A long way to go

“Do you think we will have peace in the Middle East soon?
No way…not before 50 years…maybe your sons’ kids will be living in a peaceful region if you are still living here”
This is what my sister told me today

She made me think...

The Arab-Israeli conflict is 60 years old…
Things have changed along these years…but to what extent?

Once we had one conflict in the region, nowadays we have several conflicts…
Once it was the Arab-Israeli conflict, nowadays we have the sunni-shiite conflict…
Once it was the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, nowadays we have the Al-Qaida conundrum…
Once Israel was a threat to the Arab world, nowadays we have Iran “the biggest threat” to the Arab world…

They divided us…Moderates and Extremists…”On which side are you”? They said to us…

Many are betting that the Iranian threat will force Israel and the Arab world into signing a peace treaty in order to form a strong defense shield…

How will the people deal with such a huge transformation in the relations between Israel and the Arab world?

How can a person that has been fed hatred towards the Israelis for 60 years be able to have “normal” relations?

How can a person that has been thought to fear the Arabs for 60 years be able to trust them?

What is happening on the internet, on the blogsphere, on facebook groups is only the beginning…

Signing a peace treaty will be the easiest step in the huge project called peacebuilding in the Middle East…

Dealing with people is harder than dealing with texts, terms and treaties…

Star on facebook

A star is born on facebook!!!

All of you that are on facebook, check the group "critical war" and SIGN in

After my contribution to peace in our beloved Middle East over the blogsphere, here comes the turn of facebook...

"Critical war" is the culmination of a great friendship that started a year ago between two peace activists who became peace partners with one goal: Using all means available to bring in peace between the people of the middle east

Mabrouk, Mazal Tov to the Middle East!!!

"Critical war" is born to live long

The Lisa Goldman Affair: Drinking Lebanese Coffee in Tel Aviv

We would have imagined all kind of controversial scenarios commemorating the 1 year anniversary of the Lebanon war except the Lisa Goldman scenario…

We could have expected seeing the politicians blaming each other for the war, for the consequences, for the UN resolutions…

We were expecting the Divine Victory theory versus the Disaster theory…

All these issues that we have been hearing since July 2006…

But the scoop was Lisa Goldman, the Canadian-born Israeli journalist who decided to commemorate the first anniversary of the war in her way…in Beirut…

Suddenly everybody forgot the Divine Victory, the disaster, and the sufferings of the Lebanese…
Everybody wanted to know how that Israeli journalist entered to Beirut (TWICE), prepared a report that was aired on the Israeli Channel 10 TV and left without any problem…

Hezbollah used the Lisa Goldman affair to attack the Seniora government forgetting that right after the war, the security apparatus of Hezbollah granted a pass to an Israeli journalist (with a foreign passport) to visit the security square in the Dahyia…
Short memory???!!!

So, the Lisa Goldman visit to Beirut…what an affair!!!

So much has been said since Channel 10 aired her report…

How do we qualify her act?

Courageous?
Dangerous?
Unethical?

Yes she broke the Lebanese Law (not allowing Israelis to enter to Lebanon)
Yes she lied about her identity, her work and the purpose of her visit
Yes she put innocent people’s lives in danger

But her act goes beyond these mere realities…

No, her act is not heroic…heroism in the Middle East is another connotation for death, for negativity, for intolerance…

Goldman’s visit was a leap into the future…a visionary visit…

A visit that gives the person a feeling of complete FREEDOM…

A visit that gives the person a feeling that everything is possible…that no borders, no laws, no hatred can stand for ever…

Drinking Café Najjar coffee in Tel Aviv…Eating Bamba in Beirut...

That is what the Lisa Goldman affair is about…

P.S. This is not a pro-Lisa post, it is a "enough suffering and wars in the Middle East" post

The Syrian Dilemma

Bashar Assad spoke today…

Good news or bad news!!! I don’t know but he didn’t mention the words Lebanon or Lebanese…

The exporter of terrorism across the borders was so confident, defiant and manipulative…so proud announcing that all the politicians and diplomats are passing by Damascus begging for solutions…

That is sick…

Negotiating with Bashar!!!!!! That is a huge dilemma…

Not negotiating puts the whole region in danger and especially Lebanon…

Negotiating with Bashar gives him legitimacy and gives him a bigger role in the region…

What does that say about the future of the region?

He calls for peace negotiations with Israel…Not even him believes in that!!!!

It is really a dilemma…but the mission of the Lebanese should be clear…whatever happens the Syrian regime shouldn’t be allowed to control Beirut again…

The Syrian mandate over Lebanon is over…forever…That is our BATTLE…

That is our holy war…

Generations

My grandmother and my 50 days old son...
My grandmother is the 2nd generation of Armenian Lebanese, my son is the 5th generation...

Neither my grandmother nor my son have lived in peace ...And the story goes on.......

Hero of the summer war: Peace

12 July 2006-14 August 2006: This was one of the strangest wars…

It started while there were no signs whatsoever about a potential war…

It started with no name…Was it a war or not? Was it the summer war? Was it the war of the bridges? Was it the war of the Katyushas? Was it the Lebanon war? Was it the Merkava versus the Katyusha war?

Whose war was it? Hezbollah or Israel? Iran or The US?

Which side won the war? Each side claiming victory…

Really a strange war…

However, the strangest of them all is the hero of this war…The nominations were diverse

And the winner was………………….

The hero of the summer war 2006: The blogsphere

While Hezbollah and the IDF were sending hatred messages, and spreading destruction along the borders; Lebanese and Israeli bloggers were sending support and sympathy messages to each other and above all spreading hope…

Lebanese and Israeli bloggers crossed the borders…they overcame the bitter reality of centuries…they broke all barriers and the most important is that they re-created the image of the enemy…

During 33 days, Lebanese and Israeli bloggers humanized the enemy…

During 33 days, Lebanese and Israeli bloggers set a new reality…

During 33 days, Lebanese and Israeli bloggers put the cornerstone of a new kind of relationship…

A relationship that we should invest in and take advantage of to re-invent peace in our region, to bring in a creative peace in the Middle East…

And as I always say, only a partnership between Beirut and Tel Aviv could bring peace, prosperity and democracy in the Middle East…

A year ago…peace was at its height…in Lebanon and Israel…

Roller Boy

Yes...I cant believe it...My son, my baby on rollers...This is his new hobby now...

et voila!!! a genoux...But nothing stops him...

Big Brother

The big brother in action... Marco feeding Ara...I wonder what is he thinking of...A terrorist act maybe? What can we do Marco is very jealous of the new comer...

Feeding the wolf

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

http://www.calpeacepower.org/0301/education.htm