Lebanon

'Our Land is Here:' Life Amid Bombardment in Beirut's Southern Suburbs

It is 4 PM when we enter Chiyah, a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Navigating through debris, we make our way to the site of the latest Israeli airstrike, which occurred just a few hours earlier. A five-story building lies gutted, its top two floors reduced to rubble. Despite the devastation, the main street running alongside ...

35 Years Later… Will We Finally Do Justice to René Mouawad ?

In these times of profound upheaval, it is essential to honor the figures who have shaped our history. One pressing question lingers as we commemorate Lebanon’s independence: what remains of its true essence? Among the many unanswered questions of our history, we cannot forget the man assassinated on November 22. Another president, struck down ...

Change Lebanon and CCLF Organize a Rally in Paris

On the occasion of Lebanon’s Independence Day, the Lebanese Community in France, under the “Change Lebanon” (CL) initiative, and in coordination with its various components, including the Comité de Coordination Libano-Français (CCLF), is organizing a rally at Place du Panthéon in Paris. The event will take place tomorrow, Sunday, November ...

America, Iran, Israel, and Lebanon

Most American presidents avoid plunging into Middle East peacemaking as long as possible. There were two exceptions: Bill Clinton started in his first month with a "Syria First" strategy for peace between Israel and its neighbors. Barak Obama on his "day two" launched a respected envoy to pursue a West Bank settlement freeze and two-state ...

Dawn Strike on Beirut's Basta Neighborhood Stirs Panic Across the Capital

A series of violent Israeli raids targeted Beirut at 4 AM today without prior warning, and focused on an eight-story building on Fathallah street in the Basta al-Fawqa neighborhood, a popular and densely populated neighborhood. Israeli Channel 12 reported that the person targeted in the raid in the center of Beirut is more important than Talal ...

Stranger Mother

It is two hours past midnight now. Across the road from us, a single streetlight hums its familiar monotone tune, and its beacon flickers. Looking at it, you would think the light it sheds will go out within the minute. But for the time being, it valiantly offers its flimsy beam and, at the very least, it has outlived its peers down the road. The ...

Basketball - 2025 Asia Cup Qualifiers: Lebanon Dominates the United Arab Emirates

The Lebanese national basketball team triumphed 99-77 against the United Arab Emirates in a match they controlled from start to finish during the second window of qualifications for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup. Thanks to this victory, Lebanon, currently ranked 28th in the world and 5th in Asia, takes the sole lead in Group 6 with 6 points. On the ...

War Diary: Day 413

This is Beirut brings you a daily recap of the war and its repercussions on the region. Here are the main highlights for November 22, 2024.  

Life Impossible Elsewhere...

November 20, 2024, I’m boarding the return flight from Dubai to Beirut. The news isn’t great, but I’m used to it — uncertainty clings to me like a second skin. I’m Lebanese. That imperceptible tension between the unparalleled joy of coming home and the unbearable insecurity of feeling trapped there is my daily reality. I accept it ...

A Surge of Poeticism in Festive Times

Refined comments pour in during the national holidays: Independence Day, Flag Day, the First Liberation Day, the Second and the Nineteenth. Yet, no one truly believes in the poetry written for these occasions. The mandate era is increasingly seen as more merciful than the independence we now endure, constantly violated by those surrounding ...

Hajj Hassan: Aerial Study With FAO Reveals 70% Devastation in Agricultural Sector

Caretaker Minister of Agriculture Abbas Hajj Hassan highlighted the extensive damage to Lebanon's agricultural sector, estimated at around 70%, based on an aerial study conducted in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to assess the losses.  He emphasized that Israeli bombardments have caused significant destruction, ...