Tomorrow

Nobody should ever get used to assassinations, to car bombs, to random killings. 4 days ago, 8 people were blown to pieces in Downtown Beirut.

It usually takes people in Lebanon 3 days to recover from these things. Day 1 is sadness. Day 2 is anger. Day 3 is clubbing. It’s how we survive.

This is not normal.

We have reached a stage where we now accept these horrors as part of our routine. We have resigned to the fact that these things are inevitable, and that there is nothing we can do to stop them.

This is my country. It belongs to me. I am the abused woman that you refuse to protect. I am the hungry standing outside your mansion. I am the sick, the homeless, the refugee. I am the teacher, the entrepreneur, the dreamer. I am the underpaid worker. I am your trashman. I am your victim. I am the gay man that you’ve been violating for years. I am the child of a Lebanese mother that can’t give me her nationality. I am the brother of the man you slaughtered. I am the government employee that you’ve taught to be corrupt. I am the nurse that can no longer turn away dying people. I am the addict that you treat like a criminal. I am the married couple who just came back from Cyprus. I am the one who elected you. I am the one who will get rid of you.

I am the future of this country. Me. Not you.

So tonight, I celebrate. I celebrate our resilience, our love for this country, our strengths. I celebrate the magic that keeps us here, war after war, assassination after assassination. I celebrate my friends and family who have made staying sane here possible. But mostly, I celebrate that fact that tomorrow morning, I’m taking my country back. I’m ripping it out of the hands of the filthy politicians that run it. I’m coming for you. I’m coming for each and everyone of you. 8. 14. 11. Not a single one of you will ever be in charge of my country again. Never. As of tomorrow morning, everything I do will be aimed at getting rid of the scum that runs this country, the war mongers, the thieves, the corrupt, the liars, the monsters. No exception. This is not your country. It is my country. It is not yours to plunder and burn anymore. It is mine to sow. It is mine to love. It is mine to build. Get the fuck out of it. You don’t scare me anymore.

Tonight, I celebrate. Tomorrow, I take back my country.

#notamartyr

 

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Check out this initiative as you start to think of what you’re going to do in 2014. https://www.facebook.com/notamartyr