Georges Hourani : Homecoming from War Zones

This book Homecoming From War Zones is an account of my memoirs, the first-hand narrative of everyday experiences, challenges, and encounters in my two home countries, Lebanon and Finland. It is as much a beautiful love story as a political documentary about my two countries. It is a book about human lives, homes, homecomings, and relationships. I tell the story of the extreme, adventurous life of a boy, mixed up with war and terror. His experiences and encounters are the sounds of the machinery of war mingled with the melodies of hope and faith. I intend to draw readers in with details of everyday life in the war zone. I relate stories of the real-life tragedies of my family and my people. I describe how the various wars shaped my life and the lives of others. In the many chapters of the book, I shine a light on some stages of my life which has been overwhelmed by the love of God the Father, and His abundant grace, as well as by many painful and difficult experiences and encounters at the same time. I carry my history with me. All of us do. I write my narratives about those critical moments. The near-death experiences I have been through. The book is, in a sense, part of my attempts to understand and outline how we became who we are. Having been a journalist, I could see behind the story and its background. Having survived the Lebanese civil war and then many Israeli-Lebanese wars, I could tell the tales, I could tell a partial and preliminary truth. I had to have been there, to be honest. I still bear the scars of war, inside and out.

In Beirut, I lost any glimmer of hope when I was reporting on the daily news. Many presidents, officials, opinion leaders, and journalists have been assassinated, and many of my relatives and colleagues were killed. Thousands of my people had been displaced, forcing them to leave their homes and livelihoods in search of a safer life elsewhere in the world. As for me, I did not die from bombs, shelling, or bullets, but I was frequently wounded on the inside, and torn apart several times. The many scars that were embedded in my heart and the fear planted in my soul were still very present until quite recently. I decided to stay and work harder to regain my country's freedom, sovereignty, and independence. But I could not make any change! So, I ended up alongside thousands of others who left their homes with no return.

The book also tackles such issues as asylum crisis and immigration, national and cultural identity and belonging, human relations within geographical spheres, and freedom. It includes the challenges of living as an immigrant or refugee in the host country.