Arabisc: The Blazing Middle East

Third day after the beginning of the never ending Middle East conflict; Israel/Lebanon war, the Arabic blogsphere speaks.

Ranging between anger, celebration, condemnation and support, on both sides of the conflict, the bloggers views vary depends where they come from. Some sound extreme, others sound objective and reasonable, but all hopes that this ends with persistence peaceful and just solution for all, soon.

From Bahrain, Ali glorifies the Shia't Hezbollah operation and call them ‘the most honored arab,’ yet condemns Sunni's conspiracy against Hezbollah. He said:

نجح حزب الله الشيعي في ثالث عملية أسر لجنود صهاينة غاصبين محتلين، وبسحر النسيم وقوة العواصف انتشر الخبر في كافة الأرجاء وبدأت التهليلات والأفراح ، ولكن الحكومات العربية سكتت وايما سكوت
على الفور سارعت الدول الكبرى وهيئة الامم المتحدة والمنظمات العالمية والمحلية إلى التأييد أو الإدانة، ولكن اين هم العرب، فبعد صمت قارب نصف يوم خرج الأمين العام للجامعة العربية ليقول نحن نرتب لاجتماع عى مستوى وزراء خارجية الدول العربية جميل جدا ايها العرب وأيضا خرج وزير الإعلام اللبناني ليقول ان الحكومة اللبنانية لا تتبنى، لا تدعم، لا تعلم، لا تتحمل ؟؟!!؟!؟! لاءات جيدة جدا أيها
وحكومة البحرين التي ادانت التفجيرات الهندية الإرهابية كما اسمتها ستلتزم الصمت بالتأكيد تجاه عملية حزب الله
ونظرية المؤامرة تدخلت في تثبيط وتهميش ما قام به حزب الله الشيعي ، ، فمرة أنه لضرب صيف لبنان الذي يذر أموالا طائلة على الاقتصاد اللبناني، ومرة انها مسرحية وغيرها من المتخيلات العقيمة
لا أعرف لماذا أحس ان المشكلة هي مشكلة تشيع حزب الله وليس أي شيء آخر، لا أعرف لماذا تنتفض كل قوى التسلط السنية ضد اي شيء شيعي، والمشكلة أن هذا الشيء الشيعي “حزب الله ” يحرج ليس الفشل السياسي للسنة فقط، بل حتى الفشل المذهبي وكانهم يتناسون ما تقوم به حركة الجهاد الإسلامي الفلسطينية وبعض الفصائل الطائفية السنية الاخرى
The Shia't Hezbollah succeeded in third operation of capturing an occupier Zionist soldiers. Like a magical breeze and a big storm, the news spread everywhere, cheering and celebrating, but the Arabian Governments kept quite. Meanwhile, immediately the Super Powers, United Nations, National and International Organizations, either went on supporting or condemnation, but where is the Arab? After a half day silence, the General Secretary of the Arab League came up to inform us that a meeting for the Arab Foreign Misters is arranged, very nice Arab, and the Information Mister of Lebanon comes out to say, “we don't support, we didn't know, we are not responsible?!?!” Only new “NO's”, very good, and the Bahraini Government, which condemned the ‘terrorist explosions’ in India as they called them, but kept quite against Hezbollah operation.

And the conspiracy theory popup to marginalize and depress what the Shia't Hezbollah did. First they said, its aim is to ruin ‘Lebanon Summer’, which pumps a large sum of money to the Lebanese economy, and then they said it is a ‘play,’ and many other useless imaginary stories.

I don't know why I have the feeling that it's because Hezbollah is a Shia't party, nothing else. I don't know why all the Sunni power uprise against anything Shia't. The problem is that this Shia'a thing called ‘Hezbollah’ is embarrassing them. Not only the Sunni political failure, but even the Sunni as faith, and as they pretend to forget what the ‘Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement’ and other Sunni parties are doing.

From Jordan, Rami simply lay few unanswered questions, he said:

هل في رأي احد ان المشروع الصهويني يصارع للحفاظ على مكتسابته؟ بمعنى هل توقف عن التمدد واصبح يصارع ليبقى؟ وهل اصبح شعب الله المختار محتارا في انه “آوت اوف سولوشنز” ولا يعرف كيف يعيد الهيبة الى قوته الرادعة امام جيوش العراة من حماس وحزب الله، فبدأ يستخدم القوة المفرطة؟ ام ان هذا في خانة التغني والاماني؟
Does any one think that the Zionist project is fighting to save their gains? In other words, did they stop spreading and are fighting for existence only? And is “God's Nation” (Jews) puzzled and ‘out of solutions’ and does not know how to bring back it's prestige, and its sweeping power in front of the naked armies of Hamas and Hezbollah, so it started using the ‘excessive power'? Or is it a considered as a hopeful sign?

Moodless from Kuwait see this as ‘Policy of Foolishness’:

ان تخطف جنديان لتحاول المساومة عليهما فتجد نفسك في حرب مع طرف اقوى تأكل الأخضر واليابس مقامرا بأرواح ابرياء مات منهم الى الآن اكثر من 40 مدني فيهم اطفال وشباب وشيوخ.. لا يندرج هذا في اي معجم الا تحت باب الغباء!
To kidnap two soldiers to try trading them and then find yourself in the middle of a war against a stronger opponent which can brush off everything, gambling with civilians lives, 40 civilian children, youth and elders already killed… this is not translated but under the term ‘foolishness'!

From Lebanon, in her last post, Eve first draws the sad pictures of the atrocities, damages, death at door steps, buildings, bridges, airport and all Israeli air raid targets. The second part of her post reveals her wishful unity against Israel aggression. She said:

ننتقل إلى الجزء الثّاني من المسألة. جزء الفارس المغوار الذي أقبل على حصانه الأبيض، واجتاح المخاطر، ليخلّص المظلومين، مهما كان الثّمن. أكرّر مهما كان الثّمن. وفي هذا الجزء، يتوجّب علينا أن ننتقي الأبطال. الأخيار، بعبارةٍ أخرى. هؤلاء الأبطال الذين جرجرونا إلى ما نحن غارقون فيه اليوم (بالمناسبة، يرجى من جميع الرّاغبين استخدام السّاحة اللّبنانية تحقيقاً لأغراضهم الخاصّة تسجيل أسمائهم على اللائحة والانتظار بالدّور. سوف يحين دور الجميع). طبعاً، لم يتمّ استئذاننا في شيء. ومن نحن لنقف في وجه الأبطال؟ (وإيه شو يعني لبنانيّي! لك روح يا شيييخ، بكرة منجيب لكم وطن غيره!)

إذاً هذه هي الرّواية الرّسمية. لكن، حسب رأيي الشّخصي، القصّة لا تحتوي على أبطالٍ من كلتا النّاحيتين. القصّة تتضمّن ضحايا… ضحايا كثر. وتتضمّن أيضاً مذنبين. حزب الله أذنب. لا شكّ في هذا. ميول حزب الله السياسيّة تمثّل جزءاً غير بسيط من اللّبنانيّين (لكن لا جميعهم). لا شكّ في هذا أيضاً. لكنّني أورد الرّواية الرّسمية لأنّ الوقت ليس وقت إثارة النّعرات الدّاخلية، ولا البحث في موضوع الحقّ معهم أم عليهم، أو “عيب عليكم كيف بتعملوا هيك” (مع إنّو: معقول راسكم؟ عن جد كيف بتعملوا هيك!!). الوقت وقتٌ لإيقاف الهجمات الإسرائيليّة على أرض لبنان بأسرع ما يمكن، ووضع حدٍّ لسقوط المزيد من القتلى والخسائر. أمّا بعد ذلك، فلكلّ حادثٍ حديث، ولكلّ حدودٍ ترسيم، ولكلّ صلاحيّاتٍ نطاقٌ معيّن. ومن هنا، ضرورة عدم التزام مواقف مشتّتة. ومن هنا اختيار الانحياز إلى لبنان، واعتماد صوت واحد. ومن هنا، الرّواية الرّسمية.

المشاهد ما زالت تتوالى على شاشة التّلفزيون. أكتم الصّوت. أتفرّج على بيروت مضاءة ليلاً. من غير صوت. مع بعض دمع. ما زالت تبدو جميلة. رغم كلّ شيء…

The second part is related to the brave knight who came over his white horse, through the danger, to save all victim of injustice, at any price, I repeat, at any price.
In this part, we should be selective of our champion knights, the good ones. These champions who dragged us to where we are drowning in today (by the way, for those who like to use Lebanon ground to achieve their personal goals, kindly register your names on the waiting list until your turn comes).

Of course we were not asked, and who are we to stand in front of the champions?

So, this is official version of the story. But, personally, the story has no champion knights. The story includes casualties… a lot of casualties… and includes guilty people too. Hezbollah is guilty, no doubt. But Hezbollah policy represents a big part of the Lebanese (but not all). No doubt about this too. I put the official story to say that it’s not the right time to enrich a national conflict, and not time to discuss who is to blame, or to shame anyone now. Now it is the time to stop the Israeli aggression on Lebanon as fast as possible, and to minimize the casualties. Later on, we can talk, we can but borders, and we can define authorities. Therefore, we should not take conflicting positions. And based on this, be on Lebanon side, have one voice; this should be the official saying.

The senses are still coming on TV. I mute it, watching Beirut at night, no sound, and few tears, still beautiful, in spite of everything.

From Egypt, Jar el-Kamar looks at Hezbollah operation from different perspectives and tries to understand who is benefiting from what:

الحقيقه اني لا اهضم فكرة التضامن مع اخواننا في فلسطين .. تفكيري المتواضع يقودني الى محاولة اثبات شرعيه و كسب تعاطف , استغلال صريح لموقف فلسطيني متأزم .. الآن حزب الله اكثر شعبيه .. و حصل على ذريعه جيدا لاستمرار وجوده .. ربما ظن نصرالله ان اسرائيل المشغوله بحرب شبه شامله في غزه ستعجز عن توفير دعم كامل لدخول لبنان .. و ان الامر لن يتعدى قصف متبادل بالصواريخ كما جرت العاده
..
يبقى الاحتمال الاخر الاكثر رومانتيكيه .. وهو ان سماحة السيد اراد استغلال الموقف الفلسطيني لاشعال حرب اسلامويه شامله .. هذا الاحتمال تبنته الولايات المتحده .. و حملت سوريا وايران مسئوليه اشعال الاحداث
I can't grasp the idea of this operation being in solidarity with our brother in Palestine. I personally think that the difficult Palestinian situation was used in this operation to gain sympathy and legitimacy for what was done. Now, Hezbollah has gained more support and won more reasons to persist. Maybe Nasrallah thought that while Israel is busy in its war at Gaza that she will not be in position to invade Lebanon, and that it would not go far more than rockets from both sides as it used to be.

The last romantic possibility is that el-Sayed Hassan Nasralleh wants to use the Palestinian situation to ignite a wide comprehensive Islamic war. This possibility was adopted by U.S., which held Syria and iran responsible for.

Last but not least, Osama, a blogger from Palestine post few photos of debris on the Israeli side, caused by Hezbollah rockets and Israeli civilians sitting in shelters and title the post with one line; “They are suffering as much as you are.”

14 comments

  • Niel

    I just want to contribute to this debate. I praise the solidarity of the Lebanese people, the strong Palestinian/Lebanese solidarity, their abilities, capabilities and strength in confronting a “state terrorism” launched by Israel. I also praise what Hezboallah, although I am not sdid and condmen the autrocities of the Israeli military machinery that exceeded all proportions in using not only the conventional weapons, but also the internationally prohibited weapons (of mass destructions). The Lebanese are today more stronger than ever, yes they are suffering and paying a high bill. On the other side I can not imagine a peacefull solution in the Middle East without really the Israeli’s decline from their racist and zoinist ideologies and their imperialist zeal to expand their tinny state. If Israel wish to have peace behave with respect to your neighbours and forget your imperialist dreams and I guarantee for you peace and peace. Stop now the war against Lebanon and Palestine and dismantle your arsenal of mass destruction Israel…

  • jennifer

    Should Isreal lay down their arms and be like the Lambs led to the slaughter? They have the right to defend themselves.

  • MIke

    I go to sleep every night knowing that in the end , all the fools who perpetrate war, fighting over pieces of land on this tiny little planet in the middle of an ordinary galaxy surrounded by interstellar omnipotence will never realize how petty thier purpose looks from most of the known worlds’ views. It is simple. We all want cell phones, big screen t v s, hot tubs , pools and whatever we want to eat, when ever we want to eat it. The old school jihadists, who are quickly killing themselves out, even as I write this, won t be around 20 years from now. Thankfully , they will have all blown themselves to bits or died from stupidity. And then the blessed capitalism will rule . It is the only way. We allwant shit, and we dont want anyone trying to take it away from us just because your grandfather killed My grandfather. If yuo fought and lost the war, get over it. can you imagine Mexico trying to take back Texas ?
    If ya lost, lick your wopunds and make the best of what ya got. The lines are drawn.
    The U S will never let Israel fall, I hope all arabs reading this take this to heart, we will never let Israel fall, the real estate can not be done without. We need a base over there and israel comes furnished. so please realize this, .. we have to have a place to land if we have to come and fuck ya ll up, so we will never let them fall. enjoy your wealth, oil isn t forever, when we no longer need you, .. the opec nations will fall into theologic darkness as the world once again takes off and leaves them .ya ll keep prayin, … why not 6 or 7 times a day, .. and we ll keep playing golf and going to the nudie bars and getting rich…absalomalakim, motherfucker
    with love from houston texas, ….MIke

  • Blogs are now an accepted news source

    Gulf War One was the first war reported from cable TV. The Iraq War was the first war in which the internet was a communication tool taken for granted. From 2003: Hours before the United States attacked Baghdad yesterday, CNN…

  • Blogs are now an accepted news source

    Gulf War One was the first war reported from cable TV. The Iraq War was the first war in which the internet was a communication tool taken for granted. From March 2003: Hours before the…

  • Amjad

    As a Palestinian. I am starting to doubt the Palestinian cause when Israel withdraws from Gaza and we reply to it through “gangs” that claim to be Muslims or Nationalistic who fire rockets into Israel.

    As a Palestinian living in the territories, I want to tell all my Muslim brothers in the Islamic world that the Palestinian strugle can only be labeled at the majority that try to get rid of the occupation. But the Palestinian gangs that fire rockets into Israel after the withdrawl, should not be considered anything but outlaws that do not represent the Palestinian population but represent them selves.

    Salaam Ala Man Itba3 Al-Hoda

  • […] The bad news: hierarchy is precisely what we wanted to avoid. The unattainable pot of gold was equal voice by every voice … and in that we failed. The good news is that increased organization, articulation of roles, and transparent policy will ensure our longterm existence in the 21st century media market. When bombs hit Bombay and when missiles strike Beirut, our understanding of those events won’t be bottlenecked by the understanding of a few dozen reporters. We will hear directly from those who ride the trains, those who tell their stories and their histories as the missiles come down. […]

  • John smith

    All as I hear is Israel is killing civilians but I have not seen any one prove that these people are not Hezbollah fighters. I think before people start screaming about civilians being killed they should have proof they are truely civilians and post the proof with their claims the civilians are being killed. I will bet more Hezbollah fighters have been killed than civilians and they are just claiming to be civilians. Hezbollah is to afraid to put on a uniform showing who they are and hide behind civilians mostly women and children putting them in harms way. Israel soliders are wearing uniforms and not hiding behind the women and children. So it seems to me Hezbollah are the ones commiting war crimes not Israel. Since Hezbollah are the ones screaming for help to stop Israel it tells me Israel is definately hurting Hezbollah to the point that they feel it. I also see no reason the the USA to presure Israel to stop or be less agressive because Hezbollah would not do that if it was the USA being attacked they would celebrate just like they did when 9-11 happened and many Americans died. The United Nations had it chance to force Hezbollah out of Jorden as they had a resolution requiring it but sat back for years and allowed Hezbollah to radomly fire rockets into civilian target at their will. So the United Nation should shut up and stay out of it because they did not forefill their own resolution. The UN should start to look in the mirror and see how hopeless and supportive they are to terrorist. The UN lets their own soliders rape women and children they have been sent to protect. The sit in a room and talk while people are tortured and killing. They sit around and talk while terrorist sponsoring countries develope Nuclear weapons. They pass resolutions condemming countries but sit back and let the keep doing what they do. So as I say since the world is to afraid to stand up to terrorist and thugs they could at least shut up and allow the people who are will to not run and hide and reward these terrorist for their hidious deeds. The United Nations is a waste of time and money and is a spineless orginization that is willing to give terrorist what they want so they can do nothing but talk for the money they get paid.

  • Niel

    Some people are ignorant or do not want to hear and listen and see. One say Hezboallah in Jordan: what a ridicules? Also another talk nonesense. Peace in the Middle East should be a priority for Israel and their government should work for that. America is always the real supporter of terrorist state. American government mentally should change to support equity, justice, and human rights. But not using internationally prohibited weapons of mass destructions. Some people has to watch the CNN and other senders where children are masscared with cluster bombs. We say always Israel can live in peace with her neighbours if and only if she dismanlte the mentally of racial supremacy and military violence against civilians. Because of the American policies and Israeli aggressions now every where in the world extremism begin to spread and my next few years will see a radical American movements (from white and black and other ethnicities) against the imperishing Bush support to Wars all over the world.

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