As I approach 80 years, I often think of the countries I will never visit.  Since the age of 18 in 1963, when I became a Merchant Seaman and sailed around Asia, I have traveled worldwide, and I am still doing that.  Fortunately, I am very healthy and have the financial means to travel.  Since my semi-retirement about 20 years ago, my wife and I have traveled about four months a year.  We love exploring new areas and returning to our favorites.  We have friends all over the world.  

It was in 2011, during the significant unrest and revolution in Egypt resulting from the Arab Spring, that I realized that we should visit all the places that were high on our bucket list (I’m not too fond of that term) when we could because things could happen that could prevent us from visiting in the future.  High up on that list was Egypt. By 2017, we felt comfortable visiting Egypt and had a fantastic experience.  We flew directly from Israel.  We thought we might have a short window.  

We wanted to visit St Petersburg, Russia, in 2018 and almost did that.  Now, I doubt that I will ever see that city.  I can;t imagine going to Russia.

I have wanted to visit Lebanon for many years, particularly Beirut, its capital, formerly referred to as the Paris of the Middle East.  After marrying Deborah in 2003, I became even more interested.  Deborah’s father’s whole family is from Lebanon, although they came to the USA around the 1900s.  Her father grew up in a Lebanese community near Pittsburgh, PA.  They were Greek Orthodox Lebanese from a small mountain town called Bazbina.  http://www.bazbina.com/web1/site.php?home

We moved to Israel in 2015 and lived there until 2023. Deborah and I traveled a great deal throughout Israel. Often, we would spend time in the north of Israel, which is very beautiful. Such travels would take us to the borders of both Lebanon and Syria. We could get close to villages in Lebanon, close enough to hear people talk. Once, I saw Hezbollah troops so close that I could call out to them, which, of course, I did not.  

Deborah wanted to visit Lebanon, but I was concerned and did not feel it would be safe for me as an Israeli citizen (dual national).  However, we did consider it because I had developed friendships with several prominent Lebanese citizens, including the current prime minister’s brother. I was assured we would be safe, but I did not want to take a chance.

One such friend offered to arrange a trip for us to Lebanon.  He was a cousin of the then Prime Minister, Saad Hariri.  My friend said he would arrange everything through his cousin and we would be safe.  I still declined. I would have taken anyone less than a minute on Google to find out that I held Israeli citizenship and was living in Tel Aviv.  Good thing as a few weeks later, Harri was arrested in Saudi Arabia.  

Lebanon is a country that has been ruined by Islamic terrorists, in particular, Hezbollah, which has Iran as its backer.  Most of the Christians have left. The country is made up of two Muslim factions, Shiite and Sunni, about a half million Palestinian refugees (some of which are third or fourth generation refugees), and almost a million Syrian refugees in a country within country with a population of about 5.5 million.

The destruction of Lebanon can not be blamed on the Israelis.  It is an example of what could happen if the Palestinians got a state. Now Israel has no choice but to defend itself from Hezbollah, and if Hezbollah attacks the main population centers of Israel, there will not be much left over of Lebanon.

As I write this, there is almost a whole war going on between Hezbollah and Israel. If it becomes a full-out war, there will not be any winners other than possibly Iran, although I doubt even that.

There are very few countries left that we want to visit for the first time.  Madagascar is probably the top one, followed by Chile.  Lebanon would have been on the top of that list.