During the past few months the whole world stood on edge watching helplessly as the situation between Israel and Lebanon broke down into a bloodbath. This “July War” has further polarized an already bitter and divisive international discourse on the Middle East conundrum.
The cease-fire agreement implemented on August 14, 2006, has, at least for now, brought the conflict to a halt. But tensions and uncertainties linger in the air for both countries. Partisan debates continue about which side “won” or accomplished their objective goals. The majority sentiment from the Lebanese and Israeli civilians, who lost the most in terms of casualties and homes, seems to indicate that neither side can honestly proclaim an absolute and enthusiastic “victory.”
In Lebanon, any triumph that may be claimed on the part of Hezbollah is, ultimately, an obscured one. Thousands of Lebanese civilians were killed during the Israeli offensive; a third of them were children under thirteen. One million people were displaced and thousands of homes and businesses completely destroyed. An environmental catastrophe has ensued since the Israeli Air Force bombed the Jiyeh power station in July, spilling at least 15,000 tons of oil into the Mediterranean Sea. The Lebanese government and the UN estimate that it may take years, and millions of dollars in cleanup costs, to begin to recover from this disaster.
Now, in the aftermath of the Israel-Lebanon conflict, the Lebanese people face a whole new set of challenges in rebuilding their homes—and their lives. To obtain a clearer understanding of the current situation, Dynamic felt it would be best to step back and listen to what our comrades in Lebanon had to say.
For that reason, we present you this interview with Araby Indary, Secretary of the Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth (ULDY).
Q: Can you tell us about the current conditions in Lebanon?
A: First off, it’s about trying to help the people who were supposed to go back to their homes, but found that [they] were demolished. A big part of the challenge now is not only that the homes are demolished; the whole infrastructure is destroyed also, in terms of electricity and water, and these kinds of things. So, we are trying to help the people so they can have these minimum conditions of survival. That’s in terms of relief.
But there are some other things, which are a big concern nowadays, and it’s more on the political level and answering the question, “Where from this point?” There is a lot of concern about the implementation of the resolution, 1701, now that we’re receiving thousands of military troops from different regions. There is a big discussion about what they are here for and on what terms. What purpose?
A couple of weeks ago, the German Prime Minister said that German troops were coming to Lebanon in order to defend Israel. This raised a lot of concerns. Everyone understands the resolution but he wants other things like for Israel’s forces to be spread across the borders of Syria and Lebanon and all the ports on the Mediterranean Sea. People are wondering if there is a plan for troops to take the arms of the resistance, something that could make Israel itself increase aggression.
Q: Since we’re on the subject, what exactly does the resistance consist of in Lebanon?
A: Well, first of all, it’s known to everybody nowadays that there is Hezbollah, this political party, which has its militant groups. Besides Hezbollah, there are forces like the Amal Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, which played a big role.
Some of the work we are focused on is political. We are afraid that the situation with Israel plays on the division of the Lebanese people. There have been some escalations between different parties about which road should be taken from here. There are big concerns about political divisions between Muslims and Christians, and foreign intervention is playing on this division.
During the conflict with Israel, there was some unification among the people and support for the people who were displaced. After all of this happened there have been a lot of differences concerning what should be done now.
Q: What is the official position of the CP of Lebanon in regards to groups like Hezbollah?
A: We have a lot of huge ideological differences with them in terms of politics. But in terms of resistance, we see ourselves as having no choice but to be supportive of the resistance against Israeli aggression in Lebanon. So, as long as there is this policy, this aggression from Israel, in that sense, we are putting our ideological and other political differences apart, and we have total support for the right of the people to resist any aggression and occupation.
Q: Are there any apprehensions about Hezbollah?
A: Well, our first problem with Hezbollah, if we can start with the ideological one is that we are trying to build a secular country in Lebanon, while they view themselves as an Islamic party. These differences are not just from today; they are from the creation of Hezbollah.
The other issue is the resistance. Mainly, the resistance was created by secular parties and had a patriotic face. But Hezbollah along with the Syrians played a big role in making the resistance an Islamic one. So, we had a problem with them in that sense, because we’re not confronting Israel based on religious reasons. We see them as somebody who is occupying our lands and having aggressions on us. We see the resistance being a national and patriotic one.
Hezbollah’s role … in making the resistance Islamic weakened us because this led to an international opinion, and also a national one, that the resistance is only a Muslim problem with Israel. They make it look like that and it isn’t.
Q: How is the political situation moving along in Lebanon?
A: Well, we are pushing here in Lebanon to form a government that is really representative of all the different partners that are in the country, because Lebanese people are divided into different sections: several Christian ones, several Muslim ones, and so on. Now there has been a huge gap created between the government and parts of the Lebanese. We see that in order to confront this, it should be with the unity of the Lebanese people. We’re trying to work for that. But at the same time there are very difficult and huge issues.
Q: What kind of humanitarian aid and reconstruction projects are being undertaken? And who’s involved?
A: There are different kinds of aid and construction, on different levels. The bigger one is concerning the infrastructure: The reconstruction of the buildings, the houses, and the villages. In that sense, the only thing we’ve been able to do is provide labor support. We have our comrades go there and help if they can. We don’t have the conditions in terms of materials and money to help more than that. Different countries have taken the responsibility of the reconstruction of some villages. There has been some help given to the [Lebanese] government and they are trying to create the whole reconstruction process.
Now, we’re trying to focus on different levels that, either the government or other countries haven’t so far touched, and that is concerning children and helping them to overcome the psychological trauma from these aggressions.
We’re trying to help launch a campaign that would help refugee [children] come back to their schools called “Back to School.”
There’s also some help needed in terms of medicine. But now you start to realize how much of an effect this type of aggression leaves for years to come, in terms of job opportunities, different factories, different people, or different institutions that afforded job opportunities for the people who don’t have them anymore.
People need to work. They need to make money. They need to see how they can live in the time to come. So these kinds of social issues have been raised
Q: Are people beginning to return the area again?
A: People went back the day after the ceasefire. Most of the people went back.
You could say about 90 percent. People who found their homes destroyed were displaced. Most of the Lebanese villages that didn’t have people returning to them were the ones on the border where the Israeli troops still are.
Q: And where did they go during the conflict?
A: They went to the north and to the mountains. We had more than a million people displaced. We took it upon ourselves, along with other organizations, to help find shelter for [them]. Schools were opened along with hospitals and buildings that were still under construction. And the houses of other Lebanese were opened for the displaced to have shelter. And we started working on trying to find them medicines the needed and food.
Q: What can comrades in the U.S. and other countries do to help support the Lebanese people in rebuilding?
A: I’m going to divide the answer. First, in the political sense, you know what we need. We need some kind of pressure in order to get the Bush administration to change its policies in terms of the region and concerning the country. But I believe you are already doing that and you don’t need us to ask you for that.
But in terms of concrete help, we’re trying to work on the Back to School plan, trying to provide the basic needs for the children in order for them to come back to school; and to help them overcome the trauma of seeing their houses demolished or having their relatives killed. After kids go through these kinds of things it’s not easy to overcome them.
For more information please email:
ujdl@yahoo.com
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