Lebanon's day of mourning

(1)
28 Jan 2008
Al Jazeera news

Part 1

(13 min)

Part 2

(10 min)

about an incident of 8 people death during protests in the mainly Shia southern suburbs of Beirut.

(2)
Robert Fisk in his article (Eight dead, and echoes of Beirut's bloody history reverberate around its streets) asked:

When is a civil war a civil war? A bomb a week? A street battle a month?

Even a journalist as experienced as Mr Fisk can't answer this question.

(3)

檢視較大的地圖

(4)
Mr Fisk said there are lessons. The first, grim lesson is that

there were hundreds of "civilians" on the streets around Mar Mikael – Christians and Muslims alike – carrying weapons. Everyone knows that Beirutis kept their civil war weapons.

Indeed, I was trying to recall a few days ago if I knew anyone (apart from me) who doesn't keep a gun in their home; I could think of only four people. But to see them on the streets, carrying firearms, showed just how close we are to the edge of the volcano.

And, the second and "perhaps more disturbing lesson" is that

the incidents of violence in Beirut are growing closer together. A bomb every two months – a street battle every six months – may be sustainable.

OK. i get it. what can we do?

We are now awaiting the 13th attempt to elect the poor man, all pretending this is a Lebanese problem when they all along know that the violence in this country is dictated by the continuing conflict between Washington and Tehran. Thus is the fate of Lebanon.