DAYS 12, 13 LEBANON (BEIRUT) – ROBERT FISK

Hello friends and family,

Thanks again for all the responses, I continue to be stimulated by your emails and excited that you’re still interested after so many installments! So thank you again for making the writing of the reports a fun endeavor…

So two days ago, we met with a professor at AUB, Ahmed Moussala, of islamic studies and political science…He argued that Islam and democracy are compatible in the sense that the shurrah (the religious leaders) were a democratic council, but that you couldn’t force American democracy in an islamic state. The day before, in our man-on-the-street segment at AUB, one of his students confirmed his argument that Islam and democracy weren’t mutually exclusive and that Islam was a rule of law in and of itself that muslims abided by and that while democracy may have a part in Islam, there couldn’t be one or the other…Islam HAD to be a part of the law. Not sure how I felt but again, democracy is about listening right? His chain smoking (four cigarettes during the interview) was a little distracting I must say, and I was having a hard time focusing on his thoughts because of it…

I have to reiterate how EVERYONE smokes in Lebanon. We can’t escape it. In the coffee-shops, at breakfast, in the restaurants, during meetings and interviews, at the internet cafes (right now as I type this), the places are all hazy and smoke-filled, especially at night. I have to say it has kind of tainted my experience and impressions of Beirut. That, and how the women here wear far far too much makeup. According to Waseem, our driver, “prestige” is the most important thing in Beirut…He said, “Men will have jaguars but won’t be able to afford the gas.” Every poster I’ve seen is of plastic looking women with a nose job and lip implants and way too much mascara…Maybe I’ll embrace the culture and get a make-over..thoughts? I’m probably being a little harsh, because the landsape is so beautiful with the Mediteranean sea and palm trees, and bright sunshine every day, but I’ve always been a bigger fan of people over location. I miss the warmth of the people in Karachi, I must say…The folks we’ve met here are far more skeptical, and much less optimistic about the middle eastern outlook than the Pakistanis were…

Which brings me to our dinner meeting with Robert Fisk, the brilliant critically acclaimed British journalist for “the Independent”, who has met Osama Bin Laden on four separate occasions(twice being requested by Bin Laden himself to meet with him) and just recently was contacted by him (through his cohort) to “send him a copy of [Robert]‘s latest book, “The Great War for Civilization”…He’s seen it all, vivid accounts he shared with us over lasagna (I’ve been eating Italian food in Lebanon oddly).

He said “I saw hands sticking out from the mud, still moving and pleading from prisoners being buried alive, I’ve walked through a field of 3000 dead Iranian soldiers which is to this day the most horrible event I’ve ever witnessed, I was in Beirut at the Marine barracks during the bombing and saw the naked soldiers laying on top of eachother, the bomb blasts searing their clothes off…” He told us account after account each story more horrifying than the last. He said that Zach was a “fool” for joining the Marine corps, for brandishing a gun, and that the US absolutely HAD to get out of the Middle East immediately. “Get out now”, he said. “Nobody wants you here.” He said America was capable of great things but it never delivered. He said the Islamic fight could never be won using weapons and that we were only endangering the US more by continuing to butt our nose into Islamic business…”What about building hospitals and schools?” He said. When we asked, “Well if we leave now without being responsible about it, won’t we be condemned as well? We’re damned if we do, and we’re damned if we don’t.” To which he replied, “this is not your fight. American has NEVER intervened unless its own national interest was at stake, never for the good of humanity or justice.”

“Justice” was a word he really emphasized several times, and he gave us a lot to think about. When we asked him why he remained a foreign correspondent for 32 years and continued to report on the ground today despite the atrocities he witnessed and his bleak outlook on the middle eastern future, he replied, “I want to see what happens next.”

While we thought his opinion held far more weight than a Washington politician who had never seen a battlefield or written an impartial article, I think he was also filled with contradictions. This following anecdote humanized him to me in many ways: he said he was “happy” and could sleep at night, that he had no regrets about being a journalist and would do it all over again if he knew then what he knows now, but then proceeded to down six glasses of wine, three cognacs and two gin and tonics in the span of two and a half hours, and left dinner barely able to walk…I think that’s the only way he sleeps at night these days.

Being in the middle east and making this film and meeting all these cast of characters made me realize that there really isn’t anything more important than family and friends and that I’m learning the most important thing about democracy are the deliverables…All policies aside, the question we should ask ourselves is, ”is someone’s life better off today because we were here.” Zach has been impressing this notion upon me since we got here, and I’m only starting to really figure that out now…

We’re supposed to meet with Hezbollah this afternoon and one of the leaders of the Cedar Revolution later this evening…(The Cedar Revolution (Independence Intifada) was a chain of demonstrations to remove Syrian troops and government officials from Lebanon, triggered by the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Valentine’s day, 2005.) It still amazes me how recent this all still is…

Anyway, we’ll find out more today when we interview one of the leaders of the Revolution whether they were successful and whether their version of “democracy” works…

Otherwise, Zach, Andrew and I went to Byblos for a little sight-seeing–a gorgeous little fishing town right on the Mediteranean with Roman and Crusador ruins…With caramel colored stone work/bricks lining the ocean, bright turquoise sea, with locals fishing along the shores, sea-view restaurants along the water, rusty simple fishing boats tied up along the docks, (and no one smoking!) it was really the most beautiful place I’ve seen in the middle east. It’s a place you definitely want to bring a loved one to.

Finally, last night, Zach and I decided to go out and check out “Mono”, the main street where all the dance clubs were lined one next to the other. As it was a Sunday night, no one was out dancing. We went to a few places and landed in Buddha Bar (just like Tao in New York), where we stumbled into a wedding reception where scantily clad women danced around awkwardly in their twelve inch stalettos and backless (and frontless) dresses. We watched from third floor down onto the dance floor below and laughed at all the wedding antics happening below…I honestly thought I was at a drag show in New York…it was fun to see the night life though. We walked along the streets of downtown Beirut

and realized that the city really doesn’t start until 11pm, young children were still kicking a soccer ball in the streets, families were eating at restaurants, and young adults were smoking hookahs at hookah bars…It felt like a mix of Italy and Brussels…cobble stone, narrow streets, no cars in this blocked-off area, and a buzz of activity. It was a gorgeous part of town, our favorite area in Beirut so far.

Wow, this installment was a long one. Hope you made it though it!

Missing Christmas season more than ever and of course friends and family to share the season with,

Love Radha