Podcasting since 2004; Conversations, conflicts, adventures and monologues from around the world.
It was early July and she was invited to a camp in southern Lebanon. A very special camp. Many nations, cultures, religions, all gathered to work for one common goal. This is my friend Elise’s story of being at the camp as the bombs began to rain down on Lebanon.
No links, listening is all that’s necessary.
The digital thermometer on the wall reads 32 degrees celcius. Needless to say, I’m very glad my visit to Portugal has come to an end. As much as I love this city, my Lisbon, and travelling around the country with my family, I’m ready to get back to Amsterdam and the cool weather and the rain and back to doing my life’s work — observing the world and being a watchdog for injustice…. like the three amigo’s only I don’t have the uniform and I’m only one.
My time in the south of Portugal was a very disconnected time, hence the first 48 hour lapse in posting in… I don’t know how long. I’m also still catching up with the latest reports and developments in places besides Lebanon, the UK and the US. (tv news only seems to give me that)
As I warm up and get back into podcasting/blogging form, I have a few links to share: first, there’s my former professor, mentor, and friend Steve Shalom who wrote a piece related to Lebanon-Israel on ZNet.
then there’s Rupert Murdoch who’s made some big deals in Italy and Turkey and still seems bent on taking over the world’s media.
And finally, on a non-news related note… the beloved Della and her man have arrived in Korea, and you can follow the adventure of another in the growing number of expats out here in the world.
Catch you when Im back in amsterdam.
Since this blog is written in English, I’m going to guess at least some of your other media consumption is also in English. And I’ll go out on a limb a little further and guess that perhaps you don’t often hear what the Portuguese people (nevermind the media) think about the sad state of affairs in Lebanon and Israel. Well I have had the privledge of spending many days with constant contact with the Portuguese elderly of my family; grandparents, cousins, great aunts and uncles, and occasionally after all the pleasantries have passed – they express strong opinions on what is happening.
Before I head in to what they say, I should first point out why it matters. To me, it matters because the elderly of Portugal lived most of their lives under a dictatorship. Beyond that, most of them also lived and fought in the nightmare of wars in Mozambique, Angola, and Guinea-Bissau of the 60’s and 70’s… where a still unknown and vast number of people were killed, frequently in gruesome ways. Those wars eventually ended in stalemate and eventually withdrawal by the Portuguese, returning home to a country that had been extremely impoverished and who’s population had dwindled thanks to the government’s obsession with fighting those wars.
I kept all of this in mind over the past days, as relatives and friends in their golden years, spoke about their disgust with what they understood to be happening in Lebanon. My great uncle in particular, who served in the military during colonialism and had even settled in Mozambique until war drove him from his home, he had a particular sadness for the images on the news. I had expected him to support the action of the Israeli military… self-defense, as they call it. I figured he’d support that.
Instead he looked on in frustration:
“There’s no real goal. They have no real goal, and thats obvious from the evidence we see before our eyes. All this destruction and death; They just drop bombs and make war with these unattainable objectives. I’m no fan of terrorism or murder of any kind, but this military strategy is crazy. And of course, (he turns away from the TV to look at me now) you know who makes lots of money on this, don’t you? Besides all the parties involved, it’s the companies that make bombs and tanks and planes that cash in on this. Now they’ll have lot’s of new orders and plenty of money. And the American government is very good friends with these companies, you know BM?”
Of course you can write him off. He’s old. He’s not your great uncle. And surely he’s not a first hand observer, or Israeli or Lebanese for that matter.
But I listened with special attention… because of the life experience he has had. A man who knows all about what military sactioned violence has done and can do. Sure terrorism is terrible, and attention should be given to its causes and to reduce terrorist acts. But clearly if we look to history and those who lived it, there is much to indicate that the stategy of the Israeli military is more dangerous and misguided then noble or necessary.
Due to internet restraints, I don’t have the means with which to research and do full shows. In this program I pace around the apartment and discuss Israel-Palestine and media coverage of what is happening. Mostly about the bizarre and pathetic things going on.
Later this week I’ll have an interview or two. I wish Portugal would hurry up and modernize so that I could have better net access without having to trek all over town.
The wise and wonderful Hanna Braun joins me once again to discuss the past and the results of previous Israeli incursions into Lebanon. A former member of the Israeli Defence Force before Israel was even a state, she helps dissect the current situation and the responses from the international community. (Partially recorded on the road so pardon some quality lapses)
It’s very hard to consider blogging about anything else when every hour that goes by, so many people’s lives are being destroyed. Of course that can be said for everyday that goes by, but the present situation involving Lebanon, Occupied Palestine, and Israel is just dark with seemingly no light at the end of no tunnel.
On hardtalk last night, the only program on BBCWorld that is truely exciting, the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority was on. I thought the man was going to break down crying. He threw up his hands and admitted all hell had broken loose. When questioned as to why the PA had lost control, he used an anecdote, saying: “It is as if, I tie your hands, I cut off your legs, I throw you in the water and then ask – why can’t you swim.” Saddest of all, as an old man, he talked about how he has lived most of his life under the occupation and he would most certainly die in it, and that in his life he had never seen it THIS BAD.
A quick look at the latest developments features lots of finger pointing. Lots of people will most certainly buy into it. The equations and connections that they point to: Syria this, Iran that, Lebanon this, Hezbollah that, Israel this, North Korea that…. how the hell did they manage to tie North Korea into it? Seems like anything goes these days. All the evangelical politicians who never have to pull a trigger or even get any blood on their suits, are rushing to attain their beloved armageddon.
Seriously though, the one thing I keep thinking about his how history will view this. Considering the death tolls, the bombings, the missiles, the refugee camps, the starvation and psychological trauma… could you imagine how this compares to other moments in history when large amounts of people were suffering or under attack, and other nations stood by and did nothing? It feels like one of those moments. A Rwanda. A Khmer Rouge. Yes, I don’t mind saying it, a holocaust. No its not the same. Its never the same. It has a different look, a different story, and naturally, it never seems like it is comparable. But in the end, the results are not so different. Large numbers of innocent people are murdered by the use of conventional weapons or driven from there homes en masse, in the name of some political or military objective, while in the wealthier part of the world, we go to work, take a vacation, or if you’re me- ride around in a little red boat all evening.