talk about while steering clear from more “pressing” issues (the election law comes to mind). Sometimes the discussion is cheap and shallow. Other times, the “discussion” takes a dangerous turn when the allegiance of others and their moral values come into play.

And people are interested in reading and talking about it because it gives them a sense of participating. And we write about it because it makes us feel important – that we are heard and some people want to know what we have to say. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it.

When will the next controversy take place? I would say it’s a 50-50 chance for next week. Do we love it? Maybe not. Welcome to the Republic of Cheap Controversy.

 

A Day in the Life of a Lebanese BDS Supporter

He wakes up in the morning. It’s 8 am. Way too early. What is needed when you need your body to get going? Yes, coffee.
So he tiredly makes his way to the kitchen, rips open a pack of Nescafé and pours it down a New York mug which he bought on his last trip to the Big Apple. He heats up the water, mixes it with the powder.

He starts drinking. Sweet Jesus, the energy is coming right in. So he moves back to his bedroom where he takes out his designer shirt and jeans, even boxers, and gets dressed for work at some internationally renowned firm. He grabs his iPhone, puts his MacBook in his bag. He double checks to see if the iPad is there as well – and let’s not forget the Kingston flash drive.

He grabs the keys to his German car – a newly bought BMW – and leaves his Beiruti apartment for work.

As he chunks the numbers and goes through the daily motion of what brings food to his table, he realizes it is lunch time. His friends decide to go grab a quick bite at the nearby Starbucks.

He vehemently refuses. How could you go support a company which is causing Palestinian children to die and Israelis to take more land that is not their’s?
As his friends leave him alone, he grabs his iPad and refreshes his twitter timeline. Meanwhile, his iPhone buzzes with an iMessage from his girlfriend as he receives a Facebook notification. His best friend, currently working in the US, shared a link on his wall – a very funny video featuring some very trashy pop artist doing something very stupid.

As the day at work draws to a close, this person goes back home where he checks the news. A singer is coming to the country for a hit concert in a few weeks. He thinks for a few minutes if he should take his girlfriend on a date there. Then he decides to check who’s the singer.

It’s that singer! Unacceptable! He was in that place not so long ago. Let’s start our activism, he starts thinking. And then he notices another concert by some other artist – and they’re going to that place soon after Lebanon. And a Lebanese band is opening for them. And he’s so hurt he could almost cry.

How could they do that to Palestine? How could they be so traitorous to the land, the people, the women, the children?

He calls up on his friends using his iPhone. His friends reply on their copycat Samsung phones (yes, I had to). They set up a boycott campaign online using a windows laptop because they are more mainstream. Some time later, the first concert is canceled. The Lebanese band canceles its opening gig.
Victory, victory. Rejoice, rejoice. So the activist can now sleep better. He puts his iPhone on silent, puts his iPad on the charger and switches off his MacBook.

Yes, Palestine will soon be free. One band at a time. One ban at a time.

As he goes to sleep, his head starts thinking about how life would be without his fancy clothes, car, phone, accessories and work. He decides that year 1400-something is not something he’d like. So he figures activism against concerts is the best way to go. One band at a time, one ban at a time.

And Palestine will soon be free. He lays his head to sleep and does so peacefully.

Mashrou3 Leila Not Opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers in Lebanon Anymore

I really don’t get the BDS movement people in Lebanon. Do they think what they’re doing is democratic or do they know what they’re doing is total nonsense? Mashrou3 Leila, even though I don’t like them, are not opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers this Thursday in Lebanon.

Why? Because RHCP have a concert in Tel Aviv on September 10th. Because, you know, f*ck logic.

It seems that artists forbidden from coming to Lebanon are not only those who have performed in Israel before but those who intend to do so later on. Because, as I said, f*ck logic.

When you figuratively tell a band that if they open for someone then they might as well be traitors, how different are you from the Israeli solider you are “supposedly” fighting against?

Not very different.

The fight against Israel can take many forms. What the Lebanese branch of BDS is doing is unacceptable. What the Lebanese BDS is doing is cultural terrorism and I wonder how much more we have to put up with it. Oh wait, they probably think I’m sleeping with the enemy  – fresh from France and all.

So I guess I better stop. They already think I’m a semi-traitor with me always being vehemently against them.

It’s not like opening for RHCP would be beyond great opportunity for any Lebanese band, regardless of who they are. But no. Bta3rfo, beddon y7arrero felestin. Because, as I said, f*ck logic.

As a result, no Lebanese band will get to do this without having “zionism” branded all over them. And as a result, Palestine will be liberated. Because, you know, f*ck logic.

Shopping Bags at Lebanon’s American Eagle

This is the shopping bag one of my Facebook friends came back with after dropping by for a little shopping at American Eagle. Yes, this is in Lebanon.

While I’m not the most panicky about Israel-related things in Lebanon, I do find this very odd. How were these shopping bags even allowed to be printed, imported and used? Didn’t the workers there notice something odd, like their country’s sworn mortal enemy plastered all over them?

Of course, some people will take this as a sign of American imperialism making love to zionism in the heart of the levant. But American Eagle needs to get their stuff together and get new shopping bags because this, even for people who don’t breathe BDS, is unacceptable.

Lebanon’s “Weakness” To Israel

Should this cause national panic?
Disclaimer: I obviously didn’t take this picture nor was I part of the concert.

When the Lebanese judo team at the Olympics found itself within eyesight of the Israeli team, they refused to proceed with their practice. They refused to be seen by the Israelis. They refused to practice with them looking at us. The organizers ended up erecting a separator between both teams.

This isn’t the first time something like this happens.

When a former Lebanese beauty queen had her picture taken with an Israeli contestant at some international pageant, she was sentenced to prison back at home. How could she take that picture? How could she be that disgraceful to her country? How could she be so tactless to all the martyrs that died fighting the big bad zionists?

The picture is not just a picture.

Whenever both countries find themselves within the same competition, such as the Olympics, there’s a constant worry for Lebanese contestants to somehow end up against Israelis. Why so? Because they would be required by some law, I suppose, to forfeit their game and be eliminated – regardless of all the hard work they had put in to get to where they are.

As for the Israelis, they simply don’t care. They proceed as if the Lebanese is like any other nationality: a contestant they want to beat at the sports at hand. And the sad realization is that they always win and it’s always undeserved because of us forfeiting.

When I was in Spain last year, we had a girl with an Israeli flag come up to us and talk with a Lebanese dialect: “fiye etsawwar ma3kon?” (Can I take a picture with you?).

We vehemently refused. I was part of a group and there was a sense of urgency and even slight worry in how my group wanted to leave that place and get away from those Israelis as fast as we could. I remember how my heart raced as I was pushed away as fast as possible from that square in Madrid.

One person from our group looked behind and he saw that Israeli trying to take a picture with us and the Lebanese flag in the background. So he ran over and stopped her. What if that picture ended up on Facebook, that person later said, we’d all face havoc back home.

And it’s precisely that – why is it that WE have to be the ones that forfeit their sports games? Why is that WE have to be the ones to throw a tantrum for being inside the same gym as Israelis? Why is it that WE have to be the ones worrying about being in the same picture with an Israeli flag even if we didn’t mean to? Why is it that WE have to be the ones leaving touristic sites? Why is that WE have to always be on the losing end?

Why is that THEY always win? Why is it that THEY never forfeit? Why is that THEY don’t worry about being in the same gym as us? Why is it that THEY have the audacity to ask for pictures with us without worry? Why is it that THEY get to get us to worry about something so meaningless such as being in the same premises?

It’s simply because if we were in any of those scenarios, we’d end up being labeled as traitors. The problem is entirely psychological – and this is Lebanon’s main weakness towards Israel. We may be able to beat them militarily, albeit with heavy costs. But when it comes to almost everything else, we don’t own up to it and we falter.

It’s not our fault. It’s the fault of the state of governance that instilled this fear in us. The fear of them and the fear of retribution back home. Is this fear justified? Should we really always worry if an Israeli spoke to us on Facebook or Twitter or any form of platform?

Did you even know that they are closely observing us and making studies out of our social media behavior? Why are they so unfazed by us?

The law tells us yes. Don’t do it. Don’t address them. Don’t talk to them. Don’t get near them. The law tells me to stay away from anyone like that when I go to France next week.

But I have to ask – wouldn’t it be great, for instance, if the Lebanese judo team – instead of forfeiting – kicked those Israeli’s asses and won fair and square? Wouldn’t it be great if we were able to tell those Israelis a few words in a political debate that would put them where they belonged?

Wouldn’t we feel pride and maybe lift our heads a little higher instead of always having our tail between our legs as we walk away from metaphoric battles?

I quote J.K. Rowling who said: “Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.” And when it comes to Israel, this is the perfect sum up of our situation as Lebanese. Isn’t this the time to stop being afraid?