Can you taste it?

Last night I walked over to Downtown and saw people were slowly reclaiming the Beirut's most lovely, artificial paradise. I saw the above poster in a Haagen Daz ice cream parlor: I remember after the July 2006 war, NGO bar/restaurant Club43 began to serve up Kalashnikov Bolognaise, or something along those lines. It doesn't take long for the whole fiasco that is Lebanese politics to be transformed into an open joke. I wasn't tempted by the cone because I'm not sure that the Doha Agreement qualifies as real reconciliation. Lebanon hasn't even confronted the massacres and atrocities that happened in its barbaric civil war, so how can it suddenly have gotten over the chaos of two weeks ago? Lebanon either suffers from a shockingly short-term memory or wilfully forgets the very injustices that, if addressed, would end the perpertual cycle of violence and disagreement.

At about 9pm, a massive fireworks show began and continued for what seemed a very long time indeed. It was a dramatic display- the organisers must have bought out the whole warehouse. The atmosphere was jubilant, as if Lebanon had won a war and people were merry. I myself almost fell for it: everything was okay now.

But it's not, is it? Even the finale of the fireworks, one, pathetic ball of gold slowly and sadly descending from the skies, was anti-climatic, even ominous, warning of the things to come. The violence of a few weeks ago was not simply a random, evil act by Hizbullah, although it would be satisfying for a great deal of people to read it as such. I believe such violence would have happened anyway- it doesn't matter who started it, it was written in the books long ago. Politics in this country is corrupt, unfair and confessionally confused: the problems will persist until dramatic political change takes place. Is Suleiman brave enough to start instigating these very difficult changes? He said in his inauguration speech that he would investigate the whereabouts of missing people from the civil war. That would be a very good place to start. I hope he sticks to his words.

(Of course this is a hugely complicated subject and I have completely simplified it. I know.)