more from lebanon

before i begin, i have some commentary.

american broadcast media is heavily slanted in favor of israel. completely irrespective of your personal or political views, it is vital to recognize the existence of other perspectives and be aware of what they are. it is additionally important to note that taking a non-israeli perspective is not necessarily anti-israel. in 2001, bush warned other countries and organizations that they're "either with us, or with the terrorists." that's bullshit. the arab-israeli conflict, like the war on terror, should be painted in grayscale, not black and white.

in any case, by virtue of their bias and the erroneous reputation that lebanon has among many, if not most, americans as a bombed-out terrorist haven, broadcast media is essentially ignoring the voices of lebanese people. since these people are the ones who have taken the most intense hit from this violence, doing so is a tragic oversight.

please spread the word.

***

from ilham:

"Most of the Lebanese cities are being bombed by Israel and hezbollah wants to continue through an open war!! People in Lebanon are divided into two parts; shee3a [shi'a] are for sure with what hezbollah is doing; however, the lebanese government doesn't agree with both hezbollah actions and those of israeli assassinations too! I can't understand why those people doesn't want Peace!
Hope everything would settle down soon.."

from other people on lara's facebook wall. she is from damascus and lived in my dorm this semester. she is taking summer classes at aub:

"[translation] seriously, we r all in dorms...like...i go out sometimes...small risks...lol u know...but don't worry we can hear the bombs now...aaa"

"dima should be on the way to safety tomorrow...i hope they would be able to get to syria. im in bekaa now, relatively safe."

"just wanted to let you know my thoughts and prayers are with you all the time. I tried calling you but it's impossible. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!! It's crazy what's going on and don't worry, I'll be a diplomat soon and kick everyone's A$$ ;) "

"explosions or no explosions lebanon still is the best!"

"wish im in syria now too or just anywhere away from here. its so fuckin scary being here because of all what's going on =S "

[from a few hours before the violence began]
"heyhey buddy my summer is good though kinda low-key compared to being in beirut but whatever its relaxing...hows ur summer been? uve been in beirut, havent u..u lucky girl :D "

from nizar:

"8.52 AM
so i just woke up.
Electricity has been gone for 2 days now. Thank God i live in a decent building with 3 generators. I actually had a good night of sleep. our bomb shelter is full of strangers (people from the neighbourhood) but we didn't go down. we thought we'd use it if we heard anything outside but we didnt even hear any planes. i just turned the tv on, nothing in beirut or the suburbs, but the south of Lebanon is being destroyed.My mom just asked me to pack for the mountains, i dont need to cuz i did it yesterday for the shelter.it looks sooo nice outside, the sea is soooo blue and the sky is sooo clear! i can see it from my window, i dont wanna go to the village right now, beirut looks so beautiful and quiet... abnormally quiet actually, but it's so peaceful. i just took a picture of the sea. It's weird, but i'm actually falling in love with beirut more and more, eventhough i can't wait to find a way back to montreal.shit, i can hear a plane... i hope it's just observation.as i said before, i dont have any internet in the village, but i'll be taking a notebook and writing everything down, i'll type it here when i'm back, probably on monday or tomorrow night if beirut is safe.
Some of you pointed out that the US and Canada were going to evacuate their citizens from lebanon, well i'm canadian for those of you who don't know, we're gonna stop by the canadian embassy on the way to the village and put our names there.

who knew my summer would turn into such an adventure."