To die is the easiest part

To die is the easiest part of life and in life...

It gets tricky when you have to live and the others are dead...

Living becomes a burden...

You have to thank God that you are still alive, others aren't...

You have to keep on remembering those who died so you can have a better life...

You have to hate the ones that caused the death of your people...

If your people did not die...you wouldn't have had the life you were living now...

But is this a real life?

what kind of a life is this, which reminds you of death all the time?

A while ago, they told me in my organization that I have to travel to Baku/Azerbaijan...

Then they came to me and informed me that I am not allowed to enter the Azeri Land...

I was Armenian...They didnt care that I am a Lebanese citizen, holder of a Lebanese passport...

For Azerbaijan I was Armenian, which was more than enough to ban me from entering their country...

Yesterday...I watched a documentary prepared by a Bulgarian journalist entitled "Karabakh's Wounds"...

The journalist spoke of the Armenian Freedom Fighters...she said they can call them aggressors, extremists, but these were young men that saw their people die...

They had no choice but to fight...and most of the time to die also...for their people to be free...

A non-Armenian turned to me and said, so the Azeris feel towards you the same way that we, Lebanese feel towards Israel...

I was a bit shocked...I was expecting something like you Armenians feel towards Azerbaijan the same way the Lebanese feel about Israel...

But again, that person is a Muslim...maybe he sympathized with Muslim Azerbaijan more than with Human being Armenian..

The same way that Holocaust Israel is an ally of Oil-Producer Azerbaijan rather than being an ally of Genocide Armenia....both nations that have endured massive killing...ethnic cleansing

When you think things are easy to understand, you discover they are far more complex...

You try to understand the other...But there is always someone to remind you...

You owe your life to the Heroes who died for you...

Building LEGO models builds your soul

When you are confused...life is not easy...

When you have choices and you know what to choose...life is easy...

Lasagna or Seafood linguini...of course the seafood

Red wine or white wine...of course red wine

Tennis or Ballet...of course tennis

Work or housewife...of course work

Paris or London...of course London

Horror movie or light comedy movie...of course light comedy

 Straight or gay...of course the most fun option which gives you more options...

And here you go with the confusion...Did you understand what was the answer?

What happened why there was confusion, where did that very assertive, confident person go..

But look closer again, what is confusion or was it a decision to defy monotony?

So we come to the conclusion that easy is not always a synonym to fun and happy

Sometimes when you are confused you try harder to see in between lines and get to explore deeper layers for answers, a process that is fun and delightful because you experience so many different things before you come up with a straight answer to a choice...

It is all about building...Have you ever experienced the joy of building something, anything?

It is fascinating to see how things are built...Go now buy a LEGO game...

They are not for kids at all...once you start building the model...you feel beautiful things...great sensations...

Building is a therapy...for a permanent smile on your face...and for bringing happiness around you...

While you are building...it is your soul that your building 

Jerusalem belongs to Armenians...Also

 I haven't written down my new year's resolutions this time, because I don't want to add more disappointments into the Middle East...

I believe too many people are lying in this region and I don't want to be part of that.

However, I would like to start my new year's blogging with my article that appeared in the Serbian Journal Politics and Religion Journal, last month, where I published my article on the Armenian Presence in Jerusalem.

I am not an expert on Jerusalem, I am not an expert in religion, I barely go to church on Sundays, I learned how to read and write Armenian last year, but I am a strong believer that Jerusalem can not be the Capital of one people only.

History has been teaching us that Jerusalem should be an open city for all and no matter how long one side has control of it and no matter how hard it tries to change its demographic, physical, societal and religious identities...Jerusalem is uncontrollable...

My Christmas gift this year was this article, and I'd like to share it with everybody. Your comments will be valuable.

http://www.politicsandreligionjournal.com/images/pdf_files/engleski/volume5_no2/laury%20haytayan.pdf

Dreaming has no timing

I was walking through the forest...I needed a break...

I didn't want to talk...I didn't want to discuss...I didn't want to argue...

I just wanted my eyes to see beauty...I was fed up with listening to ugliness...

As always, I ended up in front of the big boss' office...

I didn't want to bother...I turned away...

The door opened...and I was asked in...

-Sit, I need a companion...

-The weather is so beautiful today, now we appreciate the sun more than ever after 5 days of rain, fog and gray clouds...

-I am happy that you learned the lesson...

-Things are going in the wrong direction and things need re-shuffling...

-That is scary to hear it coming from the big boss

-Ah! don't worry...I see you doing well...working hard, enjoying every bit of your life, taking things as easy as possible...

-I am happy, yes...

-chasing new dreams?

-Should I be chasing dreams or just enjoy the reality I am living in?

-But the reality you are living in is built from the dreams you were once chasing...

-You want me to keep on dreaming? even if it will make me unhappy?

-Dreaming never made you unhappy, what made you unhappy was that you wanted things at the wrong moment...

-Dreaming has no timing, but fulfilling the dreams is about finding the right timing...

And of course, the big boss opened the door to let me out, with the same grace as when he let me in...

The only thing I could do now is to go back and enjoy the sun with a cup of coffee...

Historic moments of Tunisia

Cat in Kasserine

I remember the first time I heard that "things"were happening in Tunisia, I was in the car going somewhere, when the radio broadcaster announced that Ben Ali was about to deliver an important speech.
I asked my husband what was happening and he told me that a man had burned himself to death and the people of Tunisia are revolting against the regime.
I did not think much about it, it never crossed my mind that Ben Ali will escape the country and I definitely never thought the day will come when I will be observing the historic elections of Tunisia.
When I received the invitation from the Carter Center, I was delighted.
Being part of the Middle East new History is certainly something to be proud of. I have spent years working with the communities, for the well being of this region, and now I had the chance to be part of the new arab awakening.
When I was deployed to the governorate of Kasserine, I was proud.
Kasserine is 300 km away from Tunis, it is the governorate next to Sidi BouZid (where Bou Azizi set himself in fire). Eventhough, everybody considers that this is where the revolution started, the people of Kasserine have a different story, and I would not have discovered that if I had not been sent to that poor area.
Kasserine is not a rich governorate eventhough it has all the potentials, but for long it was ignored, according to the inhabitants it goes back in time, because Kasserine has always been the rebel town.
Anyways, let us focus on the modern day revolt of Kasserine. The poeple of Kasserine admit that the death of Bou Azizi initiated the revolution, however, they consider that they have continued the revolution, they have marched in the streets day and night till the fall of the dictator.
You go to Hay AlZouhour, the Martyrs' Square, you find in the Middle of the Town a newly erected monument for the 20 martyrs that were killed by the regime forces.
And I had the chance to be there for their elections. The people of Kasserine woke up on Sunday to continue what they had started. They went to the polling stations proud and happy to elect their new leaders.
At this stage, it does not matter you won the elections. What matters is that people like the people of Kasserine believe that they can be part of the building of their country, that they can be part in deciding what kind of lives they want to live.

And I was there...

Back from New York City

I arrived to New York City on Saturday, the day after the Palestinian Statehood Bid saga...

The hotel where I was staying was invaded by "security people", and black official cars and check stations...

The Indian delegation and other delegations among them the Lebanese President were staying at the hotel...

I left Lebanon with hours and hours of talk, analysis, expectations of the day after Abbas' speech and the Statehood Bid...

I arrived to NYC to where the main attraction was taking place...and no sign of action...

And the Statehood show was one of the bad performances of Broadway...

I spent an excellent week in NYC, the city that never sleeps...

I walked, I went sight seeing, I went to the Museums and I spent all my dollars on shopping, with a great smile on my face...

NYC is one of the cities where you keep smiling and where you feel happy...even though...people are demonstrating in Wall St accusing it to be the War St, and showing anger towards the 1% of America's rich people...

And I am back to Beirut...

To the same stories and conflicts... to life with stress and anger...

Nadine Labaki: what is next? where do we go now?

I went last night to watch Nadine Labaki's new movie: Where do we go now? or What is next? I dont know exactly what is the title in English, but it does not matter...

It was the official screening of the movie... I went... lots of familiar faces...everybody anxious to see what is next after Caramel...

For 2 hours, I watched one of the best movies I have ever seen...

In her movie, Nadine Labaki arouses in you all sorts of emotions...

You laugh...

You cry...

You get angry...

You get frustrated...

You are happy...

You are sad...

You are amazed...

You think...

You think alot about the absurdity of war...

You think how easy it is to start a war...

You think how hard it is to heal the scars of war...

You think how far can people go to save peace...

This movie deserves an Oscar, it deserves all the titles and awards that it is getting and that it will get...

This movie is the most powerful message of peace...

It deserves the Nobel Peace Prize...