A 26-metre statue of Jesus Christ has been unveiled in the Lebanese border village of Al-Qaa, overlooking the Syrian frontier, in what its creator described as a message of peace at a time of escalating conflict across the region, local social media reported on March 17.
The statue arrives as Lebanon endures its worst violence since the 2006 war with Israel, with more than 850 people killed and over one million displaced since Israeli forces opened a new front against Hezbollah on March 2.
The project was designed and built by local resident Fadi Elyas Awad. The structure comprises a 16-metre figure of Christ mounted on a 10-metre base.
Awad told Russian media that the idea had long existed but had taken on special significance given the current circumstances.
Al-Qaa sits in the northern Bekaa Valley in the immediate vicinity of the Syrian border. The village is one of the oldest centres of Christianity in the region, with a population predominantly made up of Maronite and Greek Catholic communities.
Several ancient churches and monasteries dot the surrounding area. Christian settlements in eastern Lebanon form a chain of small enclaves.
Around 40 such villages and towns are scattered across the Bekaa Valley and neighbouring Hermel district, though the wider region is predominantly home to Lebanon’s Shia Muslim community, which has had good relations with Christian communities.
The Bekaa Valley has seen increased military activity since the conflict began, with Israeli forces conducting operations in southern and eastern Lebanon and attempting helicopter-borne landings in mountainous border terrain.
Separately, plans were announced on March 12 for the construction of a Russian Orthodox church in Abu Dhabi, to be consecrated in honour of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.
The church will fall under the jurisdiction of the Antiochian Patriarchate, the first such project in the UAE capital.
