Wednesday, quarter past midnight, local time

I arrived in Beirut on Monday evening full of questions, a desire to learn and a good bit of trepidation. This is, after all, the city that was war torn throughout the 1980s and a country that has been aggressively occupied for so much of it’s life.  The heavy presence of guys in uniforms with big guns at the airport was only to be expected.  This country has only recently expelled one of the mightiest military machines on the planet after a brutal aerial assault and invasion.  The relatively tiny Lebanon, with a population of only 3.8 million, took on and defeated Israel.  The death rate was over 1,400, 30% of them children, but this small, proud and too often divided Nation stood steadfast against the millions of munitions that seemed to be deliberately targeted against civilians.  Led, in resistance terms, by the much maligned Hezbollah, Lebanon has actually inflicted the first real military defeat on the state of Israel since it’screation in 1948.  The 33 day conflict was the longest in Israel’s history and the defeat may hold huge implications for the whole Region and beyond.  What was the extent of the devastation, was the country at war with itself, was it safe to visit, who and what is Hezbollah?  These were just some of the questions spiralling through my mind as we were collected from the airport and driven to the hotel Diplomat on Rue 55, Central Beirut, the street name a reminder of past French colonial rule.   

Tommy at the Harriri memorial with Alex Mosson

                               
On Tuesday morning we visited the Presidential palace and were welcomed by the President, Emile Lahoud, who was grateful to us for taking the time to come to his country to bear witness to the devastation caused by the Israeli bombardment.  The others in the group arrived a day earlier and visited the most damaged areas of Beirut and saw for themselves the rubble of previous homes.  They saw the bombed out Al-Manar TV station as well.  The sophisticated Israeli bombs were targeted alright, to cause maximum fear among the civilian population and to inflict maximum chaos on everyday life.  Why else were hospitals, schools, bridges, a milk factory and a glass making factory destroyed?  The President expressed anger and sorrow at the failure of our own bomber Blair to call for a ceasefire immediately and at the unbalanced and pro Israeli reporting of the war in the world’s media.  But he was proud of the country’s resistance and declared an absolute commitment to a free and un-occupied Lebanon.  Many of our 23 strong delegation spoke and conveyed solidarity from the Scottish people.

Tommy and the delegation with the Lebanese President