Attempting to answer some of the tough moral questions the Lebanese are facing.

Just because the questions come from Israel and the US doesn’t mean that they are not legitimate. Some questions are very valid, but some are downright ridiculous. Still, I will try answering the important ones.

Q: This one is from Brett, New Jersey, In the US:
Is there anything Israel could do short of completely pulling out of the Middle East that would soothe tensions between it and Lebanon?

A: The reason we are skeptical of Israel here, is because many people are threatened by a chest-thumping power-mongering neighbor. People here very much believe that Hezbollah is the product of Israeli aggression and not vice versa.
Israel has never tried any long-term trust building measures, (like for instance the unilateral hand of peace India handed Pakistan a few years ago.) It always gave us reasons to be skeptical of its intentions (continuous air raids even in peace times). Israel believes that its security lies in military superiority. This advantage is now dead. So it urgently needs to find long-term solutions, by keeping its “anti-terror” operations gradual and long term, and adding a “soft power” component (think IRA)

Q. This question keeps showing up in the comments section of this blog:
Hezbollah started this. Doesn’t Israel have the right to defend itself?

A: Think Zidane.
The world cup hero fell from grace because he head-butted his Italian opponent. There is no doubt that the Italian player “started” this, but zidane’s reaction, like Israel’s, is simply outrageous and repelled even his most ardent of supporters.
Because of this, most Lebanese now believe that the Israeli plans to bomb our country, our Army, our infrastructure and our innocent children were just waiting for an excuse, like the kidnapping of two soldiers.

Q: Another common question:
What if this was the other way around. What if Hezbollah rockets killed Israeli babies?

A: I don’t get it, babies are babies and children are children. Israelis are human after all and we, and the international community, mourn the loss of all innocent human life equally. But you’re right, there’s a catch: Many Hezbollah supporters don’t see you as humans and propagate this message aggressively. If the random bombing continues, other Lebanese will start thinking the same way too.

Q: Israel doesn’t target civilians, Hezbollah does. Doesn’t that make Israel morally superior?

A: People here look at results. For every bit of shattered glass in Haifa, there’s a dead Lebanese civilian. Besides, a lot of Lebanese doubt that you are too blind to see clearly marked civilian targets, like ambulances and UN-posts. We honestly believe that you pretend these to be mistakes, while secretely intending to terrorize us into submission. One word: It won’t happen

Q: Lebanese believe that the Jews want to control the world and the media.

A: the 10% who believe this and swear by Aljazeera are not a threat. Unless your actions make their believes more mainstream.

Moral Clarity: Israel is the enemy

Whenever Israel loses militarily, it likes to take it on powerless babies. It couldn’t defeat a bunch of guerrillas in a couple of small towns with its “mighty” army, so it decided to take the cowardly route.

They want to “teach us a lesson” by bombing a clear civilian target with women and handicapped babies in Qana. So far, 30 babies are dead in this all-too-familiar massacre, and some are stuck in the rubbles because Israelis refused to allow humanitarian assistance to reach Southern towns.

To Israelis: Before believing your IDF’s bullshit about Hezbollah hiding in that building, try just for a minute to imagine yourself stuck under a ton of rubbles, alive, but not being able to move because the beasts next door refuse to allow cranes to come and remove the rubbles. I’m sure you’d rather die a much quicker death!

You lack all sense of human and moral decency. You teach your children to write love letters on bombs and missiles that are eventually sent to kill other children. You are and you’ll always be my enemy.

A word to Condoleezza Rice: I would rather die before I see the day we shake hands with those monsters.

Can this man: (Lebanese Interior Minister)

Take on this man? (International Terrorist)

Let’s hope so, because this can seriously mess things up.

There are signs that the Lebanese Government and Hezbollah are beginning to disengage.

When Aljazeera’s website covered the Rome conference yesterday, it ignored the presence of the Lebanese Prime Minister and headlined: “The Rome Conference began without the representation of either Hezbollah or Israel”. In other words, Hezbollah and the Lebanese Government are becoming publicly independent bodies.

The Prime Minister asked in Rome for the world to help Lebanon take control of its borders (code language for disarming Hezbollah); that public position was unheard of before this war began. A coy Mohammad Raad (a Hezbollah MP) retorted on TV this morning that Mr. Seniora was speaking his “personal opinion”. It is unclear what will become of the “bargaining chip” (the two Israeli soldiers) that Hezbollah had supposedly handed the Government.

Hezbollah’s supporters are waging an aggressive campaign to discredit other Lebanese as Zionist and American stooges.

Why? Because while the Lebanese are not “rising against Hezbollah,” they are clearly engaged in a conspiracy of silence. Politicians are denouncing Israeli aggression against innocent civilians, against the Army, and against our infrastructure. But no mainstream politician or writer has so far publicly denounced the bombing of Hezbollah’s weaponry.

There is even talk of Nassrallah feeling stabbed in the back. Some are saying, sarcastically, that the Sunnis are as angry with Israel over the bombing of Hezbollah, as the Shiaas were angry at Syria over Hariri’s killing.

It is unclear how events will unfold in the coming days, but the divorce between Hezbollah and the rest of the Lebanese means that depending on the outcome of this war, Hezbollah will either become much stronger and bully the Lebanese government, or much weaker as an unarmed political party.

I was asked to relay this message:

A Gathering For Unity & Support

You are Cordially invited to attend an open house to show unity and solidarity and to support the humanitarian relief efforts for Lebanon in this national crisis.

Date & Time:Monday July 31,2006 from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m.
Place Residence of the Embassy of Lebanon 2841 McGill Terrace N.W. Washington, DC 20008

This is the event’s official website

Found on the streets of Tripoli (North Lebanon):

For non Arabic Speakers: This paper has the format of a typical funeral announcement. It mourns the loss of “The Conscience of Arab Leaders”. A funeral announcement usually includes the names of the deceased’s family members. In this case, the father is George W. Bush. The brothers of course are Sharon, Barak, Netanyehu and Olmert…

To understand the complexity of the Lebanese social fabric, read Jad Mouawwad’s excellent piece in the New York Times on the Lebanese youth.

It provides a great insight into the minds of the Lebanese. It is also a good read for the Lebanese who can’t understand why a 23 year old woman with a masters degree supports Hezbollah.

The Israelis have just bombed a very picturesque place.

I usually spend summer in Ehden, where the above picture is taken. The picture also shows the latest target of Israeli bombing: The Aito tower. We thought Ehden was safe and we were thinking of moving there.

Now we’re thinking again

The Israeli actions now have a real impact on Northern Lebanon.

I’m writing this article from an internet cafe. I don’t have a spell checker here, so excuse myEnglish. I’m writing from here because my satelite internet connection is no longer working. My connection suddenly died after I heard a very loud noise outside.

In my sitting room, LBC (a popular Lebanese TV station) was turned on. The KABOOM shut it off. I switched the dial. Aljazeera is still on. The Israelis have bombed strategic locations with large broadcasting Antennas for various local TV stations. They also bombed mobile phone stations. I no longer have reception. Neither does anyone else in Tripoli.

The Landlines are still working. My fiance called. Is launch still on? she asks. Yes, we’ll just go instead to a nearby restaurant. She calls again. “My friends are not comming anymore. They’re afraid”. We had arranged for this get-together a week ago. She wanted to introduce me to her friends. Now they can’t come. They’re scared to leave home. The streets in Tripoli are empty.

Still, we went to the restaurant tete-a-tete. we sat inside, away from the large glass walls. We were afraid they might break and splinter in the event another bombing happened. It wasn’t difficult to chose a seat. We were the only people in the restaurant.

Things are very sketchy around here. Uncertainty is ripe. The only words of encouragement came from the smiley waiter:

“Don’t worry,” he said, “we, the Lebanese, we’re like that. We get scared for a few hours, then we adapt. The restaurant will be full again in no time”

I hope he’s right.

The Lebanese Defense Minister has invented a new concept: the suicide army…

There’s a general consensus here that the Minister of Defense’s statement that the Lebanese Army will fight alongside Hezbollah in the case of a ground invation, is at best a mistake and at worst an insanity.

Dispatching the Lebanese army to fight will transform this war into a conventional war where Israelis have an upper (way upper) hand. It will convert our armed forces (who will eventually hold the peace) into sitting ducks. It will also give an excuse for the Israelis to bomb all of Lebanon, since this would become a country-vs-country war.

Your Excellency, please keep your opinions to yourself!