![]() Levels of popular anger are still manifest in graffiti that blankets walls and concrete traffic barriers around the port. For many Lebanese it was the final sign of government collapse, incompetence, and corruption, after nearly a year of nationwide protests calling for reform brought little tangible change. Those seemed like distant prospects in the immediate aftermath of the mid-2020 explosion. Gharabi’s wife and partner in the studio, Roula Gharabi. “For us, it was life – how can we continue?” says Mr. “Without that support, we would be closed.” Gharabi of the scale of that revitalizing aid. ![]() “We were very surprised: We were dead, and they made us alive again,” says Mr. Safety ‘Even in our worst nightmare.’ Hamas attack collapses Israelis’ worldview. “We were dead, and they made us alive again.” And he expresses deep gratitude for the outpouring of help that rescued the studio – the oldest in Lebanon – when his solo attempts could not. Today photographer Bandali Gharabi displays the studio’s precious archives in the same hole-in-the-wall location where his father opened the business in 1955. But Studio Fouad and its neighborhood have experienced an extraordinary rebirth, thanks to the generous support of fellow Lebanese determined to rebuild, among them a supermarket chain, several nongovernmental organizations, and even foreign donors. One beneficiary: a tiny photo studio with its precious images of a bygone era.īitterness over government neglect that is blamed for the blast and continues today is evident in graffiti that blankets walls and traffic barriers nearby. If the cataclysmic 2020 explosion in Beirut’s port symbolized government neglect, the community’s rebirth has been a story of cooperation and generosity. In the right-hand corner, the menu informed customers that the restaurant had started supplying meals to Israel’s soldiers and was accepting donations to keep the effort going.It reminded me of the solidarity, unity, and gratitude I’d so widely seen in Ukraine. But when I found an open restaurant, its freshly printed menu suggested another way in which Israel is mirroring Ukraine. I’m worried that’s what we could become.”The street fronting the hotel was eerily quiet, many businesses still closed 10 days after Hamas’ shocking and deadly attacks. Sirens there had been a common occurrence – a warning of incoming Russian fire.“Ah, Ukraina!” she lamented. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his staff to shelter in a stairwell during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.I told Ronit that if I’d heard sirens, I would have felt like I was back in Ukraine. In the evening, sirens in Tel Aviv had forced U.S. So it didn’t work this time.”Earlier the same day, air raid sirens had briefly forced the Israeli Knesset to halt the opening of its fall session. “If it works, we hear sirens but there are no explosions. like a big cover or top that is supposed to stop the missiles.”“Iron Dome?” I ventured, referring to the Israeli air defense system to intercept missiles. “Rockets from Gaza,” was her clipped response to my inquiry by raised eyebrow.Later, when I came back downstairs to go hunt for dinner, Ronit had more to say. ![]() Reporting there in June, I’d heard – and felt – similar distant explosions.Ronit, the desk clerk reviewing my documents, was at first matter-of-fact. As I checked into my Jerusalem hotel early Monday evening, a couple of muffled booms at first had me wondering if I was back in Ukraine.
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