In one of my usual semi-humorous rants with a friend I realized that every leader in Lebanon essentially has an 80's song dedicated to them in regards to this conflict. As a result I have compiled a playlist for everyone's favorite Lebanese politicians!
The whole conflict can be summed up by "red skies at night" by the fixx
The Government, summed up by "She's A Man Eater" by Hall & Oats:
Al Mustaqbal's Faoud Sanoria and Saad Hariri: "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
The PSP's Walid Jumblatt is: "You spin me right round baby right round" by Dead or Alive
The Lebanese Force's Samir Geagea is "Let it Whip" by the Dazz Band
Kataeb's Amine Gemayel is "One Thing Leads to Another" by the Fixx
Reason's behind selection:
Government: Describes how Hizbollah is trying to "chew them up"
Mustaqbal: first line of the song, "relax don't do it...when you wanna come." Describes the militia, and the lack of prowess Saad and Sanoria have so-far shown.
Jumblatt: Come on! that should be self explanatory, even the name of the band describes the
Druze position in the Chouf.
LF: Hizbollah is scared out of it's mind of the LF and the Christian fighters, while Geagea isn't advocating that his groups go out and attack the enemy, he's waiting for them to try something.
Amine: He's waiting on the lines with many of the Kataeb supporters, still trying to push the Gvt. Line..."you'll run for cover...Why don't they say what they are...Do what they mean...One thing leads to another."
The "Opposition" (citrus colors included); If they were Riverdance we would call them "Lords of the Coup"
Amal's Nabbieh Berri: Love Is A Battlefield by Pat Benatar
The SSNP's 3ali 2anso: "Turn Me Loose" by Loverboy
Hizbollah's Hasan Nasrallah: "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads
the FPM's Michel Aoun: "Out of Touch" by Hall & Oats
al Marada's Suleiman Franjieh Jr.: "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles
Reasons Surrounding Selection:
Mr. Berri: Has always demonstrated his loyalty to his Damascene masters! Love like that usually results in fighting with your sugar daddy's enemies!
The SSNP: I hate to bestow a good song on such a group of fools. 1. come on their whole ideology is a Levantine version of the Nazi Party, but better yet, the song represents their main goal as a "party" to just be turned loose on democratic organizations or ...Hm...NEW STATIONS AND NEWSPAPERS!
Good ole' Hasan: Song is self explanitory, need I remind anyone of the Sayyed's pledge to, "not use his arms on Lebanese"?
General Aoun: Mr. Nationalist is still siding with the coup currently in place and he actually believes that he is the only one keeping the peace in the Christian areas. Quick summation: Psycho!
Mr. Franjieh: My favorite song to select, because he likes to say he is a new face of Lebanese leadership, meanwhile he is just the same version of a morribund system involving zuama with their village based patronage system. Reasons I selected the song: It's an 80s classic about how VHS and technology were taking over from the "old school" radio stars. Nonetheless in retrospect (from 2008) people still giggle because VHS tapes have been obscelete since the mid 1990s...Essentially it's the not so modern replacing the already ancient, but casting itself as something BRAND NEW!
The "Neutral Army"
"Big Time" by Peter Gabriel describes the Army
Gen Suleiman: "So Caught Up In You" by .38 special
Army Selection:
The Army can now finally find it's place in the neutral sun, disarming and disobeying the govt. while forming a closer connection with their buddies in Hizbollah---They are BIG TIME now!
The OTHER (other then Aoun) General is so caught up in Hizbollah and letting them keep their arms (hence the .38 special band name---didn't that fit perfectly?!) that he will probably be their post-military coup selection.
Other Notable Personalities:
Wafiq Shaqir: "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell
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Showing posts with label Lebanese TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lebanese TV. Show all posts
Monday, May 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
A Night at ABC with the GoC & A Late Night With Hizbollah At LAU
Last night I took 'le service' (Lebanese taxi for about a dollar) to Future TV in Spears to meet a friend. She picked me up in her car and took me to ABC Achrafieh. To correct a previous post the ABC I went to earlier was farther east and on the water. ABC Achrafieh was a palace, loaded with all of the most posh Lebanese, it was definately comparable to an upscale American mall. ABC Achrafieh was loaded with security following the bombing, and in the parking garage we passed the area the bomb blast hit.
My friend is a member of the GoC or Guardians of the Cedars. They are considered and consider themselves to be the elite of the Lebanese right wing, and often view the Ouwet or Lebanese Forces (LF) as backward rednecks. I stop at calling them a "Christian party" because that would incure the wrath of some non-Christian AND Christian party members. The GoC consider themselves the purest form of Lebanese Nationalists. Many in the West would remember the GoC from Robert Fisk or other journalists who popularized them by talking about how their phrase was, "ﻋﻠﻰ ﻜﻝ ﻠﺒﻨﺎﻨﻲ ﺍﻥ ﻴﻘﺘﻝ ﻓﻠﺴﻁﻴﻨﻴﺎ" or translated "It is the duty of every Lebanese to kill a Palestinian." The GoC views Palestinians and Syria as the ultimate arch-enemies of Lebanon, encourages a nationalism that wants a return of Lebanon to its Phonecian roots, expulsion of the Palestinians, and a peace agreement and possible alliance with the State of Israel. They are the antithesis of anything the SSNP, Hizbollah, Arabists, Islamists or Syria espouse, as such they were banned by Lebanon and Syria.
When my friend drove me back to LAU it was quite evident that there is some truth to the claims that the GoC (while being a group that advocates secularism) still has many sectarian roots. She (my friend) had lived in Lebanon all her life, and while not being a Beirut native still couldn't find Hamra or LAU (Hamra, while mixed is mostly Sunni and in mainly Muslim West Beirut). Nonetheless, I observed no outright racism/anti-Muslim behavior on her part, she considered the Muslims just as Lebanese as she was.
When I returned to LAU I went to the computer lab. I started talking to a girl who said she was from Abu Dhabi. She, like most Lebanese women and girls who attend LAU was quite pretty and dressed just as a teenage girl would dress in the US: showing cleavage, in jeans, and a designer top. Her friend was in a mini-skirt and a very tight top, so when I found out they were both members and supporters of Hizbollah I was truly suprised (I always pictured women in a flowing chador packing a Klashnikov). They were both extremely polite to me, eventhough my views directly opposed theirs, and I was allowed to hear their view on the US in the Middle East, which was nothing short of misinformed. There is nothing better then hearing disproven "theories" on Israel, 9-11, and the US. Later we went to the convienence store across the street to pick up some drinks and sweets, one of the girls was nice enough to bring down Arabic bread and some home made labbneh, then made us all some sandwitches.
Note on new photos:
1. Picture of the site that was bombed in Achrafieh.
2. Pictures of the beach, Harrisa, Rouche, Rabieh, Hamra, W.Beirut, LAU, and AUB.
3. A few personal pictures with good friends.
My friend is a member of the GoC or Guardians of the Cedars. They are considered and consider themselves to be the elite of the Lebanese right wing, and often view the Ouwet or Lebanese Forces (LF) as backward rednecks. I stop at calling them a "Christian party" because that would incure the wrath of some non-Christian AND Christian party members. The GoC consider themselves the purest form of Lebanese Nationalists. Many in the West would remember the GoC from Robert Fisk or other journalists who popularized them by talking about how their phrase was, "ﻋﻠﻰ ﻜﻝ ﻠﺒﻨﺎﻨﻲ ﺍﻥ ﻴﻘﺘﻝ ﻓﻠﺴﻁﻴﻨﻴﺎ" or translated "It is the duty of every Lebanese to kill a Palestinian." The GoC views Palestinians and Syria as the ultimate arch-enemies of Lebanon, encourages a nationalism that wants a return of Lebanon to its Phonecian roots, expulsion of the Palestinians, and a peace agreement and possible alliance with the State of Israel. They are the antithesis of anything the SSNP, Hizbollah, Arabists, Islamists or Syria espouse, as such they were banned by Lebanon and Syria.
When my friend drove me back to LAU it was quite evident that there is some truth to the claims that the GoC (while being a group that advocates secularism) still has many sectarian roots. She (my friend) had lived in Lebanon all her life, and while not being a Beirut native still couldn't find Hamra or LAU (Hamra, while mixed is mostly Sunni and in mainly Muslim West Beirut). Nonetheless, I observed no outright racism/anti-Muslim behavior on her part, she considered the Muslims just as Lebanese as she was.
When I returned to LAU I went to the computer lab. I started talking to a girl who said she was from Abu Dhabi. She, like most Lebanese women and girls who attend LAU was quite pretty and dressed just as a teenage girl would dress in the US: showing cleavage, in jeans, and a designer top. Her friend was in a mini-skirt and a very tight top, so when I found out they were both members and supporters of Hizbollah I was truly suprised (I always pictured women in a flowing chador packing a Klashnikov). They were both extremely polite to me, eventhough my views directly opposed theirs, and I was allowed to hear their view on the US in the Middle East, which was nothing short of misinformed. There is nothing better then hearing disproven "theories" on Israel, 9-11, and the US. Later we went to the convienence store across the street to pick up some drinks and sweets, one of the girls was nice enough to bring down Arabic bread and some home made labbneh, then made us all some sandwitches.
Note on new photos:
1. Picture of the site that was bombed in Achrafieh.
2. Pictures of the beach, Harrisa, Rouche, Rabieh, Hamra, W.Beirut, LAU, and AUB.
3. A few personal pictures with good friends.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Dinner & Arak With Friends
Yesterday was my first full day in Lebanon. I slept about 3 hours in total, but had many adventures and met many interesting people. My first adventure was going outside of the LAU campus to get some coffee, water, sodas and some other assorted junk food. Afterwards a fellow student and myself took a stroll down to the Raouché (Pigeon Rocks). They are a spectacular formation of stone jutting out of the Mediterreanean, the water surrounding them is a mixture of teal, green, light blue, and a medium shade of blue I can only describe as "Azure Mediterreanean."
The stroll down to the Raouché was quite an interesting one. The school I am attending is in the heart of Quoritem, the bastion of Rafiq Hariri and his Future Movement (a March 14th associated political party and heavily anti-Syrian). As such, there is heavy security by both the army and police. On almost every major intersection one can find an M113 Armored Personel Carrier with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted atop its metal hull. To get to the Raouché you have to pass the Saudi embassy, which is a massive building loaded with private security and a battalion of soldiers outside. Because I am a free wheeling American I decided I would take some pictures of the APCs dotting the streets---BAD idea. I got yelled at repeadedly by the soldiers, although it seems if I just play the "dumb American" card I won't get my camera smashed.
Also, during the day, I stopped and found some nice little coffee shops, and had some of the best iced coffee in a place across from the school. Around 11 in the morning I gave a close Lebanese friend a call. She invited me over to her home for a dinner complete with the Lebanese specialty drink known as Arak (also spelled 3arak--the 3 is an ain in Arabic) . Arak is made of anise and is quite sweet, almost like drinking an incredibly sweet tequila without so much alchoholic bite.
After speaking with my friend she informed me that her boyfriend (who was playing soccer at the time) was going to pick me up around 9:30PM. As 9:30 passed I called her up again and she told me he would be there to pick me up around 10PM. I had little to do, so I sat in the guard house and talked with the guards. The guards told me that rent (per month) was around $700 a month, they earned around $1.30 an hour and they couldn't get over the fact that America had a minimum wage around $5.75-$7.00. I tried out my rudimentary Arabic/Lebanese with the guards and they seemed to get a kick out of it, teaching me a few new words and pronounciation. As 10 o'clock rolled around my friend's boyfriend pulled up with another person I am friendly with and we headed off to Rabieh.
Rabieh and Christian Beirut (and its suburbs) seem a lot more organized and clean as compared to the Muslim sections. Of course both Muslim and Christian Beirut have much alore, but that difference definately sets them apart. On the drive down to Rabieh we passed downtown Beirut. I was told that ever since Hizbollah started protesting the current government they were subsidizing poor Shia (giving them $3 a day) to squat in Martyr's Square. There is a joke that is going around (some of it is true according to photos I've seen) that these Hizbollah members brought their shishas (water pipes) and TVs with them---Now Martyr's Square is their new home. I was also told that to get down to Martyr's Square (which stradles the old Green Line seperating Christian and Muslim Beirut) one must go through, not one of the numerous Lebanese Army checkpoints, but a Hizbollah checkpoint. Yes, Hizbollah has people who "guard" their encampment in downtown Beirut, and they (not the government) allow people in and out.
As we entered Rabieh we pulled up to a nice looking apartment building. My friend had a beautiful home with a wonderful family. Politics was the talk of the night, and of course I felt as if I had center stage (its not everyday some random American walks through your door and wants to talk about inter-Christian/Sunni-Shi'ite politics). I had a wonderful meal prepared for me complete with native bread, salad, arak, and pleasantly spiced chicken just to name a few things served. After the meal we all sat down and watched the television, my friend's sister had an international phone so I gave my mother a quick call. I must say after a great dinner there are few things more amusing than to have Seinfeld with Arabic subtitles.
For some time I had been talking about trying to get as much political paraphenalia out of Lebanon as possible. My friend went through a huge poster collection and gave me a Lebanese flag, a Kataeb party flag (Kataeb is also known as the Phalange party, and are right wing, anti-Syrian). As I was driven home my hosts took me to the Bachir Gemayel memorial in Achrafieh. Bachir Gemayel, a hero to many Lebanese Christians, was the son of Kataeb founder Pierre Gemayel, founder and leader of the Lebanese Front and later Lebanese Forces, and was president elect of Lebanon in 1982 before an SSNP bomb killed him. I visited the very place he was murdered that night. Formerly it was an unspectacular apartment building, after the explosion flattened that building, it became a square with concrete floors, trees, and a memorial to Gemayel and those killed in the building. The square was mostly quiet, save for a few young men who jokingly wanted to cheer for George W. Bush because I was in the area. Large posters and a massive metal carving of Bachir Gemayel's figure adorned the building adjacent to the memorial and it reminded me of a modern day shrine. In Lebanon it seems that the whole city is one massive shrine to opposing/allied political leaders who were supported by their confessional group. Eventhough I have been here a day, you can tell what sectarian section of town you are in by the posters that are stuck to the walls: Rafiq Hariri for Sunni sections, Walid Jumblatt for the Druze, numerous Hizbollah "martyr posters" and pictures of Hassan Nasrallah for Shi'ite sections, and Bachir Gemayel and the recently assassinated Pierre Amin Gemayel for Christian areas.
All in all it was a very spectacular day/night filled with adventure and great conversation.
The stroll down to the Raouché was quite an interesting one. The school I am attending is in the heart of Quoritem, the bastion of Rafiq Hariri and his Future Movement (a March 14th associated political party and heavily anti-Syrian). As such, there is heavy security by both the army and police. On almost every major intersection one can find an M113 Armored Personel Carrier with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted atop its metal hull. To get to the Raouché you have to pass the Saudi embassy, which is a massive building loaded with private security and a battalion of soldiers outside. Because I am a free wheeling American I decided I would take some pictures of the APCs dotting the streets---BAD idea. I got yelled at repeadedly by the soldiers, although it seems if I just play the "dumb American" card I won't get my camera smashed.
Also, during the day, I stopped and found some nice little coffee shops, and had some of the best iced coffee in a place across from the school. Around 11 in the morning I gave a close Lebanese friend a call. She invited me over to her home for a dinner complete with the Lebanese specialty drink known as Arak (also spelled 3arak--the 3 is an ain in Arabic) . Arak is made of anise and is quite sweet, almost like drinking an incredibly sweet tequila without so much alchoholic bite.
After speaking with my friend she informed me that her boyfriend (who was playing soccer at the time) was going to pick me up around 9:30PM. As 9:30 passed I called her up again and she told me he would be there to pick me up around 10PM. I had little to do, so I sat in the guard house and talked with the guards. The guards told me that rent (per month) was around $700 a month, they earned around $1.30 an hour and they couldn't get over the fact that America had a minimum wage around $5.75-$7.00. I tried out my rudimentary Arabic/Lebanese with the guards and they seemed to get a kick out of it, teaching me a few new words and pronounciation. As 10 o'clock rolled around my friend's boyfriend pulled up with another person I am friendly with and we headed off to Rabieh.
Rabieh and Christian Beirut (and its suburbs) seem a lot more organized and clean as compared to the Muslim sections. Of course both Muslim and Christian Beirut have much alore, but that difference definately sets them apart. On the drive down to Rabieh we passed downtown Beirut. I was told that ever since Hizbollah started protesting the current government they were subsidizing poor Shia (giving them $3 a day) to squat in Martyr's Square. There is a joke that is going around (some of it is true according to photos I've seen) that these Hizbollah members brought their shishas (water pipes) and TVs with them---Now Martyr's Square is their new home. I was also told that to get down to Martyr's Square (which stradles the old Green Line seperating Christian and Muslim Beirut) one must go through, not one of the numerous Lebanese Army checkpoints, but a Hizbollah checkpoint. Yes, Hizbollah has people who "guard" their encampment in downtown Beirut, and they (not the government) allow people in and out.
As we entered Rabieh we pulled up to a nice looking apartment building. My friend had a beautiful home with a wonderful family. Politics was the talk of the night, and of course I felt as if I had center stage (its not everyday some random American walks through your door and wants to talk about inter-Christian/Sunni-Shi'ite politics). I had a wonderful meal prepared for me complete with native bread, salad, arak, and pleasantly spiced chicken just to name a few things served. After the meal we all sat down and watched the television, my friend's sister had an international phone so I gave my mother a quick call. I must say after a great dinner there are few things more amusing than to have Seinfeld with Arabic subtitles.
For some time I had been talking about trying to get as much political paraphenalia out of Lebanon as possible. My friend went through a huge poster collection and gave me a Lebanese flag, a Kataeb party flag (Kataeb is also known as the Phalange party, and are right wing, anti-Syrian). As I was driven home my hosts took me to the Bachir Gemayel memorial in Achrafieh. Bachir Gemayel, a hero to many Lebanese Christians, was the son of Kataeb founder Pierre Gemayel, founder and leader of the Lebanese Front and later Lebanese Forces, and was president elect of Lebanon in 1982 before an SSNP bomb killed him. I visited the very place he was murdered that night. Formerly it was an unspectacular apartment building, after the explosion flattened that building, it became a square with concrete floors, trees, and a memorial to Gemayel and those killed in the building. The square was mostly quiet, save for a few young men who jokingly wanted to cheer for George W. Bush because I was in the area. Large posters and a massive metal carving of Bachir Gemayel's figure adorned the building adjacent to the memorial and it reminded me of a modern day shrine. In Lebanon it seems that the whole city is one massive shrine to opposing/allied political leaders who were supported by their confessional group. Eventhough I have been here a day, you can tell what sectarian section of town you are in by the posters that are stuck to the walls: Rafiq Hariri for Sunni sections, Walid Jumblatt for the Druze, numerous Hizbollah "martyr posters" and pictures of Hassan Nasrallah for Shi'ite sections, and Bachir Gemayel and the recently assassinated Pierre Amin Gemayel for Christian areas.
All in all it was a very spectacular day/night filled with adventure and great conversation.
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