Consider this my coming out. Not as gay – that would be easier – but as Arab. It’s an identity I’ve kept under wraps for far too long, hidden from friends and society at large. But as the war in the Middle East erupts, particularly in Lebanon, the time for silence is over.
I wonder if society truly wants to hear from me. A Lebanese-Canadian child of immigrants, I’ve learned to fit in well enough to render my ethnicity invisible, allowing me to achieve academic and career successes – not too Arab, Canadian enough. But this past year has changed everything. Arabs. Jews. The bloodbath we have witnessed has forever transformed us all.
For me, the profound depth of my connection to my Arab identity is matched only by the gut-wrenching horror I now feel – one I never knew was possible.
“Former CBC Journalist.” Within the Canadian press a “both sides” normalization is taking place.
War is ugly business don’t start them especially in the middle east where most states fund and or harbour the likes of Hamas and Hezbollah.
