Where
Do I Stand?
By Rania Masri writing
from Beirut
07 June, 2007
Live From Lebanon
A dear friend of mine told me
yesterday that I'm taking sides. That it seems as if I'm condemning
only one form of violence.
I thank him for that note
-- it forces me to clarify my position. So, here is my position on what
is happening now in Lebanon.
I wholeheartedly condemn
the attacks against the Lebanese Army. I find it especially abhorrent
that many of these soldiers were not killed in "battle" but
where actually killed in their sleep, and killed in a most brutal manner.
I wholeheartedly condemn
the random bombings (four so far) that have erupted across Lebanon (Ashrafieh,
Verdun, Aley, and -- yesterday -- Dikwane). These bombs are designed
to spread fear among the people and to destroy the (already non-functioning)
(shopping) economy.
I understand the state of
fear that people are living in, the great sense of insecurity that is
gripping people, forcing them to return their homes in the early evening,
making Beirut look like a deserted city by 8 or 9 pm.
And -- simultaneously:
I also reject the collective
punishment of the Palestinian refugees in Nahr al-Bared. The besiegement,
the bombings, the destruction of homes, and the new-refugee status for
the majority of the Nahr al-Bared residents. (Many of the "residents"
in the Nahr al-Bared Refugee camp have been refugees several times over
-- first from Haifa, then from Tel al-Zaatar, then al-Damour, and then
Nahr al-Bared, and now to Beddawi. Some of the families (hundreds, to
be specific) who fled from Nahr al-Bared fled to the Ein al-Helwe camp
in southern Lebanon, where they, in turn, fled again a few days ago.)
I reject the doublespeak
of the politicians who say that "Palestinians are our brothers,"
while they restrict access of aid to the besieged camp. They say that
the "Palestinians are our brothers" (and many of them who
make this statement they themselves had conducted massacres of Palestinians
in Lebanon) and "ask" Palestinians to leave their homes while
not opening up Lebanese homes, Lebanese schools, or Lebanese churches
and mosques to them. (If I ask you to leave your home and claim you
as my brother, the least I can do is share with you my home.) When we
remember -- as we should -- that Palestinian refugees of Ein al-Helwe
camp opened their camp to the Lebanese fleeing from Israeli bombardment
in July 2006, that these Palestinians shared their limited food supply
with the Lebanese, then the fact that the Lebanese have not even responded
in kind should be all the more shameful.
I reject the physical harassment
that a number of Palestinians have endured by both the Lebanese Army
and the Internal Security Forces. And, yes, my friend is correct: perhaps
we do not have documented cases of harassment to make a broad stroke
against the army and the police. And, likely, it isn't an official directive.
But, there has been enough harassment to cause a significant portion
of Palestinians to limit their mobility, and, consequently, to feel
restrained from working, and consequently, to endure even greater limited
income. Furthermore, as an Amnesty International representative (from
the London office) told me today, the fact that thus far we have four
detailed cases in different locations with people of different profiles
is evidence that we have a situation approaching a noticeable pattern.
Let me stress one point: these are cases that we know. Most likely,
what we don't know is significantly greater than what we do know; most
likely, the cases of harassment are significantly greater than the number
of individuals we have interviewed. Can we understand these attacks?
Yes, if we also understand the vile sentiments of racism and understand
how racism can be empowered by fear. Can we accept it? Absolutely not.
It is specifically in these difficult times, it is specifically in times
when our security is threatened, that we should cling all the more to
our civil rights and reject all the more violations to our civil rights.
Our civil rights. Any attack on anyone's civil rights in one nation
is an attack on everyone's civil rights. I am not saying this as mere
poetic words of alleged solidarity. I mean it quite literally. Furthermore,
if we are to claim "honor and dignity" for the Lebanese Army
-- as the majority of Lebanese are publicly claiming -- then we should
become all the more indignant when that very institution commits wrongs.
I reject the ease at which
too many Lebanese have dismissed the loss of Palestinian life. I reject
the ease at which too many Lebanese reject the human suffering of Palestinians
by simply placing all blame on the failures of the Palestinian leadership
itself. I reject the philosophy of too many Lebanese that individuals
who are non-citizens in Lebanon should not expect to receive the same
rights (civil and human rights) as citizens in Lebanon. (For my US readers,
does this philosophy sound familiar?) And I reject what this means:
an abdication of a sense of individual humanity.
I reject that a political
settlement was not more seriously sought. I reject that the Lebanese
politicians placed the Lebanese Army in the sole position to "deal"
with the crisis -- and thus they have pushed the Lebanese Army itself
into a lose-lose situation. I reject that the politicians who funded
this militia known as Fateh al-Islam are now the ones claiming the moral
high ground.
So, what am I for? As my
dear brother Wael continues to remind me: it is not enough to state
what we are against; it is more important to state what we are for.
What do we want? What are we actually working to create?
I repeat here Emily's words:
"Support the army from those who put them at risk by funding Fatah
al-Islam; prevent efforts to split the army along sectarian grounds;
protect the army from orders to fight a dirty war against civilians
and their homes, against waging a losing battle against a group that
should have been denied access to this country, the camps, funds and
weapons in the first place."
One other point I'd like
to make:
Again, I'm finding extreme
similarities between what is happening here in Lebanon now and what
happened in the US post 9/11.
The US government (both the
neo-cons and their close cousins the neo-liberal Democrats) used the
excuse of "national security" to commit horrendous civil rights
violations against certain communities (Arabs, in particular, and less
so, anti-war organizers). (As a side issue, it is important to remember
that the first of the laws that began the destruction of civil rights
in the US wasn't by George W. Bush but was by Bill Clinton, that man
all too wrongly loved by Democrats.)
The US government (both neo-cons
and neo-liberals) used the language of "liberating the women of
Afghanistan" while the US Army bombed and killed and occupied and
imposed a puppet government. (I am not comparing the actions of the
US Army to those of the Lebanese Army; I am merely reminded of the discourse.)
What does that mean, these
small similarities? That we can learn from each other -- we, the resistors,
we, the ones working to create a better world, a different world, can
learn from each other's struggles.
Rania Masri is a writer and
Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Balamand,
Lebanon.
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