ebrei contro l'occupazione

Il Manifesto, 25 Agosto 2010

BEIRUT

BEIRUT, MILIZIANI SUNNITI/FOTO AP

Un'oscurità carica di tensione è scesa ieri sera su Burj Abu Haider, il quartiere di Beirut dove sono divampati scontri a fuoco - con lanciarazzi, granate e mitragliatrici - tra militanti del movimento sciita Hezbollah e membri al-Ahbash, ufficialmente una istituzione di carità ma in realtà una setta sunnita armata. I morti sono stati due, tra i quali un ufficiale di Hezbollah, Mohammed Fawaz. I feriti una ventina. La calma è tornata solo dopo l'intervento massiccio dell'esercito che ha inviato centinaia di uomini a presidiare il quartiere non lontano dal centro della capitale libanese. Testimoni hanno riferito di combattimenti andati avanti per quasi due ore e che hanno gettato nel panico gli abitanti di Burj Abu Haider, quartiere dove sunniti e sciiti vivono insieme.

06-08-2010

Jamal is a Lebanese driver in his late 50’s. He appeared unshaven and terribly exhausted as he drove his old passenger van from the airport in Beirut to the Bekaa Valley. Although it was not a particularly arduous trip, it was made more grueling by the way Jamal drove, negotiating the elevation, the hectic traffic and the many army vehicles speeding by.

In Lebanon, a sense of urgency always seems to prevail, even when there are no urgent matters to tend to. Jamal’s driving style has probably changed little through the successive Israeli wars and bombardments of Lebanon in past years (the last being the 2006 war, which destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure and killed hundreds of civilians).

Although no bombs were falling now, Jamal could feel something in the air. “They are cooking something big,” he said, “but what it is, no one really knows for sure.”

Jamal was referring to a joint historic visit to Lebanon by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on July 30. President al-Assad joined King Abdullah in his plane, where they stayed for a few hours and lunched with Lebanese leaders. The occasion marks the first visit by a Saudi King to Lebanon since 1957, and also al-Assad’s first trip to Beirut since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005. While both these fact are important, what is most interesting is the fact that Syria and Saudi Arabia once stood at complete odds over the rivalry in Lebanon between two collations – the ruling March 14 Coalition and the one comprising the opposition under Hezbollah’s leadership, the March 8 Coalition.

While Jamal was puzzled by the July 30 visit, he is hardly confused about where he stands. He remains unquestionably a fervent supporter of Hezbollah, the Shia group that led the Lebanese resistance that forced an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Many believe it also defeated the Israeli forces that attacked Lebanon in 2006, and see the group as a symbol of Arab resistance against Israeli threats. But Jamal, like many of Hezbollah’s supporters in Lebanon is not Shia. He is a Sunni.