An Israeli Blogger In Beirut

Lisa Goldman, a well known Israeli blogger, came to Beirut this year…Twice:

I traveled to Beirut together with a friend who, like me, is an Israeli citizen with a second passport. We were both terribly nervous about getting through Lebanese customs: we had spent the final hours before our flight carefully cutting out any Hebrew labels from our clothes, and we left our Israeli passports, ID cards and mobile phones with a friend in Amman… [..] But I needn’t have worried: the Lebanese customs official smiled at me warmly, stamped my passport, wished me a pleasant stay and informed me that I could extend my one month visa without leaving the country.

Apparently, she had a good time (she even shot a video and took photos):

My experiences over that week caused me to develop a sort of unrequited affection for Beirut. Unrequited, because Beirut is the capital of a state that is at war with my country, Israel, so technically speaking, my presence there was illegal. That meant that I had to hide my nationality from all but a very few, trusted friends.

That was an interesting read, check it out, but also make sure to see the photos she took.

**update**

Make sure you check out this FPM forum’s comment on her visit:

do those people condemning this journalist and her TV station prefer that all Israelis hear about Lebanon is “Kheezbolaahhh” and “terrorism”? Let them know and see that we are decent people who want to live in peace and with valid wishes and desires, and valid conditions that we are asking Israel to respect. Such reports in Lebanon in my opinion are more likely to be positive in the sense of fostering mutual understanding, and pull the rug out from under the hawks in both camps who try their hardest to focus only on eternal confrontation rather than dialogue and understanding.

Coming from a Hezbollah “ally”, that made for quite a chuckle…