Lebanese communities agree on a core national narrative and embrace its multiplicity and the complexities of its construction

Reach agreement around a core set of values that celebrate diversity and build cohesion whiles making sure no community is marginalized

1. The concept of national identity is inescapably connected with myths. A complex of myths is at the core of every ethnic identity. National identities, supported by invented and real histories, were constructed only after national movements and national ideologies emerged
2. Two of nationalism's primary myths are connected with beliefs in: Community's permanence (the myth of the eternal nation on a given territory), and community's common ancestry (myth of the common ancestry)

1. In Lebanon, each community has its own founding myths with their own conflicting narratives, heroes and martyrs
2. Political parties, sectarian groups, neighborhoods, families, schools and other institutions of socialization have produced their own, often very skewed and antagonistic versions of the civil war
3. A loosely connected social movement aims at commemorating and debating the war but it suffers from elitism and caters to educated Beirutis who are already well aware of the problem of amnesia

1. Lebanon is going through a post-war amnesia that leads to the gradual emergence of new memory discourses
2. The history of Lebanon stops at the country’s independence; since then, every thing is considered current events
3. In Lebanon each community has its own myths with its own narratives, heroes and martyrs (the most striking example being PSNS’s slogan لكل خائن حبيب)

1. Hundreds of testimonies of the 1975 war have been written. They give rich detail of life during the war, and seek to challenge established histories of the war. Many novels and films are based on memories and can be read as testimonies
2. There was a few failed attempts to unify the history book

1. Organize a large and public national conference on Lebanon's history and identity with clear objectives including intellectuals, journalists, historians, universities, politicians…
2. Develop school history curricula that stretch until today
3. Document the various narratives of Lebanon’s national construction, Lebanese nationalism and historical memory
4. Document oral memory of post-war narratives
5. Work on trans-generational trauma and postmemory which describes the relationship that the “generation after” bears to the personal, collective, and cultural trauma of those who came before
6. Open a public debate on the legacy of Lebanon’s civil war and how the population, and the youth in particular, are dealing with their national past to induce catharsis
7. Build a civil war memorial for all Lebanese people