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LEBANON: Hate the U.S., And Head For It

Mona Alami

BEIRUT, Apr 30 2008 (IPS) - The growing rift between the U.S. and Iran has spread also to Lebanese soil, with Shia youngsters frequently seen burning U.S. flags. But ironically, for many of Hezbollah’s Shia constituency, the U.S. is home.

Lebanese have been flocking to the U.S. since the first emigrant left for Ellis Island in 1849. Looking for better work opportunities and an escape from war, it has been a journey thousands and thousands of Lebanese have made over the past 150 years.

Ahmad, a dual Lebanese-U.S. citizen and a Shia from the southern region of Nabatieh, on vacation in Lebanon, has been living in the U.S. for the past ten years. A security specialist, he was sponsored by his elder brother, an engineer who studied in Texas. “My three brothers and I currently live in the USA. We are happy to live in a country ruled by law and order,” he says.

His aunt Hiba, a hairdresser, dreams of following in the footsteps of her other family members and moving to the U.S. “My sister lives comfortably in America, where everyone enjoys equal rights. Lebanon is a country where only the rich can buy their way out of problems and live happily,” she says.

During the July 2006 war between pro-Iranian Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanese-Americans visiting their hometowns were caught in the line of fire. The website of the Arab American Institute still features postings of those stranded in Lebanon at the time.

Numerous testimonials told emotionally charged stories, including that of Samira Elzayat, 32, who was trapped in the southern village Sultane with her three children Nadine, 7, Hassan, 5 and Maya, 3. Mr. and Mrs. Ayoub were stranded in Beit Yahoun, with little food or water. Mr. Ayoub suffered from high-blood pressure, his wife from osteoporosis and arthritis.


As South Lebanon and Beirut Shia suburbs were hit by metal and fire, the U.S. government evacuated some 15,000 nationals with the help of 5,700 U.S. military personnel. Many of the U.S. citizens were picked up from the southern city of Tyre. Images of Shias from the south – men, women and children – being carried by U.S. soldiers in one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history circulated around the world.

But underneath the sorrow and pain of the evacuees, the images underlined an enormous contradiction: people torn between their allegiance to their community, represented by Hezbollah, and to the U.S., their adoptive country.

Abbas, a young realtor in his thirties originally from Bint Jbeil, is visiting from California. Sipping on a bottle of Bacardi Breezer while lounging poolside at the posh Mövenpick Hotel, he expresses in broken Arabic (reverting to English when he can) his admiration for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“Sayed Nasrallah, a charismatic and intelligent figure, definitely had good reasons to stage the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers (in reference to what sparked the 2006 war). America should never have blindly supported Israel’s aggression,” he says.

Since the birth of Israel in 1948, the U.S. has been associated in the Lebanese collective unconscious with its southern neighbour. Years of occupation, repeated aggression, and wars have made the Lebanese wary of the solid alliance between the two countries.

Shia southerners bore the brunt of Israel’s wrath, especially in the village of Qana, where two forceful Israeli strikes in 1996 – during the ‘Grapes of Wrath’ conflict with Hezbollah – and the 2006 war led to the cumulative death of some 130 people, mostly children. The 2006 war also led to the death of about 1,200 people, and the displacement of at least a million people from the south.

Rana, a young Shia mother of two who lives in Washington, explains that the stance of most southern Lebanese against the U.S. results from the strategic mistakes the country has made in the region. “When youngsters burn the American flag, they express their hatred of America’s support of Israel, not of the country itself,” she says.

According to Nasser Beydoun, chairman of the Arab-American Chamber of Commerce quoted in the Arab American news report of Aug. 1 2006, some 10,000 Detroit residents have direct ties with the southern town of Bint Jbeil, which was the scene of violent combat in 2006 between Israelis and Hezbollah.

Besides hosting a large Lebanese southern community concentrated around Michigan and spread all over the U.S., the country has in recent years spent 230 million dollars in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for conflict-affected persons in Lebanon. The financial assistance has benefited more than two million Lebanese in more than 500 villages across 24 of Lebanon’s 26 districts, with some 35 projects directly aiding the south alone, according to USAID.

By working in the U.S., many U.S. citizens originally from south Lebanon have been able to provide for their families still residing in their home country. With his brothers, Ahmad supports his extended family. “Although America has certainly made foreign policy mistakes in Lebanon, I still believe that many local factions on both sides of the divide are serving foreign interests and destroying the country in the process,” he says, referring to the ongoing political conflict between the Hezbollah-led opposition and the Western-backed majority groups in government.

In spite of Hezbollah’s condemnation of the U.S., and although southerners are quick to voice criticism of U.S. policies in the Middle East, many Lebanese Shias are still likely to jump at the chance to get a visa or green card to the U.S., and live out the American dream.

 
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