Picture of the Day: it is about the August 4, 2020 Beirut explosion. Does anyone care in Beirut and around the world?

On the doomed August 4, 2020, 2,500 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in the port of Beirut, capital of Bambi’s birth country.

As a reminder, this largest non-nuclear blast in history (https://shorturl.at/E9X1u) resulted in 220+ deaths, 7500 injuries (some of whom are still in the coma, imagine), 800 regular floor admissions as well as 130 intensive care unit admissions, 300, 000 homeless people at once, 150+ permanent disabilities, over 3/4 of massive destruction of Lebanon’s capital, total destruction of 4 hospitals, and US$15, 000, 000, 000 worth of damage. To all this, one must add the collective trauma followed by migration to countries around the world, including Canada.

Thank Goodness, Bambi’s parents survived miraculously, despite the heavy destruction in their apartment and store. Her childhood friend was badly injured and now finally healed (thank God). Her brother-in-law and her niece were also injured. Sadly, as shared above, many residents of Beirut were not as lucky. Some of them were firefighters (the very first victims), police or internal forces, healthcare providers, patients, seniors, mothers, fathers, young adults, teenagers, and toddlers or infants. May their memory be eternal.

Unsurprisingly, there is still no justice for the Beirut port surreal explosion, despite the heroic courage of Judge Tarek Bitar. Of note, Bambi honoured him in a few older posts. She did the same with regard to the legendary tenacity of the families of the victims.

Bearing the above in mind, Bambi keeps on standing in full solidarity with these families. She thanks An Nahar for sharing pictures of their monthly silent, and likely smaller, demonstration in front of the Lebanese Emigrant statue (https://shorturl.at/pb4CR). She selected one of these pictures to share it with you, dear readers. It is her way of supporting these families while sending her love to the Lebanese capital at the start of 2025.

May the beautiful yet tired Beirut FINALLY see brighter days filled with increased safety, a sense of justice, peace of mind, love, and prosperity for all.

A picture taken from An Nahar

L’Orient Le Jour tells us about Beirut: A 5-minute-English podcast on being a plane pilot in Lebanon during war. What an inspiring story of a pilot, mother of two children

In Canada, as travellers, we fly in the great hands of our most highly talented pilots who transport us in the middle of snow storms or other extreme weather conditions.

What about the pilots of Lebanon who are officially trained to fly in Nature’s four seasons, but not in a human-made season of fire and blood. How did they manage to keep focusing on their professional tasks, despite fear?

Related to the above questions, “last” year (on November 14, 2024), Bambi shared a brief video featuring the courage of the Lebanese Middle East Airline‘s pilots during war. They kept operating, flying civilians in and out Beirut during the entire last Hezbollah-Israel war.

Today, we are lucky to hear directly a pilot telling us about her work experience (in English and sub-title in both English and French). Thanks again L’Orient Le Jour (OLJ) for another uplifting podcast on courage.

The OLJ YouTube channel describes its new podcast as follows (thanks to Mr. Google Translate for his assistance even during the holidays :). “In this new episode of our podcast “I’m telling you about Beirut”, we interviewed a pilot from the Middle East Airline who continued to ensure air connections between Beirut and abroad during the war. Dubai, Paris, Larnaca,… while Lebanon was undergoing one of the worst moments in its history, her back and fourths, steeped in the anguish of not being able to return to her country, tell another vision of the catastrophe. From the first day of the bombings on Beirut, which she discovered when she had to land at the international airport to the ceasefire, including especially her long evening layovers in foreign airports. “Will we be alive to make another flight tomorrow?” she asked herself in Beirut. Here is the poignant testimony of a Lebanese pilot who is more in love with her country than ever“.

May the New Year bring increased stability to Lebanon. May peace finally know how to prevail, and be sustained, in Bambi’s birth country and its entire neighbourhood.