Author: Bambi

Dear readers, did you know that today is the National Take A Chance Day (https://tinyurl.com/ypuwmn67)?

On the official website informing us of the flavour of this day, we can read the following wise words (https://tinyurl.com/ypuwmn67): “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowline, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover” (Mark Twain).

In the case of the official Lebanon, another uplifting quote applies to it perfectly, today more than ever: “Do not be afraid to take a chance on peace, to teach peace, to live peace… Peace will be the last word of history” (Pope Jean-Paul II).

Of course, the journey of the Israeli-Lebanese talks is long and no one can fully predict the outcome of these (overdue) diplomatic negotiations given the complexity of the risky situation, both locally and regionally.

Bambi is neither an expert in international politics nor in military strategies. She only knows one thing with clarity: her birth country has suffered too much while being taken hostage between a rock (Israel) and a hard place (Iran through Hezbollah’s military proxy).

The Israeli “rock” (or hammer) can be quite painful. However, both Israel and Lebanon are neighbouring countries whose innocent people have suffered to a great extent because of the Iranian regime past, current, and most likely future behaviour (whether with or without a nuclear threat).

How do you solve the Lebanese domestic problem of one its groups being clearly stronger than its government? How do you collect its weapons, take back the power of deciding whether to go to war or not, and have all the citizens under the same rule of law?

For Bambi, there is only one wise possibility: “take a chance on peace, dare to envision it, one baby step at a time”. Today’s meeting at the White House gave a powerful message of seriousness and apparent support of the USA to Lebanon. Bravo to the latter for taking this apparently historic opportunity. From a non-ideal ceasefire of 10 days, we are now into three more weeks. There is an apparent improvement. However, what Bambi does not understand is how could negotiations with Lebanon work when the party fighting with Israel is the Hezbollah?

Despite all these contradictions, Bambi remains a strong believer in the value of peace, along with love, among nations and people. If one thing is being achieved, thus far, is to break the taboo of endlessly boycotting Israel.

Bambi believes in healthy communication among nations and people to solve problems and to grow, not to remain stuck in time or to move backward. In other terms, she is not fond of stonewalling or boycotting. She is also not into violence and endless wars. Clearly, Lebanon is the smallest and weakest nation here. Being neutral with all countries, powerful or not, can be a good defense as well as collaborative strategy.

So, yes talk directly with Israel. Talk with Syria. Same with Iran. As for the Hezbollah, no clue how to solve this endless suicidal problem, calling itself resistance to Israel while acting in total submission to Iran? Can’t we be resistant to both at the same time? How about putting Lebanon first for a change?

As Bambi mentioned earlier, she is not a military expert. Yet, she was reading today about a country she loves dearly, namely Haiti. It has welcomed an international force, helping suppress its widespread criminal gang problem (https://tinyurl.com/yeysjxb7).

Inspired by a similar model, could some foreign countries go help Lebanon with the disarmament of the Hezbollah (+ any other armed groups)? Bambi does not think that the task of disarming this militia should be implemented by Lebanon. Surely not by Israel… nor by the Americans. Could other (truly) neutral countries assist Lebanon with this touchy task?

While awaiting the next diplomatic meeting between Lebanon and Israel, with possibly another ceasefire extension (hoping not just on paper), Bambi wishes her birth country the best. She sends her heart to its people AND, since she has enough geographic and emotional distance, her heart also goes to the innocent Israeli people who have been victims of the Hezbollah’s weapons.

Thanks to the USA for fostering negotiations between these two Mediterranean countries. May peace prevail. May love bloom. May “peaceful words” as well as “acts of peace” be stronger than the scary sound of drones, missiles, and airstrikes.

From Naharnet, Bambi learned that Ms. Amale Khalil’s body was “pulled from under the rubble hours after the attack” (https://tinyurl.com/3bxw9pnx). May her soul rest in peace… and may God know how to soothe the aching hearts among her family, colleagues, friends, and fellow citizens in those tragic moments.

What makes things even more terrible is how this tragedy seems to have unfolded (details below, according to the same Naharnet article, https://tinyurl.com/3bxw9pnx). But, first and as per L’Orient Today, Ms. Khalil, who worked for a media called Al Akhbar, seems to have “received death threats” in 2024, during her coverage of the war, “urging her to leave southern Lebanon” (https://tinyurl.com/2dmzy46t).

Of note, Bambi consulted the Times of Israel, which reported the sad news in a title that acknowledges the act of the Israeli army with the following words: “Body of journalist for pro-Hezbollah paper pulled from rubble of building hit by IDF” (https://tinyurl.com/kz7w4hev). Note the “pro-Hezbollah” in the title, as if this makes any difference in this tragedy, minimizes it, and/or justifies it.

Once again, and at least thus far (without any investigation yet), Israel seems to not want to have any journalist reporting on what is unfolding in Lebanon from entire village destruction to other war activities. It also seems to be missing the whole point about freedom of press and of freedom of expression. Thankfully, this remains a precious value worth being defended by the Lebanese “Information Minister Paul Morcos” who also confirmed Khalil’s death and condemned it. Khalil had been covering the Israel-Hezbollah war since it started in October 2023 and had been reporting from different parts of southern Lebanon on the hostilities” (https://tinyurl.com/3bxw9pnx).

Furthermore, also according to Naharnet, “earlier on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, called on the international community to immediately pressure the Israeli army to allow the rescue of Khalil. “Her life is in danger right now! Continued Israeli airstrikes are preventing rescuers from reaching her,” RSF said” (https://tinyurl.com/3bxw9pnx).

In addition, as further reported by Naharnet, the Lebanese “President Joseph Aoun had called on the Lebanese Red Cross to work on the rescue of Khalil prior to her death’s confirmation. Aoun had requested the Lebanese Red Cross to coordinate with the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers “to carry out the rescue operation in the shortest possible time” (https://tinyurl.com/3bxw9pnx).

Last but not least, “The Red Cross had earlier evacuated Ms. Zeinab Faraj, another freelance journalist, who was injured in the same attack, along with the bodies of two people who were in a car that was also targeted in the location” (https://tinyurl.com/3bxw9pnx). One of these people is the Mayor of a village and another citizen. May their souls rest in peace and may they be eternally remembered in heaven. As for Ms. Faraj, shown below, Bambi will surely pray for her recovery, in her heart, before closing her eyes to sleep in a few moments.

Related to today’s tragedy, Bambi was deeply disturbed when she learned that “Israel fired a stun grenade at the Red Cross team, forcing it to withdraw from al-Tiri“, a village in South Lebanon (https://tinyurl.com/3bxw9pnx). Sadly, this shocking fact is not a first during this harsh war between Israel and Hezbollah. Indeed, Bambi has an older post devoted to the Lebanese Red Cross, shown further below.

Last but not least, the Israeli army confirmed the strikes of a vehicle and a building. However, its stated justification, at least thus far, is that it did so “after identifying what it described as militants posing an immediate threat near the border“. According to Naharnet, “the Israeli army said it was aware of reports that journalists were injured but did not confirm them and denied preventing rescue teams from reaching the area. The details of the incident are under review, it added” (https://tinyurl.com/3bxw9pnx).

To conclude this post on a musical note, Mr. Johnny Hallyday’s song “Ne tuez pas la liberté [“Do Not Kill Freedom”] is what comes to Bambi’s mind. For your convenience, dear readers, you can find an English translation of the powerful lyrics at this link (https://tinyurl.com/392aybn9).

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“Lebanese Red Cross-Anthem of the Commemoration”

The province of Québec is blessed to have one of the most beautiful voices in the world. Yes, Bambi is talking about Mr. Bruno Pelletier’s moving voice, along with his great talent.

Mr. Raymond Lévesque’s 1950-song on love, and thus peace, remains timely; today more than ever. This is particularly true in several parts of the world, namely the Middle East.

Of course, Bambi might be a bit biased toward her birth country who is in GREAT suffering. Yet, as usual, she thinks of ALL the innocent people everywhere, starting with the Lebanese people and including those from all other countries involved in the ongoing regional war. Of course, this would include countries that have hijacked Lebanon for decades, countries that are currently (re)occupying it, countries that truly and/or just strategically care for it, other places that might be indifferent, and countries of origins of soldiers of peace who were sadly killed in it.

May Mr. Lévesque’s eternal song comfort all the aching hearts, which are aspiring for love and daring to dream about peace. May it inspire everyone, especially in Lebanon, to give life, reason, peace, and love a chance.

If you do not know the song yet, and if you are interested, an English translation of the beautiful French-Canadian lyrics can be found at https://tinyurl.com/yc5jh7r2.

Mr. Trump—the US President who, along with Mr. Netanyahu, set Iran, and consequently the entire Middle East, on fire—announced a happy development today: a 10-day-ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon (https://tinyurl.com/2hfs4x8u). Of course, we can only be thankful while hoping for the best.

Of note, in the name of his country, President Joseph Aoun has been pushing hard for a ceasefire in order to ease the suffering of the Lebanese people. Good for him and for the Government of the Lebanese Republic. Thanks to all the countries who have been contributing to stop war. Time will tell what will unfold in Lebanon, and regionally, on the battlefields as well as in the unfolding negotiations.

This being said, before reading about the latest update, Bambi heard, on the radio, about a large meeting that took place in Beirut (picture shown below), demanding the demilitarization of the Lebanese capital.

Of note, almost all the Beirut MPs came together for it. As you can perhaps guess, Beirut MPs who are affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally. called Amal, were absent. The good news here is that they were invited to this truly inclusive political meeting. This is a sign of political maturity and a will of unity, bravo.

Although they were absent today, may they eventually change their minds and join their peers in: (1) supporting the Lebanese government; and (2) finally acknowledging the urgent need for a safe Beirut for ALL. This means a Beirut without ANY illegal weapons. In other terms: Only the Lebanese authorities would carry the needed weapons in order to ensure everyone’s safety in this beautiful city.

Of note, Bambi got curious about the meeting since she heard about it on an internet radio station. She took the time to listen to parts of the speeches, even if she does not know most of these people (she left Lebanon 36 years ago). Indeed, all the MPs from ALL the Lebanese political parties (sadly minus those mentioned above) expressed solidarity and compassion for the displaced people. Their meeting is not even about the political Hezbollah. It is just about the weapons. It was actually very wise and clever of them to stress the point of banning the weapons, not those carrying those weapons. This message was even crystal clear in the slogan on the wall behind them (written in Arabic in the picture): “Beirut A Safe City AND Without Weapons“.

Today’s large political meeting in Beirut was a powerful message of support to the Lebanese government. It is Bambi’s hope that the latter will succeed in achieving the goal of protecting people, namely by being the only authority carrying weapons. It is the basic duty of governments to be able to do so.

Weapons are known to be dangerous. In addition, there is another layer of danger related to outsourcing one’s loyalty to a foreign country (i.e., Iran instead of Lebanon; in the past to other foreign countries). Time for everyone to come back to (the Lebanese) home. Everyone, hand in hand, under the same rule of law while being united by Lebanon’s love. The latter has been Bambi’s dream for her birth country since her childhood. Along with her prayer for peace, this dream remains the same decades later.

To begin with, it takes courage to talk to “war enemies” or to anyone we have been in conflict with for a long time.

In addition to courage, it takes a vision for not just the end of a war, but also for a hopefully lasting peace for generations to come.

Despite the ongoing war with its collective pain and grief, and despite any covert or overt domestic hostility or threat, the President and government of Lebanon dared to choose hope.

Of course, this ray of hope is VERY fragile. It is indeed HIGHLY complex with the raging war, along with the Iranian regime’s refusal to stop funding its proxies in the region (i.e., the “military” Hezbollah being a major one of them).

Indeed, if Bambi understands the current world politics well, the end of the Iranian funding was a request by the USA in its negotiations with Iran. A very clever point and thanks to Pakistan for holding the peace talks.

To come back to Lebanon, many thanks to the seventeen countries—friends of Lebanon and of peace—who supported the initiative of President Joseph Aoun. As per L’Orient Le Jour (https://tinyurl.com/yhknpcxt), their joint statement was as follows: “We welcome President (Joseph) Aoun’s initiative to open direct negotiations with Israel and Israel’s agreement to begin these negotiations under US mediation. We call on both sides to seize this opportunity”. If you are curious dear readers, these countries are: France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Island, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

As Mr. Marc Rubio stated in the short video below, the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations are not just today’s event or the next one, but they are rather a process. By definition, a process requires time.

May reason and peace prevail in the Middle East and in the world. It is about time for everyone, especially for Lebanon.

The Lebanese Red Cross means the world to Bambi.

Her mom had been a trained Red Cross nurse who worked with oncology patients for several years.

As for Bambi, as a teenager, she had been a Lebanese Red Cross volunteer for four years during civil war up until she migrated to Canada in 1990.

Lebanese Red cross volunteers have transported her late parents from and to hospitals several times. She saw these paramedics in action once during one of her last visits to her birth country.

Bearing the above in mind, and given all the sacrifices of the devoted Lebanese Red Cross volunteers at all times, especially during wars, it is both heart-breaking and alarming to read about consecutive strikes killing Red Cross paramedics (https://tinyurl.com/yb5zj6cu).

Indeed, may the soul of Mr. Hassan Badawi rest in peace in his temporary grave (his village being too dangerous now). May his memory be eternal. Same for the soul and memory of Mr. Youssef Assaf, another Lebanese Red Cross volunteer paramedic who lost his life in the line of duty in March 2026. May God know how to comfort the aching hearts of their families and peers.

MANY thanks to the Lebanese Red Cross members for their sacrifices while freely transporting injured people to hospital emergencies, dead bodies to the morgues, and helping people evacuate, as needed. Bravo for their BEAUTIFUL principles of “humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality“. Your humanity, professionalism, and compassion make your Lebanon and our world a more loving place. May God protect you in your service.

Enough of senseless deaths. May war end soon. May peace prevail.

After a busy day, Bambi is ready to go to sleep. Yet she refuses to do so without this post.

First, Happy Orthodox Easter dear readers, if you happen to have highlighted this great day. Same for Bambi’s family on earth AND in heaven as well as for some of her relatives and friends. To you all: Christ is risen [El Massih Kam].

Second, with the time difference, it is already April 13 in Lebanon.

April 13, 1975 is the SAD anniversary of the Lebanese civil war (1975 to 1990).

April 13, 2026 is 51 years since this bloody civil war.

Over five decades later, Lebanon is still in war.

Of note, Bambi is 53 years old (turning 54 in July). She was 2 years and 9 months when war broke out in Beirut. She went through it all until 3-4 months before its end when she migrated to Canada in 1990.

Indeed, closer to age 54, war is still raging in Bambi’s birth country.

Will Lebanon ever be free of violence? Will it embrace peace?

Lebanon deserves better than violence. Enough of unnecessary grief.

Indeed, life is too short to spend it in fear and suffering.

Both older and younger Lebanese generations deserve peace.

Bearing the above in mind, and despite the collective sad anniversary, April 13 remains a beautiful day. How could it not be when it is the birthday of Rita, Bambi’s childhood friend? With much love, here is a birthday melody for her. Happy Birthday [Akbel el Mieh].

As for you dear Lebanon, Bambi offers you Nicole (Eurovision1982)’s great peace song.

Several countries of the world, including Canada, are calling to include Lebanon in the so-called fragile ceasefire agreement between Iran and the USA. Do they realize that they are echoing the Iranian regime, which has controlled Lebanon for decades and dragged it into this latest war (via Hezbollah)? Maybe to relieve the pressure on itself… or maybe it was yet another bad strategic decision by the Hezbollah?

However, in life, since when do we discuss anyone’s interests or future without his/her presence? Why are they doing this to you, dear Lebanon? Truly out of compassion? To protect their economic or political interests? OR to please the Iranian regime (and its allies)? OR out of ignorance of the reality of the Middle East, especially under fire?

According to Bambi’s non-expert citizen opinion, the international community is once again enabling the hegemony of Iran over tiny Lebanon AND putting it at increased risk of CRUEL aggression by its Israeli neighbour. Mind you, it is also putting Israel in more danger, which again re-puts Lebanon in greater danger. And how would this vicious cycle of violence stop? When… if ever?

In its so-called military strategy of protecting its citizens in the North at all costs (from Hezbollah’s missiles), Israel has lost complete touch with the devastating reality of collateral damage or of an unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Lebanon. It is re-occupying Lebanon and it calls it a buffer zone. History truly repeats itself, tragically.

Thankfully, Canada did well by denouncing both Israel and Hezbollah, asking them to stop the fighting and to protect the civilians. Thank you. However, there is political naivety in asking Hezbollah “to disarm itself” (https://tinyurl.com/bpa6py9f). How would this happen concretely? By magic or with a miracle?

The problem with an Islamist mindset (Mollah, Hezbollah, ISIS, etc.) is that it is suicidal by definition. Instead of learning to change, as needed, it is willing to commit both individual and collective suicide to serve the mindset at all costs.

Similarly, the problem with a warrior mindset (Hezbollah AND Israel; chicken and/or egg) is that, without wanting to, it becomes the other side of the same coin. Stated differently, CRUEL war actions by one entity provide the other entity with more reasons to justify its suicidal victim-warrior mindset.

Who are the bigger losers here? Of course, the people of Lebanon who are sick and tired of being war traumatized again and again. Same for the Israeli innocent civilians who also must be sick and tired of wars, including Hezbollah’s threat.

So, how do we solve this? The official Lebanon can dare to try a new approach. Something bold, creative, and independent. Both domestically and externally. Putting the countries’ best interests above anything else. Negotiating with Israel directly with a vision of peace, not just a temporary ceasefire and another war in a few years. Same with Syria. Iran, the USA. France, and all the countries of the world. Without being shy about it. Beirut and Lebanon deserve to be put FIRST before any other foreign country or ideology.

To conclude this post, despite its DEEP sadness for Lebanon, Bambi remains a firm believer in peace and in the power of this vital force called love. In her heart, all the children and adults of the Middle East deserve to live in safety and peace, including and not limited to Lebanon and its two immediate neighbours, both Israel and Syria. By extension all the other countries as well, including Iran and the USA. For now, just hands off Lebanon, please. It has an official government. Let it decide its fate please… for once.

For decades, tiny Lebanon has been held hostage of regional power struggles.

Today, more than ever, it is the bloody battleground for Iran (via Hezbollah), Israel, and the USA. All these powerful entities have been fighting each other fiercely, from war to war, until this current insane round.

Yesterday, upon a so-called regional ceasefire, Israel launched 100 air strikes in ten minutes across Beirut and the rest of Lebanon. This resulted in more destruction and pressure on the healthcare system with about 837 injured people and 112 victims (https://tinyurl.com/yk282fju).

As a result, the Lebanese government declared today a national day of mourning.

May those trapped under the rubble be found alive. May all the injured heal. May the memory of the deceased be eternal.

Enough of violence in the Land of Cedars… for God/G-d/Allah/No God’s sake.