Nour Farra-Haddad

One automatically associates the southern Lebanese border region with political and security issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Lebanon, only a few kilometers from the border, villages from different religious communities have suffered grievously since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. But they also want to keep hope alive for a better, more peaceful future. Even if this area is associated with the military resistance of the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party Hezbollah, here I
consider civil and religious resistance initiatives in search of peace. Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the invading forces
remained in partial control of what was called the South Lebanon Security
Belt. The localities described in my research study were a part of this belt until its liberation in 2000. In 2006, this area was once again caught in the renewed war between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. Many houses in the
villages under scrutiny were destroyed and many of their inhabitants were forced to flee the area. After these war episodes, the villages were rebuilt,
and their inhabitants have slowly reinvested in their properties.
Following 2006, Hezbollah had to withdraw all its weapons from the
border zone, but they continued to claim resistance against Israel. There
soon followed the development of tourism projects along the border, such as the Iran Park in Maroun El Ras, which includes a big picnic area, recreational activities, and on the top of the hill, a mosque that is a replica of El Masjed El Aqsa in Jerusalem. A few kilometers away, in the Christian
village of Ain Ebel, an immense statue of the Virgin Mary elevated over a tower is an ambitious project currently underway: Saydet Em El Nour (Our Lady Mother of Light). Not far from the Christian village of Qawzah is the
hometown of an interreligious solidarity and dialogue initiative: The Ark of Peace, Ya Salam, a project including a zoo, bungalows, and a sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of the Ark of Peace.
These three Christian and Muslim projects testify to the importance of peaceful resistance from the standpoint of local host communities. These sanctuaries and shrines aim to attract visitors, offering them not only a
pilgrimage experience but also different types of touristic activities. This chapter explores the objectives of developing such attractions and discusses the involvement of the host communities and the interest of pilgrims and tourists for such peace-building projects.

Constantly evolving, sacred geographies in Lebanon testify to the importance of religious Christian and Muslim markers in the landscape. In the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, the development of gigantic Christian projects of huge saint statues and crosses was observed. This trend is related to the development of Religious Tourism, but it is also related to many other considerations as the feeling of some Lebanese Christian being threatened by a growing Muslim population and a growing fanaticism.
This paper will address the phenomena of developing Christian gigantic pilgrimages projects all over the country, its touristic, social identity dimensions, and the involvement and impact on local host communities.
The selected cases illustrate that the negotiations of spatial and social identities in a context of interreligious coexistence are ongoing projects in the post War. They are also significantly contributing to the development of Religious Tourism supporting local communities’ economies.

This chapter presents a case study of holy places being used to rebrand Lebanon as a part of the Holy Land. The study focuses on South Lebanon where hundreds of churches, monasteries, mosques, maqâms and mazars are found in and around important cities and small villages. The chapter seeks to understand the desire of integrating the religious sites into the biblical and evangelical tradition, supported by a renewed interest in these shrines and above all the establishment of facilities and programmes to organize visits to such sanctuaries.

Le culte des saints véhicule encore aujourd’hui, au Liban, l’essentiel des dévotions chrétiennes et musulmanes.
La renommée des lieux de pèlerinages se fonde le plus souvent sur leurs vertus thérapeutiques, attirant des fidèles pour guérir leur âme et leur corps. Chaque sanctuaire propose aux fidèles une série de rites. Plusieurs actions peuvent s’enchaîner et s’agencer pour former une seule démarche votive comme allumer un cierge, brûler de l’encens, embrasser la statue du saint, etc. On s’intéresse ici au rituel du port de l’habit d’un saint et de ses couleurs durant un ou plusieurs mois, voire toute une vie. On évoquera
tous les choix qu’il implique (le saint concerné et ses habits, la durée du port, l’origine des vêtements, la démarche rituelle). Les couleurs des habits de saints seront évoquées en insistant sur ce qu’elles représentent aux yeux des « vouants ».

Catherine, a Maronite resident of Nab'a (Beirut), married and the mother of three children, claims that for the past twenty years she has “seen” and been “kidnapped” by the Virgin Mary and the saints. Hundred of Christian and Muslim devotees meet regularly in her house, which has almost been turned into a sanctuary. At Catherine's house, the presence of the divine is built up through an interplay between the visionary, the faithful, the priests and the saints. Every Tuesday the divine manifests itself through the body of the visionary by means of ecstasies and on Good Friday each year stigmata appear on the body of Catherine, on her front, her feet, her hands and her side. The saints, as a spiritual force, overcome her and possess her body. Their interventions seem very precise and ritualized. The miracle expected - "descent of the saints", "divine messages", appearance of the stigmata - is within a spectrum of actions. Our discussion will present the rit...

Les reseaux sociaux vehiculent beaucoup de violence et de guerres interreligieuses, tout comme des courants qui pronent le dialogue et la paix. Des courants principalement menes activement par des jeunes. Les nouvelles technologies et les reseaux sociaux ont un impact important dans le cadre de la culture de la tolerance, de l’amour, de la paix et du dialogue. Facebook compte environ 1, 32 milliards de membres et se caracterise par une diversite au niveau des appartenances religieuses, societales, geographiques, linguistiques. Notre objectif vise a analyser la culture numerique des utilisateurs de Facebook et les modes de creation qu'ils mettent en œuvre dans la diffusion de messages de paix et de tolerance au Liban. Notre analyse portera sur un ensemble de documents (Photos, graphismes, slogans, temoignages…) postes sur Facebook et le role de cette communication mediatique spontanee dans le cadre du maintien du dialogue et de la paix dans un contexte d’insecurite moyen oriental...

The purpose of this chapter is to further explore interfaith pilgrimages in Lebanon through an examination of how elements in the natural landscape, such as trees, water, and stones are utilized by pilgrims. Many religious traditions around the world through human history have utilized these natural elements in religious rituals and religious community-building exercises. The chapter furthermore demonstrates that through interfaith devotions using these natural elements, an inter-sectarian conviviality is experienced by pilgrims that leads to a natural dialogue between them, leading in turn to the development of a culture of peace. This natural dialogue of life is especially vital for promoting a sustainable peace in the region.

Baalbek, Héliopolis, la ville du soleil, ville 'sainte'…. Cette ville cananéo-phénicienne au coeur de la plaine fertile de la Bekaa au Liban vivra son heure de gloire durant la période romaine. C'est alors que furent construits les fameux temples de la ville, six temples au total dont trois principaux regroupés dans le complexe cultuel de l' «Acropole », la « Qalaa » avec le sanctuaire de Jupiter, celui dit de Bacchus et celui dit de Vénus. Haut lieu de pèlerinage depuis la haute antiquité, la ville où on adorait le soleil « Baal Shamash », Hélios ou Jupiter devint une vraie 'ville sainte' au premier siècle avant Jésus Christ. Les pèlerins y accouraient par milliers pour y vénérer les dieux et procéder à des rituels votifs. Aujourd'hui, Baalbeck classée au Patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO pour ses vestiges archéologiques, est une étape touristique incontournable au Liban mais est aussi devenue une 'ville sainte' pour la communauté chiite. En effet, elle abrite plusieurs lieux de culte chiites importants dont plus particulièrement le Maqâm de Sayyida Khawla et la mosquée de 'Ras El Ain' dite aussi de 'Ras El Hussein' 1. Ces sanctuaires commémorent le passage à Baalbek du cortège funèbre des femmes et des enfants captifs (Mawkib el sabaya) après la bataille de Karbala 2 , qui furent acheminés de Koufa jusqu'à Damas.

With its golden beaches, beautiful mountains, rich history and frenetic nightlife, Lebanon has long relied on tourism as an important source of national income. Tourism was once a very important contributor to Lebanon's economy. The war in Lebanon (1975-1991) has not only resulted in hundred thousands of deaths, injuries and the displacement of locals in governorates across the nation, but it has also damaged seriously its economy and infrastructure and especially devastated the tourism industry, leaving guides, agencies and shop owners without a source of steady income. In the years since 1991, Lebanon has attempted to rebuild much of its physical and economic infrastructure but tourism has yet to return to its pre-war levels.
Even if the tourism statistics on Lebanon are not reliable and even with all the insecurity remaining and all the ups and downs, the tourism sector was one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy in the past several years and that until the beginning of the Syrian crisis. During that period there has been a steady 10 to 14 percent increase in the number of tourists. As a result of this influx of tourists, several new hotels, guest houses, restaurants and nightclubs were established in Lebanon to host the potential increasing tourist flow and development touristic projects took place, supported sometimes by the international community.
In 2011, the Lebanese economy is cornered between a war in Syrian and a helpless public sector. The proximity to Syria, regular influx of refugees, ongoing cattle rustling and tension of border conflicts are concerns to any potential investor in the tourism sector. Rising political and sectarian tensions, a Lebanon travel ban by Gulf countries, and the impact of the war ravaging neighboring Syria have combined to decline badly tourism. Restaurants, nightclubs and hotels are reporting a drastic decline in business since the beginning of the year. For the past year, travel agents have suffered massive losses.
One of the main obstacles to the tourism industry is insecurity but there are some other bottlenecks too. The growth of this sector is linked to the need for high attention to the country’s infrastructure, the accessibility within rural areas. For sustainable tourism development through product diversification the government and other stakeholders need to develop facilities and especially to plan for a marketing strategy. Through this article we will try to explore solutions to develop a strategic planning for sustainable tourism in Lebanon.

Depuis plus de vingt ans, Catherine, habitante maronite du quartier populaire de Nab’a (Beyrouth) affirme voir la Vierge, saint Charbel et d’autres saints. Régulièrement « enlevée » (inkhitâf) et « habitée » par eux, elle reçoit et transmet, au cours de ses extases, des messages « divins ». Dans sa maison, le surnaturel ne s’impose pas dans son absoluité. Le « croire » qu’il suppose ou dont il est la conséquence ne se limite pas à un rapport naïf et littéral à une vérité intangible. Il prend forme par et dans une expérience, un acte performatif qui mêle gestes et paroles hérités d’une tradition religieuse millénaire à l’inattendu et au désordre. Cet article a pour objet la description de ce phénomène complexe : le mouvement sans cesse oscillatoire qui fonde le croire ; entre ordinaire et extraordinaire ; entre relâchement et intensité ; entre tradition et renouveau.