When Indiscriminate Bombing Hits Home- Literally

Today is a very sad day for my maternal family whose neighborhood, full of old homes dating almost 100 years was targeted and destroyed turning them into a pile of rubble. While we are fortunate that none of our family members were there, the family home with its traditional tile, its thin alleyways, its garden, its traditional fountain, its palms, and its Guava tree are all gone.

My grandfather had built the place from scratch in the 1930's. It was in the peaceful and sleepy southern suburbs of Beirut, which was full of houses and orchards back then. He would open up his house for his Lebanese American bride, my grandma, and for their subsequent five children- my mom being the first to arrive. She has the oldest memories of all the neighborhood. All the houses around were of uncles and cousins. It was like a family village in the suburbs of Beirut. Most who had worked there were judges, teachers, and people who believed in their nascent Lebanese nation.

Years later, when my sister and I were born, mom would take us to Burj and we would play in the garden and swim in the fountain at its center. We would climb the fruit trees and then we would have a nice family barbecue. The war did not stop mom from taking us there on weekends to drink from its sweet water and absorb the unconditional love and humor of our Burj family.

When my grandparents passed away, my uncles each inherited a portion of the house and they soon added a couple of stories above the main house to accommodate their families. It remained a small building and it kept its traditional style. My cousins were all born and raised there and their childhood memories are all in that neighborhood.

All these years, the Minshiyyeh neighborhood survived war after war and battle after another; and it was never targeted because for the most part, it still housed the traditional families that were not involved in anything sinister ... We all thought it would be safe forever, until that is, some random bloke in a speeding metallic object in the sky decided to press a button and destroy it. 

What strategic purpose would such an indiscriminate bombing serve? It certainly hasn't made people more favorable to the bomber whom they see as marauding genocidal murderers that are trigger happy and have no appreciation for culture or history. It certainly won't eliminate the will of any resistance to their actions. They are unaffected by the destruction of a neighborhood that was irrelevant to them to begin with. And it will certainly not make the residents leave. Everyone we spoke to wants to rebuild. It is there home albeit there houses are no more.

It leaves one questioning what possible purpose does destruction for destruction's sake serve? Is it to satisfy the whims of a few blood thirsty criminal politicians? Is it to terrorize by showcasing the power of steel over tradition? Is it insatiable greed? Whatever it is, only the innocent seemingly pay the price these days, as the world watches on and does little to stop it.

Is a Lebanese national spirit emerging from the ashes of Israel's destruction?

The past week has been a painful one for Lebanon and the Lebanese people. More than 1,500 have been killed and thousands more wounded or maimed through indiscriminate acts of violence perpetrated by the Israeli state against Lebanon. This has been followed up by assassinations and massive bombing campaigns in the South, in the Bekaa, and in Beirut.

Notwithstanding the national tragedy, it has been heartening to see the Lebanese come together to deal with the dire consequences of the Israeli aggression. They have welcomed hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Lebanese. From as far afield as Tripoli, Mount Lebanon, the Shouf, and Beirut's Achrafieh, Lebanese people opened their homes, churches, and mosques. They donated blood, provided aid, hospitals, and medical services free of charge for those coming from the affected regions. Others visited bereaved families in the Beirut suburbs, bringing flowers and gifts. A towing company owner decided to support any car needing help along escape routes. Another who owns one of the most famous night clubs in the country, decided to host hundreds of displaced in the club. Even folks from usually politically opposing areas such as Tariq Jdeedeh paid respect to the fallen and the injured. The Lebanese people from all walks of life are helping their fellow Lebanese. 

Could an emerging Lebanese national spirit be emerging? It seems clear to everyone inside and outside the country.  Perhaps this citizen empathy and coexistence is the very one on which the Lebanese founders bet more than a century ago when they brought different and disparate religious groups together under one flag with a tree. While over the ensuing decades, Lebanon did have internal conflicts due to political constitutional intransigence and quirks, Lebanon has largely maintained this inter-communal coexistence without any genocidal intent and without any form of apartheid or segregation.

This said, Lebanon is far from perfect. The state has been weakened by years of corruption, and centrifugal forces for decades have pulled some of its communities away from its core mission. And yet throughout its history, it has remained accommodating to the Lebanese and even to neighborly refugees. And so, it is not in the least ironic that the West has opted to sanction Lebanon--which is a liberal democracy-- and punish its people who are peacefully hosting almost 2 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees; while not holding Israel to any account for the unrelenting killing rampage against 2 million Palestinians, the illegal and violent expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and the indiscriminate bombings of Gaza and Lebanon.

The juxtaposition of the two states cannot be of more contrast. On the one hand, Israel finds itself today sinking deeper and deeper into a moral abyss, needing to commit more and more atrocities in the name of defending itself. In the process, it has become to many in the world a pariah rogue state run by extremists, and committing a genocide against civilians in Gaza, with cases already raised in the International Court of Justice as well as the International Criminal Court against its actions and its leaders. Meanwhile in Lebanon, which has been standing against genocide, has indeed paid a very hefty price in lives and in material, but maintains its place quite intact among the civilized family of nations. 

And yet contrary to expectations, and notwithstanding different views towards the war, the Lebanese people have come together to empathize and support each other. Could it be that Lebanon deep inside has a hidden treasure of national spirit, based on morality, human dignity, and rights, overriding any other consideration, including deeply held political differences? Could it be that the Lebanese people are finally looking at each other and saying: We are all Lebanese; we love our country; we have all been hurt and suffered; we have to be be there for each other; we want to live together as one people; and we want this country to be the home for all of us? 

Once this storm blows over, the Lebanese will also be asking the world: Can this small and insignificant nation on the Mediterranean shoreline be given a chance to just be left alone to mend its wounds, and reestablish itself as a nation for all its citizens equally with no regard for race, religion, or gender? If so, then perhaps any sacrifices being paid now, as painful as they may be, may finally prove to be worth it, and the vision of the Lebanon of our forefathers may finally be realized ...