Do you know what this is? This is the Grand Hotel in Sawfar, Mt. Lebanon. At one point, early in the 20th century, this one was probably the most fancy and luxurious hotel in the Middle East, favored by the colonialists and their puppet leaders in the Middle East. Up until WWII, Arab leaders would gather here. In Amin Rihani's book Qalb Lubnan (Heart of Lebanon), which describes his travels in Lebanon in 1907, there is a whole chapter (Al-Qasr Al-Munif) on this hotel, and the casino inside. Rihani was kicked out of the hotel because he did not look elegant enough. And look at the Hotel now. Is this a symbol of the falsity of Lebanonese glory?