Let’s Call This “Lebanon’s National Day”

It happens every year on Lebanon’s Independence Day. Lebanese opinion writers get busy writing all sorts of snarky columns about why Lebanon is not really independent. They then start preaching about which foreign power we need to kick in the nuts to finally achieve real independence.

News flash: It won’t happen. Ever. Not because Lebanon is incapable of being independent but because, as I wrote last year, the whole notion of independence in today’s world is obsolete. We all live in a world where all nations are interdependent.

But does that mean we should stop celebrating on November 22nd ? Of course not.

We love our country and many of us actually enjoy all the flag-waving, parades, google doodles, balloons, fireworks and festivities. Can’t we just indulge in a day of shameless patriotism without poisoning the fun with all the debates about how independent we really are? Just look at your twitter and facebook streams, they’re so full of cynicism it’s sad. It’s like parents fighting on their kid’s birthday.

We’re having the wrong conversation. We shouldn’t be talking about ‘independence’, we should be celebrating Lebanon itself. Let’s call November 22nd Lebanon’s “National Day”. It will be a day of appreciation for our country. We give this day the Halloween treatment, where we consciously decide to shed aside our normal garments of cynicism and doubt and just bask in unbridled joy with the red, white and green.

Any takers?