A Policy of Denial and Collective Suicide

In the French baccalaureate history textbook, there's a chapter on page 138 entitled "The Birth of the State of Israel." However, strangely enough, it jumps from page 137 to page 140, with the two pages of the aforementioned chapter stuck together. This way, our children will be spared learning about the creation of a country that our own refuses to recognize, and therefore doesn't officially exist… Imagine the results on the baccalaureate exam if this topic is ever asked.

 Meanwhile, the army of this non-existent country is decimating everything in its path or during its overflights. One might conclude that we are being attacked by ghosts or spirits. We don't need regular forces or so-called paramilitary "resistance," but an exorcist.

 On another note, the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) announced an increase in the spending limits for Circulars 158 and 166, by two hundred and one hundred dollars respectively. These amounts will be virtual, not tangible (i.e., payable by debit card only).

 A television channel interviewed several people who were pleased, even euphoric, with this decision, this gift on the eve of the holidays, seemingly forgetting that they were initially robbed of their money, content with the crumbs of their own funds that the banks return to them. With this wonderful gift, the banks are essentially giving them charity with their own money.

 Here again, the State and the banks refuse to acknowledge their responsibility. Under normal circumstances, this situation would have been devastating for public and financial institutions, but when the public has the memory of a goldfish and stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that it has been literally robbed, goodbye responsibility and hello impunity.

 And regarding impunity and forgetting, the best example is August 4th. The authorities once again refuse to acknowledge any involvement, or even a simple administrative error, and we ourselves tend to forget what was one of the worst cataclysms to strike the country: the show must go on…

 The politics of denial is collective suicide. If a history book is ever written for our country, future generations will likely stop at independence… and for the rest, it will be a blank page. By obsequiously accepting our situation, in the name of that fabulous stupidity called resilience, we have become experts at erasing ourselves before we are even written down…