Lebanon 3.0? It seems there’s hope!

It’s Monday, January 13, 2024 – a day marked by the “unlucky” number, 13. But how could that be when the day might just be the luckiest one Lebanon has seen in years? We can look back to October 17, 2019, an exceptional day, when Lebanon’s streets roared with calls for leadership that could steer us away from the chaos. Fast forward to today, that far-fetched dream is finally taking shape with Nawaf Salam being nominated to form a new government. At last, the tides of history are turning. Perhaps 13 isn’t so unlucky after all, and dreams do indeed come true.

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As I write this op ed from Paris, where I spotted a guy wearing a hoodie that read, “Embrace the chaos of life احتضن فوضى الحياة.” When I intriguingly asked if I could snap a picture, he replied in the most typical Lebanese trilingual blend: “Mais bien sûr, although the chaos is finally over, alf mabrook!”

Two discoveries at once: he’s Lebanese and he’s “menneni.” In southern Lebanese slang, menneni is used jokingly to signify someone from the same sect, reflecting the country’s sectarian divides. Tonight though, menneni hits different – he’s one of us, the Lebanese people who are rejoicing over the winds of long-awaited change. I answer, “mabrook elna kelna,” which translates to “congratulations to us all,” longing for a day when national unity replaces confessional division in Lebanon.

Just a few days prior, I was back home in Lebanon, where I’d come to celebrate the holidays with my family. When I learned that parliament would convene on January 9, 2025, to elect a president, I knew I couldn’t leave just yet. This was history in the making, and my passion for journalism and politics demanded that I be at Place de l'Étoile to witness the birth of the Lebanon I had dreamed of years ago as an international affairs master’s student.

Back then, my thesis titled “Gen 2.0 and Web 2.0 for Leb 3.0” studied how a tech-savvy new generation could forge a reimagined Lebanon. The big day has come, the country is in labor, its people impatiently awaiting zero hour. After 2 years, 2 months, and 9 days of political deadlock – plus two extra hours of last-minute consultations – army chief Joseph Aoun was elected as the new president.

The light at the end of the tunnel is finally shining through.

Back in November, my home country, Lebanon, was at a full-scale war. I was in Riyadh, my second home, where I spent sleepless nights watching entire towns and villages being carpet-bombed on live TV. By morning, my weary eyes scoured news websites, desperately searching for some logic in an utterly senseless world. On November 2, French-Lebanese writer Youmna Chamieh, based in New York, heartbreakingly reflected in an essay for the Financial Times titled “Writing to Beirut, Again” that “all we can hope for is something like a deus ex machina.” At the time, I couldn’t have agreed more. And now, looking back, it seems that’s exactly what happened: “A contrived new force swooped in at the last moment to save a hopeless situation.”

Against all odds, we were saved, and now, a new chapter begins.

As I wrap up my second op ed for Al Arabiya English, my thoughts keep drifting back to Beirut where celebration has carried on since Christmas.

January is typically joked about as the “giant Monday” of the year, filled with post-holiday blues. Not this year, though. Scrolling through Instagram, I come across a story summing up the mood: “We elected a new president, named a new PM, spent the salary, and January isn’t over yet!” Another more heartfelt story reads, “Lebanon, you deserve to be happy!” And then comes the absolute conclusion, à la Sardé: “Eh, tole’ fi Amal!” Which translates to “Yes, there is hope!”

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Riyadh: Home of dreamers