Up North

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.