The year was 2006. Month of August.
Our team prepared for a week-long a medical humanitarian mission to Lebanon, under the coordination of Aman Malaysia (Malaysia for Peace).
The Israel-Hezbollah war which
ravaged much of south Lebanon and South Beirut had left many Lebanese citizens
dead.
My team of 4 medical volunteers -3 doctors and 1 medical assistant- with the
Grace of God, volunteered to go to Lebanon soon after the Lebanese-Israeli war
in August 2006.
The Israeli air strikes left approximately 1000 Lebanese, mostly Muslims. Much of South
Beirut infrastructure was destroyed by Israeli vicious AIR attacks.
Barely days
after the Hezbollah-Israeli fragile ceasefire, Mukhriz Mahathir who had played a major role
coordinating many humanitarian missions in Aman Malaysia, left for
Lebanon with his logistics team, and identified Tyre, the city in the Southern
most part of Lebanon, which borders with Israel, as our base for medical clinic. He personally
looked into the logistics and accommodation; and looked for potential locations
for temporary clinic, before we the
medical team arrived. The risks of breach of a ceasefire between the Israelis
and Lebanon were very high. Mukhriz deserved a special mention and earned our
respect for his selfless efforts. He could easily have just sent a logistics
team to settle things for him. He is one great young leader by example. God
bless him.
While fellow Malaysians were preparing for Ramadhan, we were preparing to go to the war-torn nation.
As volunteers we are always prepared for the worst. Lebanon has seen more than its fair share of war and peace since the 1970s-80s.
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| Departure to the war zone |
Pic 2:
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| Sending off the team by Aman Malaysia Medical Coordinator, Dr Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman. |
Beirut International Airport was badly damaged from the bombings.
Aeroplanes could not land. We had to land in neighbouring Syria, and made our
journey by road and through the Customs checkpoints. With the highly volatile
situation around, security was tight.
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| Syria- Lebanon Checkpoint |
Pic 4:
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| What was once a family home, not far from Tyre |
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| Multiple Wounds are common in war. |
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| We set up Peace Malaysia Clinic in Tyre, which is near the Israeli Border. |
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| It takes years to re-build a wartorn nation. |
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major highway bombed by Israeli air attacks
|
The Israelis bombed Southern Lebanon and South Beirut
–Hezbollah’s stronghold. Israelis left North Beirut intact. The Druze and
Christian ethnic groups mainly live in the northern areas. The Israeli bombings
were selective and clearly targeted the Muslims and their residents.
We also visited the
Palestinian Refugee Camps of Shabra and Shatila, which I may relate as a
separate blog topic.
En route to Beirut (north of Tyre), we enjoyed the beautiful coastal road and its views. We met Dato Abdul Halim, the Malaysian Ambassador to Lebanon and passed consignments of medical supplies to his office, for distribution to Lebanese people.
Lebanon‘s entire left coastline is the Mediterranean Sea.
Lebanon borders with Israel (a.k.a. Occupied Palestine) (south), and Syria
(north; east). Lebanon is famous as a tourist destination for those from Europe
and Middle East.
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| beautiful and famous coastal rock near Beirut City. |
Lebanon has a rich history.
The multi-ethnic pluralistic society makes this nation unique. Mosques
line the main streets of Beirut.
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| mosque in downtown Beirut |
It was once ruled by the Roman Empire and the magnificent
Roman architecture still stands, albeit in ruins.
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| Breathtaking coastline |
Pic 13 : The countryside
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| The Romans were once here |
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| The majestic Roman pillar that stood a thousand years |
It is worth every time and effort to keep PEACE on our nation.
So, MAKE PEACE NOT WAR.
MAKE PEACE NOT WAR
MAKE PEACE NOT WAR
*pictures courtesy of Dr Abdul Halim and Dr Ahmad
-NK-
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