All the Beirut news.

In my neighborhood, they say they have won. They have dealt a very nasty blow to their opponents. Nasty indeed.
But as a journalist, it’s not very ethical to stay in one neighborhood only, you’ve got to hear both sides of the story. So I hang around in other neighborhoods as well.

And I was interested to hear how the people in the other neighborhood were dealing with their defeat. After all, they were dealt such a nasty blow.

Some uplifting news. A little bit. Maybe.

I spent the afternoon on the beach to conduct several interviews for a story on the divide between the shia and sunni of Beirut. Let me rephrase that, since this might give you the impression that I am not hard-working career woman.

How about ‘amidst rising tensions, as more clashes erupted in war-torn Beirut between sunni and shia, I conducted a number of interviews at an undisclosed location in order to ensure the safety of the participants.'

Muuuuuuuch better. Just joking. I did work. Really.

New stencil graffiti on Hamra

On a regular day in my house, by 8 o’clock, it is empty. The family members have left to either work or school, and all that remains in the house is the housekeeper and the large menagerie of animals.

My editor mails me.
Whether things have calmed down a bit, she asks.

Well yes, they have. For the moment. But the simmering continues, and it is under the surface now, so much more dangerous. The pressure builds up, and soon enough we’ll have another explosion.
Slowly news from the neighborhood trickles in. The baker and his son (16) got shot last Friday morning. Son died, baker in the hospital. So-and-so died, this one is in the hospital, that one got kidnapped.

For those on the outside, who would like to hear what it was like from my house; this clip was taken Thursday night (sorry, it was dark), and this was filmed Friday morning (click on picture).

Source here.

I am usually quite an optimistic person. But two things just happened this morning that make me wonder if I am being a little naïve. And so some pessimism from me today.

Incident #1
I’m hanging over my balcony, watching two armed men walking down the opposite street. They pass a parked car with a poster of Hariri behind the window. They look at it.
And then they break the window with their rifle butts.

My aplogees for the corny title. Couldn't think of anything more appropriate. After last night’s short but intensive thunderstorm, it is a gorgeous day in West-Beirut today. A little hazy, due to a fire raging in one of the TV studios of Hariri in the neighborhood. There is still sporadic gunfire. But nevertheless, considering the circumstances, a gorgeous day. I say!

I did not get much sleep last night. I’m up pretty high in the building, so you might think that’s safe, but above me is a hill, and the road coming down from that hill is pretty much at the same level as my bedroom. Maybe a little higher. And although they wouldn’t have any reason in particular to aim at my bedroom window (windows are all the way to the floor), I won’t hold it against them that they probably had very little training with RPG’s.

There was heavy fighting from 10:00 to 2:00 An immense thunderstorm then emptied its rage right above this city part, and sent them all home. Divive intervention. maybe? :)

I was planning on going out tonight, but it seems I have to amend my plans. There’s shooting in several parts of the neighborhood around me. Most of it is just gun fire, M-16 and the likes, but they are shooting also with other stuff as well, heavier material. No idea what that is, maybe I should update my knowledge about guns and ammo and the likes. Might come in handy these days.

No dinner on the balcony either. What goes up, must - after all – come down as well.

A friend is calling me from two blocks away. She was thinking of walking over to my place, but she just called to say that – since there are armed men under her building – she is changing her plans as well. She’ll stay home instead.

In retrospect, going to the supermarket today may not have been such a wise decision. I was standing in line for half an hour and the check-out register wasn’t even in sight yet. The line up started all the way in the shampoo section!
I had been warned by friends about the ‘supermarket scene’ but did not take it seriously. I mean, how many people would actually go to the supermarket now? They always make a big story out of nothing. And so I stood, patiently, for 55 minutes in line at the supermarket. This must be my personal record.

No need to write anything, when it has all been written already.

Every schmuck that was on TV today (except for the army) is garbage in my opinion, yes, garbage. A pest in our society. A puny third class impotent. Whether Sunni, Shiite, or even a Christian.Tfeh… How ashamed I am to be Lebanese.
The Lebanese Inner Circle

Beirut, I apologize on behalf all of them.

Safety on the work floor is not really one of the priorities here in Lebanon. Working conditions in certain professions, such as construction for instance, or window cleaners, are sometimes a little precarious, to say the least. No hard hats, no ear protection for loud noises, no caps for toxic fumes or spray paint, and no safety lines. Are you kidding? Real men don’t use safety lines, har har.

Going to the beach today was a good decision.

I think I'll lie on the beach today.