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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Arwa Mahdawi

The chaotic, unique, beautiful Lebanon I knew has been reduced to rubble. When will it end?

A man points into a destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Burj el-Shamali, near the southern port city of Tyre on 26 May 2026
‘Lebanese people may have more experience of war, but they do not get used to having their houses bombed.’ Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

There are various reasons why, at 43, I still don’t know how to drive a car. Clumsiness is one. I can’t even walk straight half the time, so I don’t think it’s a good idea that I take control of a 2-tonne vehicle.

Another reason is that my first driving lesson was in Beirut and the experience scarred me for life. The car was falling apart, Lebanese drivers ignore traffic rules and the lesson was in Arabic, which I barely speak. After I had veered on to a busy road the wrong way, my teacher made me get out of the car and yelled at me. I didn’t understand exactly what he was yelling, but it wasn’t good.

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