Ahmed, Get Your Gun
I'm supposed to be working on homework right now, but obviously there are larger things on my mind. The AUB provost talked to the international students today, and after his talk I felt a little bit more calm. He explained that basically the only way out of Lebanon right now was through Syria, but the best idea was to wait a few days as the borders are already very crowded and it still is not clear how long this will last. He also informed us that in the event of an Israeli blockade (which appears likely) the AUB has its own farm and power plant, and has enough supplies to last 3 weeks. I imagine this is leftover from the tenuous civil war years. Lastly, this area of Beirut has never sustained an attack, even during the civil war, and even now there are no targets near the university that are of interest to the Israelis. Basically, we are just as safe here as in an embassy.
After the talk and hearing about how safe AUB is, I immediately left campus, but with good reason - a few of us were considering getting cellphones and we went downtown looking for stores. Beirut's downtown is usually lively, especially at around 5 pm, but today it was deserted. Most of the stores were closed (though one cellphone store was open) and the restaurants were vacant and looked ready to close for the evening. On a lighter note, because we were the only people downtown we were interviewed by a German TV station, so if anyone understands German, please let me know and perhaps we can see if the interview made it to the news
While there were no shoppers or diners downtown, there were plenty of troops assembling in the area. I'm probably using the wrong term, but in the half an hour we were downtown we watched buses and trucks full of Lebanese soldiers lining up along Place des Martyrs. Israel dropped leaflets today over the southern suburbs of Beirut advising them to evacuate, and Israel has also made it clear that it considers all of Lebanon a target. Witnessing the troops gathering definitely indicated that there would be more action tonight. One friend commented that there would likely be an influx of refugees from the south, which would only increase the Hizbullah presence in Beirut. The southern suburbs are known for being Hizbullah controlled areas, as is the area around the airport (another motive for hitting the airport this morning?)
Usually the TV in the women's dorm has some kind of American sitcom or bad movie playing, but now there is always a group of concerned students gathered around the TV watching the news, arguing various points, or expressing their concerns for their safety or for the safety of others. Already, several people have gone to stay with family out of Beirut, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that families have come to get students and taken them outside of the city. There is a small concern that once you leave you will not be able to get back into the city: Israel has already bombed bridges and roads in the south, and it is possible that they may target roadways out of Beirut as a way to isolate Hizbullah and the government.
What was I thinking not linking Al Jazeera stories! What kind of Middle East studies major am I? Here is a link to an Al Jazeera story that will give you more of the Arab perspective on the situation. They aren't terribly biased, but you can tell through the writing that they have a different take than many of the Western sources.
After the talk and hearing about how safe AUB is, I immediately left campus, but with good reason - a few of us were considering getting cellphones and we went downtown looking for stores. Beirut's downtown is usually lively, especially at around 5 pm, but today it was deserted. Most of the stores were closed (though one cellphone store was open) and the restaurants were vacant and looked ready to close for the evening. On a lighter note, because we were the only people downtown we were interviewed by a German TV station, so if anyone understands German, please let me know and perhaps we can see if the interview made it to the news
While there were no shoppers or diners downtown, there were plenty of troops assembling in the area. I'm probably using the wrong term, but in the half an hour we were downtown we watched buses and trucks full of Lebanese soldiers lining up along Place des Martyrs. Israel dropped leaflets today over the southern suburbs of Beirut advising them to evacuate, and Israel has also made it clear that it considers all of Lebanon a target. Witnessing the troops gathering definitely indicated that there would be more action tonight. One friend commented that there would likely be an influx of refugees from the south, which would only increase the Hizbullah presence in Beirut. The southern suburbs are known for being Hizbullah controlled areas, as is the area around the airport (another motive for hitting the airport this morning?)
Usually the TV in the women's dorm has some kind of American sitcom or bad movie playing, but now there is always a group of concerned students gathered around the TV watching the news, arguing various points, or expressing their concerns for their safety or for the safety of others. Already, several people have gone to stay with family out of Beirut, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that families have come to get students and taken them outside of the city. There is a small concern that once you leave you will not be able to get back into the city: Israel has already bombed bridges and roads in the south, and it is possible that they may target roadways out of Beirut as a way to isolate Hizbullah and the government.
What was I thinking not linking Al Jazeera stories! What kind of Middle East studies major am I? Here is a link to an Al Jazeera story that will give you more of the Arab perspective on the situation. They aren't terribly biased, but you can tell through the writing that they have a different take than many of the Western sources.
posted by Courtney at 12:27 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah, I will admit that regional war might distract me from the nuances of the Arabic verb structure, but I'm going to work on it. At the very least, this is a first hand look at regional politics in real time!
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