To Hezbollah, Bambi will say that your fellow Lebanese citizens cannot afford another (deadly) crisis. Please do not drag them into war on top of all their crises.
To Israel (and Hezbollah), please listen to UNIFL and cease firing NOW! Do not destroy Lebanon like in 2006.
Please stop… both of you!
Everyone deserves to live in peace (and love too) in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, the Unites States, etc. So, for a change and to conclude this post on a musical note, let’s imagine a world (i.e. the Middle East) in peace and harmony with the moving Ms. Talia Lahoud…
Bambi just discovered this song, released on August 4, 2021 to commemorate the sad first anniversary of the surrealistic Beirut explosion. It is a beautiful tribute to both France and Lebanon, to their history/heritage, values, and long friendship.
For those who do not know it, Lebanon was a French colony until 1943, year of its “independence”. It is officially a bilingual country (passport, state services, etc.) and it is a proud member of the “Francophonie”. France has always supported Lebanon. The Lebanese people love France. If you do not believe Bambi, well France is called “the tender mother” in Lebanese-Arabic.
Last year, when the Beirut blast happened, no Lebanese politician dared to walk in the streets to comfort the population. No one touched base with the victim’s families… until now, we learned recently!
In contrast, Mr. Emmanuel Macron rushed to Beirut immediately. He was the first to comfort the people of Lebanon. He hugged the traumatized residents on the streets. He listened to their distress. He spoke with them. He even re-visited more than once and tried to help on the internal political front… but it did not work.
Over the past few years, France has organized several fundraising conferences to support the Lebanese people. The latest one was yesterday. It was also attended by Mr. Biden who made a large donation in the name of his country. Thanks to the United States.
Of note, France and the international community have been putting pressure on the corrupt Lebanese leaders for a while, demanding accountability and financial reforms. A week ago, France and the European Union imposed targeted sanctions on the Lebanese politicians.
All the countries of the world, including Bambi’s beloved Canada, generously donated money, human resources, and materials/food to rebuild, to help feed and treat the injured people. More recently, Canada and other countries kindly supported the Lebanese Armed Forces (which cannot afford to feed its soldiers anymore).
Private donors, including Bambi’s generous fellow Canadians, have also supported the people of Lebanon directly. Thanks to each one of them!
As for the Lebanese politicians, it is Bambi’s hope that they will finally realize that their legendary corruption has affected the entire world, not just their own population. Every penny donated by foreign countries comes out of the tax payers’ pocket. Enough of irresponsibility please!
To conclude this post with music, below you can listen to the beautiful song (in French, sub-titled in Arabic).
FYI, the singers are Mr. Chadi Maroun & Ms. Sonia Ghayad. The lyrics are by Mr. Joseph Abou Dames. The music by Mr. Shadi el Bacha. The mixing/mastering by: Mr. Antoine Haddad. The video was produced by Studio 360 media. The choregraphy is created/directed by Ms. Gabriella Mur. The choral is called “Les jeunesse Saint Elie -Antelias”. The song was translated into Arabic by Dr. Joseph Khalil.
Bambi just discovered a new joyful (love) song while listening to her internet radio.
The singer is called Hanine and her song is the Lebanese-Arabic version of the French “Bella” by the French singer-songwriter of Congolese origins, Maître Gims.
Below you can listen to Hanine‘s Arabic version of “Bella” and watch scenes from Beirut and its beach. If you wish, you can also watch the beautiful original version of this song.
Above this picture, taken from l’Orient Le Jour, of the so-called state leaders, we can read the following: “The power of Nitrate and the militia of Ammonium“
Bambi’s heart goes to you Ms. Sarah Copeland and to your family
Thank you Ms. Copeland for all your efforts. No comment on the rest…
A picture taken from l’Orient Le Jour
A picture taken from l’Orient Le Jour. May her memory be eternal. My justice be served for her and for everyone…
A picture taken from l’Orient Le Jour. Merci d’être solidaires… Bambi vous envoie ses condoléances suite à cette tragédie évitable qui a emporté ou blessé vos amis libanais
A picture taken from l’Orient Le Jour. Hang on Ms/Mr. Najjar. Bambi’s heart goes to you!
A picture taken from l’Orient Le Jour. May their memory be eternal. May justice be served. Hang on, please!
A picture taken from l’Orient Le Jour. According to L’Orient Today (sister English edition of L’Orient Le Jour), Covid-19 testing was provided to people, free of charge, in three different locations. In addition, people were invited to “wear two masks (at least one)”. Those who stayed late on the streets were invited to be careful. Sadly, there were some injuries. Most were treated immediately. Others required hospitalization.
Thank you BBC News for speaking with some of the survivors of the Beirut blast a year following their surrealistic, yet still unaccountable, port explosion. Bambi’s heart goes to all of them, including her own family members and childhood friends. Some of them are still undergoing surgeries (hang on Dearest Maya!).
Thank you Beirut 607 and l’Orient Le Jour for reminding us of all the victims of the Beirut blast, showing their faces and telling us their stories. May their memory be eternal. May God know how to comfort the hearts of their loved ones, wherever they are right now in Lebanon, Syria, Ethiopia, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Australia, or elsewhere around the world.
Bambi will start by sharing the 219 victims’ beautiful faces. Then, if she may, she would like to offer Fairuz’ famous song, interpreted by a young moving singer called Maritta, to Beirut’s living victims of negligence, corruption, and of endless, destructive, warrior mindsets hijacking their capital’s charming soul.
A first picture taken from l’Orient Le Jour showing half of the 219 victims of the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020.
A second picture taken from l’Orient Le Jour showing the rest of the 219 victims of the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020.
As per this article, “B.C.’s name is derived, in part, from Christopher Columbus, who paved the way for colonization of the Americas.”
Related to this topic, the Government of Canada itself
(https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/provincial-territorial-symbols-canada/british-columbia.html)
informs us of the following origin of the name of this beautiful province: The southern part of the area now
known as British Columbia was called “Columbia”, after the Columbia River. The
central region was given the name of “New Caledonia” by explorer Simon Fraser.
To avoid confusion with Colombia in South America and the island of New
Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean, Queen Victoria named the area British Columbia
when it became a colony in 1858.”
The relatively short history of Canada is complex.
Sadly, Canadian politicians are not showing lucidity, courage, and maturity to encourage us to look at all our past and all the memory of the past, with its very dark and brighter days, with a sense of responsibility as well as hope and a commitment to a better future together.
Instead of building this kinder and just future, our elites seem to be complicit in the destruction of shared symbols from the past and present (monuments, street names, churches, statues, censorship of books or persons, etc.).
Can someone tell Bambi if this a healthy solution to the excesses and abuses of the past? how will the destruction of our collective memory help us heal and face future adversity?
So, why is the CBC pushing for all this in one way or in another?
Our own tax money is ironically serving to fund a public institution, calling
once again to erase our memory?
When will we instead begin to focus on bringing us together to heal and truly progress, as a country, not to self-destroy endlessly?
Friendships, especially older ones, are life’s treasures.
Bambi is blessed to have you in her life for over 41 (Nayla) and almost 31 years (Carla, Katia). Thank you for enriching her life at every stage, including our happy, sad, and even collectively insane times. Thank you for being whom you are. Bambi loves you and wishes you ALL the best!
To conclude this short post on a musical note, here are two songs for you. The first, you can guess what it is :). The second celebrates friendship with beautiful French words, thanks to Mr. Nicola Ciccone!
This video is almost one year old (perhaps one week following the surrealistic Beirut port explosion). It features a talented French comedian, of Lebanese descent, called Mr. Roda Fawaz.
MANY relatives and friends kindly shared this artist’s testimony with Bambi last year. She just found it on YouTube with English subtitles. In turn, she is is sharing it with you as it is filled with truth, today more than ever…
Thank you, Mr. Fawaz for your thoughtful text and all the best to Lebanon!
In the following press release, we learned that the European Union (EU) delivered on its promise to adopt a legal framework to sanction Lebanese politicians by the end of July:
Led by France, this EU initiative seeks to increase the pressure on Lebanon’s politicians. The move is part of larger international efforts to force overdue reforms, following: a political chaos, an economic collapse after the financial crisis, and the Beirut port blast that destroyed half of the capital on August 4, 2020. Yes, that was almost a year ago with total impunity!
Will this European initiative work? Time will tell…
This being said, below is a picture from US Today, which illustrates the diagnostic made by the Lebanese people concerning their surrealistic Beirut port explosion:
A picture taken from US Today showing a Lebanese woman who lost a family member in the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020.
While reading the EU press release, a powerful Lebanese song came to Bambi’s mind. She recalls having posted it on her blog in the fall of 2019 (when the people of Lebanon revolted against their central bank’s exposed Ponzi scheme). The singer is called Mr. Rabih el Khawli. To repeat a comment by Bambi’ friend/reader Aline, “Mr. Ghassan Saliba sang this song in the 1990s“.
Regardless of the artist, this song remains timely as Lebanon’s current tragedy is the result of MANY years of political mismanagement and financial corruption. Indeed, the situation in Bambi’s birth country is so bad that, when she recently asked her dad if it was worse than the 15-year-civil war (1975-1990), he did not hesitate in replying: “MUCH worse!” Can you imagine :(?
Thus, thanks to all the international efforts trying to stabilize Lebanon by shaking its heartless leaders. It is Bambi’s hope that those international efforts will also remember to shake the hegemony of powerful countries over Lebanon.
To conclude this post, and before sharing a short version of the song (thanks to MTV), here is a quick English translation for you, taken from Bambi’s earlier post:
“You who were waiting, what are you waiting for? What do you expect from those who stole the sunshine and sold the wind, along with their consciousness? From those who stole the country and built houses larger than its squares?
You who were waiting, what are you waiting for?
Revolt for once. Stand up in those squares and tell them: You have stolen, you have killed, yes you have assassinated the people, the country, and the dream…. And you turned this land into a refuge for the Pharisees (or self-righteous)”.
