Monday, August 14th. What a difference a day makes! Today was the first day of the cease fire. We were greeted in the early morning by the sound of the sirens, but that was the one and only time today.
Everything felt different today. The traffic returned to Rehov Freud and the other streets; people were out walking this evening; we went out to a restaurant for dinner with friends, went back to their home for desert and walked briskly home in the calm of evening here in Haifa. No one knows how long the cease fire will last. Will it hold? Did anyone win? What about the kidnapped soldiers? What happens the day after the war? These are questions for discussion in the days to come. The issues before us are not just between Hezbollah, Israel and Lebanon. For interesting reading, look at the August 21st issue of the New Yorker and the article "Watching Lebanon", by Seymour Hersh. (He has written much on Iraq)
I want to focus on the human cost of this war. We in America have not fought a war on our soil since the Civil War. We always seem to send troops "over there" (title of a WWI song).
In the last few days I have become increasingly aware of the human costs on both sides of this war, but particularly here in Israel. On one day this past week, more than 25 Israeli soldiers were killed. The press and TV show their pictures, give a brief biography of each individual and announce the time and place of the funeral. No anonymous body bags here! These young men (and one woman) were in their late teens, twenties or early thirties. Their lives were snuffed out before they had a chance. Lebanon's border is quite close, less than 30 miles from here.
Hezbollah fired 3,970 rockets into Israel this month, creating havoc, destruction and terror, forcing people to flee. They landed indiscriminately, targeting Israeli Arabs as well as Jews.
The southern part of Beirut and parts of other cities and towns in Lebanon were targets for heavy shelling and bombing from the Israeli side in an effort to dislodge the tunnels, bunkers, and rocket launchers of Hezbollah. Hezbollah sees that there is nothing wrong with using ordinary people and their homes as cover for their attacks; therefore the high number of non-combatant casualties.
What a terrible price has been paid on both sides during these past 34 days. The rhythm of life here in the Middle East sees some form of violence every four or five years. Is it really possible that this time things could be different? I am not sure that there is sufficient trust or desire for change, but I am willing to hope and pray for the best.
Love,
Frank
Everything felt different today. The traffic returned to Rehov Freud and the other streets; people were out walking this evening; we went out to a restaurant for dinner with friends, went back to their home for desert and walked briskly home in the calm of evening here in Haifa. No one knows how long the cease fire will last. Will it hold? Did anyone win? What about the kidnapped soldiers? What happens the day after the war? These are questions for discussion in the days to come. The issues before us are not just between Hezbollah, Israel and Lebanon. For interesting reading, look at the August 21st issue of the New Yorker and the article "Watching Lebanon", by Seymour Hersh. (He has written much on Iraq)
I want to focus on the human cost of this war. We in America have not fought a war on our soil since the Civil War. We always seem to send troops "over there" (title of a WWI song).
In the last few days I have become increasingly aware of the human costs on both sides of this war, but particularly here in Israel. On one day this past week, more than 25 Israeli soldiers were killed. The press and TV show their pictures, give a brief biography of each individual and announce the time and place of the funeral. No anonymous body bags here! These young men (and one woman) were in their late teens, twenties or early thirties. Their lives were snuffed out before they had a chance. Lebanon's border is quite close, less than 30 miles from here.
Hezbollah fired 3,970 rockets into Israel this month, creating havoc, destruction and terror, forcing people to flee. They landed indiscriminately, targeting Israeli Arabs as well as Jews.
The southern part of Beirut and parts of other cities and towns in Lebanon were targets for heavy shelling and bombing from the Israeli side in an effort to dislodge the tunnels, bunkers, and rocket launchers of Hezbollah. Hezbollah sees that there is nothing wrong with using ordinary people and their homes as cover for their attacks; therefore the high number of non-combatant casualties.
What a terrible price has been paid on both sides during these past 34 days. The rhythm of life here in the Middle East sees some form of violence every four or five years. Is it really possible that this time things could be different? I am not sure that there is sufficient trust or desire for change, but I am willing to hope and pray for the best.
Love,
Frank
posted by Frank and Pat Fischer at 12:21 PM
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