I flew into a darkened country on 10/28/20. In Lebanon, I saw a society in deep crisis after being attacked by Jews through several decades. Jewish wars had flooded the country with refugees from Palestine and Syria. Jewish meddling had pitted different Lebanese factions against each other, though not entirely successfully, for I saw Muslims and Christians coexisting peacefully in adjacent villages, with regular interactions, as in Muslims visiting Christian stores to buy alcohol.
My driver was a Muslim, Ali, who boasted of drinking first thing in the morning, then all day long. Though his alcoholism didn’t affect his steering, it sometimes crimped his memory, so he’d forget where he was taking me.
“Ali, are we going south? We’re not supposed to go to Saida. You’re supposed to take me to my hotel in Beirut.”
Despite their extremely difficultcircumstances, the Lebanese were very gracious and composed, gentle and smiling, and I didn’t have to worry about street crime. In Beirut, I wandered about whenever, often in the dark down empty streets late at night or before dawn
Still stylish, beautiful and sophisticated, Beirut was severely damaged, with brokenbuildings everywhere. Punctured by mortar rounds and thousands of bullets in 1975-76, the 26-storyHoliday Inn stood unrepaired as a permanent monument to war, like the bombed TV station and Department of Defense buildings in Belgrade, or the “hollow tooth” in Berlin. Next to the Holiday Inn, the Phoenicia was a burnt out mess for nearly 25 years. Reopened in 2000, it’s an empty wreck again, due to the port explosion in August of 2020, which most Lebanese believe was a Jewish attack. Many saw airplanes just before it happened, and both the US and Israel have refused to release satellite images to aid the investigation.
Lebanon is constantly surveilled by Jews. Daily, Jewish planes violate its airspace. I stopped looking up after three days. On my first day in Cairo two months later, I instinctively thought “Israel” when I heard an airliner overhead.
When a society’s in trouble, food and fuel become scarce, and the government increasingly fails to provide basic services. Even in Beirut, street and traffic lights were often not turned on at night, so there were more accidents. With the army so weak, Lebanon’s southern third had been ceded to Hezbollah, which managed to maintain impressive order, and even some social welfare. Insolvent, the government printed money to pay bills, which led to runaway inflation, forcing citizens to cut back on basics. I met Lebanese who had stopped eating meat. Walking around, I was often hounded by beggars, many of them children. To the embarrassment of passersby, they’d spread out their tiny hands while pleading, “Baba! Baba!”
Even privileged Lebanese were affected. With capital control, they could withdraw only so much from their banks each month. Still, they were dining out and shopping at upscale malls. Living far from shabby neighborhoods, they witnessed none of the worst misery. Driving around, it was easier for them to ignore beggars, though there was nearly always one or two at each intersection. “Oh, they’re not Lebanese,” I’d hear, “but Syrian refugees.” Or, “They’re professional beggars. They walk around barefoot to look more miserable.” A cleanly dressed middle-aged man digging through a trash can was glibly deemed mentally ill by a comfortable Lebanese. In the US, I had heard similar verdicts about its many hundreds of thousands of homeless, that they’re just alcoholics, junkies or, simply, losers.
You’d think a country with a disintegrating economy would not attract immigrants, but there are always direr levels of destitution, so in Lebanon, there were plenty of Filipina, Sri Lankan and Ethiopian domestic servants. Why import these, when there were so many Lebanese barely surviving and not eating meat? Why not, since foreigners cost less?
[Leeba, 11/8/20]
With Israel an impossible neighbor, most Lebanese couldn’t wait for it to disappear. While in Lebanon, I was even told an attack from the Axis of Resistance of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah was imminent, as in months and not years. With Hezbollah tunnels deep inside Israel, tons of sophisticated weapons were being smuggled in, so the Jews were terrified, with many already fleeing Israel, I was told. Gaza was ready to rise.
Entertaining this finale, I fantasized about entering a liberated Palestine, but of course that didn’t occur, and it can’t happen now, more than a year later. When it comes to the workings of history, we’re mostly in the dark, for we don’t decide anything. The big boys toy with us.
On 10/15/20, there was an ad on American television, “Why Not Vietnam?” Since it pitched the country as a post-Covid destination, people didn’t just assume Vietnam would reopen soon, but Covid was about done. Stuck in the dark, we were dead wrong, of course. The main Covid act, with its most deadly aim, was still ahead. Billions of the duped or cowed still had to be injuriously or fatally jabbed, by force if necessary, for as long as it takes.
On 11/9/20, Pfizer proudly announced the arrival of its mRNA “vaccine.” Accepting a Theodor Herzl Award from the World Jewish Congress on 11/10/21, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla would point out that November 9th has a darker significance:
As the son of Holocaust survivors, to me, November 9th has always been synonymous with Kristallnacht. On that Night of Broken Glass, the antisemitism that made Nazi Germany went from discriminatory words and policies to outright violence. The destruction of property, the killings, the arrest of 30,000 Jews who were sent to concentration camps marked the beginning of the Holocaust. Because of this, November 9th, 1938 will always be remembered for the horrors that racists and hatred can bring to our world. But then came November 9th of 2020, a day that will always be remembered as well, as an example of the hope that human ingenuity and determination can bring to the world. This is the day that Pfizer delivered the news to the world that it has been waiting for, that clinical trials demonstrated that our vaccines worked. That news brought great joy to billions of people around the world. Grandparents could soon be able to have their grandchildren. Coffee shops, restaurants and movie theaters could soon welcome back guests. We will be able to get on a plane again, and most important, lives will be saved.
Bourla isn’t the only one linking his “vaccine” to the Holocaust. Unaware of his speech, I wrote on 11/18/21, “The Jewish controlled mainstream and social media are certainly uniform in pushing this genocide. It’s how we atone for their mostly mythical Holocaust.”
Linh, I have never commented on a piece of yours until now. I must thank you for all your work. I stumbled upon your articles via LRC a few years ago. Ever since, you've been one of my favorite writers to follow. You're also one of the few writers who uses words that I to look up the definition of. I grew up in Northern Virginia, and one of your first pieces I recall reading was your Postcard from DC. It articulated so many of the thoughts and feelings I had towards the city, but could never quite find the right words for. Finally, your pieces on Coronafascism have been excellent. I confess in 2020 I was anxiously wondering "when is Linh going to take on the New Normal and Davos crowd?" Sure enough, you ultimately rose to the occasion. Our side has to win. I'll look for your tip jar (assuming you have one) to support your work.
Linh, I have never commented on a piece of yours until now. I must thank you for all your work. I stumbled upon your articles via LRC a few years ago. Ever since, you've been one of my favorite writers to follow. You're also one of the few writers who uses words that I to look up the definition of. I grew up in Northern Virginia, and one of your first pieces I recall reading was your Postcard from DC. It articulated so many of the thoughts and feelings I had towards the city, but could never quite find the right words for. Finally, your pieces on Coronafascism have been excellent. I confess in 2020 I was anxiously wondering "when is Linh going to take on the New Normal and Davos crowd?" Sure enough, you ultimately rose to the occasion. Our side has to win. I'll look for your tip jar (assuming you have one) to support your work.
Also, Off-Guardian is one of the websites that has been on this from the jump. Here are two important pieces that many seem to have missed: https://off-guardian.org/2021/03/12/tanzania-the-second-covid-coup/ https://off-guardian.org/2020/07/14/coronavirus-and-regime-change-burundis-covid-coup/ They're must-reads