Lebanon paid its dues

I would like to thank all the Arab governments that are sending humanitarian aids to Lebanon.

I would like to thank all my friends from all over the Arab world and elsewhere for their support.

I would like to thank all the Arabs that went on the streets and protested against the IDF’s aggression.

However, I do not want to thank all those who expressed their wish to come to Lebanon and fight side by side with Hezbollah against the IDF.

We do not want to be the battlefield of a long awaiting Arab victory over Israel.

We do not want to be the ones to cure the Arabs from their defeats.

We do not want to fight for ever Israel so that the Arabs feel less guilty.

Once, I heard Mahmoud Abbas say to the Arabs LEAVE US ALONE, LET US DEAL WITH ISRAEL THE WAY WE FEEL IT RIGHT

Now, I say to the Arabs and Iran (yesterday, I heard an Iranian Sheikh on LBC with Shada Omar stating that Iran will always support Islamic and Arab causes):
LEAVE US ALONE; DEAL WITH YOUR DEFEATISM YOURSELF.

We have paid our dues regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Lina and Leah in Ceuta (part 1)

Since the start of the war 3 weeks ago, I have been thinking a lot about the future of the relationship between Lebanon and Israel. I am not talking about the Israeli government and the Lebanese government; I am talking about the PEOPLE.
Sometimes we forget that Lebanon and Israel are countries with populations.
I have decided to create a series of encounters between a Lebanese imaginary character that I will name Lina and an Israeli imaginary character that I will name Leah.

Today Lina and Leah meet for the first time by coincidence (you know that Lebanese are not allowed to talk to Israelis???!!!) in a remote country. What will happen between them? What will they say to each other? Will they enter into a fight or will they find common points?

Lina (to herself): Oh no!!! an Israeli in the neighborhood, I should avoid her. I don’t want to be in trouble with the government back home if they catch me talking with her. Look what they did to some many Miss Lebanon that were caught taking pictures with Miss Israel, even though I have a lot to tell her. I want to tell her that the almighty politics that they are using and imposing on everybody in the region is only harming Israel’s image. We want to live in peace, but Israel is always missing the opportunity. What shall I do? Shall I go and talk to her? NOOO…avoid her, avoid her.

Leah (to herself): Oh a Lebanese… this is my chance to tell her that not all Israelis agree with the IDF and the government in its policies towards the Palestinians and the Lebanese. And this is my chance to tell her that we want to live in peace with all of the Arabs but they want to throw us to the sea. We can not accept that. We have to defend ourselves. They told me not to talk to her or approach her, but why they refuse to talk to us, aren't we human beings? How can they treat us like that? Oh I am so angry.

Will Lina and Leah spend the week without talking to each other? Who will make the first move?

See you tomorrow with the adventures of Lina and Leah in Ceuta

Despair

The Israeli army committed a massacre in Qana this morning killing more than 30 children… now many of the angry and frustrated Lebanese are destroying the ESCWA building in downtown Beirut.

Why the ESCWA? People don’t you get it? The UN is a victim like you.

Hatred and violence can only lead to more hatred and violence.

Now Hezbollah is threatening that the Qana massacre will not pass unpunished… Great!!! So what, they will hit Tel Aviv? They will make things worse… Then the Israeli army will retaliate and so on….

To Ms Rice

Ms Rice,

Welcome again to the region...
While you were having your coffee this morning in Jerusalem, children in Qana were being massacred.. I am sure by now, you have heard the news.

Please Ms Rice, if you will comment on this "sad event" show a little bit of empathy, we dont want your fake sympathy with the families of victims.

Please dont repeat the Israeli excuse that Hezbollah fighters were hiding in the building that was destroyed on the heads of little kids.

Please if you cant show empathy just ignore the massacre, it will be easier for us.

Please Ms Rice, think of the future, dont let us live in bitterness, unable to forgive the Israeli miliraty atrocities.

Qana again

What to say, what to do?
Another massacre in Qana… It is so sad so sad so sad to see all this children dead taken away by the Red Cross.
Why? Why all this killing? WHY?
Why all this hatred?
where are we heading?
ENOUGH, no one in the world deserves all this.
I am fed up with the Israeli military cruelty.
I am fed up with Hezbollah's militarism.
Enough is enough

My son and the war

Yesterday I woke up tired, sad and drained. I sat on the balcony trying to enjoy my morning coffee. My 3 years old son came to me he wanted to play; I sent him to my sisters. He came back to me and asked me why I was sad.
I looked at him and did not know what to say. How can I explain to my little boy what is happening in the country?

Where do I start from? 1948? 1956? 1969? 1973? 1975? 1982? 1996? 2000?

Whom to blame? Israel? Palestinians? The Arabs? The US? Syria? Iran? The Lebanese government? Hezbollah?

I took him in my arms and told him that I was missing his dad ( I havent seen him for 4 days because he was staying in Beirut for his work while we were hiding in the mountain).
“Mommy come lets watch Tiji” (french cartoon channel)... I thought that was the best remedy for the day; to switch off from the bitter news of the war...

Yesterday I spent the whole day watching the cartoon channel with my son.

Sadly Funny… Ironic

I was watching the news on CNN, they were covering the Rome conference. The anchor was wondering how the participants were expecting the meeting to be successful when the two main actors (Hezbollah and Israel) were absent.
The reporter answered that it was quite known that Mr Seniora, the Lebanese Prime Minster was speaking on behalf of Hezbollah, while Ms Rice, the US Secretary of State was the spokesperson for Israel.
It was so funny to hear that. What a war!
They say this is an Iranian-Syrian war against Israel, while Iranians and Syrians are sitting peacefully in their houses.
They say Israel is fighting Hezbollah, and wants to destroy its infra structure, while we see that the IDF planes are destroying Lebanon’s infra structure.
The Lebanese government is representing Hezbollah; the US is representing Israel; Hezbollah is representing Iran and Syria.
What kind of a war is this!!!
I wish somebody else was representing the Lebanese population, I wish somebody else was suffering instead of the Lebanese people.
I wish somebody else was suffering instead of the Israeli civilians.
It seems that only the sufferings of the innocents on both sides are genuine in this war.

Lebanon will rise again

Yesterday I went out for dinner!!! Wow what an extraordinary event.
Two weeks ago my friends and I used to fight over where to go out for dinner; shall we go to downtown, or Jounieh, or to the mountains or to the South, or to the North? Shall we eat seafood or "steak et salade" or we go for something light?
Yesterday, we were fighting if it was safe to go out or not.
We went to a restaurant in the mountains (in a safe area). The Israeli airplanes were flying very low... however, with every fighter fly, the manager of the restaurant was putting the music louder. I found it a very symbolic act, an act of resistance against war and death. I looked around; people were having dinner, discussing the war, looking worried (by the sound of the airplanes) but defying death, refusing to bend.
It was then that I realized that the Lebanese people is strong.

LET THE ISRAELI PLANES DESTROY THE WHOLE COUNTRY,
LET THE IDF FIGHT THE HEZBOLLAH DAY AND NIGHT,
LET THE AMERICANS AND THE BRITISH SUPPORT ISRAEL
LET THE WHOLE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DENY A CEASE-FIRE
LET THE LEBANESE KIDS DIE BY THE GIFTS SENT BY THE ISRAELI KIDS
LET THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT WIDEN THE GAP BETWEEN ITS PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
LET ISRAEL TEACH THE WHOLE MIDDLE EAST HATE AND VIOLENCE

LEBANON WILL RISE AGAIN
LEBANON WILL BE BUILT AGAIN
LEBANESE WILL NEVER DIE,
LEBANESE ADORE LIFE, THEY REFUSE TO SURRENDER TO HATRED AND VIOLENCE,
LEBANESE ARE PASSIONATE OF LIFE, THEY WILL PREVAIL
LEBANESE ARE EXCEPTIONAL AND NO FORCE (NUCLEAR OR ELSE) IN THE WORLD CAN BREAK THEM

WE WILL SURVIVE THIS TOO.... WE WILL NEVER DIE

Rice in Beirut

Secretary of State Rice is in Beirut, her fisrt stop in the region to find a solution to the newest crisis.
Why did she decide to visit Lebanon first?
What will Secretary Rice propose to Mr Seniora and Mr Berri?
What will Lebanon receive in return for its accepting to disarm Hezbollah?
If the Israelis are unable to destroy Hezbollah's infra structure within the coming weeks, how long will the war last?
Is Israel ready to stop the war before destroying and weakening Hezbollah? If so, who will be in charge of disarming Hezbollah?
Will Syria be given that role? Will that mean that Syria will be back to Lebanon?
What will happen after Hezbollah is disarmed?
Will Lebanon start its own peace negotiations with Israel?

So many questions and where can we find the answers? In Washington, in Jerusalem, in Damascus, in Tehran, or in Beirut?
Let's wait and see...

In the meantime, let's welcome Ms Rice in the Middle East...and wish her good luck in her "mission impossible".

open letter to sayyed Hasan Nasrallah

Dear Sayyed Nasrallah,

Two days ago my husband, my 3 years old son and I had to leave our house and go find a safer place to protect ourselves. You might say so what more than 750,000 Lebanese have become IDPs. Yes, that is true. However, I am paying the price of a war that I havent chosen.
Sorry to tell you that Sayyed Hasan but I am very much disappointed.
I always admired Hezbollah for being a corrupt free party, I supported Hezbollah's fight to liberate the occupied territories until May 2000, I understood Hezbollah's attitude and position after the death of the late prime minister Rafic Hariri, I was optimistic to see Hezbollah participating in the national dialogue and calming down the Christians and Sunnis of any delusional Shia attack on them.
But today, I am unable to admire, to support, to understand and to be optimistic.
Today, I am angry and I feel duped.
Sayyed Hasan you said that Hezbollah's arm will never be used against the Lebanese, I believed you. But your act has destroyed Lebanon... Isn't it the same?
For a while, I believed that your Lebanese agenda prevailed and you started networking with your Lebanese allies to strengthen the relationship among the different sects of Lebanon.
What has happened? Why all this is happening now?
I am writing this message to you and the Israeli fighters are flying over my head.
My son is asking me why he is not going to the nursery; he is asking me about his friends. What can I tell him?
Sayyed Hasan, can you tell me when can I return to my home and sleep in my bed?

Peace in the Middle East, HAHAHA

The stupidest job you can have in the Middle East is the kind of work that I am involved in. I am a trainer and consultant on Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding. What a contradiction. How on earth did I end up doing these things?
How can I work in something that I have never experienced? What kind of peace training am I conducting? What is Peace? Where is Peace? Why do we seek for Peace in this region?
Peace is not attractive, peace is not lucrative.
Peace is a boring romantic movie.
Peace has become an empty word... it is the foolish dream of naive people like me.
I should start looking for another job.

hezbollah-Israel nightmare continues

A week ago my two sisters arrived to Beirut from France; they came to spend the summer in Beirut. The airport was full of people waiting for their relatives from all over the world. Six planes from Istambul, Frankfurt, Prague, Bahrain, Paris and Kuwait had landed with enthusiast, smiling Lebanese and foreigners.
Today, the airport is destroyed. Lebanese are stuck in the country and foreigners are being evacuated. No more smiles, no more vacation.
The destruction is unbelievable, in less than a week, Lebanon has been destroyed. It is so painful to watch your country being destroyed. So depressing to think that we paid so much money to rebuild the country after 15 years of war; we put so much energy to stand on our feet again (as we say in Arabic) and we believed so much in our power as a tourism country; a country that has the charm of the Orient and the technology of the West, a mysterious mix.
There is no more mystery, there is no more charm, there is no more technology.
There is the sound of planes flying all over Lebanon, there is the sound of bombs hitting PEOPLE, buildings, bridges...., there is the sound of sirens, there is the sound of people crying, mourning their loss.....
Welcome to Beirut, have a nice summer vacation!!!!

Israeli aggression or self-defense

The neverending story in the Middle East... Once again Hizballah attacks Israel and the Israeli military replies on a wide scale and decides to punish all the Lebanese.
It is not the first aggression on both sides; however will it be the last?
Two scenarios are being discussed among the Lebanese so-called analysts.
One scenario is that Israel is being very aggressive and determined to reply to the Hizballah military operation on a wide scale in order to send the message that the "soldiers' abduction" strategy will not soften the Israelis and it will not break the mentality of the Defense Army neither against Hizballah nor Hamas. But at the end of the day, the Israelis will negotiate with Hizballah.
The second scenario goes on a different direction. The Israeli Defense Army will not stop its agression until it destroys Hizballah. The Islamic Resistance's operation was a great opportunity to Israel to get rid of its Lebanese enemy instead of waiting for the Lebanese themselves to come up with a solution to disarm Hizballah.
The Israeli plan is to weaken Hizballah, and destroy its leadership and afterwards negotiate with the Lebanese government on a peace settlement.
I am writing this paragraph and I am hearing the blasts from my room. How will this new wave of violence end this time? Only the coming days hold the answer to this one million dollar question.