Published on the Lebanese Monthly Magazine, USA

By Claudys de Kantara (M.Sc. Psychology) Writer & Editor

www.neat-edu.com

If our eternal cedars could speak, they would relate the noble story of a nation venerated by the spirit of faith, the blood of survival, the sweat of struggles and the determination to prevail in a land blessed by God in His unfailing love. 

Although cruelty had severed some of their majesty, their roots persist in expanding, miles and miles under the ground, to hold onto our soil. Henceforth, they witness still that Lebanon remains as fierce in surviving as ever, despite its small size, limited resources and the rage that keeps storming upon its beauty. Therefore, if we are to forename Lebanon, then courage would certainly do the honor.

Through a repeated history of afflictions yet adamant courage, Lebanon today struggles again to prevail. Since peace and war are notable linked through our recorded times, the world has stopped astonishing at the Lebanese capability to rebuild, with the same boldness and the same fortitude. Lebanon, the wounded nation, is rising up again, not in glorious victory, but with the determination to overcome the damages of one of its fiercest war ever. Amid the misery of devastation, the stench of burnt flesh, the taste of acrimony and the horror of death, the eternal Phoenix gets slowly to its feet and flutters its wings with dignity and courage.

From my window overlooking Beirut, I give tribute to my nation, struggling, not with anger or violence, neither with hate nor aggression, but with a tremendous devotion to the motherland which nobility stands above all violations.

This is Lebanon; the sacred land that the holy books have recorded in their sanctified pages… Lebanon, the nation blessed with a tremendous willpower to constantly rebuild in order to maintain its fascinating culture and promote its ethnic tolerance…. Lebanon, the proud people that refuse to yield whatever destructive the raging fire…

In fact, the Lebanese did not wait for the ceasefire to patch up their streets, dispose of the wreckages, reinstall their doors and repair their electricity wires. They have forgotten all about lingering in wait. For them, living and surviving have become synonyms. Be it thirty-three days or thirty years, war could never destroy the soul of a nation shaped by centuries of struggles and challenges.

Amongst the rage, frustration and pain, Lebanon authentic heritage was recently exposed by its people’s compassion and desire for unity, beyond politics, greed and sectarian dissection. Helpful hands have extended in peace to rally in a chain of unyielding empathy; all adamant to preserve the dignity of the wounded and the homeless. While bombs blasted relentlessly, citizens of divergent slogans stormed out of their homes to embrace the mass escaping the blitz. They did indeed, stirred by the urgent call of human compassion and national unity. They rescued the families from the humiliation of the streets’ life, cuddled the orphans with affection, comforted the weeping mothers and opened their homes and schools to shelter them, feed them and heal their wounds.

These citizens, born in the war of their fathers and raised in the harsh segregation of sectarian quarrels, have refused to carry on the legacy of conflicts. As such, we have witnessed a unique example of valor and willpower in the deeds and souls of a people that have rarely seen peace and security during its whole history. We have beheld, indeed, an intrepid reaction that prides our ancestors and lifts up our dignity high above the destruction, the pain, the ashes and the misery.

That is the reason why Lebanon could never die. Its soul shall persist in exalting its Divine Creator, its heart beating with passion, and its mind planning for a tomorrow that may not be the same. Lebanon does not fall into despair and stops being what it has always been; a country of incredible uniqueness. Whoever still holds misgivings about such certainty, should ask the nation, see its courage, witness its boldness and test its determination to prevail, yet never dare ask these wounded, yet brave, hearts if they, at any moment, have sought to kneel down and give up. Lebanon, the soul that refuses to die when the storm rants and raves, is the Lebanon of yesterday, of today and of tomorrow… That is the promise that our brave nation vows to the international community and to you all Lebanese in the Diaspora: Lebanon shall prevail!

Let us never assume again that our small country is doomed to destruction, but let us instead venerate the strong will of its people to survive the storms whatever fierce, and to rebuild with determination, faith and dignity.

Yes! The bells of our churches and the muezzins of our mosques will keep on summoning the faithful to their payers, side by side, in a land that has seen more hate and love than any other country. And our streets will continue hosting the friendly walks of our unique social and religious mosaic, while the voice of late Zaki Nassif will go on singing for us, again and again: Reja’eh yet’aamar loubnan… Lebanon will be rebuilt.

The difficult task of rebuilding the homeland could only start with the healing of its society and the reinstatement of its authentic culture. Undeniably, its salvation lays in its capacity to forgive, accept and respect above the differences of all our ideologies.

Tomorrow is another difficult day, another struggle against destruction, another determination to rebuild despite uncertainty.

Yet history claims high and loud that Lebanon… always prevails!