On Toilets and Civil War

While coming back from a picnic today, I passed by this installation in downtown Beirut that was just about to be unveiled. They were still scrubbing pots, so to speak.

These toilets are supposed to serve as seats for the public for tonight’s concert.

This particular exhibition is a commemoration of the old civil war, which officially started today, on April 13, some 33 years ago. (1975 – 1990).

The date is often seen as the ‘official’ beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. On this day, in 1975 a busload of Palestinians got ambushed in a Christian neighborhood, after earlier that day an assassination attempt had been carried out on a Christian leader. Nobody ever got caught of course, for either event, but that is quite common for this country.

However, is it not only a commemoration, but also a reminder, or a strong warning, to people of the possibilities, and the ludicrousness, of a new civil war. So why the toilets, you may wonder?
People in Lebanon have been hiding in toilets for 15 years, so you’d figure they’d have learned something in the meantime.

For those unfamiliar with the mechanisms of a (civil) war; the toilet (or bathroom) is supposedly the safest room in the house during shelling because a) it has either no windows or very small windows, and b) most bathrooms in Lebanon have a double ceiling, because the water tank for your shower is right above the bathroom.
The people that I know usually hid out in the corridors, or the underground basement of their building, but quite a few must have spend substantial time in the toilet.

Hence the title of this installation.

I think the initiative is cute. But I fear that the decision of a war or not is not in the hands of the common people. I figured out that much. The past few weeks have been uncommonly quiet. Why people would not blow up other people now or engage in street fights regarding bread prices, but a couple of weeks ago they felt a strong need to, gives me the uncanny feeling that it is all orchestrated.

I’ve got two bathrooms. All ready and set. Just kidding.