Holiday Cheer in South: Thank the U.A.E.

While our local politicians are mining the political and constitutional landscape, 84 villages and 8 million acres of land are now free of mines and of cluster bombs thanks to the efforts and funds of the government of the UAE (United Arab Emirates).

The Bint Jbeil municipalities and other local authorities in the area thanked, and rightly so, “UAE President H.H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his generous grant to Lebanon.”

At the risk of sounding like your typical hypocritical Lebanese sycophant, I too thank Sheikh Khalifah and his countrymen. Some “brothers’ send us bombs and terrorists. Others send us sappers and deminers. Which ones are more popular and have more influence in Lebanon? Go figure.

That is not to say that I would ever venture anywhere in the South outside of a concrete or asphalted downtown, nor would I recommend it to anyone other than Hassan Nasrallah. God protect the southerners and their families, and those who have to work those fields, even demined. I am sure there is much, much, more to clean up, and I for one will never ever feel safe in any southern meadow.

I wonder: how many Lebanese will be dancing in the streets with the picture of the good Sheikh? As opposed to those dancing with a pic of Bashar or Hassan Nasrallah.