A Personal and Political Journey Through Beirut, April/May, 1977
()
About this ebook
Amidst the Lebanese Civil War in 1977 the author was delivered to an indigenous, bomb-damaged hotel on the Green Line, the dividing line in war-torn Beirut, where he lodged for nearly two weeks. Daily, and nightly, he traversed Between West and East Beirut, met with the indomitable inhabitants of that exotic metropolis, and engaged in one incident and revelatory moment after another. Encountering few foreigners and no media in an era prior to the 'world wide web','bloggers',etc., it was a time when few dared to venture into this war-torn land. This story compassionately describes the interminable spirit of Beirutis who inspired the author who took 'risks' and accepted diversity while he actively searched for an understanding of the complexities of that emotionally riveting and unique place-in-time.
Gordie LaRocque
'Worlds Collude - Escape Tales from Surf City to Sidi Ifni' is the 2nd of a trilogy. The first book is 'A Personal and Political Journey Through Beirut, April/May, 1977'. The 3rd book currently in progress is titled ‘Jerusalem 1977-2027. Quest For A Just Peace’. All these works stem from years of studying, travelling, working, and living in the Middle East and North Africa.In my career in Social Work I wrote formal research, and about citizen’s resilience, and of the need for egalitarian systemic response to peoples’ socio-economic struggles.My professional Social Work writing, as well as my primary life duty as full-time father, took all my time and energies. I do not communicate or promote on social media. My life has not followed the usual ‘grid’.
Read more from Gordie La Rocque
Jerusalem 1977-2027 ... The Trilogy. Quest for a Just Peace. Part Two. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJerusalem 1977-2027 ... The Trilogy. Quest for a Just Peace. Part One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorlds Collude: Escape Tales from Surf City to Sidi Ifni Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Personal and Political Journey Through Beirut, April/May, 1977
Related ebooks
The Olive Route: A Personal Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Even The Dead Are Coming: A Memoir of Sudan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove, Africa: A Memoir of Romance, War, and Survival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Coldest Winter: A Stringer in Liberated Europe Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Let My Right Hand Wither Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Love Ashram: And Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Shade of the Sausage Tree Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Track of R. L. Stevenson and Elsewhere in Old France Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lost Ambassador; Or, The Search For The Missing Delora Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Onlooker in France 1917-1919 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sword and the Rose: A Swiss-American Dervish in Egypt Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Raja of Bourbon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Storied Winnipeg: Fables and Local Legends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFalse Papers: Essays on Exile and Memory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short Break in Libya Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mystic London: or, Phases of occult life in the metropolis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoirs of An Arabian Princess: An Autobiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHavoc Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTravels with a Donkey in the Cevennes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Car That Went Abroad: Motoring Through the Golden Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Key of Andromeda Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDagonet Abroad Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPel And The Staghound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Morocco: Its People and Places Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCyprus Portraits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsORVIETO AS IT WAS... AND IS Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wolf-Leader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 8:55 to Baghdad: From London to Iraq on the Trail of Agatha Christie Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Desert Air 1905 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfrican Spirits Speak: A White Woman's Journey into the Healing Tradition of the Sangoma Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
Middle East Travel For You
Fodor's Essential Turkey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFarsi (Persian) for Beginners: Learning Conversational Farsi (Downloadable Audio Included) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi Bible Study Guide: Come to the Land Where It All Began Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Is Not a Border: Reportage & Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Roman Empire the Empire of the Edomite Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Saffron Tales: Recipes from the Persian Kitchen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exile: Rejecting America and Finding the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonely Planet Turkey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Incredible Voyage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Trip of One's Own: Hope, Heartbreak, and Why Traveling Solo Could Change Your Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Berlitz Pocket Guide Turkey (Travel Guide eBook) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rough Guide to Dubai (Travel Guide eBook) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMediterranean By Cruise Ship - 6th edition: The Complete Guide to Mediterranean Cruising Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict: What the Headlines Haven't Told You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Essays in Idleness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Planet Israel & the Palestinian Territories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Collins Arabic Phrasebook and Dictionary Gem Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel Eats Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Saudi Arabia - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Conversational Arabic Quick and Easy: Lebanese Dialect Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Israel Bible Tour, A Historic Geographic Bible Study Journal of Israel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When in the Arab World: An insider's guide to living and working with Arab culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Aristocrats and Archaeologists: An Edwardian Journey on the Nile Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conversational Arabic Quick and Easy: The Most Innovative Technique to Learn the Arabic Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passenger to Teheran Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Personal and Political Journey Through Beirut, April/May, 1977
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
A Personal and Political Journey Through Beirut, April/May, 1977 - Gordie LaRocque
A PERSONAL AND POLITICAL JOURNEY
THROUGH BEIRUT, APRIL/MAY, 1977
By
Gordie ‘Youssef’ LaRocque
Copyright © 2023 Gordie LaRocque
All rights reserved.
From this taxi centre, Youssef, you can still take the Damascus Road – this better for you, than go to Beirut in this time.
I replied: But this is my chance; perhaps my only time to go to Beirut is now.
PREFACE (2010)
This chronicle, written in 2009, is the travel diary of actual people and of events that occurred and which was penned in an old journal while in Beirut in 1977. For 32 years I wanted to share this story of an extraordinary time and place. I remain faithful for a return visit. The names of people have been changed of course. It is these indomitable inhabitants of Beirut who inspired … and as I wrote, I was there again with them, feeling the passion of their interminable spirit against all odds in the most impossible of circumstances.
CONTENTS
Preface
1. Delivery to Beirut: Welcome to the Place of Martyrs, ‘LES DIVORCEES’.
2. Lessons and emotions while moving in the ‘theatre of violence’ – and the beauty of the ‘Eye Of The East’.
3. Welcome to Christian East Beirut – not where I’d ever been before.
4. Bluffing at the Holiday Inn and at Rivoli cards: playing the hand you’re dealt.
5. East and West meet again.
6. Learning more at Rivoli, and too much thinking in Al Hamra and in ‘No Man’s Land.’
7. ‘And now they tell me Jumblatt is dead.’
8. Traversing Beirut – more West and further East.
9. Celebrating May Day/Jumblatt Day – and the love and hope for Beirut!
10. The Lebanon labyrinth, the sensory of the Holiday Inn, spirit of Ain Mraisse … and the ‘French Avenue’ end run.
11. Taking leave of Beirut: an evocation of emotions and spirit.
A PERSONAL AND POLITICAL JOURNEY THROUGH BEIRUT, APRIL/MAY, 1977
Saturday, April 23, 1977 (Day One):
Delivery to Beirut: Welcome to the Place of Martyrs, ‘LES DIVORCEES’.
After the raucous (politically speaking) previous late night we arose at 10:30 in the old walled Phoenician city of Tartous, Syria and prepared to leave Omar’s grandiose home (made of huge blocks of rock and stone) where his family had lived for 400 years, with the foundation 1800 years old. It was raining, very windy, and the Mediterranean Sea beyond the walled city was quite rough. After breakfast we went to Aziz’s house, then to the taxi centre. We had a warm and spirited farewell, despite and perhaps due to our passionate hours-long discourse, sometimes argument on the street corner late last night regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. Omar could speak French, but no English; Aziz spoke English, but no French – and as for the past 3 days I spoke to one in English and to the other in French – and they spoke to each other in Arabic. Thus our hours-long and respectful discourse required patient translation, giving us time last night to cool our opinions, to everyone’s benefit.
I had met Omar and Aziz in Alexandria, Egypt and later in Damascus and they had invited me to their respective homes in Tartous. They had been very hospitable and gracious. I wished them luck: Aziz, slightly built and mild-mannered, in his medical studies; and Omar, rotund, gregarious and with oratory to match, in his law studies – and perhaps destined to follow his grandfather who had served as the Governor of the Province of Tartous. They respectfully offered me one more opinion: From this taxi centre, Youssef, you can still take the Damascus Road – this better for you, than go to Beirut in this time.
I replied: But this is my chance; perhaps my only time to go to Beirut is now.
I had to take a taxi to Tripoli, Lebanon as there was no bus service. I agreed to a fare of 7 Syrian Pounds and left at one o’clock in an old Mercedes along with 4 other passengers. The rain, which had stopped during the morning, picked up again after we departed. The distance from Tartous to Tripoli is 65 kilometres. About halfway is the border. First I had my Syrian visa (already stamped from Cairo in my passport) signed at this border for exit from Syria. Then I paid 15 Syrian Pounds (about 4 dollars) for a passport visa stamped for The Lebanon, for 7 days duration.
We continued south on the picturesque Mediterranean coastline – the taxi let me off in front of the bus station in Tripoli about 2:30. There was a bus leaving for Beirut at 3:15, I was told, for 4 Lebanese Pounds. I quickly found a place to change some money to local currency; there were 3 Lebanese Pounds in one Canadian dollar. The bus was one of the luxury tour types. The 85 kilometre trip to Beirut was very beautiful in its scenery. At times we travelled along winding, rugged shoreline, reminding me of parts of the California and Spain coastlines. In other places we were in very green, fertile areas. We passed through many small towns and villages, including the ancient Byblos. The bus was also stopped, incessantly it seemed, by many roadside military checkpoints, often with armed soldiers entering and patrolling the aisle. I met their eyes and they gave me more than a cursory glance. One swarthy soldier requested my passport, asked in barely understandable English my