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DAY 31

Yesterday after exactly 30 days of the new war in the Middle East(M.E.,Lebanon/Israel/Palestine) the issue nearly complete disappeared from the headlines of the news agencies, tv stations and daily papers. It seems - even in the M.E. still many people are dying(until yesterday alone in Lebanon about 1,000 people were killed by IDF attacks) - that the "UK Terror Plot"(BBC World) is better to sell. For example yesterday's CNN news program at 1 pm(CET) not even one word were spoken about the M.E. war. Usually at least 20 Minutes or so are occupied with the issue. In today's German daily Berliner Zeitung the issue disappeared from the front page(yesterday) to page number 6.

Here the latest from the battle field:

According to BBC World "at least 11 civilians were killed in Lebanon on Friday".

Russia suggested a 72-hour truce for humanitarian actions in Lebanon, but Israel rejected it. At the same time IDF is massing about more than 20,000 troops on the border to Lebanon in preparing for a broader ground operation/invasion in the coming days. It meens Israel is preparing for a all-out war now, if there will be no diplomatic solution until tomorrow or so.

Meanwhile Hizbullah since today morning(CET) is again attacking northern towns and villages in Israel with massive rocket and missile barrage.

Before yesterday Nasrallah called all Arab residents of the northern Israeli city of Haifa to leave immediately the city(perhaps Hizbullah is planning a massacre there under the non-Arab residents?!). But, according to Israeli news papers, they refused to leave, because, so a Arab resident: "Never someone can devide us again from our Jewish neighbours".

(Haifa's Arabs: We won't leave city )

And "of course" IDF's activities in Gaza are still continuing. Until now at least 120 Palestinians were killed there.
 

Here the latest by M.E. and int'l news papers/agencies:

Israel pounds Beirut as truce rejected (Al Jazeera, 8.11)

Israel Delays Northern Push in Lebanon (AP/Guardian)
Rockets fall on north  (ynet)

Truce draft doesn't call for disarming of Hezbollah Military chiefs strongly oppose cease-fire terms (Haaretz)

IDF wants to 'move, fight and attack'  (Yedioth Ahronoth)

Here the very latest news:

IDF ordered to move up to Litani (ynet, 11.08, 6 pm/CET)

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz give green light to army to capture southern Lebanon territory stretching up to Litani River as US-French truce deal said 'very, very close'

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Friday gave the Israel Defense Forces the green light to widen operations in southern Lebanon and capture the territory situated south of the Litani River.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289808,00.html

Following report, from the same battle field in Lebanon, but from a "complete other world", was published three days ago in the German magazine Der Spiegel:

Drowning out the Bombs
 
Nightlife and Rattled Nerves in Beirut

By Ulrike Putz in Beirut

Beirut is famous for its cosmopolitan inhabitants and roaring nightlife. But even the city's modern youth can't escape the current conflict. Whereas they used to go out to amuse themselves, they now spend their nights in clubs and bars where the loud music drowns out bombs exploding nearby.

The war for Fanny and Ernesto disappears each day for four hours. Late each morning, the power company cuts electricity in their building and the television, with its constant broadcast of images of destruction, goes dark. It's then that Ernesto gets up to make brunch consisting of an omelet, grapefruit juice and bread.

For four hours the couple from Beirut will be shielded from the fighting that has come to Lebanon. But eventually the power will come back and they won't be able to escape the scenes of chaos and violence that they can't keep themselves from watching.

Until war struck, Fanny and Ernesto were the kind of people who represented the new face of their country to the world. They belong to the segment of Lebanese society -- young, modern and cosmopolitan -- that helped lead the so-called "Cedar Revolution" after the assassination of Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

Both Fanny and Ernesto were there every Monday as thousands of Lebanese demonstrated against Syrian influence in their country. Like countless others, they thought that the summer of 2006 would go down as one of the best in the history of Lebanon. The Syrians pulled out their troops amid international pressure and an unprecedented number of visiting, cash-rich Gulf Arabs were coming to fill hotels and holiday villas. But then came July 12 -- the day the Islamic extremist group Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and the bubble of well-being popped.

"The war is the ransom for democracy," says Ernesto. "Lebanon was becoming more open and more liberal. Syria and Iran could no longer stand by and watch that."

Such views are becoming more widespread among Lebanese youth these days. The fighting has less to do with Hezbollah and Israel and more with totalitarian Islamic regimes hoping to see a tolerant and cosmopolitan Lebanon go down in flames.

As the fighting began, Fanny and Ernesto reacted the only way they knew how. Ernesto stocked up on a month's worth of Cuban cigars -- a natural response for a man whose devout communist parents named him after Fidel Castro's companion in arms, Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Fanny stocked up on spaghetti at the supermarket and painted her fingernails red to brighten things up a bit as the days became dark.

War and unpaid holiday

Fanny is a 29-year-old architect in a small and exclusive Beirut office. Her mother is French and her father a doctor. She makes around $1,200 a month. Ernesto is a 25-year-old cineaste and philosophy student, who before the current conflict used to make $1,000 a month with DJ sets in the city's hippest clubs and bars. Both are from Christian Lebanese families, but religion doesn't play a dominant role in their lives. Ernesto's last ex-girlfriend was a Shiite.

They might be an exceptional pair, but they represent what many in Lebanon are now going through. They are experiencing war from the second row: fortunately none of their friends or family have been killed and they've been able to stay in their apartment. Fanny also has the luxury of holding a European Union passport, which means she can still get out of the country if worse comes to worst. For Lebanese living in the capital, the biggest problem right now is money. How long will their savings last and what comes next?

Both Fanny and Ernesto know that the few thousands they have in the bank won't last forever. Like the majority of Lebanese, they have been forced to take unpaid holiday. As the bombing started they worked a few days as interpreters for international news organizations for $150 a day. But now the TV teams have moved south and they are left to while away their time at home and in cafes. As more time passes they lose hope of a quick resolution to the crisis and their faith in the West.

"What frustrates me the most is our complete failure of ethics and morals," says Fanny. With "our" she means Europe, to which many of Beirut's young elite feel strong ties. "We Europeans always hold up human rights so high, the Geneva Convention, the laws and rules of what is allowed in war and not. But this war shows clearly that we're prepared to forget all that when it's in our interest to do so. It's all bullshit." She's angry that no one will hold Israel responsible for what its military has done after the conflict is over. Not for the dead Lebanese civilians, nor for the fact that the country has been bombed back 20 years. "That can be done to Slobodan Milosevic, but not with Israel. It's untouchable."

Ernesto gets agitated when asked how things will continue after the fighting stops: "Why do you think that this is the end?" Lebanon has dealt with war for 30 years almost on a daily basis and the country will continue to limp along in the future. "My concern is university. I just need one more course, but if the refugees continue to live in the campus buildings I won't be able to finish my studies," he says. But his self-serving optimism isn't totally convincing. Fanny and Ernesto continue to discuss if they should go to France, Germany or Canada. But they'd have to marry since only Fanny has a European passport. So far Ernesto says he isn't interested in tying the knot.

"I wonder whether I really want to live in this country," says Fanny. She studied in Paris and consciously chose to come back to Beirut. "I love this city, but it's impossible to plan a life here." Like much of the younger generation that missed much of the worst of Lebanon's vicious civil war, they didn't believe their elders when they warned that peace wouldn't last. "I only realize now that they were right. This land is made for war," Fanny sighs and lights another cigarette. "So I can't live here; I want a future."

Life in Limbo

Their lives now are in a bizarre limbo. When the pair step into an elevator so they can take a walk outside, Fanny suddenly remembers the danger of a power outage. "If the power goes out, we're going to be stuck here for four hours," she says. "Well, that's plenty of time to try out a few Kama Sutra positions," Ernesto comments, dryly. Grinning, Fanny says the only good thing about the war is that it has enabled the couple to move in together. In Lebanon live-in relationships out of wedlock are strictly frowned upon. "But hey, this is war, and our neighbors have better things to do than to get upset about that."
 
Even in a town where it's easy to drop $300 or $400 a night in chic clubs and bars, the youth of Beirut refuse to save money at the expense of going out. Last night Fanny and Ernesto were in their favorite bar Torino until 4:30 a.m. -- it's the only place that hasn't closed its doors for a single day since the fighting began. "Why should we sit alone at home and moan," asks Fanny? "Everything is easier after a few drinks, even war." The fact that they stayed out so late is no coincidence. The really loud Israeli bombardments usually hit southern Beirut around 4 a.m. "So we sit in Torino and the music drowns out the detonations."

Then comes morning. During the day, people living in the parts of the city that have been spared the worst of the Israeli campaign against Hezbollah try to maintain their gentile façade -- some are even showing a sense of humor. Souvernir shops once stocked with hand carvings and the country's national symbol, cedar wood, now carry t-shirts with slogans like "Don't Shoot, Press" or "Hot Vacation in Beirut 2006." But the cracks are showing. As the sun sets on the Beirut's famous beachside promenade, people jog and families gather near the seaside. However, as the first explosions are heard in the distance, those remaining in the city race to their cars and speed away -- even to places that aren't any safer than where they were. People's nerves are raw.

"The war is inside us," says Fanny, back in Torino to drink a cappuccino. She and Ernesto are planning to head out of the capital to a resort along the coast. "Come along, a few cocktails poolside make the whole world look a lot friendlier!" But in the following night, Israeli jets bombard the coastal road leading northward out of Beirut. With the last major route out of Lebanon cut the way to Syria is blocked. And so to is the way to Fanny's poolside resort.

"Now we're trapped in Beirut," she writes in a text message. "What will come next?"

  

Drawings by Mazen Kerbaj, Beirut, Lebanon

http://mazenkerblog.blogspot.com