Tag Archives: North Lebanon

The Syrian Army Attacking North Lebanon Tonight?

A news report just published is saying that more than 15,000 Syrian army men are heading towards the Northern Lebanese borders for a military attack to secure the border. The report also says that the Syrian army might venture deep into Lebanese land and reach Tripoli to completely annihilate the support of the Syrian Free Army in North Lebanon.

I’m taking this with a grain of salt because it sounds too far-fetched, not to mention that the source of the news is Al Diyar. Why would Bashar el Assad risk 15,000 men away from battlegrounds where they’re probably much more needed?

But I’m not a military strategist nor do I want to be. So assuming that there’s some truth to this and that the Syrian Army might be planning something eventually along the Lebanese border, let me ask our government a few questions:

  1. Have you made sure that the Syrian Army is not moving in droves towards our Northern border?
  2. If the Syrian army is moving in droves towards our border, have you called your favorite person in Damascus to ask them why?
  3. Have you called up upon our army to move towards Akkar in order to retaliate to every single missile and shot fired by people who want to violate our land? Or is it only violation and a cause of panic and mayhem when our Southern neighbors do it?
  4. In case the Syrian Army decides to go as far as Tripoli, do we have a plan of action or will we just stand by the sidelines and watch as they burn our country again?
  5. PM Mikati, how was your pilgrimage to Mecca? Rewarding, I hope.

Alas, the answers to all of those questions are already known. Long live a country whose borders are as open as the legs of a prostitute.

Summer in Lebanon: A Trip Through the Lebanese Mountains

After much talk, a few friends and I decided to go on a North Lebanon road trip yesterday that took us through Batroun to Tannourine from which we crossed over to Becharre, descended to the Bekaa and then returned to Ehden.

Massive amounts of driving aside, I took a few pictures that I figured I’d share with you. All of these pictures were taken with a Nikon D5100 and weren’t modified in any way. I’m also not a professional photographer so these aren’t supposed to be perfect – they’re there to show the beauty of the Northern Lebanese mountains.

Some of the cedars at Tannourine

The cedars of Becharre

Residual snow

Lebanon’s highest peak – Kornet el Sawda

The Bekaa valley

Saydet el Hosn – Ehden

And the following picture I took with my iPhone and modified using Camera+:

This is what you see when you’re literally above cloud nine

 

Spring in Lebanon: Saydet el Nourieh Convent, Hamat

When it comes to my favorite places in Lebanon, the Saydet el Nourieh (Our Lady of the Light) Orthodox Convent in the Batrouni village of Hamat, which many people incorrectly believe is in Chekka, ranks high.

It’s possibly one of the most peaceful and picturesque places you can find. But I may be biased. Batroun pride, I guess. I think it’s very difficult not to be taken by the beauty of the mountain descending almost perpendicularly into the sea, giving you a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean and for religious people a very serene place to pray.

The story of the convent goes as follows: around the year 503 AD, two sailors found themselves in peril at sea. So they prayed to the Virgin Mary for salvation. She appeared to them as light and guided them safely to shore. To honor Her, they carved a cave where they saw the light emanating from. An Orthodox monastery was built in the 17th century.

And what better way to bid farewell to the Marian month than with a tribute to one of the most famous Marian shrines in Lebanon?

The convent

The view from the top of the mountain

Going towards the cave

The cave that was carved

All of these pictures were taken with an iPhone 4S and edited with the app Camera+.

Happy Liberation Day, Lebanon?

I remember May 25th 2000, 12 years ago, when I came back home all giddy with them letting us off from school early. We had heard whispers at school: “The Israelis have left…. the South is ours again.”

I felt happy. I felt proud of my country. Even though I had never been to the South, I felt liberated.

So today, I salute all the readers of my blog who come from South Lebanon, however few they may be. Blame it on my political stance that drastically differs from theirs. I salute all those who fought for Lebanon’s freedom from Israel before that fight started being used for political gains here and there. I salute all the martyrs that died in the process of trying to take back every inch of Lebanese land.

But today, 12 years later, I can honestly say Liberation Day has lost some of its flavor to me. Not because of current political reasons, not because I utterly hate the political party which led to that day but because it reminds me that my own occupation is nowhere near to be acknowledged.

April 26th…. That day I saw the Syrian army trucks leaving my land, hopefully to no return. That day I saw my mom shed a tear as she drew a sigh of relief – the horror has gone. That day I saw my grandfather smile like a child as he breathed for the first time in his Syrian army-free hometown.

When will Lebanon truly admit that Israel and the South weren’t the only entities in the country occupied for years? When will we admit that Northerners and people from Mount Lebanon struggled almost as much as people in the South?

When will we admit that your “brother” becoming your enemy is much more dangerous than a stranger enemy with whom you barely have anything in common?

Today, May 25th is another day that reminds me of Lebanese hypocrisy, of how the deaths of those that fought to get the Syrian army off my land, prior to the Rafic Hariri assassination era, are all looked down upon: a bunch of traitors who aren’t worthy of being acknowledged.

And it makes me sad, really, that on a day where I should be happy for my country’s sake I can’t but feel sadness for the memory of those who fought for liberation and don’t have a day to remember their struggles.

You can’t understand liberation unless you’ve been under occupation.

May 25th, I’d salute you when you salute April 26th.

Winter in Lebanon: Snowy Landscapes from the Recent Snowstorm

After posting a few pictures of a trip I took to the Cedars, I figured I’d help show another side of Lebanon that most people don’t get to see (especially tourists). And what better side to show than the one showcased by the recent snowstorm?

I did not take these pictures. I got them, after permission, from the Lebanon Weather Facebook page. I’ll try to go on a roadtrip around the Batroun area soon to take pictures. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, we present:

Zahle

Anjar

Assia, a village at 700 m of altitude in Batroun

The Chouf

The view from Hasroun, in the Bcharre Caza

Jezzine

Kawkaba, in South Lebanon

Knise Moutain in the Metn region

South Lebanon

Toula, in North Lebanon

West Bekaa

West Bekaa, again

And this is a picture my friend Firas took of the Cedar Mountains from his hometown in Koura:

The Cedar Mountains from afar

And people ask me why I’m “hating” on Zaitunay Bay when it’s getting all the attention and scenes like these are getting ignored. I guess that’s the way things are – you have money and power, you get noticed.