Category: Sackville’s Memorial park

As you can see below, only Beirut cats seem relaxed these days, enjoying a sunny day. They are the lucky ones as they do not have US money in banks that they cannot have access to.

Talking about US currency, Bambi cannot help not to wonder why has Lebanon’s economy been that dependent on US money? It seems rather odd, especially through the eyes of a “deer” visiting from abroad.

Below is an olive tree on a street in Beirut.

Above we can see the famous fist, symbol of the people’s revolt, that we have seen in all the media since October 17, 2019. It feels a bit strange to stand next to it in real life. Bambi now has a picture of herself next to this symbol, with her fist closed like it :).

Above we can see two Christmas trees at a hotel in central Beirut. Below is a picture of the Revolution Christmas tree.

The word “revolution” is written on the piece of stone above.

Beirut has been destroyed and re-built 7 times throughout 6000 years of history. We can see ancient ruins in the picture above.

In the picture below, we can see a new wall built to “protect” the Lebanese parliament. On it, we can read in Arabic: “May the wall of shame fall”.

Above is a mirror and we can read under it: “You are the leader of the revolution” (written with the feminine grammatical form in Arabic).

Above, we can read: “All of them means all of them” (= in reference to all the corrupt politicians). Interestingly, Bambi’s cousin showed her a picture of a French social demonstration of some sort where French protesters borrowed the Lebanese slogan, writing it on their sign in Arabic :).

Another funny story about this slogan is that, when the revolt started, Bambi (who sometimes seems to live on a different planet) thought that it meant “All of them for the nation means all of them” (like in the national anthem). It took her a couple of days to understand the whole story behind this clever slogan.

The above picture consists of two separate pieces of arts. In the one to the left, we can read: “Sectarianism is not your religion. Get rid of it. It has insulted both my religion and yours”. In the one to the right, we can read: “Express yourself. This is a group psychological therapy session for the first time after civil war”.

Above, the picture to the left is a beautiful painting by a Lebanese artist. The picture to the right is a graffiti that reads: “Beirut is for us”.

Below, we can see a sort of a wish tree.

Above, again, we see two separate pictures. The one to the left shows a feminist graffiti (i.e. women have played a significant role in the revolt) whereas the one to the right speaks for itself in English: Rights for the LGBTQ community.

Above we can see two separate pictures that Bambi has merged for fun. The one to the left refers to the crying need of changing the very old law that prevents Lebanese women from passing their citizenship to their children. It also has a graffiti that reads: “Our October 17th revolution is neither Iranian nor American, it is rather civil”. The picture to the right does not need any translation :), at least linguistically speaking.

More tragically, the pictures below are again merged by Bambi. The one to the left shows Mr. Alaa Abu Fakher who was sadly killed (in front of one of his children’s eyes) during the peaceful revolution a few weeks ago. The picture to the right shows a graffiti reading as follows: “Those who are scared do not make revolutions”.

Indeed, life goes on in Beirut…

To illustrate this, above is a picture of the traffic in the downtown area. Below, we can see how they sometimes decorate coffee here. The picture in question is actually a beautiful souvenir from yesterday when Bambi met Hala, a classmate she has not seen for 30 years; these were their happy hearts connecting again! Together, they reached out to their beloved math highschool teacher (on WhatsApp of course :)). He kindly called them immediately. It was moving to chat with him and even see him online (video call). This teacher has been an inspiration to them and many other friends. Bless his heart.

Compared to the rest of Canada and the world, including Lebanon following two months of revolt, Québec knows how to acknowledge, investigate, and address corruption. From time to time, even politicians spend time in jail (e.g., the 27th Lieutenant of Québec, several municipal politicians, etc.).

Bearing this in mind, Mr. Fred Klein who is one of Bambi’s good friends, is very creative. Indeed, several years ago, he came up with the word “Kebekistan”. He also had the original idea of opening a restaurant and calling it “Le Canard corrompu” (The corrupt duck) where bills would be brown envelopes in which customers add cash money. He called the bill: “la facture salée” [hefty bill. In French, we literally say “salted” ?].

Here is a picture illustrating his concept:

In the same spirit, today, Fred K. shared with Bambi the following Montreal Gazette’s article by Mr. Brown Brownstein about a board game on the corruption in the construction industry. An interesting invention by Mr. David Loach:

https://tinyurl.com/rq26o6r

This being said, let’s put the topics of corruption and politics aside (hard when we are visiting Beirut these days). For a change, here are some nice pictures and video links, all taken in Lebanon:

Above is a picture of the beautiful Saint Dimitrios (“Mar Mitr”) Greek Orthodox Church in Beirut. This is the place where most of Bambi’s beloved relatives and/or ancestors are buried.

Above is the nativity scene at the ABC mall in Beirut. This mall seemed rather empty today, except for people meeting friends to eat or drink a coffee.

This elegant lady is Bambi’s childhood friend, Nayla Awad-Khoneisser. She surprised Bambi with unexpected Christmas gifts: two beautiful heart pillows, one for her and one for her mom even. How sweet ?. Bambi took this picture of Nayla as soon as she saw her. She was impressed by the elegance and beauty of her dear friend!

Lebanese people love their balconies, even in the winter. This is the balcony of one of Bambi’s sisters (Roula). Watch the heaters from “Azar Electric” (of course the best store in Beirut ?!). People use them here, even in the +17 degrees Celsius, a temperature described as being “cold”!

Red Mullet with fried pita bread. Mmm!

Bambi’s dad surprised her with “Surgel” ice cream today. Mmm-Thank you! Each piece is a bite made of dark chocolate containing a layer of a cookie and it a different flavour of ice cream.

Finally, to end on a beautiful note, first here is a video taken by Bambi’s sister (Rania Azar-Berbery) last year a few moments before landing in Lebanon:

Second, here is a very short video taken by Bambi today. A choir of singers wearing Santa’s hats came to the Public garden near her parents’ place to sing some Christmas carols in Arabic, French, and English:

Last but not least, to end this post about corruption on a musical/spiritual note, here is a video of Ms. Zeina Farah and a choir. She is Bambi’s cousin (=niece or, as we say, first cousin once removed). In this video, you can listen to her singing acapella a beautiful Christmas prayer in Arabic at a Greek Orthodox Church (video from December, 2018). What a talent! Bravo!

The text below is a translation of a French article by Mr. Mario Dumont. Food for thought:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/12/18/quelle-place-pour-les-problemes-des-hommes

“We will remember that 2019 was an exceptional year for feminism. The feminist discourse occupied a large space in the public eye. Feminist rhetoric has imposed itself in rereading history and in understanding the present.

There is a solid reason: for years, women did not have their place and young women did not have the same opportunities. The rise of a new feminist discourse among young people has been well felt in recent years. It also comes with some radicalization.

Young women cannot be blamed for wanting to push the last limits of a search for equality. They also cannot be blamed for wanting to put an end to the distressing and revolting episodes of violence against women. Several women were killed again this year, in unspeakable circumstances.

I still allow myself to see the consequence of the rise of a more radical feminist approach. It becomes forbidden, or even insidious, to speak of men’s problems. The insinuation of the feminist outcry is that men are fine. Power, money, happiness, the white man of America is doing particularly well. The young man sees a life full of promise ahead of him.

However.

Troubling figures

In Québec, slightly more than three-quarters of suicides were committed by men.

According to data from recent years, three-quarters of the homeless people are men.

Boys are 13% less likely than girls to graduate from high school after the mandatory five years of schooling. If you add two more years to complete high school, the gap decreases, but remains 10%.

One in four young men will leave school without a high school diploma. What does the job market hold for them in this knowledge economy?

The unequal university

Men now represent only 42% of university students. They are a minority in 9 of the 10 major fields of studies, including pure sciences.

Only in the applied sciences, men remain the majority. This is seen as a major problem to the point that the government is funding a program called “Hats off to you (or Chapeau les filles)”.

Does anyone worry about the very small number of men, who do not even represent a third of graduates in more than half of the major fields of studies? Nothing seen.

In a report in which we see the dominance of women at universities, the Council on the Status of Women (Conseil du statut de la femme) questions the wage gap that persists for a diploma said to be equivalent. This is indeed a valid questioning. But who wonders about the under-representation of men at universities? And what about their quasi-disappearance from a large sector such as health? No one.

The real question is the following: is it acceptable to speak about men’s problems? Am I committing a social outrage by signing this text?

I remain optimistic. Perhaps we are approaching the day when we will elect as Prime Minister [in Québec, this means the Premier] a woman, mother of boys, who will dare to name their issues for their future.”

Bambi is happy to visit Beirut, despite the tragic times.

Beirut is in limbo, both economically and politically.

Politicians are totally disconnected from their population.

After two peaceful months of “revolution”, things changed dramatically over this past weekend. Indeed, violent clashes took place in downtown Beirut on Saturday and Sunday nights.

According to caretaker Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan and many demonstrators who spoke to the media, “infiltrators” may have been responsible for the violence.

It seems that some of those “infiltrators” even started beating some demonstrators.

Others started breaking store windows, beautiful decorations, and even plants.

Lebanese police forces used tear gas and water bombs. Indeed, one of Bambi’s sisters and her spouse had to jump as fast as deer to escape a tear gas bomb. Bambi thinks they are crazy… but the world sometimes needs crazy, courageous folks to get populations out of limbo.  

Anyhow, over 40 citizens and 76 police officers were injured (some with stones, it seems).  

Political consultations to name a Prime Minister were delayed until Thursday (what a surprise).

Throughout all this, the outcry of citizens against hunger and for a dignified life is simply heartbreaking.

Many people lost their jobs. Others had a pay cut. Yet others are concerned about the future.

People stand in line to withdraw a limit of $300 per week. Some banks imposed a limit of $100 even. No one can transfer any US$ abroad or pay a credit card with US currency.  

The future of the country is unknown for sure.

Regardless of the revolution’s outcome, Lebanese people’s courage, creativity, humour in the adversity, determination, and apparent solidarity (at least for now?) are inspiring to say the least.

People’s qualities are their assets, which can allow them to keep rising above conflicts for the sake of their country. Will the current or caretaker Lebanese political politicians also know how to do so?  

Feiruz is a Lebanese diva.

Below are Christmas songs in Arabic. I hope you will enjoy :).

Peace, love, and… prosperity to both Lebanon and Canada as well as to the whole world.

When I was a child, every Christmas, I used to sing a Feiruz’ song called “Leilat el Milad toukaf el Harbou” [= The war stops on Christmas eve]. Anyhow, for the first 17 years of my life, I nurtured the hope that this beautiful season’s magic would erase hatred, at least for a single night.

Today, at my older age, I dream that Christmas will bring hope to the hearts of all those suffering from the deep financial crisis and concerning political instability.

It is also my hope that the Christmas season will bring common sense to all the decision makers, not only in Lebanon but also around the world.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. Happy 2020 to everyone!

First, here is Mr. Bock-Côté’s original article (French content):

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/12/12/le-retour-de-greta-thunberg

Second, here is an English translation of his article (food for thought):

“In a short time, the young Swede Greta Thunberg has become an international environmental star, incarnating the fight against climate change for the younger generation. She wanted to be the prophetess of a new children’s crusade—at least, her allies have marketed her like this, making her a powerful catalyst for collective energy.

There was a story that was told to please the media: a young woman stands up against the adult world, accusing adults of ruining her future. Her accusing tone was presented as a sign of admirable authenticity, which was meant to move us. Those who had concerns about her were accused of having contempt for youth and of not taking the issue of climate change seriously.

Time

For the last few days, Greta Thunberg has been in the media again. Indeed, she has just been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year”. However, it is for another reason that she first came back in the news.

As part of the COP 25 in Madrid, she signed a letter with two other climate activists where she reveals the dark side of a certain ecologism. There is a preposterous statement.

Thus, according to the Swedish saint, “colonial, racist, and patriarchal oppression systems have created and fueled” the climate crisis.

It is enough to translate this jargon, proper to the extreme academic left, into the ordinary language in order to find a simple idea: it is again the fault of the West! And more precisely, it’s the fault of the big bad white man! It is always our fault!

Let’s admit it though, this is not surprising. This is neither new nor recent. For some time now, the environmental cause has been diverted by those who exploit it to promote an ideology having nothing to do with it. This is how we move from a necessary fight against the climate crisis to the trial of civilization, caricatured in the most stupid way.

It is necessary to dissociate the environmental cause from those who poison it with toxic ideological passions like that, which contribute to discredit ecologists. The fight against climate change is one of the great challenges of our time. However, in order to be well conducted, this fight must be detached from this enraged hatred against our civilization and the apocalyptic psychology of Greta Thunberg and her disciples. It must also free itself from the regressive fantasy of a return to a bucolic conception of nature.

Science

One can certainly criticize the excesses of a capitalism pushing us to overconsumption. We must, of course, put on trial those who pollute the planet without constraint or embarrassment as well those who treat it like a dump. We must question a system that uproots people and populations. In other words, one must know how to criticize the excesses and drifts of our civilization, without cursing it.

Nevertheless, we will not forget that it is precisely our scientific genius and our technological inventiveness that will also allow us to win the battle of climate changes.”

Today, Bambi spent time chatting with her good friend Aline A. about Lebanon and the Middle East.

This post reflects Ms. Aline A.’s deep insights that sadly have much truth in them, despite the Lebanese people’s revolt and aspirations for better days.

Thank you for this food for thought Aline and for your generosity in accepting to share your thoughts on this blog:

“All political parties have started with a certain goal or a mission. However, not even half-way through (sometimes just ¼ of the way), they all forgot about their goal and they started working for their own interests, instead of the national interests.

Even during civil war, forces on the war front lines would agree on the fighting rules: Now, your turn to attack. Now my turn to shell. They all robbed the population here and there. All were involved in brainwashing young people, stealing their future and maybe contributing to their drug addictions. They used incentives to reward them; money may be appealing when our family lives in poverty. Young people died in the combats. Warlords (now political leaders) increased their wealth.

Sectarianism has been in our blood, so to speak. Even those who say that we are against sectarianism, if you insult their spiritual beliefs, Jesus or Prophet Mohammed, they would lose their mind.

Add to this, how we as Lebanese, are sometimes like double agents, serving the interests of foreign countries more than our own. Perhaps some were tempted by this or that reward from this or that external force. They even changed their policies accordingly. This politician works for Iran. The other for Saudi Arabia. Yet another for the United States. Some even work for this and that at the same time.

The above is the sad reality of Lebanon. It is a tiny country at the mercy of foreign countries. How would you get out of this? Every time, we try to get out of this, we fail because of our weaknesses.

Money kills us. Appearances too. Some are even willing to sell everything just for money in their pocket. They may even sell their souls, even loved ones, or whole country.

Innocent people have always been the silent majority.

According to me, with all due respect to those who think they can lead Lebanon, we need another civilized country to govern us so we can: (1) live in peace and (2) know that, whatever would happen in the regional politics surrounding us, we must remain neutral. In other terms, this must not become our problem. It is our only logical solution if we want to see a prosperous Lebanon again. If not, we will keep going through war every 30 years.

It is as simple as that really. At least this is my opinion right now. We have sadly demonstrated our inability to preserve our country. A small country that we could have preserved. Why not? Whomever came to us, from the Palestinians to the Syrians, etc. We welcomed them in and did not know how to show them the way out. Our politicians used the Palestinians for their own business interests. We did the same with the Syrians. Some started following the lead of the Syrians and the Syrians started to govern us. The same story seems to be moving on.

We do not deserve our country [by we, Ms. A. means the politicians]. Politicians forget their principles for the sake of money. Those who may be decent go unnoticed among the corrupt ones.

Seniors, from my parents’ generation, would say the same as I am saying now: This is sadly the story of Lebanon but had the French mandate [or colonization that ended in 1943] been still ongoing, we would have been living in peace and prosperity. Our children would have likely had a future ahead of them. This would have been true, even if of course France would be benefitting. At least, as they say in Lebanon: “Give your dough to the baker even if he will eat half of your bread”.

Lebanese people are proud people. They love the idea that the alphabet started there [with the Phoenicians as their ancestors], civilization, culture, and medicine too [during the Arab renaissance times]. Did we know how to continue all this renaissance? No. We have reached a stage where we have stopped progressing. Maybe we sold our consciousness? Maybe we started being too corrupt to remain creative? Maybe money blinded us, in the whole Arab region. Maybe that is why the West knew how to take advantage of our weaknesses and governed us. Everyone wants a piece of the regional cake.

This is the sad truth.

We say the alphabet went to the world, out of our shores, but we are now in a state of descent into darkness.

Even to get a decent graduate education, youth travel abroad. We could have been stronger in pharmacy, with its beginnings in our area and all those herbs. We now import medication and do not produce drugs and medical supplies. Corruption has prevented discovery and moving forward in pharmaceutical sciences.

The whole world has moved forward and surpassed us. In contrast, we stopped moving forward.

Of course, we still have some good things like our hospitality and our culture, etc. But what a loss of potential!

Yes, we have improved in some areas but mainly superficially. We lost the deep matters, sadly”.

The following link to a Euronews article includes a video showing how Lebanese protesters are using arts to express their views and anger/frustration (e.g., dance on streets, music, wall paintings, etc.).

Here is the video:

https://www.euronews.com/embed/941498

Here is the full Euronews article:

https://www.euronews.com/2019/11/28/how-are-lebanese-protesters-using-art-to-express-their-views?jwsource=cl

And here is another documentary that Bambi just came across accidentally. It is produced by a certain Mr. Drew Binsky, a travel blogger and vlogger (December 3, 2019). Interesting to watch, perhaps especially ahead of a trip to Lebanon :).

Bambi has been away and very sick. She is now catching up on national news.

It is fascinating to watch all the misunderstanding of Bill 21 and all the levels of mean comments about Québec and its choices as a (distinct) society, or as a nation within the Canadian nation.

In early June 2019, a friend from a certain village in a nearby province, asked Bambi about the prospects of teaching jobs for a relative who is looking to move out of Lebanon. She explained that she did not know the system well here but referred him to another friend. She shared some insights about the high school educational system in Québec, as an alternative. She asked if the relative in question wears a headscarf (it turned out that she does). She then explained that a new Bill, called 21, is about to kick in in this province. As a result, his relative may not be able to find a position in the public sector, if she wears a headscarf (unless she would remove it whilst on the job). His answer was very clear: “That’s not a problem. I understand that this is their choice as a province”.

Bambi thought to herself then, wow. Those Lebanese people (even the most religious ones) understand Québeckers way more than the rest of those Canadian citizens opposed to death to this Bill. How come a Lebanese-Canadian Muslim man and his veiled cousin (Lebanese from a religious community) are able to imagine (and respect!) a different country with its own mindset or approach to secularism? Why aren’t we that culturally wise in our Canada?

Bambi has written about this law in more than a post. She immediately saw the merit of judges, lawyers, and police officers in positions of power not wearing a religious symbol because they represent the secular, neutral, Québec state. She struggled to see why teachers, especially in the beginning. After careful thoughts, and comparisons with other European countries, she ended up finding this bill moderate and even reasonable. The Government of Québec took a legal measure to protect the rights of those already on the job. She just does not understand why they keep funding private schools (some are ULTRA religious). An apparent contradiction there.

Many articles, many individuals, many levels of government outside of Québec have criticized the Bill (Manitoba even has ads to invite “persecuted” citizens by Bill 21 to move there ?).

Anyhow, here is a multiple choice questionnaire for you about this bill. The answer to each question appears at the bottom:

1. Bill 21 is an Act that is all about…

A. Harassing women in positions of power wearing headscarf, men wearing a kippa and/or persons wearing a turban or a large cross, etc.

B. Respecting the secularism (or “laicitiy”) of the State.

C. Telling workers of the state which pyjamas to wear or not at home.

2. “Persons who present themselves to receive a service from a staff member of a public body must have their face uncovered where doing so” because:

A. Mr. Legault is highly allergic to covered faces.

B. This is necessary to allow their identity to be verified OR for security reasons.

C. Québec is a lunatic province.

3. People who are subject to the prohibition of wearing religious symbols in the exercise of their functions are:

A. Tourists, refugees or immigrants as soon as they land at Trudeau airport or who cross the borders.

B. ONLY Public servants in positions of authority. Here is a comprehensive list: the President and Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly, administrative justices of the peace, special clerks, clerks, deputy clerks, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, clerks and deputy clerks respecting municipal courts, and bankruptcy registrars, members or commissioners who exercise their functions within the Comité de déontologie policière, the Commission d’accès à l’information, the Commission de la fonction publique, the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec, the Commission des transports du Québec, the Commission municipale du Québec, the Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles, the Régie de l’énergie, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, the Régie des marchés agricoles et alimentaires du Québec, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec, the Régie du logement, the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal, the Administrative Tribunal of Québec or the Administrative Labour Tribunal, as well as disciplinary council chairs who exercise their functions within the Bureau des présidents des conseils de discipline, commissioners appointed by the Government under the Act respecting public inquiry commissions, and lawyers or notaries acting for such a commission, arbitrators appointed by the Minister of Labour whose name appears on a list drawn up by that minister in accordance with the Labour Code, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, and persons who exercise the function of lawyer, notary or criminal and penal prosecuting attorney and who are under the authority of a government department, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, the National Assembly, a person appointed or designated by the National Assembly to an office under its authority (or a body referred to in paragraph 3 of the bill), persons who exercise the function of lawyer and are employed by a prosecutor (Code of Penal Procedure), unless the prosecutor are persons acting in criminal or penal matters for such a prosecutor before the courts or with third persons, lawyers or notaries acting before the courts or with third persons in accordance with a legal services contract entered into with a minister, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, the National Assembly, a person appointed or designated by the National Assembly to exercise a function under its authority (or a body referred to in paragraph 3 of the bill), or lawyers acting in criminal or penal matters before the courts or with third persons in accordance with a legal services contract entered into with a prosecutor, peace officers who exercise their functions mainly in Québec; and principals, vice principals and teachers of educational institutions under the jurisdiction of a school board established under the Education Act or of the Commission scolaire du Littoral established by the Act respecting the Commission scolaire du Littoral.

C. Truck drivers crossing the TransCanada highway, as soon they hit any Québec border.

4. Teachers wearing a religious symbol, such as a headscarf, can keep it on the job because:

A. They will have to do the following in return: walk daily in -20, without a coat, from Métro Henri-Bourassa (subway station in Montreal) all the way to Québec city OR under the rain, without an umbrella, or under the sunshine, without any headscarf and no sunscreen.

B. of a grand-father clause protecting their rights.

C. They would have paid a fine of $100 per day.

5. New teachers about to enter the profession in the public sector must remove any religious symbol because:

A. The average Québec citizen is a French-speaking Hitler.

B. It will be now required upon hiring.

C. Québec enjoys torturing women, especially those with a headscarf, whether their first language is Arabic or not.

Note: All the answers of this Multiple Choice Questionnaire are “B”.  B is for “Bravo Québec” for the courage of being whom you are and governing according to your history and values.