Lebanon — where people continue trying to live while war happens around them

In Ireland, many of us know Lebanon through Unifil deployments, airport reunions, faded memories of hostage crises, and civil war. We think of soldiers returning home from peacekeeping tours.  We rarely think about the texture of ordinary life there now.

Nino Bek Aramouni, owner of the bar Dragonfly in Lebanon; and right, ceramicist and photographer Tala Hajjar.

“We try to bring the kids for a walk to the beach, but it's always there, buzzing above us. Always reminding us what’s coming next.” 

 This is the noise that has become the soundtrack to another Lebanese summer. Not the music spilling from bars in Gemmayzeh, nor the late traffic crawling along the Corniche, nor the call to prayer folding softly across Beirut at dusk.