Life Interrupted - Lebanese Refugees Flee Israel's Wrath

Since the eruption of fierce clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters in July of 2006, missiles have rocked more than the concrete superstructures of Beirut and Haifa; thousands of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire have had their lives turned upside down and placed in a precarious holding pattern of uncertainty. In the weeks following the initial bombings by Israeli forces, a multitude of inhabitants were trapped for up to two weeks without food or running water. When the runways of Beirut’s international airport were targeted by Israeli air strikes, thousands of travelers desperate to leave the country as well as gain entrance to reunite with family members inside Lebanon, were stranded for days across the Middle East. Painful memories and recollections of Lebanon’s bloody civil war are resurfacing and once again demoralizing the spirit of the Lebanese people.

The violent discord between Israeli troops and the guerilla warriors of Hezbollah (Party of God) is no revolutionary development. Friction between these two date back more than 20 years, to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Southern Lebanon. The founders of Hezbollah sought to form an Islamic revolutionary movement and modeled them selves after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards sent to defend Lebanon against the Israeli occupation. Over the past three decades Hezbollah has grown into a dominant political party and has gained increasing power within the Lebanese government, with many of its members holding positions in parliament and occupying seats in the cabinet. Hezbollah gained massive popularity amongst the Lebanese people that is unrivaled in southern Lebanon for a variety of reasons. In many fashions, Hezbollah has imparted upon the people what the government has failed to provide; they have established hospitals, built schools and offer social services to the underprivileged. Hezbollah also played a prominent role in the suppression of the devastating civil war that ravaged Lebanon for 15 years and in 2000, successfully expelled the remaining Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. Since then, arbitrary mêlées between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters have broken out, including an elaborate prisoner swap in 2004 that secured the release of over 400 Arab detainees in Israeli prisons in exchange for an Israeli business man and the remains of three Israeli soldiers. Israel maintained three Arab captives to use as bargaining chips in the future if need be. Last month, Hezbollah decided it was time to orchestrate the release of these remaining prisoners by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers to utilize as their own bartering tools. In response, Israel launched a full scale attack including heavy bombings which have destroyed large sections of Beirut’s infrastructure. Hezbollah in turn, commenced the firing of hundreds of rockets into northern Israel and unofficially declared ‘open war’.

As violence and hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah persist, countless Lebanese residents are faced with one of the most difficult choices they may ever have to make in their life; the decision of whether or not to leave their homes on a long term basis to pursue a safer existence outside of Lebanon. Many of those contemplating refuge in another country have their eye set on Jordan as a possible destination; due in part to the close relationship ties many Jordanians and Lebanese share, as well as the substantial display of sympathy and hospitality Jordanians have extended to the people of Lebanon. Random demonstrations denouncing Israeli aggressions afflicting the lives of Lebanese civilians have taken place around Jordan and numerous Jordan based humanitarian relief groups have sprung into action on behalf of the people of Lebanon.


Collateral Damage

"It is so depressing watching Lebanese and Israeli children fearing death and getting killed anyway…who has the power to stop that war and stop the killing?" - Posted by unknown individual on internet message board.

Many eyewitnesses as well as outside analysts, maintain that an excessive amount of the initial attacks on Lebanon did not directly target Hezbollah strongholds. According to one woman, "They were hitting non-Hezbollah areas and killing mostly women and children." As one family made their escape via taxi, their 4-year old daughter looked to her mother and said, "Mommy, what is happening? Is Lebanon destroyed? There is glass all over the floor." Her mother proceeded to try and explain the situation with Israel to accommodate the understanding of a small child, but her daughter’s young mind grasped the concept of Israel as being a single person and replied, "Well I think Israel is a very naughty man and the police should put him in jail."
Food depots and convoys were also being bombed according to witnesses. Thousands of panic stricken residents swamped supermarkets and bakeries to stock up on provisions, prompting prices to skyrocket. The cost of bread and other common goods more than quadrupled in a matter of a few days. "Everything just happened so suddenly," says one Beirut resident. "Lebanon was finally starting to become a successful tourist area and even the economy was improving. But now the country has been pushed back 20 or 30 years; the infrastructure is simply demolished."

Hospitals and designated shelters quickly overflowed and could no longer accommodate the mass amount of sick, injured and homeless. People crowded into parks and open areas near medical facilities to wait for care. Sitting in the sun without shade, children and elderly persons quickly succumbed to the oppressive heat and fell ill with dehydration and other heat related afflictions. Intravenous fluids were administered but indoor shelter was still unable to be procured. "There were children with diarrhea and IVs dangling from their arms and people were vomiting everywhere from the heat," says a man describing the scene at one of the parks.

Souad Amin, who lives north of Beirut with her husband and their two young sons, made the decision to leave Lebanon on day five of the bombardment and head for Amman. "I had to leave because my youngest son was terrified from the noise of the planes and bombs. He was shaking all over." Souad, not wanting to leave their home behind, did her best to comfort her son and alleviate his fears. "I told him to think about all the courageous little boys in Palestine that he had seen on T.V. and in the newspapers who have been dealing with the same thing for so long. He just said to me, ‘Listen mom, people are different and I am different from those boys. I can’t stand the sound and I don’t want to face it.’ I knew then that I had to do what is best for my boys, so we left that night and drove to Syria." Souad and her boys eventually came to Amman to stay with family while her husband remained in Lebanon to help with the relief programs.

Yasmin, a Beirut native with four young children, decided to take no chances and started packing on day one of the bombings. "I know that Israel always bombards the infrastructure, so I feared that they would attack Beirut. I went through the wars growing up in the 70’s and 80’s so I know how it is and I am used to it, but now I am a mother and I am not willing at all to undergo such a situation. I don’t want to take any risks." Yasmin decided to head to the mountains north of Beirut and stay at her mother’s summer home in hopes that such a location would be safely out of range of the destruction. "I was not packing as if we were going to the mountains for a few days, but as if we were leaving Lebanon forever. I made sure I had all important documents and even winter clothing for the children." Yasmin’s intuition was accurate; three days after their arrival in the mountains, Yasmin decided to leave the country and travel to Jordan.


Evacuation Holdup

Evacuation of both Lebanese nationals as well as foreigners has been a sensitive issue related to this tragedy from nearly day one of the attacks. Several governments, including the American, Canadian and British have been severely criticized for their delay in arranging suitable transportation for the evacuation of their citizens who were either vacationing or residing in Lebanon when the conflict broke out. Ships and aircraft were eventually dispatched to convey foreigners from Lebanon to safety in Cyprus and other surrounding areas, but the evacuation came too late for some; on July 16th, eight Canadians of Lebanese descent were killed in Aitaroun. Many foreigners decided to take matters of escape into their own hands and struck out in small groups to procure private transportation out of the country.

Canadian citizen Nathalie Hajje Shawwa was in Beirut to attend a July 8th family wedding when she suddenly found herself in the midst of a war zone. "We contacted the Canadian embassy to arrange for a way out but they did not help us." There are approximately 30,000 Canadians registered with the embassy in Lebanon, making this the largest evacuation in Canadian history. Nathalie went ahead and left the country via bus while her parents, also Canadian citizens stayed behind and waited for government assistance. "Leaving you feel almost guilty," Nathalie says. "Because you have a way out and there are so many others who don’t; like my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc… they are Lebanese nationals so no one will give them visas or help them."

The first boatload of Canadians left Beirut on Wednesday July 19th, and six more ships left Thursday. A week after their initial call to the Canadian embassy, a representative phoned Nathalie’s parents and told them they could leave on a ship to Cyprus. They waited at the dock for six hours in the sun and then were turned away because the ship was full. The Department of Foreign Affairs stated that priority was given to the sick, injured, and elderly but Nathalie’s parents noticed perfectly healthy American citizens boarding ahead of Canadians. Nathalie’s parents arranged for a ride with a reputable taxi company that had been transporting people across the border into Syria, but the route they traveled through the city was a horrific scene. "My mother said it was a complete war zone. There were smoldering school busses, buildings were devastated and high rise towers and apartments were annihilated with their residents still inside," Nathalie relates. The roads were nearly impassible as well, with huge craters and gashes capable of crippling a passenger car.

Khaled Absi, also a Canadian citizen vacationing in Beirut, managed to stay a single step ahead of tragedy with every move he made while in Lebanon. Khaled arrived at Beirut’s international airport just one day before the airport was immobilized by Israeli air strikes. Once in Beirut, he barely escaped additional lethal strikes as he made his way to the mountains north of the city where he remained in relative safety for several days. Finally Khaled decided to make his escape and caught a bus to Syria. While enroute to the border, a section of the road Khaled was traveling on was bombarded merely five minutes after his bus passed through.

American permanent resident Serene Touma, and her sister, an American citizen, were also vacationing in Beirut when they were caught in the middle of the turmoil. "We could hear the planes and bombs from our house and the electricity was being cut off everyday." They too tried to catch a government coordinated ship or plane to Cyprus but ended up relying on themselves for safe transport out of the country. "Less than a week after the first attacks, we joined up with a group of about 15 others and hired three taxis to take us to the Syrian border. We stayed in Damascus for about an hour and then continued on to Amman." Serene says that the younger people, college age to late twenties, left the country as soon as they could and didn’t look back. "The younger generation sees their future elsewhere, not in the middle of a war zone. The older generation, however, does not want to leave. This is their home and they feel they can make it through."


Humanitarian Assistance

Amman resident Rasha Yaish was in Beirut preparing for her upcoming wedding when the attacks began. She has now diverted her attention from planning for her big day, to assisting with relief efforts for those suffering in Lebanon.

"When the bombings started all I could think about was getting away," Rasha says. "My wedding dress was being made in Beirut and after I left, I worried about my dress and the deposit I made for it. Then I looked around and realized my friends in Lebanon had no food or water and I thought, ‘what a shallow person I am’. I was worrying about a dress and people were dying." Rasha went on to declare how her shame convinced her to volunteer to work with a humanitarian relief organization and do all that she could to assist with the crises.

The Lebanese people are a resilient breed and after surviving 15 years of civil war from 1975 through 1990, feel that they can withstand anything. Referring to the latest strife, many of them think, "This is nothing, we’ve been through worse so we can handle it." They are doing their best to maintain a positive attitude, but the level of mayhem they are being forced to cope with is quickly defeating this optimistic outlook. "The Lebanese people, you know, have a high morale and are happy people, but now they are scared, fed up, sad and angry," Rasha explains. "They don’t care about Islam or Christianity or Judaism, all they want is to survive and be able to eat."
Dreadful reminders of the havoc and loss experienced during Lebanon’s civil war are haunting those who have spent the past decade laboring to suppress such memories. Two days following the outbreak of clashes, a young Lebanese woman was eating lunch with her mother when she opened her agitated soda can that subsequently burst and sent her mother into a panic attack. Paranoia and anxiety has once again crept into their lives and the typical Lebanese attitude has been reverted from quiet contentment to nervous disillusionment.

Like Rasha Yaish, Mona Nazzal and her husband have climbed aboard the charity wagon to support the relief effort. Mona has been assisting in the organization of fundraisers to amass food, clothing and other necessities for the afflicted and those unable to leave Lebanon. "My friend and I are trying to put together a bake sale and clothing drive to gather supplies," Mona explains. After the benefit, Mona plans to donate the proceeds to the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Mona’s husband, whose family owns the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman, also took immediate action to assist those in need from the onset of the turmoil. He spent day and night on the telephone negotiating with the Alpha Bus Company to facilitate transportation to Amman for numerous Kuwaitis and Panamanians trapped in Lebanon.

Mona, who is originally from the United States, also described how being up close and personal with a Middle East disaster has revolutionized her state of mind. "Information is knowledge and knowledge is power, and actually being here and going through a crisis like this has made me realize how disheartening the news I grew up listening to actually is." Although living in Jordan for only a short time, she has quickly aligned with the sentiments of her adoptive country and is committed to aiding in their mission and supporting her Lebanese neighbors.


A Wavering Future

The United Nations estimates that 500,000 people, nearly 20 percent of Lebanon’s total population, have been dislocated due to the fighting with Israel and the World health Organization expects the number to eventually reach close to 1 million. Between 130,000 and 150,000 are estimated to have fled to Syria, and about 45,000 are believed to be in need of assistance. Syrians have opened up their mosques, schools and even homes to Lebanese refugees and are offering food and other supplies to help alleviate their distress; repudiating much of the animosity shared between the two countries since last year's assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and the subsequent Syrian troop withdrawal from the country. Mays Shakhshir, a graduate of the American University in Beirut, relates how appreciative and touched her close friends were by the tremendous display of affection showered on the Lebanese evacuees as they entered Syria and Jordan; "When my friends crossed the borders, into both Syria and Jordan, they were surprised by the amount of comfort and such warm welcome they received from the people there. Everyone was helping everyone." Yasmin, who is now staying in an Amman hotel with her four children, is concerned for the future of her family but is exceptionally grateful for the open armed reception she has received since her arrival. "For us, Amman is very comfortable. We have lots of friends here and Jordanians are very friendly. I can’t think of a better place to be than Amman."

Many who have successfully escaped the chaos of Beirut have only found themselves stranded in other cities. Numerous American and European citizens are unable to acquire flights out of Damascus and Amman due to the overwhelming demand placed on these cities to compensate for the incapacitation of Beirut’s international airport. "I called Air France and told them I need a flight out of Amman back to the United States but they told me it was impossible right now," relates one stranded traveler. They literally said I was stuck."

As thousands take up residence in hotels and the homes of family and friends outside of Lebanon, the foremost thought weighing on the minds of many of the displaced is when or even if they will be able to return home. "I hate being away," one women laments. "I am originally Palestinian and Lebanon is the only country I’ve lived in where I feel like I belong. The country simply has a certain charm and a uniqueness that sets it apart from other countries. It gives and it takes, whereas so many other countries just take and offer nothing; but Lebanon offers so much."

Many refugees are haunted by feelings of unadulterated guilt and helplessness for having fled the fighting and destruction. "I feel ashamed for leaving," one refugee explains. "It’s like I have abandoned my country and my people. It is hard to find meaning in life; I’m not even able to think."