some guy in lebanon

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]