An Evening in Beirut: Memories of Lebanon

Siniora wiping away tears during his emotional speech at the Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in Beirut yesterday
Qatar’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit on their way to attend an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Beirut yesterday. HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim later expressed satisfaction over the results reached at the meeting, terming the Arab stance towards supporting Lebanon as "unanimous". He said that "pivotal" Arab states should back Lebanon’s demand for an immediate ceasefire
Siniora said he refused to let Lebanon be a ‘punch bag’ for Israel and made an emotional appeal for an end to the killings, as Arab foreign ministers gathered in Beirut threw their support behind his plan for a ceasefire.
Fayrouz, who sang at London's Albert Hall in 1962, returns to London's Palladium in 1978
http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/700/780/fairuz/legend/biography.html
"By singing for the Palestinian cause without politicizing it and by paying respect to Arab capitals without personalizing them to leaders, Fairouz may have earned more political respect for the small nation of Lebanon than all the professional diplomats combined."
"Despite her celebrity status, Fairouz never acted like a celebrity and maintained an almost ascetic decorum. She was probably more comfortable recording her famous Christian liturgy albums than some of the dance songs."
Fairouz: a Voice, a Star, a Mystery by Sami Asmar, Al Jadid, Vol. 5, no. 27 (Spring 1999)
http://www.aljadid.com/music/fairouza_voice_star_mystery.html
"My father was uneasy. The idea that his daughter should sing in front of men he didn't know, was difficult for him to accept, but my singing helped support the family. So he dressed me in boy's clothes, and I sang this way for several years. I realize now that he wanted to convince himself, and the audience too, that the singer was a young boy, and not a young woman."
FROM UMM KULTHUM, A VOICE LIKE EGYPT
http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt/700/780/umKoulthoum/goldman/
"If only ... My passion overcame me," sang Umm Kulthum, the "Star of the East" or the "Diva of Arab Song"
From Asmahan's Secrets: Woman, War, and Song by Sherifa Zuhur
UMM KALTHUM - LEGENDARY SONGSTRESS OF THE ARABS By Habeeb Salloum
Al Jadid magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1 (November 1995)
http://www.aljadid.com/music/0101umkulthu.html
"Greetings to the gentle breezes of River Barada,
Never-ending are the tears, 0 glorious Damascus.
The blood of our martyrs, France knows well,
And knows that it is truth and Justice"
- Words by Egyptian poet, Ahmad Shawky as sung by Muhammad Abdul Wahab
From Mohammad Abdul Wahab: The Father of Modern Egyptian Song By Habeeb Salloum, Al Jadid, Vol. 1, No. 2 (December 1995)
http://www.aljadid.com/music/index.html
http://almashriq.hiof.no/egypt/700/780/abdel-wahab/aljadid-abdalwahab.txt
http://arabworld.nitle.org/
The voices of Fairouz, Abdul Wahab and Umm Kulthum that emanated from the vinyl records of my late Ami Kassim at my Sidi's home in Klang formed my earliest memory of Lebanon ...
Today, an evening in Beirut sounds more like a nightmare than a dream or a Hell on Earth than a Paradise ...
Evening Roundup: Heavy Shelling on Beirut's Southern Suburbs as Hizbullah Unleashes Rockets on Northern Israel
http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/Newsdesk.nsf/Lebanon/CD4378EDFAFD3733C22571B6005BDA64?OpenDocument
Beirut, 25 Jul 06, 19:44
Quiet Evening, but Borders Still Under Attack
Sunday, July 16, 2006
lebop.blogspot.com/2006/07/quiet-evening-but-borders-still-under.html
A tearful plea to end the killings
Published: Tuesday, 8 August, 2006, 12:02 PM Doha Time
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora yesterday made a tearful plea for an end to the four-week-old conflict in Lebanon as Israel warned there was no limit to its offensive after 57 civilians were killed in a new blitz of air raids.
Siniora’s plan calls for an Israeli withdrawal, the expansion of the UN peacekeeping force sent to the area after a previous invasion in 1978, the deployment of the Lebanese army to the border and the disarming of Hezbollah.
In his speech to the Arab ministers in Beirut, Siniora called for help in seeking "an immediate and unconditional ceasefire."
Wiping away tears, he told them: "Your standing with us is a right and a duty. Arab security is interlinked."
He said the ministers had endorsed his seven-point plan to bring a halt to the fighting as an alternative to the UN draft resolution.
– Agencies