In July of 2006, I spent many nights up listening to bombs go off. Everyday that passed I would feel more and more helpless and yet my hate for what Israel would only increase. We couldn’t leave our homes, The airport was blocked off, and Hizbullah we thought would be our own way out. Though I never was a Hizbulllah supporter, never agreed with their views, at that time I respected them for standing up to those who were invading.
Today David has become Goliath, Hizbullah no longer points its guns at israel in order to Defend Lebanon, instead they have turned their guns on their own people. And as the days pass the death toll rises, and hate grows. They have taken human life and have taken the right of the other side to even speak, by closing down pro-gov’t Future TV. Freedom is lost.
I came across this video of Noha, a Beirut resident, who is now a prisoner in her own home care of the recent fighting, and invasion of Beirut. Her video moved me cause she reminded me of what I went through during the July 2006 Israel war on Lebanon. Israel 2006 = Hizbullah 2008.
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Everybody should watch that video.
You know, I can identify a lot of the weapon systems being used there, and it’s unnerving to me. I can only imagine what it must feel like to someone who has no idea.
It’s a nightmare and you can see that she is just trying to keep her composure.
The fear of looters and riots is disturbing also. “Get the fuck out,” is right.
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Yes but it’s cyclic. Every group gets people to believe they’re liberators and freedom fighters only to turn on its own supporters with a real lack of reason.
So who’s more to blame? The group or the people who support it only to fall under its tyranny a few years later?
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First you panic, your basic fight or flight responses are triggered… you sweat, you shake…
Then, with a huge lump in your throat and an aching sickness in your belly, you try to calm yourself…
you drink, you smoke, you reach for any visceral distraction available… you speak of this not being your destiny… you rationalize… black humor enters the conversation…
You get nothing done… you life becomes sitting and waiting for the hammer to fall… waiting for news, but hounded by rumor… you are frozen in time… and most terrifying, after a while, eventually you get used to it… you grow numb… you accept the most horrifyingly abnormal things as mere happenstance…
And finally, your eyes take on a thousand mile stare…
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What Roy El Saghir describes is adaptation at its worst. But, by Nature, not everyone is that adaptable.
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“they have turned their guns on their own people” .. that’s just reiterating the “March 14 Forces’” viewpoint:
Quoting helz:
(quote from the article you linked to).
I could easily offer this explanation:
Quoting helz:
(same article you linked to).
it’s all about a viewpoint. of course the March 14 Forces and Geagea are gonna say that; they have always been rivals of Nasrallah and Aoun. it’s all a complex and intricate cycle of politics, and when one event errupts, it gets a broad stroke view of one incident and ignores the long-winding complexities involved and up to that one incident.
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General Michel Aoun is an opportunistic shithead who aligns himself according to the prevailing winds…
I would trust him or anything he has to say about as far as I can throw a cheescake underwater…
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Roy, you said it. I don’t know if Helz realized that Aoun was living in France after Syria took over Lebanon in the 90’s and only came back after the Cedar revolution. That at the beginning he was anti Syrian but when he wasn’t considered as a candidate for presidency he turned on the government and joined forces with his earlier enemies (Syria). Aoun will do anything and align himself with whomever offers him presidency. He doesn’t care about the Lebanese, he only cares about his own egotistical self.
Hizbullah and Aoun kept on claiming that March 14 forces had militias, this was proven to be wrong. Hizbullah faced almost no resistance. For those claiming that March 14 had arms and that signifies they did have militias, they have to realize that almost every home in Lebanon has arms. However, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Hizbullah made the decision to use force. March 14 decided not to use force and instead has surrendered what weapons they have to the army. In the end I pray that peace prevails.
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I kept an eye out for more videos by Noha today… she is safe and with her family. What a moving video posting, thank you for passing it on!
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That video should be on the US Network news, uncut. That young lady has got the “right stuff”.
I could hear AK47 rounds, Soviet .51 (outgoing it seems) Rpg’s, rockets (multiple) and maybe even a couple tank rounds. And she was alone!!!!!???? Wqw…..
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It wasn’t until I moved to Portland, OR and was welcomed by the Lebanese community here that the realities of what were going on in that part of the world were brought to my immediate attention. I now have friends who were on some of the last planes to get out of the airport before the attacks on Beirut in 2006. My co-workers boyfriend’s sister lost her husband and 5 children that same year, she was at the store getting groceries. Their house was caught in the crossfire of something explosive.
I grew up very sheltered and was not exposed to many cultures outside of my Norwegian-American upbringing. The Lebanese here in Portland have been my portal into an entirely different world. They have been kind and welcoming and excited to teach me everything about their culture and they’ve done it all with open arms. It truly pains me to see these things happening to my new friends and their families.
That girl, Noha, is very composed despite what is going on around her, her strength is more than impressive.
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thank you for sharing this.
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Quoting Samar Mazloum:
Aoun was in France because he was forced into exile.
It is your viewpoint that he cares about his own egotistical self, however others view the opposite in that he cares for the truth, justice, and stability of lebanon.
it’s all about viewpoint and where your sympathies and support lies.
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why are my comments always stuck in moderation ??
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also, consider this as a good historical overview to better understand what’s happening now…
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/22416/26/
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Quoting Roy El Saghir:
Don’t call him an “opportunistic shithead” just because some time long ago he was able to secure support from left, right and center. He is an old man who tried to get his power back and it just didn’t happen for him. There is a short overview of elections here http://www.beirutbeltway.com/beirutbeltway/2006/11/michel_aoun_the.html
You should go visit his web site - precious! There is a link to Aoun songs.
Helz, that historic overview is “slanted” to the point of becoming a propoganda material, I should know, I caught the dusk of communism :)
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When he was appointed as Prime Minister to ensure that neither normal government nor future elections were interrupted, he instead launched a military campaign for “independence” that had no chance of succeeding. He effectively voluntarily handed over control of Lebanon to Syria, then fled the country as he didn’t personally want to be part of any in-country resistance. Others might call it “exile”, and it certainly is by definition, but I wouldn’t grant him the personal, ideological, and political dignity that that word is supposed to convey.
Now he’s turned his back on the very principles of the Cedar Revolution that “allowed” him to return in the first place. After handing over the country to Syria almost two decades ago, he comes back and allies himself with pro-Syria and pro-Iran groups? He supports unlawful action that threatens civilians’ lives and limits the power of democratically elected officials whom he opposes? He’s allowing an extremist religious terror group to be the de facto absolute power of the country, when he has forever protested that the the governmental identity should be a secular one, simply because Hezbollah (previously) enjoyed widespread support? He’s calling the government corrupt, even though he supports the only real corruption that’s been going on, which is Hezbollah’s targeted compromising of military and security personnel to conduct illegal and dangerously self-serving espionage and communications, all the while talking about overthrowing the government and reiterating how much “support” he has?
He wants to be President, and he doesn’t care who he has to side with, what they believe in, nor what they have to do to topple the current establishment and give him the opportunity to lead the country - a position he somewhat held before, which lead to him royally fucking the place up. He has ruined Lebanon in the past, he’s doing it now, and he will do it again in the future, all acceptable costs to him to get what he wants.
If that isn’t being an opportunistic shithead, what is?
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I quite agree with your summary Arecibo, but I think his beginnings deserve a closer examination. Exile or not? He did ask for asylum. At the beginnings he was supposedly well respected both in the army and by civilians for good treatment of detainees. What is his agenda with Hezbollah - he was brought up in Christian household?
In the end, the state of Lebanon when he is on the scene certainly does not show any love or respect for the people or the country.
What is interesting is that one of the articles I had read on him applied the phrase “David becomes Goliath” to him at the time when he was appointed prime minister.
In the end, I just wish for the people of Lebanon and of the Middle East (and the rest of the World ) to have the freedom from conflicts both military and domestic.
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An entry on tayyar.org’s very own site I found with the Internet Archive, as it’s been completely removed since then. This is from September of 2002:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070126071254/http://www.tayyar.org/files/gma2/aoun120902_CPN.htm
Quoting Arecibo:
This flies in the face of everything he says now.
From an article titled “Aoun Defends Hezbollah Network and Arms”:
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=41022
Quoting Arecibo:
From his May 9th address:
Quoting Arecibo:
Yes, Aoun, thank God that Hezbollah, an organization that is apparently “100% controlled by Syria”, a country whom you maintained was the main factor in keeping Lebanon from independence, a country whom you waged war against and similarly waged war against you, is keeping Lebanon on the path to independence and transparency.
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Quoting vika:
I know that I’ve read many interviews where, on a personal level, he doesn’t differentiate between people of different religions. Then again, I’ve read interviews where he blasts Syria, now fawns over them. Ideologically, I don’t really know why he’s allied with Hezbollah in the least. He supposedly stands for secular government. They supposedly stand for an Islamic state, though only if chosen by the people - even though they have de facto control of much of the country, have had no problem in killing along sectarian and political lines within their own government and population to force a change in government via coup. This clearly doesn’t mix.
I’m not sure I doubt his ultimate origins, i.e. pre-political aspirations. I think that everything he has done as Prime Minister and since has been self-serving, cowardly, deceitful.
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Quoting vika:
I meant to say: The state the Lebanon is in when he (Aoun) is on the scene bears witness to his lack of respect for the people or the country.
The reason that I do not agree with “opportunistic shithead” term is because he is clearly not very successful at using opportunities created even for his own purposes - for example to further his career. Hence, to me, he presents as a selfish, arrogant asshole.