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<DIV>I am happy for Leila, that she survived the Israeli attacks and was able to reunite with her family in Jamaica. But, she is a YOUNIS! She probably lives in a gated community somewhere with Guardsman security at her fingertips. For many Jamaicans, Beirut might be a better place to be. At least they have UN-sponsored peacekeepers and ceasefires. I hope she recognizes that.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>To hell and back</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Leila Younis tells what it was like being trapped in the Lebanese war zone</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Sunday, August 20, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>Leila Younis is Lebanese by birth and Jamaican by choice. She describes herself as fiercely warm and loving and someone who enjoys the simpler things of life, such as playing cards and dancing.<P class=StoryText align=justify>She is married to a powerful businessman, Sameer Younis. Blessed with her fair share of the fruits of the Jamaican land, her main worry was, like most Jamaicans, about the high crime rate. But all that was about to change and her role in the new script that was being written was not one that she herself had crafted.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Leila Younis is hugged and kissed by her husband Sameer on her arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on August 4. (Photo: Joseph Wellington) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>All of a sudden, the statement that 'there is no place like home' would take on new meaning for Leila Younis...that home being Jamaica, of course.
The last time Younis had seen her family in Lebanon was four years ago and she was beginning to feel the urge to go visit them.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I felt like it was time to go back, I really missed my family," she told the Sunday Observer.
Sameer Younis, well-known former president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, and whose parents were also born in Lebanon, gave in to his wife's enthusiasm and agreed to take the trip with her. She would stay three weeks but her husband insisted he didn't want to be away from Jamaica any longer than a week at any one time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Their good friends, Maria and George Hado, Lebanese nationals also living in Jamaica, decided at the same time to visit their relatives back home and to take their grandchild, four year-old Georgio Hado with them to Beirut.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=120 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>YOUNIS. it was very depressing, we were all very angry </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>As they packed their suitcases, none of them could have imagined what would await them. Despite earlier turbulence, Lebanon had been relatively calm and peaceful.
"Lebanon was once called the Switzerland of the Arab world. These people are very hospitable," Leila offered.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On June 25, their plane touched down on Lebanese soil. Four years away has been too long, Leila Younis thought to herself. "It felt really, really good to be back," she recalled.
The vacation started off like a typical one, filled with much laughter, hugs and kisses all around. There were no warning signs of the nightmare about to be unleashed.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"The place was buzzing, the tourists were coming and the nightclubs were full," said Younis, remembering the happy first days surrounded by relatives and friends.
As he had planned, S
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Leila Younis tells what it was like being trapped in the Lebanese war zone</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Sunday, August 20, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Leila Younis is Lebanese by birth and Jamaican by choice. She describes herself as fiercely warm and loving and someone who enjoys the simpler things of life, such as playing cards and dancing.<P class=StoryText align=justify>She is married to a powerful businessman, Sameer Younis. Blessed with her fair share of the fruits of the Jamaican land, her main worry was, like most Jamaicans, about the high crime rate. But all that was about to change and her role in the new script that was being written was not one that she herself had crafted.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Leila Younis is hugged and kissed by her husband Sameer on her arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on August 4. (Photo: Joseph Wellington) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>All of a sudden, the statement that 'there is no place like home' would take on new meaning for Leila Younis...that home being Jamaica, of course.The last time Younis had seen her family in Lebanon was four years ago and she was beginning to feel the urge to go visit them.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I felt like it was time to go back, I really missed my family," she told the Sunday Observer.
Sameer Younis, well-known former president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, and whose parents were also born in Lebanon, gave in to his wife's enthusiasm and agreed to take the trip with her. She would stay three weeks but her husband insisted he didn't want to be away from Jamaica any longer than a week at any one time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Their good friends, Maria and George Hado, Lebanese nationals also living in Jamaica, decided at the same time to visit their relatives back home and to take their grandchild, four year-old Georgio Hado with them to Beirut.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=120 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>YOUNIS. it was very depressing, we were all very angry </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>As they packed their suitcases, none of them could have imagined what would await them. Despite earlier turbulence, Lebanon had been relatively calm and peaceful."Lebanon was once called the Switzerland of the Arab world. These people are very hospitable," Leila offered.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On June 25, their plane touched down on Lebanese soil. Four years away has been too long, Leila Younis thought to herself. "It felt really, really good to be back," she recalled.
The vacation started off like a typical one, filled with much laughter, hugs and kisses all around. There were no warning signs of the nightmare about to be unleashed.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"The place was buzzing, the tourists were coming and the nightclubs were full," said Younis, remembering the happy first days surrounded by relatives and friends.
As he had planned, S
