Should we talk about sadness before we talk about anger and maybe even rage? Or should we start with this immense disorder in which the Lebanese and Franco-Lebanese of France have been immersed for almost two months, and which pushes some to strengthen contacts and links within the community to inform themselves, organize themselves, keep warm, while than others Withdraw into themselves, consumed by a feeling of helplessness?
Since September 23, the date of the escalation of the war between Israel and Hezbollah and the beginning of the massive bombings on Lebanon, the Lebanese community in France (between 50,000 and 60,000 members) has lived in apnea, with its eyes fixed on the Arabic channels, WhatsApp. loops and websites that transmit information about the country. The nights are short and distressing: what new bombing, what neighborhood, what new catastrophe? –, the days are interspersed with messages from Beirut or the southern regions, where certain families live. Instagram also alerts: here, in the Paris region, a collection of clothes is being carried out for displaced people from Lebanon; There we can send money to Beirut schools transformed into shelters…
“My first instinct in the morning is to call my brother in Beirut.says Jocelyne Moubarak, who came to France to study political science in 1996 and has never returned since. He’s stronger than me. At the beginning of September I became passionate about the events in French politics. And, within a few hours, the only thing I could think about was Lebanon. This surprises me myself. » This war, he analyzes, brought anxiety, trauma and so many painful images. “It’s a return to childhood and a reminder of what Lebanon missed… The bond I thought was loose with my home country turns out to be visceral. I didn’t think it would hurt so much. »
This is also expressed by Maria Nehme, 34, who arrived in France after her high school diploma and whose family remained in Lebanon. “It is so difficult to experience an event like this from a distance! I vibrate for Lebanon. My roots are there. It is of the order of the carnal. But what to do? I live in crazy worry, desolate at my helplessness. I frantically ask, call, and although my family seems safe, we all have friends or friends of friends affected, displaced, or killed. I’d love to help! And I would like to find more echoes of this war in France. But it’s very complicated to talk about it here. The debate is heating up quickly, you have to be careful. Who here feels the real tragedy of Lebanon? »
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