From a church in Baalbek

There’s a new Maronite church under construction in Baalbek, Lebanon. Inside there were naked mannequins and a stuffed fox.  A crowned Virgin hovered in a cornflower sky on a painting in the chapel. This video is of a hymn that was being played through loudspeakers, calling people to prayer. I understood nothing of it, but found it moving nonetheless.

‘Civil Marriage, Not Civil War’

I have a new post on the London Review of Books Blog about the Secular movement in Lebanon. Here are some photos from the march on May 15th in Beirut.

Beirut graffiti

I have a new post on the London Review of Books Blog about the sectarian graffiti in Beirut. As per usual, it features an act of stupidity on my part.