Lebanon has always rebelled against political repression
For years the Arab intellectual elite looked to Lebanon, coveting its atmosphere of freedom. Feigning the non-existence of repression, Beirut welcomed intellectuals from across the region, published their works and celebrated them. Yet, even following the murder of Lokman Slim, the powers that be are incapable of controlling everything. An essay by Elias Khoury
What’s the difference between an assassination and an execution? This is the headache of a question facing Lebanese; it existed before Lokman Slim was killed, and it looks likely to preoccupy people for a long while to come. The question goes to the heart of the cultural scene and the intellectuals in Lebanon, Egypt and the Arab Levant.
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Lebanese women did not have the chance to build an image of themselves that corresponds to their weight and influence or describes their struggle to obtain their weight and influence.
It is true that Lebanon has known many prominent women intellectuals, writers, artists, and academics, and many businesswomen, women professionals, journalists, militants, and activists who fought to the end for what they believe in.
The colored revolution of 2019- 2020 was also a brilliant site for exposing women’s shining and active presence.
These developments flew in the face of the deeply entrenched traditional image of the women- the mother and the woman- the wife and woman- the daughter or sister, not to mention “the fairer sex” and “the salon ladies” who embrace folkloric activities, touristic festivals or institutions described as philanthropic.
Villa Slim Becomes a Cultural Tribute to a Journalist Shot Dead Dead in Lebanon Published February 23rd, 2021 - 07:05 GMT
Lokman Slim’s killing is a personal tragedy (Twitter)
Highlights
Somewhere nearby, several dogs start barking.
Villa Slim sits not far from the street sign welcoming motorists to Haret Hreik. If this municipality just south of Beirut exists in the popular imagination, it’s as a “Hezbollah stronghold.”
It’s a Saturday and Villa Slim is quiet. The garden is still adorned by flower wreaths set down during the Feb. 10 memorial marking the death of Lokman Slim, whose bullet-riddled body had been found in south Lebanon a few days before.