The tragedy in Lebanon...

The just man shall flourish like a palm tree,
like a Cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
Psalm 92:12

Lebanon is a land of exceptional beauty and history. Situated on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the Lebanon mountain range rises majestically from the sea to snow-capped mountain peaks that reach over 10,000 feet. Nestled in the mountains in the north are the famous Cedars of Lebanon, often referred to in the Bible, such as in the Books of Kings, Psalms, Song of Songs, and the Prophet Isaiah. Jesus and Mary visited Lebanon during his public ministry. Lebanon has a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and she has become known there as Our Lady of Lebanon. For, while she was living, she visited there with her Son! It was at the bidding of his Mother Mary that Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding feast of Cana [John 2:1-12]. There is a sanctuary in the south of Lebanon dedicated to the Virgin of Mantara, a place where, according to tradition, Mary stayed awaiting her Son. The Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church is located in Harissa, a small town about thirty minutes north of Beirut, the capital city. The Blessed Virgin Mary was named the Queen of Lebanon by the Maronite Patriarch in 1908 upon completion of the Basilica. The Shrine was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1997. Located between Jounieh on the coast and Bkerke, Harissa is surrounded by numerous churches and monasteries. Jesus Christ visited Tyre and performed a miracle for the Syro-Phoenician woman, as noted in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30. Chapter Two of the Gospel of John describes Jesus performing his first miracle at the request of his mother Mary at the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee. Of the two towns named Cana in the region, the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea in 339 wrote that Cana of Galilee is the Cana near Sidon. The fact that Jesus went down to Capernaum [John 2:12] means the wedding at Cana took place in Cana of Lebanon, for Cana of Palestine is south of Capernaum, and Jesus would have had to go up to Capernaum were it Cana of Palestine!

ANYBODY WHO THINKS that rockets, bombs, bullets or grenades can solve political problems should visit the Place des Martyres in Beirut.

Biscuit-coloured walls pockmarked by the brutal technology of modern conflict stand there as mute testimony to the civil war that once racked this beautiful land.

Now violence has returned in the shape of gun toting Israeli ships, planes and tanks and their enemy Hezbollah.

Once again Lebanon is being asked to shed more blood of innocent civilian men,women and children while the bully boys have it out.

When I visited Beirut five years ago I did not meet one person who was not convinced to their heartsblood of the futility of war.

The Syrian laborer toiling in a trench in the midday sun to build the foundations for an Armenian school, the Druse coffeeshop owner, the Maronite priest, the panel beater – they all had abandoned thoughts of violence. They had seen what it produces: chaos, bitterness, grief, naked hatred.

To stroll along the waterfront of Beirut is to be reminded of Sydney's Brighton le Sands, the resemblance is uncanny.

In just the same fashion people take the evening air. Dad wants to show off his good looking daughter.

From the northern part of the city, you can hear the devout noises of the Maronites at prayer.

Looking down on the city is the figure of Our Lady of Lebanon. Higher than the incoming jetplanes.

Many Muslims, who have a devotion to Mary, visit her shrine to utter prayers for peace.

Neither oppressor, nor oppressor be, says the Koran.

May God preserve Lebanon.

Our Lady of Lebanon pray for us.

Getting the right perspective...

The best that the Powers can come up with is that the Israeli attacks that have killed so many civilians in Lebanon is that they are 'disproportional'. Bush blames Hezbollah and so does his Little Sir Echo, John Howard. We need journalists like Robert Fisk to put this tragedy into perspective:

Is Damascus the Key? Beirut Waits

By ROBERT FISK

It's about Syria. That was the frightening message delivered by Damascus yesterday when it allowed its Hizbollah allies to cross the UN Blue Line in southern Lebanon, kill three Israeli soldiers, capture two others and demand the release of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

Within hours, a country that had begun to believe in peace--without a single Syrian soldier left on its soil--found itself once more at war.

Israel held the powerless Lebanese government responsible--as if the sectarian and divided cabinet in Beirut can control Hizbollah. That is Syria's message. Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's affable Prime Minister, may have thought he was running the country but it is President Bashar Assad in Damascus who can still bring life or death to a land that lost 150,000 lives in 15 years of civil conflict.

And there is one certain bet that Syria will rely on; that despite all Israel's threats of inflicting "pain" on Lebanon, this war will run out of control until--as has so often happened in the past--Israel itself calls for a ceasefire and releases prisoners. Then the international big-hitters will arrive and make their way to the real Lebanese capital Damascus, not Beirut--and appeal for help.

That is probably the plan. But will it work? Israel has threatened Lebanon's newly installed infrastructure and Hizbollah has threatened Israel with further conflict. And therein lies the problem; to get at Hizbollah, Israel must send its soldiers into Lebanon--and then it will lose more soldiers.

Indeed when a single Merkava tank crossed the border into Lebanon yesterday morning, it struck a Hizbollah mine, which killed three more Israelis.

Certainly Hizbollah's attack broke the United Nations rules in southern Lebanon--a "violent breach" of the Blue Line, it was called by Geir Pedersen, the senior UN official in the country--and was bound to unleash the air force, tanks and gunboats of Israel on to this frail, dangerous country. Many Lebanese in Beirut were outraged when gangs of Hizbollah supporters drove through the streets of the capital with party flags to "celebrate" the attack on the border.

Christian members of the Lebanese government were voicing increasing frustration at the Shia Muslim militia's actions--which only proved how powerless the Beirut administration is.

By nightfall, Israel's air raids had begun to spread across the country--the first civilians to die were killed when an aircraft bombed a small road bridge at Qasmiyeh--but would they go even further and include a target in Syria? This would be the gravest escalation so far and would have US as well as UN diplomats appealing for that familiar, tired quality--"restraint".

And prisoner swaps is probably all that will come of this. In January 2004, for example, Israel freed 436 Arab prisoners and released the bodies of 59 Lebanese for burial, in return for an Israeli spy and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers.

As long ago as 1985, three Israeli soldiers captured in 1982 were traded for 1,150 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. So Hizbollah knows--and the Israelis know--how this cruel game is played. How many have to die before the swaps begin is a more important question.

What is also clear is that for the first time Israel is facing two Islamist enemies--in southern Lebanon and in Gaza--rather than nationalist guerrillas. The Palestinian Hamas movement's spokesmen in Lebanon yesterday denied that there was any co-ordination with Hizbollah. This may be literally true but Hizbollah timed its attack when Arab feelings are embittered by the international sanctions placed on the democratically elected Hamas government and then the war in Gaza. Hizbollah will ride the anger over Gaza in the hope of escaping condemnation for its capture and killing of Israelis yesterday.

And there is one more little, sinister question. In past violence of this kind, Syria's power was controlled by the Hafez Assad, one of the shrewdest Arabs in modern history. But there are those--including Lebanese politicians--who believe that Bashar, the son, lacks his late father's wisdom and understanding of power. This is a country, remember, whose own Minister of Interior allegedly committed suicide last year and whose soldiers had to leave Lebanon amid suspicion that Syria had set up the murder of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister, last year. All this may now seem academic. But Damascus remains, as always, the key.

Robert Fisk is a reporter for The Independent and author of Pity the Nation. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's collection, The Politics of Anti-Semitism. Fisk's new book is The Conquest of the Middle East.

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Cliff Baxter can be contacted at:
Cliff Baxter <cliffbaxter@catholica.com.au>

©2006 Clifford Baxter

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