{"id":18926,"date":"2026-05-04T17:33:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/?p=18926"},"modified":"2026-05-04T18:03:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:03:38","slug":"threads-of-metal-and-silk-from-remhala-to-the-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/threads-of-metal-and-silk-from-remhala-to-the-south\/","title":{"rendered":"Threads of Metal and Silk: From Remhala to the South"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"18926\" class=\"elementor elementor-18926\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-731ddf3 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"731ddf3\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c34f9d7\" data-id=\"c34f9d7\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-64940e2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"64940e2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I speak in my name and dare I speak in the name of millions of Lebanese who were forcibly\u00a0 made part of an imagined diaspora community. Today, as I watch our country being\u00a0 barbarically attacked by Israel from a painful physical distance, I smell the blend of toxic\u00a0 smells of fumes and obliterated bodies. My relationship to my homeland has yet been sown by threads of metal and old silk. The silk is reminiscent of a time when Lebanon was part of the silk route that connected the Western world to China. Metal symbolizes strength that has\u00a0 turned into weakness over time while carrying inexplicable beauty in its rust.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An ironsmith by inheritance and an artist by nature since a young age, my cousin Charles\u00a0 describes the rust on metal sculptures created from war remains as raw, organic, and ever\u00a0 evolving. Born in the 70s, a decade where children and the Lebanese youth have grown more\u00a0 acquainted to the sound of bombs and snipers than that of lullabies and ice-cream trucks, Charles and his family were later forcibly displaced from our village in Mount Lebanon, Remhala. A refugee at the age of 18, and during 18 years of forced displacement, Charles sheltered in his creativity. He turned war remains into artifacts emanating life, permeating presence, and peace. Charles\u2019 world was imagined and created by an idiosyncratic collection of both natural objects inspired by the places he encountered and ones that met the demands of a simple villager\u2019s life. When he began collecting war remains, he may not have foreseen that the abundance of creativity would be fed by an abundance of violence. \u201cNever again\u201d was what many had hoped to carry from the lessons of the many wars fought in Lebanon from 1975 to 1990.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-8436dde elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8436dde\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-631663a\" data-id=\"631663a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-da41868 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"da41868\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/War-Fragments-Lebanese-Cedar-Tree.jpg?fit=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-18940\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/War-Fragments-Lebanese-Cedar-Tree.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/War-Fragments-Lebanese-Cedar-Tree.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/War-Fragments-Lebanese-Cedar-Tree.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/War-Fragments-Lebanese-Cedar-Tree.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7476bec elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7476bec\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-10ec259\" data-id=\"10ec259\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8c51ab5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8c51ab5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charles Nassar pictured besides one of his creations\u2014a cedar tree molded out of war shrapnel\u2014in Remhala, Mount Lebanon. Photo courtesy of Charles Nassar via <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/charles.nassar.94\/photos\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-760bbe6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"760bbe6\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3c67c20\" data-id=\"3c67c20\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f40f4e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5f40f4e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was just the beginning. Charles found in his art a refuge away from the refuge that gave his life meaning and purpose. It offered him a haven away from the sirens of death and the screams of deprivation. Inaugurated in 2023, his museum, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shazaya.com\/museum\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shazaya<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (also the name of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shazaya.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">his company<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), was named after the war remains that he collected in the aftermath of several wars including the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/casebook.icrc.org\/case-study\/israellebanonhezbollah-conflict-2006\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2006 War on Lebanon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/41858573?seq=1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">War of Nahr Al-Bared<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (2007) and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/2021\/08\/03\/they-killed-us-inside\/investigation-august-4-beirut-blast\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beirut Port bombing of 2020<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. While these remains have shattered so many lives, places, and dreams, they gave birth to Charles\u2019 haven of peace. With a creativity beyond limits, he later found a special home for his reborn shazaya artifacts. During the Covid19 lockdown, and while Lebanon\u2019s economy was completely collapsing, Charles stationed in Remhala away from the state of paralysis overriding the country. He knew that his ancestors had drawn water to their home through a nearby cave nestled at the foot of the mountains. After months of digging deep into the earth, the water source unveiled itself as a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/2140223430138619\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">breathtaking cave<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of masterpieces where the silence of stones and metal can eternally rest and speak. The museum is now a renowned tourist attraction for both locals and foreigners including politicians and diplomats. Charles\u2019 metal works inspired by the original pieces found in his museum are circulating around the world through a wide network of proud and nostalgic diaspora communities. \u201cMy work lets me loose (\u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bfish khilqi<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d). I turn anger, pain, and revenge into art. I want to remember the wars we lived through my art.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-af4171c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"af4171c\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-145c97c\" data-id=\"145c97c\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-147cbe7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"147cbe7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?fit=800%2C800&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-18938\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?w=1440&amp;ssl=1 1440w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?resize=70%2C70&amp;ssl=1 70w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0651918 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0651918\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cShazaya Family by the Lake,\u201d a piece by Charles Nassar, made from discarded artillery shells, pictured in Charles\u2019 garden in Remhala, Mount Lebanon. Photo courtesy of Charles Nassar via <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/charles.nassar.94\/photos\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ec9ecf7 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ec9ecf7\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-673836f\" data-id=\"673836f\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9572515 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9572515\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For other family members who were forcibly displaced from my village when <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">harb al Jabal\u2014 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018the War of the Mountain\u2019\u2014 began, the war animated in them another sense of belonging, one in constant conflict with life, away from destructive battlefields. The loud voices of men who shared their experiences of war overshadowed those of Remhala\u2019s women, who silently and gracefully hid the weight and pain of forced displacement and dispossession. One of these women recounts:\u00a0<\/span><\/p><blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI was in Beirut when the situation in the village was worsening. I took a taxi to return to the village. I wanted to visit my aunt. The village was then evacuated. I\u00a0 became a refugee in Deir el Qamar. We suffered so much. I became like a thread. Do you know the thread? I was as thin as a thread. We did not care about not having any food. What we cared about was to remain alive. I could not have children because of the war. Stress. I was 25 years old.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this woman could not have kids, others have had to bury their own.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For other family members in my village, war meant exile. Exile still carries a heavy weight\u00a0 that is stuck in time and place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For my immediate family, forced displacement meant the destruction of our ancestral home and the forbidden mourning of bodies gone missing. Six months into the war that started in 1982, after Remhala was occupied, my grandfather\u2019s graveyard and body were desecrated. My father was told he will never find his father\u2019s body. He was forever forbidden from grieving.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4a6dbd5 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4a6dbd5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-541a20a\" data-id=\"541a20a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cbaeab2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"cbaeab2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"925\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?fit=800%2C925&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-18936\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?w=2528&amp;ssl=1 2528w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?resize=260%2C300&amp;ssl=1 260w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?resize=886%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 886w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?resize=768%2C887&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?resize=1329%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1329w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?resize=1772%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1772w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?resize=300%2C347&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?resize=600%2C693&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Destroyed-House.jpg?w=2400&amp;ssl=1 2400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4b63b27 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4b63b27\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-058d71f\" data-id=\"058d71f\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-253c1e2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"253c1e2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jessy\u2019s family home in Remhala destroyed during the War of the Mountain. Photo courtesy of Jessy Nassar\u2019s family archives.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-54a1a89 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"54a1a89\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ffe1111\" data-id=\"ffe1111\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-66881ab elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"66881ab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until this day, my family and so many others across Lebanon whose members have gone missing during the war have not come to terms with a present past. They cannot perform the ritual of visiting the graveyards of their lost ones. The right to live, die, and final rest on one\u2019s ancestral land has been looted. The thousands of Lebanese who have been killed by Israel in this current war and the previous ones have also lost that right. In some villages, Israel prevented mourners from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wy2y1ETqfBA\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">burying their dead<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, going as far as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WearThePeaceClothing\/posts\/today-april-8th-2026-an-israeli-airstrike-targeted-the-shams-tar-cemetery-in-leb\/1399564555551687\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">striking the cemetery during burial<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In others, entire cemeteries were bulldozed. Many are being prevented from burying their dead in their land, forcing them to resort to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/apr\/04\/lebanese-forced-to-bury-their-dead-twice-as-war-robs-them-of-final-goodbyes\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">temporary graveyards<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Israel\u2019s occupation of the South may turn the temporary into permanence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7d4a048 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7d4a048\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-99d288e\" data-id=\"99d288e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10ea476 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"10ea476\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?fit=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-18942\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?w=4032&amp;ssl=1 4032w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Wataniyya.jpg?w=2400&amp;ssl=1 2400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9a91ff4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9a91ff4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWataniyya,\u201d a piece by Charles Nassar using discarded war shrapnel in the cave in Remhala, which is now a tourist attraction. Photo by Jessy Nassar.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-97fe7c5 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"97fe7c5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9deb6e9\" data-id=\"9deb6e9\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fff00b4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fff00b4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has been 26 years since Remhala\u2019s villagers returned to their land. After over 18 years of forced displacement and dispossession, its people still carry the wounds and scars of a war that left their community shattered. Leaving many with the forced option of exile, the ones who\u00a0 remained have had to relearn life in and away from it. There is something that eternally breaks when uprooted\u2014and for so long. The body adapts and ages while the memory is conflicted in its ongoing fights between past, present, and future. The devastating impact of the political and socio-economic turmoil caused by the civil war that started in 1975 has also meant that the younger generations who were born after \u2018taslim al mafatih\u2019 (the handing of the keys) \u2013 marking the \u2018return\u2019 to Remhala \u2013 have grown physically and bodily disconnected.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of them held onto ancestral stories of Remhala\u2019s golden and dark ages like mantras or\u00a0 chants while others have only met it on their ID cards. Most of Remhala\u2019s new generation \u2013 who were either not born or too young when it was evacuated and occupied \u2013 could not\u00a0 rebuild their destroyed homes after the war, nor could they reimagine village life as their\u00a0 ancestors once knew it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, a small majority of the people of Remhala have sown a new relationship with their\u00a0 village. For most, the relationship they have nurtured with it is merely confined to the\u00a0 occasional attendance of funerals, saints\u2019 festivals, and church masses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On weekends, middle-aged men gather over argileh and card games. Some of them garden the small plots they have spent years renourishing after decades of land dispossession while women engage in social activities and soft politics. They converse about their children \u2013 most of whom are now part of the diaspora community, their planned visits, and the disruption of those visits due Israel\u2019s ongoing war on the country. All these groups of people unconsciously engage in acts of communal loss and grief. They grieve the village as their ancestors knew it and the life they knew in it. They grieve the absence of the young souls who gave the village its life and sparkle. They also grieve the loss of what could have been.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thinking of Remhala also means thinking about every village in South Lebanon that has been evacuated, destroyed, and erased countless times. This time though, the fear is of a permanent erasure. Israel has bombed all the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2026\/04\/16\/lebanon-israeli-bridge-attack-a-potential-war-crime\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bridges<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> connecting the South to the rest of Lebanon. Death is so permeating that it even infiltrates through the South\u2019s mountains, rivers, sea caves, wind currents, olive trees, wildflowers, banana trees, citrus fruits, and\u00a0 animals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-625ab6f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"625ab6f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2d25626\" data-id=\"2d25626\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c11a873 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"c11a873\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-18934\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?w=3024&amp;ssl=1 3024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Babas-Orange-Season-14-12-24.jpg?w=2400&amp;ssl=1 2400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ad87f7f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ad87f7f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jessy\u2019s father, pictured with his orange trees on the family plot in Remhala, Mount Lebanon. Photo by Jessy Nassar.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e7f6e5b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e7f6e5b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-fcff8bf\" data-id=\"fcff8bf\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4377b19 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4377b19\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The stories of the people of Remhala and its rich landscape are also the stories of the people of the South and its splendid ecosystem.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The land, the tree, the soil, the farmer, the creator, the builder, the artist, the mother, the\u00a0 father, the grandparent, the children, the church, the mosque, the school. The place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/lebanon\/lebanon-flash-update-17-escalation-hostilities-lebanon-13-april-2026\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one million and three hundred thousand people<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have been uprooted by Israel since\u00a0 the beginning of March 2026. Most families in the South have spent more of their time\u00a0 displaced, displacing, replacing, and rebuilding than living life as told in story tales.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><ol start=\"1978\"><li>\u00a0<\/li><\/ol><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1982-2000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><ol start=\"2006\"><li>\u00a0<\/li><\/ol><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024-2026.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than twenty years after Remhala re-became, the devastation, loss, and grief still live in it. They live in the concrete walls that replaced its old, stoned houses and markets. They live in the soil that burned with artillery and bombs. They live in both those who are alive and\u00a0 those who passed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thinking of the South and its uncertain future brings pain and grief beyond what a village\u2019s\u00a0 story can carry. A lot has been lost without it being visible just yet. The farmers who may die\u00a0 before they get the chance to return and regrow \u2013 if they will. The shepherds whose displaced\u00a0 goats and sheep have nothing left to graze. The beekeepers who have nothing left to keep. The grandmothers who eagerly waited for their grandchildren\u2019s occasional visits to the \u2018day\u2019a\u2019 \u2013 the village. The children who carelessly ran its streets and alleyways. The streets that have been occupied by children\u2019s laughter, cooked local stew smells, coffee and backgammon on the sidewalks, greeting honks, calls for mosque prayers, church bells, and orange blossom scents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The wild native flowers that have no water to flourish. The spring waters that are repelling their blend with the toxins of war chemicals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the South is reborn, the farmers may not have successors to fill their void and to feed their\u00a0 lunch plates. The food in these plates will not taste the same. The bees may not find the flowers they nourished on. The grandmothers and grandfathers may not be found in their tombs \u2013 if they will ever be allowed a burial. The children will have become adults. Their connection to their village will have become a faraway memory. That memory will carry with it the names of the thousands who were killed and maimed, and the thousands who are still mourning them. The suffering of the dead and the alive will travel through and between old ancestors and the new generations who carry their ancestors\u2019 unprocessed grief. Some will recount their stories from the forced exile of the diaspora while others will do so from the concrete walls they will have rebuilt after their return \u2013 if they ever return. The soil will carry their wounds and blood, and the concrete walls that will be rebuilt \u2013 if rebuilt \u2013 will fail to replace the old stones, holding residues of a deliberately destroyed past.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b80eb78 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b80eb78\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8728551\" data-id=\"8728551\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aa4f96f elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"aa4f96f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Threads-of-Metal-and-Silk-From-Remhala-to-the-South.png?fit=800%2C602&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-18949\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Threads-of-Metal-and-Silk-From-Remhala-to-the-South.png?w=1073&amp;ssl=1 1073w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Threads-of-Metal-and-Silk-From-Remhala-to-the-South.png?resize=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Threads-of-Metal-and-Silk-From-Remhala-to-the-South.png?resize=1024%2C771&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Threads-of-Metal-and-Silk-From-Remhala-to-the-South.png?resize=768%2C578&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Threads-of-Metal-and-Silk-From-Remhala-to-the-South.png?resize=600%2C452&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c1ca73 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6c1ca73\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jessy\u2019s nephew pictured with his grandparents, Jessy\u2019s parents, harvesting some greens from their family garden in Remhala, Mount Lebanon. Photo by Jessy Nassar.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-1191e61 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"1191e61\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f29a502\" data-id=\"f29a502\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b6c506e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b6c506e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over twenty years of forced displacement meant over twenty missed seasons of seeding,\u00a0 growing, and harvesting. What it means today for the people of the South, yet again, is years if not decades of lost seasons, lost zaatar, lost olives, lost olive oil, lost citrus, lost figs, lost vegetables, lost watermelon. With an aggressor as barbaric as Israel, four seasons may have merged into one of permanent destruction, permeating death of life in all forms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In every war, what is lost cannot be found. What is found is loss waiting for regeneration. Will the people of Al-Janub and its new generations witness that loss and turn it into threads of metal and silk? Will they become ironsmiths, writers, fighters, or plain survivors exiled in\u00a0 eternal trauma and forbidden grief?<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I speak in my name and dare I speak in the name of millions of Lebanese who were forcibly\u00a0 made part of an imagined diaspora community. Today, as I watch our country being\u00a0 barbarically attacked by Israel from a painful physical distance, I smell the blend of toxic\u00a0 smells of fumes and obliterated bodies. My [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[318],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-silenced-lands-powerful-voices"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Shazaya-Family-by-the-Lake.jpg?fit=1440%2C1440&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18926"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18954,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18926\/revisions\/18954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}