18 July 2006

This is just to say.

It would pretty much suck to be living in Beirut right about now.

Lebanon itself has been a joke of a nation for at least 30 years, ever since the civil war that began in the mid 1970's -- except the joke isn't very funny. Syria and Israel have both rejected Lebanon's status as a sovereign nation by occupying large chunks of it for extended periods of time, while Iran plays occupation via proxy in its funding of Hezbollah.

I try to avoid talking about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in large part because it's an endless debate that has apologists for Israel defending massive collective punishment of largely innocent Palestinians (and now Lebanese) for the deeds of a relatively few paramilitary groups, while apologists for the Palestinians find themselves defending suicide bomb attacks on dangerous targets like civilian buses and fast food restaurants. In other words, the atrocities are all around.

I know that last paragraph is a cop out. I know I'm not taking a stand here. To be quite honest, I don't have the energy right now for that fight. All I'm saying right now is that it sure would suck to live in Beirut.

7 comments:

Washington Cube said...

These issues go so far back in historical meaning, what can you say without it sounding hollow and lacking gravitas. I still hear fighter jets over my home during their periodic training exercises, following 9/11, and every time, I wonder what it is like for people in other parts of the world, where that sound means they are in imminent danger.

mysterygirl! said...

It would definitely suck to be in Lebanon right now. And I ate the plums in the icebox.

Blue Dog Art said...

I don't think it is a cop out, it is an endless debate.

Reya Mellicker said...

I wish more people were willing to put aside the argument over whose fault it is, and put more energy into making it stop right now. But you're right - Beirut and Haifa would be awful cities to live in right now.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald said...

Thank God we have a strong leader in George Bush.

cs said...

Cube: If globalization has taught us anything, it should be that we are no longer isolated from our actions across the world.

mystergirl!: no doubt they were so sweet and so cold.

blue dog: endless or not, at some point one will have to argue for the relative worth of one side or another.

Reya: Beirut, Haifa, the whole damn region. It's a constant tension.

PJF: I wish you'd hurry up and incarcerate his ass.

m.a. said...

Oh. Dear. Lebanon.