Reliable Peace

Some of our friends are complaining that “our areas” are now teeming with people of other faiths. You do remember our sectarian division during the war. I know Lebanon in its details. Division does not reflect our country. Lebanon, especially its capital and its suburbs, used to include Lebanese from all over Lebanon, as well as Arabs and foreigners. Your elders must know that. I will apologize to no one for my despising publicly this kind of complaint. There is no greater shame than separating people based on sectarian or racial lines. A friend of mine (an Arab engineer living in Beirut) told me that he had called one of the security forces offices in our country to report an assault that one of his neighbors in the building had been subjected to. The person who received the call asked him whether he was the janitor of the building! What a shame! In our country, the dialect has become the token of a job! I am not underestimating any honorable job. In our neighborhood, most of the building janitors are my friends. What I am saying to you, especially to our remaining young people, is to preserve the eloquently diverse Lebanon. Do not allow anyone to take it away from you. This alone is our reliable peace.