An anonymous donor of Lebanese-Jewish extraction, now living in New York, is funding the restoration of the Jewish cemetery in the city of Sidon. Tamar Pileggi writes:
The cemetery is located on the outskirts of the coastal city and is home to over 300 tombs scattered over 20,000 square meters, with some dating back to the 18th century. . . . Nagi Zeidan, a Lebanese Christian historian writing a book on the Jews of Lebanon, says he is leading restoration efforts on the donor’s behalf. . . .
According to Zeidan, the cemetery first fell into disrepair during the country’s fifteen-year civil war, when fighting gripped the southern coastal area. . . . He says the last known burial at the Sidon cemetery is dated 1985. . . . The community numbered more than 1,000 in 1956. . . . Jews left Lebanon steadily for Israel, Brazil, Europe, and the United States, but the community’s real exodus began after the 1967 Six-Day War.
Read more on Times of Israel: http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-lebanese-expat-funding-sidon-cemetery-makeover/