Comments on Norwegianthinker: Palestine, Israel and Lebanon

Last post in this blog was in 2006, but I couldn't...

2008-08-13T21:39:00.000+02:00

Last post in this blog was in 2006, but I couldn't pass without leaving a message.
I feel proud to read the article and the comments and I think understanding the middle east is quite a big thing that takes a long long time. Meanwhile, we cannot just wait til the procedure of understanding is completely completed, we got to do something to show our humanity... no matter which side we are...
and here we start a little project in Lebanon: an aid project to help people help themselves. It is an art and humanitarian project:
www.beitelfounoun.blogspot.com

First of all, to "Your friend" thanks for sharing ...

2006-08-08T10:32:00.000+02:00

First of all, to "Your friend" thanks for sharing your view on the situation. You are probably right, the government of Lebanon has a role in this, but that does not take away the pain of the civilians caught in the crossfire. Better than pointing fingers, I hope that we are able to ask: Where do we go from here? We have to start with acknowledging every single person in the Middle East (Muslims, Jews, Christians and all the others) as sisters and brothers caught in a spiral of hate, revenge and pain, but not beyond the ability to find it in their hearts to forgive, redeem and build a new future for the region, as Helge says: Dialogue and understanding are the major factors!

Well, this is something really complicated. I real...

2006-08-05T09:38:00.000+02:00

Well, this is something really complicated. I really do not know how to think about the situation down in the middle east.

But i think you have a sensible approach to this. Thinking of what is needed if we all are going to live on this earth.

Dialogue and trying to understand has been and still is the most important factors in the project of making peace in this world.

I agree with United Nations special co-ordinator (for middle east peace process), Terje Roed-Larsen in what he said some days ago in an interview with NRK (The official Norwegian, national TV-Channel). He said that even if it seems to be totally impossible, we (United Nations) will fight for the dialouge between the parts in this conflict.

And Per, Menton is a very peaceful place. I can just imagine how a contrast it was to meet the fear there... your friends from Israel.

Freedom always comes at a cost: freedom from fear,...

2006-08-04T23:05:00.000+02:00

Freedom always comes at a cost: freedom from fear, discrimination, freedom of religion, all freedom. In the same way, rights are only given to those who earn them by being responsible. When a person commits murder their right to walk the streets is taken away because they have proven that they are not responsible citizens. Similarly, the person who aids a murderer is also being irresponsible and therefore forfeit their rights. Lebanon has been aiding and abetting terrorists/murderers for years. By housing murderers, they must recognize that they are in danger as well. It is unfortunate that civilians are being injured, but I would argue that if fingers are being pointed, they should be at the Lebanese government for puting their people in this dangerous situation.

Yeah, true, but at the same time: I listened to CN...

2006-08-04T00:54:00.000+02:00

Yeah, true, but at the same time: I listened to CNN tonight hearing the Iranian president say (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/03/iran.israel.ap/index.html)that destroying Israel would solve the problems in the Middle East. There's a lot to be said about Israel's government, but faced with these kind of threats I guess the options are more limited. It's not an excuse for Israeli government's behavior (especially not towards the Palestinians), but in a situation of fear attack is often the easiest solution. Unfortunately!

I think you can be blinded just as much by being c...

2006-08-03T22:59:00.000+02:00

I think you can be blinded just as much by being close to a situation as by being far away.

I am also very upset about what's going on. And it's exactly what you're writing about, "crimes against humanity" is a strong concept which shouldn't be abused, but everytime a human being is innocently wounded, a great or smaller crime against humanity is committed. And it's painful to watch.

And I can't help thinking that the Israeli campaign against the Hizbollah costs to much in terms of civilian casualties. I sincerely hope they would have gained more international support, perhaps even from arabs, by taking some more damage rather than dealing so much out. There's a limit to how much one should take before action is initiated, but as a relatively new state in the region, I hoped they would be careful rather than beliggerent.