Living near to one of the few places in the US with the largest Arab-American populations one hears a lot about what goes on in the Middle East. The bombings in Beirut made it big here in Michigan due in part to the large Lebanese population in the Dearborne and Detroit area. They're enough that the local news defaults to having to cover it, and then it gets more coverage because the local Lebanese leadership begins talking about it and iterating why it's really rather important.

On the local NPR station too they were talking about it. Contrary to common belief about the region, Beirut has often been an island of stability in a currently insane place. Beirut was one of the more accesible cities in the Syria area prior to the civil war and even through it. For it to be targeted and for its prevailing tourism industry to put the city under threat like it has actually threatens Lebanon a lot more than Paris' attack does to France.