some guy in lebanon

This picture popped up on Reddit yesterday, with the comment “This takes guts.”

The picture immediately moved me for a number of reasons, and so I posted it to my Facebook Profile.

“if you can understand that 95% of americans look at this picture and feel more terrified of the man with the flag than the man with the assault rifle, then you will understand the root of the problem, the conceptual basis of racism (and its implicit self-justification), and the reason behind american acquiescence to apartheid”

This started a spirited discussion, with a commenter remarking:

“My understanding of the “root of the problem” (let me know if you agree with this interpretation): for those Americans who are not Arab or Muslim, an Israeli soldier has never and will never pose any threat to them or their identity. A small subset of Palestinian nationalists are associated with groups who preach hatred toward Americans and wish to do harm to Americans. Many of the people who fear the nationalist more probably are racist, but as a white, Christian American, you could ask yourself, “Who out of these two people is more likely to dislike me on the basis of my superficial identity?” if they know nothing of your personal opinions. Similarly, who would you be more afraid of in Compton, an armed white police officer or an African-American man with black nationalist paraphernalia? The issue is that people are evaluated collectively rather than as individuals, but this is so deeply ingrained in our psyche that it’s hard to avoid.

So how do you move forward?”

I was not satisfied with that, and so responded.

I’m tan – “How did you get so tan, Will?” You might ask – Well, dear reader, this is for three reasons:

1. I live at the eastern end of the Mediteranian. One can get a tan just by walking around
2. I spent Saturday at “Lazy B,” a wonderful little cabana-style resort south of Beirut.
3. I spent most of Sunday sitting in no-man’s-land at the Syrian border in the sun. For five hours. Just to be in Syria for forty five minutes.

I want to remark on this last point – “Why did you go to Syria, Will?” Well, dear reader, it’s because my visa was going to expire and they changed the rules in Lebanon requiring an exit stamp to leave at the airport if you’re in your third month of a tourist visa. But I couldn’t get an exit stamp because my visa was going to expire in two days, so they told me ‘just go to Syria – you don’t need an exit stamp.’ Of course, going to Syria means waltzing into one of the most skeptical-of-Americans nation in the world – they purposefully make you wait forever if you’re American to dissuade you from coming back – or something, I’m not really quite sure (they fax the information to Damascus – who knows how long it sits next to a cup of coffee there). Luckily, they let me in after I got a mean tan – I had to be out of the country for “a few mintues” according to Lebanese authorities in order to renew my visa.

Unfortunately, I have renewed my tourist visa too many times, so they confiscated my passport on the way back into Lebanon, and I spent this morning at General Security sorting things out.

Almost 8 months in Beirut now – Eight long months. As I sit back and think – go over my current situation, I can’t help but notice the totality, and the still insignificance, of what I’ve accomplished so far… and all the people who have trusted me, who have had faith in me, and who have stood by me.

I will never be able to repay the debt I owe to those who’ve made this possible – even here, I see that truly it takes a village to raise Will Donovan. Perhaps more here than anywhere.

Who has arrived in Lebanon without family, with limited finances, with no contacts, and with a degree in Religion, and built a business from nothing? To those of you who have done so, you know how hard it is. To those who have not, perhaps you can imagine.

To those who have treated me like a brother, God Bless you. You will always have a place in my heart. I could not have done this without you.

To those in particular who have opened your homes and your hearts to me, thank you. There are no words to express my gratitude.

Not much new to report – planning on bunking down tomorrow for the elections – have been to the store to pick up the staples: beer, chips, snacks, diet Pepsi, cheese and crackers. Hopefully it will be a high-uneventful day.

I wanted to share these: The first is from the nightclub White, the second from Chilli’s Restaurant in Achrafiyeh, and the third are from the Sea Club Sporting (they call it a beach club but there’s no beach so I refuse to honor that title, even though it’s an awesome place.

First, White – didn’t expect to be back so soon but I had a great night out there and managed to get some reasonable pictures with the phone.

Next, a frightening and bizzarre experience at Chilli’s Restaurant in Achrafiyeh, which might as well have been somewhere in the Mid West or Boston or something. A truly strange experience to walk out of Beirut and into Chilli’s!

Finally, the wonderful club Sporting – I took a 360-Degree set of shots from where we (Me, Catherine and Nick) were sitting – you can see Rouche, the Sea, South Beirut, and the Ferris Wheel at the Amusement Park.

I also had lunch at the restaurant at the Club, which sits above the main pool areas – we were sitting to the far right.

Click “Read More” to see all the pictures.

I swear it! Things are moving along – So since you know that I am still alive, allow me instead to switch topics.

I am going to post a long email I wrote to Ned recently. Some back story (from Ned):

An Ithaca alum went to Palestine last summer and wrote a piece about her work with the palestinian civilians who are affected by the war. She wrote an editorial supporting the civilians who usually get lumped together with Hamas and blamed for the conflict.

My father Michael very nicely linked my article “A Short Discussion on Israel and Palestine” on his blog. Thanks dad!

I reported today that President Bush had commanded Secretary of State Rice to abstain on her vote on the resolution that she put forth to the United Nations Security Council calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and an Israeli withdrawal, after Israeli Prime Minister Olmert demanded that he do so. The AFP reported that Olmert had said this during a speech in southern Israel.

A friend of mine replied with a lengthy note on Facebook. Though I disagreed with him, it would be ridiculous to just delete his comments.

By Your’s Truly with the Very Much Needed Help of Florence Thireau – Original Article Can be Read Here
Many say they skip demonstrations out of opposition to organizers
BEIRUT: Protests continued in Lebanon and around the world this week, calling for an end to Israeli hostilities and global action to stop what the UN Human Rights [...]

The AFP is reporting that Olmert claimed he ‘phoned in’ America’s vote on the UN Security Council’s resolution calling for a cease fire in the Gaza Strip.

Uri Avnery was born in Germany, a Jew who immigrated to Palestine in the 1930’s. When he was 15 he joined the militant Irgun. Avenery once remarked, “don’t talk to me about terrorism, I was a terrorist.”

In the early 1990’s, he started Gush Shalom, a left wing, secular Israeli party. Avenery first served in the Israeli Knesset in 1965, so he knows Israeli politics well.

BEIRUT: A Carnegie Middle East Center Seminar Thursday at the Rotana Gefinor Hotel in Hamra discussed the effects and repercussions of the Gaza war and the two-year Gaza siege. The discussion did not break much new ground, pointing familiar fingers and shying away from serious analysis on the role of civil society and the prospects of legal challenges to this latest Israeli action on the people of Gaza.

This most recent conflict began in late December and has cost hundreds of Palestinian civilian lives, despite broadly defined, and according to an American lawyer attending Thursday’s event, “ill-conceived,” military goals. Hours after the end of the seminar, the UN passed a resolution calling for a conditional cease-fire, subsequently rejected by both Israel and Hamas.

I had my first “Ah-Ha” moment as a journalist today. It helped me in many ways define what it is that a “Journalist” is supposed to be.
First the moment itself – I was writing an article this afternoon on a seminar regarding the current Gaza conflict and the 2 year old Gaza seige. I was [...]

Possible correction to the note below: Lebanese military personnel have arrested members of the Hamas in Lebanon organization, suggesting that the Lebanese government does not believe the PFLP was responsible for the rocket attacks on Israel.
To put everyone at ease, it seems that World War 3 will not be happening this morning in Southern Lebanon. [...]

Still waiting to hear from people, places, and things here in Beirut – No news yet.
But I would like to take this time to suggest to Israel that if you insist on attacking United Nations sponsored schools full of civilians and children, I suppose you’ll never be too worried about that nagging feeling in the [...]

Dear Israel,
Congratulations. Since you’re so good at starving a caged population of almost a million and a half people to death and then, to add insult to injury, kill more people in one day than they’ve killed with their toy rockets in a year, only to be asked politely by the Bush Administration to “take [...]

Waiting waiting waiting – Patience patience patience. This is my new mantra, and I’m not very good at it. Waiting to see what will happen at the Daily Star with my proposal, waiting for other people to make decisions about various other business ventures, waiting waiting waiting.
This weekend I spent Saturday morning finishing Robert Fisk’s [...]

Given that our government is in the process of radically socializing the American economy, and also given my increased interest in Libertarian Socialism, I am of the impression that we are about to witness a market-driven rapid growth of communes here in the United States. My general assumptions for such a communal movement include,

Prior to [...]