Silence is Death
Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian former militia which was allied with Israel during the civil war, openly condemned Hizbollah’s actions. “Those who carried out the operation, regardless of its success, have no right to hold the fate of the Lebanese people hostage to their own decisions,” he told reporters. “There are large number detained in Syrian jails but is it rational for us to carry out an abduction of Syrian troops and negotiate with them for the release of our detainees?”
So here we are again. Beirut int’l airport is disabled. The sea ports are under an Israeli naval blockade. The country is handicapped, the tourist season shot. For what?
The Lebanese are strong. We will rebuild and persevere. Just like we’ve done before. This is not a question of whether we can survive this, because that is a forgone conclusion. The question is why we are faced with this yet again. Why must we live in a constant state of readiness to rebuild? Can we draw a conclusion from the experiment that is Lebanon: coexistence is impossible? Is that the answer? Is it not possible for a nation to survive when it has more than one religion? Or is it just impossible for a nation to survive when a sizeable islamist element exists alongside a sizeable “moderate” one?
The country has a fragile unity that is being held in place by a few strands, so it’s only natural that Hizbullah (and Syria/Iran by proxy) are doing their best to destroy this. One could hope that this last act of unjustified violence will shatter the perception that God’s party does anything for the greater good of Lebanon, and that your average Joe (and more importantly, your average Ali) realizes that Hizbullah are terrorists who put themselves on a pedestal due to the religious nature of their leadership (and heaven forbid you criticize a religious figure) while carrying themselves no better than Al-qaida, the Taliban or any other blood-thirsty group.
Let’s hope the Israeli punishment is swift, and let’s hope that it results in an upheaval. Send the army to the south. Dismantle Hizbullah. Deal with the Palestinians. Arrest terrorists. Negotiate a peace treaty with Israel and let’s broaden this coexistence experiment to include Jews.
Or would it be simpler to just prepare for war?
July 13th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
If I would not have seen this, I would not have believed it- rational, reasonable and cogent observations on the current situation, coming from Lebanon.
The tragedy of Lebanon can be directly attributed to Yassir Arafat. In a not so subtle way, Lebanon has proved to be Arafat’s real legacy. Some day, sooner or later, the Palestinians will make peace with Israel.
The legacy of Arafat, Syria and Iran will remain a Lebanese reality long after that happens. Sadly, it will get worse before it gets better.
Hizbollah’s real enemy isn’t Israel. They have no intention of facing Israel head on.
Their real enemies lay in Beirut- a freely elected parliament and a Lebanese population determined to to establish a democratic government, one that resemles the pre civil war days.
Everyone ‘getting all’ is a Lebanese ‘Naqbah’ that Hizbollah cannot abide.
July 13th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
My last sentence should read,
“Everyone ‘getting along’ is a Lebanese ‘Naqbah’ that Hizbollah cannot abide.”
July 14th, 2006 at 7:50 am
hey, hope all ur family is ok. how are youdoing? i feel like im dying on the inside