Essays and Features

 

The Lebanese at home and abroad have been glued to their television and social media screens since September 23, awaiting news of the military operations that went beyond the bordering southern villages and reached areas as far as the deep south, the Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Mount Lebanon, Central Beirut, and even the north of the country were not spared from Israeli raids.

 

Plumes of black and gray smoke billow behind the outline of Baalbek’s historic Temple of Jupiter like a foreboding shroud, disrupting the blue of the skyline with heavy, hazy air. That the ancient Roman ruin’s brush with destruction left it seemingly unscathed offers little reassurance, overshadowed by more pressing fears that the city and its cultural heritage won’t be so lucky next time.

 

There is much nostalgia and reverence for "golden age" periods like Al-Andalus, especially in art and literature, which are always invoked during conflicts like the Arab-Israeli wars. The "Golden Age" of Al-Andalus (Andalusia) is often associated with the 10th and 11th centuries, particularly during the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, which represents one of the most culturally and intellectually vibrant eras in European and Islamic history. Students and scholars of Arab and Islamic history often focus on the peaceful coexistence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. They also reference the growth of art and literature. At the same time, historians warn against romanticizing the past because contemporary problems cannot be solved by looking backward.