An anonymous message went out to a network of hundreds of Lebanese operatives last week, as politicians made commemorative speeches and NGOs held commemorations and marches on the anniversary of the outbreak of Lebanon’s civil war. In ones and twos and small groups, this shadowy horde arrived on Sunday at the Dbayeh marina northeast of Beirut to receive their last-minute secret instructions. At exactly 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, with watches synchronized, they swarmed City Mall and froze. For exactly five minutes, more than 200 Lebanese – young and old – stood stock still in various poses around the Dunkin Donuts.
One group stood mid-wave at some imaginary pal in the distance, two friends gave each other bunny ears and one couple remained locked in a quiet kiss. At 5:05, a horn sounded and the erstwhile statues swirled away into the busy crowds of shoppers.
“This was just to have fun and to have positive vibes. Lebanon needs more positive vibes,” said the organizer in a phone interview with NOW Lebanon. “Today is the birthday of the civil war, and we wanted to give the media an opportunity to talk about something other than politics,” he added. The organizer insisted on maintaining anonymity, going only by the pseudonym “Akhwat Shanay.” Shanay is a “court jester” style character from old Lebanese folk tales.
The “Flash Mob,” as Sunday’s event is known, is a phenomenon that began in New York City in 2003. Participants are recruited and given preliminary instructions over the internet. Likewise, Sunday’s event began with a message on Facebook and further emails once interest had been generated. “We had 800 people sign up, though we expected around 200, maybe as many as 500 would participate,” Shanay said.
The first flash mob was organized by Harper’s Magazine senior editor Bill Waslik but was aborted after the target, a retail store in Manhattan, learned of the impending mob. Waslik organized the second flash mob in two steps, only letting the participants in on the final details at the very last second. The “Leb Mobbers,” as the Lebanon group calls itself, decided to run things the same way, giving would-be participants a map to where they would receive their final instructions mere hours before the event was to take place.
Caption: The map to the last minute “staging area” at the Dbayeh marina, northeast of Beirut.
After the performance, the flash mobbers were quite pleased with the results, congratulating each other and comparing videos and pictures taken by their friends. Mall security seemed only somewhat flustered, insisting that the videos were not authorized and demanding that they be handed over.
“Max” a participant from Antelias, said, “This is Lebanon, and we don’t tolerate ‘flash mobs’ here, I guess.” A few names were taken down, but nothing was confiscated, so we’ll call that a win.
Flash mobs have become something of a global phenomenon, with groups staging impromptu pillow fights and freezes and other hijinx from San Francisco to Lausanne, to Tel Aviv and Beijing. Sunday was Lebanon’s first, but we can expect more in the future. Shanay said, “We want to do all kinds of events. Like, perhaps for Leonardo Da Vinci's birthday to have people walking around with Mona Lisa masks. Sometimes there could be a message; sometimes just to be corny.”
Watch Video