Posted on 08/13/2006 5:45:51 PM PDT by Spiff
Herald/Review
BISBEE — While Melhem and Meg Sowid are safe in the United States, living in Bisbee with their children Fatima, Sarah and Ali, their daily thoughts concentrate on Lebanon.
The family has emotional ties to Beirut and southern Lebanon, where his family’s roots are. It’s the area Israeli forces are attacking with armored and air power. From southern Lebanon, Hezbollah, a political, social and militia group labeled by the United States as being terrorist, has been firing rockets into northern Israel during a more than monthlong combat.
“It’s impossible to go back there. Luckily, my parents and grandparents and other relatives were able to get out,” Melhem said.
He wasn’t in Lebanon when the fighting began. He was in Saudi Arabia, where he was involved in developing a shopping center. The American citizen had to join Meg and the children in the United States after they fled his birth nation and Meg’s adopted country. Many will know her as Meg Porter, who called Bisbee home before her marriage to Melhem.
He did not experience the bombing and shelling of the portion of Beirut near the international airport, where the family has a large apartment.
“I never went back to Lebanon to leave,” he said.
But Meg and other family members were instrumental in getting nearly three dozen of their relatives out of a village in southern Lebanon to their apartment in Beirut.
“There are 35 (relatives) living in the apartment,” Meg said.
They have been able to call the family members by cell phone, but both expressed concerns the connection will soon be lost, especially if fuel and other provisions do not reach Lebanon.
Saw initial Beirut attacks
Meg saw the second bombing of Beirut’s international airport.
The first bombing left one of the oil tanker farms smoking. The second attack on the other one took place at night.
Meg and others were on the apartment building’s roof and saw what looked initially like fireworks at the airport. The apartment is not far from the commercial airfield.
Then came large explosions brightening the evening sky. It was the beginning of what Meg would call daily destruction.
Israeli forces destroyed a lot of Lebanon’s infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, making it difficult for people to get out of harm’s way.
“It’s a crime scene,” Meg said.
Before the current conflict, “Lebanon was the comeback kid,” she said.
Lebanon is again being attacked. In her view, the combat is unnecessary.
“You can’t have peace when you have an oppressive Israel,” said Meg, who has a nursing degree from Arizona State University. Melhem has a business degree from ASU and he attended Cochise College.
The couple, who are both in their mid-40s, expressed appreciation for being American citizens, where they can speak freely.
Their three children have been educated in American schools in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Fatima has a degree from the American University of Beirut and has recently become engaged.
“She did want to leave (Lebanon),” Meg said.
Fatima reluctantly agreed to leave. Her sister and brother attend the Bisbee school system, which Meg said is a cultural shock compared to the American-run schools they attended in the Middle East.
“But they are American kids,” their parents said.
For Meg, becoming an American refugee in Lebanon was difficult to accept.
In the 25 years of her marriage to Melhem, most of it was spent in the Middle East.
To her, Beirut is a beautiful city, returning to its previous glory when it was known as “the Paris of the Middle East.”
Almost half of the nation’s population of about 4 million live in Beirut, which Meg and Melhem called a cultured and cosmopolitan city.
But for more than a month, Israel’s attack on the country and its capital city has left areas in shambles, they said.
‘A five-star evacuation’
For her to evacuate with her children, Meg was hoping to find an easy route to the seaport, which was not far from the family’s apartment.
But the road to the seaport had been bombed and a tunnel under the international airport was dangerous, she said.
So the family, led by a brother-in-law, took a badly damaged road through the mountains, taking longer to finally reached the seaport, where thousands of American refugees gathered.
It was distressing for Melhem because his only contact with Meg, Fatima, Sarah and Ali was through cell phone conversations.
Once Meg and the children reached the seaport, they met U.S. Marines, perhaps the largest contingent of Marines in Lebanon since the death of 241 of their comrades in an October 1983 bombing of their barracks, which led President Ronald Reagan to withdraw the Marines from Lebanon in early 1984.
The evacuation processing took many hours, but she, the children and other refugees were eventually taken to a U.S. Navy amphibious ship off shore.
Sailors had stayed up for hours, cooking chicken and preparing areas for the refugees to sleep.
“It was unbelievable,” Meg said.
Some sailors allowed women with small children to rest in their quarters, Meg said.
The ship went to Cyprus, where the 1,600 refugees on the ship were transferred to a large building at a fair ground so they could arrange flights to another location. Within hours, Meg and her children were winging to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.
At Ramstein, military families provided support as Air Force flights from Germany to the United States were arranged. After landing in New Jersey, Meg got a commercial flight to Tucson, where her sister met her and the children.
As for the American military part of handling the refugees, Meg said, “It was a five-star evacuation. I was proud I was an American.”
Melhem nodded in agreement.
Lebanon in their hearts
But for them, what will unfold in Lebanon still rips at their hearts.
On Friday, a United Nations’ Security Council brokered cease-fire seems will be accepted by all the parties — three in this case, Lebanon, Israel and Hezbollah — even though Israeli forces continued their attacks in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah continued to fire large amounts of rockets into northern Israel.
In a coffee shop in Bisbee, Melhem sat with his wife and thought about the present and the past. He was comfortable. Lebanese like to drink coffee at caf/s and enjoy conversations.
One of his memories led him to laughter. Melhem remembered his grandmother’s initial response when Israeli forces took over their hometown village in the 1980s.
Melhem’s and Meg’s home sat on a hill. Other members of the family lived down in the village.
Melhem is a Shiite, as is Meg and the rest of his family.
When the Israeli forces took over that part of Lebanon, Melhem and Meg’s home was confiscated and made an Army headquarters.
“Every morning, grandmother would get up, walk up to the house and throw stones at the Israelis,” he said, as he widely smiled. “They asked grandfather to stop her from doing that.”
But his grandfather wasn’t successful.
Now in their 90s, Melhem’s grandparents finally fled their home village, where the family’s roots go back centuries. Melhem said it was the first time the senior members of the family felt threatened enough to leave.
“Grandfather did not want to leave. He had to be forced to go,” Melhem said of the reports he got from his family.
What happened to his extended family is just one example of Lebanese suffering, Melhem said.
Both his and Meg’s voices at times were tinged with pride, sorrow, anger and joy as they spoke in between sips of coffee.
Melhem is concerned his grandparents may not survive the separation from their homes.
“If they die in Beirut, I will go home and take their bodies back (to the village), so they can be buried,” Melhem said, his voice full of emotional determination.
But he is a realist, even with his disappointment that his homeland is once again being attacked by Israel.
“Israel has a right to exist, it just doesn’t have the right to constantly attack Lebanon,” he said.
Meg had stronger words against Israel, noting the nation’s military has occupied parts of Lebanon for years and has made cross-border incursions to take hostages.
Even after leaving the southern portion of Lebanon in 2000 after nearly two decades of occupation, Israel continues to make armed incursions into the country, she added.
Melhem and Meg said Lebanon was beginning to return to some semblance of nationhood after a civil war, Israeli occupation, Syrian occupation of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, and the 2005 assassination of the prime minister.
Hezbollah has grown strong
Even though the United Nations called for the elimination of the Hezbollah militia as part of the agreement of a previous resolution for the Israeli withdrawal, it was impossible because the Lebanese Army was not then and is not now strong enough to fight Hezbollah, Melhem said.
Many Lebanese Army members are Shiites. Hezbollah is a primarily a Shiite organization. It would not surprise Melhem that a Lebanese soldier would take off his uniform at the end of the day and support Hezbollah at night.
As for Hezbollah obtaining rockets and other war items from Syria and Iran, he said that is happening. But, he said, it is no different than how the United States continues to provide Israel war material, something that has occurred before.
Syria and Iran have expressed a willingness to go along with the cease-fire as part of respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and the desire of the international community, U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was reported as saying in a news report.
Melhem said Israel has run into a better armed, better trained and better led Hezbollah militia.
“In the past Hezbollah would attack Israel, the Israelis would respond and a week later it was over, with Hezbollah giving up the fight,” Melhem said.
But not now.
The much-vaunted Israeli intelligence does not have the right information about today’s Hezbollah, Melhem said.
Although it might be hard for many to accept, Lebanese see Hezbollah as freedom fighters. The current Israeli incursion is solidifying the Lebanese people to get behind Hezbollah, Melhem said. Until this conflict, Sunni, Maronite Christian and Druze Lebanese did not support Hezbollah.
The Druze are a distinct religious community found in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Palestine that considers itself an Islamic reform sect, though it is not considered Muslim by most Muslims. The Druze incorporate Islamic teachings along with some Greek philosophy and are seen as a mixture of Muslim and Gnostic beliefs.
Today, a majority of all of Lebanon’s various people support the militia, “and that is because Israel’s attack caused it,” Melhem said. “Israel misread the event.”
And support throughout the Muslim world, including from regimes such as Saudi Arabia which has opposed Hezbollah, is changing, Melhem said.
Hezbollah was not around in the early 1980s. It only came into being because the Lebanese Army could not defend the country, he said.
Israel said the cause for the current war situation was the kidnapping of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah.
According to news reports, nearly 800 people in Lebanon have been killed, the vast majority civilians, and about 150 in Israel, mostly members of the Israeli Defense Force.
Result of cease-fire unknown
Lebanon accepted the U.N. cease-fire Saturday, and Israel is expected to accept the plan today.
Israel has indicated it will cease its attacks on Monday.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said he basically accepts the plan, but warned his militia will continue fighting Israeli forces that remain in Lebanon. Two members of Hezbollah are part of the current Lebanese Cabinet.
The cease-fire outlines a plan for 15,000 members of the Lebanese Army to go into the southern part of the country, with the support of another 15,000 troops from United Nation member countries. France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Turkey have indicated a willingness to provide forces, news reports state.
Israel is demanding an air-tight buffer zone to ensure Hezbollah does not the have the capability to continue firing rockets into Israel and that the IDF will remain in Lebanon until the strong international force arrives, according to The Associated Press.
Melhem said there is a part of history most Americans do not know: Even when other Middle East powers went to war with Israel, Lebanon’s Army never attacked Israel.
“Lebanese want peace, but they don’t want anyone attacking them,” he said.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Then, the two Muslims being interviewed were able to say whatever damned fool lies they wanted to about Israel and the situation without any question or challenge from the writer.
Then the Muslim couple tries to have it both way when they say that Lebanon is under attack by "oppressive" Israel but then they express sympathy for Hezbollah and even admit that most of Lebanon, to include the Lebanese Army, actually supports Hezbollah. No mention by the writer that since Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and since Lebanon and the Lebanese Army supports them, then they actually deserve the attacks from Israel.
The couple even admits that they are Shiite Muslims just like the Hezbollah and the writer still doesn't realize he's being played for propaganda purposes.
And the treatment of the actual reasons that the recent conflict started is very biased.
The whole article stinks and it I'm disgusted that it appeared in the local newspaper of this patriotic, military town (Fort Huachuca is the center of our economy and the town has a very high concentration of U.S. Army soldiers). Bisbee, on the other hand, is a bastion of leftist scum.
I think FReepers should let the Editor of this paper know how they feel about this terribly biased Hezbollah propaganda piece. Letters to the Editor can be emailed to svhnews@transedge.com and the reporter who wrote this can be reached at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Ping
Nobody from the media has called me to do an interview about my daughter and her babies forced to leave their home in Safed, due to rockets from Hezbollah.
Okay, honesty time.
I read the headline, and skipped over this article to read the more important sections of this morning's paper - the funnies, the sports page, and the obits.
Two more pieces of flotsam being praised be a reporter that knows better and a paper that should.
Yes, and we all know the reason why.
I pray that your family stays safe.
No the IDF did that so hizbollah, could not travel easily, to send rockets into Israel.
LAY DOWN WITH DOGS, YOU GET FLEAS, OR IDF MUNITIONS.
AND GET OUT OF AMERICA AS WELL.
Go back to Lebanon and support hizbollah, it's your choice. If it was my choice, you'd be deported already.
Sure as hell didn't stop him from "fleeing" to the terroist country of the United States full of Jooo control now did it?
Well from the way they talked in the interview it is easy to see where their loyalties lie and it is not with the Israelis or the USA. After reading this my "Give a Sh!t button" broke.
Meg would be stoned if she dressed that way in the ME.
I haven't got a clue where my family's "roots" are and I really don't give a damn. I'm an American. My "roots" are here in America.
And today's "Green Helmet Award" goes to Bill Hess!
Sent them notes.
Judging by your signup date - Hey gang, Whutzzat smell ... ??
2 more Muslims in America who think it's OK to kill Jews.
You have to wonder what would happen if all of the American Jewish organizations said that killing Muslims was OK.
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