Lebanon

Introduction:

Lebanon, a country that was called,”the land of milk and honey” in the bible. A country that has mountains, the sea and a lot of beautiful landscapes. Beirut is the capital city of Lebanon, it is also called “Paris of the East” because if it’s beautiful scenery and landscapes. The country’s which surround Lebanon are Jordan, Syria, Israel, Cyprus and Turkey. The famous singer Shakira is half Lebanese, and another famous person that was born there is the actor Keanu Reeves.

Modern History:

There has always been a conflict in Lebanon between the Muslims and Christians. In the 1940’s, after Lebanon gained independence from France, Christians held the balance of power and Muslims had little say in the running of their country. This caused a war between the two religions. In the mid 1970’s, there was a lot of tension after a bus full of Palestinians were killed in downtown Beirut. Revenge of killings followed and the country became a city of war and death. Syria soon sent in their army of about 20,000 troops that were invited by the Christians to kill the Muslims. Over two thousand people were killed. “No man’s land” developed between the Christian East and the Muslim West. In the early 1980’s the Israeli army invaded Beirut and aimed in removing the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization). Eventually, the Israeli troops surrounded West Beirut and drove out the PLO. Thousands of innocent people were killed. Lebanon’s civil war wasn’t just about war between Muslims and Christians, there were a lot of different groups that formed their own armies and went to war.

Lebanon Now:

Beirut has been rebuilt and destroyed about seven times now. Beirut is being recovered now after the wars that have been going on. A lot of the Arab countries are helping it in becoming the beautiful country it once was and also a tourist attraction. Young people are living in a changing city with new hopes and challenges. More and more people are being employed and are able to feed their families. Hopefully it will once again become a growing country.