Thank you L’Orient Le Jour for this moving short video featuring the beauty created by Mr. Ali Rida in the middle of the rubble in Beirut, Lebanon. Bambi’s heart goes to Mr. Rida after the loss of his flower shop. She thanks him for his inspiring words and gesture of both beauty (flowers) and compassion (cat).
For your convenience dear readers, and with the assistance of her online companion Mr. Google Translate, Bambi will now share a quick English translation of the content of the video at the end of the post:
A florist in Beirut returned to the site of his destroyed shop by Israeli strikes in the early days of the war.
This week, Ali Rida took to the road to the southern suburbs of Beirut to arrange bouquets amidst the ruins of her neighbourhood.
For him, “war destroys walls, but not the hand that creates bouquets and beauty”.
While crossing devastated neighbourhoods, he came across abandoned cats among the rubble.
He fed them, preserving a little life amidst the disaster.
On social media, Ali wrote: “the shop may be destroyed but the flower continues to live in the spirit of the city“.
According to a proverb of unknown origins, “No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow“.
The proverb cited above can have a double-meaning. First, it can literally mean that the spring is coming, even after a long winter. Second, this proverb can also mean the following: After hardship or persistent struggles, brighter days are sure to follow.
The spirit of such proverb is Bambi’s wish for our troubled world, especially her birth country. There and in some neighbouring countries, the start of spring coincides with Mothers’ Day; which always falls on March 21st. Happy Mothers’ Day to you, dear readers, if you happen to be highlighting this day ❤️.
Regardless, may everyone’s spring season be filled with pleasant moments, along with forthcoming hope for a dignified future filled with safety, peace, love, and prosperity.
If you happen to be Muslim, and whether your are highlighting Eid spiritually (breaking your fast) or just culturally, have a good one dear readers, friends, and/or relatives.
Bambi wishes you safety, sanity, healing, hope for peace, and much love.
She wishes Lebanon, the Middle East, and the entire world freedom from violence, a return to reason, a renewal with love, and a commitment to peace—both inner and toward others.
First of all, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, dear readers. Since yesterday evening, Bambi wanted to highlight this great day on her blog. However, her heart was too heavy to write any post before sleep.
How could her heart not be heavy with the worrisome news from out of Lebanon and from the entire Middle East?
In the Land of the Cedars, we are now talking about 1 million displaced persons. Can you imagine? This is about 16% of this tiny country’s entire population. Imagine such humanitarian tragedy happening in Canada, how would we cope with it? Bravo to Lebanon for managing the tragic consequences of this unwanted war to the best of its capacity. Thanks to the international community for the support and generosity.
Sadly, innocent people always find themselves caught in the middle of fire during armed conflicts. In the current war, the fire is exchanged between the Hezbollah and Israel while one of the innocent Lebanese people is Mr. Mehdi el Sahili.
Mr. Sahili who is filled with talent and courage moved Bambi’s heart today, although some of you might perhaps consider his courage as being “craziness”. According to L’Orient Le Jour, the latter was meant to be a form of “resistance”.
Resistance to absurdity and cruelty of violence with the most beautiful gift in life, along with our capacity to love: Yes, this gift is the capacity of some of us to produce music. Thank you and bravo Mr. el Sahili for the precious artistic moments where you played pieces by Dvořák and Khachaturian in the middle of the rubble. May God protect you and may you keep making your country proud of your talent.
As for L’Orient Le Jour, thanks again for the great journalism and for your short video, which comes with the following description (translated from French): “In the southern suburbs of Beirut, still scarred by Israeli airstrikes, Lebanese cellist Mehdi el Sahili films himself playing his instrument. The footage, shot at dawn in an area still under threat, shows the musician briefly performing pieces by Dvořák and Khachaturian before leaving“.
To end this post on another meaningful musical note, Bambi will share a famous Lebanese song, as performed by Mr. Nicolas El Osta. It is “Mahma Yetjarrah Baladna”, which is “an iconic song by the legendary Zaki Nassif, performed by Nicolas El Osta. In 2015, the Lebanese Army Band played it at Unesco for the Lebanese Army anniversary, conducted by Maestro George Herro“. As per the lyrics of this BEAUTIFUL patriotic song (https://tinyurl.com/mwvscuvp):
Bambi was happy to come across this lovely song, which is a call for peace with the voices of children. Its French lyrics are translated into English in this link: https://tinyurl.com/5dt4h2kk . Thank you Maurice Musvin. May inner peace prevail in the hearts of all the children’s of the world. This inner peace is always vital, especially in times of external chaos.
Bambi remains speechless about Lebanon and Beirut.
Speechless yet sadly not that surprised by the extent of the unfolding violence.
Before going to sleep, she pauses on her blog to send her love especially to the Lebanese people and to beloved Beirut, but also to ALL the other innocent people residing in the entire Middle East and, beyond it, in our troubled world.
May the memory of all those who have absurdly lost their lives be eternal. Lots of courage to their loved ones. Best wishes to all the injured, displaced, and scared innocent people.
Individually as well as collectively, may they and may we all keep protecting our sanity while cultivating our inner peace and humanity.
The so-called International Awareness Day for Avoidable Deaths “raises awareness about disaster deaths that never should occur”. The “focus” of this awareness “includes floods that overwhelm unprepared towns, heatwaves without early warnings, and road accidents on unsafe routes” (https://tinyurl.com/2z5pnuha).
Interesting, but what about avoidable deaths due to terrorism, armed conflicts, and wars? How can we raise awareness about how human-made disaster deaths kill innocent people, destroy lives as well as economies, and tear apart families and their countries?
How do we deal with destructive ideologies that seem incompatible with the will to live and to solve state and inter-state conflicts without radicalism? Is the harsh aggression, or aggressive unmeasured response, a viable and wise approach to get rid of this apparently unsolvable problem—which involves a suicidal, closed mindset. This is sadly the Lebanese tragedy again and again. None of the two fighting entities, Hezbollah and Israel, seem to want to stop the absurd insanity. Yes, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into a war it did not want or can afford. Yes, Israel seems determined to do what Lebanon would have ideally done itself to disarm this Iran-backed Lebanese militia. Clearly, Lebanon does not seem to be able to do it still, even with a weakened Hezbollah. So what is the solution to this existential problem? How will it end in the end… and would it?
So many questions that are beyond the scope of this post and the spirit of this blog, which is based on aspirations for peace, reason, and love.
Related to love, and since tomorrow is “National Day of Plant a Flower”, Bambi who is powerless like the innocent people of her birth country—as well as those residing in its neighbouring and more distant countries— can only symbolically keep planting flowers of peace, along with seeds of love, on her blog. These flowers are meant for each one of you, dear readers. May we remain grounded in those nerve-wracking times. May we remain connected to our humanity despite mixed feelings of despair, anger, sadness, hope for end of the nightmare, and dream of brighter days.
Once again, thank you Mr. Samrani for your insights and bravo to L’Orient Le Jour/Orient Today for its professionalism and high-quality journalism.
Below is a quick translation of this brief video for you, dear readers, with thanks to Mr. Google Translate for his assistance.
Bambi send lots of love to Lebanon. May peace prevail there (it is about time!), in its neighbourhood, region, and the entire world.
—
“Is the war waged by Israel against Hezbollah in Lebanon set to continue?
Even if the Iranian conflict were to end soon, it is possible that the Lebanese front would continue to rage, for at least two reasons.
The first point is that Israel has the time and space to act as it pleases on the Lebanese front. The stakes are not at all the same as in Iran.
There is no surge in hydrocarbon prices or involvement of Gulf countries and European countries directly related to this conflict.
The second is that Israeli objectives are very high and it seems unlikely that Tel Aviv will back down before at least further weakening Hezbollah by destroying its infrastructure, creating a buffer zone in South Lebanon and exerting strong pressure on the government to accelerate the disarmament of the militia, and ultimately, to be forced to sign a peace on Israeli terms.
In this context, Beirut’s call for direct negotiations with Tel Aviv appears insufficient to stop Israeli aggression.
Only a strong action by the Lebanese authorities against Hezbollah could perhaps change the situation”.
Today, Bambi’s day started with a picture that shook her to the core. It was the view of shelling in front of her sister Roula’s car as she was driving on a street in Beirut.
In addition to caring for and worrying about her aging dad, Roula finds herself worrying about the safety of her own children, and grandchild, in Dubai. Like her fellow citizens, Roula et al. are now going through a nightmare of another round of war, which is currently unfolding in Lebanon.
Bambi remains speechless about the entire regional insanity and war cruelty. Through this post, she sends her love to her two beloved sisters, Roula as well as Rania whose maternal heart is torn between the UAE and Lebanon. Same for many of her relatives and fellow citizens at large whose loved ones are spread across the Middle East. They escaped Lebanon for safety. They now find themselves living in risky places.
Anyhow, Roula, this post comes with two songs for you: (1) of course, a Happy Birthday personalized song found on YouTube with gratitude; and (2) a famous song from our childhood calling for peace in Lebanon and for “giving children their childhood back”. This song, performed by Ms. Rémi Bandali, was composed by her late dad in the context of the Lebanese civil war. Sadly, the Arabic-French-English lyrics of this song remain timely.
Thank you for existing, for being who you are, and for all what you do for our dad (same for you, Rania). Bambi who loves you so much prays God to keep protecting you. Happy Birthday “ma grande” : ) ❤️!
Once again, Iran-backed Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into war. Indeed, this militia, with a suicidal mentality, chose to protect the interests of the Iranian regime over the interests of Lebanon.
Tragically, we all know the cruelty of the unmeasured Israeli-response to the proxies of Iran. Hopelessly, we are witnessing again and again the suffering of the innocent Lebanese people. They are sick and tired of paying the price of wars of others on their own land. Today, their government seems to be considering legal action against Mr. Naim Qassem (https://tinyurl.com/4kffhbaw).
Bambi does not understand what this would concretely mean, but she salutes the courage of the Lebanese government, especially the Minister of Justice. For the first time, it seems to be standing up against this militia.
May the ban of military actions and the legal measures to hold the head of this group responsible be implemented as soon as possible.
She does not know about your own opinion, dear readers, but it is Bambi’s hope to see the Iranian regime falling down… and good luck to Iran following such historical event.
Enough of terror and wars in the Middle East. All its innocent people deserve to live in peace.
