Malcolm Kerr was a distinguished scholar of the Middle East and the Arab world. He was the president of the American University of Beirut and wrote a book in 1965 called The Arab Cold War.
In 1984, he was assassinated by two gunmen outside his office. He was 52.
You can learn more about Malcolm Kerr at the link.
On this day in 1983, the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon was attacked by a suicide bomber. At that point, it was the deadliest attack on a U.S. embassy. 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed in the blast.
You can learn more about this terrorist attack and the ensuing investigation at the link.
A great read.
“When my people died, no country bothered to light up its landmarks in the colors of their flag,” Elie Fares, a Lebanese doctor, wrote on his blog. “When my people died, they did not send the world into mourning. Their death was but an irrelevant fleck along the international news cycle, something that happens in THOSE parts of the world.”
(Source: formerly-ujb)
The winter rains have started in Lebanon. Beirut’s rubbish, which has been pilling up alongside roads for months, has turned the capital’s roads into “rivers of garbage.“
Lebanon’s Capital Is Now Zigzagged by ‘Rivers of Garbage’
#BuyPens campaign raises $145,000 for Syrian refugees in just three days
#BuyPens began after Norwegian activist Gissur Simonarson posted a photo of a destitute Syrian man selling pens in the streets of Beirut, Lebanon, while carrying his 4-year-old daughter in his arms. Simonarson was able to find the man, identified as Abdul Halim, and has since set up a wildly successful Indiegogo for them.
(Source: mic.com)
On July 15, 1958, the U.S. Marines landed on a beach in Beirut in Operation Blue Bat. It was the first application of the Eisenhower Doctrine, or the U.S. intervening in any country threatened by international communism.
The goal of Operation Blue Bat was to protect the rule of pro-Western president Chamoun. To learn about the inside story from two American FSOs, follow the link!
Today (June 27th) is PTSD Awareness Day.
In honor of this day, and to help raise awareness, here is a look at an embassy bombing that became the subject of FSO and survivor Anne Dammarell’s master thesis. Specifically, how herself and others responded to the incident and what the State Department did and should have done in response.
Follow the link to learn more about Dammarell’s experiences.
