{"id":29191,"date":"2025-05-09T15:21:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T13:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/?p=29191"},"modified":"2025-05-09T15:21:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T13:21:28","slug":"the-perfect-illustration-of-the-human-comedy-of-the-human-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/iran-2\/the-perfect-illustration-of-the-human-comedy-of-the-human-tragedy","title":{"rendered":"The perfect illustration of the human comedy. Of the human tragedy."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In September 1975, a 12-year-old boy accompanies a Saudi prince\u2014destined to become the King of Saudi Arabia\u2014to Mecca, a place forbidden to non-Muslims. “After all these years, I\u2019m still moved by what I saw there in terms of devotion and what I experienced in terms of human solidarity<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

This spiritual moment contrasts sharply with the chaos of the Lebanese civil war, which had broken out just a few months earlier. How did a boy born into a Franco-Lebanese Christian family find himself at the heart of Islam\u2019s most sacred site?<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t fully grasp the stark contrast faced by this very young activist of the Guardians of the Cedars (a radical Christian militia), who had gone on pilgrimage to Mecca just months earlier<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

This duality\u2014faith and violence\u2014runs through my story, offering an intimate perspective on a Middle East where identities collide. “This complexity I lived through\u2014of Lebanese Maronites harboring eternal hatred toward Palestinians, of Sunnis who despise their Shiite brothers, of Lebanese Muslims convinced that the Palestinian cause is also their own<\/em>\u2026”<\/p>\n

In 1978, at age 15, I met Ayatollah Khomeini in Neauphle-le-Ch\u00e2teau, and later accompanied him on his triumphant return to Tehran in 1979. “Khomeini, to me, is the most emblematic figure of the 20th century. He revealed this to me in his own way\u2014even though all of his actions, starting in 1979, seem to suggest otherwise<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

What remains of the revolutionary hope embodied by Khomeini, seen through the eyes of a teenager? Why was this young man, barely out of childhood, a witness to such a decisive moment? “How I wish the world\u2014especially today\u2019s Iran\u2014could take interest in the other version of him that he once revealed to me<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A reader\u2019s testimony:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I closed the book in the middle of the night.<\/span>
\nThere is something chilling in this account that echoes the narrative thread of my own life up to 2025, and that of so many Lebanese, Iranians, Israelis, Palestinians, and others.<\/span>
\nWhat is the secret behind the events that punctuate this life we either suffer through painfully or live through joyfully?<\/span>
\nA Levantine Youth is the perfect illustration of the human comedy. Of the human tragedy. One that endures.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Buy it:<\/u><\/h2>\n

France:\u00a0FNAC<\/a><\/p>\n

Switzerland:\u00a0PAYOT<\/a><\/p>\n

Lebanon:\u00a0ANTOINE<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada:\u00a0Les Libraires<\/a><\/p>\n

AMAZON<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In September 1975, a 12-year-old boy accompanies a Saudi prince\u2014destined to become the King of Saudi Arabia\u2014to Mecca, a place forbidden to non-Muslims. “After all these years, I\u2019m still moved by what I saw there in terms of devotion and what I experienced in terms of human solidarity.” This spiritual moment contrasts sharply with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[648942631,648941288],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-2","category-saudi-arabia"],"yoast_head":"\nThe perfect illustration of the human comedy. 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It\u2019s now a distant time when FDR boldly,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Oil"","block_context":{"text":"Oil","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/oil"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/MBS.jpg?fit=750%2C375&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/MBS.jpg?fit=750%2C375&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/MBS.jpg?fit=750%2C375&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/MBS.jpg?fit=750%2C375&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13794,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/saudi-arabia\/the-saudi-blockade-a-blessing-for-qatar","url_meta":{"origin":29191,"position":2},"title":"The Saudi blockade: a blessing for Qatar?","author":"Michel Santi","date":"March 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Qatar is an island. At least, it has become one, but not without gradually forging new alliances and trade routes that will influence the balances in the Middle East in the long term. This is how, more than nine months after feeling the wrath of Saudi Arabia, Qatar has now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Saudi Arabia"","block_context":{"text":"Saudi Arabia","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/saudi-arabia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29261,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/trump-2\/first-foreign-official-visits-of-us-presidents","url_meta":{"origin":29191,"position":3},"title":"First foreign official visits of US Presidents","author":"Michel Santi","date":"May 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 First foreign official visits of US Presidents: \u2022 Kennedy: Canada \u2022 Johnson: Canada \u2022 Nixon: Belgium \u2022 Ford: Mexico \u2022 Carter: UK \u2022 Reagan (term 1 ): Canada \u2022 Reagan (term 2): Canada \u2022 H. W. Bush: Canada \u2022 Clinton (term 1): Canada \u2022 Clinton (term 2): Finland \u2022\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Saudi Arabia"","block_context":{"text":"Saudi Arabia","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/saudi-arabia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Trump-MBS.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Trump-MBS.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Trump-MBS.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Trump-MBS.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Trump-MBS.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13670,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/saudi-arabia\/saudi-arabia-black-swan-of-2016","url_meta":{"origin":29191,"position":4},"title":"Saudi Arabia: black swan of 2016","author":"Michel Santi","date":"January 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Angolan kwanza collapsed by 15% in a few hours as soon as the country\u2019s authorities effected its devaluation a few days ago. Last month it was Azerbaijan\u2019s currency, the manat, which lost a third of its value in a few hours when its national central bank decided to abandon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Oil"","block_context":{"text":"Oil","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/oil"},"img":{"alt_text":"P\u00e9trole","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/P%C3%A9trole-1-267x300-267x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13756,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/saudi-arabia\/qatar-versus-saudi-arabia-david-and-goliath","url_meta":{"origin":29191,"position":5},"title":"Qatar versus Saudi Arabia: David and Goliath","author":"Michel Santi","date":"July 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Qatar's real crime? Having led a foreign policy at complete odds with that of the other Gulf nations. Things had been seriously flaring up between these different emirates (and Saudi Arabia) under the reign of the last Prince Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who came to power in 1995. Then,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Saudi Arabia"","block_context":{"text":"Saudi Arabia","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/saudi-arabia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Qatar.jpg?fit=1200%2C473&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/860_khomeini_arbre0179160.webp?fit=860%2C1337&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29191"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29205,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29191\/revisions\/29205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}