Yesterday night Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the Hezbollah, made an interview on Al Jazeera: a calm rational discussion, like always. He made his arguments regarding the situation on the field, on local politics, and international issues. He was as convincing as always, and so sure of himself that one knows not what to think. He presented his excuses to the family that was killed accidentally by the Hezbollah rockets in Nazareth, and assumed the responsibility.
It is so interesting to see the semiotic value of a bearded man. In the west, thanks to media and fiction, along with the big efforts of Ben Laden a beard signifies hate, evil and radicalism.
Yesterday’s bombing, at least one of the raids, was of big symbolic value. Israeli airplanes destroyed the Khiam prison in the southern village of Khiam, one of the formerly occupied villages, which were liberated by these same Hezbollah in 2000. This infamous prison holds the proofs of Israeli crimes against Lebanese prisoners, something that echoes in media terms the case of Abou Ghreib. After the liberation of southern Lebanon the prison was transformed into a museum, a Hezbollah version of the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam, maybe with less media awareness. When I heard that the prison was destroyed I was disappointed. One of the Israeli war crimes was now in rubbles, it was left to forgetfulness.
Otherwise, more to the north, on the beautiful coastline of Beirut, a strange sight appeared today. The white sand was not able to reach the blue sea anymore, between these two former lovers was now a dark black fluid with a smell that transcends the limits of the beach and reaches the roads nearby. Experts said it was probably aircraft fuel mixed with the fuel coming from the battleships stationed on the coastline of Beirut and the still burning fuel reserves in the Beirut airport. The sea could not spit this toxic material; it was a clear sign that Beirut will have no beach anymore. They poisoned the sea, and now it was dying along with the fish and scorpions that used to be a neutral part of the Middle East conflict.
Things have calmed down relatively in the last two days, at least in the air and over Beirut. It is probably due to the evacuation of the foreign nationals; after this is over most expect that things will become ugly. In other words after evacuating those that should not be killed, it would be easier to kill those that do not count. On the field, Israel is trying to invade on the ground now. However, it seems to be what the Hezbollah is waiting for and for which they are ready. Let them come; at least it would become a confrontation that both sides are able to participate in.
There is a pressing need to define the word terrorism. Actually there is a more pressing need to stop using it in a rhetorical manner, especially that the masses in the whole world have not become more knowledgeable but more susceptible to propaganda and manipulation. It is clear when one sees that George Bush is an elected president. Terrorism is whatever defies the long walk of globalization, and whatever defies the hegemony of the United States or Israel – it is simple: the ‘axis of evil’. How naïve is it to talk about evil when power relations are at stake.
Until this moment more than 350 people have been killed and more than 1000 injured in Lebanon. To make things even more insulting the headquarters of the United Nation forces in southern Lebanon have been bombed twice since the beginning of the attack leaving injuries among the international soldiers. Even their countries of origin did not resent the incident, not to mention the United Nations itself, after all Israel is just defending itself.
Hospitals in the south are now full, dead bodies can no longer be stored in their refrigerators; they must be buried as close as possible, sometimes without being identified. Other bodies are still under the rubbles, their number is unknown. These are not bodies of so called ‘terrorists’, most of them are women and children, people who died in their homes or while escaping their homes. And others were victims of weapons that are banned by the United Nations, phosphorous and cluster bombs have been used in the south of Lebanon. Maybe these were the bombs that the Israeli children were signing and sending to the children of Lebanon, and maybe not. Nonetheless the children of Lebanon are receiving the gifts.
3 Comments:
Here is a short letter from a bunch of "Terrorists", who terrorise the REAL terrorist countries of new world order:
A letter from Chomsky and others on the recent events in the Middle East (July 19, 2006):
The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began when Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from Gaza. An incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the Turkish press. The following day the Palestinians took an Israeli soldier prisoner - and proposed a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by the Israelis - there are approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails.
That this "kidnapping" was considered an outrage, whereas the illegal military occupation of the West Bank and the systematic appropriation of its natural resources - most particularly that of water - by the Israeli Defence (!) Forces is considered a regrettable but realistic fact of life, is typical of the double standards repeatedly employed by the West in face of what has befallen the Palestinians, on the land alloted to them by international agreements, during the last seventy years.
Today outrage follows outrage; makeshift missiles cross sophisticated ones. The latter usually find their target situated where the disinherited and crowded poor live, waiting for what was once called Justice. Both categories of missile rip bodies apart horribly - who but field commanders can forget this for a moment?
Each provocation and counter-provocation is contested and preached over. But the subsequent arguments, accusations and vows, all serve as a distraction in order to divert world attention from a long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation.
This has to be said loud and clear for the practice, only half declared and often covert, is advancing fast these days, and, in our opinion, it must be unceasingly and eternally recognised for what it is and resisted.
Tariq Ali
John Berger
Noam Chomsky
Eduardo Galeano
Naomi Klein
Harold Pinter
Arundhati Roy
Jose Saramago
Howard Zinn
Walid's comment on beard and hatred in Western naïve conceptions made me remember why I shaved a couple of months ago.
I was comming out of the Gare de Montparnasse in Paris and a French man -whose blood I share, by the way- hit me out of the blue while he told me "Salaud arabe! va te faire foutre! va travailler ton pays!" -whith that kind of grammatic mistakes, by the way.
I was shocked and I still don't know what to think but I know how I felt, for a very brief moment I experienced hatred on my own skin -though it was unexpected: I'm a Latin American, I'm not so dark, I was in the land of my ancestors (some of them at least).
I've grown my beard again.
And also I recongize this is a silly comment regarding what's happening in Lebanon.
Regarding the Abel's comment, I would like to tell him that it is not irrelevant to the current situation at all!!!
My view in an outline: Mainly, the media promoted by the politicians' words and actions have systematically been fostering the hatred between the Arabs and the rest of the world - especially USA and Europe -. This is effectively done through presenting in an excessively foxy way the supposedly "axes of evil and terror" focused always to mainly the Arab nation and less some other countries.
At the same time, they are sketching out the appearance of a typical Arab as a person always with beard, etc...Nevetheless, the power of picture is tremendous.
Therefore, the conclusions of a brain-washed person are the obvious...
The connection now: The above mentioned people -and not the only ones- are probably showing an apathy in front of scenes of death and destruction in the targeted Arab countries and in the worst cases saying let them burn they are Arabs ,present or future terrorists, and other underestimating adjectives...
Of course the problem has many other aspects and is even deeper...
Taking the opportunity of your latin American origin, I just want to remind you that the poor guy in the London metro that was shot dead by the police was Brasilian and he was thought of being a terrorist from afar I think just because he was looking "different"...(by the way wasn't that a -state- terrorist action in a claimed "democratic" and "civilized" country that respects human rights??? Oh, sorry it was a mistake!!!!Well, these are the human rights in our Jungle - countries!!!)
Believe me the same happens in many other places, including mine
Those are the signs of a heavily SICK situation in the West, and elsewhere...
Yannis
Athens - Greece
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