Resistance

My Life for Lebanon

Author  Souha Bechara Translated by  Gabe Levine
Resistance

In a time when violent conflicts in the Middle East continue to rage, the story of a secular Orthodox Christian who risked her life to rid her country of occupying forces will resonate with those looking to understand why young Palestinian girls blow themselves up in crowded Jerusalem markets

In 1988, at the age of twenty, Souha Béchara attempted to assassinate General Lahad, chief of militia in charge of Israeli-occupied Southern Lebanon. Immediately apprehended, interrogated, and tortured for weeks, she was sent to Khiam, a prison and death camp regularly condemned by humanitarian organizations. After an intense Lebanese, European, and even Israeli campaign in her favor, she was released in 1998.

Her story, told here in Resistance, clarifies, in the most personal…