Beirut shakes off the dust of destruction and crises and puts on early Christmas and New Year’s costumes.

Beirut has worn again the dress of joy, as the entire streets and squares were lit by the holiday lights, and become ready to embrace tens of thousands of expatriates who are eager to return to their homeland. A huge Christmas tree decorated at the center of the capital, along with more than 315 Christmas trees spread in its streets.

You can find in Beirut a lot of Christmas villages, along with firecrackers in the air. Heavy traffic jam, and tourists from different countries, especially from the Gulf, have regained their strong presence in Lebanon.

Many regions across the country compete to attract traffic and gain the first place in terms of decoration and polarization. Wherever you turn, you find the lights of life and crowds of shoppers rushing to the shops to buy gifts, forcing their owners to open their doors until late at night.

Santa Claus will be generous this year and the money in his pockets is piled up and prepared to ensure the joy of the children. Christmas music resounds everywhere, even to think that you are in Switzerland, which Lebanon competes with as the Switzerland of the East.

Restaurants are completely full, and fully booked until the beginning of 2022, hotels are fully booked and occupied, and hundreds of parties will take place, after the artists decided to perform it in Lebanon rather than leaving abroad.

Suddenly the clock strikes six in the morning to steal joyful moments from you. It is a dream! You refuse to open your eyes so as not to return to the bitterness of reality.

From the window, a distant view overlooks the ruined port of Beirut, the empty downtown squares, the sad streets, and the shops that have been exhausted by the struggle of politicians, and closed forever. Even the Christmas lights are not present and are not needed at all with the power outages.

On this Christmas, there is neither joy nor pleasure, the Lebanese are healing their wounds and want their rulers to remain silent. There is a hope they cling to that can turn the equation this year at Christmas so that they can catch their breath before a new round of hits of politics and corruption.

Be quiet before the holidays, you cannibals, and let the Lebanese people live and breathe away from your dirt, so you can rest and relax.