For the 31 years l’ve lived, I have not known a Lebanon without Hassn Nasr|lah. His persona determined how I viewed and understood this country and its limitations.
Invincible, in different ways to different people. Live beneath his wings and to you, he will feel bigger than death. Suffocate under his weight, and he will be bigger than the life you are denied. But in everyone’s minds, for better or worse, he was here to stay.
Learning of his sudden death reminds us that history can be awfully slow for a time yet incredibly unpredictable for a moment. For Lebanon, I don’t yet know what this means.
What I know is that many are mourning a dream and so many of us are taking the first sigh after a long night. Many will agree, he was a threat to this country’s independence. A major obstacle to its unfulfilled potential. To me, he was also a threat to the sovereignty I seek over my own body and mind.
He pulled us back and made many of us feel as if we were born in the wrong place and the wrong time.
Today is day one after the death of Hassan Nasrallah. This announcement comes at a very bleak moment for Lebanon.
The cycle of violence he has inherited has managed, for now, to outlive him – but so did this country – and that means it’s now up to us to find a final way out.
Uncertainty is the dominant sentiment and the common denominator among us today, but let’s also think of the new options fate is unlocking for Lebanon.