Be Careful

The title of this post is a warning to myself. I'll try to keep it in mind.

There are at least two things that make the Lebanese nervous; Israel and Photography. Combine the two, and you get this post.

The Israel thing I understand, though not perfectly. It isn't my history, after all, and I occasionally say exactly the wrong thing as if to prove it.

The photography thing baffles me. Why it's forbidden, not by law but by the demands of completely normal people on the street, to photograph this mosque or that public building, I'll never understand. Don't they know about Google Earth, wikimapia? While I'm sure the prohibition is in the interest of security, it's entirely futile since all of Beirut is online already for everyone to see. Still, though it's NOT making their mosques or buildings safer, people have strong feelings about it and I hate making people angry or even uncomfortable, so I comply, usually.

A while back, when I embarked on all those cemetery visits, a friend told me about the Jewish Cemetery. It's just south of Sodeco, and it's plainly marked--not in the least hard to find, sort of hidden in plain sight. If I were braver, I'd march right up to the gate, photograph the Hebrew script, and post the picture right here.

But I'm not brave enough for that, because photography makes people nervous, and so does Israel.

For a few years now I've heard little bits here and there about the renovation of a Synagogue in Beirut. It is the Maghan Avraham Synagogue downtown. While walking in the area a few weeks ago, I found it by accident and was delighted by my luck. I immediately pulled out my camera, which immediately got the attention of every security officer and soldier on the street. Downtown is crawling with security officers, so there you have it. I put my camera away and went to talk to one of them.

He said the Synagogue will be finished at the beginning of June. Pictures aren't allowed until then. He said I could look through the gate, and he walked over with me. I looked in the gate, and then I asked if I could take just one photo.

He said yes. More information and lots more photos of the site can be found at the project's official website.

Maybe, someday, I'll be brave enough to take that photo at the gate of the Jewish Cemetery. Maybe one day I'll be allowed to enter and take pictures of the graves within. Until then, here's one of the few Jewish graves at the British Cemetery, one of their soldiers who died during the second world war.

I hope you all have a lovely week.

French Protestant Cemetery Near Sodeco

I found the gate locked, and since there was a phone number posted on it I took this photo, thinking I'd call later and hopefully be allowed an appointment to go in some other day.

Just the information here made me want to see the inside. The smaller plaque to the side states that the graves of 17 WWI era German Soldiers are also at this cemetery.

I was about to walk on, but then someone called to me over the gate and about a minute later, the door opened.

There was an old man in there with two younger men--the old man explained that I was welcome to see the site for $4. I didn't have $4, but I did have LL 20,000 ($13). For about half a second I weighed my options and inwardly rolling my eyes at myself, I handed over the LL 20,000. He told me I wouldn't be allowed to take pictures, but I insisted that I would and he said no more.

It was wild in there, weeds grew up to my knees. Most of the headstones were broken, and many of them had German inscriptions--not just of soldiers, but regular people.  There were several nationalities in there. I tried to take good photos of everything but fell short.

This one in particular caught my eye. Here are two views of it taken while facing north (on the left) and east (on the right). The inscription in the photo on the left reads "Appointed United States Consul to Beirut Syria September 21st 1893". Times have changed.  Beirut isn't in Syria these days.  The inscription in the photo on the right says:

Far hence he lies in some lone Syrian town,
And on his grave with shining eyes
The Syrian Stars look down.
T.R.G.

I have a third photo of this marker that gives the death date as September 20, 1896. But somehow I missed the fourth side that would have included his name.

It took an insupportable amount of googling, but I did eventually find out who the American Consul to Beirut was in 1893. His name was Thomas R. Gibson (T.R.G.). He was a newspaper editor from Georgia, appointed consul to Beirut during the administration of US President Grover Cleveland and died of small pox while in service. Gibson was a childhood friend of Woodrow Wilson, who was elected US President years later (1912). It is through that connection that I found a brief biography of him, from which almost all of what I've related here was taken.

Christian Cemetery, Near Sodeco

There are several Christian cemeteries just south of Sodeco Square along the east side of Damascus Road.

On the day I visited, most of them were locked. But here, the door was wide open. The sign above the door has the year 1850 on it, and does that say Catholic? I'm sure one of you will tell me in the comments.

In I went.

After the simplicity of the military sites I'd already visited, the ornate angels sort of surprised me. Angels. And then I was surprised that something so familiar to me had become unexpected.

They were quite beautiful.

Someone asked when I posted the photos of the Martyrs Cemetery if I could read the inscriptions. I can't. I can make out dates and sometimes names, but that's not the same.

Tomorrow, I'll post photos of a second Christian cemetery only a few hundred meters from this one.

Martyrs Cemetery

Like the other sites I've visited recently, the Martyrs Cemetery is very peaceful, serene.

There are several large cemeteries in Beirut. This one is located near Horch Beirut. It shares a border with the British War Cemetery.

I've really enjoyed my recent cemetery visits. My imagination runs wild in those places surrounded by a lives, deaths, a million stories.

Cimetieres Militaires Francais de Beyrouth

The French Military Cemetery in Beirut occupies a plot of ground directly bordering the British War Cemetery. On the day I was there the place was locked, so I couldn't do more than peek through the gate and fence.

It would have been nice to go in and look around. Still, I'm glad the view through the fence was as nice as this.

This grave marker made me quite curious. I don't have any command of French at all, let alone one good enough to read. So I asked my husband, who does.

Apparently it says that in 1925, French soldiers died in a place called Hasbaya. Their bodies were discovered in 2000 and transferred to this spot. What happened in 1925, and where is Hasbaya? I had no idea and all that wondering sent me to the internet for answers.

Hasbaya is a Druze town in the mountains. Wikipedia's page about Hasbaya didn't list any notable events for 1925, but a search for "1925 Druze Lebanon" produced another page about the Great Syrian Revolt 1925-1927, also known as the Great Druze Revolt. From that source:

Under the guise of "modernization," the French colonial authorities sought to overthrow the traditional/"feudal" political elite and impose their own subordinates as governors . . . On August 23, 1925 Sultan Pasha al-Atrash officially declared revolution against France. . . . After initial rebel victories against the French, France sent thousands of troops to Syria and Lebanon from Morocco and Senegal, equipped with modern weapons, compared to the meagre supplies of the rebels. This dramatically altered the results and allowed the French to regain many cities . . .

I think it's safe to say that there's a connection between these conflicts and the dead French soldiers found in Hasbaya. If anyone can direct me to something more specific, I'd be glad to hear about it.

On the Headstones

Most of the headstones at the British Cemetery had emblems (medallions, insignias?) carved into them.  They represent units, nations, corps of service. 


 Most of the images in the collage are are from WWII headstones.  Exceptions noted below.

They are left to right, beginning with the top row:

1. Royal Indian Army Service Corps
2. Motor Mechanic - H.M.S. "Nile"
3. Machine Gun Corps (WWI)
4. African Pioneer Corps - East Africa

Middle row

5. Australian Imperial Force
6. Rifleman - London Irish Rifles
7. South Africa
8. Women's Auxiliary Air Force

Bottom

9. Essex Regiment (WWI)
10. Driver - N.Z. Army Service Corps
11. Craftsman - R.E.M.E.

I missed some good ones, including Hussars, Canadians, and the Catering Corps. All would be interesting I'm sure. I'll just have to go back for more photos.

Beirut British Cemetery, More WWI

A road divides the British Cemetery into north and south halves. From the road, looking south, this is what you see.

It doesn't look very promising, does it?

But then you come into the green space, very well tended, orderly, serene.

There are several large monuments in the southern half of the cemetery--more from WWI. This one stood more or less in the center of the space. Facing it and positioned at the edges of the cemetery were other large monuments inscribed with the names of other fallen men.

This one, for "the Hindu soldiers of the Indian Army"

And another for the Indian Army's Muslim soldiers.

And another, far larger monument for the "men of the Egyptian Labor Corps".

It was so big that I had to crop it mercilessly, otherwise none of the text would be legible.

It's overwhelming to see so many names.  It's somehow harder to comprehend than the expansive fields full of individual markers at a place like Arlington.

Maybe it was because I found the larger markers overwhelming that I spent more time focused on the graves with individual headstones.  They were easier to look at, less difficult to comprehend.

Beirut British Cemetery WWI

For years, I'd heard that there was a British war cemetery here in Beirut. Finally, the other day I went to see it.

I'm still kind of blown away by the landscaping. Actual grass, nicely hedged, newly planted flowers, not a weed in sight. It was completely serene, unexpectedly beautiful.

It was easy to find. The cemetery is clearly marked on most printed maps. It's also on Wikimapia--here's a screen shot:

You can see it in yellow. The cemetery is divided into two halves by the road. The north side of the cemetery is devoted to WWI. Here's the northern section as it looks from the gate at the street:

Shortly after I entered the cemetery, a caretaker approached me and asked if I had any questions. I almost never do--even though I knew nothing much about the cemetery. I complemented the landscaping that was obviously to his credit, and asked if photography was allowed. It was. He asked my nationality, and when I told him that I'm American he pointed to the one and only headstone in the whole place that belongs to one of my countrymen. This one:

I took many more pictures.  Tomorrow I'll share more of them from the other side--the WWII side.