Yesterday yahoo headlines have been:
Israel seizes management of Rafah border crossing, what all stars wore at final evening’s Met Gala – and extra…
Already, some folks I comply with on social media have been up in arms in regards to the Met Gala to start with, and even the organizers of the stated occasion have been curling their toes for a lot of causes: Conde Nast which publishes Vogue (the Met Gala in case you didn’t know was headed by Dame Anna Wintour who is also the worldwide chief content material officer of Vogue) struck an eleventh hour take care of staff threatening to disrupt the Met occasion, and pro-Palestinians have been having a manifestation proper throughout apparently. All this with out even broaching the subject that the primary sponsor of the occasion was Tiktok, which president Biden had signed into regulation that’s both wanted to be offered or banned on account of the truth that its father or mother firm Bytedance was Chinese language.
The style gods have been apparently clement and the mega-event went with out points.
Which brings us to the Rafah crossing and Israel.
I already stated it that as a Lebanese 2023 was extremely triggering as a 12 months (right here), and contemplating that – like most Lebanese – I misplaced all my cash on the financial institution, I’m coping with all the opposite points Lebanese are coping with by way of shortages (even when they’re much less acute than earlier than), and for the reason that market is in a disastrous state nonetheless, including the Palestinian plight to my very own is taxing and draining irrespective of how emphatic I’m.
As a matter of reality, yesterday I had a row with a German particular person I do know – the person had sure circumstances however his nation pays for his hospitalization, his housing, his cleansing service, his transportation, and so on… Attempting to make him perceive that I’m flying with no parachute was simply an excessive amount of for him to know. I used to be attempting to make him perceive that he had a really sturdy security internet, one that’s not there for me. He even implied that I ought to relaxation on my social safety, just for me to softly clarify to him that his too evaporated.
All that is to say that whereas I’m anticipated to be on the camp that it’s sacrilegious that the Met Gala is occurring proper concurrently the Israeli offensive in Rafah, consider it or not, I’m not. Keep in mind, struggle in Lebanon was not this everlasting doom and gloom regardless of all of the casualties that occurred. We watched “al hijra min Dallas” (hehe “exodus from Dallas” or “Knots Touchdown” on a TV within the shelter wired on the battery of Ayoub’s automobile stationed above), there have been discotheques (although I used to be too younger to attend), radio stations which performed each native music (Jabal Loubnan), or international (Radio one, Pax, Magic 102, Fame, and so on…), and so forth and so forth.
I beforehand spoke of the demise of Kaslik (right here) however the mere existence of that avenue and its accoutrements of luxurious retailers and seashore resorts and evening life was a proof that even within the midst of a struggle there was cash to spend and folks spending it. Fouad ElKoury has this picture which kind of encapsulates this temper – in the midst of a war-torn Beirut a person – presumably a driver – adjustments the wheel of a Cadillac as two different males (one in all them in a flowery coat) stand wanting (additionally presumably one or each are the house owners of the automobile) – see the picture right here.
Life does go on – in each in its atrocity and elegant. And does it make sense? Properly, who stated it ought to anyhow.
