It's a beautiful morning in Beirut.
At 6am, I heard loud explosions. The booming stopped within half an hour.
The night was quiet. It's quiet now.
My taxi is coming in from Syria. We'll see if I'm leaving.
The Irish are evacuating by bus through Syria.
There are still clouds on the horizon. Yesterday was particularly cloudy. The wind had changed, so all of the explosive powder and dust from the assault on Dahieh was in Beirut. Eyes, noses, and throats stung with irritation.
At first, we worried that it was gas, either the result of a chemical weapons attack or the result of a bomb vaporizing ammonia. The rumors that Israel used white phosphorus against villagers in the south heightened concern about a chemical attack.
We'll see what today brings.
I'll try to get pictures along the road.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
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68 comments:
I am an Israeli living in Jerusalem. I was a soldier in the IDF, like every other Israeli adult.
I can assure you that Israel has not used any type of chemical weapon against civilians. You may not understand Israel's motvation in this conflict, but it is certainly not to harm civilians. Every rational Israeli is deeply saddened by the Lebanese civilian casualties of this war. If there was a way to ensure Israel's long-term safety without harming a single Lebanese civilian, Israel would certainly choose this path.
Moreover, Israel is a democracy in the strongest sense of the word: if the army would even consider crossing the line between conventional and non-conventional warfare, the Israeli public would shut this war down in a minute. The heads of our state are well aware of this, and would never take this gamble.
good luck!!
Stay safe.
http://zozo2k3.blogspot.com/2006/07/syrian-bloggers-today-we-are-all.html
We can all end this war by returning the israeli soldiers back to israel.
You have the power to influence,
Shout "NO MORE" , no more terror in my country, we (both sides) are satiated with wars.
another reply from israel.
What will running away to Syria help you?
The Hizbullah isn't going anywhere unless you make it go away, and Israel isn't fighting you or your friends, Israel is fighting Hizbullah...
They are the ones who should run away, kick their sorrow asses out of your country, Lebanon is the gem of the Middle East, clean the black stain of terror of it already!
I am from Spain and I am looking this war like a invasion of israel country against lebanon. Israel needs to stop these genicides against lebanon and Palestin, in fact if we look for the definition of genocide, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) describe it in the Article 2 as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
Now,if we read this definition we can see that Israel is committing now the same genocide that their suffered in the second World war.
Shalom / Salam / Peace,
We are all want and pray for the same - Let's hope - that day will come for us soon.
I have made a tour on your site - no doube you have a beautiful country as Israel - Let's keep it this way.
The world would be a more peaceful place if Hizbullah would simply lay down their arms.
My Dear gentelmen from the North (I am from Kfar Saba, Israel)
I truely feel your sorrow. I truely understand the greef of seeing your beloved city being bombed.
but...
Have we really started this incident?
What would you suggest? what is do be done with people who only want to iniliate us?
Hi,
I just came across your blog, and was very sadden to read the demonizing image you have on Israel and Israelites. I understand what you are going trough and sympathize, but to think Israel wants to kill plain civilians is just playing dumb.
I think Israel dropped hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of tons of bombs over the past 5 days over Lebanon – If its intention was to kill civilians there would have been tens of thousands Lebanese casualties already. Furthermore, Israel missed the chance to kill Nasrallah himself, sparing the lives of many innocent people, by warning the population in Dahia (Hezbolla headquarters residence) to evacuate, 48 hours before the air attack.
Hizbulla on the other hand, is doing his best efforts to achieve maximum civilian casualties on our side. There were about 1500 missiles launched on civilian population in Israel – including main cities like Haifa, deliberately aimed for the rush hours, when many people are out in the street.
It’s true that the Hezzbolla missiles are less effective, but they still managed to kill about 15 people and injuring hundreds (including a grandmother and her 3 year old grandson sitting at home, in the city of Nahariya).
I feel very sad over every casualty on your side (especially when it comes to children – I can’t stand the thinking of something happening to my own baby boy).
You need to understand that most of the people in Israel are normal peace seeking people.
We didn’t start this war. We didn’t want it. But no one has the right to go over our boarders and kill and kidnap soldiers, while bombing civilians. I hope you can see that and understand that.
The enemy of Lebanon is the extremist and the fundamentalist groups within it, and not Israel.
Although the reason for going to this war was to return the security and stability to the Israeli citizens, many of us here feel that we are doing you (the Lebanese people) a great favor, by trying to kill this poisons snake, that overtook the control on your own country.
I wish I would be able to take my car, one day, and go skiing in Lebanon or for a summer vacation in Beirut, but that day looks far away now…
Guy
33 year old
Tel Aviv
May God's blessing's be upon you, and guide you safely on your way.
My heart grieves for democracy. The saddest aspect of this war is that the players being most affected should be friends. It is confusing when you discover yourself to be a friend of both sides. We in America suffered this seeming betrayal in our Civil War of the 19th century: brother fighting brother. It is hard now in the face of such horror to think of ever living in peace side by side again, but such is human nature that such things have happened before. May it yet be again.
Tonight, I will pray for peace.
my heart is with you,
take care
Alah esaa3dik! inshalla you will get through this!
A lot of you from Israel are telling him whats the use of getting out, well my family was in Lebanon in a residential area which is only filled with khaleejeyeen (gulf country residents) in the mountains. And it was hit by a bomb, you could claim that it was a mistake or another. But like you said Hezballah bombs are not as pontent as Israeli bombs. The Lebanese are getting killed by the hundreds at this point. As your general mentioned they will kill 10'000 lebanese for every one Israeli soldier that is killed. I wish no innocent people on either side of this war should be hurt, but Israel turned this into a full scale war and bombing Lebanon back to the stone age. They have rebuilt many times, but I feel the pain of the Lebanese people. They are a good people, and because they have no military strength to stop Hezballah or Israel they are forced to choose sides. And so some people are joining Hezballah just as many people join the IDF to protect Israel.
It seems that Israel is trying to isolate Lebanon, and try to take out who they want. But Israel is also playing the agenda of Bush. If Iran attacks Israel then that will open Iran to US attacks so then they will bomb their nuclear facilities so they will be non-existent.
The Lebanese are caught in this agenda. And I feel sorry for them, and I wish I could help them. I keep asking about my family who have just left Lebanon and other people who are in Lebanon that I know. They are a good people dont deserve this.
Please stay strong all of you in Lebanon and i hope this ends soon. My prayers are with you.
Marzouq,
I am another Israeli. I sympathize with your plight and that of much (but far from all) of the Lebanese people.
Lebanon is a pawn in Syria and Iran's hands. Their militia, Hizb'Allah, is solely to blame for everything Lebanon is now going through.
That being said, we here in Israel are not going to lie down and roll over every time some shmucks receive orders from Nasrallah to kill or kidnap Israelis. These are acts of war. If you don't want war, don't start one.
Obviously, Nasrallah wants war. Now you have the correct name (or 1 of many) to address your grievances to.
I'm all for a Lebanon run for and by Lebanese. Until that day comes, the thugs in control of your country will bring doom and gloom to both of our countries.
Regards from Jerusalem, Israel
Lebanon is suffering due to the deeds of the Hizbullah. Unless they lay down their arms immediately, the actions against them will only bring more sufferings to the Lebanese people, since the Hizbullah lives among the civillians, thus using them as a human shield.
All those posting from abroad haven't got the slightest clue about what's it's like to live in Israel, to be an Israeli and although they think they understand this complicated situation they truly don't.
I bet that no other country would tolerate being shelled endlessly from both of its borders.
And to the Spaniard, who posted a reply, I suggest you didn't compare ANYTHING to the Holocaust. During the Holocaust Jews were intentionaly killed and gassed. Now the war is against Hizbullah. War is Bitch and civillian casualties are a part of a war, but ther'es NO Intenoion to kill civillians.
It seems as the bombings in Madrid have taught you nothing....Well maybe if you had them everyday, your point of view would somehow changed....
May the IDF destroy the Hizbullah, and both Israelis and Lebanese could resume their everyday lives!
Bushmert doesn’t care about “collateral damages”: someone who enthusiastically destroyed Bagdad, the former capital of an empire stretching from Spain to India, won’t have second thoughts about razing a small Arab city-state with no oil to steal.
The Arab League and its Saudi and Egyptian “pillars” did nothing for Iraq in 2003, even though TeX-Aviv was then exclusively targeting their fellow Sunni Arabs…
Don’t expect the Wahhabi collaborators of Riyadh to lift a finger for Lebanon.
Three days ago, the house of Saud sent a crystal clear message to Bushmert- a man who appreciates “moral clarity” whatever that means:
“The massacre can continue. Please Sahib President, make sure Yahweh’s glorious air force destroys in priority the South, Beirut’s Dahiyehh, and the Beqaa valley. Allah blesses you. Saudi Arabia is your friend. You can always count on us. The Supreme Council of the Riyadh ‘Ulamas is praying day and night for your victory. We love you Mr. President. Allah loves you.”
Victorino, spoken like a true Muslim.
man... take care and remain safe.
looking forward to ur next post.
All this talk about "true Lebanese". Uhh, last I checked Hezbollah and its supporters ARE Lebanese, regardless of whether Syria and Lebanon are fanning the flames.
sorry, i meant "Syria and Iran" are fanning the flames
What is happening already in the world because Israel had the audacity to defend itseld is more hatred and polarization against the Jews and Israel.
They are only loved when they are defenseless,dead or just taking the hezbollah,hamas attacks in an extremely restrained fashion.
The world only has pity for dead Jews and they hate it when they go after their enemies.
Israel ,if only you were destroyed ,weak ,restrained,surrendering and dying by the millions ,the world would love you today.
LP could go back to his wine and cheese crackers and what was happeing to the Jews would not cause him to lose sleep.
That would be fine with him.
A twisted mind speaks about Israel using poison gas when he knows full well that it is his Syrian's who aim these missiles at Israel.
marcel:
Do not despair. World opinion is shifting (my own as well). The world is less and less inclined to buy the "victum" plea of these savages such as Hizbullah.
If things are so bad, I must wonder how is it possible to "take a taxi" from one country at war to one that is not?
Something does not compute here.
A few dozens of missiles just landed on Haifa an hour ago. A 3-story building collapsed.
We do not know where the missiles are going to land - they have no address on them, but one destination – killing as many Israelis as possible.
There is only one solution to this – bring Hezbolla to the ground and destroy them.
I hope no more civilians Lebanese would have to suffer in the proccess - you should go far away as possible from places they reside.
Lee McDaniel, perhaps you should read the very blog you're commenting on.
My Syrian taxi driver said three passengers on their way to Damascus were targeted by an Israeli missile and killed. He planned to use the very road they were on.
Yesterday, an American friend in a taxi was on the road when the Israelis struck it. She survived.
But of course it's very easy to justify collective punishment when you're not part of the group that's being punished. You can shake your head and think only about the bad people who deserve what they're getting, and that will make everything all right.
There is a difference between deliberate collective punishment and the tragic unintentional outcome of innocent civilians getting hits as a result of a full-scale war against a vicious enemy.
The bridges to Syria are used to fuel Hezbollah with more weapons and missiles, like the long range missiles that were shot on Haifa and Tiberius – that were “made in Syria” (not Iran) – FYI.
anonamous wrote ;But of course it's very easy to justify collective punishment when you're not part of the group that's being punished.
How blind and selfish of you to forget what your hezbolla his collectivly doing to Israel.
You reveal you hypocrisy anon
A result of this war will be
Israel tried and tried and tried restraint with their enemies.
And now ,Israel must fight.
There is a down side if you are a Jew defending himself.
The world hates this kind of Jew with a passion.
In the end the blame will fall on Israel and not the terrorists warmongers of Hamas and Hezbollah
The reverberations already being felt around the world because Israel had the audacity to defend itself is more hatred and polarization against the Jews and Israel.
The amoral soul's secret pray is ;
If only Israel were gone ,there would be peace and no war.
Jews are only loved when they are defenseless,dead or just taking the hezbollah,hamas attacks in an extremely restrained and defeatist fashion.
The world only has pity for dead Jews and they hate it when they go after their enemies.
Witness the memorials for dead holocausrt Jews in many countries and the somber paying of respects by the world community in their yearly phony pilgrimages to honor the dead Jew of Hitlers holocaust.
Israel ,if only you were destroyed ,weak ,restrained,surrendering and dying by the millions ,the world would love you today.
So many could go back to their vain pursuits and their wine and cheese crackers and what was happening to the Jews would not cause him to lose sleep.
That would be fine with them.
A Beirut blogger said he kind of 'supported' Israel,but is revealing his true heart now.
Sometimes it's takes war to bring out what is really in people's hearts.
It removes the facade and the lies behind the smiles.
His balanced? mind now speaks about Israel using poison gas when he knows full well that it is his Syrian's who aim these missiles at Israel.
This Lebanese Christian with his many Hezbollah friends plods his escape to Syria.
He's no longer on the fence about Israel ,the facade is removed and his true heart is revealed to all.
This goes for the many other flakes on the fence after Israel had the audacity to fight instead of steadily surrendering and retreating to the Satanic forces of Islam.
This is the first time that I have seen rational-minded and compassionate Israeli comments.
Lately, it has seemed that every commenter gives a "you got what you deserve" attitude.
We have to learn to accept the fact that both Israel and Lebanon will forever be neighbors..we must make peace..and cut out Lebanon's cancer, Hez.
I have visited all over the Bekaa valley: the rich,verdant west side,and the dry, desolate east side where Allah's Party lives. I was impressed by all the idle men standing in groups in public all day long casting suspicious glances at all the taxis going by. Now I know why they don't have to work! They are incredibly rich! They own these multi-million dollar rockets and launchers that they have magnanamously dedicated to the protection of Lebanon, or at least of themselves. It looks as if they have as many missiles as people so they must be very rich, indeed. They must be the party of Allah and Allah must be preparing a party for them,too. Allah wants them to come and visit him as soon as possible. The ground rules as to who gets to stay at Allah's party are not as clear. But their mullahs say that this should not be a problem, at least for the mullahs.
LP stay safe and keep me posted.
http://egyptianobserver.blogspot.com
dear lebanon.profile,
i wish to extend my empathy to you and to all lebanese civilians.
it's a tough call, this situation. i have very little doubts in my position with respect to the israeli palestinian conflict. i am a conscientious objector, having refused to serve in the west-bank and in gaza. but as to the current war in lebanon it's a tough call. you yourself have started somewhat sympathetic with the israeli attacks. i believe israel had no choice but to respond in a drastic way. it has to cause enough damage make sure that the consequences of hizbulla's attack would be intolerable to the lebanese, but not to cause to much damage, because then the lebanese public is sure to stop seeing the hizbulla attack and the israeli attacks as cause-and-effect. i am sorry if my logic seems cinical - i don't mean to be and i grieve for every innocent casuallty, on either side. i just don't see any other option for israel. the worst problem, i believe, is that israeli leadership would probably not know when to stop, and judging from your blog, they should have stopped already.
i hope this will all be over soon, and dream of a time when lebanon (and palestine) could be independant and democratic, and we could all live in peace.
many thanks for your blogging, and stay safe.
Marcel, what I see is a lot of Israelis justifying and excusing collective punishment inflicted on Lebanese people. And I'll say it again: I can understand why a person can be so filled up with hate and rage that he thinks there is no such thing as an innocent person. You've proven that you are one of these people by calling me a Hezbollah ally based on a two-line blog comment. In fact, I live in South America and have no feelings for either side of the conflict, except that I deplore attacks on civilians.
But think about it. You're convinced yourself that everyone who does not support the Israeli bombing raids is a Hezbollah plant. In my case you couldn't have been more wrong; in many other cases too. Right now your government is killing and wounding Lebanese adults and children who are no more allies of Hezbollah than I am. Can you truly conscience that? If you support the bombing you should be able to. You should not lie to yourself that there are no innocents.
LP, good luck getting to safety.
Just read something pretty amazing: two "leaders" recommend a "peacekeeping" force for Lebanon.
Um, what is a peacekeeping force? and how would it be relevant to Lebanon right now? Seems to me this is a new high (or low) in doublespeak.
Let's unpack this term. Commonly understood as a military detachment introduced into a "peace"-ful area to "keep" it that way. So, most first graders would understand that peaceful conditions must precede the introduction of peacekeepers.
Their (Tony Blair's and Kofi Annan's) use of the term peacekeeping just shows their living in some non-reality.
Good luck for your trip.
I'm praying for you all.
anonymous, that's Marcel. Wherever he posts, hatred pours out. The silly thing is that while for different underlying reasons, I agree with a fair portion of what he writes. But the absolute intolerance and invective that he spouts eliminates him in my mind as anything but an unhinged blabbermouth. I know, Marcel, I should either support you or just shut up since Israel gets enough bashing from the enemy... Tough shit, dude. I don't buy into false dichotomies or unhinged extremism. I can be supportive of Israel's actions right now and STILL think you're an idiot.
Ask the folks in Darfur and the Balkans what they think about UN peacekeepers. Actually, forget that... UNIFIL was already in S Lebanon, so just ask the Israelis. I've met a few of those guys over the years... Good people... But completely useless from a functional perspective.
ATTENTION LEBANON.PROFILE
Hey, just wanted to point out that your blog entries have some pretty extensive coverage in the Jerusalem Post. Here's the link:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150886026468&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
anonymous ,you jump on the same old global bandwagon.
v who hides his identity ,
You have nothing to say about the hatred of those you prostrate yourself before for love and affection ,the Islamic terrorists ?
And you accuse me of hate.
WAR ALWAYS BRINGS COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT.There is no such thing as a clean and surgical war.
The Lebenese suffer for their cursed Hezbollah which stain their land. Thats life ,and death
Your silence towards them and attack against me just prove the reason why Israel is in the condition it is in today.
Israel is in this pressent condition today becuse of the failed appeasment and retreat stupidity of those like yourself.
It's your perverted Peres Oslo clan who threw fellow Jews out of their homes to reward those who kill your children.
How much more demented can you get than this ?
You want the world to love you ,so you rush to make yourself kosher to them by attacking me .
There are many self loathing Jews
like yourself who apologize and beg for acceptance,forgiveness and understanding from anyone but the Holy One of Israel,
for having to fight for their survival against intolerant and hate filled moslems.
in order to feel 'mikvah' clean.
But you are filthy.
Your failed appeasment policy and rewarding of the enmey has brought Israel to where it is today.
Your arrogance turns into shame as you face the failure of those fools who rule over you to bring peace to Israel but war by their sick,failed,godless,evil,leftist ideologies.
Well, Marcel, I'll just reiterate that your enthusiasm for collective punishment dovetails nicely with your paranoia. I hope that you get some personal help with that.
I'm not Jewish, by the way.
Marcel, thank you for proving my point.
Marcel, shouldn't you be at the Boca pool club or playing canasta?
Last 3 posts .
Nothing to say about the part of satan under their leader Nasrallah ?
Even If you are not Jewish ,I needed to write what I did.
The land of Israel is full of ashamed and self loathing Jews who apologize for living to their killers and do every unimaginalbe insanity to be loved by those intent on destroying Israel.
Thank you very much for giving me the impetus.
It's always easier to bash someone who won't cut your head off or come and kill you afterwards.
Maybe if I do as the jihadists and threaten to cut your head off or blow you to pieces,you might love me more ?
Thats why there are so many cowards posting here under anon and taking issue with the truth and why Hezbollah took over Lebanon.The cowards and defeatists got tired of fighting evil and capitulated as the left has done in Israel,that is before the wimp Olmert woke up .Hopefully he won't go back to sleep too soon ?
But I have no doubt Israel in in for much more pain and suffering before that wake up and destroy those who without let up seek to destroy them.
i am an israeli who really do understand you, but we suffer from nassralla as well as you. i wish it overs, but it depends on your government
Just to show who is really calling the shots:
DAMASCUS, Syria — Iran's foreign minister said Monday that a cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners would be acceptable and fair in the Israeli-Lebanese conflict.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was speaking after talks with Syrian Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa.
"We believe that we should think of an acceptable and fair [deal] to resolve this," he said. "In fact, there can be a cease-fire followed by a prisoner swap."
So here you have the Iranian Foreign Minister in Syria dictating what would be acceptable ceasefire terms. I find that very interesting. Let there be no doubt about who is really in charge of Hezbollah.
israeli tv showed a clip recorded from one of the bombers ... israeli bomb hits hezbollah rocket launcher near beirut and a long range iranian rocket spins into the air ... they say this was this UFO which was originally thought to be a downed israeli plane ...
they also say double attempt to kill two hezbollah leaders .. in one of them a rocket fired from a warship into the window of a building in beirut
they say it was a freak accident ... the bomb fell close to the launcher ... hezbollah did nt attempt to shoot the rocket ... they are preparing launchers to get them closer to the south
an israeli analyst says - yes ... hezbollah goes on long range iranian missiles ... one of their last weapons they did nt use yet ... israelis are warned to be prepaired
This is apparently what he meant by 'maabaada maabaada haifa'.
Hi,
I am a French citizen and i feel really bad about what Israel is doing to your country.
The jews were given teh chance to build a country where they can live in peace however the only thing they are doing is spreading hate and war in the region.
The nation of Israel will be forever synonym to crimes, genocides, atrocities and terrorisms. I feel bad for the many peaceful israelis who are left hopeless trying to get their country respected worldwide.
A French citizen
30 years old,
Lyon
Who cares what the worthless french and their white flag of surender think.
You better go outside and make sure the young moslem terrorist's who run your country and whom Chirac caputilated to didn't firebomb you car.
A ex-frenchman ,too bad there are not enough ex-moslmes ,soon most of them will be dead moslems.
News from Islamic Caliphate of Berlin
However, more than 1,000 Lebanese and Palestinians staged an anti-Israeli protest at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Monday, police said.
A Reuters witness said demonstrators were chanting "death to Israel" and "death to Zionists", while some carried placards bearing the image of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Police said around 1,200 people took part in the protest at the German capital's famous landmark, not far from a major memorial to the millions of Jews killed in the Holocaust.
LP is missing,where is he
He was heading to the Syria border with Syrian secrete police disguised as a taxi driver.
I think he was picked up by secret police for being a tool of zionism ,a spy and summairly executed without a trail ?
We all know
thats the way vile moslems pracitice their justice.
Wow...
"The jews were given teh chance to build a country where they can live in peace however the only thing they are doing is spreading hate and war in the region.
The nation of Israel will be forever synonym to crimes, genocides, atrocities and terrorisms."
Where are you getting your information from? I don't believe that's accurate at all.
Lyon:
do not understand your reasoning, but rest assured Israel commands much more respect world wide than does France.
Why can,t the peace loving people that live in Lebanon force the enforcement of the UN resolution that required the disarmement of the hezbollah? Why can't the Army of Lebanon patrol the border with Israel? Why can't the Lebanese government help to return the Israeli soldiers? I am an American just following all of this and I believe the Hezbollah started all of this mess and the power lies with the Lebanese government to end this mess. What is so hard for Lebanon's PM to meet what the Israeli PM said is needed for a cease fire? People of Lebanon, have the fortitude to stand up to Hezbollah (including Syria and Iran) and take control of your beautiful country. Keep your young democracy going! Good Luck
LP - I hope you're allright....
Pitty you couldn't hold out a bit longer. I heard it's not gonna take more than a few days now....
Tse.
Lyon,
The nation of france will forever be remembered as a nation of thieving, untrustworthy, oportunistic, cut throat, self centered, cowardly, croissant eating anti-semites. Take a bath.
"What is so hard for Lebanon's PM to meet what the Israeli PM said is needed for a cease fire?"
because you have a large majority now in lebanon that are shiia and they are hard core against isreal (arab cause) they will destabilise the whole lebanon - remeber in may 1982 when bashir gemayel tried to sign a peace accord with isreal he fot killed and the syrian came in to lebanon to stop that. we're f*cked. (sorry)
BREAKING NEWS :
After a long illness and much suffering allah was pronounced dead at 4:23 am GMT.
An autopsy will be performed upon the carcass to determine the cause of death.
All jihad fighters can return home and get a real job to support their families.
The world can now finally get along and live in relative peace.
Thanks you for your information about people in Beirut. Be strong. I am sure the Israeli army will not attack areas they do not need to. Stay out of Hezbollah areas and you will be fine.
Take care,
Tal
Lebenese volunteer to fight with Israel against Hezbollah
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=6387
Salam
I have been following the Israeli assault on your country and Gaza since it really started taking off - my thoughts and prayers are with your people and all those who are civilians and are suffering so needlessly..
Holding out for you and in solidarity...
more news ... if u r interested to hear the news from israel ( i am israeli ) ...
olmert in knesset today ... the message is very simple ... he said i am paying for mistakes of barak and sharon with their policies of self restraint .. there is a sort of misunderstanding among hamas and hezbollah of what the real israeli responce can be ... very little can be done about this , he said , except by driving the message very strongly thru lebanon ...
lebanon ... he says .. demilitiarization of hezbollah ... lebanon army takes positions on the south ... hostages are returned without condition ...all fire stops ...
israeli analysts say olmerts message is to the international comminity ... he does nt see sanyora as a real leader .. he just says to the US and to the saudies - u want lebanons infrastructure safe , then come and disarm nasrallah ...
a particular message is to the saudies .. olmert says - i know how much u invested into lebanons reconstruction ... u dont want all those years go up in flames then get involved and restrain these hezbollah lunatics..
i have a question about one of your posts. you said that there seems to be a threat of sectarian violence on the brink of happening. is that something that was on the news? i have heard nothing, i wish you would elaborate a little. the war against israel is bad enough, but against eachother would be exactly what israel wants. and to the ex-idf soldier, i may live in the u.s., but not a redneck. to say that you are a democracy Moreover, "Israel is a democracy in the strongest sense of the word: if the army would even consider crossing the line between conventional and non-conventional warfare, the Israeli public would shut this war down in a minute". how much of a lie is this????? either you were not alive in 82, 93,96 or you think people are stupid. your country is the epitome of terrorism. remember when israel was being established? it was established with the blood of the palis.....ex: deir yassin. please save the bullshit.
iam in no way a supporter of nasrallah, but the israelis are getting what they deserve. the worst thing of this is, the civilians are always paying the dearest price.
again, thanks in advance on any specification of the "news" or info of the sectarian tensions.
peace to all
Hi,
we're holding a PRO PEACE rally in Toronto tomorrow (Across Eaton Center on Younge and Dundas at 7pm, 18th) to advocate peace, accountibility and an end to the violence. It would be great if you would link our effor to your Blog,
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5888/425/1600/TO_DEMO.gif
khalo l sawt ywadeh :)
Namaste,
Bodhi
It is apparent you are not a redneck. They have more sense than you. Peace in the middle east will be by controlling the radical fascists that want to destroy democracies! Keep your democracy Lebanon!
if returning two soldiers would end this, then it should be done as soon as possible.
we can not let our pride stand in the way of saving the country from this insanity unleashed by israel.
Maybe we should pettition hizb to realease them...
any ideas how this could be done?
Dear friend, you’ve just got another comment from Israel (I guess you’ve got several of them since yesterday when link to your blog was given in a popular news website).
To begin with, I must admit that I did not yet read all of your blog (though I do have intention to read it all later.
I have a lot of sympathy to you and to most Lebanese.
Sadly, I had to be honest and to write most Lebanese. I feel less comfortable with those people that do not know me and want nothing better than killing me.
Anyway, I do know (you may also hear the same voices from all Israelis) that Israel have no intentions of having a war with you nor happy to see Lebanon the way it looks though our screens these days.
From all I hear, Lebanon is a most beautiful place and your city have a unique charm reminds Tel Aviv in a way though I’ve never been there and I won’t full myself to ever be able to visit (not in the next three centuries anyway).
I wanted to hear your own point of view and opinion about the situation and to let you read a little from our point of view as well.
Your point of view would be clearer hopefully after reading your blog and you may also answer to me in your blog (and publish my comment if you wish).
Our Lebanon national tragedy starts somewhere in the summer of 1982. After the PLO was kicked out of Jordan (in ways that I won’t like to mention here but I’d only say that we Israelis were not too happy to see that and unlike our Palestinian friends, we were not happy and we did not dance on the roofs).
Anyway, Lebanon was perfect grassland for the PLO during the horrible civil war and any militant force was more then welcome by some groups and much less popular by others.
The terror from our northern border became impossible to live with. There was no state of Lebanon or a leadership we could complain to. Eventually, the government decided to go ahead with a 48 hours military operation in order to surprise the PLO, take initiate clean southern Lebanon from those who come to harm us and feel as wanted guests in a no man’s land.
The success of the 48 hours operation and the frustration of not being able to finish the job and go home led us to extend that operation more and more, deeper and deeper right into the honey trap of Lebanon.
The beginning was sweet and successful. The Israeli army was more than welcome by some Lebanese groups and I still remember the pictures of happy Lebanese throwing rise on the Israeli tanks (I was 12 Y/O at the time and that’s one of the few memories I have from those days).
By the time, every allies we’ve had expected us to fight their own fight and didn’t like our other allies. Every organization split to other organizations and before we knew it, the civil war was still far from ending but there was one common ground to all – everyone hated us.
Eventually, the Israeli army withdrew to what was called the security zone – instead of windrow to the international border, leaving the northern cities to the mercy of the katiusha rockets, the decision was to leave a narrow safety zone in order to let the front between the Israeli army (and it’s South Lebanon Army allay that we have established) and the terror organizations held away from the hinterland of Israel. There was nothing we wanted more than having a proper agreement that would enable us to complete a full withdrew back to the international border and providing a peaceful border between the state of Israel and its neighboring state of Lebanon.
BUT as you know, even when there was a government in Lebanon, it was actually controlled but the big Syrian brother that did not want to risk going to a war with Israel but did enjoy fighting Israel through the Hezbollah.
The voices calling for a complete withdrew from Lebanon become stronger and stronger though the dilemma of neglecting the northern territory of Israel to the Katiusha was still there.
Eventually, prim minister Ehud Barak took Israel out of the Lebanese mess in a one sided move. As a former Chief Of Staff, everyone trusted him to do it right and fulfill his promise and retaliate for any act of war from the Lebanese side.
One could exact that Hezbollah would even disarm as it’s existence and motivation was all based on it’s fight with it’s “Zionist enemy” but finding that terror organization with it’s flags in the border the next morning was not a surprise.
Hezbollah was more than pleased (kind of reminds me of a dog burking on a running car then fell happy as if it kicked the car away) but we had no problem with that fact. We believed that Hezbollah knows that any aggression of its side would not be tolerated. I should say here that in former events Hezbollah came to realize that there are red lines and since it’s sponsors army in Lebanon (Syria) was also bombed. We called it “understandings”. The Syrians and the Iranians could unleash Hezbollah whenever they chose to.
In the summer of 2000, Hezbollah attacked the northern border and kidnapped 3 Israeli soldiers
I call it “kidnapped” though we all know now that those three were killed next to the UN base by Hezbollah guerilla that used a UN car to reach the soldiers then opened fire – there is the video and the soldiers DNA found in that car.
So kidnapped??? Not really but we are not talking about humanitarian organization, state or anyone that see himself responsible for international law. Needless to say that even if the soldiers were alive Hezbollah would still not let red cross see them (not sure what you know about those rights).
Although Israel had any reason, justification and right to retaliate, the decision was to do what’s smart and not what’s right.
I’m not sure you would not agree with me that it was indeed the right to do at the time. After all, Syria was still there and forcing Syria then as those terrorists sponsor would lead to a much better result if it was done then with no need to bomb so much in Beirut and the linkage to Syria that it clear to you now was them obvious. Moreover, it could put an end to the Syrian regime in Lebanon already at 2000.
Knowing our different moral and value of human life, Nasralla knew that such action could lead to the swap and knowing the formula of dead body = hundreds of convicted prisoners and live soldier worth thousands of prisoners he even expected to get a terrorist that is sitting on murder of a whole family in Naharia (Samir Kuntar, a national hero).
While we value human life so much, the terrorists worship murderers of innocent people.
We both know that taking hostages or executing prisoners would lead to a major escalation but would work (it was done before by Britain and other democracies BUT that’s totally against our moral! And Nasralla knew it (not that he wouldn’t only gain from such a situation). Attacking the Syrian army in Lebanon and forcing international intervention back then was maybe a better solution that could harm Lebanon less.
Since then, there were several other clashes with Hezbollah as well as dead soldiers and kidnapping attempts over the years. Israel kept restraining to prevent bigger war and since the incident of 2000 the major attempts were to solve to problem in a diplomatic ways and even after UN resolution to move to Syrian army out of Lebanon and to disarm the armed militias in Lebanon and bring the Lebanese army to the border, Lebanon either didn’t want, didn’t care, couldn’t but anyway, Lebanon neglected it’s responsibility as a sovereign state and kept that time bomb that eventually blown up last week.
That was a brief history. Now, let’s come back to in events started a week ago.
After the last kidnap and given that international community demanded that Lebanon would disarm Hezbollah and post it’s army on the southern border, geven that Nasralla on his speech suggested that Israel would swap murderers again for those soldiers and then (has he was saying) they would continue to sit on the border of Lebanon and keep on kidnapping soldiers whenever they choose to…. My dear friend, I started by saying that I do have sympathy for you and for all Lebanese people but if you did read my comment so far, you would probably agree that enough is enough and though something had to be done. Hezbollah CAN NOT and would not sit on our northern border and fulfill it’s goals.
Now, we ask what can we do?????
The Lebanese government (Hezbollah is a legitimate member in the Lebanese parliament) announced that Lebanon had no intentions and therefore is not responsible… my dear friend, that I believe was a major mistake. Lebanon should have taken responsibility and disarm the Hezbollah time bomb even without the UN resolution as expected from any sovereign country.
Another thing we did hear is that Nasralla has promised the Lebanese government not to do something that would risk the important truism season in the summer (I must say that what makes me furious about it is that it’s saying in a way something like “your war is legitimate, you do when you need to but please choose the right timing for Lebanon).
Why didn’t the Lebanese government send its army to southern Lebanon???? That could be a good start and it could spare a lot of life.
Instead, the Lebanese army’s radar was used to guide the Iranian C802 missile that was launched towards the Israeli ship.
Now the right thing to do was to destroy every working radar prior to that act (now it’s an act of war from Lebanese army) according to every military’s doctrine – it’s an offensive act to lock a radar on anyone (I would also add here that the decision to not use the shield on that war ship was careless and irresponsible and we should both thank God that no catastrophe happened - I did say both cause we can only guess what kind of escalation that would not be good to any of the sides could lead to).
So… what can we do???
1. Restrain one more time? We could though I do believe it would not only be stupid and eventually lead to a much greater future escalation that is only a matter of time. We both remember the Lebanese announcement AFTER Israel’s warnings so don’t full yourself to think that Lebanon would send its army to the border for that gesture. And needless to say that no soldier would return that way.
Don’t get me wrong my friend, I do consider bombing the Hezbollah army posts while they are all out of there retaliation and not letting them come back – they would start shooting their rockets from far meaning you’ve got the same situation in a different scenario except for rightfully accusing the Lebanese government for waiting for that bomb to set off.
2. Declare a war against Lebanon? Frankly, I don’t think it’s smart, I don’t have any problem with you my friend nor with most Lebanese and I don’t think it would solve anything nor enable the two states to ever live peacefully side by side. It would kill a lot of innocent people and non of the above is desirable for both nations (might only be desirable by Syria and Iran that would gladly sacrifice you just to make they statement about Israel. Moreover, neither Israelis nor any minister would agree or consider such a thing).
3. Call for international help to solve that crisis? Its not going to help, the UN did have a resolution calling to disarm Hezbollah and reminded Lebanon every few moths with no success. Anyway it’s always worth trying (and saving human life by that but that’s just why we’ve been there before and tried that way before.
4. Holding Lebanese government responsible to the situation as a sovereign state is right by all means and demanding the immediate release of Israeli soldiers together with demanding that Lebanese army would be post in the southern border and the armed militia of Hezbollah would be disarmed is indeed the right thing to do and all Israelis supported that act. Okay, we do not full ourselves that prior to that Lebanese government and any intentions or power to confront Hezbollah but saying that the government of Lebanon did not know about that plan and therefore is not responsible is the wrong answer.
So now what? Israel could not restrain and wait for Hezbollah to get even stronger or wait for a next aggressiveness of Hezbollah. Still, even though the Lebanese government stupidly took to wrong decision, it does not mean that Israel need to declare a war with Lebanon. The campaign was against Hezbollah, hoping that Lebanese people and government would get to their senses and smoke Hezbollah out of their holes and send them to where they belong (we did know that Syria was not as popular as presented during their time in Beirut but Lebanon did need a trigger to do so and we did not think that Hezbollastan inside of Lebanon is welcome nor good for Lebanon in the long and short term and here is your trigger).
On my opinion, the first thing had to be done could be to disarm the radars and the antiaircraft weapons in Lebanon and every other thing that could risk the pains or ships and could lead to a bigger escalation.
Next thing is to neutralize the ticking bombs – the immediate risk to civil population in Israel by missiles were we do know they are hidden (even though many of them were hidden in residential houses in the Shia villages supporting Hezbollah. Then, warn civil population and destroy the Dahieh area or Beirut (though the war is against the Hezbollah leadership sited in Dahieh, I cannot call such highly populated area ticking bomb) and the infrastructure of Hezbollah.
Lebanese infrastructure??? It’s always sad to see the huge damage to the bridges airports and building (if you do not belong to El-Kaida but my mercy is saved for human life. I grief the loss of life of innocent people much more. I did not enjoy to see the huge damage but I did think that bombing bridges, airport runways to limit the transport ways of Hezbollah. Damaging infrastructures should also signal your government that it could and it had to do what expected from them if not before the incidents then at least after.
Again, seeing those pictures is not a pleasant scene of any of us Israelis. Unlike out Palestinian neighbors, such pictures do not make us dance on the roofs (I did not suggest that they danced seeing those damages but they did dance on 9/11, yesterday around a dead body of a soldier and in other occasions where human being is not programmed to be so happy and cheerful).
War is never a nice scene from the little I red so far in your blog I could get the impression that you are horrified, terrified and more that all, you feel hopeless in the middle of that impossible situation.
If its any comfort, life in north Beirut and away from Hezbollah guerilla is still safer than northern Israeli cities if only because you do know that you are not the target. While the Israeli army is trying to keep the innocent civil population out of the air strikes range, the terrorists from the other side of the border are trying to harm and terrorize civil population.
Don’t get me wrong, I do know that Israel is doing maximum efforts to avoid hurting innocent people but I do not full myself that with thousands of air strikes from kilometers above mistakes would happened and statistically talking, it would only get worse with the more that war continues.
I can only pray for the sake of both nations that Lebanese people and Lebanese government would come to their senses to start forcing Hezbollah out of south Lebanon and to disarm them. I cannot see that war continue while Lebanese are taking responsible actions such as that step.
I would like to read the rest of your blog now, I do hope you are here partly for that dialog. I do believe that dialog is the right way to solve problems and the only solution (though our dialog is not likely gonna solve a thing).
I am sorry if you don’t like that I’ve called you “my friend” over and over (sounds better than LEBANON.PROFILE. I do know that you might not like me to call you friend and friend might be the last thing I’ll ever be to you.
I am also sorry for commenting before reading everything you wrote. I only wanted to present my point of view before commenting to every single thing you wrote.
From what I red so far, I was happy to find someone reasonable intelligent and surprisingly balanced.
I only had to respond on that last post of yours talking about “phosphorus “ and “vaporizing ammonia “ well – I know its hard and I’m very sorry but we are NOT Iranians and that propaganda does not worth another remark. You know better than me who would spread such rumors and why.
Hope to hear from you here.
Your Zionist enemy friend
Arnon
America supports Israel! Drive Hezbollah out of Lebanon. Hopefully Syria and Iran will come to their end also before this is all over. Also, keep your eyes on Russia. We pray for Israel's victory!
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