From America with Love

Condoleezza Rice came and left with nothing to show for her visit other than to grant Israel further time to complete the total destruction of Lebanon.

In her meetings with Prime Minister Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri, she simply reiterated Israeli demands which were rejected out of hand. On the other hand Berri indicated that Lebanon was prepared to consider an exchange of prisoners through the agency of a third party.



Without American support and encouragement it is doubtful that Israel would have waged such a vicious war on Lebanon. The object of the exercise, according to Bush and Condoleezza Rice, is to isolate Iran and Syria and to change the status quo in the Middle East. If Afghanistan and Iraq are an example of the new Middle East era, it would seem doubtful that the Arab world welcome the American initiative.

On the ground, Israel claims to have occupied two villages on the Lebanese frontier, Maroun el Ras and Bint Jbeil. If true, this would represent an insignificant land victory, when we consider the nature and volume of the armament which Israel has thrown into the battle, including air strikes on a scale not seen since World War II. It is to be noted that the bombs which are turning south Lebanon and the southern outskirts of Beirut are all marked "From America with love."

Beirut Diary - July 22nd

I happen to live in a residential quarter in Ras Beirut which has been spared so far Israeli air strikes. My next door neighbour is Nabih Berri, the Shia speaker of the House of Deputies, and a close ally of Hezbollah. There are only three families still living in our building of nine floors. All the others have gone up to the mountains for greater security. I don't propose to follow them.

Yesterday morning I decided to visit he municipal garden of Ras Beirut where a few hundred refugees from the shattered southern outskirts of the city have found refuge. They live in the open air, some with mattresses, but the majority without. Fortunately there is an ample supply of water, but no toilet facilities other than a narrow slit in a corner of the garden. I heard no complaints, other than a few whimpers from babies and young children. They all seemed resigned to their fate, and not an injurious word against Hezbollah whose kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers had brought them to their miserable fate.

The situation in south Lebanon is much worse. Some four hundred thousand refugees have had to leave their shattered homes to escape air strikes and to seek food and shelter elsewhere.

Let us not kid ourselves. The kidnapping of two soldiers has very little to do with savage war that Israel has waged on Lebanon. It was simply an excuse for the invasion for which Israel has been preparing for sometime. The United States has stood firmly behind Israel in its war against Lebanon in the mistaken hope that victory over Hezbollah would weaken Syria and Iran, and in he words of Condoleeza Rice, could prove to be the birth pangs of a new Middle East. If Iraq is an example of this new Middle East, thank you very much Condoleeza. We would be glad to make you a wedding present of that new Middle East, if we can find the right man for you.

Air strikes will not, we repeat, will not solve the issue. Israel must score victory on the ground which so far it has failed to do. The resistance of Hezbollah combatants has prevented Israeli armour from advancing into Lebanon, despite continuous air strikes.

The problem which Rice and her Simian boss have failed to understand is that Hezbollah is part and parcel of the population of south Lebanon, and cannot, but for a few leaders, be identified as such, and that to dispose of the menace which Hezbollah represents, the entire population of south Lebanon will have to be uprooted and pushed some thirty kilometres north of the frontier. It would seem more logical for Israel, instead of uprooting a whole population, to accept the exchange of prisoners and the restitution of Lebanese territory which is still occupied by Israel. Then and only then would Hezbollah have no further reason to exist, and Hezbollah would have no alternative but to surrender their arms to the Lebanese Government.

The Shit and the Fart

In an idle exchange of conversation through microphones between George W. Bush and Tony Blair in a recent conference, the word "shit" was heard. It could only have emanated from the President of the United States where the word shit is often used. This would indicate that Americans appear to be deeply concerned with their abdominal functions. On the other hand, Tony Blair and his compatriots normally fart, and it was for that reason that jackets with two side vents were invented, it was to allow gentlemen to fart with greater ease against well stoked fire places. A case in point, I had been invited years and years ago to lunch in Jerusalem by Lord Runciman, a well known writer and historian, in an old stone house where he lived. Following an acceptable lunch and some good wine, Lord Runciman stood with his back to a fireplace which happened to be there, and with his hands through the side vents he raised the back of his jacket and produced three huge farts, and with a benign smile he said: I always fart after lunch. And thus, President Bush shits and Prime Minister Blair farts, but where does Condoleezza Rice fit in all this? She must have a tough time shaping the policies of the world between one Shit and one Fart. This could explain the war in Iraq and the messing up of the whole Middle East, including the destruction of Lebanon.

Tony Blair

I listened to Prime Minister Tony Blair addressing his fellow members in Parliament in very vehement tones and gestures, demanding the immediate release of the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers and branding Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

Tony Blair seems to have forgotten that but for Jewish terrorism, Israel itself would not have come into being. Has he forgotten that the Stern Gang and Mr. Begin’s Irgun Zvai Leumi blew up the southern wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem which housed the upper echelons of the British Army and the Palestine administration, killing and wounding over 140 high ranking officials and army officers? Has Tony Blair forgotten the blowing up of the Officers’ Club in Jerusalem during the same year namely 1947, killing over 30 British Army officers? Has Tony Blair forgotten that a British Army patrol came upon two kidnapped British soldiers swinging from the branches of a tree in a small wood, and that when the patrol tried to bring down the bodies they exploded killing the patrol? The bodies of the hung soldiers had been stacked with explosives. Has Tony Blair forgotten that with an army of one hundred thousand men in Palestine, Britain ran away like rats from a sinking vessel and left Palestine to its miserable fate on May 15th, 1948 instead of implementing the UN decision to partition Palestine? Has Tony Blair forgotten that without Britain’s Balfour Declaration and the bayonets of the British Army, there would not have been an Israel? Has Tony Blair forgotten that ten thousand Palestinian combatants were killed during the 1936 - 1939 uprising?

There is little point in going back into history. Britain’s irresponsible policy will continue to poison the Middle East for decades to come.

We do not expect any apologies from Tony Blair for Britain’s crimes against the Palestinians, which are in the process of being systematically destroyed today by Israel. We do expect him however to be less vehement in his condemnations of Hamas and Hezbollah and to show a little more consideration for the thousands of Lebanese and Palestinian dead and wounded, and for the destruction which has been reeked upon Lebanon.

Beirut Diary - July 18th

Not a ray of hope on the horizon that the situation will improve in the near future. Both sides, Israel and Hezbollah, refuse to modify their respective positions, such that Israel continues to bomb various areas in the country and Hezbollah continues to launch rockets across the frontier hitting several cities in north Israel. The Lebanese Government continues to meet in futile session after another. On the ground, all main and some minor bridges have been destroyed, such that motor transport in south Lebanon has virtually stopped. Wave after wave of villagers, whose homes have been destroyed, are on their way, on foot, to the nearest refuge, mainly in the mountains. During seventeen years of civil war, the situation was not as bad as it is today.

On the political front, we have not heard the voice of General Aoun, nor of his famous pact with Hezbollah. The man is undoubtedly a psychiatric case, at best "un officier mediocre" as his official military record shows.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is hidden somewhere. He appeared on television yesterday, exhorting the Lebanese people to stand firm and asserting that Israel was in for more surprises that it had ever anticipated. His rockets continue to fly across the frontier into Israel.

The U.N. envoys came and have gone to Israel. They had nothing to say except that Hezbollah should release the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers, a request which fell on the deaf ears of Hezbollah.

But what of the future ? More air raids, more casualties, more destruction will not resolve the issue. Only an exchange of prisoners can, and in the long run, a substantial multi national military force on the frontier between Israel and Lebanon.

Beirut Diary - July 17th

It was reasonably quiet in Beirut this morning, until a few minutes ago, when two bombs landed somewhere. The Beirut port was bombed again during the night, and of course the southern outskirts of the city received their daily dose of bombs and missiles. And as yet, no sign that this war will end soon. Israel insists that the two kidnapped soldiers be released unconditionally and that Hezbollah combatants distance themselves a few kilometres away from the frontier. Both conditions have been rejected by Hezbollah.

The attack last night on a military barracks near Tripoli resulted in a toll of nine soldiers killed and many others wounded. This is the first direct attack against the Lebanese army. It is rumoured that this attack was motivated by the belief that Hezbollah had received logistical support from the Lebanese army in targeting and hitting an Israeli warship a few days ago. True or false, the nine soldiers are dead. And so it goes in the merry go round of war, death and destruction.

Beirut Diary - July 16th

Never a dull moment in Beirut these days. Since midnight till the early hours of the morning Israeli planes hovered over Beirut, dropping a bomb here or firing a missile there, mostly on the southern outskirts of the City, the headquarters of Hezbollah. The main offices of Hezbollah, a building of nine floors was laid waste in yesterday's bombing. The charismatic but megalomaniac leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah was heard yesterday over the air exhorting the Lebanese people to stand firm in defence of their country, honour and "dignity". As I write this diary I hear bombs dropping somewhere. Are two Israeli soldiers, one of whom is a Druze worth the honour and dignity of which Hassan Nasrallah speaks?

I escaped one airstrike yesterday when I went for my morning swim at the Bain Militaire, a military club with swimming and other facilities. The club lies on the sea front, almost adjoining the lighthouse which was bombed yesterday afternoon and rendered inoperative. The club suffered minor damage. I am not foolhardy enough to return today. I just heard two very big bangs, and fortunately I am not in the pool of the Bain Militaire, but at home writing those few lines. One more bang...all to no point and to no purpose, other than to oblige the Lebanese Government to take action against Hezbollah. Unfortunately the Lebanese army is not sufficiently well equipped to deal with Hezbollah and the fact that at least half the population is pro-Hezbollah.

More later...

Beirut Diary - July 14th

The situation in Lebanon on Friday 14 July is that all bridges in South Lebanon and on the southern outskirts of Beirut as well as the two main bridges leading to the Bekaa and Damascus have been destroyed. The Beirut airport was bombed again early last night. Several petrol storage tanks were hit and the three runways were on fire throughout the night. The Israeli navy steams up and down the Lebanese coast, and with the two small airports in north Lebanon and the Bekaa destroyed in yesterday's air raids, Lebanon has been sealed off from the rest of the world. Some fifty civilians, including a score of babies and children were killed in yesterday's air raids and a bigger number wounded. The morgues in South Lebanon overflowed with bodies, such that ice delivery trucks had to be used to store the bodies.

The major question is whether Israel will continue today its massive attacks on Lebanon. The two kidnapped Israeli soldiers are reported to be in good health. Hezbollah will not release them except against the release of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

More later…

The Gaza strip

It is sufficient to go through the Old Testament to realize how blood thirsty the Jewish race is. The Israel of today was born in a blood bath, beginning with the massacre of a whole peaceful village called Deir Yassin on the west side of Jerusalem. Begin’s goons, the Stern Gang and the Irgun attacked the village one morning and massacred its inhabitants and threw their bodies into a cistern, from where the Red Cross fished them out. In his memoirs Begin tells us that this had been done to frighten unprotected villages into abandoning their homes and lands to find refuge in neighbouring countries ; hence the Palestinian refugee problem, which has bedevilled the Arab countries in which they had taken refuge, and particularly Lebanon. That was in the years 1947 and 1948, which witnesses the blowing up of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the Officers Club, also in Jerusalem and later the cold blooded assassination of the U.N. mediator Count Bernadotte and his military aide Colonel Serov.

Nothing has changed since then. The daily toll of dead and wounded in the Gaza Strip defies description. The Israeli Air Force and its armour have destroyed all essential services in the area and the army has imposed a total blockade, such that no food or medical services can reach that beleaguered strip, all under the simian eyes of that moron in the White House, referred to as President Bush. When several children playing on the beach in Gaza were gunned down by an Israeli gun boat, President Bush declared to the whole world that Israel was entitled to defend itself. This statement was made in the knowledge that Israel can take on the entire military forces of the Arab world and beat the hell out of them. The end result is that hunger and disease will finish the job of annihilating the Palestinians in the Gaza strip and in due course the West Bank.

Most ignoble is the Arab world which looks on the genocide of a nation without raising an eyebrow, glad, it would seem, to be rid of the Palestinian problem.

There is little else to say.

Sense of humour

I was having a quiet drink in a corner of a bar in Rue Monot, a cobbled street in Ashrafieh, an exclusively Christian quarter. Rue Monot is very popular with the young generation, because of its bars, its night clubs and restaurants. People of my age do not usually frequent that area. My presence in that bar was to meet a young lady who had sought my assistance for a job.

Our quiet chat was violently shattered by the noise of a riot out in the street. We later learnt that a band of hooligans armed with heavy gourds and clubs, had descended on Rue Monot to chastise young Christians who usually congregate in that area to avenge a TV skit which apparently had dared to mock the leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. The end result of that attack was that several young men were taken to hospital with head or body injuries, not to mention damage to property.

I had stayed in my corner throughout the attack, and only left when the army and security forces intervened.

The moral of that incident is that Moslems, unless deeply impregnated with western culture, have no sense of humour and that cult figures, such as Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, should not be made the object of ridicule.

It would be pointless to point out to Sheikh Hassan that there has not been any western leader who has not been, at one time or another, the object of ridicule on TV or in the papers. The readers or spectators watch or read and have a good laugh. There is little hope for Islam until such time as Moslems start taking themselves less seriously.