Day 6

Today was different. The bombing however was more or less the same: raids on the southern suburbs, the Bekaa and the south. However, one new thing was introduced: artillery bombing on the south. The difference between air raids and artillery bombing is that the later is usually not very accurate, therefore when aiming on a target in a village there is a big chance to hit the building next door – which was the case a couple of times, however no accurate body count is available since many of the victims are still under the rubbles and rescue is unable to arrive since as I keep writing there are no more roads to get to most of the southern villages.

Today many managed to leave their homes to go north, where relative safety is promised. Some spent 2 days traveling from Saida (third largest city located in the south of Beirut more or less 35 Km away) to Tripoli (the second largest city situated more or less 70 Km north of Beirut), a voyage that takes in normal circumstances (that is if one is using the highway that used to exist) not more than 2 hours.

On the other hand we had the honor to receive the French Prime Minister who came to show his support to the Lebanese people, one of the common jokes on the streets of Beirut. The peak of the events was the destruction of what was thought to be an Israeli war plane to the east of Beirut, however, later it turned out to be a simple Israeli balloon that was dropping flyers over the southern suburbs of the city. The interesting part was the celebrations and the fireworks that broke out once the rumor circulated on TV. People felt for 10 minutes that they were for once able to reach these roaring monsters that are dropping bombs over their sleepless heads.

Later that day, Haifa was bombed.

When I woke up in the morning the newspaper was waiting for me on the couch in the living room. I slept relatively well. It was around 8.30am when I opened my eyes. It was 8.40 when I saw the pictures in the newspaper. These were the pictures coming from the southern suburbs of Beirut or what is left of it. I couldn’t recognize anything, and I know these places, I know them relatively well. There really are no more suburbs to Beirut. My shock came when I thought I recognized the street where a friend of mine lives – she left long before – the building left a little bit later.

In the Red Cross headquarters we did the same as yesterday trying to distribute what we can to those who left their homes or are trapped in them. Many boxes did not reach their destination. However others did and hopefully were useful.

In the afternoon I left with Lamia to eat something in a restaurant in Hamra (a street I often mention and which deserves to be mentioned) and later we met some friends in a Pub nearby. It was crowded, inside there was no war. This is part of the absurdity of Beirut. We drunk, talked, smoked and laughed, like always with alternating phone calls giving latest news or live news coming from the blaring sound of a bomb dropping on the suburbs.

Today was different as I said at first. The streets were not as deserted as yesterday, there was traffic in Beirut and there were many people going out at least in Hamra. The people of Beirut were not afraid anymore, they seemed more reassured; some would call it a state of denial, and others would praise it as a feature of the city that never dies.

Some are expecting an end of the assault in a couple of days; others are expecting it to last for a couple of weeks. Personally I don’t really know.

The peak of my day on personal level was when my mother told me that she reserved a ticket for me from Damascus to Amsterdam (without asking my opinion – a common parental concern) on this Friday. We had a discussion, which got emotional and was not really closed. I will not leave, not so soon.

The body count of today – until now – is around 40 dead, surprisingly however, not all of them civilians: 9 are Lebanese soldiers (not Hezbollah fighters). On another level the Bekaa was the target of violent raids. One of these raids I still don’t understand: the destruction of a dairy products plant called Libanlait. This company, perhaps the biggest dairy company in Lebanon, was the one that sponsored my first movie and as I remember it was affiliated to the French company Yoplait. Somehow this bombing also had its share of jokes today. Otherwise, few minutes ago a raid targeted the water supply of the city of Baalbek.

One good perspective is that the destruction afflicted on the country will probably provide work for many of the unemployed engineering graduates in Lebanon and maybe give them a good experience in bridge-building.