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Saturday, July 15, 2006
10:10 AM
i just received an email from a friend of mine who is living and studying arabic in beirut. it appears, as she just figured out herself a few days ago, that she is living in the middle of a serious conflict between israel and lebanon that started when lebanese Hezbollah fighters based in southern Lebanon captured two Israeli soldiers on wednesday.
what ensued, however, from the israeli side, has been hugely disproportionate to the lebanese seize. the israelis have set air raids across southern Lebanon, and have destroyed the runways and terminals with bombs at Beirut's international airport, forcing the airport to close. it looks like there is no way out. there have been over 50 lebanese casualties. but Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has now promised an "open war" against Israel after his offices in Beirut were bombed yesterday. so its escalating, and creating an unstable and dangerous future in beirut.
it looks like the un security council has been meeting and opposing the israeli reaction, as well as expressing concern over the loss of civilian life. both france's Chirac and russia's putin have requested the bombardments END. and then there is mr. bush, who, with every single move he makes, infuriates the world. he urges israel to limit casualties, but says nothing about stopping the attack. go figure. the one good point of the us and israel's love relationship that is very clear to me right now is that my dear friend is living across from the American University of Beirut, which makes it a safe place. the israelis will not touch anything american.
i am worried about my friend, but she is a strong girl. her e-mail was really poignant in so many ways. here's an excerpt:
'I suppose one of the advantages of Lebanon's notoriously unreliable electricity is that everyone has generators. When I walked outside this morning you would hardly guess that nobody had land power, except for the loud hum of generators emanating from every building. Business as usual, I suppose. The Lebanese have lived through a lot of conflict and no one is too quick to give up. People are quietly going about their lives, buying candles, food supplies, charging up their phones with credit, and buying reserves of their favourite cosmetics in case of shortages. Everyone wants to be prepared, but no one is ready to give up their Gucci heels just yet. Some businesses are closed, but many are operating just like they always would. One problem is that tons of people are not showing up for work, even when their offices are open. Lots of people are talking about packing up their families and heading for mountains, and some have already headed out to bunker down. Most Beirutis are staying in town, but aren't going out too much. I am particularly amazed by the resilience of the 'fashionistas' and 'playas' of this town. Although most people are opting for quiet nights these days, you still can't hold back the Lebanese ladies from getting decked out in their finest or tell some of these dudes that it isn't the right time to show-off your new Hummer. To be fair, most of them have taken it down a notch, with the girls strutting within the confines of their neighbourhoods and the guys harassing me from cars parked street-side. You have to adapt, I guess.
Most of the tourists and ex-pats looked pretty lost this afternoon, wandering around Hamra with their luggage. People have been getting very mixed messages from their embassies, from the news, and from their loved ones. I think the best thing for most of us is to listen to our intuition, especially those of us who have been here a while, because we probably have fairly good instincts about this. We hear the bomb blasts happening in the suburbs (right at this moment, actually), we know the conflict is serious, we know the NGO and UN staff are talking about leaving, we see the journalists scrambling and squealing like little piglets fighting for teats, we know the beaches and clubs are quiet and we know that summer in Beirut is over before it really started. Liza Manelli and Sean Paul have cancelled their concerts, for god's sake.'
so here's to my friend. i send you love and strength and power right now. i hope that the un security council will make some waves, and fast. and i meditate for you and your safety.
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