Today Bambi read in Naharnet the following (https://tinyurl.com/48yatsuc): “Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has called on all Lebanese parties to implement the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, saying it is essential to preventing internal strife.“All components of Lebanon must work to implement the clause about Lebanon in the memorandum of understanding because it prevents civil strife,” Ghalibaf said”.
Of note, this politician of the Iranian regime is talking about a clause of the Iran-US deal, which mentions Lebanon without the latter having been consulted. How is this acceptable? And what kind of deal is this to include such a clause?
Why is Mr. Ghalibat lecturing the people of Lebanon about “internal” strife from out of his FOREIGN country? Not any foreign country. One that has shamelessly hijacked the country of the Cedars for decades to nourish its obsession with Israel.
Both the innocent Iranian people as well as the people of Lebanon are tired of all forms of dictatorship, hypocrisy, moral corruption, and endless wars. For God’s sake, enough of modern colonization and of proxy wars.
Beyond Iran, enough to ALL the other powerful countries, including but not limited to the USA. Just for once, let Lebanon decide its own fate without any interference.
Mr. Anthony Samrani’s picture was taken from an article in L’Orient Today (OLJ, Nov 27th, 2024)
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may have guessed that Bambi thinks very highly of Mr. Anthony Samrani’s journalistic work as well as depth and accuracy of his political analysis. Lebanon is richer with l’Orient Le Jour (OLJ)/L’Orient Today. OLJ is lucky to have Samrani’s talent.
In the short YouTube video shared at the end of this post, Mr. Samrani explains to us “the two major unknowns of the framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon“. Bambi took the time to translate his excellent insights from French to English, with the assistance of her faithful friend, Mr. Google Translate. In the following paragraphs, you can find this translation:
“The framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon has sparked heated debate within Lebanon; some view it as a total capitulation to Israel, while others see it, conversely, as a source of hope for the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty.
On the one hand, the text does indeed have numerous flaws.
It is very favourable to Israel, reflecting both the reality on the ground and the fact that the main mediator—the United States—clearly leans toward one side over the other.
The text makes no mention of an Israeli withdrawal, sets no timetable for one, and even stipulates in Article 13 that Lebanon waives, whether provisionally or absolutely is a matter of debate, its right to take legal action regarding potential Israeli war crimes committed on its territory.
On the other hand, the text does have several significant strengths.
The first point is that Lebanon is directly involved in this agreement, yet it is mentioned in the Iran-US deal without ever having been consulted.
The second point is that it offers a glimpse of the pacification of southern Lebanon and, in a sense, an end to the perpetual wars between Israel and Lebanon since 1948—wars that have come at such a high cost to the Land of the Cedars.
Finally, it does indeed open up the possibility of restoring Lebanese sovereignty, but under difficult conditions—namely, the disarmament of Hezbollah in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
In this regard, the text presents two major unknowns.
On the one hand, Lebanon has no guarantee that Israel will actually honour its side of the agreement. By what criteria, for instance, will Israel assess the effectiveness of Hezbollah’s disarmament?
On the other hand, is Lebanon sincere in its desire—for once—to honour its commitments? In other words, is it sincere in its intention to disarm a militia that refuses to lay down its arms and even threatens to wage civil war in order to keep them?
In short, if both parties act in good faith, the text indeed outlines a path toward restoring Lebanese sovereignty. However, if either or both fail to uphold their end of the bargain, it risks instead cementing an Israeli occupation in the medium to long term—thereby playing right into Hezbollah’s hands”.
Every July 1st, for 30+ years, Bambi calls the beloved mother of a DEAR friend to wish her a Happy Birthday (Bonjourno Cleta ❤️ :)) . Tomorrow, she will honour this beautiful tradition. She looks forward to their phone chat.
Of course, Bambi will also take the time to sing O’ Canada, several times and in both official languages (sorry Louis for your ears), while reflecting on her first 36 years in our wide and great country, hoping for more years to come.
Importantly, she will pause to pay tribute to her mom and dad, thanking them for having brought her to her adoptive country.
Robine and Antoine may have left Canada a few years ago, before leaving our world to their final destination, yet Canada did not leave them. It remained vivid in their hearts, memories, conversations, and in their enriched identities. Symbolically, Canada also remained alive on the balcony of their apartment in Beirut, as a beautiful flag that sat in the soil of a big plant, next to the great Lebanese flag.
As highlighted on this blog in an older post, these two meaningful flags miraculously remained intact, despite the heavy destruction following the Beirut explosion.
Both the Canadian and Lebanese flags survived Robine and Antoine. May they both keep flying HIGH in the skies of Canada and Lebanon respectively, with much pride and with hope for a renewed sovereignty and prosperity—despite all the challenges.
To conclude this post, may God bless Canada, especially on the eve of its birthday!
Why did Israel take so long to recognize the Armenian genocide of World War I? It now did it finally (https://tinyurl.com/msy55y3). As it is commonly said, better late than never. So, for this political decision, bravo. It is Bambi’s hope that more countries will join Israel, the European Union, and the 30+ countries who did this official recognition, including Canada, the USA, and Lebanon. As a reminder, what is called the “Armenian genocide” is the systematic elimination and deportation of Armenian people living in the Ottoman Empire from spring 1915 to autumn 1916. We are talking about an estimate of 664,000 to 1.2 million Armenians (https://tinyurl.com/msy55y3). May the memory of these innocent people be eternal… Long live Armenia and its diaspora worldwide.
A screenshot taken from a Youtube Video by the New York Times
Thank you, Mr. Marco Rubio, for announcing a piece of promising good news related to “a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon following talks held in Washington” (https://tinyurl.com/etv74asd).
As reported by France 24, Ms. Nada Hamadeh, Ambassador of Lebanon to the United States, described this framework “as a first step on the road of restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity” (https://tinyurl.com/etv74asd).
May this baby step of a historic agreement allow the civilians of Southern Lebanon, along with those of Northern Israel, to finally live without fear about their safety.
May Lebanon’s absurd wars, occupation, destruction, and heartbreaking suffering, end. May the memory of all the victims be eternal. May the injured people recover well. May the hearts of their loved ones know how to heal, day after day.
May peace prevail in Lebanon, Israel, and in the entire region, including but not limited to Gaza, Syria, all the Arab countries, Iran… and to the United States.
May love, along with reason, have the final word in our world!
Last week, on June 17th 2026, Bambi celebrated 36 years in Canada. She spent the first fifteen years of them in the beautiful province of Québec.
Today is a big day in our neighbouring province. Yes, “La Saint-Jean-Baptiste” Day (or Saint John the Baptist), which is also called Fête nationale.
Bonne fête cher Québec 💙!
“Une bonne Saint-Jean” also to all the francophone communities across Canada without forgetting the francophiles. Long live the great French language!
Bambi is also thinking of her relatives, friends, acquaintances, and readers with different names related to variations of “John”, including Jean or Jeannot (French pronunciation) as well as Jane, Jean, and John. Today is your name day :). Be well and have a good one!
The picture of Côte-des-Neiges, Montreal was found online (source: Tripadvisor).
Montreal SPVM (Police) Chief Fady Dagher called yesterday’s shooting “a nightmare” (https://tinyurl.com/2hmva8ek). How could it not be a nightmare when three people lost their lives, including the shooter, and so many witnessed the traumatizing event? Some hiding for three to five hours. Others observing from the balconies of their apartments (https://tinyurl.com/2hmva8ek & many other media).
One of the victims is a devoted police officer who is a father of a young child AND of an unborn baby. Const. Mohamed Lamine Benredouane was a great Québec citizen/Canadian who happens to be of Algerian origins (https://tinyurl.com/2hmva8ek). May his soul rest in peace and may his memory be eternal.
The other victim is a beloved 68-year-old citizen and a father of three. Of note, he was on his way to meet his son when he lost his life. May Mr. Michael Mizrahi rest in peace and may his memory be eternal. Mr. Mizrahi happens to be of Lebanese origins and he came to Canada from Israel, as Rabbi Mendel Raskin said (https://tinyurl.com/2hmva8ek).
It seems that a second (female) police officer was also shot. Thank Goodness, she is out of danger in a stable condition. Same for another civilian who sustained minor injuries (https://tinyurl.com/2hmva8ek).
May God know how to comfort the hearts of the victims’ family, friends, and community members, both fellow police officers and civilians. May all those affected by this senseless violence heal as smoothly as possible. It will take much courage and patience to process this traumatic event and/or to grieve the loss of life.
Bearing the above in mind, if you are wondering about the shooter, it seems that this young man who was dressed in camouflage drove all the way from Alberta to Québec while being blinded by odd ideas, including the hate of women, porn and of capitalism (https://tinyurl.com/2hmva8ek). Regardless of his unwell state of mind or motivation, what an absurd tragedy. Bambi’s heart also goes to his family and loved ones (independent of their story).
To conclude this post, bravo and thanks to the SPVM police for protecting citizens as they did in a remarkable way, despite their own sorrow.
While quickly reading the latest news about the Middle East, Bambi learned from L’Orient Today that “Lebanese judoka Aqulina Chayeb won the gold medal on Sunday in the under-78 kg category at the European Judo Open in Tallinn, Estonia” (https://tinyurl.com/2h6cm7u6). Wow, how can she not share such an inspiring piece of uplifting news for Lebanon with you, dear readers? Indeed, here is a short (English-speaking) Orient-Le Jour interview with the young athlete. “Mabrouk”/Congrats to her!
