Fall 2009 pilgrimage: Photos from Lebanon
Posted November 28, 2009
Posted by Helena Cobban on November 28, 2009
Here are some photos from our Fall 2009 ‘Political pilgrimage’ to the Arab-Israeli region, which was co-led by Amb. Jack Matlock and myself. Most of these photos were taken by trip photographer Rebecca Matlock. Any that were not taken by Rebecca were taken by trip participant Chuck Scurich who graciously also shared many of his photos with us.
In Lebanon, we met with outgoing-and-caretaker PM Fouad Siniora, at his office in the Serail:
A general view of that meeting:
We met with PM-designate Saad al-Hariri in his office in downtown Beirut:
We met with Druze and Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, in his home in Museitbeh, Beirut:
We met with Free Patriotic Movement head Michel Aoun, at his headquarters in the mountains overlooking Beirut:
We met Conflicts Forum head Alastair Crooke:
We met Hizbullah official Hussein Hider, in a Hizbullah office in the southern suburbs (“Dayiheh”) of Beirut:
Hider and his colleagues took us to a massive indoor market that Hzibullah runs for two weeks every autumn, when small-scale producers, food-processors, and artisans from around the country come to display and sell their wares to the big Beirut market. Here are three views of it:
Sadly, throughout just about all the three days we were in Lebanon, the weather was very wet and stormy. But as we drove past Anjar to Syria, our trip photographer captured this last hopeful image:
