Friday, 27 October 2017
We toured and lunched in Biram. At first glance it appears to be a national park with an old Roman temple which is labelled as a synagogue. The official interpretive sign describes the ancient peoples that lived there.
Biram is actually the bombed out village where our guide, Toomi Magzal, and Elias Chacour grew up. The remains of their houses are there. Toomi showed us the cistern that he and his brother dug. It still has the fresh sweet water from their roof from around 1950.
Destroyed school in Biram
The people of Biram have been allowed to keep and maintain their church, but the restrooms they built near the church were torn down by the government. The church is a pleasant place, in good repair. It has power and air conditioning.
Biram Maronite Church
They still bury their dead in the cemetery nearby.
The story of the war of 1947 and how all this transpired is in Elias Chacour’s book Blood Brothers.
Seeing all of what remains has solidified something left soft when I read the history. I have had a hard time accepting everything I read. The signs which ignore this piece of history and the rubble told me where the truth must lie. 
~Matt Abbott