I refuse… – L’Orient-Le Jour

I refuse a thousand and one times…

I refuse to allow my flag to become entirely red, not green or white.

I refuse to be passive, to remain apathetic, mute, to resign myself, to give in to the influence of Phobos, to be subject to oppressive diktats, to an accomplice who stifles our voices

I refuse to see my heritage pounded by an obsolete crusade

I refuse to have my head bowed, my back bent, my annihilated eyes fixed on ambiguity, my hands fettered

I refuse to see my people collide against the plunder of Hades, without anyone being saved

I refuse to see my homeland sink into the abyss of a battle that leads to nothing

I refuse to not be able to freely express my opinion in the country “of democracy”

I refuse to remain blinded by nonsense who manipulate my people like sleepwalkers

I refuse to remain calm, to not cry fed up, at a time when my country is submerged by the tumultuous waves of despair, swallowed up under the weight of the crashing waves of chaos

I refuse that the struggle of my ancestors is in vain, that the rebellion of Gebran Khalil Gebran who devoted his pen to painting his country tarnishes, that the melodious and captivating timbre of Feyrouz, who delivered his art to his homeland, is reduced to silence

I refuse to leave my country, my homeland, my Lebanon, my people, to live in illusory serenity with a heart in tatters.

I refuse to see my people wander like wanderers, like lonely stars in an endless night, dislodged from their homes by the noise of bombings

I refuse to tolerate the suffering of a child who has nothing to inherit but ruins

I refuse to let my identity become a nonsense

I refuse to allow these green fields, which are the fruits of a long peasant history, to be reduced to barren land.

I refuse to sit idly by, for fear of censorship or sanction

I refuse so many things that I cannot refuse… Refusing has become a blame, rising up against oppression, revolting, rebelling are now illegitimate

I refuse, “I refuse”, “Arfod”, “rechazo”, “ich weigere mich”, “rifiuto”, “recuso”, “ik weiger”… A thousand and one times!

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