War in Lebanon: the choice of solidarity to avoid giving in to divisions

In his garden perched on a hill overlooking the river, Fadi Halabi, 71, does not take offense. Five days earlier, the blast of an Israeli airstrike shattered the windows of his family home. The drone targeted journalists, staying in its neighbor’s vacation chalets, about twenty meters away. That night, two employees of the pro-Iranian news channel Al Mayadeen and a cameraman for Hezbollah television, Al Manar, were killed in their sleep.

“These people brought the war back to us!” What were they doing there? “, plague Fadi, buttoning up his psychedelic blue shirt, straight out of the 1970s. A large group of journalists from seven different media outlets had been staying in this southern village for a month, from where they were covering the Israeli offensive. “My neighbor is a corrupt man. He knew very well that it put us all in danger, but he rented to them anyway,” continues this grandfather.

Surrounded by the bombings which relentlessly pound the surrounding valleys, Hasbaya, a predominantly Druze town, had until now never been targeted. “The goal of Israel is known:destroy Hezbollah, not kill the population! assure Fadi. This war, the one in Gaza… I don’t care. I just want to live in peace and see my grandchildren grow up,” he continues, inexhaustible. A speech that is still very much in the minority, going against the momentum of national solidarity since the escalation of September 23.

“Are we humans or animals? »

In a few weeks, almost a quarter of the population fled massive bombings in the south and east of the country, as well as in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israel is now increasing its attacks against localities where evacuated residents have found refuge. So, some consider the displaced people, mainly Shiites and originating from strongholds of Hezbollah or its allies, as birds of doom. “Welcome women and children… ultimately, concedes Fadi. But men between 15 and 40 are too risky! »

Sitting under an arbor at the edge of his empty swimming pool, his neighbor, Anwar Abou Ghayda, has heard too much: “If he was the one who had to leave his house, he would be very happy if someone opened the door for him! » Despite the assassination of his guests and the destruction of a large part of his establishment, this innkeeper refuses to give in to fear. “Are we humans or animals? At my house, everyone is welcome, he assures. By bombing Christian or Druze villages like here, Israel seeks to divide us, it is part of their strategy. »

For the moment, Hasbaya is still hosting 1,600 displaced people from neighboring deserted localities. Its mayor, Labib Al Hamra, assures that the vast majority of his constituents approve of this reception policy. “After the attack I had to reassure some people, of course there is a lot of paranoia. But as Lebanese, we must show unity and wisdom,” comments the councilor.

“Here, we are like a family”

70 kilometers further north, in the Bekaa plain, the Christian cemetery of Rayak was blown up by a strike. The immense detonation razed the neighboring building without causing any casualties, but many graves were damaged.
On the broken steles, a few iron crosses have been placed. Nadim Francis had to extract his grandmother’s remains from the rubble himself. A friend lent him his vault, which remained intact, to bury him temporarily. “Here, we are like a family. Orthodox, Catholics and Maronites are buried side by side. After the explosion, Muslim neighbors also came to help us clean up,” he says.

The thirty-year-old grew up in this village where different communities have always lived together. “The houses of some of my childhood friends were destroyed. Whether they are Shia is of no importance to me. I know they’re good people, I’m not going to ask them to leave. I’m just sad for them.” breathes Nadim.

Here as elsewhere, Israel’s narrative of only targeting Hezbollah while sparing civilians comes up against a reality where the two are often intertwined. Because like other militias that became political movements at the end of the civil war (1975-1990), the Party of God developed a powerful clientelist network of hospitals, schools, banks and even supermarkets. By anchoring its social services in historically marginalized regions, it has filled the void left by a failing state.

“Israelis must understand that when they shoot Shiites, they kill us too,” launches Omeïr Abayde. This Greek-Catholic priest from Rayak organizes food distributions for displaced people in the region. In this mixed village, community tensions have not increased since the start of the conflict. «There are even fewer than before! smiled the man of the Church. Now we are all in the same boat, people stick together. » But for how much longer?

Classrooms transformed into dormitories

The specter of civil war resurfaces. The old confessional parties enemies of Hezbollah are fanning the embers, accusing it of having prioritized the Iranian agenda and the Palestinian cause over the national interest. On the heights of Beirut, in the Christian stronghold of Broummana, the flags of the Lebanese Forces party fly from the balconies of traditional houses. Despite the distrust of many residents, the public high school opened its doors to around forty families of displaced Shiites.

A few children in pajamas play in the classrooms transformed into dormitories. The initiative was launched by teachers without help from local authorities. The director’s daughter, Verena Al Amil, spends her days organizing the reception and smoothing things over with the neighborhood. If the emergency is primarily humanitarian, this figure of the secular opposition mainly wants to talk politics: “War confronts us with a choice, she believes. Either we fall into the trap set by Israel and let community tensions fester. Either we finally take matters into our own hands to create a national feeling. »

While the old world collapses under the bombs, the population struggles to imagine the face of post-war Lebanon. “The hegemony of Hezbollah has been swept away, like those of Christian and Sunni parties in the past, assure Verena Al Amil. We must now overcome these historical fractures, to sit around the table and begin reconstruction. »

For now, Lebanon’s future remains in the hands of Israel, which seems to be the only one able to stop this war. But if the era of Hezbollah may end, other militia parties on the political scene are already preparing to fill this void.