Hizbullah’s revenge: attacks on citizens, all major roads, including airport road, blocked

The Hizbullah militia and its supporters spent a good part of the day terrorizing Beirut citizens, blocking major roads, and dumping dirt along the airport road, blocking access to the airport.

Flights to and from Beirut's Rafik Hariri airport have been canceled.

Hooligans on motorcycles are touring Beirut neighborhoods, throwing insults and beating residents. Clashes between Hizbullah/Amal and March 14 supporters erupted in several mixed neighborhoods in the city.

The media is reporting heavy gunfire and use of rocket propelled grenades. The pro-Hizbullah labor unions, meanwhile, have called off today’s strike, which LBC said, quoting government sources, was used by Hizbullah as an excuse for unleashing violence and exact revenge after Monday's cabinet decision to crack down on Hizbullah's spy network in the country.

LBC is reporting that Hizbullah will not re-open the airport road. Berri and Hizbullah have reportedly asked the government to reinstate the pro-Hizbullah airport security chief in return for ending their riots and occupation of the airport road. 

The army is saying that it will "choose the right time" to re-open the road.

Update. Wafiq Choukair, the pro-Hizbullah airport security chief fired by the government, is reporting to work as usual and refusing to relinquish his post.

LBC is still airing Ministry of Tourism spots promoting tourism in Lebanon, some calling Lebanon a "safe destination". One spot shows families reuniting at the airport.

With Hizbullah in de-facto occupation of the airport, those of us with families in Lebanon will have to wait until someone puts an end to Nasrallah's terrorism. The outlaw is scheduled to give a press conference from some hole in the ground tomorrow.

Update 2. Aoun's mouthpiece OTV is reporting that Hizbullah is considering erecting tents on the airport road.

If true, there is one solution: bulldozers. If the government does not ACT NOW to remove Hizbullah from that road, we will face another occupation similar to that of downtown Beirut. Hizbullah and Nasrallah do not have the right to prevent people from using the airport.

To hell with Suleiman. Send in your ISF now. Let it be war against those hooligans. Hizbullah cannot be allowed to continue. If Suleiman does not want to engage his troops, let him take his precious vacation time and let Jumblatt's man run it. It's now or never.

Update 3. Fairuz, who was last seen singing in Damascus, is one of many passengers stranded at the airport.

Mohammad Kabani, a March 14 MP, says the Qulayaat airport in the north will be ready in 24 hours.

What is this? partition?

Update 4. LBC, quoting ministerial sources: government could declare state of emergency and curfew.

Update 5. A Hizbullah source told the Iranian news agency Fars that the militia will "open the gates of hell on this agent government".

Now Lebanon quotes al-Seyassah: Hizbullah now considers the Lebanese army an enemy entity. We didn't need this report. This became obvious after the January riots.

Comments

[Bad Vilbel]

Jeha,

Then you need to fight for it. You've got defacto partition already.

[Charlie]

Exactly Jeha

[ghassan karam]

You cannot partition whenever someone throws a fit. This is, as Jeha says, about the whole enchilada. No crumbs please.
The real struggle for modernity starts as soon as HA et al are defeated.

[Bad Vilbel]

Ghassan,

We've gone over this before. This is not "someone throwing a fit". This is a divergent vision of what Lebanon should be. You and others have said before, there are 2 "projects" in Lebanon right now, with a very wide, and UNBRIDGEABLE gap between them.

The only way you're going to keep the whole enchilada is by not only DEFEATING HA on the ground, but also ENFORCING your vision of Lebanon unto the other side ("enforcing" entails going against the will of 1/3 of your population).

I still think that the shia community needs to take a long and hard look at themselves and be given the opportunity to stop blaming everyone else but themselves. And I don't see that happening if you "enforce" your vision over that community. It will simply lead to their resenting and blaming YOU for their ills.

I really hate to be the sole advocate of partition around these parts, because it goes against every fiber in me. But I don't think there is any other way that an entire community is going to back off their suicidal path. I go back to my analogy of your crack addicted sibling, who's taken over your house and is abusing your children and selling your furniture for drugs. After trying to reason with him to no avail, the best course of action is to cast him out. For the sake of everyone else.

[Jay]

So what is HA up to? For those that still belief this entity its truly a resistance movement or just out to better the livelihood of the 'impoverished' Shiite community, to put it mildly, you're being too simplistic in your thinking and analysis.

I think HA is not interested in creating their own State or taking over Lebanon, at least not yet. They're too clever to know neither option will be allowed to succeed. HA learned a great deal from the cunnings tactics of the Syrians to make such rash decisions.

Even with 30 years of occupation the Syrians allowed MP's to be "elected" and Lebanese Presidents to be "appointed", just to fool or silence the critics into thinking Lebanon's political institutions are functioning. Though the Syrians long term strategy of systematically dissolving the Lebanese institutions was very much in full gear.

This is the same strategy HA been employing. They want to keep the Lebanese State barely functioning, whether with a government of their liking or a feeble government too weak to even challenge their own ultraistic motives. HA knows they can't afford to disturb the delicate sectarian balance or the external players, all this while continuing to grow their own military, political and social infrastructure separate from the State (hint the zealous warnings against messing with their own private phone network).

If HA's strategy goes unchecked a day will come when HA dominant force simply will overwhelm the State and becomes the de-facto Lebanese State. That's why this government, with all its shortcomings, can not afford to lose this struggle.

[LebExile]

Bad Vibel,

what do you mean going against one third of your population. Do you really really deep down believe that the entire shia community is behind Hiz voluntarily???? I can assure you they are not. I think the majority of Shia given the opportunity would drop Hiz in a heartbeat given the opportunity... and hopefully this is the opportunity!

What you are implying is that one third of the country are traitors - and I doubt that is the case!

[Bad Vilbel]

Looks like Robert Fisk has outdone himself with utter and complete idiocy.

Do yourself a favor and go read this gem:
http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2008/05/fisk_black_smok.php

Some choice quotes:
"Indeed, the start of this latest drama might be traced to the murder of two Phalangist officials in the Bekaa town of Zahle a few weeks ago."

"However, the apparatus may well have been installed because the Hizbollah believes that runway 17 - which starts a few meters above the Mediterranean - could be used for a small seaborne landing by Israeli troops. There is a persistent rumor in Beirut that the Israelis were about to stage such an operation against the Hizbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut on 28 April but that it was canceled for equally mysterious reasons."

I honestly and sincerely wish Robert Fisk would move to Iraq or some other part of the world and/or cut off his own right hand to avoid subjecting us to such inane commentary. Let me be the first to say: "STFU, Robert!"

[Charlie]

I wish the partition debate will be dropped once and for all.
Partition never was and never will be a viable option for Lebanon.
It was not after the 75 war and it is not going to be today either.
Just because one side want to go its own way, the other side may not agree to that and a perpetual state of war will persist.
Syria has claims over ALL of Lebanon, not just the Bekaa and South.
So even if the Lebanese accept a partitioned country, the Syrian will continue to antagonize the part that is not under its control.
The international community barely gives a rat’s ass about Lebanon now, If Lebanon
gets fragmented further they may lose total interest and give it to Syria with best wishes.

[Bad Vilbel]

LebExile,

I want to believe that the shia community is not behind Hizb. But to be perfectly frank here (and I apologize in advance to our gracious host), i really do not see it.
Sure, there are a few reluctant voices here and there, and I'm sure there's your occasional "enlightened" shias here and there, but for the most part, the community has been conditioned and brainwashed to believe this is in their best interest. It really doesn't take that much to see this phenomenon. If it were a result of coercion, you'd think Shia in the diaspora wouldn't feel threatened, for example, and would speak out against Nassrallah's evil schemes. But no. A good chunk of shia abroad, even while living in the US and benefitting from the great satan's opportunities and lifestyle, still sympathize with HA. And that's not even getting into the large populations of South Lebanon, the Bekaa and Dahieh.

I absolutely HATE generalizing. And I realize i am doing just that here. And i realize no one wants to hear or mouth the ugly truth here, but i'm giving it a go:

Let's face it. The shia community is deeply conservative and deeply entrenched in it's loyalties. It is also extremely paranoid, and convinced about Israel's bogeyman status (be it real or not) and of the other sects in Lebanon being "against the Shia" (again, be it real or not). This paranoia and culture has been cultivated by HA over 20+ years now and is so deeply entrenched that I don't see many shia breaking ranks to choose the government (law and order, dialogue, etc) over Hassan Nassrallah.

This is exactly why I think that before there is any hope of reclaiming the shia community into the greater Lebanese project, it is going to be necessary for that community to take a long hard look at itself and undergo an epiphany of sorts. As long as it continues to be given other targets to blame, the community is never going to evolve past its hatred and paranoia.

This "epiphany" that I speak of has already been experienced by the other sects, in one way or another. The sunnis learned during 75-90 that they have to stand on their own merit. Not on the back of the Palestinians. The Christians got to experience their few years of "partition" (de facto) and also learned that it didn't work, and that they needed to be willing to give a little, in return for being part of the greater Lebanese projects.
The shia community has not learned that lesson yet. It went from absolute neglect to being a bully, to whom no one stands up (for fear of their weapons) and with an excuse to boot (resistance). And until that bully is brought down to size, and learns the harsh lesson of what it means to really play along with others, all this discussion is useless.

Again. Apologies to anyone who might have been offended by my views.

[Amir in Tel Aviv]

BV,
Agree with you. The guy lost it completely.
Israeli jets landing on the 28th of April, on runway 17
to attack Shi'i southern neighborhoods.
Right.!!
.

[LebExile]

the shia in the diaspora do indeed have mixed loyalties, and am unsure of what is best for their community. but, do you really think that if the majority of shia in Lebanon are given the opportunity to free themselves of hiz that they will march and protest and demand hiz back against all the shia in lebanon???

As the situation is at the moment, the shia in Lebanon a held hostage to hiz. They get money from them, and free services - so why mess that all up?

The shia in the diaspora also have less of a burden on them thanks to Hiz, so they too can live with hiz - but do you really believe that if the funding were to be cut off from Iran, and that hiz didn't have the money to buy their loyalty - that they would still back hiz???

It is not about loyalty - it is about living, the shia were impoverished before hiz, and they are probably afraid they may become impoverished again after hiz - so do you really think they are willing to throw that away???

If a criminal were robbing banks - and getting away with it very successfully - will they stop??
If that criminal were living in a rough neighbourhood - and their apartment block was the safest for miles - do you think the neighbours in that apartment block are going to complain???

they may be liked by their neighbours, they may have money and guards, they probably can spend that little more to install security systems for the building, and probably even pay off their neighbours - but in the end - they are still criminals - and when the cops come knocking - and ram the front door - and start confiscating that stolen money - well - you guessed it - the neighbours will turn against them pretty quickly.... that is my point!

[Jeha]

If this goes on, they could easily open up the Kelyat airport, and isolate Hezb'O areas... then the besieger would become besieged. The fact is, we have entered the nightmare of a Sunni-Shiite war. It can still be avoided, but not by much. indeed; 3,2,1,...

[Umm K.]

Let's not forget that thanks to Lebanon's lovely sectarian system, my two boys, AND my hubby are (automatically) Shia. I believe that Abu K. is a great anti-Hizbullah Shia spokesperson (although he doesn't like to be anyone's spokesperson). I just wish there were a lot more, or more who will at least be vocal about it. So there are some Shia out there who believe in the rule of law, etc. I know you guys all know this--just a friendly reminder that not all Shia are loyal HA fans! Of course, I do feel AK is definitely in the minority...even among diaspora Shia here...which is scary.

[Jeha]

Umm Kais,

Point taken. And herein lies the real danger of the escalating conflict. We're at risk from Hariri's "allies" as much as "Hezb'O"; the only thing that really differentiates Jouzou and Qassem is an accident of birth. They spew the same venom.

[danny]

GK says

"You cannot partition whenever someone throws a fit. This is, as Jeha says, about the whole enchilada. No crumbs please.
The real struggle for modernity starts as soon as HA et al are defeated."

EXactly!! It is high time. Sorry Jeha but the hot Spring is already here. The government is waiting for hassan's speach to make their next move; which I think is totally wrong. I have said this before, bring in the crack units and take them down one by one as BV suggested...

Sunnas have laid down the line. So has the Batrak. I think the TOTAL SQEEZE play is in. Fprget about the Orange butt et al...

Crunch time brothers! What's next?

[ghassan karam]

Can we please stop labeling people gy their religious affiliations. What is important is to judge people by their behaviour and not the sect they belong to or the church they pray at.

To those who keep blaming Shiites for the current mess: Is Emile Lahoud a Shiite? What about Arslan , Karami or Hoss? Is there a stronger supporter of HA than Suleiman Frangieh or M. Aoun? Is Skaaf a Shia?

The easy labeling and its resultant compartemtalization is just as scary, worrisome, abhorent, egregious... as any act by HA. If you do not like the ideology and actions of HA then by all means say so but do not resort to the hurtful, meaningless and easy victimization based on personal characteristics that are very often wrong. The personal,and often wrong "branding" never adds anything to the level of the discourse or depth of the analysis. I know that your ctitiques will not suffer but might actually gain if you refrain from taking these easy pot shots that are utterly irrelevant.

[Bad Vilbel]

LebExile,

You have proven my point for me. You yourself have admitted in your analogy that the Shia have ZERO motivation to stop supporting HA right now. Why would they?

But none of you here are addressing the deeper rooted issue with the shia community: The ages-old paranoia. Forcing your system of beliefs upon a community like that is not going to work, it's simply going to play into their very fears of persecution.

I don't claim to have the solution, mind you. At least not a practical one (despite my ramblings, I don't think partition is a realistic possibility). The point of those rants was to get the point across that the shia community needs to take a long look at itself and decide ON ITS OWN on whether it wants to join in the national project with other communities or not. And for it to join in, it HAS to break out of that psychological paranoia and take on a new mentality. And only the community itself can do this. This cannot be enforced upon them by anyone else. It's not going to work.

Umm Kais,

I hear what you're saying, and again, I apologize for generalizing as I did. I obviously am not implying that all shia are victims to this mentality, but from the perspective of communal collective psyche, if it were, the shia community does remain a willing hostage to HA. And does not appear to WANT to change (as LebExile's point proves, why would they?) as long as they have others to blame for their state.

[Umm K.]

BV--No worries and no offense taken, and I hear ya about the community in general. It sometimes becomes too easy to resort to labels when dealing with situations like today. Those young men in the street today did nothing to boost their community's status in the country.

[Andre]

One thing that really had me watch in disgust was a video clip showing lebanese army soldiers watching as hizb trucks were unloading their crap on the main road leading to the airport in order to block it. disgusting! When will the army take action and act with urgency to rescue the country from being besieged and taken hostage by a bunch of terrorists as they did last year?

[danny]

Ok... the other shoe dropped. As I had mentioned on the first post that HA has become the Defacto representative of all Shia with the blessing of the higher Shia authorities; Here's the latest from Nahrnet:
"1:45 pm Vice President of Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan labeled a government decision against Hizbullah’s telecommunications network a “crime” and said it was a scheme to sow discord and facilitate Israel’s work.
1:40 pm The Higher Islamic Shiite Council said the only solution to end the unrest in Lebanon is for the government to back down from its decisions against Hizbullah"

They even labelled this government as unconstitutional...Wow, since when religious figures have become experts in law? Now this has become openly sectarian; Right??? I have not heard any Shia voices denouncing loudly the military maneuvers of the Hizb...

[Stuck Visitor]

Hello everyone,

I apologize in advance for hijacking this thread. I arrived to Beirut on Tuesday for a one week visit after 10 years absence, planning to surprise the family and all that good stuff. The next day, people were so happy to see me, they started burning tires and gathering in the streets!

Anyway...

I was supposed to leave next Tuesday, but now it seems that my stay will be extended. Can anyone recommed a way out before things become harder? Do they have a ferry service between Lebanon and Cyprus? Or maybe that airport in the north of the country? Is that airport operational and would it be used as a life line in the absence of the international airport?

Thanks for your time and any suggestions you might have.

I am now going to check the TV because the bearded wise man is supposed to go on TV. Hopefully he will call his people off (fell I just had an almaza and feeling relaxed some).

Shoukran shabeb and ladies...

[Ace]

"I think HA is not interested in creating their own State or taking over Lebanon, at least not yet. They're too clever to know neither option will be allowed to succeed."
________________
This is exactly the thinking that has led to the situation today. HA has ALREADY created their own "state" in Lebanon and it has been successful - there are complaints but nothing to actually stop it until now. They have de-facto control of the Government. They control customs and security, they have a telecommunications network, the control the Foreign Ministry, they control entire areas in Lebanon. Who do you think has really been keeping Parliament closed? Not Syria - HA has done this. HA controls almost the entire country - they just have not made the formal announcement yet. Everyone is so afraid of them that it has been "allowed" that they gain this control.

From the time they set up the tents in downtown there could be no other outcome and it did not matter how much people "hoped" there might be. The end-game always had to be a HA "divine victory" and the only way to do that (if M14 did not surrender) was to declare "war" against Lebanon. They simply have no other option ... it is either today or it is "tomorrow", but it can't be avoided unless you still somehow believe that Nasrallah is going to just pack up and leave Lebanon.