"The point of taking issue with such idealised odes to money and
fashion is not to deny the affluence that exists in the city or the
comparatively liberal nature of its society. However, the marketing of a
Beirut brand of "joie de vivre" that is so blatantly equated
with material wealth becomes morally problematic when we acknowledge the
glaring economic disparity in the country, visible in the capital
itself.
Consider, for example, the aesthetic differences between the refurbished downtown and the overcrowded and neglected Palestinian refugee camps and primarily Shia southern suburbs, where recent infrastructure projects have included the rampant flattening of apartment blocks by the Israeli air force in 2006.
Needless to say, less sanitary aspects of life in Lebanon - such as the enslaved status of many migrants employed in the domestic help sector - have no place in the portrait of Beirut as a paradise of wealth, where tantalising opportunities await foreign visitors and their pocket-books." (thanks Maya)
Consider, for example, the aesthetic differences between the refurbished downtown and the overcrowded and neglected Palestinian refugee camps and primarily Shia southern suburbs, where recent infrastructure projects have included the rampant flattening of apartment blocks by the Israeli air force in 2006.
Needless to say, less sanitary aspects of life in Lebanon - such as the enslaved status of many migrants employed in the domestic help sector - have no place in the portrait of Beirut as a paradise of wealth, where tantalising opportunities await foreign visitors and their pocket-books." (thanks Maya)
