What are we celebrating exactly?

It’s a little bit surreal to follow the jubilation of the Lebanese in response to the “victory” of the Lebanese army in Nahr el-Bared.To recap: out of nowhere on May 19, the Saniora government decided to fight an “Islamist terrorist group” by the name of Fatah al-Islam, unheard of to most of us prior to the confrontation. Accused of a bank robbery and eventually of an attack on a checkpoint, the government sent about 3,000 poorly-equipped soldiers to fight the militants. Consequently, the whole country was swept by a wave of nationalism; shared even by those living abroad. Innocently enough, nationalism began to be displayed by unifying actions such as collecting donations for the injured soldiers, adding a flower next to one’s display name on messengers, turning on the lights on the balcony at a certain time and the signing of a Lebanese flag in order to honor the soldiers that have died and show support for those who are still in combat.Typical war profiteering followed and was expressed by singers like Assi al-Hilani who filmed a video clip in military attire, and by those who stamped the army logo/slogan on their billboard/advertisement in hopes that their product would become more profitable (some banks are even offering credit cards with a military camouflage design).

“Tislam ya Asskar Lebnan” TV spot

However, soon after, national support turned into blatant racism, general indifference to the plight of the Palestinians (nothing new), and shameless displays of hatred. A benign example of that was the Facebook groups that started to mushroom in order to discuss a deep disgust with Palestinians who “allowed” this to happen and how they should ALL be slaughtered (in fact, a majority of the militants caught are not Palestinian but rather Saudi, Syrian, Pakistani, Algerian, Iraqi, Tunisian and yes, Lebanese).

It never ceases to surprise me how the all-mighty human rights are sacred when it comes to the Lebanese, but how the concept becomes unheard off when it comes to others. Why did it not matter when the Palestinian refugees were collectively punished? How come there has been very little concern for the civilians killed during the combat? How come it didn’t seem to matter that over 30,000 innocent (yes, innocent!) Palestinian refugees were about to become refugees again and again? When the same was happening to Lebanese civilians last summer, we (well, not all of us of course) were outraged, but as the wave of this “war on terrorism” takes a hold of a country, critical thinking seems to be the first victim.

Sadly, democracy and all that it entails such as freedom of the press, that was held on a silver plate during the war with Israel, didn’t mean squat to the Lebanese government or people in this scenario. Journalists were not even allowed to film from any area near the fighting. And when peaceful demonstrators held a sit-in at the southern checkpoint of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, soldiers harassed them, took away their banners and criticized the Lebanese citizens involved by brandishing them as unpatriotic (anyone see a pattern here on how to effectively shut people up?)

May those Red Cross volunteers, soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in vain rest in peace

During the fighting, the US placed Fatah al-Islam on its terrorist list and Georges Khoury, the head of the army’s intelligence service, recently reiterated the claim that the Islamists confessed that they have links to Al-Qaida (and Syria of course). Not surprising since every single terrorist group these days, anywhere in the world, is linked to Al-Qaida. And as usual, the opposition had to take part in the blame game and claimed that Fatah al-Islam was funded by the Sunnis, and Harriri nonetheless, in order to deter and oppose the Shias’ rising power. [Another supporter of this theory, linking the US and the Sunnis in this conspiracy].

But why did the government send 163 young soldiers to their death in that camp? Why is no one asking what the real motives were in this battle against Fatah al-Islam? Isn’t the flag-waving part over yet?

And why did it take 3 months of fighting to gain control of the refugee camp that is legally part of the Lebanese territory? Isn’t time to let the army “control” ALL of Lebanon and completely get rid of the 1969 Cairo Agreement?

And while Saniora promised to rebuild the camp that is mostly destroyed now, Palestinian refugees face an uncertain future once again and a very bleak chance of living like their fellow human beings.

Naher el-Bared

Seems to me that integrating Palestinian refugees into Lebanese society and dismantling these states within-a-state the most sensible solution to this problem. Of course, this is only possible in a secular state, but, hey, we can all dream, can’t we?

Visit:

- The Naher el-Bared relief campaign if you would like to help.
- Lebanon support for activities, alerts and human right reports.

“Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s minds and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead”.

Ahlan ya watan!

The Lebanese Army finally made it to the south! Now, they may not be as powerful as the IDF or as gruesome as the Hizballah guerrilla fighters, and people may call them weak, but it’s a great day for Southern Lebanon and its residents.


No yellow, orange, green or blue flags here! These men will only wave around the Lebanese flag and hopefully they can contage the rest of us and help us get rid of the other ones, but specially the yellow one. Southern Lebanon has seen many foreign troops come and go, has welcomed the blue helmets and has unfortunately hosted some sadistic local ones like the SLA, so this “historic” event is a great opportunity to dismantle this “state within a state.”

Granted, the army’s history has not always been so bright, specially during the civil war, but it has remained neutral in the past decade and committed itself to the country. I guess if it’s absolutely necessary for a country to have an army (and it’s not), I would pick this one any day over the ones our neighbors shamefully put on display.