«What would you do if your house were to catch fire? Would you run and leave all your possessions behind? Would you stay and do your best to put out the flames before rebuilding it?» someone once asked me.
In remembering the Lebanese civil war, the main theme of this supplement, I would like to pay tribute to every person who rolled up their sleeves and helped to rebuild Lebanon. I would also like to emphasise the role of «secret heroes» who by risking life and limb documented, processed and reflected the civil war through music, poetry and theatre.
In that tradition, I salute those who today try to convince the Lebanese youth that peace, and not violence, is the resolution to conflict, and that it is futile to believe that only oneself or one’s community are the sole victims of the civil war and to blame the other(s) for a precarious situation. We have to be aware that such divisions and social constructions of «us» and «them» are the foundations of enmity.
War and especially civil war is monstrous. It cuts right through a society’s fabric, through neighborhoods, villages and cities. But war also pushes people to hope, work and sometimes risk their lives for peace. Building peace is a process that requires a much longer timescale than anger and escalation and that has to be founded on a long-term vision for reconciliation.
In that regard, I cannot but reaffirm the importance to reflect on a nation’s/societies’ violent past to become aware of the overarching value of peace and non-violent conflict-resolution. In that regard, I wish that the memory of older generations can translate into a peace-orientated consciousness of the youth. May the cruel experience of 1975-1990 further strengthen Lebanon’s ability for moderation and understanding.