bravo for your courage, Ms. Borgmann!
In our collectively insane times, anywhere and especially in the Western world, when we want to silence someone, we try to professionally and socially “kill” them. This awful phenomenon has a name: cancellation or censorship.
However, in Lebanon, and in other comparable parts of the world, we do not waste time on preventing people from earning a living, we literally go for the end of their lives. This is what tragically happened to Mr. Lokman Slim, a writer and journalist from Lebanon.
Bambi has several older posts denouncing Mr. Slim’s brutal killing and expressing solidarity with his widow, Ms. Monika Borgmann, mother Ms. Selma Merchak, and his sister, Ms. Rachaa el-Ameer. What a great family.
What happened to Mr. Slim you may wonder? First, he had always been a public critic of the Hezbollah. Second, he was murdered in South Lebanon, four years ago, in an area highly controlled by this organization/militia. Today, a pro-Hezbollah-biased judge suspended the investigation (https://shorturl.at/gzohh).
If she may, Bambi will now use Ms. Selma Merchak’s own words, which she expressed on the second day of the horrible assassination of her son: “Civilized people argue, they may have differing opinions, but resorting to weapons is never the solution. We are civilized people, not animals in the jungle. The animals of the jungle devour each other. Violence can never be good for this country. It has harmed me as a mother because I lost my son. My only wish is that you use your wit, not your gut, if you really want to build a country. Lokman deserves it so much”. Is there anything more inspiring than the precious insights of this amazing yet heart-broken mother?
Of note, Bambi shared Ms. Merchak’s thought-provoking words with you, dear readers, four years ago. Today, more than ever, they remain a life lesson; not just for the people of Lebanon, but also for the entire world. Will impunity ever end in the “Land of the Cedars”?
