In an older post shared below, Bambi paid tribute to Mr. Nagi Zeidan who devoted his life to his expertise and passion, the Jewish community of Lebanon. This has resulted in him being called “A friend of the Jews” [“Amis des juifs” in French]. May his memory be eternal.
Following this post, a new reader kindly approached Bambi who offered him the promise of honouring his late Lebanese mother, with a stone on her Jewish grave during her next trip to her birth country. Sadly, she couldn’t honour her promise yet, even if she visited Lebanon for family reasons (due to two devastating and ongoing wars). She is still dreaming to meet this promise if at all possible. For those who do not know it, small stones placement on graves is a beautiful Jewish tradition to remember and honour the deceased.
Regardless, the topic of graves is close to Bambi’s heart at all times, and especially today (hi mama habibi. May your memory be eternal… today more than ever đź’ś). Related to this, keeping the Jewish memory in her birth country—along with the memory of the other 17 different religions—means the world to her.
Given all the above, Bambi cannot help not to wonder why did Israel “request the transfer of the remains of Jews buried in cemeteries in Lebanon to Israel as part of negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut over a permanent agreement“? Of note, the information about this request was cited in The New Arab (https://tinyurl.com/7uan9635) and in the Times of Israel (https://tinyurl.com/mpdm2bfm) respectively. Of note, the Times of Israel cite a vague source for the information (“report”).
Going back in time five months earlier, we can learn from “Prof. Alex Weinreb, chair of the Demography Area and Research Director at the Taub Center” that Israel is lacking cemetery space. One of the reasons might be the following, as cited by the Jerusalem Post: “Only 10% of Israel’s Jewish secular population would favor cremation over burial as the default practice. In contrast, almost 100% of people who die in Japan are cremated, 80% in South Korea, and over 60% in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom” (https://tinyurl.com/42msv7ud).
Bambi is a strong believer in the values of humanity, respect, dignity, LOVE, and… ideally peace. Her (impossible?) dream is to see peace being co-built and prevailing in the Middle East, instead of endless walls and wars. Within this dream, Jewish cemeteries would remain where they belong in Beirut, Sidon, and elsewhere. Within this dream, Lebanon would be finally and truly sovereign. Israel would be back to its borders (out of Lebanon) and both neighbouring countries would be safe for all their citizens and for their tourists.
Why can’t Lebanese people of Jewish ancestry safely visit the Land of the Cedars to deposit stones on the graves of their loved ones, just like other Lebanese people in the diaspora? And why can’t Lebanon proudly and explicitly celebrate all the components of its rich heritage, including Judaism?
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