Day 100: Are we waiting for another massacre in Syria? - Beirut, Lebanon

(Him: Charlie)

The visit to Lebanon, once again, reminds me of war. This time around, the war reminder is much more real and much closer physically. It’s hard to imagine that shelling and bombing are just on the other side of the Lebanon-Syria border. Over there, less than 100km away, life in displacement, life in hunger, life in bloodshed, life in horror, has become a usual business. This tragedy is unfolding just like the Bosnian War, which was frustrated by futile negotiation and cease fires. Also similar to the Bosnian War is the conflicting interests at the UN Security Council. The delay in any sort of intervention at the expense of the loss of valuable lives every day!!

I feel ashamed by the selfishness of China & Russia, for not agreeing to intervene with force. The reasoning from them may sound legitimate in a normal sense (outsiders shall not forcefully intervene a country’s internal affair & bring down a government), however, what happens when the citizens have clearly made their choice by fighting to death? Our responsible international community should facilitate Syrian people to make their selection, not just send in “humanitarian aids”! – a 3-year-old would tell you that fighting should be stopped first, in order to make a selection.

So what happened to Bosnia in 1995? After years of futile negotiation and failed ceasefires, a NATO strike was finally triggered after a massacre in Sarajevo. The strike quickly brought fighting parties to serious peace talk and the war ended in no time!

By the same pattern, it looks like the world is waiting for another massacre in Syria before the next move!

Sigh… the history of human being is no doubt a history of invasions and devastation.

Day 99: Re-thinking Lebanon - Beirut, Lebanon

(Him: Charlie)

We were disappointed by Beirut at the first impression, almost entirely because of a false expectation, but by Day 2, we’ve found the charm of the City – its people. We’ve come to find out that Lebanese are exceptionally friendly.

On our day-trip to Beit-ed-dine, a grandiose palace in the mountains, we must have struck conversation with at least half a dozen Lebanese. From passengers on shared taxi, to random bystanders, to even a chatty president’s guard (yes, an on duty president’s guard at Beit-ed-dine (the president’s summer residence), all of them were very welcoming and made sure we had a good time in Beirut. In Jo’s words, their smiles are very genuine. I’d say Lebanese are probably the most welcoming and friendly people we’ve seen so far.

The conversation we had with the guard allowed us to learn more about this country, which just had a serious armed conflict with Israel in 2006. Even to this date, many regions within the country are still plagued by armed conflicts among various groups. Poor economy in combination with unaffordable living costs resulted massive emigration and severe brain drain in the country.

Interesting facts:

• A lot of Lebanese emigrated to Brazil, so many expats in Beirut are from Brazil, particularly Sao Paulo.
• There are a lot of Filipinos and Indians in Lebanon as foreign workers. They are everywhere on the street.
• Lebanon is not dominated by Muslim, but an almost even split between Christians and Muslim

 (Rural Lebanese town in the mountains)

 (Lebanon's national symbol - Cedar)

Day 98: Confusion in Beirut - Beirut, Lebanon

(Him: Charlie)

Lebanon is bonus. It was never on the list of countries to visit due to the Syria situation, which prevents any land border crossing. However, when booking the flight from Istanbul to Amman, we found out that we could have a stopover in Beirut for a low cost, so we decide to spend 4 days here to explore the country.

The expectation for Beirut was high – chic, modern, and developed, so I have heard before arrival. But what met us on the ground was completely different picture – hassling taxi drivers, chaotic (super aggressive) cars, derelict buildings and littering problems, all made me wonder if I’d been reading about a different country.

After walking for a whole afternoon, the confusion didn't go away. Instead, it got worse. While buses are cheap, other necessities in daily life are quite expensive (food for instance). It appears that there are a lot of rich people in Lebanon, and there is a large proportion of poor as well. There is a small pocket of luxurious buildings and shops in downtown Beirut, but it could hardly be any representation to the city. So what’s the city really like?

(Building relics close to the city centre - probably damaged 2006 Israeli invasion.) 

(Mosque in centre and stop sign in Arabic)