Tyre: A City of Memories Turned to Rubble
by Farah Maalouf
Posted in: Report
Standing in the heart of Tyre, a city once full of life and history, I felt the weight of the devastation here, pressing down like the rubble that now defines its streets. As my team and I walked through the destruction, wearing our Anera vests, an air of uncertainty clung to us. Fear had gripped me before we even arrived – what would we see? Could I handle witnessing the dreams and memories of countless people reduced to dust?
I didn’t have answers. But I knew one thing: I was there to listen, to observe, and to carry the stories of those who had lost everything to the world.
Our first stop was a destroyed 11-story building that had once been a vital part of its community. The scene was heartbreaking: piles of rubble where homes and livelihoods had existed just weeks before.
Amid this devastation, an old man, Mohammad Khalil, stood motionless. His eyes carried the weight of sorrow, grief, and a trace of hope as he clutched a worn bag filled with papers. He approached us cautiously, mistaking us for a savior who could reverse his misfortune.
“Look,” he said, pulling out document after document, his voice trembling. “This is proof I owned a shop here. A mini market. I worked so hard all my life for this. And just when I finally bought it, it’s gone. Who will compensate me? This was my life. My income. Now I have nothing.”
His words hit me hard. Here was a man who had poured his blood, sweat, and tears into a dream, only to see it vanish in a single instant. And all I could do was stand there, helpless, feeling the immensity of his pain. My consoling words felt inadequate. How do you rebuild a man’s spirit when his entire life has crumbled?
We continued our tour through Tyre, looking for more stories to hear. Our eyes caught sight of a woman sitting on the second floor of a destroyed, but standing, building.
We called out from below, “Hello, can we speak to you?”
With a warm yet weary smile, she replied, “Of course, come on up.”
Nadine Al-Amine welcomed us to what remained of her apartment. The exterior walls had been blown away, leaving the space exposed to the world. Despite the destruction, she had a quiet strength, taking a moment’s rest from sifting through the rubble to piece together the remains of her life.
“I’ve lived here for 14 years,” she began, her voice filled with sadness. “During the war, we stayed here in our home. We never thought the strikes would come so close. The day the building next to ours was bombed, we had just left in the afternoon. When the bombing intensified, we’d flee to safer places in Tyre, but we always came back when it calmed down. We didn’t evacuate because all of Lebanon was under threat. There was no safe place.”
“I was so happy to find my son’s new school books intact under the rubble. I had bought them just before the war. But his new school bag was destroyed. Imagine, he was supposed to start school on Tuesday, but the war began on Monday. Thank God we weren’t home that day. If we had been, I wouldn’t be here talking to you now. We would have been blown to pieces like the people in the building next door.”
Nadine’s voice grew quieter. “The fear was overwhelming, especially for someone like me. I’m diabetic, and the stress and anxiety made everything worse. I also have high blood pressure and need medications for cholesterol and thyroid issues.”
Her words stayed with me long after we left. As we moved through Tyre, the stories kept coming: families displaced and children staring blankly at what used to be their homes. The destruction was not just physical. It was emotional, spiritual, and generational. And yet, amid the despair, I saw some resilience.
These moments reminded me that even in the darkest of times, humanity endures. But these people need more than resilience, they need tangible support. They need shelter, food, medicine, and the resources to rebuild their lives. They need us to step in and offer not just words but actions.
As someone who stood in the ruins and looked into the eyes of those who had lost everything, I ask you to join Anera in our mission. Together, we can give hope to the hopeless, rebuild what has been destroyed, and show these resilient souls that they are not forgotten.
