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.
“I am 13 years old from Aleppo. I am a refugee in Lebanon and I go out every day at sunrise to sift through the garbage to pick metals and empty tins to sell.
“Sometimes I think I might never be able to go back to school. It has been four years since I left my school in Syria and I can’t remember how to read and write. All I want is to go back to my country. I want my life back.“ – Nasser
#IAmSyrian and this is my story: http://panorama.wfp.org/iamsyrian
On this day in 1986, one of the biggest scandals in foreign affairs in the last fifty years was revealed. Beirut newspaper Al Shiraa (الشراع, meaning “The Sail” in English) published the deals, in which the United States was selling Iran weapons through Israel, even though the U.S. had declared Iran a state-sponsor of terrorism in 1984. In exchange for weapons, the U.S. was negotiating the release of American hostages held by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Further, CIA Director William Casey and NSC Advisor Oliver North were using the profits of these weapon sales to fund the Contras, in direct violation of the Boland Amendment.
You can read on at the link to learn how these reveals affected the foreign service from FSOs who got caught up in the aftermath in the Iran-Contra affair at the link.
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.
