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):
“No matter how wounded our country is
We’ll heal it, even if we are few
Few we may be, but we’re not used
To cry and stand over ruins..”
Our country is a song of love
It became like a ballad
It becomes greater little by little
And grows up with its children”.
