"May you live in interesting times..."

I heard that "may you live in interesting times" is supposed to be a curse. In Lebanon, the people are living through the most interesting of times indeed.

As I strolled home this afternoon from a very pleasant coffee date with a fellow western diplomatic "spouse", I learned that there was a political assassination on the streets outside of Beirut. I subsequently learned that the man assassinated was named Pierre Gemayel -- a Christian political leader. He was only in his 30s. Though I do not have anything more than an academic understanding of Lebanese politics, I cannot help but feel sad. He was very young, only a few years older than myself or Glenn. He was gunned down in his car in his predominantly Christian constituency just outside of Beirut.

I feel sad at this loss of life, but I also feel sad that assassinations such as this one have become commonplace for the people of Lebanon. According to reports, this is the 5th assassination of an anti-Syrian Lebanese politician in the last 2 years.

By all accounts, the political situation here is precarious -- "teetering", as CNN has so aptly put it. Tensions between political factions, which are for the most part divided along religious sectarian lines, are mounting. Opposition political leaders have called for mass demonstrations in the streets and it is not yet known borne out how the assassination of Mr. Gemayel (who was aligned with those trying to uphold the current government) will affect the situation.

I make no judgments here about who is in the right and who is in the wrong. The Lebanese people live in a tangled web of religion and politics, with external forces as strong as the internal ones. Even in my short month here, I have witnessed a mix of frustration and resignation among many of the people that I have met -- they desire stability but they feel powerless to change the tides. I don't know what to do but hope the best for them.

My friend Randal said in his blog that one of his Japanese ESL students wrote the words "I hope world peace" in response to a film about war.

On this night in Beirut -- on the eve of Independence Day in Lebanon -- I hope world peace too.