My mom, Dolly Ghanem, and the 8 o'clock news

It’s 8 pm… and if you are Lebanese, you probably know what time it is. It’s time for the news. I can almost visualize my fellow countrymen and women. Circling around the TV, choosing a channel they think most credible, there is a huge selection to choose from - Future TV, Al Jadeed, LBC, NBN, MTV, MANAR… you name it, we watch it. Then there are the more eclectic among us; those might choose to watch Arabiya, Jazeera CNN, BBC… And then there are my parents, who have their own ritual. Every night at 8 pm my dad and mom alternate channels, my dad watches the news of one channel on one TV set, and my mom watches another news broadcast on another channel on another TV set (I must mention here that we have more than 1 TV set at home)

Tonight my mother has chosen to watch LBC’s news. And she chose well I must say. At exactly 8 pm, Dolly Ghanem, a well known Lebanese news anchor shines through our SHARP LCD screen, dressed in a lovely blue top looking like the royalty that she is… yes I am a HUGE FAN! She starts the news as usual with what’s going on next door... how many died, how many lied, how many are still on strike, how many call for further revolution, how many call to stop the revolution, how many went out to demand their freedom after prayers, how many prayers… The numbers grow, the bloodshed continues. I guess prayers are not being answered tonight!

Dolly’s face says it all really, and in case you or I missed it, the images remind you… the voices remind you, the weird feeling at the pit of your stomach reminds you.

Dolly then talks about the Bieber fever that has taken the Arab world by storm, all 22 countries of it… yes we have our own Bieber, he is none other than Al Qathafi, his actions, words, whereabouts seem to still top the headlines. One Libyan revolution’s solider talks about how they will search for the Libyan Bieber, find him and bring him to justice because according to him “GAME OVER”. I am not sure which game he meant: is it the lack of development? Is it getting rid of NATO before they turn Libya into another Iraq? Is it how to produce oil to benefit the Libyan people? Or is it relieving the Libyan people of the water crisis that looms ahead? Well I guess that’s a lot of games but the solider was very determined to highlight that the “Game is over”

It’s time for a break. The best ad of them all is that of Cheyef 7alak campaign. A very well informed Lebanese wozz on a scooter explains to us viewers that what makes a real chauffer are 2 things: “2il2ab wil Tikhmees”…translation: balancing a motorbike on one wheel and riding it to form a full circle like the number five in Arabic… My mom and I laugh… my mom runs to check on her cooking and meet my dad to discuss and analyze what they just saw and heard… they are cute when they go all political in the corridor.

I mute the TV and go back to reading my book: “In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian story”. I am in chapter 2, page 96: “But as February slipped into March with no signs of relief for our plight, hope that the Arab states were going to leap to our defense were dwindling fast…” My eyes roll to page 97:

Matters got worse and here was shooting in the streets in Tulkarm, the old people were bewildered by it. They remembered how it was in the Great War and thought it was happening all over again. “But even the Great War came to an end” they said and so will this…”

This is way too familiar. According to Dr. Ghada Karmi, this was back in January of 1948. Based on what I have seen so far from the 8 o’clock news tonight, not much have changed, in fact hardly anything has changed except for the hairstyles of news anchors. Bullets are still heard in the streets. Whether the streets are that of Tulkarm, Gaza, Hamra, Saida, Damscus, Allepo, Libya, or Yemen; our plight has not been relieved.

The break is over, I un-mute the TV and decide that Dolly deserves another chance, maybe next she will communicate hope, positivity, a resolution of some sort… Dolly, bless her soul does nothing of the sort. I don’t think she heard me.

Instead, Mrs. Ghanem informs that tomorrow is the first day of Eid Al Fitr. I don’t know if anyone noticed what happened next. Then again I could have imagined it, but I could have sworn that Dolly took a deep breath and then started talking about the Lebanese government.  Now frankly, to a Lebanese, that is by far the most agonizing of topics. Sometimes, I think we would all rather take bullets in the streets of Libya than have to listen to them or to any other Lebanese politician speak. Dolly shares a politician’s speech with us.  He talks and talks, and then he talks of the names the Americans gave him: “What were they?” he asks a reporter with humor, or humorless, then he utters: “uncontrollable” and “unpredictable” My mom turns to me as I write this and asks: “What did he say? Did he say unrespectable?” I laugh… I crack up actually. I correct her and laugh some more… it does not really matter what they call him… it doesn’t matter because he makes my mom laugh. I love it when my mom laughs… and in a way I almost emotionally connected with that politician because he makes my mom laugh… I connected with him for a split second… but then I came back to my senses!

The agony does not end. Dolly is playing rough tonight! She talks about who visited the prime minster and what they talked about and then… just when you think there will be less pain she mentions Walloudi’s name. She talks about whom Walloudi choose to congratulate and send regards to for the occasion of Eid 2il Fitr. Of course, Lebanon despite current events still carries some form of democracy in the Middle East and accordingly you would think that Walloudi should be free to congratulate and salute anyone he wants. But NO! Walloudi has done it again! He has turned the simple act of congratulating people during Eid into a news headline with one of his subliminal press releases that just keep everyone wondering… More gibberish… I don’t think it’s Dolly’s fault. Then Dolly speaks of Palestine, well she really has nothing to say… she just updates the rest of us about the death count, my heart cracks. Somalia is briefly mentioned, only because of $2 million donation not because more than $2 million people are starving to death. Someone bombed a mosque in Iraq…again!

Dolly talks some more, another break, another ad, I am still wondering about page 97… 

The news ends with Karla, I love Karla… I really do, I have nothing against her… she is just doing her job and it happens to be saying gibberish about the weather and other parts of the world. At least she looks a lot better and causes me no pain while she says it. Karla has no more gibberish to say. Camera zooms in on Dolly, she smiles back at me, great haircut, knock out blouse, looking like royalty and she asks my mom and I to join her tomorrow at the same time.

I look over to say something to my mom… she is not there! She left. I am not sure when she left. I am not sure if she even came back. I guess she knows, what Gahda Karmi and Dolly know… New news will not be broadcasted tonight! New news will just have to wait… we ALL have to wait and watch another news anchor, another day but at the same time! We cannot handle new news anyway, especially one of hopeful and positive nature!

Imagine what would happen, if there where no more bullets in the streets, if students in Gaza can walk to school instead of run for their lives, if you can protest in Hamra without being beaten half to death and chased out of your own country. Imagine if suddenly a group of investors’ decided to invest and develop the agriculture sector in Somalia. And I don’t want to even think what will happen if Egypt gets a decent president and if the only Americans in Iraq turn out to be just…tourists! And by far the most elaborate of imaginations is to imagine that a mom will send her son out to the grocery store and will not have to worry whether he will come back or not. I think I am giving myself ulcers just thinking about it…

You see, all this NEW news after all this old news CANNOT be good news! It’s bad for my health; it’s bad for yours… So we wait. I mean after all it’s only been 60 something years… For God’s sake people have some patience! 


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