The Macabre Lullaby

Yesterday I visited my niece’s photo gallery on a Picasa website and looked at recent family pictures. Daily I am able to chat with my daughters and see them on my web camera. I stand in awe at the instant communication available through my computer as Jordan moves down the communications highway. I waited at least eight years to have a telephone when I came to Jordan in 1959 and relied on air-letters, pre-stamped 35 fils, to keep in touch with my family. I wrote in a cramped style without margins in order to maximize space on those sheets of paper and mailed them knowing I would wait two weeks, if I was lucky, for an answer. Magnificent and unbelievable changes continue to take place!

But some things in our region have not changed; they are worse. The plight of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and on their own soil in occupied Gaza and the West Bank is deplorable. I refer to an article from The Guardian, June 12, 2007 titled: Inside Lebanon’s largest Palestinian camp: ‘Escape is impossible,’ for vivid descriptions of hopelessness. Three generations of Palestinians have had their lives twisted and thwarted, breeding desperation and violence which we are now witnessing in Lebanon. Certainly the Lebanese policy regarding refugees has been to isolate them so that they may not enter mainstream life within the country. Their reasons are political, with ethnic and religious power playing a major role. Add to this the simple fact that Lebanon didn’t create the problem so why should they address it? Are they thinking that those who made the mess will fix it?

In the meantime, I am lulled into complacency and silence by my computers, gizmos, and gadgets while several million human beings are being denied their rights, and the freedom to pursue their lives as they wish. This isn’t happening half way around the world, it is right here in the countries next-door to Jordan. Lebanon must accept the fact that the powers that created this mess are not going to make it better. The USA and Europe are shirking responsibility at every turn and will continue to exploit the peoples and resources of the Middle East as long as they can get away with it. Maybe it is time for Lebanon to take the lead and solve its own internal dilemma with the Palestinians. Maybe it’s time for the countries of the Middle East to accept responsibility for the problems within their borders and do something about them. I think 60 years is long enough to get the message.

ASH