Lebanon is a country ruined beyond repair. Its capital, Beirut, was once known as the Paris of the Middle East, and locals boasted it was the only place in the world where it was possible to snow-ski in the morning and water-ski in the afternoon.
That was in what is now nostalgically called Lebanon’s Golden Age (pictured), in the years following World War II after the end of French colonialism until 1975 and the beginning of a devastating civil war.
It was a time rich culture, food, fashion and art, graceful hotels, lively clubs and glamorous beachfronts.
Tourists came to goggle at the numerous celebrities, some just soaking up the atmosphere, others there to appear in a series of James Bond-style movies that used the cosmopolitan setting as a backdrop, where traditional markets lived side-by-side with fashionable boutiques.
All that ended in 1975 when the influx of Palestine refugees following the following the wars of 1968 and 1972 upset the ethnic balance and the Maronite Christian majority began to feel overwhelmed.
The civil war between Christian militias and various Muslim factions dragged on for 15 years and in the decades since little has been done to try and repair the deep-seated hatreds which have built up on both sides.
Today Lebanon is a sovereign nation in name only, at the mercy of the Hezbollah political group and its powerful armed militia, backed by Iran and dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
What is left of the Government in Beirut is powerless to restrain Hezbollah; civilians throughout the country can only watch and pray as Israeli missiles and armed drones rain down upon them.
This is not a war most Lebanese wanted, yet they have no way to stop it. Soon they will be joining the ever-increasing flood of refugees, peoples on the move, pushing at the borders of Europe.
That will no doubt delight the new Russian Czar in the Kremlin who has stirred the Middle East pot several times in recent years to his obvious advantage.
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