[LCM Articles] I love Beirut because..

Thu Aug 17 20:28:15 EDT 2006

Sweet poem. But it's exactly the following attitude : "I love Beirut because
each street is a two way street even if it is a one way officially. I love
Beirut because one can park anywhere and not get a ticket. I love Beirut
because one can go as fast as his speedometer."  which ensures that we will
never develop into an advanced society - the idea that we're "above" the law
in Lebanon.

On 8/18/06, lebanon-articles-request at mit.edu <
lebanon-articles-request at mit.edu> wrote:
>
> Send Lebanon-Articles mailing list submissions to
>        lebanon-articles at mit.edu
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>        http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lebanon-articles
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>        lebanon-articles-request at mit.edu
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>        lebanon-articles-owner at mit.edu
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Lebanon-Articles digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Why I love Beirut (Abdallah Jabbour)
>   2. From Mania to Depression (Abdallah Jabbour)
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Abdallah Jabbour" <abdallah.jabbour at gmail.com>
> To: "LCM Articles" <lebanon-articles at mit.edu>
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:48:47 -0700
> Subject: [LCM Articles] Why I love Beirut
>
> *A member of A Small World answered the question the "Why do you love
> Beirut?" as such, enjoy!*
> **
> "I love Beirut for its opposites. I love Beirut because I see a girl in a
> mini skirt and her sister in a tchador. I love Beirut because it is neither
> West nor East it is both. I love Beirut because one can party till 6 in the
> morning and not realize that it is tuesday morning. I love Beirut because
> Beirutis live as if they are going to die tomorrow and party as if they are
> going to live forever.
>
> I love Beirut because I can be swimming in the morning and 30 minutes
> later I'm on the slopes skiing or doing apres ski. I love Beirut because I
> have never seen the sun this strong anywhere in the world.
>
> I love Beirut because I can see 6,000 years of history. I love Beirut
> because Christians and Muslims are living an understanding and do not need
> to have Christian Muslim understanding classes. I love Beirut because every
> Beiruti has a political opinion and will share it with you even if you could
> care less about his and you want to share yours with him. I love Beirut for
> all the conspiracy theories and how many people actually believe them.
>
> I love Beirut because any night I can find a friend to go out with. I love
> Beirut because I do not need to call my friends to go and see them at their
> houses, but I just stop by. I love Beirut because as soon as I arirve at one
> of my friend's house his mom takes me to the kitchen and becomes the
> spokesperson of the refrigerator. I love Beirut because one can smell
> gardenia and jasmine. I love Beirut because strawberries taste like
> strawberries and fruits taste like fruits. I love Beirut because the food is
> so good that one gains so many pounds even if she tries to lose .
>
> I love Beirut because although the Lebanese women at times look alike as
> some did their surgeries at the same plastic surgeon they are the most
> elegant women I have ever seen. I love Beirut because when I go out at night
> I don't know at which women to look at as each one is gorgeous in her own
> way. I love Beirut because everyone knows me by name.
>
> I love Beirut because I don't have to explain myself. I love Beirut
> because of the traffic jams and the people you meet because of them. I love
> Beirut because of the noise pollution from cars honking.
>
> I love Beirut for the spirituality of the people whether Muslim or
> Christian. I love Beirut because I'm the first to call my Muslim friends on
> Ramadan and they are the first to call me on Easter. I love Beirut because
> on May 1st I see Muslims visiting Harissa ( Virgin Mary ) just like I see
> Christians. I love Beirut because we can differentiate between a Jew and an
> Israeli. I love Beirut because on the 22nd of every month I see Muslims
> going to Mar Charbel and believing that a miracle will happen.
>
> I love Beirut because women look like they're out of a Vogue magazine. I
> love Beirut because you eat to live and live to eat. I love Beirut because
> one leaves a cafe to go to another and one does this all day.
>
> I love Beirut because all the Lebanese living outside want to come back
> and the Lebanese who are in Lebanon envy the ones who are living abroad not
> realizing what it means to live away from Beirut.
>
> I love Beirut because my sister , her husband are there and my niece and
> nephew who are 5 are waiting to see their uncle. I love Beirut because my
> niece asks me to bring her a pink skirt and tells me : "I love You".
>
> I love Beirut because a girl or a guy can easily tell you I just had a
> couple of Lexo or Xanax as if they just had a chewing gum. I love Beirut
> because for every Lebanese we have a singer. I love Beirut because the
> Lebanese star singers sing in nightclubs. I love Beirut because women go
> into the swimming pool with full make up. I love Beirut because guys go in
> with their cigars.
>
> I love Beirut because it has been destroyed 7 times in History and has
> risen. I love Beirut because since 1975 the Beirutis have withstood the PLO
> , the Syrians and the Israelis. I love Beirut because the Beirutis will not
> accept anyone to occupy them and rule over them. I love Beirut because we
> feel that it is better to die on our feet than to live on our knees.
>
> I love Beirut because each street is a two way street even if it is a one
> way officially. I love Beirut because one can park anywhere and not get a
> ticket. I love Beirut because one can go as fast as his speedometer.
>
> I love Beirut because MEA (Middle East Airlines) lands there. I love
> Beirut because on MEA we can clap in unison when we are about to land. I
> love Beirut not because it is my city, but because it is the city of every
> Lebanese. I love Beirut because it welcomes every exiled freethinker and
> independent mind of the Arab world.
>
> I love Beirut because we have hundreds of newspapers and our press is
> finally Free. I love Beirut because most Arabs dream of coming to Beirut and
> wish their capital was more like Beirut.
>
> I love Beirut because when I explain Beirut to my Western friends, my
> friends see the passion of Beirut in my eyes. I love Beirut because there is
> so much misconception about Beirut in the media and in the minds of people
> who have never visited. I love Beirut because when I tell my friends that
> I'm going to Beirut they tell me: "Can you take me with you?".
>
> I love Beirut because we argue over who is going to pay the bill at a
> restaurant as everyone wants to pay it. I love Beirut because although many
> whine about not making enough money everyone is living. I love Beirut
> because if I do the cross sign before I start driving the person next to me
> does not ask me if I fear that I'm going to get into a car accident but
> instead does his cross sign as well.
>
> I love Beirut because we accept our differences as we disagree with each
> other. I love Beirut because it serves as a beacon of freedom to the rest of
> the Arab world. I love Beirut because to praphrase what Gibran said about
> Lebanon " Had Beirut not been my city I would have chosen it to be." I love
> Beirut because there is no city like it.
>
> I love Beirut because even if Beirut is being destroyed you are still
> beautiful and will remain beautiful no matter how disfigured you are.
>
> I love Beirut because you are always on my mind.
>
> I love Beirut for no reason. I love Beirut for all the reasons of the
> world. "
>
>
>   http://rampurple.com/blog/2006/08/06/so-true/
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Abdallah Jabbour" <abdallah.jabbour at gmail.com>
> To: "LCM Articles" <lebanon-articles at mit.edu>
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:28:53 -0700
> Subject: [LCM Articles] From Mania to Depression
>
> *By Uri Avnery*
>
> *08/17/06 "**Information Clearing House*<http://informationclearinghouse.info/>
> *" -- -- Tel Aviv. * *---* Thirty three days of war. The longest of our
> wars since 1949.
>
> On the Israeli side: 154 dead--117 of them soldiers. 3970 rockets launched
> against us, 37 civilians dead, more than 422 civilians wounded.
>
> On the Lebanese side: about a thousand dead civilians, thousands wounded.
> An unknown number of Hizbullah fighters dead and wounded.
>
> More than a million refugees on both sides.
>
> So what has been achieved for this terrible price?
>
> "GLOOMY, HUMBLE, despondent," was how the journalist Yossef Werter
> described Ehud Olmert, a few hours after the cease-fire had come into
> effect.
>
> Olmert? Humble? Is this the same Olmert we know? The same Olmert who
> thumped the table and shouted: "No more!" Who said: "After the war, the
> situation will be completely different than before!" Who promised a "New
> Middle East" as a result of the war?
>
> THE RESULTS of the war are obvious:
>
> * The prisoners, who served as casus belli (or pretext) for the war, have
> not been released. They will come back only as a result of an exchange of
> prisoners, exactly as Hassan Nasrallah proposed before the war.
>
> * Hizbullah has remained as it was. It has not been destroyed, nor
> disarmed, nor even removed from where it was. Its fighters have proved
> themselves in battle and have even garnered compliments from Israeli
> soldiers. Its command and communication stucture has continued to function
> to the end. Its TV station is still broadcasting.
>
> * Hassan Nasrallah is alive and kicking. Persistent attempts to kill him
> failed. His prestige is sky-high. Everywhere in the Arab world, from Morocco
> to Iraq, songs are being composed in his honor and his picture adorns the
> walls.
>
> * The Lebanese army will be deployed along the border, side by side with a
> large international force. That is the only material change that has been
> achieved.
>
> This will not replace Hizbullah. Hizbullah will remain in the area, in
> every village and town. The Israeli army has not succeeded in removing it
> from one single village. That was simply impossible without permanently
> removing the population to which it belongs.
>
> The Lebanese army and the international force cannot and will not confront
> Hizbullah. Their very presence there depends on Hizbullah's consent. In
> practice, a kind of co-existence of the three forces will come into being,
> each one knowing that it has to come to terms with the other two.
>
> Perhaps the international force will be able to prevent incursions by
> Hizbullah, such as the one that preceded this war. But it will also have to
> prevent Israeli actions, such as the reconnaissance flights of our Air Force
> over Lebanon. That's why the Israeli army objected, at the beginning, so
> strenuously to the introduction of this force.
>
> IN ISRAEL, there is now a general atmosphere of disappointment and
> despondency. From mania to depression. It's not only that the politicians
> and the generals are firing accusations at each other, as we foresaw, but
> the general public is also voicing criticism from every possible angle. The
> soldiers criticize the conduct of the war, the reserve soldiers gripe about
> the chaos and the failure of supplies.
>
> In all parties, there are new opposition groupings and threats of splits.
> In Kadima. In Labor. It seems that in Meretz, too, there is a lot of
> ferment, because most of its leaders supported the war dragon almost until
> the last moment, when they caught its tail and pierced it with their little
> lance.
>
> At the head of the critics are marching--surprise, surprise--the media.
> The entire horde of interviewers and commentators, correspondents and
> presstitutes, who (with very few exceptions) enthused about the war, who
> deceived, misled, falsified, ignored, duped and lied for the fatherland, who
> stifled all criticism and branded as traitors all who opposed the war--they
> are now running ahead of the lynch mob. How predictable, how ugly. Suddenly
> they remember what we have been saying right from the beginning of the war.
>
> This phase is symbolized by Dan Halutz, the Chief-of-Staff. Only yesterday
> he was the hero of the masses, it was forbidden to utter a word against him.
> Now he is being described as a war profiteer. A moment before sending his
> soldiers into battle, he found the time to sell his shares, in expectation
> of a decline of the stock market. (Let us hope that a moment before the end
> he found the time to buy them back again.)
>
> Victory, as is well known, has many fathers, and failure in war is an
> orphan.
>
> FROM THE deluge of accusations and gripes, one slogan stands out , a
> slogan that must send a cold shiver down the spine of anyone with a good
> memory: "the politicians did not let the army win."
>
> Exactly as I wrote two weeks ago, we see before our very eyes the
> resurrection of the old cry "they stabbed the army in the back!"
>
> This is how it goes: At long last, two days before the end, the land
> offensive started to roll. Thanks to our heroic soldiers, the men of the
> reserves, it was a dazzling success. And then, when we were on the verge of
> a great victory, the cease-fire came into effect.
>
> There is not a single word of truth in this. This operation, which was
> planned and which the army spent years training for, was not carried out
> earlier, because it was clear that it would not bring any meaningful gains
> but would be costly in lives. The army would, indeed, have occupied wide
> areas, but without being able to dislodge the Hizbullah fighters from them.
>
> The town of Bint Jbeil, for example, right next to the border, was taken
> by the army three times, and the Hizbullah fighters remained there to the
> end. If we had occupied 20 towns and villages like this one, the soldiers
> and the tanks would have been exposed in twenty places to the mortal attacks
> of the guerillas with their highly effective anti-tank weapons.
>
> If so, why was it decided, at the last moment, to carry out this operation
> after all--well after the UN had already called for an end to hostilities?
> The horrific answer: it was a cynical--not to say vile--exercise of the
> failed trio. Olmert, Peretz and Halutz wanted to create "a picture of
> victory", as was openly stated in the media. On this altar the lives of 33
> soldiers (including a young woman) were sacrificed.
>
> The aim was to photograph the victorious soldiers on the bank of the
> Litani. The operation could only last 48 hours, when the cease-fire would
> come into force. In spite of the fact that the army used helicopters to land
> the troops, the aim was not attained. At no point did the army reach the
> Litani.
>
> For comparison: in the first Lebanon war, that of Sharon in 1982, the army
> crossed the Litani in the first few hours. (The Litani, by the way, is not a
> real river anymore, but just a shallow creek. Most of its waters are drawn
> off far from there, in the north. Its last stretch is about 25 km distant
> from the border, near Metulla the distance is only 4 km.)
>
> This time, when the cease-fire took effect, all the units taking part had
> reached villages on the way to the river. There they became sitting ducks,
> surrounded by Hizbullah fighters, without secure supply lines. From that
> moment on, the army had only one aim: to get them out of there as quickly as
> possible, regardless of who might take their place.
>
> If a commission of inquiry is set up--as it must be--and investigates all
> the moves of this war, starting from the way the decision to start it was
> made, it will also have to investigate the decision to start this last
> operation. The death of 33 soldiers (including the son of the writer David
> Grossman, who had supported the war) and the pain this caused their families
> demand that!
>
> BUT THESE facts are not yet clear to the general public. The brain-washing
> by the military commentators and the ex-generals, who dominated the media at
> the time, has turned the foolish--I would almost say "criminal"--operation
> into a rousing victory parade. The decision of the political leadership to
> stop it is now being seen by many as an act of defeatist, spineless, corrupt
> and even treasonous politicians.
>
> And that is exactly the new slogan of the fascist Right that is now
> raising its ugly head.
>
> After World War I, in similar circumstances, the legend of the "knife in
> the back of the victorious army" grew up. Adolf Hitler used it to carry him
> to power--and on to World War II.
>
> Now, even before the last fallen soldier has been buried, the incompetent
> generals are starting to talk shamelessly about "another round", the next
> war that will surely come "in a month or in a year", God willing. After all,
> we cannot end the matter like this, in failure. Where is our pride?
>
> THE ISRAELI public is now in a state of shock and disorientation.
> Accusations--justified and unjustified--are flung around in all directions,
> and it cannot be foreseen how things will develop.
>
> Perhaps, in the end, it is logic that will win. Logic says: what has
> thoroughly been demonstrated is that there is no military solution. That is
> true in the North. That is also true in the South, where we are confronting
> a whole people that has nothing to lose anymore. The success of the Lebanese
> guerilla will encourage the Palestinian guerilla.
>
> For logic to win, we must be honest with ourselves: pinpoint the failures,
> investigate their deeper causes, draw the proper conclusions.
>
> Some people want to prevent that at any price. President Bush declares
> vociferously that we have won the war. A glorious victory over the Evil
> Ones. Like his own victory in Iraq.
>
> When a football team is able to choose the referee, it is no surprise if
> it is declared the winner.
>
> *Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom.*
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lebanon-Articles mailing list
> Lebanon-Articles at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lebanon-articles
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/lebanon-articles/attachments/20060818/63899a09/attachment.htm