From samir@moebius.utias.toronto.edu Tue Feb  1 18:56:52 1994
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 10:04:15 -0500
From: "Samir M. Fahs" <samir@moebius.utias.toronto.edu>
To: borrel@mashallah.ludvigsen.dhhalden.no

			       Remnants of a City



To Beirut-peace to Beiurt with all my heart,
And kisses- to the sea and  clouds,
To the rock of a city that looks like an old sailor's face.
>From the soul of her people she makes wine,
>From their sweat, she makes bread and jasmine.
So how did it come to taste of smoke and fire?.


These are parts of a song by Fairuz, also refered to by the lebanese as 
"our embassador to the stars".  She sings it to the warmth of the music 
of "Concierto de Aranjuez" of the twentieth century spanish composer Rodrigo.
The poem was written by Joseph Harb. 

Below are a few postcards of the remnants of what was once refered to
as the "the jewel of the middle east".  Seventeen years of civil war
turned that jewel into what's illustrated in these pictures.

These postcards appeared in a series carrying the title "lubnan al-Hanin".
They were photographed by M. Maaiki and Thierry Van Biesen, and published by
al-Ghimar,Hazmieh.  Eventhough the postcards carry no dates, they 
appear to have been taken in 1990-1992.  These cards were bought in the summer
of 1992 from "The Star Stationary" in Hamra, Beirut.  The front side of the
cards was scanned in full color.  However, the comments on the back of the
postcards appear below in exactly the same wording as they appeared on the 
cards, in english, arabic, and french, respectively.  Following which, some 
comments of my own are added for clarification.


footprints:    NC . "Horoub 3ala Beirut". Sur les traces du cyclone.

behind-bars:  A war victim. "baladiyat Beirut al-mumtaza fil-mu3taqal".
              La Municiplaite, derriere les barreaux.

hanging-gate: Hanging gate remembers. "al-bawaaba al-mou3allaqa".
              La porte suspendue.


Samir M. Fahs <samir@moebius.utias.toronto.edu>