Photo Taken by me at Martyr’s Square, Beirut, Lebanon

Dear brothers and sisters,

Look, I get it. It is terrifying to feel that your identities are attacked or devalued, to see a world you’re used to be flipped on its head, to see all that you’ve believed in turn to dust. It’s normal to want to go into the defensive and defend what you have with all that you’ve got.

Here’s the thing though: this is the emotional approach. It’s something we as Lebanese have been doing for ages, and it’s the approach that we need to get rid of, favoring a bit more rational approach, whilst keeping our emotions involved. I’m going to break it down from the specific to the general, from leader to party to sect to the general state of the people, so that you can see what I (and many of us on the ground) see.

(I’ll be stating things bluntly, so for those who may be offended by my mentioning of sects or names, please forgive me, I am using this only to send a clear message)

Zaim/Leader

It’s easy for me to come and ask what has this or that leader done for you. It’s also easy for you to reply that he has and still is protecting you against this guy or that entity (ex. Joumblatt safeguarding the Druze, Hariri as a shield from the “Shia menace”, Nasrallah fighting the Israelis, etc.). It gets more complicated if they’re providing a service to the community, like hospitals or schools.

However, all those services, assuming they even exist, are just a drop in the bucket compared to that which your zaim and his cronies are stealing from you. They’re taking the cake and giving you the crumbs. As for the protection they claim to provide, consider this: why does the entity from which you need to be protected from seem to change? Why do you even NEED a leader to protect you as an independent Lebanese?

Why is it that, when it’s their ass that’s on the line, you see them let go of you and concede to the “enemy”? That’s because they don’t care. You’re a statistic to them, a percentage dot for their polls, at best. Maybe, MAYBE you dream of climbing the ranks and getting in on the game; but you’ll just be corrupted, you’ll become THEM.

Bring It Aoun — Via Elias Mhanna (thenational.ae)

A word about certain “untouchables”: We’ve developed myths about certain icons, certain untouchable figures that we tend to venerate. Rafic Hariri, Hasan Nasrallah, Kamal Joumblatt, Moussa Al Sadr, Bachir Gemayel, etc. Let’s be real here, do we know the full context of their actions? Can we discern, right here, right now, without the historical context and the proper look at their legacies and actions, determine with certainty who they are?

No, we can’t. Instead, we’ve relied on the myths of our families and communities. I speak this as a Lebanese Sunni Muslim who dove into the myth that was Rafic Hariri head-on and only now do I realize how far I’ve drank that cool-aid.

We’re venerating these people as Gods, and it has kept us chained to them and their successors, the corrupt leaders who ruin our lives on the daily.

Party

Some of the Main Lebanese Parties and their Leaders — Via Al Jazeera

Usually, each political party has its ideology: a set of beliefs and worldviews that guide its actions. For example, Amal is a conservative populist party, PSP is a democratic socialist party, Future Movement is a classical liberal party and Kataeb is a nationalist party. However, how often do you see them commit to their ideologies? How often do you see them commit to their stated beliefs? Very little.

All the current ruling political parties in Lebanon work pragmatically, emphasizing and de-emphasizing their doctrines based on where their interests within the corrupt game of Lebanese power dictate. Whatever your political views and beliefs may be, your party is not following them, only using them as rallying cries to get you in and keep you there. Speaking of views, beliefs and battle cries…

Sect

Demographic Percentage of Sects in Lebanon as of 2007 — Via CJPME

Most of us have not chosen our sect, but have been born into it. Do you believe what it says? Have you went ahead and read about the actual religion that you supposedly belong to? If you’re a Sunni/Shia, have you read the Quran? Have you at least read about Islam? If you’re a Maronite/Orthodox/etc., have you read the Bible or about Christianity? Are you even an actual believer in God?

Maybe, or maybe not. It’s obvious, however, that when it comes to sect in Lebanon, the choice is not personal. You can’t just freely choose your beliefs without repercussions from your immediate sectarian community. Why is that? Is it because it’s “haram”? Is it because of some unyielding commitment by your community to God? No, it’s because of fear from the other. It’s because of tribalism.

Blind tribalism that has infiltrated our faiths, our religions and many of our religious leaders, our hearts. These parties and leaders above, they use that blind tribalism to keep you afraid, to keep you blinded from your reality.

And now it’s time to talk about your reality…

State of the People

Zouk Mosbeh in 2018 — Via Joseph Eid (AFP/Getty Images)

You wake up to the breath of polluted air and the smell of garbage filling the streets. You wash yourself with contaminated water. You barely have any food to eat and your electricity is at best supplied by a generator. After your hard-earned degree gets you zero jobs due to the economic situation and you’re too poor to apply for a residency in Canada, you go out to the work you hate, which you had to kiss the hands of 10 parliamentary representatives, 5 ministers, and your dear leader to get, for a pittance of a pay.

You’re worried about the traffic in Jal El Dib, because of that bridge that’s only increased traffic.

If you’re out at night, you’re wary of the dark allies because if someone comes and shanks you, nobody’s helping you because he’s the area’s local leader’s favorite thug.

A poster exposing the struggle for civil marriage in Lebanon — Via NPR

Maybe a cute girl catches your eye, you fall for her, but you’ll be ostracized from your community at best if you marry her cause you’re Druze (or Christian, or Muslim. Yes it happens a lot with non-Druze, too).

Maybe you meet a handsome guy and the two of you are perfect for each other, but he’s a Christian, you’re Muslim, and you’ve got to go through all the hoops of getting your parents and family onboard only to realize that shit, I can’t get married in my country since there’s no option for me and religious courts will not have me get married. And if your love isn’t Lebanese, your kids ain’t getting no Lebanese citizenship.

Let’s say you want to go to pray at your mosque/church/house of worship. If you’re Christian, you’re looked at as a monk at best, as some form of evangelical extremist at worst. If you’re Muslim and praying in a Mosque, you’re looked at suspiciously and treated like Al Qaeda or ISIS. It gets worse if you’re irreligious, atheist, or agnostic. You’re ostracized by everyone.

If you take off your religious affiliation from the records, you’re legally disadvantaged.

No matter what you believe, the rampant sectarian attitude will screw you and build up stereotypes about you that you have to deal with. Add that to the above and your mental health is already compromised…

A demonstration in Lebanon against sexual harassment — Via The New Arab

Let’s say you’re a woman working. If your boss makes a pass at you, you refuse, and you defend yourself from his harassment, he’s firing you and you ain’t getting shit legally because one, he’s male and two, he probably has connections. Let’s say you go out at night and some guy tries to rape you. Let’s say he does, god forbid, and you report to the police. You’re probably not going to be helped. Maybe some officer tells you maybe you should have not worn that skirt and puts the blame on you.

Let’s say you’re a guy and you’re gay, or bi, or transitioning, or with a trans woman, and you’re going out at Hamra or Jounieh or Mar or Jbeil. Any homophobic officer could get you both arrested, take you off to Makhfar Hobeich, torture you, anally probe you even. No one will stop him.

Maybe one of these things happen and you get pushed to the edge, with everything you have to deal with already. You might get addicted to alcohol or some of the drugs coming out of the party-sponsored dealers and manufacturers. You might even decide to just kill yourself and end it all because of all the voices and anxieties in your head fucking up your mental health…probably just adding to the increasing suicide rates in Lebanon.

Conclusion

A picture of the revolution in Downtown Beirut — Via Reuters

Please, please, tell me where I’m going wrong when I lay it all out regarding our realities here. Please come and tell me if you’re dealing with literally none of the above. And if you are, please, PLEASE, tell me how this has nothing to do with the rampant corruption, thievery, thuggery, tribalism, sectarianism, and leader-worship that has gone rampant here in Lebanon for far, FAR too long.

But if you can’t, and I know you can’t, please look in the mirror. Review your reality, your beliefs, your life choices.

One of the many protest raves in Tripoli — Via The New Arab

Then look out the window, and watch your brothers and sisters on the street. Look at how different they are. Look at the religious and irreligious, the poor and the more well off, the mechanic and the mechanical engineer, the man, woman, and the other, the socialist and the capitalist, the liberal and the conservative, all under one banner, all together, acting as one, realizing that they’re all part of one family, the family that is Lebanon. Maybe then you can make your choice.

I hope this article resonated with you! Drop me a comment below, tweet me on @imnasser94 or send me an email on imnasser1994@gmail.com to share your own insights and views. Maybe you can even teach me something new!