"Traveling to Beirut, Lebanon" a Lebanon Travel Page by RawdgerDodger

If you do get the chance to travel to Lebanon when it is PEACETIME and are American just remember that the USA does not have great relations with this country. We are Pro-Israel, not Pro-Lebanon. The two are like opposite sides of the coin. When I went in 1995 I had to get a seperate Visa on a seperate piece of paper from the Lebanese embassy in Paris, France and then fly in from Paris, France to Beirut Lebanon. If had not done this and had my USA passport stamped, whopping fines above 10,000 American dollars might have been imposed as well as other legal proceedings such as jail time, ect. America has something similar going on in Cuba and if you notice there are no direct flights from USA to Havana, Cuba. The problem arises due to the fact that the USA has been sketched away from the beautiful country of Lebanon. This is mainly due to the fact that there are constant wars there and primarily due to the fact that a Hezbollah extremist blew up the American Embassy in 1989 killing pretty much everybody inside. The USA has had a grudge against Lebanon ever since then and has been reticent to reopen the American Embassy. Recently things have changed but as it looks, (As of July 15, 2006, thousands of Americans, mostly college students, are currently trapped in Beiruit with no way out) the US might flee the region once again making it off limits to USA citizens. It is too bad too. When I went there, everyone was very nice to me even when I said I was an American, which is rare nowadays due to our current policy in the Middle East. My parents freaked out at my decision to go there but sometimes, when the opportunity presents itself, one just has to venture off the chart and do what one thinks is best for one's international and mental growth regardless of the advice given by Big Brother or Mommy or Daddy.