Lebanese want protection from Israel

Tag it:

Written by david

KFAR ROUMAN, Lebanon (AP) -- Blacksmith Mohammed Jouny is embittered by his government's failure to come to the aid of south Lebanon and wants the Lebanese army to deploy along the border with Israel - not an international force.

Most of the world sees the idea of moving U.N.-mandated forces into south Lebanon as aimed at protecting Israel against Hezbollah rockets. But many in the mainly Shiite Muslim south that is the guerrillas' heartland view the conflict in completely opposite terms.

They want a force to protect them against Israel, which has invaded twice in the past 30 years. In their eyes, Hezbollah has played that role - and they believe international troops will do nothing if Israel strikes southern Lebanon. The Lebanese army, they say, will protect them if Hezbollah is not allowed to.

Jouny, his brother, cousin, their wives and children - 16 in all - share a two-story house, two miles east of the market town of Nabatiyeh. Over coffee, a lively discussion warmed up among the men and younger women - all ardent Hezbollah supporters - over how the crisis that has shaken their lives can be resolved.

Little mention was made of Hezbollah's snatching two Israeli soldiers on July 12, which prompted the Israeli offensive. For many Shiites, it was a justified way to try to win the release of three Lebanese in Israeli prisons for years.

They are convinced that the key to ending Hezbollah's conflict with Israel is for Israel to hand over the Chebaa farms, a tiny slice of land claimed by Lebanon. Then Hezbollah will disarm since there would no longer be any reason for "resistance."

Their sense of having been abandoned in the face of Israel's bombardment is intense.

"Where is the government?" said Jouny, 54 and father of four. "No one bothered to come and see what's happening to us in the south. It's the government's duty."

Hezbollah, insisted Jouny, was doing its part for Lebanon by standing up to Israel in a war now in its third week. The government, he said, should care for the people.

The Hezbollah-Israel fighting has forced some 750,000 people to flee their homes, mostly in the south. Many of those staying behind are running out of food or money and international relief has been slow. Those who fled but are too poor to sustain themselves depend on handouts from charities.

Hezbollah has won much of its support through a large network of health, social and economic services built over the past 20 years, but these have been crippled by the fighting and the Shiite group appears to be doing little relief work.

The Jouny family have used ingenuity, a vegetable garden and a few fruit trees to keep food on the table at this time of crisis.

With Israeli warplanes active over Nabatiyeh, the sound of explosions reverberates across the hills. The Jounys speak with horror of blasts shattering the still of the night, waking up everyone and making the children scream.

The proposal for an international force is gaining momentum. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is seeking international agreement on a U.N.-mandated multinational force that can provide stability and end the crisis.

"An international force is completely rejected here," said Mahmoud Jouny, Mohammed Jouny's 27-year-old nephew, who was visiting from Norway, where he lives. "We want the Lebanese army."

Someone else at Friday's gathering shouted that an international force would just step aside every time Israel wanted to come inside Lebanon. He said it should be a combined force - the army and Hezbollah.

Not every Jouny was opposed to the deployment of an international force on the border with Israel.

A cousin, Ali, declared he had a message for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"Tell him that I, Ali Jouny from Kfar Rouman, say that he should return our prisoners, leave the Chebaa farms and allow an international force to come to the border."

The closest any of the Jounys came to saying something that could be construed as indirect criticism of Hezbollah was a reference to the horrors of war and the longing for peace.

"We want the war to end today, not tomorrow," said Youssef Jouny, like his brother a blacksmith. "We had enough war. What crime did these little ones commit to live through this," he said as he pointed to his children and their cousins.

The Jounys have a makeshift underground shelter.

"That's what we do to pass the time during this war," said Jouny's daughter Ranya, a 27-year-old school teacher. "We sit around and talk. In the evening, we watch the news."

Tags:

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry