It seems I am being criticized by many Bloggers, Lebanese and others because I am calling for peace. I was even asked by some to go live in Israel…
Let me tell you that I am here to stay and I want to live in a strong and definite country that will never be used again, by anyone in the world, to settle accounts or wage their wars.
Second I ask all those who hurled their attacks and insult: what do they want me to do?
What will make me fit their mold, what should my position be? Some asked me to show unity? What does this mean?
Should I cheer every time Hezbollah attacks Israel?
Should I laugh hysterically when Israel civilian dies?
What should I do?
Enlighten me?
I will tell you how I think and act: I never stood by passively and complained about what is happening!
No! I said and always will say that I abhor all killing of civilian there is no excuse for that! None what so ever! Israeli killings, Hezbollah’s, American, Iraqi You name it!
And I understand that help is needed and I am doing what I can, but this is only dealing with consequences, forgoing the real causes. And unfortunately this means that we will have to endure this cycle of death and destruction once more…
So I cannot accept to stand by and only blame Israel, because this will not end the killing. Of course Israel is to blame and no killing is acceptable! But so is Hezbollah! And if we do not accept this fact then we will never end the violence! In two or three years it will start all over again! I do not accept to endure all this destruction and death just so that in a couple of years it will start again! I will not accept it! Not for the sack of religion, Arabism or any other obsolete concept!
I believe in a strong, democratic and pluralistic and most importantly peaceful Lebanon. And this can only happen if we decide all together to forsake violence forever!
How can this happen?
Easy follow your lawful government! PM Siniora stated that the army should be sent to the south to control the border, and asked for an immediate cease fire. Hezbollah refused!!!!
We, you and me hold the solution, pressure Hezbollah, and make them understand that we will not accept any more violence. No more death! You are fighting the wrong battle, pressuring Israel never worked nor did fighting it! We should learn from the past! Death and destruction only lead to more death and destruction, 60 years of wars and tragedies proves that fact, and I was here in 93 and 96! And violence stopped at that time because Lebanon had an exceptional man who brokered a treaty! He is dead! So now we have to act ourselves! Pressure Hezbollah, peacefully and actively! So that our children will not have to go through all this again!
Israel is here to stay! Deal with it! Pressuring Hezbollah is the only way.
So if any of you has any other ideas to stop the killing I am all ears!
Call for peace, Believe in Peace! even in these difficult times…
PEACE NOW
35 comments :
I wish you and Lebanese that think like you the best of luck in succeeding to accomplish your stated goals.
Keep the peace.
Kooshtaka said:
Jews have not, and never will be, suffered by Arabic cultures.
This is such a tremendous lie. From the time Mohamed beheaded some 900 Jews at Kaibar, Jews have suffered tremendously and have been disgracefully subjugated as dhimmis throughout the Muslim world.
Take off your rose colored glasses and go to the library and read some history books.
As for Rabie Halad, so would you prefer the killing to perpetuate? What is it with you people? Give Israel back its 2 soldiers, permanently cease your hostilities against Israel and peace on earth.
Or does the mere acknowledgement of Israel's existance send you into ab epileptic fit?
So if any of you has any other ideas to stop the killing I am all ears!
Yours is the only way that will actually stop the killing.
The courage and unity you showed in the Cedar Revolution were awe-inspiring and you should be justly proud. If life were fair, you should never have had to do it again -- let alone scarcely a year later. But life isn't fair, and sometimes all your choices are hard ones.
All my prayers for your success.
PS: Most of us don't share kooshtaka's 'all Arabs are congenital racists' bigotry. Just by writing the post you just did, you've disproven it.
No lebanese has ever disgraced me so much
You've got some pathetic notions of disgrace, then. You should save your shame for the cowards known as Hizballah, who start a fight and then run and hide behind Lebanese civilians. Who posture and bluster about being the mighty resistance as they cower in holes in the ground. Who count a man who murdered a four-year-old girl a noble hero.
If you have anything but contempt for Hizballah then you are a nothing but a craven fool.
Hi, I'm an israeli, feeling your pain and hearing your distress.
If only there was a way convincing u that people here really care about u
No one want that Lebanese will get heart, we all hoping for peace and wishing u will hold on and wont suffer.
I'm hoping for a day which I can hold your hand with trust, deep respect and love.
Wish u all well and keep safe
The 2 soldiers are not the real issue. There's a saying in the theater world that if there's a gun on the stage in the first act of a play, its going to go off in the second act. The gun on the Lebanese stage was the growing arsenal of 10,000 plus missiles. What do you think HB was going to do with that, "free" the Sheba farms (Syrian territory, that they are too scared to admit is their's)? Nasrallah said so himself that this was not about the defense of Lebanon - he said this was not about defending Lebanon but about the broader war of Islam against Israel.
The question is, how does this end in a way that creates a buffer in the south and allows Lebanon to recover and maintian a stable political environment.
MAZe
I find it insulting to be attacked in my Lebanese identity, so I will not answer these accusations any more, suffice to say that I am supporting the Lebanese government whole those who accuse me are supporting an armed party…
Second about whom I blame, I repeat verbatim what I said “So I cannot accept to stand by and only blame Israel, because this will not end the killing. Of course Israel is to blame and no killing is acceptable! But so is Hezbollah! And if we do not accept this fact then we will never end the violence!”
It seems that you are not reading what I am writing.
Again I will say this: I condemn killings on both sides and blame them both! But to end this Hezbollah must stop they started it they must take the first step to end it!
PEACE NOW
Come on Bob! Everybody wants peace the question is not there. Peace yes but not at any price.
We don't hate Israelis because they are jews but because of what they do. There has to be reciprocity: if they don't give us our prisoners we won't give them teir prisonners. If they bomb us we will bomb them. If they stop we stop. Do I like it? no but they started.
I hope so much that your government will get stronger and end this! I can't emagine what it feels like to be there and having to see this.
Peace---
Mahatma Gandhi once said: "An eye for an eye make the whole world blind." Haven't humanity learnt the lessons of history?
Violence engenders violence. The only solution we have is peace, compassion, pardon, and love.
Om, shanti, shanti, shanti (peace, peace, peace)
The Pro-Israel people are hoping Lebanon and Israel have a prosperous future free of terrorism.
The Pro-Hizbullah/"Lebanon" people are hoping Israel is wiped off the map.
That says it all.
Hello my dear friend.
I'm writing you from Israel. Yeah, Israel. I must say that I completely resist all the slaughter in Lebanon but we must understand both sides of this conflict. I live here already 8 years and I know that most of the Israelis want peace! You know, a lot of people are killed by terror organizations, now we sit here in the bomb shelters and wait when it all will finish. We had become sick and tired of all these terrorists who trying to kill us every day and I don't understand why!
I don't think that the solution that Israel had choose is the write one, not at all. So many people killed for nothng!
I'm so disappointed to hear that a lot of people so hate Israel and don't even try to understand people like me, people that want peace, people that are sick and tired of all the civilians who are killed only because they are muslims, jewish, christians and etc.
Please, lets give chance to each other! Lets learn to understand and respect each other! Lets leave in peace! If all of us will want it, it may come true, lats try to do it.
Rabie_Halad
I will ignore your insults and accusation they mean nothing to me, on the contrary from you they are a badge of honor...
For your hope that you consider me "one of the civilians which i hope gets stuck in the middle of the war so you can learn what the Israelis do…"
Well they have come true, thank you very much, i am in Saida in south Lebanon under siege... and I see what Israel does and also what Hezbollah too, and that is why I am sincerely calling for peace. So thx you for your sincere wishes, and let me offer you mine in responses, may you or any one of your family never ever be stuck in the middle of a war...
PEACE NOW
Hezbollah is here to stay, Lebanon is a democracy and it chose Hezbollah, sorry you guys who stole Palestine!
Bob tell me where you live: I will
take your house beat you bomb you humiliate you but .. peace!
I am at the Washington Post and wanted to chat with you. Please send me an email at postglobal[at]washingtonpost.com.
Readers, look at our coverage of Lebanon at blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal. We would love input from Lebanese and Israelis on the ground there, to share with our readers what it feels like to be on the ground - what you see and hear. My best wishes for your safety.
You are absolutely right.
in every single word you wrote.
the problem is, that no one sees it.
everybody's thinking "oh, we should kill them, we should show them who's the strongest, who's the biggest".
it's all just games of pride and honour.
it's so stupid.
well, boys will be boys... (=
but seriously, i can't stand it.
i can't stand another war.
it's so... pointless.
yuval.
(from Jerusalem)
Rabie_Halad
Enough, from now on I will ignore. You have proved that you are not able to have a decent conversation without resorting to insults. Bye bye!
PS: I will not accept any more insults or accusation from you. If you want to keep on commenting on my blog refrain from doing that, or I will delete your comments.
MAZe
How to implement the plan is by sending UN peacekeeping troops to the south if the army is unable.
Sure I said it before and I say it again too much violence is being perpetrated it should stop. And Israel responses have been too bloody and targeted too many civilians.
Now it is your turn to admit that Hezbollah played a big role in starting this whole mess and is also perpetrating condemnable attacks, even if you consider them only as a response (which is not logical, because whether you accept this or not it is Hezbollah who started it)
The fix to the Palestinian problem comes with a peace agreement with Israel not with the solution of this current crisis.
PEACE NOW
i think u r tottaly right
i support ur opinion.
war can't achieve anything.
peace and talking can achieve alot.
the sad part, that most people think that to achive to the "talking part" there must be a war, people think that without it, there cannot be talking nor nigotiating.
keep strong!
This is very funny
Some people insult me and then except me to answer their comment objectively.
Hell i am only human. You want a decent conversation, start by stopping the insults...
PEACENOW
"I am really saddened that more Israel are supporting the lawful Lebanese government than Lebanese!" - Hezballah must have been doing a great job,no?!
You keep calling Hzbl "The Resistance" - what do they Resist, Technology, Education, Development, Peace, Freedom, Life? if you proclaim to have a peaceful agenda, you should stop use it, use The Equilibrium Resistance or Arabs Should Suffer abbr (ass).
As for your small allegory about the Israeli bear, :)
I can only tell you this; Israel is not the one acting like a blind bear.
I also condemn all killing from both sides.
Salam Aliek,
Rabie,
I donno where are you getting your info from but even Al Manar TV ( Hezbollah’s own TV) said that until this day more than 10 Hezbollah soldiers are dead.
Also it is Hezbollah who also said that the Israeli soldiers were captured inside Israel.
MAZe
My peace is a fair one. And what I call and have been calling for is a immediate cease fire, Hezbollah transfer the two soldiers to the Lebanese government and the establishing a UN buffer zone in the south, like the one in Syria. I m glad that you accept the fact that Hezbollah started it and i am sorry but unity at the moment means standing by them whole they keep bombing Israel and getting us bombed back in return. ( in the political sense, in the humanitarian it is a whole different thing that I totally believe in –ie helping refuges…-
Now about the threat of civil war I agree it is present and might materialize but still standing by Hezbollah at the moment for me is unthinkable, because they need to understand that there behavior ( taking the whole country to war without any form of consultation or consensus) is unacceptable and will never again be acceptable.
PEACE NOW
Rabie_Halad
For once i agree with you, and what you said in the end "i want to go back to lebanon and i want to go to downtown, bliss, achrafieh, faraya." brought tears to my eyes.
And in turn i apologize if i went out of line.
and i echo your call
PEACE in the middle east and let all this madness end...
Bob, thanks for coming on my podcast tonight. The link to the show is here.
Best of luck in your struggle for peace and if there is anything I can do to help get the word out, please let me know.
"BOB" I've read your blog and listened to your podcast with C. Reilly from here in Santa Monica, California USA. I want you to know that myself and my friends and family pray for peace. Our news organizations make it necessary to look to the internet to find the many true sides of the story.
Personally, I know a few Persians here that, while wishing for peace, wholeheartedly blame the Israelis. They have tomes of history for reasons why the Jews are at fault. I also have Jewish friends that feel the exact opposite and have their books full of reasons why.
So, when does peace really become peace? Is it ego? Is it multinational manipulation?
A killer is a killer and a terrorist is a terrorist no matter what country they are from.
I agree with your sentiments that it is hard to see Lebanon put in the middle yet again.
As an 'Independent' American I wish US foreign policy was more even handed in the MidEast...
Peace and blessings
You blame the Israelis and not the terrorists Hizballah you were too afraid to contain...
Your blood is on your head: your cowardice is what caused the war... You don't want to return the soldiers? Hope you'll be bombed then to the stoine age...
You are just despicable cowards!
I was happy to read your post. And if your friends tell you to go live in Israel, hey - you are always welcome to come and visit. I'm sure there'll be a time when we will be able to vacation in Beirut and you in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem.
I'm all for destruction. Weapon destruction. No more guns, bombs, bows and arrows - and knives should be used solely for cutting fruits and vegetables.
Great posts.
I'm an Israeli, from Jerusalem. I want to wish all Lebanese peace and safety. I pray this war ends soon with a lasting peace. May your country rebuild quickly and renew its days as a center of culture, where people from all over the world can see its beauty.
I believe Hezbollah are acting not on the behalf of Lebanon. They have a much larger agenda. If you favor a the great nation of Islam, and are willing to throw democracy and freedom out the window, Hizbollah are the right choice. For their size they are doing an impressive job. they are using strategy from the Art of War to their benefit, and have been able to withold against a superior army. But, if Lebanon wants to remain as a united democratic country, Hezbollah must be disarmed, and Lebanese army shoul be the sole protector of its borders. I wish you all peace and love. I hope to be able to show you my hopitality in Jerusalem in the not so far future, and maybe by that time Jerusalem will be an international city, the capitol of Israel and Palestine, living alonside each other in peace and harmony.
Peace in the Middle East!
Hi Bob and all,
Please visit the following link and sign the petition for Lebanon!
http://www.lebguide.com/lebanon/petition/
Thanks in advance for your support for Lebanon!
Ciao,
Karim
------
His excellency, Mr. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General,
We, people and friends of Lebanon, would like to express our indignation with regard to the fatal attacks which are destroying our country since July 12, 2006. Today, fifteen years after the end of the civil war, the country is yet again under siege. Israel has imposed on Lebanon a total blockade, destroying the civilian infrastructures of the country, obliging tens of thousands of people to flee their residences, and leading to the death of too many innocent civilians. These actions constitute crimes against the Lebanese population.
And the international community turns a blind eye.
We, Lebanese, friends of Lebanon or simply men and women of peace, would like to make an appeal to the United Nations, in its role as international peace and security keepers, to enforce an immediate cease fire in the country. We invite you to wield pressure on Israel to raise the total blockade imposed on the country as soon as possible. We also ask you to provide the assistance necessary to the Lebanese government so that it can exert its full sovereignty on the whole of the territory.
Over the last few years, the Lebanese people have expressed their utmost desire to see their country free of foreign occupation and to finally be able to exert their total sovereignty on their own territory. The destruction that is now taking place is in no way enabling this process. We need to find a diplomatic and peaceful resolution to this conflict. We believe in the United Nations and in its ability to allow us to achieve these goals, this is why your Excellency, Mr. Kofi Annan we address this petition to you.
Please hear our plea your Excellency the Secretary General, the people of Lebanon need your support.
We should all ask ourselves the question 'why?'
Why is this still happening? Why has it been allowed to happen and why for such a long length of time? Generations have come and gone and still the situation persists. Why haven't we all done something to make it stop happening?
There may never be a truly final answer to all these questions but there must be ways to turn the situation to our advantage, to deal with the worst excesses of almost every day that passes.
Perhaps I might indicate one possibility. I came across it many years ago and it's always been a favourite of mine, one I would love to see enacted on the world stage. Also because only the world stage could contain and fully deploy such a sequence of events.
To be reached by following the trail of breadcrumbs; this comment section may have limited capacity for the postings to be encountered along the way.
Search for 'Google',
In Google seach box, type 'Place4peace'
Double click on second listing,
Continue accordingly.
John Yorke,
Wirral,
UK
PS: the 'Crowbar' referred to is actually an electrical/electonic sensing circuit and not the mechanical implement the name usually implies.
PPS: my apologies to any Germans re the comment to be found at the end of this trail. I can assure you it's only my poor attempt at humour!
I just heard on Fox News here in the U.S. that Israel has requested an expedited shipment of 'bunker busting bombs.'
I am sad to say that the news report indicated they were being readied for immediate shipment.
Just what needs to happen, escalation through greater destruction and further loss of innocent life.
It makes me question what it would really take to stop this now. I don't know that returning 2 soldiers would stop this war in its tracks.
I have been reading all your comments. I am a typical American and it is really funny to me. to read your comments. it's like watching my nephews fight. you started it, no you started it. I really hope you destroy each other. I am not in a bunker. I dont like jewish people or muslim the problem is that you both think your religion is the best I think you should both destroy each other off the face of the earth it will be better for all of us here.belive me we dont care about your countries we dont want it or want to control you or even want to marry your woman.please oh please destroy each other
This is levdavidovitch, have lost my password and the site won't give it back to me, sigh!!!
A short summary of the main findings of the 1920 British Military Commission into the cause of anti-Jewish riots in Jerusalem and some northern Jewish settlements. These attacks were the first major attacks on Jewish immigrants and were brutally suppressed by the British.
a) the Arabs' disappointment following the failure to carry out the promises of independence made after the 1914-1918 war.
b) the Arabs' conviction that the Balfour Declaration implied the denial of their right to self-determination, and their fear that the establisment of a Jewish National Home would mean a considerable increase in Jewish immigration, which would lead to their economic and political subjection to the Jews.
c) the intensification of their feelings by the propoganda conducted from abroad about the proclaimation of Emir Faisal as King of reunified Syria in Damascus, which on the one hand had the effect of reinforcing the pan-Arab, and pan-Islamic trend, on the other hand, and in the activities of the Zionist Commission, which was in Palestine at that time, supported by the influencial resources of all world Jewry [sic] on the other hand.
Source: The Political History of Palestine under British Administration. Memorandum by His Britanic Majesty's Government. Presented in 1947 to the United nations Special Committee on Palestine. Published in Jerusalem in 1947.
History can be very dry reading, yet none the less interesting and informative. The British knew way back in 1920 the cause of Arab and particularly Palestinian resentment against the Jewish immigrants. The UN definitely knew in 1947. What did they do? They agreed to the formation of Israel. Did they all think the Palestinians were just going to quietly disappear from the face of the earth? If one wants to understand an event one must understand it's origins and only then can there be any possibility of a resolution to present events. Ignoring history leads to chaos and confusion which leads to frustration and anger which leads to violence. The Arab elites are still doing what Faisal was doing in 1920, looking after their own interests. The Zionist are still doing what they were doing in 1920 driving Arabs from their own land. It will not stop until the wrongs of the past are squarely faced and addressed. That will be a hard road for many Israelis, and also for the Arab masses who have to realise the urgent need overthrow their own corrupt self-interested elites. Neither the Zionists (not the Jewish people) nor the Arab elites give a fig leaf for the rights and aspirations of the ordinary people of the Middle East.
A point that occurred to me last night. The Israeli army is massed on the Lebanese border. Massive amounts of munitions are stored in the open near heavy artillery, tanks and troops. Why is Hizbola not targeting that instead of hitting the Israeli civilian population? Surely a massive rocket attack on just one position will cause havoc with all those munition? This would have a serious effect on the morale of the Israeli army. Hizbollah are not tactically stupid so there has to be some reason to hit civlians far away and not hit military targets well within range. I am still thinking about this one.
FROM levdavidovitch
To the anonymous American who contributed at 9.08.
You should read some history my friend. Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq are not about religion, Judaism versus Islam or Christianity, this is about power and wealth. If all the money the USA has poured into proping up the Israeli war machine had been spent on health and education in the USA what a shining pinacle of civilisation the USA would be today. Too many of us have visited the USA and seen the poverty and squalor of the slums, the street people, the malnutrition among in the big cities slums and in the rural South. Those who own and rule the USA were shown in their true light by Katrina and it's aftermath, maybe you would think differently if your nephews had been in New Orleans. The USA has so much potential in it's people and it's resources to give a lead to the whole world, and it is being squandered on fuelling the worlds greatest killing machine. As Gore Vidal said, the people who own America are willing to let anyone play at being president as long as their wealth and power are not threatened. You just stay in your cosy comfort zone my friend, but do give some thought to the future your nephews will live in.
FROM levdavidovitch
Dear Bob, hope I haven't killed your site, I find I do that when I start quoting history. People prefer to run on their immediate emotions and don't like to look at cause and effect.
I have lost my password and despite three requests have received no email reminding me of it . Can you help.
Don't worry.I am sure many Lebanese share your views and maybe they don't dare declare them.I know I share your opinion.But unfortunatly Lebanon is ruled by two cultures:The culture of peace and that of death and distruction.I don't know how we will ever conciliate them.I hope we are not heading to a civil war again.
Keep up your good work (and intentions :) )
Peace
Aman
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