Two days ago, they killed Lokman Slim.
They shot him five times in the head (in case he survived the four first shots), and one time in the back (in case someone doubted their courage). There is also a possibility that he was tortured beforehand. Or at least beaten. In any case, he saw it coming, and one cannot but try to remake in his head what a nightmare his last hours must have been.
It has been a while since the last time they applied the golden equation in Lebanon: you open too much your mouth, we’ll close it for you. The most efficient censorship that exists. Making them sure once and forever to not be annoyed by your ideas again. Ever. And making sure the people like you will understand the message.
When was the last time they did it? Who was the last one on their list? Samir Kassir and Gebran Tueni come to mind of course. It was already 15 years ago. I cannot but remember being in the crowd at Samir’s funeral, not far from Gebran, who was carrying Samir’s coffin. And I cannot but think that Samir and Gebran were lucky compared to Lokman; they at least didn’t see it coming. A good old car bombing is the best present you could expect from them in these cases.