Journal of Italian Translation

vention of an alphabet using symbols for sounds; the cedars of Lebanon
have been famous for centuries. The modern Levantine state
crafted by the French had always been precarious, however; civil
war starting in 1975 bled Lebanon so severely that the 22-nation
Arab League called a summit meeting in Casablanca to mediate
reform. American marines were deployed in Lebanon between 1982
and 1984. In July 1989 newspaper headlines trumpeted “Lebanon:
Artillery pounds Beirut, kills 6,” “Thousands Escaping From Beirut
After Two Days of Fierce Fighting,” and so forth. That fury too
subsided, and the Lebanese capital rebuilt. Now, alas, as The New
York Times reports (“Ruined Towns Look to Beirut, Mostly in Vain”
by Michael Slackman, 1 October 2006), the south of Lebanon is
once again rutted and bombed-out, “a landscape of twisted metal
and crumbled concrete”—a battleground for external conflicts.
Ruined villages await adoption by foreign donors.; “when it comes
to homes, the government is slow to respond.” And further: “The
animosity has only grown between Hezbollah and the coalition that
controls the government—named for March 14, the day in 2005
that huge numbers of people demonstrated to call for an end to
Syria’s military presence.” While suffering spreads and wrangling
ensues, the story shows Beirut as “the Paris of the Middle East”
that it has been and may yet become again. The story expresses
grief without relinquishing hope.