Today is a very sad day for my maternal family whose neighborhood, full of old homes dating almost 100 years was targeted and destroyed turning them into a pile of rubble. While we are fortunate that none of our family members were there, the family home with its traditional tile, its thin alleyways, its garden, its traditional fountain, its palms, and its Guava tree are all gone.
My grandfather had built the place from scratch in the 1930's. It was in the peaceful and sleepy southern suburbs of Beirut, which was full of houses and orchards back then. He would open up his house for his Lebanese American bride, my grandma, and for their subsequent five children- my mom being the first to arrive. She has the oldest memories of all the neighborhood. All the houses around were of uncles and cousins. It was like a family village in the suburbs of Beirut. Most who had worked there were judges, teachers, and people who believed in their nascent Lebanese nation.
Years later, when my sister and I were born, mom would take us to Burj and we would play in the garden and swim in the fountain at its center. We would climb the fruit trees and then we would have a nice family barbecue. The war did not stop mom from taking us there on weekends to drink from its sweet water and absorb the unconditional love and humor of our Burj family.
When my grandparents passed away, my uncles each inherited a portion of the house and they soon added a couple of stories above the main house to accommodate their families. It remained a small building and it kept its traditional style. My cousins were all born and raised there and their childhood memories are all in that neighborhood.
All these years, the Minshiyyeh neighborhood survived war after war and battle after another; and it was never targeted because for the most part, it still housed the traditional families that were not involved in anything sinister ... We all thought it would be safe forever, until that is, some random bloke in a speeding metallic object in the sky decided to press a button and destroy it.
What strategic purpose would such an indiscriminate bombing serve? It certainly hasn't made people more favorable to the bomber whom they see as marauding genocidal murderers that are trigger happy and have no appreciation for culture or history. It certainly won't eliminate the will of any resistance to their actions. They are unaffected by the destruction of a neighborhood that was irrelevant to them to begin with. And it will certainly not make the residents leave. Everyone we spoke to wants to rebuild. It is there home albeit there houses are no more.
It leaves one questioning what possible purpose does destruction for destruction's sake serve? Is it to satisfy the whims of a few blood thirsty criminal politicians? Is it to terrorize by showcasing the power of steel over tradition? Is it insatiable greed? Whatever it is, only the innocent seemingly pay the price these days, as the world watches on and does little to stop it.
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