WASHINGTON — On April 28, 1978, President Jimmy Carter planted a Lebanese cedar on the South Lawn of the White House to mark Arbor Day, a gesture intended to reflect the deep-rooted ties between the United States and Lebanon.
According to the U.S. National Park Service, the cedar symbolizes “the qualities of strength, beauty, and peace that characterize Lebanon.” An archival photograph published by the agency shows Carter holding a shovel as he plants the young tree, then standing roughly three meters (10 feet) tall.
The symbolism was striking even then. The tree was planted as Lebanon was mired in civil war, only months after Israel launched a major incursion into southern Lebanon in what it called Operation Litani, aimed at pushing Palestinian militants north of the Litani River.
Today, another Lebanese president has returned to the White House. The cedar planted nearly five decades ago has grown tall, its branches full and healthy. Lebanon, meanwhile, is once again trying to emerge from a devastating war, seeking to recover from another cycle of destruction.
History has repeated itself in remarkable fashion. 48 years after the 1978 invasion, Israeli forces again entered southern Lebanon, this time with the stated objective of driving Hezbollah fighters north of the Litani River and dismantling the group’s military presence.
Israel’s 1982 invasion, which extended as far as Beirut, succeeded in expelling fighters from the Palestine Liberation Organization, along with its leader, Yasser Arafat, from Lebanon.
Yet the broader question of armed attacks against Israel launched from southern Lebanon remained unresolved. Even after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah carried out a cross-border raid in 2006 that captured Israeli soldiers, triggering a 33-day war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group.
The pattern resurfaced after Hezbollah opened what it described as a support front for Gaza one day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The confrontation ultimately drew Hezbollah—and Lebanon—into two devastating wars, ending with Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Lebanon as what Israel describes as a security buffer zone inside Lebanese territory.
Throughout those decades of political upheaval, armed conflict and repeated economic collapse in Lebanon, the cedar at the White House continued to grow stronger and greener, standing alongside dozens of trees planted by American presidents over the years. Among them are three trees planted by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump during his two terms: a magnolia, a red maple and an American white oak.
For Lebanon, the cedar is more than a tree. It is the country’s national emblem, displayed prominently on its flag and celebrated in the national anthem as a symbol of glory and endurance. During his recent meeting with President Donald Trump, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun wore a tie bearing the cedar emblem.
Whether Aoun had the opportunity to visit the tree Carter planted nearly half a century ago is unknown. But its presence on the White House grounds captures a powerful irony: a Lebanese cedar has flourished abroad, while the country whose identity it represents has continued to move from one war to the next, searching each time for another chance at survival.
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
