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Bombing Milk Factories,
Grain Silos, Churches, Bridges, Lighthouses, Power Stations...
When
I Last Saw Lebanon
By GEORGE BISHARAT
It had always taken my breath away,
cresting the ridge from the Beka'a Valley, and descending toward
the sea, when I caught the first glimpse of the city of Beirut,
framed like a cluster of lustrous pearls against the stunning
blue of the Mediterranean. I had traveled that route many times,
while studying at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in
the early seventies, before the madness of the Lebanese civil
war made travel there imprudent.
Anything seemed possible in the Beirut of the seventies - one
could meet people from all over the world, buy books in any language,
swim in the sea in the morning, escape to the mountains and ski
in the afternoon. Newspapers reflected a dizzyingly wide range
of perspectives - freedom of the press was a vigorously practiced
reality. University students were immersed in politics, from
right-wing Lebanese nationalism to pan-Arab socialism, and everything
in between. Men and women dressed in traditional Arab clothing
and in the most avant-garde European fashions. Food was delectable,
always elegantly and generously presented. I joined a multinational
Chicago-style blues band that won a devoted following in and
around the AUB.
So my breath caught again, earlier this summer, as I approached
Beirut from Damascus with my family, returning to the city where
I had spent the most enjoyable year of my life.
Beirut had suffered a long, bleak period, but clearly was bouncing
back.
Just weeks ago I saw it pulsing
with life, entrepreneurial drive, and, at the time, World Cup
soccer mania. Germany has been particularly kind to Lebanese
political refugees. The night it defeated Argentina a riotous
party erupted in the city. Our blues band held a reunion concert
in AUB's lovely old chapel to endow a fund to support music at
the university, playing to an enthusiastic audience of mixed
nationalities and generations. We quaffed Lebanese wines that
rivaled those in my home state, California.
Just days after we flew back, all this vivacity was crushed,
as Israel brought its iron fist down on Lebanon. The blow had
been planned for at least a year, awaiting only the pretext of
Hizbullah's capture of two Israeli soldiers. Hizbullah seized
them to trade for Lebanese detainees that Israel had previously
refused to release. If Hizbullah indeed attacked inside Israel
- some reports initially located the skirmish in Lebanon - it
violated Israel's sovereignty, took Israeli lives, and committed
grave wrongs - but did nothing to justify the destruction of
a country.
Israel has bombed convoys of medical supplies along the very
highway we traveled and destroyed milk factories, grain silos,
power stations, the airport, the lighthouse, mosques, churches,
bridges, roads, urban residential neighborhoods, and villages.
It has killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and uprooted 500,000
to 700,000 from their homes. Qana, a Lebanese village where 106
civilians were killed in a 1996 Israeli artillery barrage, has
again been targeted. This time, the toll is 56, including 37
children.
Israel has a long history of violence against Arab civilians,
displacing or otherwise harming two million over sixty years,
according to Israeli journalist-historian Tom Segev. In 1948
Jewish troops terrorized 750,000 Palestinian Christians and Muslim
into flight. By their numbers and predominant ownership of land,
Palestinians were obstacles to establishing the Jewish state.
Six decades later, they are still resisting exile and subjugation.
Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, killing an estimated 18,000 civilians
- and ultimately giving birth to Hizbullah. In 2002, Israel pummeled
the West Bank, crippling the secular nationalist-led Palestinian
Authority - and aiding the rise of Islamist Hamas.
The long-term trend should be obvious: Israel's violence, no
matter the justification, fails to provide Israeli citizens with
a sense of security.
The Israeli army may beat back Hizbullah temporarily, only to
create more numerous and radicalized foes than before. Until
recently, Israel faced hostility in Lebanon mainly from Shi'a
Muslims, who suffered the most from Israel's lengthy occupation
of South Lebanon. Now it is earning the enmity of countless more
Lebanese, who, until two weeks ago, were happy to live in peace
with their neighbor.
I wish, one day, that Israeli Jews could crest that ridge, and
have their breaths taken away as the magic of Beirut unfolds
below them. But they will never see the full beauties of the
region they inhabit by dominating others militarily, and denying
equal rights to Palestinian Christians and Muslims.
Security in the Middle East
will only be achieved by respecting rights - to life, dignity,
a homeland, and security - for all.
George Bisharat is a professor of law at Hastings College
of the Law in San Francisco, and writes frequently on the Middle
East.
Now
Available
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case
Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
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