Beirut, Paris, Baghdad, Sinai… You’re constantly on our minds and always in our prayers, as we struggle to make sense out of this past weekend’s senseless, horrifying crimes.

Yes, my heart was torn when I heard about what happened in Paris. Paris is my second home. And my heart was torn again when the 243 victims of the night before in Beirut were practically ignored by the international press and the global community. So, let me dedicate this post to my beautiful Beirut. And to all my non-Lebanese followers, meet a part of me: my beautiful country.

Lebanon and its people have always showed positivity in their way of overcoming crisis, whether now, or 40 years ago. We have a “joie de vivre,” as we say in French, and nothing stops us from moving on from difficult situations.

The years between 1943 and 1975 were Lebanon’s golden era. During those halcyon days, Lebanon was handling the bulk of region’s banking, advertising, economic, tourism and fashion sectors. The country was also the heart of Arab culture, offering the best universities in region and the freest, most avant-garde press in the Arab world.

Unfortunately, due to regional and local political instability, the country descended into war in 1975, a war that lasted until 1990 and left the country devastated. But through the solidarity and stamina of our people, we were able to reconstruct and to move forward. As a result, the years that came afterwards were prosperous. The country was rebuilt, and we moved on as we always do. But in spite of the relative stability of the postwar years, Lebanon still had to deal with the political fallouts of the Middle Eastern region—fallouts that took the form of horrific car bombs, placed in various parts of the country.

A bomb goes off in a certain region but we go to class the next day, and then have dinner with our friends and family at night. Are we heartless? Are we indifferent? Are we rootless? No, we’re not. But, no ISIS, no political psychopath, no tyrant and no criminal will ever stop us from living the way we want. So yes, we’re in sorrow, and in great pain. We’re hurt, angry and sad. But we will overcome these attacks because this is who we are.

Thank you Jeddo for the beautiful vintage pictures that remind us of how amazing our country is!

N.