Qana, quite late
Okay, I wrote this on August 1, but this is the first chance that I have had to get online on my laptop since then so I'm posting it now. Pretend you're reading it five days ago (although when I wrote it it was already a little bit late...hence the original title, Qana, a little late).
Right now I’m on the ferry from Dover to Calais at the beginning of the ridiculous, nearly month-long European timewaster trip of the century. I am VERY excited about all of this, but mainly excited about the bus rides all over the place. Today we are traveling through France and Belgium on the way to spend the first two nights of our trip in Amsterdam. My mother told me not to take too many drugs while I’m in Amsterdam, which is advice that I will try to follow, no matter how tempted I am by peer pressure (Aaron and Heather are pressure machines).
It’s interesting to read the ways that different publications describe the events in the Middle East. Earlier I quoted Newsweek, which had the genius observation that although it was “difficult to determine” (if by difficult to determine you mean upwards of 750) the number of Lebanese deaths since the beginning of the conflict, Israel was saying that 200 of the dead were Hizballah fighters, but - oh, yeah - other sources reported that number at around 35. The Guardian, reporting on the deaths in Qana in an editorial aptly titled “Death in Qana” in its July 31 issue, reads:
“An airstrike on the Lebanese village of Qana killed more than 60 people, including 34 children. At a stroke, Israel’s armed forces destroyed almost as many Lebanese lives as the total number of Israelis who have died since this conflict began nearly three weeks ago.”
Obviously both of these sources are reporting true information. Israel really is reporting that 200 of the Lebanese dead were Hizballah and it really is true that the number dead in Qana is comprable to the total number of Israeli dead. It’s just the way they say it that I find interesting.
On a sidenote, the Guardian is probably the coolest newspaper I have ever seen in terms of layout and graphics and stuff. The front page has a giant photo of a man screaming and carrying the body of a young child away from the rubble of a destroyed building in Qana. In the centerfold of the front section is just a giant photo of rescue workers carrying a body out of the ruins - it takes up the entire two pages with just a small caption in the corner. Honestly I’ve never seen a layout this cool since the highly esteemed Day Times of yesteryear. Ah, memories. Only I’m not sure what Mrs. Langley would have done if Accent had said, “Okay, this issue we’re just gonna print a giant picture of death and destruction.” Although, probably what they would have wanted to print a picture of would have been a giant Louis Vuitton purse.
Anyway, so ‘bout that death and destruction. WTF. Well, sort of maybe people shouldn’t have thought they’d be safe in Qana since the exact same thing happened 10 years ago in a pretty similar situation. So probably if you’re hiding out in Qana and the Israeli army tells you to get out of there, you haul ass, because you know they know how to level the place. But perhaps this will make the ceasefire come faster, inshallah?
Who knows. All that needs to happen is that the US needs to say “Hey, guys, I have an idea, how about you stop killing people?” and the hot Israeli soldiers will go back to their normal operations (illicit sex with American Jewish girls on Birthright). But Bush doesn’t like illicit sex. No sir. That might lead to abortion, which would be a loss of innocent life.
On the attitude of Lebanese Christians toward Lebanese Muslims, specifically the refusal of Christians to donate money that would go toward helping Muslims:
Honestly, maybe it’s because I did not grow up in Lebanon and I wasn’t around to experience the war, so I just don’t understand the extent of or the “justification” for the division between the religions, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how bitter the relationship is because at this point the only thing that matters is Lebanese unity. Lebanon is just so tiny and easy to kick around to begin with. It’s an easy victim, but on top of that it insists on making itself even weaker by dividing itself up like this. What was the point of the last year and a half, what was the point of all the posters of Hariri all over Beirut, if you’re just going to lose whatever progress you made the second something bad happens, which happens to be the very second you NEED all that progress.
I understand, Hizballah started it, so yes, blame them - I know I do. But I’m pretty sure that none of those 34 children who died in Qana - or almost any of the other 750 dead so far - had the idea to kidnap those soldiers. So help all these poor innocents instead of punishing them even more. Because honestly that lack of humanitarian discrimination makes you not much better than Olmert and Israel.
If you don’t want things to spiral all the way downward all over again, if you don’t want Israel to succeed in bombing Lebanon back 30 years the way they promised they would, if you want peace again (so you can party in Beirut instead of up in Bikfaya), then helping the Muslims is the same as helping other Christians (if you’re just so set in your bitterness and bigotry that that’s the kind of justification you need). In the end, you’re just helping Lebanese.
Right now I’m on the ferry from Dover to Calais at the beginning of the ridiculous, nearly month-long European timewaster trip of the century. I am VERY excited about all of this, but mainly excited about the bus rides all over the place. Today we are traveling through France and Belgium on the way to spend the first two nights of our trip in Amsterdam. My mother told me not to take too many drugs while I’m in Amsterdam, which is advice that I will try to follow, no matter how tempted I am by peer pressure (Aaron and Heather are pressure machines).
It’s interesting to read the ways that different publications describe the events in the Middle East. Earlier I quoted Newsweek, which had the genius observation that although it was “difficult to determine” (if by difficult to determine you mean upwards of 750) the number of Lebanese deaths since the beginning of the conflict, Israel was saying that 200 of the dead were Hizballah fighters, but - oh, yeah - other sources reported that number at around 35. The Guardian, reporting on the deaths in Qana in an editorial aptly titled “Death in Qana” in its July 31 issue, reads:
“An airstrike on the Lebanese village of Qana killed more than 60 people, including 34 children. At a stroke, Israel’s armed forces destroyed almost as many Lebanese lives as the total number of Israelis who have died since this conflict began nearly three weeks ago.”
Obviously both of these sources are reporting true information. Israel really is reporting that 200 of the Lebanese dead were Hizballah and it really is true that the number dead in Qana is comprable to the total number of Israeli dead. It’s just the way they say it that I find interesting.
On a sidenote, the Guardian is probably the coolest newspaper I have ever seen in terms of layout and graphics and stuff. The front page has a giant photo of a man screaming and carrying the body of a young child away from the rubble of a destroyed building in Qana. In the centerfold of the front section is just a giant photo of rescue workers carrying a body out of the ruins - it takes up the entire two pages with just a small caption in the corner. Honestly I’ve never seen a layout this cool since the highly esteemed Day Times of yesteryear. Ah, memories. Only I’m not sure what Mrs. Langley would have done if Accent had said, “Okay, this issue we’re just gonna print a giant picture of death and destruction.” Although, probably what they would have wanted to print a picture of would have been a giant Louis Vuitton purse.
Anyway, so ‘bout that death and destruction. WTF. Well, sort of maybe people shouldn’t have thought they’d be safe in Qana since the exact same thing happened 10 years ago in a pretty similar situation. So probably if you’re hiding out in Qana and the Israeli army tells you to get out of there, you haul ass, because you know they know how to level the place. But perhaps this will make the ceasefire come faster, inshallah?
Who knows. All that needs to happen is that the US needs to say “Hey, guys, I have an idea, how about you stop killing people?” and the hot Israeli soldiers will go back to their normal operations (illicit sex with American Jewish girls on Birthright). But Bush doesn’t like illicit sex. No sir. That might lead to abortion, which would be a loss of innocent life.
On the attitude of Lebanese Christians toward Lebanese Muslims, specifically the refusal of Christians to donate money that would go toward helping Muslims:
Honestly, maybe it’s because I did not grow up in Lebanon and I wasn’t around to experience the war, so I just don’t understand the extent of or the “justification” for the division between the religions, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how bitter the relationship is because at this point the only thing that matters is Lebanese unity. Lebanon is just so tiny and easy to kick around to begin with. It’s an easy victim, but on top of that it insists on making itself even weaker by dividing itself up like this. What was the point of the last year and a half, what was the point of all the posters of Hariri all over Beirut, if you’re just going to lose whatever progress you made the second something bad happens, which happens to be the very second you NEED all that progress.
I understand, Hizballah started it, so yes, blame them - I know I do. But I’m pretty sure that none of those 34 children who died in Qana - or almost any of the other 750 dead so far - had the idea to kidnap those soldiers. So help all these poor innocents instead of punishing them even more. Because honestly that lack of humanitarian discrimination makes you not much better than Olmert and Israel.
If you don’t want things to spiral all the way downward all over again, if you don’t want Israel to succeed in bombing Lebanon back 30 years the way they promised they would, if you want peace again (so you can party in Beirut instead of up in Bikfaya), then helping the Muslims is the same as helping other Christians (if you’re just so set in your bitterness and bigotry that that’s the kind of justification you need). In the end, you’re just helping Lebanese.
posted by Dana at 10:07 AM
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