hezbollah

after all night in airport. lovely.

Last day in Beirut. Last day of the trip! I can't believe it went by so fast. I guess when one is hopping from city to city time seems to fly by. Gracious.

Pretty much I have been dying to go into the Hezbollah controlled area of Beirut since I started researching the reconstruction of the Middle East last fall. I think Lebanese political history is so interesting and having the downtown being rebuilt at the same time as the southern suburbs is pretty much the ideal comparison of restoration in a war-torn city. Call me crazy, but I was determined to get into those areas being rebuilt by something other than the official government or capitalistic developers.

Hezbollah has a tumultuous history with the Lebanese government. They have a tumultuous history with Israel. They have a tumultuous history with the US. Pretty much they are controversial. They are made up of mostly Shi'a Muslims and have been supportive of the PLO and the poorer Shi'a people living on the southern coast of the country. Their support of these Palestinian refugees has put them in the spotlight as a political party that may harbor potential terrorists and has caused them to be one of the main targets of the Israeli army.

In 2006 a 34-day military conflict erupted in northern Israel and southern Lebanon when militants from Hezbollah fired rockets at the Israeli border towns as a diversion for an anti-tank missile attack on armored Humvees patrolling the Israeli side of the border. The attack left several Israeli soldiers dead and the Isreali Army responded with airstrikes and artillery fire in the southern suburbs, resulting in the launching of more rockets into northern Israel and the instigation of guerrilla warfare by Hezbollah and their supporters. The conflict killed at least 1,200 people, mostly Lebanese citizens, severly damaged Lebanese civil infrastructure and displaced almost one million Lebanese people and over 300,000 Israeli citizens.

As a result of all this fighting, the Hezbollah controlled portion of Beirut was left in shambles and in desperate need of renovation, rather, completely new construction. The innocuous word dahiya, meaning "suburb", achieved unprecedented notoriety because it was this dahiya that the Israeli warplanes pounded until little, other than rubble, remained. This was Hezbollah's security zone and since Hezbollah has always desired a separate identity from the Lebanese government, they sought to redo their portion of the city themselves. The area has its own phone lines and other infrastructural systems and their means of construction couldn't be more different than that taking place in downtown Beirut.

I finally found a driver I could bribe into taking me into the southern suburbs (wimps!). I can't even explain the look I got from the guy arranging it (stupid American!), but even though the duration of the trip only lasted about 2 hours, it was the best money I spent during my time in Lebanon. It's not that it's dangerous going there, it's just that most people consider the area to be a slum and there is always the risk of a foreigner being taken in for questioning. Also, I promised Yale I wouldn't go near it.... hmmm.

Officials in the area strictly forbid taking pictures so all images that I have are from my iphone, which I inconspicuously held up every now and then to snap a shot out of the van window. I definitely was not allowed out of the car and made sure to wear long sleeves. The driver spoke little english so I wasn't able to get out as much information about the area as I had hoped, but he was good company nonetheless and didn't seem to be too bothered by the idiot who wanted him to drive up and down each street.

So, there I am, riding shotgun in an SUV through Hezbollah's living quarters, trying to hide my iphone as I snap away, jamming out to Mariah Carey (seriously, this guy played the cd over and over-- four times we listened to the silvery lyrics of the musical legend), and in general gawking at how much renovation is taking place.

Here the rebuilding happens either a) a full block of new apartments arise from complete destruction or b) a building is singled out and built in-between existing slums on either side. The area has no cohesive plan but cranes, scaffolding and construction dust are everywhere. There are no signs in english, no fancy stores and definitely no skin showing. Not every woman is in full religious garb, but those who are not are more conservatively dressed than the chic urbanites downtown. The area sports signs of Universities and tolerance, but no one seems particularly welcoming. One can tell it is a tight-knit community who has little interest in absorbing the more westernized culture surrounding it.

After I felt I had gotten what I needed, and I had exhausted the driver who I'm sure was still convinced I was nuts, we headed to the airport where I started my long trip back to the States. The very long trip.

Thankfully I have "Hero" securely stuck in my head for travel entertainment.