LETTERS FROM LEBANON:BEIRUT SUNDAY JULY 23, 2006
AZG Armenian Daily #138, 25/07/2006
Give Peace a Chance!
Dear Friends,
It has been eleven days. People are really tired of waiting for an
end to a war that feels like both a repetition of what we have seen
decades ago and a novelty in many respects, such as the speed and
extent of destruction. Lebanon is a special and precious country
and continues to be so, thus people refuse to put an end to their
hope in a bright future. Today, I said a short prayer in church. I
wanted us to remember that every Sunday is a day of Resurrection,
not just the peaceful Sundays!
A ceasefire has been expected from the very first day of this new
war in and around Lebanon, but is has not materialized. Fighting has
intensified on the southern border. Sporadic air and sea bombing
of almost all regions in Lebanon has continued, including the
infrastructure of the country. Rockets fired from Lebanon have been
causing damage and casualties in Israel as well. Dozens of thousands
of foreign nationals have left Lebanon by sea or land, including
hundreds of Indian nationals today from their embassy near Haigazian
University. Most USA nationals, probably exceeding 8,000 who had
expressed a wish to leave have already done so. The problems and the
numbers of the internally displaced are intensifying radically. In
previous wars, displacement from Southern Lebanon had a map. Now,
there is no map. Some of the displaced have moved from the south to
the north, others from Beirut to the Bekaa; others from the Bekaa to
Beirut; some from one suburb of Beirut to another, then to yet another;
others from Beirut to the mountains, etc. etc. This war has no clear
terrain and no map.
To our dismay, a ceasefire has not materialized and will probably not
materialize for a number of days. Secretary Condaleezza Rice has tried
to explain why not: "We do seek an end to the current violence. We
seek it urgently… We also seek to address the root causes of that
violence.A ceasefire would be a false promise if it simply returns
us to the status quo". Having heard this and other similar speeches,
the world concluded that the current crisis will continue indefinitely,
thus explaining why dozens of thousands of foreigners are leaving the
country without giving a ceasefire a chance. Neither I, nor anyone
else I have spoken with in these two days here and abroad was convinced
that postponing a ceasefire will help anyone address the "root causes"
of violence. With all due respect, we know well that looking into
"root causes" of social, human, political, religious or economic
conflicts is not one of the virtues or interests of political powers.
Neither I, nor anyone else around me was comfortable hearing that
a ceasefire can be a "false promise". When you are under fire,
every ceasefire is a true promise for another opportunity to breath,
to save a life, to treat an injured person, to decently bury a loved
one, to find drinking water, to enjoy the blessings of electricity,
to communicate with the world, and so forth. Obviously, it may be
a temporary promise, but certainly not less temporary than what
political powers and negotiators will be able to accomplish.
I remember teaching my "Pastoral Care" students that when they are to
help people in crisis they have to address the crisis itself before
anything else. If a person has a history of deep problems, a helper
cannot solve all their problems at the crisis hour. A sensitive helper
will, however, accompany the needy person later and will help address
the deeper problem. The same can be said of medical professionals
who cannot let a patient bleed indefinitely from a wound caused by
an injury if they realize that he/she has a chronic disease!
May we all work, pray, act, write, and hope for a ceasefire before
everything else. May we remember, though, that our hope is not in
the ceasefire itself, but what a ceasefire will allow us to do once
it is realized.
I look forward to a week of hopeful activity even in these difficult
times in Beirut and the Haigazian University administrative
offices. Our communities are not only hopeful this too shall pass,
but many groups have been conducting organized activities to reach
out to the needy and the helpless. The majority of the people in
the country have not been working for eleven days now. They have
been watching the news, waiting for an end. Yet, there are new
and meaningful challenges for serving each other in our societies.
Even in these disastrous days, much good can be done. I thank you
for your letters of support. Keep upholding Haigazian University,
our community, Lebanon, and the whole world in your prayers.
Thanks be to God in every situation!
Paul Haidostian, Ph.D.,President of Haigazian University