A Baalbek-Native Artist Reflects on the ‘Air Monsters’ Threatening His Hometown

 

“Voices That Speak Over the Rubble: Intellectuals Reflect on Lebanon’s War From Above, Below, and Within,” a unique feature to be published in Al Jadid’s forthcoming annual edition (Vol. 28, No. 85, 2014), compiles the compelling, powerful, and heart-wrenching accounts of those directly experiencing the ruination caused by Israel’s war against Lebanon. Among the several stories are two articles by the artist and engineer Mohamed Charaf. Charaf, the “son of Baalbek,” reflects on his hometown, which was not spared the wrath of Israeli bombing. In his article “Air Monsters Threaten Downtown,” he recalls the brutality of the air raids in vivid detail, labeling the aggressors “air monsters.” Drawing from his professional background and intimate knowledge of the city, he then contemplates how the town of Baalbek and its inhabitants were “exposed” to the enemy onslaught in his article “How Exposed We Were!”  As someone who has spent extended periods in Baalbek with relatives and friends, these texts have especially struck a chord with me.

 

Amid war, survivors cannot help but recognize the distinct smells of destruction, scents that are hauntingly familiar to those who have weathered Lebanon’s past wars. The smell of gunpowder permeates the air, replacing the residual smoky haze of tobacco that, before the war, drifted from cafes and other leisure venues. Survivors describe the penetrating smell left by the 2024 explosions as similar to that of the July 2006 war, though more intense.

 

The 2024 war has made clear, if anything, that just as killing techniques have evolved, so too have the smells of destruction.  Charaf writes, “The destruction we had only seen in pictures documenting the events of major wars and the remains of bombed cities seem almost primitive now, compared to the bombs that are dropped these days by pilots emerging from Talmudic texts.”

 

Charaf goes on to cite Muzafar al-Nawab, an Iraqi poet who describes war as "ruin...it will be a ruin", and refers to Canadian writer Maurice Gagnon, who demystifies war's utility, saying, “There is no glory in war... There is only ruin, blood, death, and destruction.” Similarly, he quotes the famous adage of British poet William Wordsworth: “Power is much easier manifested in destroying than in creating.”

 

Charaf distinguishes the aftermath of Israel’s onslaught from the simplistic characterization of “war ruins.” Ruins, he states, are typically associated with dilapidation and the “fruit of the slow decomposition of materials” over time, often depicted as "decorative ruins invaded by plants that enhance their beauty, which may sometimes be reduced to a simple decorative element." On the contrary, the decimation of Lebanon’s South can only be described as “the destruction of war" —  “a brutal and sudden explosion of matter, which is divided, fragmented, crushed, and twisted.” In the words of Charaf, “It bears witness to the present and urges us to live quickly.”

 

 

 

 

 

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