Vancouver Sun: Two sides, imprisoned by their own histories

By: Gerry Bellett
Two sides, imprisoned by their own histories

As the rockets fly and the bombs fall and casualties on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border rise by the day -- the vast majority so far being Lebanese -- the repercussions are being felt as far away as the Lower Mainland, which is home to large Jewish and Arab populations.

There are an estimated 40,000 Jews in the Lower Mainland and 20,000 Arabs, of whom 8,000 are from Lebanon.

Neither side gives much recognition to the other's point of view.

To the Jewish community, Hezbollah, the Muslim organization now under attack by Israeli forces, is a terrorist organization that needs to be eradicated. To the Lebanese they are freedom fighters who drove the Israelis out of Lebanon.

To the Lebanese, the deaths of more than 300 civilians is an atrocity and Israel is guilty of war crimes. To the Jews, it's a restrained conflict, not a war, and care is being taken to keep civilian casualties to a minimum.

To the Lebanese the conflict was started by Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers in an attempt to force Israel to release Lebanese being held since the Israeli occupation ended. To the Jews it was the months of bombardment of civilian areas by Hezbollah rockets from south Lebanon, with the kidnapping of the soldiers being the final straw.

And on it goes, the great divide in perception and attitude.

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Mousaa Noureddine, whose wife and four children are trapped in the fighting in southern Lebanon, suffers the agony of waiting by the phone in his Burnaby home for a call telling him they are safe.

Noureddine, 42, runs a construction company and sent his family on vacation to his homeland a few weeks ago.

He is a member of the Lebanese Canadian Cultural House based in Burnaby. He was born in a small village in south Lebanon called Ghassnieh and his family were on holiday there staying at the home of his sister.

On the very day his wife left the children behind and travelled to Beirut, the Israelis struck.

With her children in the middle of an area being attacked and all communication cut between Beirut and the south, she was unable to get back, said Noureddine who came to Canada in 1990.

"The other day she almost broke down. She is desperate to get to them, but it's impossible. All the power is out, all the bridges are broken. They are attacking cars on the road.

"The Canadian embassy has said they'll evacuate her, but she's not going without the kids. But I don't know how they will get them out. It's too dangerous to go down there," he said.

Noureddine has three daughters, Israa, 12, Kouther, 10, Kadijah, 8, and a son Ali, 18 months. When talking to his children on the phone, he heard the sounds of explosions in the background.

"I talk to them every day. Sometimes they are crying and I tell them all we can do is wait. We can do nothing for them. When the planes attack they go out into the fields because they are targeting the houses," Noureddine said.

Attached by fear to his telephone, Noureddine said he has to force himself to think rationally.

"Perhaps soon they will cease attacking and we can get the kids out. Right now, I don't think anyone from the embassy will be able to reach them," he said.

His feelings towards Israel are implacable. He will be attending a demonstration against the war to be held today on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery and has been asked to speak.

"People hear about the attacks on Lebanon and after a couple of days they turn it off because they feel nothing can be done. But we live beside an outlaw state.

"Israel has got all the weapons you can imagine and they want us just to surrender. They want a peace on their terms. . . .

"If they want to go after Hezbollah, go ahead and attack them, but why target bridges, the airport, gas stations, houses -- everything that people need in the south to live?"

But he has no bitterness for the Jewish people. He has a Jewish friend who called him a few days ago offering sympathy.

"He was very emotional. All I'm getting from people is support. Even if it was from Jewish people I would appreciate it. It's a tragedy for all of us."

Rafeh Hulays, a fellow Lebanese and a member of the Canadian Arab Federation, agrees. "I count lots of Jews as friends, but enough is enough," Hulays said "There are Jews in Canada who support Arab rights, but they are being brainwashed by Jewish organizations to believe that their rights are worth more than other people's."

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There is almost nothing in the above that Michael Elterman, a forensic psychologist and chair of the Canada-Israel Committee, Pacific Region, would agree with. Neither would lawyer Mark Weintraub, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region.

The Canada-Israel Committee is generally regarded as supportive of the Israeli government line, while the Congress concerns itself with issues such as anti-Semitism and racism and has cross-cultural relations with other ethnic groups in Canada, including Muslim organizations.

Elterman believes the overall feeling among Jews in Canada is much the same as those in Israel.

"I think there's complete solidarity on the right and left in terms of Israel's response to what is happening in Lebanon. Unless you go to the extreme left wing of the Jewish community you will not be hearing a lot of dissent or controversy about Israel's right to defend itself," he said.

He said the kidnapping of the two soldiers followed months of bombardment by rockets launched from areas from which Israel had withdrawn.

"We left Gaza and we got rockets. We left Lebanon and we got rockets. I sense some anxiety in Israel, because the rockets are getting farther south, and there is concern they will eventually be able to hit a major site like Tel Aviv.

"There is a strong feeling that Hezbollah has to be pushed further north and the Lebanese army has to take charge of the southern area," he said.

Elterman said he deplored the damage being done and the number of civilian casualties, but moderate Middle East states appeared to agree that "Israel was doing the right thing in getting Hezbollah out of Lebanon."

"There is also a feeling in the region that the disintegration of Hezbollah will give Iran a black eye and that's not a bad thing," Elterman said.

Given the provocations on the Lebanese border, Israel had been extremely patient, he said.

"They've put up for years with rocket attacks. Once the soldiers were kidnapped, that was the last straw. We had to go in and do something about it once and for all."

As for criticism that Israel's response has been disproportionate, Elterman said it isn't.

The problem with Hezbollah could have been settled quickly if the powerful Israeli army had been sent in right away, he said.

"The population of northern Israel have been living with the threat of having a private army within kilometres of their homes lobbing rockets at them, threatening them -- that's the part the rest of the world hasn't seen," he said.

"It's tragic that civilians have been killed, but Hezbollah intentionally places rockets in civilian areas and puts military equipment in private homes in Lebanon," Elterman said.

When he visited the Beth Israel Synagogue this week, Weintraub prayed for the souls of all who had been killed in the fighting -- Lebanese and Israeli.

"I think it's important that people understand that when the Jewish communities gather in the synagogues, the prayer is a prayer for peace and condolence to all the families suffering by reason of this conflict. We pray for the loss of each precious soul, whether they are of Muslim birth, Jewish birth, or Christian birth.

"I know that might sound Pollyannaish or pro forma, but it's critical to convey what is the mood of the Jewish community," Weintraub said.

(Last week, the Canadian Jewish Congress sent a letter of condolence to the Lebanese community for the deaths of Canadian children killed in Lebanon.)

The Israelis make it clear that civilians are being urged to leave areas, he said.

"If there are civilian casualties it is always accompanied by an expression of remorse, which is different to the terrorist, who will say the civilian is my target," he said.

"Having said that, the loss of life, whether it's a result of war or as an intentional target, matters little to the families who have lost loved ones. There is nothing the Palestinians or Lebanese can say to the Israelis or the Israelis can say to them to give any kind of consolation, because any family who has had to endure such suffering cares little for the explanation," said Weintraub.

"In our hearts, we believe peace is possible. Despair is not an option. There are peace agreements with Jordan and Egypt and there was one with Lebanon, and if the provocateur states of Iran and Syria were brought to heel we would not see the arming of groups who have basically taken over Gaza and southern Lebanon," he said.

As for what this is doing to Jewish-Arab relations in Canada, Weintraub said it is important that whatever happens elsewhere, Canadians deal with such issues "through civil discourse, through listening to each other and not demonizing the other."

"Somehow, human beings are able to go deep inside themselves and carry on. In Canada we must have a way of dealing with these kinds of things and extend mutual support and empathy and solace to each other."

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Had he been in Mona's -- the Lebanese restaurant at 1328 Hornby -- last Tuesday he would have found his reflections on the magnificence of the human spirit in a small incident that occurred between owner Mona Chaaban and a Jewish customer from the United States, visiting for the first time.

Since the attacks on Lebanon, Chaaban's restaurant has been the clearing house for information on Canadian Lebanese families caught up in the fighting.

She is clearly distraught and disgusted by the destruction of her homeland, but draws a distinction between the state of Israel and the Jewish people.

Her restaurant is popular with faculty and graduates from the University of Arizona, as she earned her degree there, and on Tuesday a group from the university came in for a meal.

"There was a new couple who were Jewish. The gentleman got out of his seat and walked up to me. He hugged me, and all he said was, 'I'm sorry, it isn't fair' and his tears were on my cheeks and my tears were on his."

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