A Mideast Thanksgiving

Posted: November 21, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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Thanksgiving Day, 1984

By Christopher Harper

Only some people in the Middle East really understand Thanksgiving Day. More often than not, that might be because there is little to be thankful for.

In 1984, I brought together a group of Lebanese, Syrians, and a bunch of Europeans in the middle of one of the most dangerous parts of the world. Many of us worked in some way for ABC News in Beirut and Damascus.

It was difficult to travel between the two cities as foreigners, so I decided we should meet near Baalbeck, an ancient city about six miles east of Beirut and just about the same distance west of Damascus.

The Romans built an exquisite city there, which had become a training center for terrorists. Ironically, it was about the only place that we could get people from Syria and Lebanon to meet, where most of them could be safe. Americans—actually, I was the only one—weren’t so safe. But I had spent a lot of time in Baalbeck, and I was young and rather foolish back then.

The infamous Commodore Hotel in Beirut found a turkey and some sweet potatoes—no small feat—and added some traditional Arabic dishes. I still remember how the chefs put everything on platters.

The group of about 20 people included:

  • Two British and French videographers who didn’t get along too well.
  • Two Syrian and Lebanese businessmen who didn’t like one another.
  • Two Shia and Druze men who didn’t trust one another.
  • Others who didn’t think much of me.

The sun shone brightly over the Bekaa Valley, a beautiful but troubled part of the world. No one talked about football games or family feuds. We didn’t talk about failed peace negotiations or the deaths of more than 200 U.S. soldiers sent to Lebanon as peacekeepers and killed by Islamic terrorists. We didn’t talk about the bombing of Lebanon by U.S. ships. We spent a wonderful afternoon talking about the present and the future, our families, and our dreams. We talked about everyday and important things in life. We drank a bit too much wine and araq, a potent Middle Eastern liqueur.

We left with a better sense of what we knew about one another and what we did not know about one another. More importantly, we talked about what we had in common as human beings.

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