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Thousands of Lebanese-Americans had
taken to the streets of the main American citied to call for an
immediate ceasefire. (Reuters)
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WASHINGTON — Long days
after their evacuation from war-battered
Lebanon, many American Lebanese still remember
with bitterness not just a horrifying
experience but how they were left to fall pray
to the Israeli destruction machine.
"Now I can tell what
it feels like when you are treated unfairly
and unequally for being an Arab or
Muslim," 24-year-old Malak told
IslamOnline.net on condition that her last
name remains anonymous.
Around 25,000 American
citizens were visiting Lebanon when Israel
unleashed its military juggernaut against
Lebanon.
While many of them got
stuck there under the Israeli bombardment and
were unable to get out, some others have been
evacuated.
Waves of evacuees streamed
back safely to the American soil after long
journeys filled with frustration, fright and
hardship.
"It seems odd these
days to claim that I am an
American-Lebanese," Sami Maalouf of Los
Angeles, California said bitterly.
"Nowadays, I feel
perhaps how some enlightened African Americans
felt in the 1940s, helpless but hopeful,"
he added.
"It is sad to see that
this nation takes sides in a humanitarian
conflict."
The Bush administration has
rushed satellite and laser-guided bombs to
Israel during the conflict to be used in the
war.
It has also stymied
international efforts to push for an immediate
ceasefire, leaving the war drags on for 33
days.
The American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the
largest Arab American civil rights
organization in the country, is suing the Bush
administration for putting at risk the lives
of 25,000 Americans in Lebanon by rejecting an
immediate ceasefire and shipping weapons to
Israel.
The lawsuit also accuses
the administration of violating the
constitutional rights of American Lebanese to
protection with the much-criticized, slow
evacuation.
Hardship
The long road home was
riddled with hardship for most of the evacuees
not only because of the Israeli bombardment,
but also because of the slow response of the
State Department to help facilitate their
repatriation.
Many complain that other
countries such as France and Japan have
quickly evacuated their citizens, while
Americans were left on their own to find a way
out.
"I cannot label how I
was treated when I called the US
embassy," said Maalouf.
"The gentleman I spoke
with at the US embassy was not very eager to
help," added the Californian who was in
Lebanon with his parents to attend a
relative’s wedding in Zahle, in Bekaa
Valley, north of Beirut.
"Perhaps he was
overwhelmed with a lot of calls, but I
recalled trying to get through the jammed
phone lines for about 30 minutes, only to talk
to a man who did not bother to take my name
and contact information," added a
surprised Maalouf.
"He told me that the
embassy does not have an evacuation plan as of
yet and I must stay put where I am at.
"I hope America is not
like India following a 'Caste' system."
The Indian caste system is
the traditional hereditary social system of
India, in which social classes are defined by
a number of hierarchical endogamous groups. A
caste is defined by the mutual interaction
among its members.
In the past, individuals
faced excommunication from their caste if they
committed certain unpardonable offences; thus
they were denied the privilege of socially
interacting with members of their former
caste.
Hellish
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Soyeissi's children are still
haunted by the war, thinking any flying plane would bomb them. (IOL
picture)
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Despite their different
views and stories, the evacuees agree on one
thing: what they have seen in Lebanon was
truly horrible.
"I’ve seen two wars
back home in 1982 and 1989," said Fadia
al Soyeissi of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was
visiting her family in Lebanon when the war
started.
"I still remember
these two wars, but nothing was like this
one," added the 36-year-old mother of
three.
Sunni Soyeissi, born and
raised in Al Bekaa Valley, in east Lebanon, is
a US citizen of Palestinian origin.
"Israel has destroyed
and demolished everything. They were killing
innocent civilians and destroying their homes
for no crime other than being Lebanese,"
she said.
"They were bombing
anything that moves."
For Maalouf, a civil
engineer and an Orthodox Christian, what
Israel has done in Lebanon was unjustified and
illogical.
"After hearing the
news about the ambush and the two kidnapped
soldiers, I started suddenly hearing news that
retaliation has started to take place,"
he said.
"The airport, roads,
bridges, power plants, a milk farm, a
construction material factory, many buildings
and many lives of innocent civilians were
taken.
"I am not sure how all
these destruction could be related to the
ambush, but it seemed deadly to live
there," said Maalouf, 38.
Hard Decision
For many Lebanese evacuees,
leaving their parents under bombs and
explosions was a very hard option.
Many still feel the taste
of guilt in their throats and wish to return
back to suffer with them.
"My parents were
pushing us to leave," said Soyeissi.
"They were so worried that something
could happen to us or our kids."
She said her parents
refused even to go to Syria where her sister
lives.
"It is too hard to
leave your parents, so what if you leave them
in this dangerous condition?" Soyeissi
asked sadly.
While many evacuees were
feeling so glad to return home safely, Malak
was also feeling guilty.
"Despite the
suffering, I shouldn’t leave them alone
there. I would never forgive myself for doing
that."
Even the ceasefire and the
good news Malak has heard about her family
couldn’t ease her feeling of pain and guilt.
"I would never forget
this look in their eyes when I was in the
bus," she said with a choking voice.
United
Not surprisingly, the war
and hardship in Lebanon have united Sunni,
Shiite and Christian Lebanese.
Soyeissi, a Sunni who
wasn’t sure of her feeling towards Hizbullah
before the war, could easily affirm now that
she supports the Shiite resistance group.
"They are defending
our rights and land against Israeli aggression
while all Arab presidents and kings are doing
nothing."
As for Maalouf, an Orthodox
Christian, he enjoyed a warm feeling of unity
between him and a Shiite driver who gave him a
ride to the airport.
"He took me to Syria
and was praying for our safety the whole
journey," he recalled.
"I thought that (the
prayer) helped, as the planes and bombs
swished around, en route to Syria."
Maalouf recognizes
Hizbullah as a political party in Lebanon with
a strong representation.
He thinks that they are
fierce fighters and their military skills must
be integrated into the Lebanese Army.
"This will enable
Lebanon to begin having a reputable defense
force that is ready, willing, and able to
defend itself anytime there is a clear and
present danger that threatens its sovereignty
and freedom."
Like many other Muslims
worldwide, Malak believes that after this
victory Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah has
become the knight of the Islamic nation.
"This was the longest
war between Arabs or Muslims and Israel,"
she said.
"For the first time in
many years, someone has finally succeeded to
put Israel down. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is
our Muslim knight who brought us
victory," added Shiite Malak.
New Generations
Unlike their parents, it
was the first time for most of the American
evacuee children to survive a real war.
They might have seen
something like this in American movies, but
the Israeli war on Lebanon was much different
from those they watched on movies and
cartoons.
Soyeissi said her three
children who accompanied her on this trip were
so scared and frightened.
"They are not used to
this. It is the first time for them to see
something like that," she added.
Soyeissi's youngest
daughter Salam, 5, was feeling better and
safer to be in the shelter with other people
rather than being at home.
She is still feeling afraid
to see or hear any airplanes, thinking it is
going to bomb them.
"My kids would never
forget that they have responsibilities towards
their people who were suffering back home in
Lebanon and who had no place to hide other
than these unsafe shelters," said
Soyeissi.
"They will always
remember them and think of what they could do
to ease their pain and hardships."
Only time will tell whether
American Muslims and Arabs will be able one
day to achieve the hopes that Soyeissi’s
kids have of easing some of the hardships
people are facing back home, not just in
Lebanon, but all over the Muslim world.
