Heroes are born, Salute !

I would like to draw the attention of the readers to a point that seems to have been overlooked.
It's true that there is a war raging in the south of lebanon, it is true that civilians are dying.
But it is equally true that there are HEROES being made each and every hour of the day (and night).

A big thank you for those discret heroes, the Lebanese Red Cross Volunteers, who risk their lives every day, to save others', and to bring hope (no matter how small), to the people trapped in this war.
Those people are all volunteers, they don't get a single cent for what they're doing. I should know, I'm an international red cross member.

Their ambulances are exposed to fire from both sides, and many ambulances have already been hit.
Ironically enough, one ambulance got hit on the roof right in the midlle of the red cross sign, by an israeli fighter jet.

You guys are the bravest, you are our guarding angels, your hearts are bigger than all the bombs and all the misery..

To those guardian angels, thank you for being there, and god speed.








A thing that should NEVER happen again:




UPDATE 1 : A Lebanese Red Cross Member suffered martyrdom on August 11th, in the Israeli airstrike that hit the Marjayun convoy.......

My Lebanon - ya lebnan !

I have decided to write some quotes about my beloved country. Quotes by local and foreign poets, philosophers, politicians, who once had the priviledge to be in this country.
Lebanon is not Hizbullah, Lebanon is not war. This is Lebanon.
I'll be updating with new quotes, and everybody is welcome to participate.

So that we, and the world, don't forget who we are...

There is no other way than to begin with lebanon's most renowned philosopher, this country's son, Gibran Khalil Gibran (a distant relative of mine, by the way):
----

"If Lebanon was not my country I would choose lebanon my country"

"These are the children of Lebanon; they are the lamps that cannot be snuffed by the wind and the salt which remains unspoiled through the ages."

Gibran Khalil Gibran



"The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house."
Holy Bible


"Berytus Nutrix Legum"
Which means, Beirut, mother of laws, title given to the city under the roman empire. Berytus (Beirut) school of law was the most renowned of law schools.


"Je suis fait de ton cèdre à jamais verdoyant,
Et de ton humble église au tendre son de cloche,
De ta foi qui persiste au coeur de l'Orient,
Et dont le pur encens au flanc des monts s'accroche.
[..]
Liban sans cesse en fleurs et débordant d'amour,
Je te suis à jamais, ô Liban de lumière,
Plus que reconnaissant de te devoir le jour !..."
Charles Corm


"Le cœur humain n’a pas cessé de s’émouvoir devant le déploiement des beautés et des chants du Liban."
Maurice Barrès, Une enquête aux pays du Levant


"Mais le Liban n’est pas assez vanté. C’est aussi beau que les Pyrénées mais sous un ciel d’Orient."
Gustave Flaubert, Notes du Voyage en Orient


"[Les cèdres du Liban] sont les monuments naturels les plus célèbres de l' univers. La réligion, la poésie et l' histoire les ont également consacrés. L' écriture sainte les célèbre en plusieurs endroits. Ils sont une des images que les prophètes emploient de prédilection. Salomon voulut les consacrer à l' ornement du temple qu' il éleva le premier au dieu unique, sans doute à cause de la renommée de magnificence et de sainteté que ces prodiges de végétation avaient dès cette époque. Ce sont bien ceux-là; car Ézéchiel parle des cèdres d' Éden comme des plus beaux du Liban.
[..]
Que de prières n' ont pas résonné sous ces rameaux! Et quel plus beau temple, quel autel plus voisin du ciel, quel dais plus majestueux et plus saint que le dernier plateau du Liban, le tronc des cèdres, et le dôme de ces rameaux sacrés qui ont ombragé et ombragent encore tant de générations humaines, prononçant le nom de Dieu différemment, mais le reconnaissant partout dans ses oeuvres, et l'adorant dans des manifestations naturelles!
[..]
Je levai, alors, les yeux vers le ciel et je vis la crête blanche et dorée du Sannine qui planait dans le firmament au-dessus de nous... C’est une des plus magnifiques et plus douces impressions que j’aie ressenties dans mes longs voyages et puis, c’était la terre où j’allais enfin faire reposer dans un climat délicieux, sur quelque colline verdoyante tout ce que j’avais de plus cher au monde, ma femme et ma Julia (ma fille). "
Alphonse de Lamartine


"Le génie, comme le cèdre du Liban, pousse sur les cimes, il grandit et se renforce dans la tempête et non dans les bas-fonds."
Mariano José de Larra, Extrait de Articles de moeurs



"His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon"
The Bible (try to guess what is being described..........)

what do the lebanese think of the israelis

After the thread "how the lebanese see the israelis", it was time to take a look on the other side.
I invite all the lebanese to come write how they see the israelis.
I hope every lebanese community will be represented.

To your keyboards, ladies and gentlemen !

Jean
--

Free Topic. General ideas and thoughts about this war.

this thread is for everyone to express their thoughts, in a democratic and free environment.
All parties are welcome.

Meditation material on Lebanon

what do you think of the lebanese saying:

Syria and Iran will fight Israel untill the last Lebanese ...

Disturbing news..

This just in.
I have been informed that a group of southerners, arriving in a christian city north of beirut, found refuge in a school building. Afterwards, they got on the roof, and planted the hisbullah flag on the school roof.

The residents had to intervene harshly to make them take the flag off of the roof.

what do you think about that ?