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the board members in the past and several had our telephone numbers - so a lapse in our posts resulted in SMSs and phone calls. Moreover, when I mentioned that I had been in a nearby town that day to buy DVDs but couldn't find any, my mailbox was soon filled with them - sent from people throughout the world. (Mail to Lebanon had been suspended for the duration of the fighting, so no one could send anything to BEYFlyer, although many wanted to do.)

The war ended, but not the friendship. We are still not allowed into each other's country, but we swore to meet in person in some third country. Our different schedules made that difficult but we finally did get together for three days in Boca Raton, Florida, this October. We were joined there by 50 people who had posted to the thread (or just followed it). Some were long time members of the bulletin board, others "newbies" who had learned about it from the MSNBC or other media articles. They flew there not only from various parts of America but also Europe and even New Zealand.

The Meet lasted three days but, for me, the crucial point was that first time I was able to shake BEYFlyer's hand. We then had a short ceremony in which 8 of us drank from small metal wine cups I had brought from Israel to toast "shalom" and "salaam" (the Hebrew and Arabic words for "peace"). Each person kept his cup to remember that evening but BEYFlyer and I gave ours away - we knew we would never need any memento to keep that night fresh in our hearts.

Learn more about this author, Josh Wilde.
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