Lebanon relives its 79th independence without Eid. This is not the news of November 22, 2022. Lebanon’s Independence Day has unfortunately become an endangered event and the more pompous military demonstrations, absent today, do not serve to polish its image, as large segments of its daughters and sons have accepted loyalties higher than their loyalty to the homeland and affiliations inferior to their affiliation with it. While loyalty to the Lebanese homeland and belonging to it will become a secondary matter, it has made the land an arena of regional conflict and sustainable international, and a large part of the Lebanese people are a tool in this struggle. As for the evident and natural belonging to a free, sovereign, independent homeland, and only fidelity to it, it has become a lack of realism for some and pure nostalgia for others.
Thus, Independence Day has arrived, where countries usually celebrate with big shows and firecrackers, in honor of their martyrs and their history… It has arrived as if it were any day of the year. How can it celebrate independence when a homeland without a president, a state without a government, a collapsing economy with no recovery plan and a general situation subject to all forms of external interference, as many ask daily, has the blood of martyrs and the heroes’ sacrifices were wasted?
On the sad November 22nd, due to the loss of independence, Lebanon also lost a pillar of its beautiful weather and wonderful artistic history. Romeo Lahoud passed away today, leaving behind an enormous legacy of work, to join his peers in great Lebanese art who have told the story of Lebanon through their journey.
