Thread by @oldlevantine

1- In defense of Partition:
France let go of Krak des Chevaliers in 1932. So should Lebanon disabuse itself of the obsession with monuments to Lebanese history, Baalbek, Sour etc, that have gone to the dark side. 100 years of Lebanon has been a failed experiment. Enough!

2- In a letter from Latakié dated April 1, 1931, French Under-Secretary of State for the Fine Arts wrote the following to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs:
“Krak des Chevaliers, precious specimen of France’s military architectural style of 12th and 13th centuries, is left

3- to the depredations of locals plundering and sullying it with their animal herds. The neglect and molestation of this precious historical site presents an inexorable continuous state of degradation. Not content with wonton vandalism of precious sculpture, and piling up rubbish

4- and human and animal waste in the guard-rooms, the locals have undertaken a systematic destruction, literally pulling out keystones & cornerstones from the citadel’s towers. The State of the Alawite Mountain, where the Krak des Chevaliers is located, has no interest whatsoever

5- in the site’s significance; a remarkable site, one of the most important and best preserved of France’s “fortified castles” architectural style of the Mediaeval period. It seems to me that the best way for us to save this historical gem from ruin is to purchase it,

6- expel the squatters, and begin the painstaking process of restoration and preservation.” The agreed purchase price was 1 million Francs. France continued restoring & maintaining the site, until it was constrained to let go of it in 1939..
Lebanon too should let go of emotions.