Letter from Beirut: A Stubborn Indifference to War

This city keeps you on your toes, as long as you hang on to them. When you walk across a one-way street, look both ways. No driver—on a motorcycle or in an SUV—hesitates to charge the wrong way up a road clearly signed for traffic to go in the opposite direction. When two cars meet head-on, the driver going the wrong way shouts abuse at the innocent one obeying the rules. Welcome to Beirut. This insouciant behavior reflects the near-unanimous contempt for law—in a country whose politicians illegally enrich themselves—of a populace with an indomitable will to enjoy life despite decades of violence. Since 1975, wars have caused unfathomable destruction while somehow allowing much of the city to survive. The ruination continues today courtesy of Israeli warplanes, rockets, and drones that demolish apartment complexes, mosques, hospitals, schools, and hotels. “Do you remember what Lebanon was like before Iran and Hezbollah…