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Thursday, April 26, 2007

Two kidnapped PSP supporters killed

There has been a lot of talk lately about the two PSP partisans kidnapped. The word in the Shouf is that they were kidnapped by Shi'a (Hezbollah or Amal, no one is saying) forces in retaliation for the killing of a Hezbollah supporter last January during the sectarian clashes at the Arab University.

I just heard from my Druze friends in the Shouf that the two were found dead. While one was 25, the other was only 12. Ya haram.


UPDATE: Al Jazeera is reporting that the kidnapping and killings seem to be clan-based rather than party-based.

Last night, some friends and I were giving another friend a ride home. The army was out in droves, and we got picked to pull over and have ourselves and the car searched. However, when one of the two soldiers saw that two of my friends were Druze from a neighboring village of his, he called off the search. He told his colleague that he didn't need to search us and asked my Druze friends if there was anything he could to for them.

We laugh about this sort of tribalism when it comes from the guy selling us a fridge in Nabah. But it's a little disconcerting when coming from an armed soldier at a checkpoint.

UPDATE:I wrote earlier that the young man and the kid were Druze, but they were actually Sunni, although their families were supporter's of Jumblatt's PSP.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the news from the home front. Whether the alleged kidnappings were politically motivated or not, it is often the case that these actions do not have claimants.

In these seemingly revenge-based actions, I often think about what Camus announced after receiving his Nobel Prize in the mid 50s. When criticized for his support of the OAS (Organization armee secrete), the neo-fascist counter-insurgent organization in French-Algeria, he announced that he was forced to "prefer his mother over justice". What's often forgotten, may I dare say, is that the OAS were instrumental in guaranteeing the safety of the over one million pieds-noirs who left French-Algeria to France after decolonization. In effect, he *became* one of his own existentialist characters. He supported a despicable cause but a cause made necessary when reality flashed forced allegiances.

A highly problematic statement but very revealing in terms of being a liberal humanist - is it preferable to support people over ideas?

In moments like these, I sometimes think that raw political analysis simply does not work. When such tragedies occur, the *literary-humanist* sensibility sometimes covers more ground, although such a way of thinking is more problematic than productive.

Good analysis. It's true that "we laugh about this sort of tribalism" when it comes to what seems to be small potatoes-actors without political significance. As always, even the most personal situations reveal the greatest deadly political circumstances. Following Havel's assertion in "Power of the Powerless", it is even the green grocers of the world who hold power in their hands... whether we like it or not. Such narratives are never petty or laughable.

-km

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Two kidnapped PSP supporters killed

There has been a lot of talk lately about the two PSP partisans kidnapped. The word in the Shouf is that they were kidnapped by Shi'a (Hezbollah or Amal, no one is saying) forces in retaliation for the killing of a Hezbollah supporter last January during the sectarian clashes at the Arab University.

I just heard from my Druze friends in the Shouf that the two were found dead. While one was 25, the other was only 12. Ya haram.


UPDATE: Al Jazeera is reporting that the kidnapping and killings seem to be clan-based rather than party-based.

Last night, some friends and I were giving another friend a ride home. The army was out in droves, and we got picked to pull over and have ourselves and the car searched. However, when one of the two soldiers saw that two of my friends were Druze from a neighboring village of his, he called off the search. He told his colleague that he didn't need to search us and asked my Druze friends if there was anything he could to for them.

We laugh about this sort of tribalism when it comes from the guy selling us a fridge in Nabah. But it's a little disconcerting when coming from an armed soldier at a checkpoint.

UPDATE:I wrote earlier that the young man and the kid were Druze, but they were actually Sunni, although their families were supporter's of Jumblatt's PSP.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the news from the home front. Whether the alleged kidnappings were politically motivated or not, it is often the case that these actions do not have claimants.

In these seemingly revenge-based actions, I often think about what Camus announced after receiving his Nobel Prize in the mid 50s. When criticized for his support of the OAS (Organization armee secrete), the neo-fascist counter-insurgent organization in French-Algeria, he announced that he was forced to "prefer his mother over justice". What's often forgotten, may I dare say, is that the OAS were instrumental in guaranteeing the safety of the over one million pieds-noirs who left French-Algeria to France after decolonization. In effect, he *became* one of his own existentialist characters. He supported a despicable cause but a cause made necessary when reality flashed forced allegiances.

A highly problematic statement but very revealing in terms of being a liberal humanist - is it preferable to support people over ideas?

In moments like these, I sometimes think that raw political analysis simply does not work. When such tragedies occur, the *literary-humanist* sensibility sometimes covers more ground, although such a way of thinking is more problematic than productive.

Good analysis. It's true that "we laugh about this sort of tribalism" when it comes to what seems to be small potatoes-actors without political significance. As always, even the most personal situations reveal the greatest deadly political circumstances. Following Havel's assertion in "Power of the Powerless", it is even the green grocers of the world who hold power in their hands... whether we like it or not. Such narratives are never petty or laughable.

-km

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Two kidnapped PSP supporters killed

There has been a lot of talk lately about the two PSP partisans kidnapped. The word in the Shouf is that they were kidnapped by Shi'a (Hezbollah or Amal, no one is saying) forces in retaliation for the killing of a Hezbollah supporter last January during the sectarian clashes at the Arab University.

I just heard from my Druze friends in the Shouf that the two were found dead. While one was 25, the other was only 12. Ya haram.


UPDATE: Al Jazeera is reporting that the kidnapping and killings seem to be clan-based rather than party-based.

Last night, some friends and I were giving another friend a ride home. The army was out in droves, and we got picked to pull over and have ourselves and the car searched. However, when one of the two soldiers saw that two of my friends were Druze from a neighboring village of his, he called off the search. He told his colleague that he didn't need to search us and asked my Druze friends if there was anything he could to for them.

We laugh about this sort of tribalism when it comes from the guy selling us a fridge in Nabah. But it's a little disconcerting when coming from an armed soldier at a checkpoint.

UPDATE:I wrote earlier that the young man and the kid were Druze, but they were actually Sunni, although their families were supporter's of Jumblatt's PSP.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the news from the home front. Whether the alleged kidnappings were politically motivated or not, it is often the case that these actions do not have claimants.

In these seemingly revenge-based actions, I often think about what Camus announced after receiving his Nobel Prize in the mid 50s. When criticized for his support of the OAS (Organization armee secrete), the neo-fascist counter-insurgent organization in French-Algeria, he announced that he was forced to "prefer his mother over justice". What's often forgotten, may I dare say, is that the OAS were instrumental in guaranteeing the safety of the over one million pieds-noirs who left French-Algeria to France after decolonization. In effect, he *became* one of his own existentialist characters. He supported a despicable cause but a cause made necessary when reality flashed forced allegiances.

A highly problematic statement but very revealing in terms of being a liberal humanist - is it preferable to support people over ideas?

In moments like these, I sometimes think that raw political analysis simply does not work. When such tragedies occur, the *literary-humanist* sensibility sometimes covers more ground, although such a way of thinking is more problematic than productive.

Good analysis. It's true that "we laugh about this sort of tribalism" when it comes to what seems to be small potatoes-actors without political significance. As always, even the most personal situations reveal the greatest deadly political circumstances. Following Havel's assertion in "Power of the Powerless", it is even the green grocers of the world who hold power in their hands... whether we like it or not. Such narratives are never petty or laughable.

-km

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Two kidnapped PSP supporters killed

There has been a lot of talk lately about the two PSP partisans kidnapped. The word in the Shouf is that they were kidnapped by Shi'a (Hezbollah or Amal, no one is saying) forces in retaliation for the killing of a Hezbollah supporter last January during the sectarian clashes at the Arab University.

I just heard from my Druze friends in the Shouf that the two were found dead. While one was 25, the other was only 12. Ya haram.


UPDATE: Al Jazeera is reporting that the kidnapping and killings seem to be clan-based rather than party-based.

Last night, some friends and I were giving another friend a ride home. The army was out in droves, and we got picked to pull over and have ourselves and the car searched. However, when one of the two soldiers saw that two of my friends were Druze from a neighboring village of his, he called off the search. He told his colleague that he didn't need to search us and asked my Druze friends if there was anything he could to for them.

We laugh about this sort of tribalism when it comes from the guy selling us a fridge in Nabah. But it's a little disconcerting when coming from an armed soldier at a checkpoint.

UPDATE:I wrote earlier that the young man and the kid were Druze, but they were actually Sunni, although their families were supporter's of Jumblatt's PSP.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the news from the home front. Whether the alleged kidnappings were politically motivated or not, it is often the case that these actions do not have claimants.

In these seemingly revenge-based actions, I often think about what Camus announced after receiving his Nobel Prize in the mid 50s. When criticized for his support of the OAS (Organization armee secrete), the neo-fascist counter-insurgent organization in French-Algeria, he announced that he was forced to "prefer his mother over justice". What's often forgotten, may I dare say, is that the OAS were instrumental in guaranteeing the safety of the over one million pieds-noirs who left French-Algeria to France after decolonization. In effect, he *became* one of his own existentialist characters. He supported a despicable cause but a cause made necessary when reality flashed forced allegiances.

A highly problematic statement but very revealing in terms of being a liberal humanist - is it preferable to support people over ideas?

In moments like these, I sometimes think that raw political analysis simply does not work. When such tragedies occur, the *literary-humanist* sensibility sometimes covers more ground, although such a way of thinking is more problematic than productive.

Good analysis. It's true that "we laugh about this sort of tribalism" when it comes to what seems to be small potatoes-actors without political significance. As always, even the most personal situations reveal the greatest deadly political circumstances. Following Havel's assertion in "Power of the Powerless", it is even the green grocers of the world who hold power in their hands... whether we like it or not. Such narratives are never petty or laughable.

-km

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Two kidnapped PSP supporters killed

There has been a lot of talk lately about the two PSP partisans kidnapped. The word in the Shouf is that they were kidnapped by Shi'a (Hezbollah or Amal, no one is saying) forces in retaliation for the killing of a Hezbollah supporter last January during the sectarian clashes at the Arab University.

I just heard from my Druze friends in the Shouf that the two were found dead. While one was 25, the other was only 12. Ya haram.


UPDATE: Al Jazeera is reporting that the kidnapping and killings seem to be clan-based rather than party-based.

Last night, some friends and I were giving another friend a ride home. The army was out in droves, and we got picked to pull over and have ourselves and the car searched. However, when one of the two soldiers saw that two of my friends were Druze from a neighboring village of his, he called off the search. He told his colleague that he didn't need to search us and asked my Druze friends if there was anything he could to for them.

We laugh about this sort of tribalism when it comes from the guy selling us a fridge in Nabah. But it's a little disconcerting when coming from an armed soldier at a checkpoint.

UPDATE:I wrote earlier that the young man and the kid were Druze, but they were actually Sunni, although their families were supporter's of Jumblatt's PSP.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the news from the home front. Whether the alleged kidnappings were politically motivated or not, it is often the case that these actions do not have claimants.

In these seemingly revenge-based actions, I often think about what Camus announced after receiving his Nobel Prize in the mid 50s. When criticized for his support of the OAS (Organization armee secrete), the neo-fascist counter-insurgent organization in French-Algeria, he announced that he was forced to "prefer his mother over justice". What's often forgotten, may I dare say, is that the OAS were instrumental in guaranteeing the safety of the over one million pieds-noirs who left French-Algeria to France after decolonization. In effect, he *became* one of his own existentialist characters. He supported a despicable cause but a cause made necessary when reality flashed forced allegiances.

A highly problematic statement but very revealing in terms of being a liberal humanist - is it preferable to support people over ideas?

In moments like these, I sometimes think that raw political analysis simply does not work. When such tragedies occur, the *literary-humanist* sensibility sometimes covers more ground, although such a way of thinking is more problematic than productive.

Good analysis. It's true that "we laugh about this sort of tribalism" when it comes to what seems to be small potatoes-actors without political significance. As always, even the most personal situations reveal the greatest deadly political circumstances. Following Havel's assertion in "Power of the Powerless", it is even the green grocers of the world who hold power in their hands... whether we like it or not. Such narratives are never petty or laughable.

-km

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Two kidnapped PSP supporters killed

There has been a lot of talk lately about the two PSP partisans kidnapped. The word in the Shouf is that they were kidnapped by Shi'a (Hezbollah or Amal, no one is saying) forces in retaliation for the killing of a Hezbollah supporter last January during the sectarian clashes at the Arab University.

I just heard from my Druze friends in the Shouf that the two were found dead. While one was 25, the other was only 12. Ya haram.


UPDATE: Al Jazeera is reporting that the kidnapping and killings seem to be clan-based rather than party-based.

Last night, some friends and I were giving another friend a ride home. The army was out in droves, and we got picked to pull over and have ourselves and the car searched. However, when one of the two soldiers saw that two of my friends were Druze from a neighboring village of his, he called off the search. He told his colleague that he didn't need to search us and asked my Druze friends if there was anything he could to for them.

We laugh about this sort of tribalism when it comes from the guy selling us a fridge in Nabah. But it's a little disconcerting when coming from an armed soldier at a checkpoint.

UPDATE:I wrote earlier that the young man and the kid were Druze, but they were actually Sunni, although their families were supporter's of Jumblatt's PSP.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the news from the home front. Whether the alleged kidnappings were politically motivated or not, it is often the case that these actions do not have claimants.

In these seemingly revenge-based actions, I often think about what Camus announced after receiving his Nobel Prize in the mid 50s. When criticized for his support of the OAS (Organization armee secrete), the neo-fascist counter-insurgent organization in French-Algeria, he announced that he was forced to "prefer his mother over justice". What's often forgotten, may I dare say, is that the OAS were instrumental in guaranteeing the safety of the over one million pieds-noirs who left French-Algeria to France after decolonization. In effect, he *became* one of his own existentialist characters. He supported a despicable cause but a cause made necessary when reality flashed forced allegiances.

A highly problematic statement but very revealing in terms of being a liberal humanist - is it preferable to support people over ideas?

In moments like these, I sometimes think that raw political analysis simply does not work. When such tragedies occur, the *literary-humanist* sensibility sometimes covers more ground, although such a way of thinking is more problematic than productive.

Good analysis. It's true that "we laugh about this sort of tribalism" when it comes to what seems to be small potatoes-actors without political significance. As always, even the most personal situations reveal the greatest deadly political circumstances. Following Havel's assertion in "Power of the Powerless", it is even the green grocers of the world who hold power in their hands... whether we like it or not. Such narratives are never petty or laughable.

-km