Macron Starts Lebanon Trip by Meeting Iconic Lebanese Diva, Lebanon's symbol of unity

[wvwvw]

Nice symbolic pic, with Greek Orthodox icons in the background.

To her fans, the diminutive Lebanese diva known simply as Fayrouz has become a living icon without equal. For Arabs at home and especially for the diaspora, no other vocalist evokes both the bygone rhythms of village life and the halcyon, prosperous years before wars traumatized their region, sending many into exile.

''For us she is a legend,'' said Jean Moutran, 49, who left Lebanon in 1971 to study in Montreal and never returned. ''It's like Americans talking about Frank Sinatra, who represents a certain era, a certain country, a certain vision of the world.''

Throughout the war she refused to leave the divided city. She had two houses, one on the Muslim side and one on the Christian, and she said she chose which one to flee to according to the prevailing direction of the shells.

Describing herself as fervently Greek Orthodox, she also refused to perform in Lebanon since people were not free to travel between the factional cantons, and any group that controlled the territory where she sang might try to claim her.

Deeply religious, Fairuz converted to the Greek Orthodox Church in 1955

[Laly]

And then he tells the journalist Georges Malbrunot off publicly because he wrote an article recording his meeting with a Hezbollah leader, lol

[Faklon]

85 years old, assez jeune for Macron

[kundur]

He being into MILFs, that's nothing new. And Greeks worshiping Catholic Latins is also a phenomenon with deep historical roots, and not a new occurrence either. Constantine 6 Paleologos was even said to be ready to convert to Catholicism in 1453 in counterpart of Latin military support, however the hardliner Greek clergy rejected strongly that heretic development.