Nearly all the posts are bilingual.
Presque tous les articles sont bilingues.

English spoken. On parle français. (وكمان منفهم عربي، حبيبي)

Most of this blog's contents is subject to copyright. For instance, many of the latest illustrations I've made myself. I'm the cooperative type. If you intend to borrow some material, please contact me by leaving a comment. :-)
La plupart du contenu de ce blog est soumis aux droits d'auteurs. Par exemple, nombre des illustrations les plus récentes sont faites par moi. Je suis du genre coulant. Si vous comptez emprunter du contenu, SVP contactez-moi en laissant un commentaire. :-)

Monday, April 14, 2008

Stupid questions

One day I heard an Israeli leader stating a firm position towards the Palestinians during a rather "heated" period (but everybody knows how relative these things are: it's always more or less "heated", sometimes almost lukewarm if we're very lucky). This seasoned politician declared: "We do not negociate with enemies." That's a known fact, ceasefires are exclusively for dealing with one's friends.
Idiotic question: if, with his enemies, he never discusses, does he ever trust somebody? Or make spontaneous concessions?
But us Lebanese do even better! (That's the least you'd expect, right? Shatara, baby.) Any encounter, any conversation with an Israeli is forbidden by the law, which punishes with prison any "contact with the enemy". In fact, any person of Jewish religion is by definition "a zionist", therefore an enemy, a dalit, an untouchable unmeetable unspeakable. News reporters daringly attempting to ask embarrassing questions to an "enemy" during an interview were imprisoned to help refresh their memory.
Currently, Israel is performing manœuvres up to the limits of the borders. A local woman reporter was commenting a filmed image: "We see an Israeli vehicle patrolling on the other side of the border. [She guffaws and goes on] The soldier waved at us, perhaps thinking that we would respond to this gesture with the same!" No comment.
Dumb question: those ISRAELI citizens who militate and demonstrate against the aggressive attitude of their government, who are imprisoned for protesting against the abuses of their regime, who sometimes were killed while preventing the unwarranted demolitions of Palestinian houses, who are against making war with us, are they too "enemy dogs"? And how to tell them apart if we don't communicate in the first place?
Now for a really moronic question: Israelis, Palestinians, Lebanese, Arabs, Americans... how many regimes, and even citizens, do believe that the madness of war where there are only losers, that the infinite benefits of peace, deserve to calm one's reactions of epidermic pride and clenched prejudices a bit in order, as we say locally, to "make one's brains grow up"? ("كبر عقلك يا زلمي")
So many questions, and no answers... Come to think of it, perhaps that's better.
"The truth? But are you sure you can handle the truth?"


J'ai un jour entendu un dirigeant Israélien faire une déclaration de fermeté envers les Palestiniens durant une période plutôt "chaude" (mais chacun sait combien ces choses sont relatives: c'est toujours plus ou moins "chaud", parfois presque tiède avec beaucoup de chance). Ce politicien chevronné déclarait: "Nous ne négocions pas avec les ennemis." C'est bien connu, les armistices, c'est réservé aux relations avec les seuls amis.
Question idiote: si, avec ses ennemis, il ne discute jamais, fait-il jamais confiance à quelqu'un? Voire, des concessions spontanées?
Mais nous autres Libanais, nous faisons encore mieux! (C'est bien la moindre des choses, n'est-ce pas?
Shatara, baby.) Toute rencontre, toute conversation avec un Israélien est interdite par la loi, qui punit d'emprisonnement le "contact avec l'ennemi". En fait, toute personne de religion Juive est par définition "un sioniste", donc un ennemi, un dalit, un intouchable inrencontrable imparlable. Des journalistes tentant audacieusement de poser des questions embarrassantes à un "ennemi" durant une interview ont été emprisonnés pour leur rafraîchir la mémoire.
En ce moment, Israël effectue des manœuvres jusqu'aux limites de la frontière. Une journaliste locale commentait une image filmée: "Nous voyons un véhicule israélien en patrouille de l'autre côté de la frontière. [Elle continue en rigolant] Le soldat nous a salués du bras, s'imaginant peut-être que nous allions y répondre pareillement!" No comment.
Question bête: ces citoyens ISRAELIENS qui militent et manifestent contre l'attitude agressive de leur gouvernement, qui sont emprisonnés pour avoir protesté contre des exactions de leur régime, qui parfois ont été tués en empêchant des démolitions injustifiées de maisons Palestiniennes, qui s'opposent à la guerre avec nous, ce sont aussi des "chiens d'ennemis"? Et comment les reconnaître si on ne commence pas par communiquer?
Maintenant une question vraiment demeurée: Israéliens, Palestiniens, Libanais, Arabes, Américains... combien de régimes, et même de citoyens, pensent-ils que la folie de la guerre où il n'y a que des perdants, que les bénéfices infinis de la paix, méritent-ils de calmer un peu les réactions d'orgueil épidermique et les préjugés crispés pour, comme on dit localement, "faire grandir son cerveau"? ("كبر عقلك يا زلمي")
Tant de questions, et pas de réponses... Peut-être que cela vaut mieux, finalement.
"La vérité? Mais est-tu sûr de pouvoir supporter la vérité?"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

COmin' to the matter of Dalit, I am a second-class Hindu and I one of my first best friends (maybe my first one) is a Dalit if I am not mistaken. Oooh my God I am a sinner and heretic, lol. Ironically, I might have fell in love with a girl who's also a Dalit. Am I makin' a wise decison likin' her?

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

A wise decision, I can't tell. It depends on what you define as "wise". Some would say wise means cautious, or cowardly. :-)
But this I know: a human being's first duty is to be faithful to oneself. That means following your heart when you are sincere.
If you honestly love somebody, you should never let the narrow views of society tell you one of you is not good enough for the other because of some birth value or whatever. Castes are as artificial and pointless as the fame of show-biz actors, it only has the power given to them by the beliefs of people.
Also, do remember Romeo and Juliet: sometimes love must settle far from hatred and ignorance to avoid dramas. Flowers do not thrive on a desert rock, they need a proper place.
Would you rather give up a society that denies you the right to be yourself, or give up somebody you truly love and who truly loves you in return? "What good would it do a man to own the whole world and lose his soul?"
If the two of you are in love, and choose to bow to primitive social standards, you'll never be happy in your life, that much is sure. I've seen it myself.
I once met a girl whom I fell madly in love with. But she did not love me in return. After a difficult period dealing with it, I accepted that my destiny lied elsewhere. On the other hand, if she had loved me back, I'm pretty sure we would have let nothing separate us.
If she loves you back, be ready to defy the whole world. If your love is met by the same, you'll want to follow it no matter what; but expect it to be difficult and to require sacrifices. Nothing worthy comes easily.
Good luck in your life. It's your decision to take.

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