Yesterday I saw a little boy waving a hezbollah flag and I can’t stop thinking about it.
Does he really know what it stands for or is he just imitating the older boys?
I’ve seen a lot of little boys in Lebanon, surrounded by rubble and beg whatever higher power there might be,
to show mercy and let them keep their innocence as long as possible.
But how do you not get damaged by all the suffering. How many funerals do you go to before a yellow flag seems like the only hope left.
Because of the ceasefire I’ve been asking a lot of people, if they think there will ever be peace.
Some say never, others say not within the next few generations and a few give a tired chuckle at the absurd question.
On the 8th of April Israel dropped over 100 missiles within 10 minutes. Before that there was confusion if the ceasfire that took effect that morning between Israel/USA and Iran would include Lebanon. These are photographs taken on „Black Wednesday“ where 357 people were killed by israeli missiles.
Right now there is a 10 day ceasefire that started last friday, but this too is without certainty. This morning the israeli surveillance drone can be heard again. There is an israeli yellow line in the south of Lebanon where there is still fighting. A friend of mine in Marjayoun told me last night was tough. The sounds of airstrikes wake him up every two hours. What does a ceasefire even mean when there is still bombing going on? Make it make sense. Also there is a lot of uncertainty to what happens once the 10 days are over? A lot of people believe Lebanon is just doomed to alternate between being bombed heavily during a war and less heavily during a ceasefire. Make it make sense.
One week ago my first asignment for @nzz got published. I acompanied Sister Denise for a few days in February. 40 Years ago she had built a Montessori in Mwanza, Tanzania. Ever since then he has spent almost every waking minute adding even more to the school. The 76 year Old Nun finds something to improve every ten steps, be it from the plants that need to be watered, to the montessori toys that need to be painted more precisely. There is a lot that can be frustrating, trying to improve so many lives in Mwanza, but whenever she sees a child her face lights up and she talks to them. The article was written by @mschilliger . Thank you very much for trusting me with the visual documentation.
On the 31st of March around midnight three israeli Missles hit cars In Jnah. Not only the cars were destroyed, but also the house next to them. A mother showed me the room her baby was sleeping in, when the missle hit and the preassure destroyed the window glas. The family were not injured. Underneath a tree next to the cars, there were people living. I don’t know what their status is, but their dog and her five puppies died in the attack.
Yesterday I got to spend a few hours at Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, which was turned into a shelter at the beginning of the war.
Even though the refugees face an unimaginable struggle during these times, the kids spend their days playing in the stadium.
For a moment they may be able to escape the reality of war and still be kids. How do we look at war? It’s complicated. Just looking at the brutality seems wrong,
showing beauty and joy during a time that isn’t seems wrong, but the reality is that both extremes still exsist and everything in between. Thank you @injeeunshin for letting me join you on this trip.
The funeral of three journalists Hajj Ali Shuaib (Al-Manar TV), Fatima Ftouni (Al Mayadeen) and Mohammad Ftouni who were killed yesterday in Choueifat.
These are just six faces of thousands who have experienced loss in some form because of this war. It can be the man in the first image who has lost his two brothers in an airstrike in baalbek, together with their wives and four children. The doctor in the fifth image sees the consequences of war everyday, trying to help, but only treating the symptom and not the cause. No matter how many lives he saves, it won’t make the war end. Loss can be the Worker in a Kufiya building a house next to the strikesight where a building was demolished. Building houses only to have them be bombed. He works diligently without a break while we journalists take photos and do interviews at the strikesight.
