Author: Bambi

Lebanon has suffered much from its non-sovereignty for decades.

Today was a particularly tough war day on Lebanon as well as Israel.

Indeed, in South Lebanon, there were 17 victims, mostly civilians, despite a so-called ceasefire. Recently, in the last 48 hours, many innocent lives were lost in cruel ways. This included three rescue workers, a Lebanese army soldier with his family, women, children. This mortality statistic may likely include an undetermined number of Hezbollah fighters, even if this is unclear (https://tinyurl.com/3fm6whw5).

As far as Israel is concerned, the day was tough, with the death of one Israeli soldier, along with 15 injured peers, from a drone sent by the Hezbollah across the border to the Northern part of the country (https://tinyurl.com/mr25wstx).

At 4:44 PM Beirut time, the US Embassy in Beirut stated on X that “Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a historic opportunity to reclaim their country and shape their future as a truly sovereign, independent nation“. The same X message, shared below, continues as follows: “A direct meeting between President Aoun and Prime Minister Netanyahu, facilitated by President Trump, would give Lebanon the chance to secure concrete guarantees on full sovereignty, territorial integrity, secure borders, humanitarian and reconstruction support, and the complete restoration of Lebanese state authority over every inch of its territory—guaranteed by the United States.“

Of note, this American invitation came 12 days after a longer speech by President Joseph Aoun to the Lebanese people, which is partly captured in the L’Orient Le Jour short video below in Arabic, subtitled in French:

“I am ready to assume full responsibility for these choices.

I am ready to go anywhere necessary to liberate my land, protect my people, and save my country.

My mission is unique, clear, and defined: to save this country and its people.

This is what I will accomplish with absolute national, human, and spiritual conviction.

And I know you are with me—in secret and in public, you are with me; in your hearts and in your minds, you are with me.

Because I know the extent of the sacrifices you have made.”

Needless to say that the vast majority of the people of Lebanon, whether “in secret and in public” stand in full solidarity with President Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, another patriotic great man. Indeed, the innocent Lebanese people cannot take wars anymore. They aspire for reason, stability, peace and hopefully finally prosperity.

Not surprisingly, as a real hardcore Islamist entity (i.e., loyal to the Iranian regime), Hezbollah rejects these direct negotiations with Israel. Instead, it wants to hang on to its weapons (https://tinyurl.com/2e6vj3df) while remaining under the wings of its founder and funder.

Related to the above, some unhappy Hezbollah officials covertly threatened these two politicians. They even compared Mr. Aoun to Egyptian President Sadat (https://tinyurl.com/3zrhfdvr). As a reminder, the latter was assassinated on October 6, 1981, by Islamic extremists, following his 1979 peace treaty with Israel (https://tinyurl.com/5ek5kva4). How is this acceptable?

Furthermore, they called them “Zionists”, imagine. In their narrow, unhealthy mind, this means “traitors who would support the statehood of Israel instead of Lebanon”. Does this make any sense, especially that Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam happens to be the judge and diplomat who served as President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) (February 2024- early 2025), leading significant cases against Israel? As for the President of Lebanon, he is the former head of the Lebanese Army. Luckily, without explicitly naming it, the latter reminded Hezbollah that “the real betrayal is dragging the country to war to serve foreign interests” (https://tinyurl.com/mxjn6cws). Cleverly and diplomatically said, bravo.

To come back to the worsening war situation in Lebanon, day after day (despite a so-called ceasefire), Mr. Joseph Aoun stated the following (and thanks to La Presse for reporting): “We must put pressure on Israel to respect international laws and agreements and stop targeting civilians, rescue workers, Civil Defense, and humanitarian organizations” (https://tinyurl.com/3fm6whw5).

May God protect not just Lebanon, but also its political leaders, from imminent danger. May the Lebanese negotiators be wise as well as courageous. One thing is clear: Lebanese people cannot take wars anymore. They are fed up of helplessly seeing their country, time and again, serving as a battleground for regional conflicts. Good luck to the “Land of Cedars” in these highly critical moments of its modern history!

According to YouTube, Ms. Nehme’s new song was released on April 13, 2026. What a symbolic day since it was the 51st anniversary of the Lebanese civil war. Below you can read the names of the creators, along with the song’s lyrics in Arabic and in English. Long live beloved Beirut!

“CREDITS

Lyrics & Music: Wissam Keyrouz

Mastering Engineer: Sleiman Damien

Music Production: Sleiman Damien

Directed by Nadim Hobeika

Recording: Elie Barbar

Footage by: Maria Ghafary

Edit & Post-Production: Yara Hanna

Arabic Lyrics

‎حبيتي قولي .. نسيتي الغناء

‎حبيتي قومي فآن اللقاء

‎وما في يديّ سوى خبزتين

‎لطير يناجيك فوق الميناء

‎حبيتي لا لا يجفّ الحنين

‎فعند النهاية أنت البقاء

فأنت البيوت وانت السفينة

وانت الفتاة وانت المدينة

وثوباً لأجمل يوم غداً تلبسين

فانت الكتاب وانت الحكاية

وانت الوصول وانت البداية

فبيروت أنت.. نحبك … هل تسمعين؟

‎حبيبتي هيا، تعالي نطير

‎جناحاك كونٌ فكيف نسير

‎مشينا كثيرا لكي نبتدي

‎حلمنا كثيرا لكي ننتهي

‎حبيبتي، لا لا تضيق الدروب

‎وعند المساء بك نهتدي

فأنت البيوت وانت السفينة

وانت الفتاة وانت المدينة

وثوباً لأجمل يوم غداً تلبسين

فانت الكتاب وانت الحكاية

وانت الوصول وانت البداية

“فبيروت أنت.. نحبك … هل تسمعين؟

English Lyrics

“My love, tell me… have you forgotten how to sing?

My love, rise; for now is the time we meet.

And in my hands, I hold nothing but two loaves of bread

for a bird that calls to you FROM above the harbor.

My love, no… let longing never DIE,

for in the end, you are what remains.

For you are the homes, and you are the ship.

You are the girl, and you are the city.

And tomorrow

you will wear a dress for the most beautiful of days.

For you are the book, and you are the story.

You are the arrival, and you are the beginning.

You are Beirut. We love you! Can you hear us?

My love, come… let us fly,

your wings are THE universe.

How could we not?

We have walked so far just to begin.

We have dreamed so much just to reach the end.

My love, no… the roads will not narrow,

and in the evening, it is by you that we find our way.

For you are the homes, and you are the ship.

You are the girl, and you are the city.

And tomorrow, you will wear a dress

for the most beautiful of days.

For you are the book, and you are the story.

You are the arrival, and you are the beginning.

You are Beirut… we love you”.

According to Marcus Arelius, born on April 26 (https://tinyurl.com/5e58bvfb) [yesterday, like you “Doudou”, if you are reading this post : )]!, “when you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love“.

What a beautiful morning thought, isn’t it? In general, to what extent do you agree with this thought, dear readers? In other terms, do you happen to acknowledge the value of gratitude? And if so, does it make you feel more peaceful or happier?

Perhaps as we advance in age, we become more easily grateful for the little things. At the same time, we might become less focused on what might be lacking. However, regardless of our chronological age, we can all learn to become a bit more grateful, if we wish. Sometimes, life gives us golden opportunities to appreciate it even more. For example, despite any sorry when we are grieving a loved one, we might become particularly aware of the beauty and preciousness of life.

Life within us and life around us, whether in human beings or other species, in nature or domestically. We might feel an urge to live more fully and to keep moving while pausing, as needed, to honour the life of our loved one, no longer present in the same manner.

With or without grief, life can sometimes become tougher on people in many different ways for all reasons. For instance, some people might encounter chronic pain or illness. Others might be morally suffering, perhaps stuck in a toxic relationship or in a collectively harsh context like wars, natural disasters, or pandemics. Yet others might be in a unpleasant internal state like a burnout or depressed mood.

With all the above, how could people keep being grateful or re-learn to feel gratitude to be “alive”, anchored in the present moment? Luckily for all of us, several daily choices remain available at all times and for free like walking, writing, resting, keeping busy, connecting in kind ways with ourselves and with others, and/or maybe listening to music.

As far as music is concerned, three songs come to Bambi’s mind right now. The first, by Mr. Michel Fugain, is a call for joy, entitled “Chante” [Sing (life)]. It is sub-titled below in English, for your convenience, thanks to YouTube. As for the rest of the songs, they are by the late and great Mr. Jean-Pierre Ferland. Today happens to be the second anniversary of his death (https://tinyurl.com/356xzpbd). May his memory be eternal. In line with the themes of love and gratitude, Bambi selected one of Mr. Ferland’s beautiful songs to conclude this post with. The first version is performed by him, along with Ms. Céline Dion and Ms. Ginette Reno. As for the second version, it is performed by him with Ms. Lara Fabian. Long live the voice of these GREAT singers!

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).

—

“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.