Month: August 2020

“Lebanese youth express their anger less than a week after the explosions in Beirut. After that, it’s either death or we leave the country…”

Bambi would like to thank Ms. Roula Douglas for sharing this video.

Here is a quick translation of their own words expressed in French:

“We are being held hostage in our own country. We can’t get our money out. We don’t have a job. I am not feeling well and I am angry.

What has changed since Wednesday? Why protest now? Because it’s our last breath. After that, it’s either death or we leave the country. And I am not ready to leave the country.

And even after everything we’ve been through, they oppressed us more. They shot us. What does not work is that you have the same exact people who are in power for over 30 years.

They completely destroyed Lebanon. They have corrupted any organization. All sectors. All Lebanese sectors have been corrupted.

We want our justice, we want our freedom. We want our stolen money. We want peace.

Our requests are very simple: The departure of all this political class, all those political leaders, whether at the level of the Assembly/Parliament or at the level of the government.

Not only did they steal our money. Over US$100 billion has been stolen. Because we are not a bankrupt country. We are a country that has been completely robbed.

This is how they left their people, this is how the Lebanese people live today, without electricity, without water, without food. And there are plenty of people who don’t even have a home anymore. It is justice that we want. it is justice that we will have.

They’re the intruders, not us. They are the minority but unfortunately they are armed to the teeth… and we have our bodies, that’s all. Our generation will change everything. Our generation will recreate this country. Our generation will build this country.“

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"Après ça, c'est soit la mort, soit on quitte le pays" La jeunesse libanaise fait part de sa colère moins d'une semaine après les explosions à Beyrouth.

A post shared by Loopsider (@loopsider) on Aug 11, 2020 at 4:32am PDT

This is Bambi’s first post after Beirut sea port explosions, which is not about her birth city’s surrealistic tragedy. Indeed, this post is about her beloved country, Canada.

Make no mistake please, this does not mean that her heart stopped being consumed by Beirut’s tragedy and her loved ones’ sufferings or shared grief. She just took a break from her own sorrow, so to speak. She was also eager to return to a certain normality, at least in the variety of the posts’ topics. By no means, she meant to be disrespectful or insensitive in these moments of grief. Plus, the post is still related to Lebanon and lessons learned from it.

Stated differently, because Bambi deeply cares for Lebanon, she does not want Canada (and, by extension, every democratic country) not to learn, at least, one lesson from Beirut:

With much clientelism, without any accountability, with unbalanced power of one entity over the others, with slogans or beautiful yet empty words, with increased identity politics, and without true patriotism of its leaders, any country (large or small) risks turning into Lebanon one day, of course not to that extreme. This can happen despite the best intentions of political leaders and the country’s stability.

So, what could be an antidote to “Lebanonization” of respectable countries like Canada? In Bambi’s mind, it is democratic accountability (to the people).

Bearing this in mind, like all Canadians, Bambi learned today that Mr. Blanchet [leader of the Bloc Québécois (BQ)] is again asking for the resignation of Mr. Justin Trudeau and Mr. Bill Morneau… as well as Ms. Katie Telford (Chief of Staff to PM Trudeau):

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-government-pandemic-spending-we-charity-1.5683173

To use Mr. Blanchet’s own words quickly translated from his own Twitter account: “If we have to go to an election because it’s not as bad as leaving them there, there are possible distancing measures. The a contrario reasoning would mean that as long as there is a pandemic, we live in dictatorship.”

As a reminder, the WE Charity saga is Mr. Trudeau’s third scandal, neither the first nor the second. The New democratic Party (NDP) does not seem to be in line with the Bloc Québécois (BQ) with regard to such request. This is fascinating yet not surprising, given that elections may not be to their advantage, from a financial point of view. Who knows? Despite spicy critics concerning the WE scandal, they may be perhaps resorting to political flirt with the Liberal Party of Canada (Trudeau’s government)? Bambi is saying all this as a non-expert citizen.

Talking about finances, if Bambi recalls well, the BQ may be the only federal party that chose not to financially benefit from the covid-19 pandemic (trough a certain program of salary support). This tells you something interesting: The BQ may be sovereignist, yes. However, it has demonstrated that it is not only decent, authentically socialist, and ecological (like Québeckers in general). Most importantly here, it is also ironically working for Canada! Do you see the irony :)?!

Bambi is saying the above, even if she obviously cannot vote for the BQ (meant for Québec residents only). This does not prevent her from thanking Mr. Blanchet for holding our leaders accountable, regardless of the outcome. Same for Mr. Pierre Poilievre, Conservative Shadow Minister for Finance, et al.

Today, it is about the Liberals. Tomorrow, it will be about another party in power. No one is immune to temptation or… simply to a sense of entitlement. Of course, this despite all the best intentions of the world and despite the challenges of governing during a pandemic. It is accountability to Canadians that matters, regardless of the politician’s name or party in question.

As Canadian citizens, how many scandals should we tolerate or… excuse? Some would say: oh we are in a pandemic, give us a break. Others may think: The federal government supported us or fed us during the pandemic. True but, of course, there is a price to this generosity: increased future public debt. Although this urgent support was much needed and is much appreciated, our government was already overspending prior to the covid-19 pandemic. We did not even have a budget lately, unless Bambi missed it.

Bambi feels like adding the following: Even if our current federal government is helping her birth country (God knows how much Bambi is grateful!), and even if she voted for the Liberals most of her life (not the last time :)), she still thinks that our top political leaders should be held accountable. This even if they may have been clever in their roles or capacity. Thanks for their service, not for the conflicts of interest.

Of course, as Mr. Blanchet asked from day 1 of the WE Charity scandal, Elections Canada should get ready to adjust its operations during the pandemic. He is right. Even without an election soon, this preparation may be needed in the future (in case of other pandemics).

Before concluding this post, did the WE charity return the received money after the contract was cancelled? Perhaps Bambi missed this piece of information in the middle of the Lebanese saga.

OK, time to be sarcastic now. The title of this post refers to a Banana Republic. Thankfully Canada has ethical mechanisms in place to keep it functioning as a democratic country. Let’s make sure we will keep using those mechanisms as we are doing now (bravo), of course with real independence and transparency.

At the end of the day, governments come and go but countries stay. This can work for Canada. However, sadly, in the case of Lebanon (tiny, bankrupt, geopolitically vulnerable, and now with the covid-19 crisis like the rest of the world), this country is holding on BECAUSE of its amazing people, first and foremost (along with the much needed international support), and DESPITE its government(s).

Last but not least, related to the above point, in one of the many news documentaries on Lebanon she watched yesterday, Bambi recalls seeing a young woman from Beirut who was helping her homeless fellow citizens (post-explosion). She told the international reporter interviewing her whilst packing food: “You knows, there is no government in Lebanon… We are the government“. Isn’t this fascinating, to say the least?

Bambi remains speechless since last Tuesday…

It is incredible how we can be so far and yet so close. Indeed, there are no words to describe the surrealistic Beirut tragedy of last Tuesday.

This being said, as you can see further below, “Sky News has obtained exclusive CCTV footage from inside St George Hospital in Beirut, from when the deadly blast hit“.

When you watch this fascinating video, you realize that it is a miracle that MOST of the staff, patients, visitors are still alive (thankfully, this includes Bambi’s Dear cousins who work there). This being said, like everyone, she is heart-broken for the 17 persons who lost their lives (including 4 nurses as well as patients and family members). Some of the injured people are in critical conditions, one must not forget. May they all heal.

Yet, despite this tragedy, all the (300) hospital patients were evacuated safely in the darkness (loss of power) and in the middle of the incredible damage. How did they do all this in just 8 minutes?! What an incredible story of courage and efficacy!

There are many inspiring stories of resilience coming out of Beirut. One of them involves her own sister Rania whose spouse and daughter got injured. Sadly, MANY other citizens were not fortunate to survive…

It is indeed deeply sad to watch pictures of the victims or read their stories. Roula, (sister) and Gladson (brother-in-law) are at funeral services literally every day since that awful last Tuesday. To come back to Rania, she has been incredibly courageous. Indeed, her spouse, our Dear Rabih, got badly injured (he is alive, thank goodness, and his eye is saved). Same for their own 18-year-old daughter, Stéphanie. Also, another piece of good news. Despite her injury in the back, she is/will be fine. Incredible that they happened to be both in the worst neighbourhoods of Beirut to be in at the moment of the blast (even closer to the port).

The chaos Rania described to Bambi about the hospitals she visited to try to search for her spouse is beyond imagination. It is like in those horror movies. One hospital she visited (Hôtel Dieu, if Bambi recalls the name) received over 1000 patients at once! Rania searched all their faces looking for her husband. How did she manage to drive in the chaos? At one point, she had to leave her car somewhere and just walk as fast as she could to reach another hospital. She was surrounded by bloody and dazed people who were “walking like zombies“, to use her own words.

One must say that Rabih’s first thought was to walk, also bloody injured, to the Saint George Hospital. Of course, at that time, he had no clue that it was being evacuated. Someone saw him (a kind friend) and put him in his car. He drove him to the hospital mentioned above. Then to a third one. Same for Bambi’s friend, Maya (her hero who is healing, day by day!). She also had to go to four different hospitals and she lives just by the Saint George hospital too, facing the sea port. Both of them bled a lot.

At the exact same time and in a close area, Rabih and Rania’s own daughter (Bambi’s niece) was being taken care of by another good Samaritan (the father of a school friend, it turned out). Thanks to him, she got the needed stitches on her back. Bambi thanks God for having protected her whilst being sad beyond words for all the other unlucky victims (close to 200) and the 6000+ injured citizens, without mentioning the 300, 000 homeless families and the massive destruction.

Among the victims, Bambi just watched a CNN news documentary about Ahmed, a man who escaped the horror of the Syrian war. Tragically, he lost his spouse, two daughters, and the third one is between life and death at the American University of Beirut‘s healthcare centre. Needless to add that he is homeless too. Bambi’s heart goes to you Ahmed!

This being said, to come back to the destroyed Saint George hospital, Bambi was particularly moved to recognize in this video, Dr. Georges Juvelikian. The latter is the pulmonary specialist/Professor who discovered her dad’s lung cancer a few years ago. He is not just known for his medical expertise but also for his humanity. During one of her visits to Beirut, Bambi recalls how she was once walking with her dad by this hospital (corner of her parents’ place). They bumped into a man who seemed so happy to see her dad. He even gave him a hug. Bambi was curious. She asked her dad about this kind man. Her dad told her whom he is. He said: “this is the clever doctor who discovered my cancer”! He even added that this highly competent physician is one of the most humble people he has ever met. From time to time, he drops by the church (Saint George) of Bambi’s parents (near the hospital). He even kindly and discretely serve during the service.

As Dr. Juvelikian said, the Saint George hospital has never closed, even during wars. May the doors of this outstanding teaching-hospital re-open sooner than we think (as realistically possible). May this historic trauma be digested, slowly but surely, by all those affected. May a new Lebanon finally see the light, after having hit its DEEPEST low in its history…. Yes, from one crisis to the other, from one tragedy to the other, Beirut explosion is the paroxysm of this country’s horrors.

To conclude this post, Lebanon has much talent. It is where the East meets the West. It is culturally rich. It is meant to live and just enjoy love. It is a shame to let its ruling mafia-like thugs destroy it.

Yes, sadly the Phoenix has been badly injured but it MUST rise from its ashes, today more than ever!

Here is a Reuters‘ article entitled “Exclusive: Lebanon’s leaders were warned in July about explosives at port – documents“:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-security-blast-documents-excl/exclusive-lebanons-leaders-warned-in-july-about-explosives-at-port-documents-idUSKCN2562L7

Will anyone say who owned those chemicals, asks Reuters again?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-security-blast-ship-insight/who-owned-the-chemicals-that-blew-up-beirut-no-one-will-say-idUSKCN2571CP

Lebanese people are usually far from being stupid.

Was their political leaders’ negligence mere stupidity?

Was it corruption-related as well?

Was all this linked to Hezbollah et al.?

Until when will they stick their heads in the sand?

Didn’t they have enough of sticking their hands in people’s pockets?

Why did they take people’s souls, kids’ bodies, houses, healthcare centres, workplaces, restaurants/pubs…. and Beirut’s soul? WHY!?

Sophia was just 4-day-old on August 4, 2020, when the Beirut port explosion took place. She is the youngest injured citizen, as you can see in the moving picture at the end of this post.

Can you imagine the ordeal of Sophia’s mom? She was just in her 4th day postpartum when the nightmare happened. This is a time when new mothers need support, not catastrophes.

Can you imagine the pain/fear of Sophia’s dad?

What about her relatives who just celebrated her birth? Now they are worried about her life.

Why should Lebanon’s infants and children still have to go through injuries caused by adults?

Why should these adults once again destroy their beautiful capital?

Why should Beirutis keep suffering from one generation to the other? They went through hell and lost everything in less than 15 seconds… not even 15 years like during civil war.

Even Sisyphus cannot take it anymore, especially without hope for a (real!) change.

We heard today of more resignations of MPs and Ministers (Environment, Justice, Information, etc.). It seems that even the relatively new PM resigned. Will all this make any difference in reality? Hopefully, even if everyone knows who is in charge behind the scenes and… “ALL of them means all of them” (slogan of the people’s revolt against systemic corruption).

Of course, time will tell. However, Bambi is somehow skeptical… Yet, she wants to keep dreaming of a healthy change of the political system, true democracy, peace, prosperity…. and of love!

What’s next for Lebanon? The days ahead may be critical, unless the status quo remains the strongest, despite people’s amazing efforts to challenge it since October 17, 2019.

First, the criminality… here is just one example of all the corrupt acts taking place in Lebanon for over 30 years without any accountability.

Second, here is a message of life and love in the middle of DEEP sorrow. In the tweet below by journalist Roula Douglas, you can see the father of the little Alexandra (in one of Bambi’s earlier posts). He talked about how criminals wanted to kill love, which will keep prevailing in his family despite the tragedy. He said: “Lixou [his 3-year-old daughter killed in the explosion] is not a *martyr*, she is rather a victim”. Bambi had the exact reaction a couple of days ago, telling herself: Enough of this (stupid) label. People did not chose to die. All they wanted to do was to live. So, stop calling them martyrs… Martyrs of what and of/for whom? Bless Alexandra’s (“Lixou”) dad for saying that “his family’s love will keep going, even if the Lebanese leaders’ criminality was against love“. Bambi can only imagine one drop of the pain of “Lixou’s” mom and dad. She and her spouse had three recurrent miscarriages and their hearts still ache… so imagine when your 3-year-old daughter is injured, suffers for days, and dies!

Finally, to end this post with stories of hope. First, here is a video shared by Mr. Antoine Azar (Bambi’s amazing dad!). It shows the priest of his Saint George church at the moment of the explosion. Thank Goodness the priest’s spouse was just lightly injured and they both survived:

https://m.facebook.com/595486308/posts/10157624300071309/?d=n

In the same spirit but with a message of hope, further below you can watch a BBC News story/interview about Saint Dimitrios church in Beirut. Before this, you can see a picture that Bambi took of this church during her last trip to Lebanon on December, 2019. It is less than 1-2 minutes away, walking distance, from her parents’ place. It is in this magnificent church that all her ancestors are buried.

Below, you can see a short video taken by Bambi in December, 2018:

Despite the UNBELIEVABLE deep sorrow, Bambi is fortunate because her immediate and extended family members in Beirut are not having their funeral services in this church right now (contrary to many others :(). All this despite their injuries, damaged houses, workplaces, healthcare centres, and shared grief.

In the middle of all this suffering, as the priest of Saint Dimitrios church said, one must find hope. Indeed, this is the moving BBC News story mentioned above. It is about a man (the priest) searching for hope…

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-53696936/beirut-explosion-video-of-ch

Finally, to those providing hope to families awaiting to find their missing loved ones, thank you whether you are from Lebanon, France, Germany, the Netherlands, England, the USA, etc. To all those helping locally and internationally, including Canada. THANK you. To those who are thanking the rescue teams with drinks and foods (Mary, I am thinking of you), thanks too. Bambi would like to thank every fellow Canadian citizen donating a penny. This is appreciated in any time, imagine during a pandemic. Bambi knows that money does not grow on trees. Too bad that the Lebanese authorities do not have respect for not only their own population but also for all the generous populations of the world. Donations from other governments come from taxpayers, Bambi feels like screaming at them! Enough criminal carelessness and corruption. Enough violence, whether accidental or not. Enough wars. ENOUGH!

Bambi would like to thank her sister Roula for sharing this artistic video.

It shows Beirut, with its port explosion… The latter is its tragic reality and an integral part of the unfolding story in front of our hopeless eyes.

“Li Beirut” is a famous song by Fairuz and here is a quick translation:

“A greeting from my heart to Beirut.

Kisses to the sea and to the houses.

To a rock, which is like an old sailor’s face.

She is made from the people’s soul and from wine.

She is made from their sweat, from bread, and jasmine.

So how does her taste become? A taste of fire and smoke.

Beirut has a glory of ashes.

My city has turned out her lamp.

By a child’s blood, who was over her hand.

She shut her door and became alone in the sky.

Alone with the night.

You are mine, you are mine.

Oh hug me, you are mine.

You are my flag, tomorrow’s stone.

And a travel’s waves.

My people’s wounds have flourished.

And mothers’ tears.

You are mine, you are mine.

Oh hug me” .

Two or three days ago, Bambi posted the picture of a nurse carrying three newborns. She found that picture in the Lebanese local media. Well, there is an inspiring story behind that moving picture. At the end of this post, if you are interested, you can watch a short interview with this INSPIRING nurse by ITV.

The Saint George Health Centre where this neonatal nurse works (or used to work :(?) is closed now for at least a year (same for another hospital not very far from it). Can you imagine? All this the middle of the covid-19 pandemic.

Of note, the residential neighbourhood of this excellent teaching hospital (like the Toronto’s University Health Network, so to speak) has been badly damaged. It is a MAJOR loss to Beirut and Lebanon’s citizens, including Bambi’s parents, relatives, and childhood friends.

This area is located within 1 km from the site of the explosion. Some houses have been totally destroyed. Others remain without doors, windows, glasses, etc.

Remember, there is hyperinflation in Lebanon. Citizens still cannot have access to their savings at the banks. The Lebanese government is bankrupt and they did not have a Lebanese CERB (“Canadian Emergency Response Benefit“) in the pandemic, to begin with. They were already dealing with an unprecedented financial crisis, which triggered a massive protest on October17, 2019. To come back to the Beirut port explosion, many citizens were injured. Some critically. Some are still having surgeries (one of the victims, who is 17-year-old, had three surgeries thus far). Some sadly died from their injuries.

Indeed, today, Bambi was sad to hear about more friends of her siblings who lost their lives. Condolences to Roula and Gladson who paid their tribute to their friend Samir today. How sad also for Ms. Hedwig Watlmans-Molier who passed away. She is the spouse of the Dutch Ambassador to Lebanon (Bambi wrote a little note in the book of condolence of the Dutch Embassy in Beirut).

Given all these losses and all the senseless destruction, you can imagine the mixed feelings of fear (during the explosion), shock, disbelief, sadness, sorrow, hopelessness, and OF COURSE anger of citizens toward their corrupt and incompetent political leaders.

Lebanon’s tragedy is a living example of how deep a country can go when there is no accountability. On one hand, you have the corruption of the political elite and on the other you have an organized militia (stronger than the official state, with its own ideological vision and deadly mindset for Lebanon). The two are lovers. They continue to sleep together. They are totally disconnected from the majority of the population, which finds itself once again caught between these two dangerous lovers.

This is the sad reality of tiny bankrupt Lebanon, regardless of the cause of the Beirut port catastrophe. Yes there is also a geopolitical harsh reality… but first, and foremost, one must look at oneself in the mirror before blaming others. Even if others have any responsibility, directly or indirectly, enough is MORE than enough. People’s bodies and lives should be a RED line for you!

The BBC interviewed a 78-year-old Beirut citizen who played the piano to pay tribute to the victims of of the explosion.

To borrow the descriptive words of Bambi’s sister Ms. Roula Douglas, “this explosion felt like the 15 years of civil war condensed in a few seconds“.

The tragic irony is that in the covid-19 pandemic, all these people affected, like you and Bambi, were supposed to be safe in their “sheltered homes”. You can imagine the suffering of each affected family (grief, injuries, and destroyed home, hospital, business or restaurant/café/pub, etc.). It is as if all the shelters of wars have been destroyed all at once (Bambi’s aunt died in a shelter. The latter is supposed to be the safest place in armed conflicts).

On the contrary, some parents lost their young ones. Other parents died in front of their kids’ eyes in their homes or in their cars. Some were injured. Other traumatized. Bambi’s heart goes to everyone, especially to all her relatives including cousins who lost many colleagues (especially thinking of you Christiane), friends who lost relatives (Michel and your surviving kids :(, all the Azars in Montreal, Rania and Rabih, Nayla, Bambi shares your pain).

For all of you and for those amazing angels of young people coming together to help Beirut citizens (e.g., cleaning streets from glasses, offering to help in homes and stores, etc.), Bambi signed this petition, circulated by Journalist Roula Azar-Douglas. It asks the UN Security Council to Support Lebanon with an independent and transparent investigation. She invites you to do so, if you wish: http://chng.it/tynzcPmN

See below the video of those youth who came to help Bambi’s dad in his store. They warmed his heart and brought tears to his eyes! Bless their hearts! As Ms. Roula Douglas wrote on her social media: “These young men came from the West part of the capital, the “other region” as it was called during civil war. They volunteered to help clean the debris and help the citizens“.