Gemayel shot dead in his car, suburbs of north beirut, geagea, street marches, unity govt.?
Yikes! I had written a totally different blog in my notebook as I prepared my lessons for the day, intended to give a better idea of what was happening here in Beirut, something that made the complexities of the situation a little more vivid, but today's events, atleast for myself, are completely out of the blue and twist things beyond a point where I can guess-timate what will happen in this country in the near future.
Pierre Gemayel, a member of the Christian Phalange Party, was shot to death in his car. There are no leads at this time, but as usual everyone is pointing fingers. His grandfather, whom he was named after, founded the party in 1936 after returning from Germany and picking up some ideas along the way. This is one of the Phalangist's symbols to give you an idea:
During Beirut's civil war, the Phalangist Party at first, fought against the Muslim factions, and at the end of the conflict took part in the Christian on Christian killing's, but they are best known for their involvement in the Sabra and Shatila Massacres in the respective Palestinian Refugee Camps where they killed more than 2000 men, women, and children using guns, knives, and hatchets while Israeli troops stood guard at the entrances and exits, lighting flares at night when necessary. They blamed the Lebanese Palestinian population for starting the Civil War and I've even heard members of this party dreamily wish for the return of the Israeli's so that they could get back and kill the some more muslims.
As of right now the US is blaming Syria and so are some other groups, others will undoubtedly blame Hezbollah, and the conspiracy theorists, who really don't have to stretch to far on this one, blame Israel.
...and though I in no way sympathize with the Phalangist movement I can't help but feel that the perpetrator's intent was to get the blood boiling in a party with a severely violent history and were not concerned with harming the Phalangist's themselves, but the whole of Lebanon. I fail to see who this killing helps internally. For me the only reason for this assassination is the destabalization of the country. I cannot see Hezbollah taking part in this when they had planned on a "peaceful protest" this thursday demanding that the government be changed to a "unity government" where all the existing parties would be represented, giving Hezbollah and it's allies more power. At such a crucial time with so much to gain why would they do such a thing?
What remains to be seen, what with tomorrow being Lebanese Independence Day and all, is what happens in the next few days. If the Phalangist's and their anti-Syrian allies take to the streets we all hope that the opposition (Hezbollah, Amal, the Christian camp headed by Aoun, and others) remain at home, realizing that the "unity government" march will have to wait. Tomorrow is a day off from work and school, lots of free time on everyone's hands. I'll have my camera ready.
this is the blog I intended to write before all this went down, hopefully clearing up some confusing issues about who's who in the world of lebanon:
I just finished watching CNN's coverage of Lebanon's current situation. The reporter was commenting on the rift between political parties, saying that it was between Siniora's current government on one side and "an alliance headed by Hezbollah supported by Iran and Syria" on the other.
First off, though his framing of the situation is true-ish, it leaves out so many of the key players that it's easy to misinterpret what is happening here, and not only that, but to someone with only half an ear tuned to the television it might sound as if the "alliance headed by Hezbollah" merely consists of them, Iran, and Syria. Though both Nation's play a big role in what is happening here, no doubt, we must consider the internal parties of Amal (shiite), the Free Patriotic Movement (maronite catholic), and other pro-syrian political entities who back Hezbollah's call for a "unity governement" threatening, not the "coup" or the "toppling" I've heard on the western media outlets, but "peaceful demonstrations" urging the current government to allow more parties into parliament; as this side sees it, a more representative governmental administration. When it comes to the question of violence, in reality, it was the former Civil War Warlord Samir Geagea aka: "the doctor" (a member of the Lebanese Forces or Phalangists), who threatened counter-protests on the same day as Hezbollah's, using a term in arabic that's tantamount to "fightin' words" in this part of the world, something about "meeting them shoulder to shoulder."
Let us remember that last year when the Danish Cartoon Riots flared in Beirut it was the Shiite Clerics in the street asking the rioters to put the rocks down, they were not the one's throwing them. I guess with my limited experience here in Beirut, watching the Shiites march on Martyr's Square and elsewhere, I've come to realize that these acts are never meant to get out of hand, afterall it's much more intimidating to the current administration to see how goddamn organized they truly are.
Now, as for myself, I ain't exactly throwing my weight behind anyone, not that it matters at all in the whole scheme of things. Sure, I got a picture of a kid holding a poster of Yasser Arafat as my main photo, but I am here merely as an observer, and as a sidenote consider myself a "Socialist Libertarian," (whatever that is) and would just as soon have a picture of a kid holding a poster of Geagea if I had the connections to get me into a similar rally. The point is that I'd like to be perfectly clear here. I'd hate to paint Hezbollah as the good guys. What has become quite apparent as the ulterior motive behind all this political maneuvering on the "pro-unity government" camp is that they are really just pro-syria. They are looking to gain enough seats in parliament to block the UN Hariri Tribunal being set up right now that intends to investigate more thoroughly the unknown assassins and prosecute them, almost all lines leading to Damascus. Some of these parties aligning with Syria for the simple strategy of it all, to gain more seats in Parliament.
I understand that the things happening here might cause some distress to family I would just like to reiterate that we are no kind of resistance fighter, not that that term means anything in the middle east any more, and would be on the first plane outta here if anything were to go down. I'll keep you all updated on the situation as it happens. I'm sure there are questions from both sets of my parents and welcome them whenever they're ready.
Pierre Gemayel, a member of the Christian Phalange Party, was shot to death in his car. There are no leads at this time, but as usual everyone is pointing fingers. His grandfather, whom he was named after, founded the party in 1936 after returning from Germany and picking up some ideas along the way. This is one of the Phalangist's symbols to give you an idea:
During Beirut's civil war, the Phalangist Party at first, fought against the Muslim factions, and at the end of the conflict took part in the Christian on Christian killing's, but they are best known for their involvement in the Sabra and Shatila Massacres in the respective Palestinian Refugee Camps where they killed more than 2000 men, women, and children using guns, knives, and hatchets while Israeli troops stood guard at the entrances and exits, lighting flares at night when necessary. They blamed the Lebanese Palestinian population for starting the Civil War and I've even heard members of this party dreamily wish for the return of the Israeli's so that they could get back and kill the some more muslims.
As of right now the US is blaming Syria and so are some other groups, others will undoubtedly blame Hezbollah, and the conspiracy theorists, who really don't have to stretch to far on this one, blame Israel.
...and though I in no way sympathize with the Phalangist movement I can't help but feel that the perpetrator's intent was to get the blood boiling in a party with a severely violent history and were not concerned with harming the Phalangist's themselves, but the whole of Lebanon. I fail to see who this killing helps internally. For me the only reason for this assassination is the destabalization of the country. I cannot see Hezbollah taking part in this when they had planned on a "peaceful protest" this thursday demanding that the government be changed to a "unity government" where all the existing parties would be represented, giving Hezbollah and it's allies more power. At such a crucial time with so much to gain why would they do such a thing?
What remains to be seen, what with tomorrow being Lebanese Independence Day and all, is what happens in the next few days. If the Phalangist's and their anti-Syrian allies take to the streets we all hope that the opposition (Hezbollah, Amal, the Christian camp headed by Aoun, and others) remain at home, realizing that the "unity government" march will have to wait. Tomorrow is a day off from work and school, lots of free time on everyone's hands. I'll have my camera ready.
this is the blog I intended to write before all this went down, hopefully clearing up some confusing issues about who's who in the world of lebanon:
I just finished watching CNN's coverage of Lebanon's current situation. The reporter was commenting on the rift between political parties, saying that it was between Siniora's current government on one side and "an alliance headed by Hezbollah supported by Iran and Syria" on the other.
First off, though his framing of the situation is true-ish, it leaves out so many of the key players that it's easy to misinterpret what is happening here, and not only that, but to someone with only half an ear tuned to the television it might sound as if the "alliance headed by Hezbollah" merely consists of them, Iran, and Syria. Though both Nation's play a big role in what is happening here, no doubt, we must consider the internal parties of Amal (shiite), the Free Patriotic Movement (maronite catholic), and other pro-syrian political entities who back Hezbollah's call for a "unity governement" threatening, not the "coup" or the "toppling" I've heard on the western media outlets, but "peaceful demonstrations" urging the current government to allow more parties into parliament; as this side sees it, a more representative governmental administration. When it comes to the question of violence, in reality, it was the former Civil War Warlord Samir Geagea aka: "the doctor" (a member of the Lebanese Forces or Phalangists), who threatened counter-protests on the same day as Hezbollah's, using a term in arabic that's tantamount to "fightin' words" in this part of the world, something about "meeting them shoulder to shoulder."
Let us remember that last year when the Danish Cartoon Riots flared in Beirut it was the Shiite Clerics in the street asking the rioters to put the rocks down, they were not the one's throwing them. I guess with my limited experience here in Beirut, watching the Shiites march on Martyr's Square and elsewhere, I've come to realize that these acts are never meant to get out of hand, afterall it's much more intimidating to the current administration to see how goddamn organized they truly are.
Now, as for myself, I ain't exactly throwing my weight behind anyone, not that it matters at all in the whole scheme of things. Sure, I got a picture of a kid holding a poster of Yasser Arafat as my main photo, but I am here merely as an observer, and as a sidenote consider myself a "Socialist Libertarian," (whatever that is) and would just as soon have a picture of a kid holding a poster of Geagea if I had the connections to get me into a similar rally. The point is that I'd like to be perfectly clear here. I'd hate to paint Hezbollah as the good guys. What has become quite apparent as the ulterior motive behind all this political maneuvering on the "pro-unity government" camp is that they are really just pro-syria. They are looking to gain enough seats in parliament to block the UN Hariri Tribunal being set up right now that intends to investigate more thoroughly the unknown assassins and prosecute them, almost all lines leading to Damascus. Some of these parties aligning with Syria for the simple strategy of it all, to gain more seats in Parliament.
I understand that the things happening here might cause some distress to family I would just like to reiterate that we are no kind of resistance fighter, not that that term means anything in the middle east any more, and would be on the first plane outta here if anything were to go down. I'll keep you all updated on the situation as it happens. I'm sure there are questions from both sets of my parents and welcome them whenever they're ready.
posted by miguella guerilla at 5:24 PM
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