France 24: “Lebanese leadership has failed, analyst says as Israel launches ‘limited’ incursions”. Thanks to Mr. Ayman Mhanna, executive director of the “Samir Kassir Foundation”, guest of Mr. Mark Owen, for speaking the sad truth

Mr. Fadi Bazzi: “Reviens Liban” [Come Back Lebanon], his song remains timely, today more than ever!

When Lebanon is not under the occupation or hegemony of Syria, it is an Iranian colony (through its alliance with Hezbollah). When it is not under the influence of Iran, it is under the occupation or at the HARSH mercy of Israel.

When will Lebanon become sovereign again, from within, and then regionally or internationally?

When will the government of Lebanon finally courageously take the leadership (of decisions of wars and peace) from the Hezbollah?

“Everywhere I go

I only see ruins

Bloody walls

Deaths and victims

Everywhere I go

There is misfortune

There are separated families

There are children crying

But deep in their eyes

There is still hope

That one day the Good GOD

Will end the nightmare

Come back Lebanon

As you were before

Come back Lebanon

Gather your children

Come back Lebanon

Middle Eastern Switzerland

Come back Lebanon

Much more beautiful than before

Come back Lebanon

And we your children

We will carry your name

Yes but come back Lebanon

What did they do to you

With all your glory

Although I see it

I find it hard to believe it

Why the tears

In the eyes of children?

Why the weapons

Do they draw blood?

There are so many whys

There is so much hope

In my country there

Which remain unanswered

Come back Lebanon

As you were before

Come back Lebanon

Gather your children

Come back Lebanon

Middle Eastern Switzerland

Come back Lebanon

Much more beautiful than before

Reviens Liban

Et nous tes enfants

Nous porterons ton nom

Oui mais reviens Liban”.

Mr. Michael Jackson’s “Heal the world”: thank you J. Fla for your beautiful voice

Thankfully, there is music in life.

May J. Fla’s song bring moments of inner peace to your hearts, dear readers.

May music know how to heal the pain of all the innocent civilians who are surviving armed conflicts around the world, especially the people of Lebanon. Bambi is thinking of each of the 1 million displaced persons across her birth country. This includes MANY Beiruti families who are sleeping on the streets or in their cars right now.

Healing wishes and love to all the injured, grieving survivors, scared or traumatized folks.

May peace prevail in Lebanon, in the Middle East neighbourhood, and in the entire world.

Orient Le Jour: Assassination of Hassan Nasrallah: what now? [“Assassinat de Hassan Nasrallah, et maintenant”]

Thank you very much, Mr. Anthony Samrani, for your brief and excellent analysis of three possible scenarios of the assassination of Mr. Hassan Nasrallah. Following the YouTube video in French, you can find Bambi’s efforts for an English translation for you, thanks to her friend Google Translate.

As you can guess, it is Bambi’s hope that the third scenario, the optimistic one, will finally take place in Lebanon. Until then, she sends her heart to her birth country and to all those traumatized by the HARSH Israeli shelling, including her own family.

As for Mr. Nasrallah, she has had many former posts related to him. Some where direct virtual chats with him. The latest one took place on June 19, 2024 when he had threatened Cyprus. In this older post, Bambi urged him, along with Mr. Netanyahu, to stop the machine of war.

Obviously, Mr. Nasrallah cannot reply to the imaginary chats with Bambi anymore. For those who love, adore, or just respect the latter, especially to his family, friends, community, and all the peers of the different political parties, even the opponents, she extends her condolences.

Although she did not agree with him on many topics (e.g., the 2006 war, the overpower of his group, which is stronger than the Lebanese state, the Beirut port explosion, the Syrian war, the current war, and above all his continuous loyalty to its Iranian creator/donor (i.e., ideology/war mindset, funds, and weapons), she will say the following now: she has the utmost respect for something that differentiates him from some of his financially corrupt Palestinian friends: Mr. Nasrallah was an authentically principled man. He did not live in palaces outside of his country. He lived according to his principles. He died according to the latter. He was on the battle ground and maybe, as some say, he lived under earth for many long years. He lost his son in the past and yesterday, if Bambi understood well, he lost his daughter. Her name is Zaynab. May their souls rest in peace… and especially the souls of the MANY innocent people who died in this unwanted and senseless armed conflict.

The death of Hassan Nasrallah is an earthquake for Lebanon and the region. The most adored and most hated character in the land of Cedar, he was both the voice and the face of the axis of the Resistance and as such will be extremely difficult to replace. After its elimination in an Israeli strike on Friday, we can imagine three types of scenarios, depending on the calculations of the Islamic Republic, and to a lesser extent, today of Israel.

First scenario: that of escalation: Iran and Hezbollah believe that Israel has gone too far and feel forced to try to rebalance the balance of power somewhat. This would require Hezbollah to use, if it is still capable of doing so, its high-precision missiles and for allies within the Resistance axis to come to its aid in a conflict which would, very quickly, become total and probably regional, with however an immense risk, that this war ends up endangering the survival of the Iranian regime.

Second scenario, the one where Hezbollah and its Iranian godfather accept their defeat and consider that the balance of power is far too unfavourable for them today. In this case, Hezbollah would take on a new dimension on the Lebanese scene. Less regional, more Lebanese, but probably more paranoid, less inclined to compromise and more determined than ever to reimpose a balance of power with the other parties.

Third scenario, the optimistic scenario, which however seems extremely fragile, the one where the different Lebanese communities learn lessons from history. After the assassination of Bachir Gémayel, Rafic Hariri and Hassan Nasrallah, will the communities finally overcome their differences with the aim of building a state worthy of the name?

Ms. Ginette Reno & Mr. Vladimir Kornéev: Isn’t their duet, entitled “Le bon côté du ciel” [the good side of heaven], uplifting?

It is often said that every cloud has a silver lining. May you reach a moment in your journey, even if the latter is tough, where you can embrace hope. Please remember that even the darkest clouds shall pass. Yes, the sun will eventually shine.

The lyrics of this uplifting song were composed specifically for these two great artists by a famous French singer-songwriter called Mr. Jacques Veneruso.

Thanks to the always available Mr. Google Translate, a brief translation follows the YouTube video.

The uniquely gifted Ms. Ginette Reno is our national pride. She does not need any introduction.

As for Mr. Vladimir Kornéev, Bambi just discovered his incredible voice and great performance. Of note, Mr. Kornéev was born in Georgia (lucky him, he comes from a place where the cuisine is sooo delicious!). After growing up in Germany, he moved to Québec in 2022 where he started his inspiring international career in North America. He is currently giving concerts across Europe (https://shorturl.at/4vqtY).

Enjoy!

I know these distances well

All these long journeys

I who come from so far

And who is always looking

I know all these traps well

This time that makes us fragile

By following so many paths

And without letting go of the thread

You know

Our thoughts of love fly away and fall

In stardust, somewhere, at random

We wait our turn, we travel the world

But we have difficulty finding

The bright side of heaven“.

A question to Mr. Robert Wood, US Ambassador to the UN, and President Biden: if Hezbollah defied Resolution 1701 for 18 years (since the last war), what makes you hopeful that such diplomatic solution would work now?

According to Mr. Robert Wood, “as President Biden emphasized to the General Assembly, a diplomatic solution consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, remains the only path to durably reverse the cycle of escalation and to enable displaced people in both Israel and Lebanon to return to their homes” (https://shorturl.at/p2TwO). Very well said. While thanking Mr. Wood and Mr. Biden for their expressed good intentions, Bambi is praying for a diplomatic miracle to stop the nightmare of war in her birth country.

However, it is sadly well known that history risks repeating itself, again and again, when we do not learn from it, especially if conflicts are kept unsolved for too long. As a result, the double fiasco of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the one of the Hezbollah-Israeli one are heart-breaking for all the innocent people enduring war.

Indeed, as Ambassador Wood himself reported: “ Hesbollah’s buildup of weapons, many of which are supplied by Iran, and its presence along the Blue Line in defiance of Resolutions 1559 and 1701, has long been a source of instability“. Bearing the latter in mind, how would the above reality change now given the UN and/or US apparently failed diplomacy in the Middle East? Will this change be sufficient enough to halt the INSANE wider war in Lebanon?

And beyond the current war, if the conflict remains unsolved once again, will the region experience another regional round of war, like in 2023 and in 2006, in 18 or 20 years from now?

Related to the above, Bambi does not only want a temporary ceasefire. Instead, like so many others, she needs to see a drastic solution that will finally bring safety, peace, dignity, and prosperity to Lebanon. Same for its entire neighbourhood, on all sides of the borders, and in the world. More specifically, Bambi is not only for a two-state solution in the bloody Middle East (i.e., Palestine and Israel), but rather for a 3 state-solution, starting with a (truly) sovereign official Lebanon.

If elected democratically, Hezbollah could be/remain part of the Lebanese state, as a useful political party, like all the others. It can even be the vast majority, no problem. However, it can no longer continue to also be the heavily armed militia that calls itself (Islamic) resistance. It must stop dragging Lebanon into regional wars, in the name of foreign so-called divine causes, serving the interests of Iran while endangering the lives of its fellow Lebanese people as well as the innocent folks living on the other sides of the borders (whether in Israel or Syria). All this while pretending to speak in the name of the sadly often used and abused Palestinian people (by everyone). Last but not least, and most importantly, when will Hezbollah stop giving Israel excuses to cruelly destroy the beautiful Lebanon as it did in 2006 and right now under the hopeless eyes of the entire world?

Mark D’Souza, MD: sharing his FB Book launch event and National Post’s column on how wokeism in medicine “threatens core principles of medical expertise”!

Bambi was honoured to be the invited guest in the FB live book event of Dr. Mark D’Souza. She so much enjoyed the chat with Josh (MC) and Mark (Author). Bravo again Dr. D’Souza for your inspiring book, entitled “Lost and Found: How Meaningless Living is Destroying Us and Three Keys to Fix It” (https://shorturl.at/MQuS7)!

Last but not least, MANY thanks to Mark D’Souza, MD, for his thoughtful and highly important NP column, which can be found here: https://shorturl.at/xFNDz.

A friendly reminder: Dr. Mark D’Souza’s book launch of “Lost & Found” is taking place live on FB soon. Yes, it is tomorrow September 24 at 2:30 PM EDT (OR 3:30 PM AST)!

Here is the trailer about the book:


Here is the link to the event, if you are interested. Everyone is welcome :)!

https://www.facebook.com/share/or5TeTapum5C9VVg/

Below you can find an earlier post about this exciting event.

As for you Dr. D’Souza (or Mark), Bambi thanks you for your thought-provoking book. She is honoured to be joining you tomorrow. If she may, she will end this post by offering you a Lebanese-Arabic song. It is called “Mabrouk“, which means “Congratulations” :)!