Hypocrites… all of them. I hate politics, and yet, it is virtually impossible to live in Lebanon and not get caught up in the topic. It seems that the Lebanese people survive by politics. The irony is that it is also their demise.

There we were, my family and I, walking down the street that is usually filled with cars – nice, expensive ones – towards the main downtown walkway to the central clock. But the road was void of cars this time. Instead, it was filled with people – men and women, young children, adolescent youth, even elderly. They were walking, strolling down the lane, sitting on the curb smoking the water pipe, warming their hands over a barrel of fire, brandishing flags… all the way towards the main communal tent in Riyadh el-Solh square beside the UN building. The flags they held were mostly Lebanese (thankfully), but some also belonged to Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement – yellow and orange, respectively.

As we walked, I steadily become more and more aggravated. At the top of the main walkway to the clock, we stopped outside the metal barriers and asked the local soldiers how to get inside so we could eat at one of the restaurants. As Dad spoke with the soldier, I peeked over the barriers. My eyes fell on a deserted alley, instead of the usual life and gaiety that speaks of business and tourism. There was nothing – no people, no customers, no waiters, no gas heaters to keep the dining people warm, no fruity smell of the water pipe, no music or balloons or lights. Nothing. “They’re all closed,” declared the solider. “Just for tonight.” I suppose the lack of business did not keep waiters there on Christmas Eve, even for non-Christians.

Dejected, I turned around to make my way back towards our parked cars. What I wanted to do – and almost lost my self-control over the matter – was to shout something along the lines of “Long live Seniora!” and make a run for it. I don’t if I would have gotten very far. Those walking about us were happy, giving the impression of children on their way to the town fair. Some were shouting “No more sects. We only want Shiites and Aounis” as they walked.

I was sad. One man’s wisdom is another’s folly. Who’s to say what’s right or wrong? Just under two years ago Nasrallah was ranting and raving that a group of people cannot expect to topple the government with their own hands and philosophy. Isn’t he attempting to do the very same thing now? Some return with an argument that one politician isn’t better than the next. My stand is that we must support the government that is in place, unless they are criminally murdering or overtly stealing from the people. A country cannot expect to make any progress on any front if it topples its government every time one political group decides that it doesn’t like the method of ruling. Arguments for justice made out of blackmail are not right either. Yet, Lebanon is stuck in another place of stagnation. The scary thing is that many don’t seem to see it. I wonder how it will end, or if it will at all.