http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/31/arts/31cult.html?ex=1311998400&en=5ff338263db405ea&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
I just browsed my RSS feeds and bumped into an article of the New York Times that says that cultural life in Beirut came to a standstill. I felt touched. I follow events their very closey because I worked there as a physician during the last civil war. I cite the article below.
“We are not updating our Web site because we are under siege!”
The war in Lebanon is now in its third week, freezing life in mid-flow. A summer season that looked as if it would be highly successful for tourism was suddenly interrupted, as were numerous music festivals, theatrical and movie openings and, because this is Beirut, wild parties. For Lebanon’s burgeoning cultural scene, the conflict has put a stop, at least for the moment, to the patient work begun after the civil war ended in 1990.
Now some movie theaters are opening their doors to refugees…
I remember when I first arrived in Beirut in 1984 cultural life was already reduced to a minimum. The few movie theatres left open only showed rather violent movies. That was it. In the beginning, ignorant as I was, I was not afraid to go to the movies all alone and by foot.
One of the films I saw was Scarface with Al Pacino. The audience were mostly armed militia guys who enjoyed every piece of violence. Strange feeling, I think I was in somehow scared. But on the other hand, I could not avoid to feel a certain thrill.
I left the theatre immerged into this world of fiction not at all aware that walking home in Beirut meant something completely different than walking home in Vienna. Only minutes later a shop got blown up behind me, perhaps 50m away. I learned my lesson. I stopped walking around without paying utmost attention.
I still got friends in Beirut. For them and all the civilians, who are just about to recover from the endless years of civil war, I hope at least a truce will be achieved soon.
