{"id":48309,"date":"2017-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/48309\/the-most-orientalist-articles-youll-read-about-beirut"},"modified":"2023-08-11T06:16:52","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T06:16:52","slug":"the-most-orientalist-articles-youll-read-about-beirut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/en\/48309\/the-most-orientalist-articles-youll-read-about-beirut\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Orientalist Articles You’ll Read About Beirut"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know the articles. They\u2019re usually written by American or European journalists who have been plopped into Beirut for a week to capture the essence of Beirut. Sorry to all you aspiring writers who are looking for the hidden treasure which is the Paris of the Middle East, but you\u2019ve got to stop using the clich\u00e9s of resilience, chaos, and magic. It can be difficult to write about Beirut when we are so used to these tropes, but you\u2019ve got to go a little deeper beneath the surface. <\/p>\n

The biggest issue with these articles is their attempt to \u2018exoticize’ and romanticize war and the Lebanese publics\u2019 ability to, well, just go on living. The Lebanese are resilient, they say, able to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of war. But when was the last time you saw people collectively drop dead from the sheer exhaustion of living? This is what humans do, guys, they go on. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not all that romantic. A trip to Beirut will quickly shatter that fa\u00e7ade, and present you with something a lot more polluted, trash-infused, and corrupt. Sure, you can go on a coke-binge while hearing the Islamic call to prayer, but why are these \u201cjuxtapositions\u201d so fascinating? I\u2019ll be the first to tell you Beirut is a beautiful place with a jaded past, but let\u2019s not go overboard and pretend that it is a magical oasis where people are so very inherently different from the rest of the world. <\/big><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. People rise from the ashes<\/b><\/big><\/big><\/p>\n

\u201cNew museum openings lead Beirut\u2019s renaissance\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Favorite line:<\/b> \u201cDespite being in a conflict zone, Beirut is somehow rising like a phoenix from the ashes.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The contrasts are just so overdone, and this is only one article out of the hundreds tackling Beirut\u2019s art scene. Despite conflict, there is creativity; despite war, there is resilience; despite Hezbollah, there is coke. <\/big><\/p>\n

2. But, they party?<\/b><\/big><\/big><\/p>\n

\u201cFighting for the Right to Party in Beirut\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Favorite line:<\/b> \u201cRooftop nightclubs adorn the coast of the Mediterranean, bohemian districts cater to tourists and local artists, and bars offer coke-fueled benders down the street from Hezbollah headquarters. It doesn\u2019t get more scenic.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Ooh, spicy. Snorting coke has never felt so dangerous. The southern suburbs are often cited as Hezbollah headquarters or strongholds in an effort to detach humanity from the areas which have been regularly bombed in the recent past. What\u2019s more, as a Lebanese local, I don\u2019t really recall any pubs existing down the street from these neighborhoods. I know you like contrasts, Mary, but try again.<\/p>\n

Close second place:<\/b> \u201cThe juxtaposition of political tension and flagrant partying is not the only clash of interests in Lebanon.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

There we go, Mary, you did it. There\u2019s nothing sexier than juxtaposition. It\u2019s when two things clash, and that\u2019s downright hot. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut nothing has survived civil war, foreign invasion,\u00a0800,000 refugees, and a\u00a0regular stream\u00a0of\u00a0targeted bombings\u00a0quite like Beirut\u2019s club scene.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Nothing but the club scene, you say? Girl, I think something else might have survived. Don\u2019t forget about all those resilient people, refusin\u2019 to die.<\/big><\/p>\n

3. Wait seriously, they party?<\/b><\/big><\/big><\/p>\n

\u201cWar is a million miles away when the Lebanese begin to party\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Favorite line:<\/b> \u201cThe communities rarely interact. Rushing through the city\u2019s Armenian quarter one night,\u00a0on my way to the chic downtown district, I was stopped by an elderly man who warned me not to go on. \u201cThere are Muslims there,\u201d he cautioned.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Ruth, oh Ruth. Maybe this did happen to you. But it doesn\u2019t mean that \u201cthe communities rarely interact.\u201d This makes it sound as if each religious\/ethnic community is barricaded off, like the people of Bourj Hammoud rarely venture outward to interact with people from all over the city in Mar Mkhayel or Hamra. Even with those pesky Muslims. <\/p>\n

Also, the photo caption clarifies that this is a Christian woman drinking alcohol, because it would be rather confusing for readers to assume that Lebanese Muslims drink. <\/big><\/p>\n

4. They keep on keepin\u2019 on.<\/b><\/big><\/big><\/p>\n

\u201cBeirut is a city that refuses to die. I love its energy and resilience\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Favorite line:<\/b> \u201cWhile making films during the war, I was fascinated by the way ordinary people managed to hold on to their humanity and reconstruct their lives, despite the death and destruction around them.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

I know that in film, these contrasts can produce powerful aesthetics, but it\u2019s becoming clich\u00e9d to talk about creativity thriving through destruction, through something so banal. <\/big><\/p>\n

5. It\u2019s the Paris\/Tel Aviv\/Switzerland of the Middle East!<\/b><\/big><\/big><\/p>\n

\u201cBeirut, the Tel Aviv of the Arab World?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Favorite line:<\/b> \u201cAs clich\u00e9d or escapist as it may sound, Beirut and Tel Aviv could be sister cities, if not twins.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

You mean, two cities which share geographical proximity and history may share some sort of common culture? How can that be? What about the war? The bombs? The Arabs\u2019 inherent hatred of freedom?<\/p>\n

For all you ignoramuses who thought that the Beirut of the Arab world was Beirut, Haaretz is here to prove you wrong. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know the articles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":412373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_preview_accessed":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"media-embed-type":[],"class_list":["post-48309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"authorship":[40],"yoast_head":"\nThe Most Orientalist Articles You'll Read About Beirut<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You know the articles.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/en\/48309\/the-most-orientalist-articles-youll-read-about-beirut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Most Orientalist Articles You'll Read About Beirut\" 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