"Lebanon's Summer" Video - Ministry of Tourism and MEA's "Rediscover Lebanon"
"Lebanon's Nighlife" Video - Ministry of Tourism and MEA's "Rediscover Lebanon"
I came across those four video clips on youtube the other day. They were part of a multimedia publicity campaign titled "Rediscover Lebanon" launched by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with MEA prior to the July 2006 war to promote the country's tourist attractions (beach & ski resorts, nightclubs, archeological sites, etc...) and encourage tourism travel and spending during the winter and summer months.
I enjoyed the first video with all the young attractive trendy women running around in bikini swimsuits, having a good time, table dancing, and driving around in expensive cars. This is of course not representative of the lifestyle of most segments of Lebanese society especially that constant annoying reference to "Lebanese love to party hard", "Lebanese love to go out", "Lebanese love to let it go", "Life is for living" and my personal favorite: "Nightlife in Beirut is about seeing and being seen: it's the national sport of Lebanon". This is all too reminiscent of the notorious "I Love Life" campaign. But then again, who cares... Overall, I do like the video because they do serve their main purpose which is to encourage young tourists from the West to visit the country. This campaign was targeting a Western audiance which is constantly exposed to images of violence, terrorism, and regional conflicts originating from the Middle East. The videos were, after all, designed to portray Lebanon as a fun, friendly, and safe tourist destination (at least, prior to the July war).
Things got a bit more interesting toward the end of the "Lebanon Summer" video where, without any warning and out of nowhere, the controversial topic of Lebanese identity (a national taboo) is suddenly raised in the open. The video's version of national identity goes as follows: "You can't label Lebanon in any way. We're in the Middle East but we're partly a European country". The politically correct and socially acceptable definition of national identity is a bit different and can be found in the 1989 Taef Agreement: "Lebanon is Arab in belonging and identity". As far as the Taef agreement is concerned, this issue is now resolved, forever closed, and no longer subject to any more discussions or interpretations. But in reality, we're still caught up in our own national identity crisis in this country in spite of two civil wars, countless foreign invasions, and hundreds of thousands of casualties. The roots of the 1958 mini-civil war, the 1975 civil war, and the current ongoing March 8 vs. March 14 conflict can be all traced down to that unresolved national identity crisis. What are our aspirations for this country ? Should Lebanon interests be aligned with those of the anti-American, anti-European coalition represented by Syria, Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea and should Lebanon be actively engaged in the Arab-Israeli conflict ? Or do Lebanon's interests lie elsewhere ? Should the country be aligned with the West instead (mainly the US and Western European countries) and be totally disengaged from the Arab-Israeli conflict ?
8 comments:
The problem is that each lebanese sect wants to have a foreign power as ally.
Therefore we cannot take the lebanese "problem", or case if you prefer, as a unique and homogeneous block, but rather in 18 parts.
Regarding the tourism advertisment, I dont think it's a big issue, since the main goal is to attract either westerners or Gulf citizens eager to live that kind of unique travel experience.
So basita if we lie to others. It is not the first time we do it.
nomad>> That's right. In which case, you'll agree with me that Lebanon is, for the lack of a better word, a failed state and will remain so as long as there are Lebanese living in it (we, Lebanese, want it to remain that way... a failed state).
Lebanon is not a failed state. It was never meant to be a "normal" one. This country is something else, and no one understood that it can be governed in a classical manner.
We have to accept it.
... i meant it cant be governed in a classical manner.
nomad>> Thanks for the feedback. Let me explain what I meant by failed state. A failed state is one in which the government doesn't have effective control of its territory, where the government is perceived as illegitimate by a section of the population, where the government cannot/doesn't provide security or public services to all its citizens, where the government fails to collect taxes from some regions of the country, and where the government lacks the monopoly on the use of force (i.e. qarar al 7arb oual selem).
We do meet some of the above requirements. But some of the countries in the region (countries such as Egypt, Syria, Iran, and Yemen that appear stable on the surface but actually qualify as failed states and off course Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan which are sinking in civil wars) are worse off than us in spite of all our internal problems.
Maybe "failed" is too harsh of a word when describing the state of the country. A "fragile state" would be a better fit. I'll explain more in a new post next week.
Reminding me of a campaign long time ago for tourism in lebanon as well....
starting from south lebanon with an israeli flag on the other side of the border.
Silly to place lebanon as a touristic place with our dear syrian and israeli neighboors. Better to bet on a high value added productions.
I am still Lebanese and In love with Lebanon
Cheers!
x.
I love Lebanon :)
Thanks for publishing all this my friend
Cheers!
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