This is where Ali, a 61-year-old man, took his life today on Hamra street in Beirut ☹. His name is written on the ground. He died with a piece of note in his pocket, stating that he has no criminal record. He also wrote the words of a famous song by Mr. Ziad Rahabani: “I’m not a blasphemer but hunger is blasphemy“… We can see that some people have paid tribute with flowers.
The sign carried by the sad man sitting on the ground refers to how the country is about to fall down. He played on the words… the original Lebanese expression is that “the country (el Balad) is on the hand of a Jinni (or genie)”. Usually, it is a very dangerous position to be at in mythology (and of course in real life!). The Jinni is a magical creature, in ancient myths/legends of the Middle East, known to have a free will. This unknown man deleted the word jinni and replaced with jinn. He probably meant to say: Many magical creatures are competing to decide the fate of tiny bankrupt Lebanon… Lebanon is about to fall off these hands!
The second suicide occurred in a private home in the city of Sidon, south of Beirut.
A protest occurred at the end of this sad day. People had signs that read: “He did not commit suicide, he was killed in cold blood“, blaming the “the political class” for their “responsibility“.
Bambi’s heart goes to Lebanon and to its people. They are fed up… Yet, against all odds, they keep their notorious sense of humour, with stickers, circulating on WhatsApp, showing Jesus in Lebanon jumping off the cross and it is written in Arabic: “Khalass (= Enough), I cannot take it anymore!”.
Let’s conclude this post with a story from the city of Tripoli, a few kilometres north of Beirut. There, people got so poor that they are borrowing money to buy bread. Can you imagine? For them, “meat is a dream”, as per Reuters Canada:
https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN2441ZN
Same for the Lebanese army, as mentioned in an earlier post by Bambi:
