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Alaa Malhas - AlJazeeraTalk - Beirut
 Ever since I came to Beirut, Lebanon I used to love the nightlife. I used to hang out with my friends, go clubbing, etc… In general, Beirut was merely about its nightlife. Or at least it WAS about its nightlife until that specific date, the date that changed my view towards the ‘night’. May 7, 2008 was that date. ‘Oh my Gosh’ was the word that took over my mind.
It started as a normal day for Beirut, or actually come to think of it, there was a strike that was done by the labor union against the daily rising of the living cost without decent wages. So my friend called me so she can come over, since we’re both students at the Lebanese American University, studying Journalism, and living alone in Beirut.
Everything was going smooth; nothing was suspicious, especially since it was a strike. Beirut’s streets were empty above the usual. Suddenly a news flash was on, “Nasrallah is going to speak live at 4 pm.” My friend and I stared for a while thinking why Nasrallah is going to give a live speech! Keeping in mind when one of the leaders gives a live speech without a reason that means something in on.
Four pm and Nasrallah was live on every channel, but his voice wasn’t like always. It was full of determination and seriousness. ‘Bomb’, Nasrallah now dropped a bomb to take over Beirut if his requests weren’t obeyed. Everyone was shocked by what he was saying. ‘Could it be possible? Was he serious?’ My friend and I kept questioning with confusion about what we were hearing.
Anyways, the day passed by with shock filled our faces. Then at ‘Night’, which was that specific night that started everything. I was sitting with my friends discussing Nasrallah’s speech, and we started hearing gunshots that were far from where we lived. Suddenly, some students start to leave and the streets start to pile up with people leaving with their bags.
It’s 10 pm now and we’re still hearing the gunshots. Then a real ‘Bomb’ was overheard nearby. Oh it was getting serious. In our minds we thought that these were regular gunshots, since after the leaders gives a speech, people start to fire gunshots in the air to somehow salute him. But NO, these were different. These gunshots were nonstop, and in every minute getting closer, followed by a real bomb in every 30 minutes, which was called the RBJ.
I can still remember the heavy gunshots especially the RBJ ones. And I can still remember the panic of us when we first heard the RBJ. It’s so close now that we could feel it. Actually it was right next to where we lived. And especially at nighttime where there’s echo makes the sound of the gunshots right next to you.
Time was passing really slowly. Panic and fear were filling our minds. Telephones were now ringing nonstop. Shock. Questions. ‘What to do?’ These thoughts were over our heads.
It’s over midnight, and we could still hear the shots. Along with the different kinds of gunshots, the funny thing happened, there were also the heavy thunder and lightening that striked every five seconds, but it wasn’t from Nasrallah’s troops (Hizbollah), it was from God. So in that way, we couldn’t differ the many loud sounds that were over where we lived, which is in Hamra St. in Beirut.
Morning finally came but after what, after the long scary (NO COMMENTS) night. Then my friend, who slept over my place and I decided to go out and talk to someone, some kind of a security. We went down our building so we could get some answers, then we saw a security guy. He assured us that nothing more is going to happen, but we have to stay home and safe. Then he took us for a walk down the main street in Hamra, as per to our request as being journalism students filled with curiosity. Of course, the gunshots were now taking a break from the previous heavy night.
As we were walking, shock was still filling our faces continuously. But this time it was the shock of the scenery of the Hamra St. Ok, Hamra St. and other streets in Beirut are known for their lively spirit 24/7. So seeing Hamra St, what’s the word, mm HAUNTED was a big shock to us. And in every step we took was more shocking to us, especially while passing by the Pavilion St in Hamra and seeing the broken frontier of the shops, and the bullets that were covering the streets instead of cement.
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