Today in Beirut (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?
― Mahatma Gandhi
In between taking a Chinese quiz early this morning–and teaching an al-Ghazali seminar this afternoon–I spent some time on the streets of Beirut with a group of young Syrian refugees. While taking a break from shining shoes, they told me a bit about their families and life back home. “May God rest his soul,” one of the boys said, when telling me about the death of a close relative in the war. As they spoke about the death and destruction they had seen, they used their hands (along with sound effects) to act out noisy gun battles and the explosion of bombs. What, I wonder, does the future have in store for these four friends?
Sticking together (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
