Lebanon

We had an early release day today, but it was a Wednesday for Daddy and that makes things a little busy for doing anything beyond the usual.  We could have snuck over to the pumpkin farms, but I think we'll do that tomorrow.

In the meantime, today we were developing a game plan for our upcoming Christmas rehearsal schedule, and still working on details with music, casting, scripts and so on.  An audition is upcoming, and of course Madison wants to be there.  She's not been in any acting role on the main stage of our church, at least nothing with lines.  She's been a little sheep time and again, so this is quite an advance upwards, should she get a role.  She's been going to all the "Acting Up" classes, and being an actress is something that really appeals to her.  One obvious benefit of being involved in this production would be the experience, something she's never been involved in.  Daddy and Mommy of course have been involved in countless productions of this magnitude, with all the practices and associated madness.  Madison will probably have her best look at it now, regardless of if she gets a part or not.  I'm fairly certain she'll have at least a background part, if not a speaking role - we're having a guest director come in to be more objective about who gets what roles, so there's nothing certain about anyone's audition at the moment.

Anyway, it's going to be quite an experience for her.  We've had the last several Christmas seasons "off," so to speak, when it comes to children's productions.  We did "Tinselmania" a few years ago, and Madison wasn't really involved in that.  Prior to that one, she was a sheep on stage a few years in a row.  So here we go, right into the Christmas season with all sorts of practices to fill up the calendar.  Combine this with the other things we like to do at Christmas season, and of course the situation in Florida, and we're looking at a pretty busy November/December.

Tonight we did our message about having a firm foundation, and using the game of Jenga as an illustration with our small groups.  It was a fun service, just another great small group night.  Things have been going really well lately there.  But Daddy couldn't wait to get home, of course.

Madison turned in her report officially, the one she wrote on Lebanon.  She asked me if I could proof it, and I was thinking, "Sure!   No problem!"  And then about two pages in, I came to the horrible realization that this report is in fact TEN PAGES LONG.  My daughter wrote a term paper on Lebanon, and I was wondering at one point did we skip middle school and go straight to college?  She has references and everything, but I think I'll close this entry with an educational look at the nation of Lebanon, something my daughter has been writing the last week or so.  She would have much rather written about Israel, of course.  But there'll be plenty of time to learn about Israel, and I have a feeling that the only reason any of us would have learned anything about Lebanon is precisely for this reason:  we were forced to.  That being said, Madison (and her parents) did learn a lot about Lebanon.  And Syria too.  And if you read this presentation by Madison below, I think you might learn something new as well!

Lebanon

Lebanon is a very fascinating country to learn about, one filled with an interesting history, different religions, and all sorts of beautiful sites to see. Many things have happened throughout the history of Lebanon, events that help shape the nation it is today. It also has many beautiful places to visit. Even their language and religions are unique. There are so many things to explore in Lebanon.

Lebanon is in Southeastern Asia in the northern hemisphere. Israel borders Southern Lebanon, and Syria borders the northern, northeastern, and eastern parts of Lebanon. Lebanon’s time zone is European Summertime (GMT +3) which means they are 7 hours ahead of us. Lebanon is on the coast of the Mediteranean Sea, and its capital is Beirut. The country is covered by 13.4% of forest overall. Some of Lebanon’s physical features are the Anti-Lebanon Range, the Orontes River, the Litani River, Bekáa Valley, and the Lebanon Mountains. Lebanon’s climate can be very different, depending on the part of the country people live in.  People that live near the Mediteranean Sea have mild and cool weather. During the winter, it is rainy and wet there. They’ll also have hot summers. The Lebanon Mountains can be much colder. People that live near Mt. Lebanon experience heavy snowfall when it snows. The environmental issue that the people of Lebanon have to deal with most is pollution. There are landfills that are overflowing with tons of trash. This causes destruction to many ecosystems. The trash that is damp or burned is starting to spoil the ecosystems in Lebanon. After a recent strong storm happened, a lot of trash had washed up on the shores of Lebanon, but garbage on the shoreline is not their only problem.  They also have some air pollution. The people aren’t interacting well with the environment. There is a lot of pollution that destroys the environment that the people don’t know what to do with. The people in Lebanon have polluted much of the water in their own country despite the fact that they live next to the Mediteranean Sea. Hopefully they can change their ways, and begin to treat their environment with more respect. Lebanon’s location beside the Mediteranean Sea affects some of their trading in a good way. Lebanon can trade goods over the sea to other countries. They also trade over the land with Syria. Location and geography are connected to each other because they are almost the same thing. Geography shows places and countries, and location shows a specific place or country.

It isn’t that clear who the first inhabitants were, but around 50,00-10,000 BC, the first inhabitants came to Lebanon. There was evidence of this from ancient tools that were found left in caves on the coast of Lebanon. Around 10,000 BC, the start of village life for Lebanon began. There are some traces of Lebanon houses that date back to 9,000 BC. In about 4,000 BC, history shows us some forested mountains were inhabited by a group called the Canaanites. The Canaanites referred to themselves as that because of the city called Canaan, where they were from. The Canaanites lived on the coast of where Israel and Lebanon is right now. Around the year 2000 BC, the coastal cities and countries started to fall under the Amorites, and around 1800-1200 BC, they also had started to fall under Egypt, after Lebanon had gained their independence. Lebanon was mentioned in the Bible, too, and this would’ve been about the time where the Bible was starting to be written or years afterward. Two examples of that can be found in Deuteronomy (11:24) and Isiah (60:13). The Greeks had called the Canaanites the Phoenicians. Phoinos means red in Greek. Around 1600 BC, the Phoenicians had invented the alphabet. They had also constructed a temple for Solomon. About around 875-806 BC, the Assyrins invaded the Phoenicians. Following this, the Babylonians had taken over Phoenicians, and they had rebelled in response, which caused them to take their land back again. Throughout 538 BC - AD 333, the Persians had occupied the Phoenicians’ area. In 64 BC - AD 600, the Roman Empire had added Lebanon to their territory. After the Roman Empire divided, the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, was born.When the fifth century came along, it gave birth to Maronite Christians. A man named Saint Maron had found refuge in the northern mountains of Lebanon, which is probably the Lebanon Mountains at this point. Most of the Phoenix became Maronite Christians, which has a big part of Lebanon’s history. Around the year 600, the area between Mount Lebanon and the coast where the Phoenicians were had became the Lebanon we know today. The Lebanon Mountains became more populated by the people, specifically Maronite Christians. Lebanon adopted quite a few things from the Arabic culture. They had also progressed a lot in science and Arabic literature. From year 750-1110, the Abbasids replaced the Umayyads, the ones that were ruling the Islamic Empire. Lebanon was like a conquered country to them. Years later from 1516-1916, the Ottoman Empire occupied the Middle East, which of course includes Lebanon. Throughout the years, Lebanon was able to gradually get complete independence from the Ottoman Empire. Prince Fakhr Eddine the second was the person who had made the modern Lebanese Parliament. Most Lebanese people, including the Christians there, didn’t want to live under the harsh Ottoman Empire, so most of them moved to Egypt. When the Ottoman Empire fell, Lebanon was split into districts. Some European forces had to come in to stop some fighting a few years later. During World War I, the Ottoman Empire was occupying Lebanon. The Ottoman Empire used their natural resources during the war. May 6th is Lebanon’s annual Martyr’s Day, a day the people remember many lives lost during that war. In 1920, France was given a mandate by the League of Nations after WWI, a system that would help the people of Lebanon until they could stand on their own. Later that year, Lebanon’s borders were officially marked, the very ones that remain to this day. In 1926, Lebanon made and adopted a constitution. Around the year, 1948, the Arab Israeli war started. Lebanon took part in this by taking in the Jewish people that were escaping. In the mid-50’s they had taken in approximately 7,000 Jews. Lebanon’s population was 1,334,618 because of how many Jewish people they took in. 1.9% of their population was just Jews. They were still their people, unlike what Germany thought of Jews during World War II. Between 1975 and 1990, there was the Lebanese Civil War. This war was between the Christians and Muslims of Lebanon, the two main religions. The war had started in 1975 and ended around 1990. The reason behind the start of the war is not certain.  There could be multiple reasons why the war happened. There were between 2,000 and 4,000 casualties during this war. A result of the war was that it affected Lebanon’s political system, and also the rise of nationalism. This didn’t help with the tension already still ongoing from the recent war. Before the next war Lebanon was somewhat involved in, Lebanon had some U.S presence. In 2006, the U.S. provided billions of dollars to Lebanon. Some of the money went to education programs, security, and other areas meant to help the government. When the Syrian Civil War began, Lebanon had come into the war helping out some of the refugees, mainly the wealthier ones. They had needed Syria for land trading, too. To begin with, their only involvement in the war was adopting the wealthiest people of Syria. Some of the other countries that are involved in the Syrian Civil War are the European Union, the U.S.A, Russia, and some other Middle East countries. Also, the Syrian Civil War had spilled over into Lebanon, so Lebanon didn’t have a choice but to enter the war. These conflicts have changed Lebanon in a few ways. Their population has grown a lot because they had taken in Jews from the Arab-Israeli war, and people from the Syrian War as well. The wars have changed Lebanon physically, politically, and economically.

The two main ethnic groups that are in Lebanon are Arabs and Armenians. Arabs make up 95% of Lebanon and Armenians make up 4% of Lebanon. Some of the ethnic groups that are in the 1% are Greeks, Hebrews, Persians, and the Kurds. The religious groups are Muslims, Christianity, and others. Muslims make up 60% (28.7% Sunni and 28.4% Shia), Christians make up 39%, and the others such as Judaism and Baha’i make up 1% of Lebanon. The population of Lebanon is over 6 million people in total. The last time they did a population check was July 2018, so the population might have decreased or increased in number. There is a 5.1/100 death rate and their birth rate is 14.1% out of 1,000 of the population.  Their water is also clean and safe for most regions, even though there is a lot of water pollution. The official language of Lebanon is Arabic. They read, write, and speak in that language. Their second languages are English and French. Another language they have is Armenian. A special celebration they do is their Independence Day. That day is on November 22. Some other holidays they have are Ramadan, Christmas, Easter, Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha, Ashura, and the Baalbeck Festival. Ramadan happens in the ninth month of the Muslim year. It is a strict fasting. This is also observed from sunrise to sunset. Eid Al-Fitr is a festival that marks the end of fasting from Ramadan. Eid Al-Adha is the marking of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Abraham’s sacrifice, from the Bible.  The culture of Lebanon is a unique one. They have some holidays and/or celebrations that other countries might not even celebrate or know about. They also sometimes make up their own words that will suit the situation they are in. Culture fits into this because they have many unique customs and arts in Lebanon. Also, there are many arts and customs in this country.

The type of government they have is a parliamentary republic. A parliamentary republic is when the prime minister leads their legislative branch. Their government type is based off of confessional framework. A confessional framework is another type of consociationalism. This also means that the government will have two leaders, a president and a prime minister. Their president right now is Michel Aoun. He was elected the 46th president during the 46th electoral session of the Lebanese Parliament. He was elected on October 31 of 2016. Michel Aoun was born in 1935 in a town south of the capital city of Beirut. He is a Maronite Christian and his parents are Naim and Marie Auon. In 1982, he became a commander of the 8th brigade of the Lebanese Army. In 1990, Saudi Arabia and the U.S sent troops to launch an attack against Michel Aoun, which was the Gulf Crisis. In the 1990’s, he lost control of having power in Lebanon. When elections came, his followers didn’t vote for him, until 2016 when he won the 46th electoral session of the Lebanese Parliament. Their prime minister is Saad Al-Hariri. He became prime minister of Lebanon around the same time as Michel Aoun became president in 2016. He was born in Saudi Arabia, and before he was prime minister, he was a businessman. Saad entered politics after his father was assassinated in 2005. He did school in Manila (Lebanon), France, and Saudi Arabia. He also went to a school in Washington, D.C, called Georgetown University. He worked for a business that his father had owned, and soon became the general manager of it at 26. When he did, he was working towards extending the business. Saad’s father was assassinated in Beirut during a car bombing on Valentine’s Day in 2005. Saad had to follow in his father’s footsteps of politics after that unfortunate event. He was hesitant at first, but he did it and went into his father’s political party called the “Future Movement”. The “Future Movement” was one of the biggest movements in Lebanon, about the time when the Anti-Syrian protests began. In 2009, the president of that time, Suleiman, designated Saad as prime minister. In 2018, Saad’s party had lost around 12 seats. Of course, he is still the prime minister with Michel Aoun, the current president of 2019.

A current event in Lebanon that happened on the 15 of October was an important council meeting, involving the legislative branch of the country.  The main purpose of these meetings is to pass laws for the country. They also have to approve budgets that spend the money the city has collected. The council is made up of people that link citizens with the government. The council contains of 7 members. Five of the council members are chosen from each of the 5 districts of Lebanon, while two others are largely chosen from any of the districts. At the meeting, they talked about discretion for the mayor. Another current event that is happening in Lebanon are the wildfires that are spreading in the country. The wildfires started on Tuesday. These have forced some people out of their homes during the night. For some others, they were stuck where they were, south of Beirut. The heatwave and winds have only made the fire even worse. Some of the fires have spread to Syria and the pine forests neighbouring Lebanon. Based off an environment minister’s report, only one person has died during the fires so far. The fire has been the worst in many years for Lebanon. The firefighters were overwhelmed as the wildfires had reached Mount Lebanon earlier that Tuesday. These are just some of the current events that are happening within the last month in Lebanon.

Lebanon is a free market economy. That means that people can have a lot of freedom. Citizens that are 18 or older can vote in elections or other things. Lebanon has an economic score of 51.1 overall. That is over 20 less than America’s overall economic score. It is the 154th freest country in the world, which is bad compared to some of the countries in the top 10-20. Lebanon is the 12th freest country in Southwestern Asia. Since Lebanon is a free market economy, it can produce anything it wants to. Some examples are apples, avocados, and oranges. There are still a lot more they produce though. Fields, farms, and orchards in Lebanon are responsible for many crops that help feed its people. Lebanon trades with South Africa, Switzerland, UAE, China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Some of their natural resources are limestone, iron ore, salt, etc. The literacy rate for males in Lebanon is on average, 91.8%. For the girls, it is higher with a 96%. Their two averaged out is a 93.9% for the whole country of Lebanon, for those that are 15 years old and up. This means better education. With better education comes better employment opportunities. Gross Domestic Product is also high in Lebanon, and higher GDP also means better jobs as well. If there is a higher GDP per capita, that means the people will have a better standard of living.  The elderly people have a lower literacy rate, and that is probably because they didn’t have the same education as people today do. For education, each individual young family member that goes to school gets their funds paid. The formal education for the young starts at 6 years old. It’s elementary education until 6th grade, when they are around 11 or 12 years old. Elementary education lasts for two cycles. They are taught their second language in those years, English or French. Their second language is their choice. After that, they can do an intermediate school, or lower secondary school. That only lasts one cycle, or three years. This is from 7th to 9th grade. They’ll be around 15 years of age when they finish. There are a few more levels after lower secondary school. If a student got a 0-9 on a test, that would be a failing grade. If they get a 10-14, that would be a B. If they get a 15-20, they’d get an A. With higher education or training, the people will most likely get a really good job. If they have a good job, that means the economy will grow. If the economy grows, that is good for the country. The money in Lebanon is called a Lebanon Pound. An American one dollar bill’s worth in Lebanon is 1,512 Lebanon pounds. Some of the major industries there are baking, tourism, food processing, jewelry, cement, etc. Banking is the most successful industry of all there. It contributes about 8% of the whole country’s GDP. What to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce are examples of production, distribution, and consumption. Their production is what to produce, which are the fruits listed earlier. Their distribution of things are trading with other countries such as China or selling items in businesses, which would be for whom to produce for. The consumption part is how they use the item such as how they use limestone, oranges, or iron ore. That would be after for whom to produce. Summing up, production is what to produce, distribution is for whom to produce for and trading, and consumption is how they use it after they buy it or get the import.

Lebanon is a very interesting, progressive, and active country.  People are very proud to live there. They even passed a law in 1945 against flying any other nation’s flag inside their borders. There are so many holidays and so much history yet to learn and hear about. Even though much of that history has been filled with conflict, hopefully the people of Lebanon can learn from the past, and rely on their strengths, and make a brighter future.