evidence: I have been to the Lebanese village of al-Qasr on the border with Syria at the invitation of members of the Ja’afar clan. The atmosphere in the area is generally quiet and daily life mostly proceeds as normal. Some tents housing Syrian refugees can be found, while Syrians and Lebanese traverse both sides of the border on a daily basis. Though Syrians coming to Lebanon now officially require a visa, some leeway is granted in this area: for instance, some Syrians come to al-Qasr to sell bread at lower prices than purchased from Lebanese vendors. Some residents of al-Qasr might go to Syria for the day to buy food products for the similar reason of lower prices.