|
|
|
| It will not be difficult for someone from the loins of Christ to destroy Alma al-Shaab! |
|
To the peaceful and neutral southern village of Alma al-Shaab!For what sin was it killed!
By Jocelyn Charbel Badawi
05/02/2025
(See translation in Arabic section): Why all this hatred towards this beautiful, gentle and peaceful village with its people and good people?
Why all this destruction and devastation without mercy for a village that has never raised its weapon against anyone, neither inside nor outside the country?
Why all this barbaric Israeli aggression against a village free of weapons and militants, and of military manifestations, and there are no parties opposing them?
Why all this harm and damage towards the peaceful people of Alma al-Shaab who live in peace and harmony with their neighbors and their enemy? And who reject violence and hatred? But the decision to go to war came beyond their will, rather it was imposed on them as it was imposed on all Lebanese lands, and they did not want it and never participated in it!
The Israeli army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, repeatedly repeated that the war is with Hezbollah and not with the people of Lebanon. So why did you destroy the people of Lebanon in Alma al-Shaab, which is free of Hezbollah and any armed presence?
Who has not heard of the southern town of Alma al-Shaab!
This southern Lebanese town is besieged by the fire of mutual shelling between Hezbollah and Israel. It is located in the far south of Lebanon in the Tyre district. It is distinguished by its wonderful location on a plateau overlooking the coast of Naqoura. Its residents are Maronites, Greek Melkite Catholics, and Evangelicals. It is the only Christian town in the Tyre district and is the largest village in the district in terms of area. Its population is close to 3,500 people, while its residents are close to 1,200 people.
Alma al-Shaab is this beautiful town located on the border strip and left to the curse of geography and the curse of the state’s neglect since Lebanon’s independence! The painful curse that its people pay a heavy price in every round of fighting and barbaric war in which they have no stake. Its only fault is its geography adjacent to Israel, and its borders adjacent to Israel are the cause of its misery and destruction, as its outskirts extend from the south to reach the Blue Line separating Lebanon and Israel.
On October 9, 2023, two days after Operation Flood Al-Aqsa, Hezbollah fired rockets at the occupied Shebaa Farms. Israel responded, and bombs fell heavily on Alma al-Shaab. The townspeople found themselves trapped in the crossfire between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces, so the families left and fled to Beirut to live in dignity, without favors from anyone, and without begging for aid. However, dozens of young men, along with the village priest, Father Maroun al-Ghafari, who refused to leave, remained in the town to preserve their property and livelihoods. This is their seventh displacement in the past 50 years.
About three months ago, after receiving a warning from Israel to leave, those who remained were forced to leave immediately and completely evacuate the village of its people. The Israeli army's ground invasion of Lebanon began in early October 2024, and it was stationed in Alma al-Shaab, living in its homes, eating, drinking and sleeping there. During this period, no one was allowed to enter the village.
Here the tragedy occurred, on Sunday, January 26, 2024, when the Israeli army withdrew from the villages it had occupied and the people of Alma al-Shaab entered to inspect their town and homes, accompanied by the Lebanese army. The scene was terrifying, all the tall pine trees that adorned the entrances to the town were cut down, roads were swept away, infrastructure was destroyed, churches were demolished, homes were bombed, blown up and razed to the ground, homes were burned with all their contents, searches were carried out in homes, their contents were destroyed, electrical appliances and everything valuable was stolen, and the sanctity of the home was violated. The people of the town had no choice but to sit on the rubble of their homes, clapping their faces, crying and regretting the fruits of their lives. Even the agricultural lands, which are their source of livelihood, were not spared from their evil, and were turned into barren, desolate land, as they were bombed and burned with phosphorus. They did not stop there, but continued with their heinous acts. What angered and angered me the most was the theft of olive trees that had been around for hundreds of years and which our ancestors had watered with the sweat of their brow. The occupier uprooted them and planted them in the land of Israel, because the olive tree is the only tree that can be moved and replanted. What a massive destruction! What a terrifying scene! Not a single house was spared from the evil of these butchers. These houses were a mixture of old houses, the houses of the ancestors whose walls told stories of the past and embraced memories, and luxurious palaces that their sons had built with the sweat of their brow and paid dearly for in the lands of exile, and goodness that flowed from the homes of its people and their orchards. What happened to this beautiful town? It is a real catastrophe and a human tragedy that led to the displacement of its people like the rest of the villages of the border strip, the destruction of their homes and the cutting off of their livelihoods.
I have relatives in Alma al-Shaab who are my flesh and blood and I love them and visit them every time I visit my country. I also have beautiful childhood memories when I visit Alma al-Shaab with my family to spend the holidays, especially the feast of the Lady, where the celebrations were full in the church square with music and dabke, a day when joy and peace prevailed in the town. Today it has become draped in black, sadness and regret to become a completely stricken town with no life requirements.
Why all this hatred for Alma al-Shaab and its people who are paying the price for their adherence and rootedness to their land?
Why all this anger towards this neutral Christian town that is cursed by geography? For what sin was it killed?
It will not be difficult for someone from the loins of Christ to destroy Alma al-Shaab! |
|
|
|
|
|
.jpg)
