شكراً سوريا

حدا بيتذكر هالشعار؟ هيدا كان الشعار اللي نزل فيه حزب الله وحلفاؤه بالـ٢٠٠٥ بوج اللي كانوا عم يتظاهروا لخروج الجيش السوري من لبنان. في كتير إشيا تغيّرت من وقتا لهلّق. في كتير ظلم ارتكبوه لبنانيي بحق عمال سوريي. اي، كانت فشة خلق، وما بقول هالشي لتبرير وإنما لتجريم اللي صار.

بس مش هون الفكرة، الفكرة انو أنا حابة إكتب لثوار سوريا، بركي البعض منن بيسمع وبيحس بالتقدير اللي حسيت فيه تجاهكن.

Book review - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

I've recently finished reading the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. It'd be difficult to summarize this book into a simple tagcloud, my favorite tool to summarize a text, or textful object. Ah, the beauty of technology! How it helps me shroud my laziness and ignorance.

Anyway, regarding the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, it is supposed to be the story of a young black woman, diagnosed with cancer, then her cells were taken away from her without informed consent. The cells quickly turn into a biology legend. They were the first and most successful human cells ever cloned.

As it is clear from Thursday's post, I am very fed up with the sensational way we are reacting to the Gaza war. It's revolting to see so many Palestinian civilians getting killed and ignoring the real problem by blame the usual suspect, Israel of course.
Only a few are daring to protest against this mainstream portrayal of the problem... They are usually anti-Hezbollah people and I tend to agree with most of what they are saying, check out what AK said, it worth reading: Looking beyond the horror

Hamra?!

OK, this is funny, I love my Mom but sometimes she just becomes excessively protective. These conversations took place on Wednesday the day before I went to the helem headquarter:


part I

Mom: So, do you have any plans for tomorrow? I need to go to your brother’s school, maybe you can take care of him for an hour.

Becca: Sure, I am only busy in the afternoon

Mom: Really? Where?

Becca: In Hamra

Mom: *Laughs* [to be honest, you can’t blame her for laughing I never go out of home, and usually that’s either with my cousin or just for a walk, so it didn’t sound right]

Becca: You think I’m joking?

Mom: You’re serious?!

Becca: Uhh…. Yes!

Mom: Hamra?! What’s in Hamra?!

Becca: I’m just meeting some friends that I used to be in contact with through internet [Oh come on! You didn’t think I’ll just tell her I’m going to meet a group of homosexuals that I consider as friends?!]

Mom: Nshallah you’re not going to meet some Gays and Lesbians? [I suppose a mother’s heart always knows!]

Becca * Laughs *

Mom: And why in Hamra? Do you know where that is? That’s in the Gharbiyyeh [That’s Lebanese for West Beirut]?!

Becca: Relax mama, I know these people

Mom: When?

Becca:Around 6 pm

Mom: Shu?! Why so late?!

Becca: I don’t know, Mom, probably work and stuff

Mom: Boy or girl

Becca: A GROUP of people

Mom: Why in Hamra?! Why can’t they come here?!

Becca * Ignores the question *

At this point a long conversation takes place, in which she expresses her concerns about me going to West Beirut, ALONE to meet people that my Mom never met. I mainly nodded, laughed and giggled (especially when she repeated: In Hamra?!)

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Part II: In the evening, 5 minutes after my dad came home

Mom: You know? You’re daughter’s going out tomorrow… In HAMRA, she’s meeting people she had met on the Internet

Dad: Really? [Then he looks at me] DO you know how to get there?

Becca: Well, I won’t get lost, I will ask the bus drivers

Dad: Well go to Nahr L-Mott then take bus #2

Becca: Ok, thanks

Mom: Hamra?!

Silence for a while… Almost 15 minutes, then my Mom addresses me again

Mom: You know if you marry a Hezbollah I’ll lose my mind

Ok I can understand her concerns, really, I do, but when did Hezbollah get into the picture?! Hezbollah doesn’t even spread in the heart of West Beirut, and when did I ever appear as a big fan of Hezbollah? And where did all the “I trust your judgment” bullshit go? I couldn’t help laughing real hard.

Becca: You know mama, I am going to tell them this is what you think!

Mom: Don’t do that!… It would be impolite

Starting from this point I’m constantly laughing

Becca: Ok, just a question… What about a Jew? Can I marry a Jew?

Mom: Oh a Jew is no problem, I wouldn’t mind you marrying a Jewish person Then she turns to my dad to get a conformation What do you think? If a Jewish man and a Hezbollah both want to take your daughter, wouldn’t you prefer a Jew?

Becca: Now mama! When did I ever turn into a tomato that you and my Dad choose who to sell to?

Mom: Yes, go ahead, be mean to me. It’s my fault that I care

Becca: Ok, ok… What about a Muslim Lebanese?

Mom: Well, I wouldn’t stop you… But you know what I think about it

Becca:Ok, what about a Muslim Arab ?

Mom: So that’s what’s on your mind!!! You want to marry an Egyptian Muslim guy!! I knew it!

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Moms are so cute! I just feel sorry for putting her through all this.

Oh, and if you are wondering where did the Egyptian Muslim came from?… Well I have no idea. Why Egyptian, I thought she’d fear a Syrian Muslim as a priority but an Egyptian?

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Update

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Due to some problems I failed to meet the witch I was supposed to meet which disappointed me badly, but my doesn't know it, so she's still nagging me about HAMRA?! so SHHH! Don't tell her

Inside the tragedy of Lebanisation:

In the March 2005 eventful period we thought we had seen miracles taking place. We thought we entered history, pictures of young, pretty (die in jealousy all of you Arabs who envy our pretty female participation!! Buwahaha) protesters giving flowers to soldiers, pictures of hundreds of thousands, millions demonstrating peacefully and happily. We thought the world finally will keep this picture in its mind about us the Lebanese.

But you know what? There is no word in dictionaries connecting Lebanisation to any positive event, do you?

Try googling the word Libanisation (yes the French version of Lebanesation) you’ll find the word everywhere.

You see after our glorious civil war, we became a fine example of division among people, sectarian atrocities. Someone, somewhere in this endless world started using the word Libanisation to define just that.

After the civil war was over, there was this sense of total despair in the Lebanese society, Lebanon was dead for all of us. People had lost so much only to realize that they lost it all just so that they’d lose even more. As a desperate come back, some old dudes launched a courageous, unprecedented, heroic quest to re-establish the Lebanese pride… There crusade soon gave its fruits, they made us all proud, they … they…



They renounced the use of the term Libanisation………..WOW…

Now there actual achievement was that they demanded Larousse to remove the word Libanisation from its dictionary. This didn’t remove the word from use, actually this term was so powerful that francophone journalists replaced the word Balkanisation with Libanisation.

Nowadays they talk about the : libanisation de l’intifada and the libanisation de l’Irak

Lebanese people say

لبننة

as to say: to make something Lebanese, for example the Lebanese elections should be lebanised! (aren’t we Lebanese so cute?☺)