Unsure would best describe my state of mind as I sipped my warm cranberry juice and smoked a Camel cigarette I had bought from the Beirut Duty Free shop after returning from the US a few weeks ago. We were on a rooftop of a 12-story high-rise in the posh Beirut district of Verdun. It was my good friend Ahmad’s birthday and the burger patties and Frankfurters were rolling off the grill as beautiful House music blared from the speakers.

In the background though, not more than 500 meters away, armed men were exchanging machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The eery clickity-clack of the shots being fired and the deep bang of an RPG hitting or missing its target overshadowed the music at times, but no one seemed to really mind.

Look at what the neighbors posted

Tensions in neighboring countries and in northern parts of the Lebanon had spread to Beirut’s infamous Tareek Jdide, and a full-out street war had erupted. We could see the flashes of explosions, followed shortly afterwards by a deep boom and eventually a barely visible cloud of smoke. In any other country, we’d pack up our gear and run back home, glued to our TVs and hoping for the best. In Beirut though, the party went on strong all throughout the night.

I am certain the men fighting two streets away could hear our music, they could hear Ronin and Nesta, and Phil, and Stamina spinning the finest House and NuDisco. They could hear maDJam’s voice on the microphone repeating “Gino’s Blog Samsung” as he pointed to my Chelsea jersey. We were worlds apart and only meters away. A perfect display of the two Lebanons we have.

It was Ahmad’s (maDJam) birthday barbecue and ma were there long before any road was blocked and bullet fired. In my 21 years, I have survived plenty of violence including one war and several mini-wars. Heck, I even felt the heat of an Israeli F-16′s smart bomb explosion only a couple of hundred meters from where I was sunbathing in my hometown of Ehden in 2006. A few bullets and RPGs were nothing compared to that and were not gonna ruin my night.

That’s when I fell deep into thought. I retreated from the rest of the crowd and taped the video I have embedded in this post. Only a few days ago, I was bursting with passion and decided to try to launch a movement that was long overdue. A movement not concerned with the woes of the world and the politicians, but one whose main and only purpose is providing us normal citizens with the basic rights and services we pay for but never get. A movement to punish all those in power and show them that they are fake gods and idols, and that the only god was us, each and every beautiful one of us.

Now, many of you might think that we’re crazy, inconsiderate and just plain stupid for keeping the party going. But hey, isn’t that what we’re proud of and known for? Partying like there’s no tomorrow? All hell breaking loose around us, but what’s important is a DJ spinning and alcohol pouring?

I am not sorry for party rocking last night. Sitting at home in fear would mean the religious idiots with guns win. I wasn’t gonna let that happen. There were two Lebanons, as I said above. We have to choose between street fighting and gun battles on one side, street dancing and DJ battles on the other. It’s a no-brainer, I have already signed up to the second one and last night, you could say it was a night of resistance against the Lebanon Sunni extremists tried to plunge us into. I believe all of you will also sign up to this second, more awesome Lebanon. A Lebanon which cares about itself before Bashar al Assad or the Syrian people, a Lebanon which will not waste the blood, time, money and freedoms of its people for someone else’s wars.

I am glad I went, danced, drank and ate even though two fighters died on the street below. Lebanon is better off with less brainless, religious zealots. Perhaps the 18 injured will finally come to their senses too, and give up their arms and blind faith and begin living life. I don’t care if you express your shock and question my “patriotism” for refusing to stop having fun because idiots with machine guns and a 100USD petrodollar decided to go all GTA on Tareek Jdideh. Fuck them and fuck their masters, no one decides what I do and can do but myself, and of course the law.

To everyone panicking about the tourism season, I tell you, fear not. There will always be people like us, people who don’t care, people who value fun and freedom over political wrangling. Even if the whole country is plunged in civil war, we’ll find a safe spot and we’ll have a blast of another kind. Even as the battles broke out last night, the rest of Beirut was business as usual, only with much less traffic. Foreigners, worry not, if you come here and know the right people and places, you’ll be safer here than in the Bronx. As for the GCC countries, come one guys, it was a little too obvious =P How did you know shit was going down a whole day before it actually did? And enjoy your searing heat as we enjoy our breezy hills and mountains!

Conclusion: never let a monkey with a gun change the way you live your life. Live, laugh, love and let them kill each other till they either develop a fully functional brain, or they all die or get arrested.

I have never been one of little hope. I have been one of little faith though, in all the fictional things people believe in so dearly. At the end of the day though, your business is your business, and what you choose to do on your own time is your absolute right. However, when it starts affecting other people, that’s when it becomes disgusting and when I will never hold back on saying things as they are, regardless of religious sensitivities.

How can a vile, disgusting man like that still be part of the Shiite clergy? How have they not disowned him yet? Why isn’t he on trial? Or is it just showing boxers that gets you in trouble in this crappy judicial system?

The story is of a Shiite woman who was allegedly being abused by her father and sought refuge with Father Walid Gharious, in Baalbeck. Three years later, she decided to convert to Christianity and days later, Father Gharious was kidnapped. The kidnapping was followed by shots fired at a priest’s house and a church in Nabaa [taken from BlogBaladi]

For those who do not understand Arabic, here are some highlights of what the deranged lunatic in robes says on live national TV:

• [00:30] The kidnapping of this girl has to do with the “dignity of the whole Shiite community” to which Marcel reacts to with an incredulous “ouf”
• [00:50] “We condemn the provocation of some security apparatus, and we have tribes that condem what the priests have done” (a clear threat)
• [00:56] “They caused schizophrenia in the girl. She believes she talks to Jesus and Mary”
• [01:35] “She was kidnapped by a group of priests, and we will not shut up on this matter even if it leads to civil war in this country. We have all the tribes in the region, and the security situation could escalate to the highest possible point and neither the president nor anyone else can scare us”
• [02:01] “The girl must be returned. I dare anyone trying to scare me , that the girl must be returned, and treated, and people will see she is not normal and then she will confess her Islam”
• [02:22] “This girl has been programmed, and turned schizophrenic. And there are a lot of muslim children which are being subjected to the same thing in Baalbeck and maybe elsewhere. This needs to be fixed, and I call upon all Shiites to stand with us so this girl is treated and her nature revealed”
• [02:58] “This girl had complete freedom at home, she had her own room. She watched day and night Telmiere (I think he means telelumiere, a Christian Lebanese TV channel) and no one stops her. The girl had crucifixes and religious books in her room, and I hadn’t been in it for a year, and no one stopped her from practicing any ritual.
• [3:48] “So where do these stories of abuse come from? This means that with proper treatment, she will return to her natural state and confess Islam again after cutting the relationship with the priests who are putting curses and spell on her”
• [4:04] When Marcel asks him why he called it “curses and spells/black magic” the reply was “there is a type of magic being used to turn muslim kids into christian ones. And Gharios wasn’t kidnaped for baptizing the girl, he was kidnapped because he is one of those magicians (warlocks?) who uses this magic” (a claim or responsibility, or at least knowledge)
• [05:09] Marcel tells him that only a day earlier, the sheikh had said “thieves” kidnapped the girl, why was he saying it was priests now? He replies “I didn’t say thieves, I said gang, and I meant gang of priests. One priest came into town, the other was waiting for him, and calls were made. there’s a gang of priests who came up with this conspiracy and act. The girl used to threaten us with that gang, she said that a Christian priest would come and save her from the house even if we would get killed”
• [06:12] Marcel asks about the missing girl’s whereabouts. The sheikh replies “She was originally at Pierre Matar and names other people I can’t understand. The priest who came into town to take the girl, waited for several hours and people who saw him didn’t know he was there to take the girl”
• [06:50] Marcel asks is the sheikh has informed the security forces. The sheikh replies “We told everyone what happened 30 minutes after the girl disappeared and no one did anything”
• [7:29] Marcel asks why the threats and challenges to the security forces and even the president, and threatening the use of force and tribes. He asks the sheikh if he thinks the security forces are hiding something from them. The sheikh replies “The security forces are trying to solve part of the problem, not the root of the problem. The root of it is the kidnap of the girl, not Father Gharious”
• [08:06] Will the problem be solved if the church and priests stop their activities in the region? Asks Marcel, the sheikh replies “Only the priests involved, not other priests.

My Two Cents

First, I find it hilarious that he is so absolutely enraged the girl switched imaginary friends she believed in, that he accused her of being schizophrenic. How insecure can you get? A girl converting to Christianity from Islam to him was completely unjustifiable except by schizophrenia.

What’s funnier, is that after citing a mental disorder, he jumps on to say that these are spells and curses and black magic done by warlocks. Seriously? Is he that stupid?

But, where he lacks in brains, he’s made up for in balls, where this little man threatens the whole of Lebanon with civil war with his precious, criminal, backward tribes if the girl is not returned. When in fact, he admits him or at least his goons are the ones that kidnapped the priest.

Granted, the girl might be schizophrenic and the priest might’ve misled her somewhere. But, no matter what, that doesn’t justify attacking homes, churches and kidnapping a priest and threatening with violence and all-out war.

In the meantime, as this vomit-inducing fiasco occurs, Islamist extremists terrorize the Northern city of Tripoli demanding the release of a salafist terror suspect. The resulting in-fighting is so low and despicable, that 5th grade children have become involved in the fight, wielding AK-47s and patrolling alleyways. Where are the KONY 2012 to see this and make a documentary about it? All we get is a clip by LBC though.

Poverty, no education and religion mix together to create this toxic result which is fast on the rise. All I can cling on to, is that next time around, we wil step up and run for elections and get voted on and go into parliament and change all of this. Remove priests and sheikhs from politics and law, make everyone equal under the law and stop the meddling of old men in robes in our personal lives and choices. Who’s with me? Who’d no cast a ballot for Aoun or Geagea in favor of a secular reformist with an agenda to abolish religion from the state?

When you are blessed with living in a sorry excuse for a country like Lebanon, you are constantly surprised with things. Sometimes, it’s pleasant and very rare things like knocking off 1000LBP off a still absurdly expensive gas tank, or something less pleasant, like blowing up someone or a liquor store. The past week, the dominant event has been traffic-disrupting protests.

Yesterday, El Matn residents obstructed traffic, in light of the tearing down of the “temporary 3-decade bridge” when the charming municipality goons and government officials never bothered coming up with an alternative, much less actually realizing one. Today, we woke up to find the delightful people who come milk our wallets for electricity we never get, closing the North-bound Beirut highway at it’s choke-point: near EDL, where escaping traffic is hard and alternative routes are difficult to find.

You expect me to rant on about how these people protest and are being inconsiderate to everyone else. I even read tweets and comments boasting that “I wish I was there so I can run them over”. Disgusting, yet very representative of Lebanese mentality. That’s why strikes never work, that’s why protests always fail, that’s why movements never really take off.

Picture this: taxi drivers decide to strike. This means no taxis for the tens of thousands of people who rely on them for transportation. What do I think if I were the average, wretched Lebanese taxi driver? Go to work on that day, after all, customers are ripe for the picking: there is no shortage of them, and you can charge whatever you like cause there is no alternative.

This exact same spirit of selfish, narrow-mindedness flares up when such protests erupt. Now, I honestly don’t see how employees of the most corrupt government agency have the nerve to protest, but, they might have a point. The Jal el Dib residents though, have every single right. How would you feel if your exit to the highway vanished overnight? What if you were a business owner and had your venue on that exit? What if there was no solution in sight, wouldn’t you protest too? Probably not, you’d just whine about it. But these people are protesting, and consistently, and even though semi-retarded Free Patriotic Movement officials joined in (when they’re the ones in power, which is baffling), the movement is consistent with itself and looks to be growing stronger.

We should support these people. You’re upset with traffic? Pretend it’s an accident, which are commonplace on our roads and which attract curious onlookers who create traffic just as bad if not worse. The moment I realized how dysfunctional our attitudes were, especially when it comes to ripping off the government and each other, was when I was in Boston a few weeks ago. A friend of mine there, who’s married with a kid, pays yearly subscriptions to the beach and the zoo. They never go to either, because they’re too busy for the zoo, and it’s too cold for the beach. Puzzled, I asked her why she pays expensive yearly fees if they never benefit from them. She answered, “because if I didn’t contribute, the beach would not be taken care of and the zoo might be closed down.”

I was blown away, and honestly felt ashamed. The level of selflessness and good-citizen attitude was something I definitely was not used to. Here in Lebanon, people go through hell to prove they are Jbeil residents to avoid paying a 5,000 LBP (~3USD) entrance fee to one of the world’s oldest city’s ruins. People lie about their age, nationality, intentions, just to get away with something petty. How many Lebanese do you know apply for immigration to better nations, then rip those countries off by pretending to live there, getting free healthcare and never paying a single cent in taxes? Same goes for the dozens of failed strikes and protests here.

Bottom line is, we have no sense of unity whatsoever. All we care about is petty, ill-gotten gains which in the longrun will affect us negatively too. So, next time there’s a strike, stay home instead of ripping off your fellow strikers. Next time someone has the guts to protest, don’t fantasize about running them over with your car, take another road or go earlier. Next time you’re at a cultural site, just pay the damn entrance fee.