It's not that I'm in a gloomy mood, but I cant help thinking about it all the time. In the past week, there has been nearly 100 dead and twice as many wounded, people who may never see or walk again. Many were killed by stray bullets and artillery. Others were killed in battles. But a significant number were civilians who were cold-bloodedly murdered. There are reports with pictures and videos about men who were tortured and executed. No one was arrested for these murders.
Who are the butchers?
Where do they live?
Does any one know their names?
Why are they still free?
Do they go to a family every evening and play with their children?
Do they think about what they have done? Does it haunt them?
Do I meet them without knowing who they are? Do I buy grocery from them? Do they fix my car?
Do they have a little life with a little wife and a little house and a little car and little children?
Do they remember it? Do they talk about it? Do they brag about it?
Do they fear the law? Do they think someone's going to come and get them and take them to jail and then condemn them for torture and murder?
Do they know that their deeds will be placed in a big box called "war activities", the box closed and then buried?
Do they see the eyes of their victims, do they hear their screams?
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About Me
- Rami Zurayk
- Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon
- Opinions on this blog are expressed personally and do not necessarily represent the opinions of any institution I may be affiliated with.
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6 comments:
I am really sorry for your pain and Lebanon's agony, Rami.
Don't despair of humanity. If a few drops of water in the ocean are dirty, does that make the whole ocean polluted? The largest part of humanity are still good. (paraphrase, possibly a Gandhi quote)
There is no justice in this country. Never was, never will be.
Even if by some miracle those perpetrators are actually identified, arrested, prosecuted, and jailed, you know that they will eventually be released as part of a political settlement after serving only a small fraction of their jail sentence.
After all, the murdering thugs who went on a killing rampage in Sir Dinnyeh in 2000 were all freed from jail together with Geagea back in July 2005 as part of a political settlement.
The Danish cartoons thugs that burned and vandalized public and private properties in Tabaris back in Feb 2006 were all quietly released from jail a few months later.
And the list goes on and on....
I used to wonder how Lebanese people can never get out of this swamp they have been living in for decades ...
Now .. and after watching all what has been happening ... I'm quite convinced that this country has no hope ... simply because Lebanese people NEVER learn ...
As time passes, they are becoming more mimics of their so called "leaders" ... whose history has been marked with blood ...
It's really frustrating to see that amount of aggression and hostility ...
***********************************
Best regards Rami .. I was happy to come across your blog ..
All the best
Reem Fayyad
Self-justification allows anything to be done, put in a box and be buried.
It is a human trait.
As such, is it good or evil?
Gods plan? or has the Devil already won?
I myself am weary of our primitive ways. However, I tell myself i might be willing to kill to stop the killing.
How odd.
A big box marked "war activities." What a powerful, sad image. Violence just breeds violence. Some of it may need to be put in a box to get it to stop. This is not to say that I don't believe in justice. Just not free for all revenge and retribution. The pain just gets deeper. For the record: this pains me too.
yesterday a young man I know died.
He was only 22.
Resistants (!?) from Keyfoun entered the Kuweiti Villa where he works with his father as guards, kidnapped the father and shot the son. The young man suffered for few days then died.
We know who they are, where they live, and what they do. They don't fear the law. They are the law because they carry guns.
The black box could be closed and burried but the one thing no one can change is that they were able to put hate in our hearts and that is not easy to be burried. It will explode one day. violence breeds violence and you have to be a saint to truely forgive; I am not one.
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