Wanted: A Proportionate Response

As you are probably aware, a cease fire has been agreed to in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. As we wrote before, this short war--which may or may not actually be over--dominated the news here, and from what we have seen on the internet and satellite television, it was big news around the world too, as it should have been.

Despite my obvious interest in the region, though--since I live here--I am left somewhat amazed at the intense level of interest and amount of news coverage that the war generated. This is not meant to minimize the very real suffering that people experienced and continue to experience because of the war. After all, around 1000 people were killed, and many parts of Lebanon were simply destroyed. That is big news, and beyond that, it is obviously very sad.

However, from my point of view--and it seems almost like heresy to admit this if this part of the world is one of your great focuses in life--I think the war received a disproportionate amount of interest, news coverage and attention from the United Nations and various governments from around the world. Actually, maybe it is better to say that it received the appropriate attention, but in comparison, other conflicts do not. For instance, an estimated 400,000 people have died since 2003 in the war in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Another 1.8 million are said to have been displaced. It is also said that around 500 people continue to die every day there, which means that in two days the number of dead about equals the total number of deaths in Lebanon during the nearly 40 days of fighting there.

One would think that a war in which the number of monthly deaths is equivalent to the population of the town in which I grew up would garner a lot of attention. However, I don't think the average person is really aware of what's going on in Sudan. News stories are scarce, and I can't remember when I last saw a televised report on the situation. I think it's also safe to say that diplomatic activity to end the war could be more intense. After all, the conflict is over three years old now. In contrast, I am guessing that nearly everyone with a TV or a computer knows at least something about what's been going on in Lebanon. While the fighting went on, BBC Television--as well as the American stations we've been able to see on satellite--led nearly every newscast with the war, the local newspaper here devoted basically the entire front page to the war and governments around the world fell all over themselves trying to negotiate an end to the fighting. In fact, the negotiating continues, as just today, after days of wrangling, the European Union agreed to send 7,000 troops to help police the cease fire.

Now, this is not meant to be a game of numbers. I was stunned when I heard Israel had bombed the Beirut airport, and I continued to be stunned and saddened as Israel bombed and destroyed cities and villages in southern Lebanon, as well as parts of Beirut. I live near Lebanon and Israel, and so I care immensely about what goes on in this region. I don't want people to ignore what goes on here. I am just amazed that a three year old war in which 400 times as many people have been killed doesn't receive the same amount of attention. My hope is that we continue to carefully watch the situation between Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah, without forgetting the trials and tribulations of the rest of the world too.

The Ever Present Television

Here in Jordan, a television always seems to be turned on somewhere, tuned to the same Arabic news station, projecting images of death and destruction from Lebanon. From the largest department store in the more Western area of Amman, to the closet sized shops and falafel stands that are dotted all throughout the city, to the males only barber shop down the street from our apartment, televisions are on hand, set seemingly all day to coverage of crying parents, dead children and craters where neighborhoods once stood.

As an American living here, these televisions serve as uncomfortable, ever present reminders of the role that America is seen as having in yet another conflict in the region in which Arabs and Muslims suffer. America has already been viewed for years as being far too pro-Israel in the continuing struggle with the Palestinians, and then came the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now there is the war in Lebanon, where nearly one million people have been displaced, about 900 civilians have been killed as of today, and where large portions of the country have been devastated by bombing. Because of the close relationship between Israel and America, many Jordanians probably see America as being nearly just as guilty as Israel is for this new destruction. Whenever people here are thinking of Israel, thoughts of America are never too far behind.

And so when we pass a shop in which the man behind the cash register is watching a recap of the battles of the day, we wonder what he is thinking about America, and as a result, us. When we stop at the barber shop to ask for directions to a certain part of town--as Israeli bombs are creating clouds of smoke on the television behind us--we wonder what the people inside the shop are thinking. When we ask a man in the aforementioned large department store intently watching the latest news on the war on a bank of television sets if there was anything new--and receive a barely audible answer--we wonder what he is thinking. And when we pass by a restaurant not far from our home, and all inside are turned towards one wall, with their heads tilted upwards, eyes wide open and attentive--seemingly transfixed--we wonder. Is there a TV on that wall? Are they tuned in to the war too?

The War in Lebanon from Jordan

The war taking place in Lebanon and northern Israel is of course big news around the world. However, it is all the news here. In the past five days, the Jordan Times has published 53 stories on the war, with 14 of those coming yesterday. Every little shop or store with a television is turned on to war coverage almost continually. Homes probably are too. Annamarie was visiting a Jordanian friend the other night, and most of the visit was spent talking about Lebanon and watching the television for news footage. Also, television stations from around the region are broadcasting footage of the carnage in Lebanon set to Islamic and patriotic music--think MTV on a totally different level.

Other signs attest to the importance of the story in the region. For example, cedar tree decals--the cedar tree is the national symbol of Lebanon--are starting to appear on car windows as a show of support for the country. Also, a local cultural festival held for 25 years in the spectacularly preserved ruins of the 2000 year old Roman city of Jerash was recently postponed because of the war. With the Lebanese flag sharing space with the Jordanian flag at the top of the online announcement, the website for the month long event pronounced it was being held off "due to the current circumstances in the region."

During this time, many people have expressed their concern for our safety, with war waging not far from where we live. This is a common concern people have whenever a new explosion of violence occurs in our region. We are in no danger as far as our physical safety is concerned, however. Just as with the war in Iraq, though, we experience the impact that the war in Lebanon has on others through our day to day experiences here in Jordan.

For instance, we have an Arab Christian friend here whose family owns and operates a company that produces tissue and toilet paper, among other products. Several days ago their factory in Beirut was bombed by the Israelis and completely destroyed. Also, while standing outside of a travel agency a few days ago we overheard an American sounding man on a mobile phone telling someone that "bombs were falling all around" his car as he tried to escape to the Syrian border, on his way to Jordan. Inside, a travel agent told us she had been inundated all day with people who had fled Lebanon. A friend returning from a trip to Syria told us that it took her four hours to cross the border into Jordan because of the many Lebanese coming into Jordan through Syria. Finally, a recent article in the Jordan Times discussed the rising hotel occupancy rate in Jordan due to the influx of people fleeing the fighting in Lebanon. It reported that Five Star hotels here are now 90 percent full. Of course these hotel occupants represent just a small fraction of the people running from the fighting, as current estimates put the number of people displaced by the war at 500,000.

For our own part, we have been to Beirut, as well as some of the other areas in Lebanon being bombed, so it is a shock to us to imagine places and people we have visited being reduced to rubble. Two days ago came the news that an upscale Christian area of Beirut was unexpectedly bombed. We visited that area in 2000, and we went to a Starbucks there, which was a special treat after being in Jordan for a year and a half or so. I ordered a mocha, but they were out of mocha. Annamarie successfully argued for a free refill on coffee by saying that such refills were standard policy in America. Lebanon was a wonderful place to vacation, and we have good memories of our time there. There are long, beautiful beaches, snow-capped mountains, ancient ruins and modern pleasures and amenities, all wrapped into one, tiny country. It saddens us to think that some parts of that country are now modern ruins.

We are heartbroken to see the people of Lebanon suffer and we ask that everyone pray for this conflict to come to a peaceful end for all involved. We pray for those who have lost loved ones--both Lebanese and Israelis--and for those who are now refugees fleeing their homes.