Traces of a lost war

“Those who kidnapped my husband live nearby, but for 17 years I have not allowed my children to take revenge. I am suing the government for information about my husband and action against those who kidnapped him,” said another woman when asked if she would condone revenge or reprisal against those from the other side of thesocio-political divide in Lebanon. “If we can’t find the kidnapped people we can’t get security,” she added while commenting on the current conditions in Lebanon.

On the question of the situation leading up to the war, the women were unanimous in condemning the manipulation of Lebanon by various Arab countries, the United States and Israel. External reasons, not simply the sectarian angle, caused the Lebanese civil war. “If it weren’t for Israel our children wouldn’t be kidnapped or picked up,” said a woman on why Lebanon slipped into the cycle of hatred and violence. “The Israeli occupation of south Lebanon influences everything here,” she added. “We are in a bad financial situation but this is not as bad as losing our children,” said another woman on the current situation in Lebanon. “Those who can change things are just sitting on the chairs. They are very influential. It was a war of destruction and suffering, how it started and how it stopped only they know.”

“During the war we did notknow when the sun was rising, whether it was day or night,” said a woman, sitting at another focus group on women displaced by the war in Lebanon. The women were from the Shouf area, mountainous and the scene of bitter fighting between the Druze and Maronite militias. “At least we can breathe, we can go around Lebanon, and the roads are safe,” said another person in the group.

Decrying the effects of the war, a woman said: “We are now living in houses which are not ours, and there is now a financial war, an economic war since the young people don’t find work.”

On the question of the worst part of the struggle, “it was the fighting between the Army and the Lebanese Forces,” said another woman. She was alluding to the Lebanese Army’s move to disarm the extreme right-wing militia led by Samir Ja`ja. “It was brothers fighting brothers,” she added. On events leading to the outbreak of the war, a woman said that “it was to get the Palestinians out of Lebanon. We had to fight for our Christianterritory’. Another woman, however, added that the worst aspect of the war was `to leave home and you can’t go back, whether it is Muslim or Christian’. “Even if civilians are providing food, whatever nationality, I cannot accept it,” declared a women when asked whether targeting civilians was justified. As for punishment to combatants, while one women said that “all should be punished very hard”, another added that “the leaders should be punished, not only the combatants”.

The correspondent was in Beirut as part of an initiative sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross.