I have been tap dancing around the issue of the current mideast crisis. It is namely because with my family so involved, objectivity gets dwindled away at times to make way for numerous phone calls. So far, my family is ok.
The Muslim world is constantly struggling with its identity. It wants to be modern and conservative at the same time. The world gets caught up in this search for self and the south of Lebanon is in the thick of it.
It is excruciating to watch the toll that the Israeli attack is having on Lebanon. Hezbollah made such a massive error by the incursion and kidnapping that began this all. Where did this idea come from? This thought to take a hostage? Were they coordinating with Hamas? I doubt it. Now, as is the same with all forms of warfare, it is the innocent civilians that are paying the price.
Hezbollah should have been removed long ago. When Israel vacated the south of Lebanon, the Lebanese government, or the U.N. should have stepped in to fill the void left by the Israeli army. When they left Hezbollah moved right in and unfortunately they have wreaked as much terror on their own country as they have on their enemy. In an ideal world Israel and Lebanon would work together to get rid of a terrorist group that neither of them want. They would form a coalition to keep the politics of Syria and Iran out of their countries. But the age old feud between the nations of Islam and Israel will not allow this to happen. Lets not forget that within the Muslim/Jewish feud there also exists the Shiite/Sunni feud. This too, is so unsettling because of the amount of bloodshed that it creates within the nations of Islam.
It seems at times that the Sunni/Shiite struggle mirrors the history that Christianity went through. I could say that the struggles between Catholic and Protestant are centuries old, but Northern Ireland is only tentatively coming out of that only now. Man's struggles - Man vs. God, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man. They have it all covered. As if it is not enough work to irrigate the region, they have to keep blowing it up. How is one supposed to grow a grove of olive trees let alone an olive branch?
Is Islam's main identity crisis a question of religion? I think so, I think it ties in to the clash of modern and old world, of westernization, and of being cut off. Beirut had become a very modern, westernized city. With the opening of it airport less than a decade ago, Beirut was now a tourist attraction. Think of it, a beautiful, sparkling city, on the coast of the Mediterranean. A trilingual country, full of culture, amazing food, stunning history and with little reminder of the wars that plagued the area years ago.
It may be that the only way to stabilize the region is for Israel to get rid of Hezbollah. My fear is that they will kill so many civilians, they will scar the country, and when they are done, it will be an easy target for extremists to come in and exert control over the region - unless the country's own government emerges as strong and legitimate.
Sounds familiar doesn't it?
