Middle East Continued Again...

[Ming]

Time for a new one!

[GePap]

Today for some reason CNN switched part of its coverage to CNN international. The difference in coverage between what the US sees and what the rest of the world sees in CNN is amazing.

As for living in one of the most Pro-Israeli cities in the US, its funny to see that the NY Post is probably more stridently pro-Israel than even its fellow conservative Jerusalem Post (and certainly more than Haarezt). Yesterday the NY POst did not even mentionb dead Lebanse civilians, which seems a hard thing to do, but somehow their coverage managed it.

[RGBVideo]

Has any Israeli citizen hinted during the last threads what the state of Israel is seeking to accomplish during this invasion?

[Terra Nullius]

Originally posted by GePap
The difference in coverage between what the US sees and what the rest of the world sees in CNN is amazing.

Specifically??

[GePap]

Originally posted by Terra Nullius

Specifically??

MOre coverage from Southern Lebanon, as opposed to just talking heads from central Beirut. CNN INternational actually showed a British diplomat saying unkind words about the Israeli actions. That wouldn;t make it into US television.

That was just 20 minutes of watching the coverage.

[GePap]

Originally posted by VJ
Has any Israeli citizen hinted during the last threads what the state of Israel is seeking to accomplish during this invasion?

Eli has. Of course, so has the Israeli government.

[GePap]

Young Lebanese, Caught in the Middle, See a Brighter Future Take a Dark Turn

Article Tools Sponsored By
By JAD MOUAWAD
Published: July 23, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 22 — Maya Hage, 24, is a singer in a local band that plays at the hip beach resorts dotting Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast. Ms. Hage, a Maronite Christian, returned from France four years ago to enjoy her country’s many charms. Now she feels betrayed.

Nabil Sargi, 26, is trying to cling to his freewheeling Beirut. An account manager and musician, he was sipping a beer recently at a bar in the Gemayzeh district, whose restaurants and clubs long drew the artistic, literary crowd. But few of them are open now, and the traffic that so recently paralyzed the street late into the night has vanished.

Zainab Anis Jaber, 23, fled her home in southern Beirut when the terrifying pounding of Israeli rockets began. For Ms. Jaber, a religiously observant Shiite, the Beirut of glossy magazines, nightclubs, and luxury boutiques was always more distant than the dark side of the moon, and the scars of war were always near.

Today’s young Lebanese are a multifaceted group, hard to generalize about. But they all came of age in a country that was supposed to be moving past war and the religious tensions that tore the country apart from 1975 to 1990, and they all saw how a unified Lebanon drove Syria’s troops out last year after 29 years of occupation.

Now, with Hezbollah’s raid on Israel and Israel’s siege of Lebanon, there is a weary sense that the country’s halting progress may unravel.

Even before the bombing began, Beirut bore the memory of its civil war on its bullet-gouged buildings. The old Green Line that once divided the city has been sewn back with the yellow stone of refurbished French colonial buildings, chic cafes and trendy restaurants, a repaired Greek Orthodox cathedral and an expanded Sunni mosque. Roman ruins rubbed shoulders with glittering high-rise buildings.

Lebanon’s delicate tapestry is made of many religious communities — 18 in all, the largest among them Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Maronite Christians, and Druze. Power is divided along religious lines, and so is patronage.

On the surface, the divides among these groups have been ironed out. But the war never really stopped for Lebanon’s Shiites. First they were driven out of their homes by the Israeli Army fighting Palestinian militants. Then the slums where they moved in Beirut’s southern suburbs were bombed. And now, once more, an Israeli assault is throwing hundreds of thousands of them on the road.

Ms. Jaber grew up in south Beirut. Her father was killed before she was born, when the Israeli Army invaded Lebanon in 1982. Her family was forced out of the town of Marjaayoun, when the Israelis occupied southern Lebanon for nearly two decades.

Last week, war again turned her into a refugee fleeing Israeli rockets on Beirut’s southern suburbs. She said she lost a relative during the recent bombing in the south.

Ms. Jaber now lives at her aunt’s home, close to the highway that leads to the airport and a short walk from the center of town, where life seems to have stopped 11 days ago. Much of that neighborhood, devastated in the early years of the civil war, was torn down a decade ago to make way for glittering new buildings. By erasing the signs of the past, the promoters sought a clean slate. But their efforts did little to help bridge the gap between Lebanon’s disenfranchised — including the country’s large Shiite community — and the rest of the country.

“We feel neglected,” said Ms. Jaber, walking past Martyr’s Square. Her engaging round face and clear green eyes were tightly wrapped with a veil so that her hair was hidden. A long black robe revealed only sports shoes.

“People in Beirut, especially the Christians, don’t understand what is going on in the south because they live in security and prosperity,” she said.

Ms. Jaber blames the other Lebanese communities for ignoring the problems of the south, and the government for having failed the Shiites. Only Hezbollah, which distributes funds and administers services and schools, provides for the Shiites of Lebanon, she said. Only Hezbollah, she said, can defend them against Israel.

“My relatives in the south are fighting, not going out and partying,” she said. “It’s not a privilege for us. It’s something we’re forced to do.”

Thanks to Hezbollah’s financial help, she said, she went to college and earned a master’s degree.

She does not shake hands with men. When her Christian friends visit her home, she warns them against shaking hands with her male relatives. She does not listen to pop music. She does not drink.

Her experience is light-years away from Beirut’s image as a casual party town, where champagne sells for $7,000 a bottle and all forms of excess are welcomed.

“Coexistence does not mean compromise,” she said. “I respect them, but I don’t think we live the same life.”

A case in point: Before the siege, Lana El Khalil, 24, enjoyed going to parties in the cosmopolitan capital that Beirut had once more become. Now she is volunteering to help Lebanese refugees who have fled the airstrikes, as well as continuing her work practicing art therapy to help young children in a Palestinian refugee camp cope with the trauma of being uprooted.

Like many affluent Lebanese families, her family settled in Nigeria before the civil war. She returned to Lebanon when she was 16.

Although she is a Druze, she has not been actively religious. She says the Lebanese have been complacent, failing to face their past or the reasons the country spent 15 years tearing itself apart.

“We have opted for collective amnesia after the civil war; we pretended nothing had happened — we never said ‘never again,’ ” she said. “I rejected religion a long time ago because I saw what it did to this country.”

Now, Ms. Khalil said, “it seems like all the work, all the sweat, all the emotional toll spent building up, has been decimated.”

Unlike Ms. Jaber, many of the more secular younger set are furious with Hezbollah, believing the group has dragged Lebanon into a ruinous conflict. Mr. Sargi said it set the clock back 20 years. “I am 100 percent against Israel, but I also don’t agree with Hezbollah as an armed militia,” he said. “They have no right to take the country as a hostage.”

Ms. Hage is also critical. “I don’t agree with Hezbollah’s lifestyle, and I didn’t choose this war,” she said, wearing dark Chanel glasses, a revealing white T-shirt and tight sweat pants.

“The Lebanese enjoy life, they enjoy leading a good life and having fun,” she said. “We had other battles to fight — like finding work and making this economy grow. Waging a war on Israel was not a priority for us,” she said.

Many young Lebanese say they will not be dragged back into divisive conflict.

Nayla Tueni, 23, remains a believer in Lebanon’s future. She says she has little choice. Last December, a powerful bomb killed her father, Gebran Tueni, a prominent anti-Syrian campaigner and the publisher of the newspaper An Nahar. The assassination was the last of a string of bombings and killings that followed the Syrian pullout.

“I am part of a generation that does not think along the lines of Christians or Muslims,” said Ms. Tueni, who is a journalist at the paper. “Too many people have given their blood to make this happen.”

She remains optimistic about Lebanon’s capacity to unite its communities. Yet she, too, feels disbelief that the country has plunged so quickly into a conflict few here expected. She believes Hezbollah was wrong to drag the country into war.

“I don’t want my father to have given his life in vain,” said Ms. Tueni, who had a picture of her father pinned on her black shirt. “I don’t want to enter into a long, black tunnel. I don’t want to accept we’re in a war.”

From Beirut to Tripoli, to cities in the south of the country, the past 16 years have been a slow and painful road of reconstruction in Lebanon. The unfinished task has left the country with $40 billion of debt. The center of Beirut is still a dusty quarter with many empty lots. A few buildings have risen. Around the country, strong inequalities remain. And now, many fear just how much the onslaught will undo.

“I wonder if the Lebanese people will have the strength to rebuild everything for a second time,” said Mr. Sargi, the account manager and musician. “The bombs don’t frighten me as much as the aftermath of the war.”

[RGBVideo]

Eli has.

Where -- or what did he say? I'd love to read an in-depth viewpoint about this attack from some invididual I can trust.

[GePap]

Originally posted by VJ

Where -- or what did he say? I'd love to read an in-depth viewpoint about this attack from some invididual I can trust.

The previous ME thread section. IN some of the earlier pages.

[RGBVideo]

Originally posted by GePap
The previous ME thread section. IN some of the earlier pages.

Found it, post #101. Thanks.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by GePap


MOre coverage from Southern Lebanon, as opposed to just talking heads from central Beirut. CNN INternational actually showed a British diplomat saying unkind words about the Israeli actions. That wouldn;t make it into US television.

That was just 20 minutes of watching the coverage.

I watch CNN Int quite often (together with BBC World) since our national news suck when it comes to internat. matters.

CNN Int is quite balanced, transports Israeli and Lebanese, even Hezbollah or Syrian views.

[GePap]

Originally posted by BeBro


I watch CNN Int quite often (together with BBC World) since our national news suck when it comes to internat. matters.

CNN Int is quite balanced, transports Israeli and Lebanese, even Hezbollah or Syrian views.

That is the point. US news never carries Hizbullah or Syrian views, and tries to balance the massive destruction in Lebanon with the far smaller destruction in Israel. That takes some logical gymnastics.

[Az]

No to Syria, Iran agents Posted on 7/15/2006 10:50:54 AM

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times


PEOPLE of Arab countries, especially the Lebanese and Palestinians, have been held hostage for a long time in the name of “resisting Israel.” Arab governments have been caught between political obligations and public opinion leading to more corruption in politics and economics. Forgetting the interests of their own countries the Hamas Movement and Hezbollah have gone to the extent of representing the interests of Iran and Syrian in their countries. These organizations have become the representatives of Syria and Iran without worrying about the consequences of their action.

Recently Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier and bombed Israeli settlements with locally manufactured missiles. Soon Hezbollah followed suit, kidnapping two Israeli soldiers. Both these organizations claimed they had kidnapped Israeli soldiers to exchange them for Arab prisoners who are being held in Israeli jails. The fact that Hamas and Hezbollah gave the same reason for kidnapping Israeli soldiers gives us a glimpse their agenda, which is similar to the one followed by Syria and Iran in their conflict with the United States.

While the people of Palestine and Lebanon are paying the price of this bloody conflict, the main players, who caused this conflict, are living in peace and asking for more oil from Arab countries to support the facade of resisting Israel. With the Palestinian Authority close to collapse and the Lebanese government beginning to give up responsibility for what is happening in its territory, Saudi Arabia has been forced to come out of its diplomatic routine and indirectly hold Hezbollah responsible for what is happening Lebanon.

Without mentioning Hezbollah by name Saudi Arabia blamed certain “elements” inside Lebanon for the violence with Israel and said “it is necessary to make a distinction between legitimate resistance and uncalculated adventures adopted by certain elements within Lebanon without the knowledge of legal Lebanese authorities.” While reiterating its support for Palestinian and Lebanese resistance against Israeli occupation, Saudi Arabia has clearly said it is against irresponsible adventures undertaken by certain elements in the region without consulting the legal authorities putting all Arab nations at risk. The Kingdom has also said “these elements must take responsibility for their irresponsible actions and they alone should end the crisis created by them.”
This angry response from Saudi Arabia has politically isolated Hezbollah and Hamas besides holding them responsible for their actions.

This attitude of Saudi Arabia, which has been doing all it can to protect the Arab world from Israeli aggression, is enough to unmask the adventurers, who have violated the rights of their own countries and tried put their people under the guardianship of foreign countries like Iran and Syria. A battle between supporters and opponents of these adventurers has begun, starting from Palestine to Tehran passing through Syria and Lebanon. This war was inevitable as the Lebanese government couldn’t bring Hezbollah within its authority and make it work for the interests of Lebanon. Similarly leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has been unable to rein in the Hamas Movement.

Unfortunately we must admit that in such a war the only way to get rid of “these irregular phenomena” is what Israel is doing. The operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the interest of people of Arab countries and the international community

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/opinion/view.asp?msgID=1242

Traitorous Bootlicking uncle tom!

[GePap]

Then there is this guy:

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/opinion/view.asp?msgID=1243

THE word “Heil!”, the all too familiar word of praise for Adolf Hitler, the leader of a long gone Nazi/Fascist regime. The Nazis threatened to rule the world with its policies of dictatorship, racial intolerance and above all attacking and occupying countries as they pleased ignoring all international condemnation or “appeasement”. The regime may have now been eliminated but those who suffered from its brutal policies continue to practice similar policies over 50 years later.

The world may sympathize with the fate of millions of Jews during World War Two, but that is hardly reason enough for the Jews to turn around and practice the same cruel policies on others in 2006. Eventually Israel’s policies to attract world attention and sympathy will cease to do so. One would have thought that the Jewish state would have learnt and grown from their suffering and try to deal with problems they face in a civilized manner. Indeed the state possibly has its own reasons for implementing harsh policies on certain factions who threaten it, but attacking Lebanon was ridiculous and unconvincing to say the least.

Whether certain factions are active in Lebanon is hardly reason enough to attack Beirut International Airport just to bring the message home to the Lebanese government. I must make it clear I have no sympathy for these factions that practice or support terrorism. In fact terrorism must be condemned in all its forms. Many powers that stand by Israel and always preach the rule of law and order, should clearly remind Israel that the UN is the correct path to pursue. Had another state acted the way Israel has acted it is doubtful whether they would have got away with such a violent attack. The UN and its Security Council members must have identical policies for all nations with no exceptions. If this ceases to be the case the world body we all look up to is at risk of being re-named the “League of Nations!”

This is a scenario no one would like to experience all over again. Issues of this nature need to be resolved through the powers of the UN not by illegally attacking a sovereign state in the name of self defense. Furthermore, did the Lebanese government army attack Israel? On an economic front there appears to be another agenda for Israel. An economically vibrant Lebanon is clearly not in Israel’s interest. As a junior minister recently said on a major news network a few days ago “If anyone is thinking of investing in Lebanon they should think again”. A strong and clear statement of this nature is a clear indication of the Israeli government’s ulterior motive behind its attack on Beirut International Airport.

It is sad that in this day and age such fascist policies still vibe well with certain governments who sit idly by while one state attacks another’s main economic life-line in the name of self defense. If countries like Israel or for that matter any other country continue such practices of attacking countries in the neighbourhood who they disagree with, the word “Heil!” may once again become a common word of praise over fifty years after it was eliminated from the face of the civilized world.

By Adeeb Shuhaiber - Senior News Anchorman KTV2

[GePap]

More interesting is the "public opinion" section:

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/diwaniya/default.asp