Bambi's Thoughts
Music is universal and Mr. Leonard Cohen’s lasting legacy is international (https://tinyurl.com/y8yzhujt). Indeed, his “Hallelujah” is performed below in both Arabic and English by Ms. Abeer Nehme from Lebanon (https://tinyurl.com/yzpx5mft). She is an incredibly gifted singer in any language. May the memory of Bambi’s mom and of Mr. Cohen be eternal, today more than ever. Same wishes for the memory of all your loved ones, dear readers. Take good care and have a good one.
No place of worship should be the target of violence.
No ethno-religious group should be intimidated.
Indeed, the community of Jewish Torontonians of the North York Kehillat Shaarei Torah’s synagogue deserve to live without fear and be safe at all times (https://tinyurl.com/y4whrduj).
By extension, every single Canadian of Jewish heritage deserves to feel safe in his province or territory.
As citizens and decision-makers, what can each one of us do to protect each other? All of us, hand in hand, denouncing this unacceptable social and criminal violence.
Every morning, between 7:45 and 8 AM, Bambi parks her car by a construction site in her small town of Sackville in New Brunswick, Canada. While walking by two construction sites, she sees the constructor workers devoted to their job tasks.
Construction workers are known to start their day very early. Of note, the weather has changed recently and it is getting cooler, especially in the early morning.
Bambi has always been impressed by how tough and courageous Canadian construction workers are. For now, the temperature is around (+ or -) 0 °C. However, soon it will likely be way below the latter. Mind you, in certain parts of our wide and beautiful Canada, some often work non-urgently at or below -12°C. Some have to work in urgent conditions at much lower temperatures, of course with safety measures in place.
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), “at very cold temperatures, the most serious concern is the risk of hypothermia or dangerous overcooling of the body. Another serious effect of cold exposure is frostbite or freezing of the exposed extremities such as fingers, toes, nose, and ears. Hypothermia could be fatal in absence of immediate medical attention” (https://tinyurl.com/379n52me).
Of note, Occupational Health and Safety regulations differ by province and territory. Many of the latter don’t specify a precise minimum temperature for stopping work. However, as a rule of thumb, it seems common practice to recommend stopping emergency work at or below -43 °C.
The paragraphs above addressed the challenge of the cold temperature. Let’s not forget that there are hazardous occupations and specific tasks within the construction field. Given the latter and the weather conditions, too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, Canadian constructor workers are heroes. Thanks to them and bravo!
Is there anything more magical than this performance of “Plus bleu que tes yeux”? What a beautiful way for Bambi to end a long working day filled with sinusitis-related pain.
As a reminder, this love song’s music and lyrics were composed by the late yet eternal Charles Aznavour. It was originally performed by Ms. Édith Piaf and Mr. Aznavour.
Those of you who regularly read this blog may recall that Bambi is a loyal fan of Mr. Mike Massy from Lebanon. Today, she came across Ms. Manel Mallat for the first time. Wow. What a talented Carthage (Tunisia) born Lebanese-French singer, songwriter, and actress.
Long live music in general, French music in particular, and… LOVE in all its forms and shapes :)!
Before booking her recent quick last trip to Beirut, Bambi asked her sister Roula (journalist) about the situation in Lebanon. She understood from her that it is hard to predict what was going to happen (or not).
Regarding the same question of whether Israel is preparing for a new war against Lebanon, here is a thoughtful brief short video by Mr. Anthony Samarani (posted on YouTube 9 days ago) addressing this timely issue. Beyond his current video, Bambi wants to repeat once again that she has the utmost respect for Mr. Samrani’s work. What an outstanding journalist and editor. Bravo to him and to the entire l’Orient Le Jour for the continuity of excellence [of course, this includes Roula’s inspiring work :)].
Anyhow, Bambi took the time to transcribe the short French-speaking video in question. She then asked her good friend, Mr. Google Translate, for his assistance with the English translation. For your convenience, dear readers, you can find Mr. Samrani’s translated text as well as his original French message at the end of the video.
With much love, this post ends with best wishes to Lebanon. Enough of wars. Enough of dark days. May safety, peace, forgiveness, healing, love, and prosperity prevail not just in the Land of Cedars, but also in all the countries of the world.
Mr. Anthony Samrani’s translated insights:
“Drones are once again flying low over Beirut. The south is being heavily bombed. And the question that haunted us for months last year is back on everyone’s lips: Is Israel preparing another attack against Lebanon?
The farewell message from US Special Envoy Tom Barrack had the merit of being very clear: Lebanon is not doing enough to disarm Hezbollah. And if it doesn’t fulfill its mission, Israel will do it in its place.
Is a new war necessarily imminent? We must remain very cautious, especially since we don’t have all the information. However, we can assume that Israel would have an interest today in intensifying its bombing campaign, without however entering into a formal war.
Israel’s situation is indeed very comfortable today. It can bomb wherever and whenever it wants, without retaliation from Hezbollah and with the general indifference of the international community. A significant intensification of strikes could thus allow it to send a strong message to the Shiite militia and the Lebanese authorities, without provoking the potential displeasure of the Trump administration, which does not want a new conflict in the Middle East, nor a possible retaliation from Hezbollah, which, if cornered, would eventually be forced to respond to Israeli attacks.
Israel’s objective seems quite clear: to complete the disarmament of Hezbollah and, at the very least, to secure a security agreement with Lebanon that is heavily in its favor. The question now is what Israel believes it needs to achieve these two objectives. Could it be content with a low-profile war, or does it necessarily believe it needs a high-intensity war or campaign?”
—
Mr. Anthony Samrani’s original insights in the French language:
« Les drones survolent à nouveau Beyrouth à basse altitude. Le Sud est massivement bombardé. Et cette question qui nous a hanté l’année dernière, pendant des mois, revient sur toutes les lèvres: Israël prépare-t-il une nouvelle attaque contre le Liban?
Le message d’adieu de l’envoyé spécial Américain Tom Barrack avait le mérite d’être très claire: Le Liban ne fait pas assez dans le désarmement du Hezbollah. Et s’il ne remplit pas sa mission, Israël le fera à sa place.
Une nouvelle guerre était-elle alors nécessairement imminente? Il faut rester très prudent, d’autant plus que nous n’avons pas toutes les informations.On peut toutefois supposer qu’Israël aurait intérêt aujourd’hui à intensifier ses bombardements sans pour autant entrer dans une guerre officielle.
La situation d’Israël est aujourd’hui en effet très confortable. Il peut bombarder où il veut, quand il le veut, sans riposte du Hezbollah et dans l’indifférence générale de la communauté internationale. Une intensification intense des frappes pourrait ainsi lui permettre d’envoyer un message fort à la milice chiite et aux autorités libanaises, sans susciter l’éventuel mécontentement de l’administration Trump qui ne veut pas d’un nouveau conflit au Moyen-Orient et une éventuelle riposte du Hezbollah qui, s’il est mis dos au mur, serait contraint de à un moment de répondre aux attaques israélienne.
L’objectif israélien semble assez clair: achever le désarmement du Hezbollah et obtenir à minima un accord sécuritaire avec le Liban qui soit très largement à son avantage. Toute la question est désormais de savoir de quoi Israël pense-t-il avoir besoin pour parvenir à ses deux objectifs. Pourrait-il se suffire, se contenter, se limiter à une guerre sous les radars ou pense-t-il nécessairement avoir besoin d’une guerre ou d’une campagne de haute intensité?»
Hello dear readers, even if it is getting late at her end, Bambi cannot go to sleep without sharing a beautiful double talent from France. The songs below are performed by Mr. Olivier Raffo (singer) and Mr. Martial Palacios (pianist). Aline, if you happen to be reading this post, the first song is meant for you :). Long live music!
In a couple of hours, at Bambi’s end, it will be October 31st. She is eager for the kids’ Halloween visit. Until then, and ahead of time, she will wish Mr. Rudy Ayoub a Happy 31st Birthday (https://tinyurl.com/39ebfbtt)!
Below is Mr. Ayoub’s latest short YouTube video featuring Dracula. Of note, when Bambi read this video’s title “Why Dracula hates Arabs“, she could not help not to wonder if it included any joke related to Israel or to the Israel-Palestine conflict, like other recent videos (some funny and others, a bit too much, at least according to her). Thank Goodness, the character was just an apolitical Dracula :).
Regardless of the above, Mr. Rudy Ayoub is so creative, highly skilled in acting, entertaining, and most often hilarious! With fond regards, Bambi wishes him a great year!
Montreal has many crying safety, housing, social, and economic serious issues.
Montreal is 5,600 miles (about 9,000 km) away from Gaza.
For two years, Montreal has seen violent demonstrations, sadly pretending to be in the name of Palestinians. As a reminder, the vandalism used during such demonstrations was rarely, if not never, punished.
Despite all the above, a so-called pro-Palestinian pledge is circulating among Montreal municipal candidates. More than 100 of them signed it (https://tinyurl.com/p7a9pccy).
Who knows? You might be someone who believes that this is the highest form of morality on earth. As far as Bambi is concerned, had she still been a Montreal resident, she would have definitely voted for a candidate who did not sign this pledge. Why?
Well, Bambi is saying the above not because she does not endorse the Palestinian cause, or feel the suffering of Gazans. Surely, she is also saying the above not out of fondness for Israel.
Indeed, she is saying so because a municipal candidate who does not sign such a pledge would likely be a local politician who has demonstrated that he or she knows how to resist current trends and social pressure, hoping the focus would be on what matters the most: Montreal’s affairs and quality of life.
Mr. Naim Kassem, head of the Hezbollah, has the nerve to inform his fellow Lebanese citizens that he “had no regrets about the decision taken on Oct. 8, 2023, to open a ‘support front’ for Gaza, which led to a 13-month war of attrition with Israel”.
Whether accurate or not, Israel is claiming that Iran managed to smuggle weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah via Irak and Syria (written media: https://tinyurl.com/5euj5s29; broadcast media: https://tinyurl.com/4vktsube ). If untrue, this is a war manipulation and it is unacceptable. If it is true, this is highly worrisome and totally unacceptable for Lebanon before Israel.
So, how do we expect the official Lebanon to respond given all the above challenges?
Why would the Lebanese army keep confiscating the illegal weapons in the country, with a key deadline of December 2025, if the land of the Cedar will remain stuck in the same old Middle East paradigm of endlessly absurd wars and terror mindset?
Why can’t the Hezbollah learn to accept its fiasco of military defeat by only playing its significant political role, like the rest of the Lebanese political parties or movements?
And when will Mr. Netanyahu finally stop threatening that “Israel won’t seek approval for strikes in Gaza or Lebanon despite truce” (https://tinyurl.com/475hkdw8)? When will Israel stop killing or scaring Lebanese people with its almost daily drone attacks here and there?
How will everyone TRULY give peace a chance? Innocent civilians are fed up of wars and eternal conflicts. They are sick and tired of violence, destruction, death, and trauma.
In the meantime, Lebanon seems to insist that it won’t negotiate peace, or normalization, with Israel directly or, maybe even indirectly (both suggested by the United States recently, as Bambi heard on an internet Beirut-based radio this morning)? Why not? Why not talk to all neighbours, enemies, former enemies, future potential enemies, and any other entity in the world like a mature, sovereign country once and for all?
How about faking sovereignty, as some fake confidence, until you make it? Fake neutrality. Then, it will become a new practice of neutrality with all (the Swiss style!). Negotiate with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel, Palestine, the USA, Europe, Canada, China, Africa, South and North Korea, etc. Negotiate with Lucifer and with deaf walls, if you have to. For God’s sake, keep and never stop negotiating, with everyone, so Lebanese people can finally live in a country that can offers them minimum of safety AND dignity, like most of the noble places of the world!
Bambi’s spouse joins her in wishing both Bente (now) and Salome (five days later!) a double Happy Birthday :)! With much LOVE,”Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag” to both of them ❤️❤️!! This post, which does not need more words, will now let the music talk!
