Google Doodle Celebrates Lebanon's Independence with 'Dabke'

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Google celebrated the 71st anniversary of Independence Day of Lebanon on Saturday, with a homepage doodle featuring dancers performing the traditional folk dance called dabke.

The Lebanese government has decided to cancel Independence Day celebrations for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war because of the country's presidential vacuum.

Lebanon was due to mark the 71st anniversary of its independence on Saturday with a parade involving all the country's security forces.

The Lebanese Independence Day is a national day celebrated in remembrance of the 1943 liberation from the French Mandate which was exercised over Lebanese soil for over 23 years.

The cancellation is the first since the end of the civil war, and comes amid a stalemate over the election of a successor to President Michel Suleiman, who stepped down in May.

The day is usually marked with a speech to the nation by the president on the eve of the holiday and a military parade on the day itself in Beirut, attended by the country's political leadership.

The decision to cancel the celebrations was also reportedly influenced by an ongoing crisis involving the kidnapping of several security forces by jihadists.

The men -- soldiers and police -- have been held since August, when jihadists from the conflict in Syria briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal, on the Lebanese border.

Three hostages have already been killed by their captors, and the country has been on edge for months over the fate of the remaining soldiers and policemen.

Lebanon is deeply divided over the war in Syria.

Comments 6
Default-user-icon JJ (Guest) 22 November 2014, 12:12

That's only for google.com.lb, the Lebanese page. None of the other pages have it.
Even if you type google.com and you're in Lebanon, it will redirect to the Lebanese page.
Why do people do this every single year?!

Thumb kanaanljdid 22 November 2014, 13:06

Lebanese dancing Dabke in Ottoman style: a time when Lebanon was still meaning something. This country has lost its spirit since 1943.

Thumb kanaanljdid 22 November 2014, 16:46

I mean French rule was better, but not Ottoman rule. But at that Ottoman period, people had hope for a better future, that's what I meant: having a State was a dream of being sovereign and independant and better off.

Thumb megahabib 22 November 2014, 18:06

Lol, so Lebanon meant more when it was still just considered a region of Syria?

Thumb ado.australia 22 November 2014, 18:17

terrorist... what did Lebanon have that made it such an oasis in the middle east? The Switzerland and paris of the middle east? It didn't have oil or any natural resorces of any value, but had banking and services. The government had budget surpluses of over 5 % on average before the civil war. Unemployment was under 8%. GDP per capita was as high as western countries. It wasn't because of the ottomans or france. It was because of the agreement by the maronites to share power through democracy instead of a dictatorship. Christians and sunnis businesses flourished without discrimination. Shiites were mostly agricultural and rural. When the Palestinians came and disturbed the shiites in the south it all hit the fan. Arab nationalism and the like destroyed a great country. Now look at the result of these idiots that looked outwards instead of in! history must be taught to all Lebanese!

Thumb ado.australia 22 November 2014, 17:01

kanaanljdid... the glory days of Lebanon was the 50s and 60s. Fairuz, the st george hotel, beirut, byblos, even tripoli with its oil refineries and the oil pipe line ports...without the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, those days would have continued till today! Now we have 1.5 million Syrians! God help us. What a waste of a country.