Living Through the War Outside Lebanon

What is it like to experience war from abroad?
· It is sometimes 3 a.m. in a European city or in a Gulf country. A phone vibrates, then another. Notifications keep coming.
· Thousands of kilometers away, war imposes itself into a silent room.

Do expatriate Lebanese feel distant from the war?
· People often believe that distance protects, that by leaving Lebanon, immigrants can bury themselves in their lives, live in their bubble, stripped of worry and completely safe.
· What audacity to claim with certainty that expatriate Lebanese are indifferent to their families, friends, villages, and the land that shaped them!
· These Lebanese are continuously exposed to news of war and threats that place everyone’s life in danger, indiscriminately.

Why is it wrong to reduce people to labels or affiliations?
· How can one so easily reduce those affected to mere labels, categories, or affiliations?
· How can one forget that these are human beings first and foremost, defending their land, their dignity, their honor?
· People who resist in order to stay in their homes, like those in Debel and Ilayya, striving to continue living among their own, refusing to be forced to abandon their houses and venture into the unknown.

What does it mean to be Lebanese abroad during war?
· Being Lebanese abroad is to harbor a deep desire to reclaim moments of joy and hope.
· It is to participate in the celebration of the Resurrection, to once again feel the promise of a better life awaiting them.
· It is to long for a chance to return, and yet to be forced to renounce it because of unforeseen events.

What everyday moments do they miss the most?
· It is to wish to attend the masses that are so dear to them.
· To share moments of grace with their families.
· To savor the maamoul.
· All the while realizing that they are now prisoners of a land that is not theirs, while their own remains embedded in them, suspended between uncertainties of the world.

How does distance affect their sense of identity and belonging?
· One often feels incapable of even the smallest gesture.
· There is a desperate longing for a new opportunity to return to their homeland.
· To reconnect with their roots and reclaim all that constitutes their identity.

What is the hidden impact of war on those living abroad?
· It is essential to think of all those who live far from Lebanon, who yearn to return, even just once.
· Geographic distance, no matter how vast, does not shield them from the profound impact of war.
· It leaves enduring psychological, social, and identity scars.
· Even thousands of kilometers away, fear, anxiety, and the feeling of helplessness travel with those who have left their country.