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"You may chain my hands and shackle my feet; you may even throw me into a dark prison, but you shall not enslave my thinking because it is free."
- Gibran Kahlil Gibran
Posted by FLAYM COMMITEE on 21/11/2002, 12:54 pm
Board Administrator
(Reuters) - An image of the Statue of Liberty, her face a hollow-eyed skull and the folds of her gown dripping in blood, rises on Hizbollah's al-Manar television. A list of episodes in the history of U.S. military intervention abroad -- from Hiroshima to Somalia, Vietnam and Lebanon itself -- scrolls across the screen as images of nuclear war and bloody massacres flash in the background. "It (the United States) has interfered in the affairs of most of the world's countries," a caption reads. "The U.S. owes blood to all humanity." As Washington threatens war to disarm Iraq and U.S. ally Israel vows to end a Palestinian uprising by force, anti-American rhetoric has grown louder in Lebanon, though Americans in Beirut say they are not afraid. "If I didn't feel safe, I wouldn't be here now," said Colin Chant, an American schoolteacher, saying anger was directed at U.S. foreign policy, not ordinary citizens. "People can distinguish between government policies and individuals." In Lebanon as in most Arab countries, fury is swelling over a U.S. "war on terror" that many see as giving Israel a freer hand to crush a Palestinian uprising, while demonizing Muslims and Arabs. "Our enmity for the Great Satan is absolute. America knows no values, no morals or human rights," Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told a rally in September. Activists have called on Lebanese to boycott American products like Coca-Cola, Starbucks coffee and Estee Lauder make-up, saying that buying those brands was at best indirect support for the economy of Israel's U.S. backers. Five fast-food restaurants in Lebanon, including two Pizza Hut branches and a Kentucky Fried Chicken, have been rocked in a string of bomb attacks since May. The blasts -- targeting outlets associated with the United States -- and the assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan last month suggest a deeper fury at U.S. conduct in the Middle East.
AN 'A-TEAM OF TERRORISTS'
The director of Manar says his imagery does not incite violence against Americans, but shows the gap between the freedom Washington says it stands for and the lesson the people of the Middle East take from U.S. foreign policy. "I don't think it encourages any steps against Americans, because all Lebanese and all Arabs know Hizbollah's policies are entirely centered on resisting the Israeli occupation," Nayef Krayem said. "We chose the Statue of Liberty because it is a symbol that America is proud of," he added. "To the people of the world it has become a cover for all the ugly things that are happening to many people in the world like exploitation, occupation and killing." It is also an answer to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who has called Hizbollah an "A-team of terrorists" and was quoted as saying the guerrilla group would be held accountable for American deaths in Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Washington blames Hizbollah for the deaths of 241 people in a 1983 suicide truck bomb attack on a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, the same year another bomber blew up the previous U.S. Embassy. U.S. citizens were also among those kidnapped and killed during the war, in which the United States intervened to back a government of pro-Israeli Lebanese Christian militiamen. Until recently, U.S. Embassy employees flew into the country on Black Hawk helicopters and the ambassador drove through Beirut's streets in a 10-car convoy. Washington barred Americans from traveling to Lebanon until 1997, and U.S. airlines are banned from flying into Beirut. "There's still a lot of concern about our presence here. At this point, we are driven around by armored cars with guards," an embassy spokeswoman said. "Our policies in the region are not directed against Muslims," she added. "They are directed against terrorists ... We are working to increase understanding in the region."
U.S. SEEN AS TYRANT
But Beirutis say Washington has done just the opposite -- crafting an image of the U.S. administration as an arrogant tyrant with a big stick, lashing out against perceived foes. "In all my life, I've never seen the level of arrogance that I see from the Americans,... killing people and destroying them. And above all this, they expect obedience," said Zeina, 27. "They think they are God's chosen people." "What is your nationality? I am Palestinian and I want to know why the Americans love and support the Jews?" one Beirut taxi driver asked a Western patron. "Get out of my car." The U.S. Embassy said concern for Americans was heightened because of Israeli-Palestinian violence and Iraq. But Americans in Beirut brushed off tensions, saying they felt insulated from any hostility in their day-to-day lives. "There were always demonstrations in the refugee camps. I think that's not representative of the majority of the people," said Trudi Hodges, an American teacher. "(But) when I was out jogging, sometimes people would say things. I thought that people suddenly felt more free to vent some frustrations that they had," she added. She and other Americans said they never felt afraid and were not planning to leave -- even with a possibility of war in Iraq. "I would plan on staying in Lebanon as long as the situation did remain safe," said science teacher Jason Crook.
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