Bambi's Thoughts
Thanks to the Lebanese army for all its sacrifices over the years.
Bravo to all those who work/want to work for the best interests of Lebanon, including its new President et al.
If you are interested, below you can find an N Youtube short video subtitled in English.
Good luck to Bambi’s beautiful birth country, which deserves safety, dignity, justice, healing, reconstruction, sustainable peace, harmony, prosperity, and MUCH love.
Do you have a sense of humour, being funny yourself and/or appreciating humour? Do you like “Dabke”, the Levantine folk dance, like Bambi? If you do not know what it is, you may wish to consult the older post shared further below. If you do like it, you might have another reason to watch Mr. Rudy Ayoub’s multi-talent. Enjoy!
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Today, France 24 described Mr. Ziad Rahbani as an “oriental jazz pioneer and giant of Lebanese theatre“. Indeed, he “wrote plays and satirical radio shows centered on his violent environment that mock the sectarian divisions of his country” (https://tinyurl.com/2z6k66m6). As a comment on an earlier post (see further below), Aline wrote the following in the Arabic language (an English translation follows): كبير آخر من بلادي. يرحل بصمت تاركاً إرثاً موسيقياً . وفلسفة حياة عظيمة..وفكر متقدم بالنسبة لشعوبنا العربية” “✝️🙏رحمة الله عليه [“Another great artist from my homeland. He leaves behind a musical legacy, a great philosophy of life, and an advanced, or progressive, thinking for our Arab populations. May God have mercy on him“]. Well said, thanks to Bambi’s reader and friend.
Bearing the above in mind, and according to Confucius, “sincerity and truth are the basis of every virtue“. Mr. Ziad Rahbani embodied sincerity, mixed with artistic genius, to the full extent. Indeed, in Bambi’s mind, it is perhaps the sincerity of this GREAT artist/man that made people love him to that extent, as you can see in the brief videos shared below. The pictures show us moments from Mr. Ziad Rahbani’s funeral, which took place in Lebanon today. What a dignified and highly moving street expression of love and public ceremony at church.
The thought about the strong value of sincerity came to Bambi’s mind early this morning. Upon opening her eyes from sleep, after calling her dad, she took the time to search the internet for videos about Mr. Rahbani’s farewell. She shed a lot of tears when she watched the spontaneous scenes of sorrow and tribute by SO MANY people. Old and young. Into politics or not. Left or right. They all came to the hospital in the Beirut’s Hamra neighbourhood to greet him and pay tribute to him by walking behind his hearse.
For those who do not know him, Mr. Rahbani was a principled leftist, with a golden heart and an open mind. Not only he composed songs on poverty, he used to regularly make his plays accessible to the public for a symbolic price, Bambi learned from a friend today. He used to spend quality time with people in the Hamra district of Beirut. He respected people. He loved them. They loved him and respected him back.
The same could be said about people who were inmates. He shared his art with them in jail, along with a piece of his heart. Of note, his songs and plays touched people of all ages with a vibrant impact on older and newer generations.
All his life, Mr. Ziad Rahbani loved the Palestinian people. He defended their well-being and rights in his country. He also loved Palestine and the Palestinian cause. He did not do it like in today’s virtue signalling. He did it sincerely, out of deep human and political convictions. Not out of political correctness or out of hatred toward anyone. Despite his convictions, he respected those who perhaps may have not shared his own views on this or that matter.
Mind you, on the streets and at church, we could see a few young men and women with kifiyas, along with the majority who does not appear to be into kifiya outfits. Many chose to wear the black colour, as per the cultural tradition. Everyone is free. So is Mr. Rahbani and this is the beauty of Lebanon.
Basically, Mr. Rahbani was for real. In the end, people appreciated the congruence in his artistic productions, personal values, and social actions. Stated differently, he was into social justice, as a way of living/being, without bragging or lecturing about it. He was revolutionary and yet grounded. He was simple despite the richness of his spirit and mind. Yes, despite his genius, he was humble and filled with authenticity. This is why he earned the utmost respect and love by the entire Lebanon. Of course, as a musician and thinker, he also shined abroad!
Interestingly, Mr. Rahbani had a great character of his own. Indeed, he assumed it until his last breath with his personal choices regarding heath, life, and death. Regardless of any physical pain or moral suffering , he lived and died with a free mind. May his legacy on earth inspire each one of us to be and remain free—true to ourselves. May his memory in heaven be eternal.
For all his sincerity, he was adored by many. Indeed, people of all walks of life, and across generations, cried at his funeral. He united them all under the banner of humanity and of the love of their country, which remains a dream of project in progress.
Thankfully, Mr. Rahbani refused sectarianism and rose elegantly beyond it. We could easily see it today at his funeral. Religion, socio-economic status, political affiliations, gender, directions of right, left, centre… all these details did not matter to him. Yes, he had his personal political conviction and he assumed it. He treated people as dignified whole beings. He loved all his fellow citizens. His art and music united everyone. So did his respect and love for Lebanon.
Thanks to his genius, he sublimated his own pain and the pain of the wounded or traumatized people into masterpieces of songs, music compositions, and satirical plays. He made younger generations see the absurdity and danger of sectarianism. He also denounced systemic financial corruption with sarcasm.
Although Mr. Rahbani endorsed the principles of communism, all the bells of churches rang to honour him all along the drive of his hearse. Someone in the walking public was carrying the red flag of his preferred political party. Yet all were walking behind it, regardless of what political ideology they personally preferred or not.
Many grieving fans held his pictures. Others threw rice on his hearse, as they do at weddings in the Middle East. Yet others offered him flowers. People applauded. Others sang his famous lyrics.
All what Bambi tried to describe in detail thus far came from her internet morning moments. Later, at the end of the day, she took the time to watch Mr. Rahbani’s funeral service on YouTube. It was highly moving again yet beautiful.
By beautiful, she means all the following: the presence and expression of love and respect by the public as well as by other artists, directors of cultural festivals, and political figures. They came to support his family, and especially his silently stoic mom Fairuz (along with her daughter Rima), the meaningful loving presence of Ziad Rahbani’ cousins (all great artists too, it is in the family. Of note, Ziad is the son of the great/late Assi Rahbani), the soothing prayers (moving to see/hear “Abouna” or Father Elias among ALL the clergy!), and the WISE words of the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Mount Lebanon Selouane Moussa.
Indeed, as cited in This is Beirut, “in his homily, Bishop Moussa honored Rahbani said “a committed creator, deeply moved by the suffering of his people.” He continued, “Ziad saw the suffering of the people. He carried it like a cross and, in his own way, transformed it into resistance and light. He fought with his words and his music, in the service of the truth as he perceived it. The evil that gnawed at him internally had become a source of creation, light and awakening” (https://tinyurl.com/3pj3we8t).
The homely mentioned above was spontaneous, it seems, except for two very relevant chosen Bible stories. The first story highlighted the concept of freedom, which resonated a lot in Bambi’s mind. This means the freedom to believe or not, the freedom to be whom we want or not, and the freedom to return to God, if we later wish it or not. Archbishop Moussa also spoke about the concept of sincerity. Bambi was happy to hear this word because it aligned well with this post, which she envisioned in the morning, even if she is preparing it late in the evening.
A beautiful yet emotional moment of the funeral was when Archbishop Selouane turned to Fairuz and said: “The Rahbani family has become the family of an entire country. Thanks to you, we are one big family called Lebanon”, thanks to This is Beirut for the English translation (https://tinyurl.com/3pj3we8t).
Last but not least, at the end of the religious ceremony, Mr. Rahbani was awarded “the National Order of the Cedar, Commander rank” postmortem. It is one of Lebanon’s highest honours, it seems. Thanks to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam who awarded it to him on behalf of President Joseph Aoun. Mr. Salam also said a few deeply moving words that went like this, and thanks again to This is Beirut for the English quote (https://tinyurl.com/3pj3we8t): “Words fail me. My heart is heavy as I stand before a grieving mother, a family, friends and an entire country gathered in mourning. Ziad, rebellious genius, you raised the voice of our generation with courage and truth. You said what many dared not say, ‘Belnesbe la bokra shou?’ ” The latter words are the title of a play, which literally means: What About Tomorrow? He also has another great one, from the era of civil war, entiled “Film Amiriki Tawil” [“A Long American Movie“], which was cited by the Archbishop.
To conclude this long post, Bambi’s heart goes again to Mom Fairuz and Sister Rima et al. May Ziad Rahbani’s soul rest in peace. Long live music, culture, sincerity, and… long live the united Lebanon.
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August 4th is coming in eight days.
To commemorate this SAD day, there will be a march and a ceremony in Beirut (https://tinyurl.com/yn5hprk5).
As reported in L’Orient Today, “the Beirut Port explosion claimed the lives of 235 people, injured more than 7,000 others and destroyed a significant part of the capital. Five years later, those responsible for the explosion — which involved huge amounts of ammonium nitrate improperly stored at the port — still have not been brought to justice” (https://tinyurl.com/yn5hprk5).
After coming across the short YouTube N video below, Bambi was curious about Lebanon’s new Justice Minister who seems to be sincere in his expressed feelings towards the families of the victims of the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020. She found his impressive bio on 961: https://tinyurl.com/ptsrn86h.
Sincere or not, five years after the Beirut explosion, will Beirut residents—and lovers— ever know the facts? Will anyone be held responsible for this surreal tragedy?
Upon waking up, Bambi read the news from Lebanon and the Middle East. She was shocked to learn about the death of Mr. Ziad Rahbani (69) due to a heart attack.
It is hard to say good-bye to a Lebanese musical genius—composer, pianist, singer, and a play writer—, even if we know that his artistic legacy is eternal. Indeed, a piece of Lebanon, and of our collective past—especially during civil war—is gone with him.
May God knows how to comfort his mom’s heart. the legendary Fairuz ❤️. Same for his surviving siblings, including his sister Rima, and all his loved ones: former spouse, Rahbani family members, friends, fans, and “comrades” to use a language he might have liked.
On a personal note, for several weeks starting from the past winter, Bambi kept singing Mr. Rahbani’s beautiful “Ayshi Wahda Balak” [She is living without you] out loud. For instance, she heard herself doing this while working late, cleaning, and/or doing puzzles. Today, she wants to honour Mr. Rahbani by sharing his song below (the first one).
To conclude this tribute, along with your mom and siblings, Lebanon and its diaspora will have to learn to live without you, Mr. Ziad Rahbani. May your memory be eternal. Thank you for having enriched Lebanon and the world of music. Thanks for having composed songs and written plays on key causes like poverty, war absurdity, and on romantic love.
The video shared below was taken and posted by Ms Rania Berbery on her Instagram account yesterday: https://tinyurl.com/yeezps3k. Isn’t it stunning?
If you are curious, this is the view from the “Jroud el Batroun” area North of Beirut. Rania captured the magical sunset moments and dedicated them to love. Bravo and thanks to her for having accepted to share her video with us all.
As both her sister and maid of honour, Bambi wishes Rania and Rabih a wonderful wedding anniversary! She had a wonderful time with them in the spring-early summer ❤️. May beauty, love, healing, justice, accountability, peace, and prosperity prevail in their/our beautiful Lebanon.
As for Katia, Bambi is blessed to call her “friend” for thirty-four-years. It is her hope to one day see her visit Lebanon to enjoy its beauty. With much love ❤️, Happy birthday to her!
This story is too sad and unacceptable, especially if the requested external (or independent) investigation will confirm discrimination. In case you have not read about it yet, and if you wish, you can consult French media reports about it in both English and French (https://tinyurl.com/cz47cryz; nyurl.com/47e3edk9).
In sum, a French “holiday camp filed a legal complaint against Spanish airline Vueling over the expulsion of French Jewish teenagers from a Paris-bound flight“. The holiday camp organizers, the adolescents themselves, and some parents seem to report the following: the 50 young passengers, along with their summer camp counsellors, were forced off the plane in a psychologically degrading—and even physically violent—way. It seems that the latter took place after one of the adolescents of the group had sung a song in Hebrew, as reported by some parents (https://tinyurl.com/cz47cryz; nyurl.com/47e3edk9). Let’s keep in mind that they were returning home from vacation. So they must have still been in an excited or happy mood.
Of note, the airline company “crew requested the intervention of the Civil Guard police force” ( (https://tinyurl.com/cz47cryz; nyurl.com/47e3edk9). Wow. In Indian media, we can see a shocking picture or video of how the latter arrested a 21-year-old female counsellor of these teenagers—some of them were as young as 13 and even 12. The company claimed that it was because she refused to leave the airplane. It also claimed that the adolescents’ behaviour was disrupting (https://tinyurl.com/55hm6rp7).
Of course, we do not know all the facts yet, only the two sides of the story. Nevertheless, this saga is sad regardless of antisemitism or not or disrupting teen behaviour or not. Indeed, it is highly disturbing for different reasons, including humanity in general, human and passenger rights specifically, customer service, adolescent education, and human behaviour, namely civility or what looks like unmeasured use of violence.
To conclude on a musical note as usual, Bambi will allow herself to offer the “Hava Nagila” famous song to Vueling. Of course, it is in Hebrew and it is sung by a HIGHLY talented girl from Uzbekistan. Her name is Sofiya Fadeeva. Bless her voice!
Bambi is not a legal expert. However, she knows how to recognize what looks like judicial harassment. Indeed, it is both sad and unacceptable to read about what is happening to Ms. Tamara Lich and Mr. Chris Barber for having co-organized the “Freedom Convoy“, which opened the country after its excessive Covid-19 pandemic-related measures. Instead of either thanking them or letting them finally live peacefully, they have been accused with “mischief” in a trial that has dragged for too long.
Today, we learned of new development. Because of “mischief”, the Crown is asking for 8 years of jail for him and 7 for her. Can you imagine?!
Of note, mischief usually refers to reckless or intentional damage or interference with someone’s property. For example, this may refer to actions like blocking a street or vandalism of someone’s property with graffiti. In Canada, mischief rarely leads to jail time. Thus, the Crown request appears more unfair, and even absurd, when some criminals, including rapists, got out of jail earlier, or received no jail at all (https://tinyurl.com/335v4tmt).
As a quick flash-back into the past, at the time the freedom convoy took place, Bambi had several posts on the topic. It was dear to her heart because she is grateful to Canada’s truck drivers for the food she can purchase. She also had other related posts that you can see further below.
To support the “freedom convoy” movement across Canada, Bambi went to an exit on the highway, near her small town, to salute Maritime truck drivers before they started their long drive to Ottawa where they demanded the end of the excessive pandemic measures. Their request was reasonable and they were peaceful.
Of course, as expressed on this blog, Bambi had a thought for Ottawa citizens as she imagined that truck honking might result in auditory stress and maybe headaches for some of them. However, does honking justify 7 and 8 years in jail as the court is requesting for the co-organizers? If so, maybe we should put the entire population of some countries, like Bambi’s birth place, in jail permanently because Lebanese drivers use car horns a lot (i.e., when they see a loved one, at weddings, when upset, for no reason, etc.).
As a reminder, Ottawa evoked the Emergencies Act without much justification. In 2024, Federal Court ruled that “not only it wasn’t justified, it infringed on Charter rights” (https://tinyurl.com/2pewnaw7).
Ms. Lich was in the Ottawa court house today. Mr. Barber could not make it as he lost one parent. May the latter’s soul rest in peace. To support Ms. Lich, a mother and a grandmother, Bambi just bought her book entitled “Hold The Line: My story from the heart of the Freedom Convoy“. She is also considering making a donation for legal support, if this is an option.
Silencing Ms. Lich and Mr. Barber, by throwing them in jail, is silencing all Canadians. As Bambi had repeated many times on her blog, freedom of expression should be defended as a principle for ALL. This includes Ms. Lich and Mr. Barber.To cite Ms. Lich’s lawyer Mr. Lawrence Greenspon sharp and wise words, “freedom of expression should win every time” (https://tinyurl.com/4xzzvjn9). Is this too much to ask for in today’s Canada and world?
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Dr. Joseph Facal’ s column is entitled “À Ottawa, le délire multiculturaliste ne se repose jamais” [In Ottawa, the multiculturalist delirium never rests]. The federal program it informed us about was found by one of his readers. Thanks to her, and if you wish, you can consult this program here in both English and French: https://shorturl.at/ytVEj. Of note, the “Kosher and Halal Investment Program” is a “$25-million contribution funding program over 2 fiscal years“.
Of course, Canadians are free to eat any diet they wish, whether out of religious beliefs or not. They are also free to follow heath diets, if they like it, or even regularly celebrate the “National Junk Food Day”, which was yesterday by the way (https://tinyurl.com/yc683286 ). This is not the point of Dr. Joseph Facal’s column. His point is simple: why should our tax dollars fund this program? And why did Ottawa create such program in the first place? Why is the government promoting, or interfering, in people’s religious habits? This is a strictly private choice.
Below you can find an English translation of Dr. Joseph Facal’s thoughtful article published yesterday in the Journal de Montréal (https://tinyurl.com/bdzymns5). Thanks to Mr. Google Translate for assisting Bambi in its translation into English for you, dear readers:
“Observant Jews and Muslims follow a few dietary rules dictated by their religious beliefs.
This set of rules is generally referred to as “kosher” for the former and “halal” for the latter, meaning “permitted” because it conforms to religious doctrine.
The most well-known are refusal to eat pork and the consumption of meat from an animal whose slaughter has followed a certain ritual.
No!
Honestly, it doesn’t bother me much, as long as the freedom of others is respected.
After all, there was a time when many Catholics abstained from meat on Fridays and fasted during Lent.
Today, vegetarians and vegans also have eating habits based on beliefs that are not my own, but which are legitimate and respectable.
But should the state encourage and even subsidize the production of meat that conforms to Jewish and Islamic religious precepts?
Should my tax money be used to finance an increase in the production of kosher and halal meat?
In Canada, the answer is apparently yes, since that’s exactly what the federal government is doing.
A reader drew my attention to a very discreet program run by the federal Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food to invest public funds in the production of kosher and halal red meat. You can find here .
The program is aimed at private companies already engaged in this type of production or those wishing to start.
The aim is to help the slaughterhouses concerned “increase their efficiency.”
The funds can be used to purchase the necessary equipment (conveyors, cutting tools, blades, etc.) or to hire a consultant to assist them.
Eligible projects could receive up to $2 million in government assistance per applicant.
Eligible costs would be shared 50-50 between the government and the contractor.
Ottawa will accept applications until September 1, 2026.
The total cost of the program is $25 million, spread over two fiscal years (2025-2026 and 2026-2027).
The problem here, I repeat, is not kosher or halal production or consumption, or consumption based on any other conviction.
Nor, obviously, is the problem with faith and religious practice lived with respect for others.
The problem is the use of your money and mine to encourage ethno-religious communitarianism.
Secularism
But of course, we are in Canada, the only one of these countries to have embraced the multiculturalist doctrine, which today refuses to see its disastrous consequences and to back down.
Mark Carney seems determined in this regard to be the successor to Justin Trudeau, himself a zealous executor of this disastrous ideology long ago introduced by his father.
Meanwhile, Québec, with the half-powers of a half-state, is striving to establish secularism as the philosophy underlying the relationship between the state and its citizens.
Will Québecers finally understand?”.
From Naharnet citing the National News Agency, Bambi learned the following: “Former public works and transport minister Ghazi Zoaiter on Friday failed to appear before Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar… Zoaiter’s lawyer Samer al-Hajj, however, attended the session… and “Former state prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat had on Thursday refused to receive a subpoena summoning him to interrogation before Bitar on July 21…” (https://tinyurl.com/yc52byf7).
Although not that surprised by the above, and without being an expert in criminal law, Bambi wonders about any legal consequences of contempt of court in a civil law country like Lebanon, interestingly by another judge.
Of note, in Canada, and if she is not mistaken, the punishment of court contempt may be a fine or even imprisonment, in addition to possibly “paying the costs that are incident to the service of any process under this Part and to his detention, if any” (https://tinyurl.com/ef9m8drs).
Regardless of any legal implications, what about moral responsibility?
