News you won't see on CNN or BBC
> >>MIDEAST DISPATCH
> >>Whooping It Up In Beirut
> >>BY ELISABETTA BURBA
> >>Saturday, September 22, 2001 12:01 a.m
> >>.
> >>BEIRUT--Where were you on Sept. 11, when terrorists changed the
> >>world? I was at the National Museum here, enjoying the wonders of the
> >>ancient Phoenicians with my husband. This tour of past splendor only
> >>magnified the shock I received later when I heard the news and saw
> >>the reactions all around me. Walking downtown, I realized that the
> >>offspring of this great civilization were celebrating a terrorist
> >>outrage. And I am not talking about destitute people. Those who were
> >>cheering belonged to the elite of the Paris of Middle East:
> >>professionals wearing double-breasted suits, charming blond ladies,
> >>pretty teenagers in tailored jeans.
> >>Trying to find our bearings, my husband and I went into an
> >>American-style cafe in the Hamra district, near Rue Verdun, rated as
> >>one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Here the
> >>cognitive dissonance was immediate, and direct. The café's
> >>sophisticated clientele was celebrating, laughing, cheering and
> >>making jokes, as waiters served hamburgers and Diet Pepsi. Nobody
> >>looked shocked, or moved. They were excited, very excited.
> >>An hour later, at a little market near the U.S. Embassy, on the
> >>outskirts of Beirut, a thrilled shop assistant showed us, using his
> >>hands, how the plane had crashed into the twin towers. He, too, was
> >>laughing.
> >>Once back at the house where we were staying, we started scanning the
> >>international channels. Soon came reports of Palestinians
> >>celebrating. The BBC reporter in Jerusalem said it was only a tiny
> >>minority. Astonished, we asked some moderate Arabs if that was the
> >>case. "Nonsense," said one, speaking for many. "Ninety percent of the
> >>Arab world believes that Americans got what they deserved."
> >>An exaggeration? Rather an understatement. A couple of days later, we
> >>headed north to Tripoli, near the Syrian border. On the way, we read
> >>that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who donated blood in front of
> >>the cameras, was rejecting any suggestion that his people were
> >>rejoicing over the terrorist attack. "It was less than 10 children in
> >>Jerusalem," he said.
> >>In the bustling souk of Tripoli we started looking for the Great
> >>Mosque, a 1294 building with a distinctive Lombard-style tower. But
> >>in that labyrinth, nobody spoke anything but Arabic, which we don't
> >>speak. Finally, in a dark shop, we found an old gentleman who knew
> >>French. His round white cap showed that he was a devout Muslim.
> >>Leaning on his stick, he managed to get on the street and with most
> >>exquisite manners gave us directions. Common decency survives all.
> >>Once at the mosque I donned a black chador, but our Lonely Planet
> >>guide attracted the attention of a hard-looking bearded guy all the
> >>same. "Are you Americans?" he asked in a menacing tone. Our quick
> >>denial made him relax. He gave us the green light to go in. But very
> >>soon afterward we were again approached, by a fat young man. He
> >>turned out to be one of the 350,000 Palestinians who live in Lebanon,
> >>unwelcome by most of the population and subject to severe hardships.
> >>Hearing we were Italians, first he recited like a prayer names of
> >>Italian soccer players. We were relieved at first that he wanted to
> >>talk about sports, but he soon moved on to politics and the "events."
> >>"My people have been crushed under the heel of American imperialism,
> >>which took away our land, massacred our beloved and denied our right
> >>to life. But have you seen what happened in New York City? God
> >>Almighty has drawn his sword against our enemies. God is great--Allah
> >>u Akbar," he said.
> >>I heard these appeals to religion so often that I needed some
> >>theological help. "How can God do evil?" I later asked an Arab
> >>friend, a businessman with an international background. "According to
> >>what I learnt in my catechism, God lets evil happen. He doesn't do
> >>it," I said, and he answered: "The Koran has the same teaching, but
> >>blood calls for blood."
> >>I couldn't help it. I kept remembering how a day earlier, in Germany,
> >>Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had talked about clash of civilizations.
> >>On Thursday night, in the Christian northern part of Beirut, we heard
> >>some loud noises. "Probably they are celebrating the attacks,"
> >>someone told us when we asked.
> >>You mean the Maronite Christians are also celebrating? I asked.
> >>"Yes, they also feel betrayed by the Americans."
> >>On Friday, the national day of remembrance for the victims in Europe
> >>and the U.S., I was relieved to see that the Christian church in the
> >>Sahet Aukar district was packed with people holding a candlelight
> >>vigil. Less comforting was the thick barrier of soldiers and
> >>checkpoints that protected the church.
> >>Heliopolis, in the Bekaa Valley, was the Sun City of the ancients.
> >>Nowadays it is called Baalbek. Near its lavish temples stands the
> >>stronghold of the Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite Party of God.
> >>Along the clean alleys that lead to the Hezbolla's stronghold there
> >>are hand-made posters of bearded young men. "They are martyrs,"
> >>explained a well-dressed, cultivated Arab man who had just gotten out
> >>of his Mercedes. "They fought until victory: the withdrawal of
> >>Israeli occupants. So they became a model for the all Arab world."
> >>Weren't they terrorists? we asked.
> >>"Terrorists? What about the Israelis who kill women and babies?"
> >>In the seven days we spent in Lebanon, we saw one young Arab woman
> >>with teary eyes. "The stories of the victims touched me," she said,
> >>and I began to regain my trust in humanity. Then she added: "But in a
> >>way I am also glad, because for once the Americans are experiencing
> >>what we in the Middle East go through every single day."
> >>Back in Italy, I received a phone call from my friend Gilberto
> >>Bazoli, a journalist in Cremona. He told me he witnessed the same
> >>reactions among Muslims in the local mosque of that small Lombard
> >>city. "They were all on Osama bin Laden's side," he said. "One of
> >>them told me that they were not even worthy to kiss his toes."
> >>Ms. Burba is an Italian journalist.
> >>Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc |
