Hello everyone, I am still in Beirut and everything is calm and mellow, except for the energy of a big city. I have gotten a lot of rest, hanging out with the cat, editing my other blog, putting up with the heat, and just finished Jimmy Carters book about Palestine.
After touring Israel and the West Bank I stand by what I wrote in July of 2008.
I am impressed on how Jimmy Carter bluntly writes the truth concerning the wicked behavior of the Israeli government. I am certainly not referring to Jewish or Israeli common people. There is always a separation between the common people and the government. The truth that Jimmy reveals educates how history repeats itself.
How can a country break international laws, ignore UN resolutions, violate human rights, and the international community sits back and allows it to happen by funding the government is beyond me. Jimmy’s book uncovers (according to my perception of history) that the culture that came out of the Babylonian exile in 538 BCE have never changed – this is my opinion and observation. A government that pursues the opposite of what Moses taught: an arrogant ear – not willing to listen, oppressing the poor, playing the victim, acting selfish, greedy, and arrogant; indeed the darkness presents itself as the light.
The ultimate joke is how America is under deception concerning this subject, or are they? The western nations allow the wickedness that is taking place in Palestine, in view of the fact that the western nations refuse to administer economic sanctions on Israel, but donate billions of dollars a year.
Since 1967 Israel has occupied the West Bank – the wall they’re building, which is twenty-five feet high, is based on wicked intention. The Palestinians will be living within a ghetto prison that the Israeli government will have full control of the raw resources that are vital for life. The wall is well inside the green line of the West Bank, cutting off people from their cultivated lands, schools, and water resources. A Christian Palestinian group has been cut off from the their church – a place that has a history of two thousand years. Israel has never upheld any of the peace process packages because they refuse to leave the West Bank and move out the settlements. The reason they withdrew from Gaza is to subject the area as a ghetto prison and focus on the subjection and partitioning the West Bank into sectors for full control.
The darkness will pursue its goal of false peace and security. The world leaders are ruining this earth for the arrival of the man of lawlessness. The man of lawlessness will present himself as the savior. The power of the darkness is crafty and cunning by causing the darkness to appear as the light. The darkness causes deception so the children of the light appear to be wicked – the darkness is a combination of accusers, slanderers, murderers, and liars – people who enjoy oppressing the poor – ego driven maniacs.
The Arab world likes Jimmy Carter, everyone who I have talked politics with is very positive about Jimmy. I have to give Jimmy a hand for his bold truthfulness concerning the situation in Palestine. Jimmy’s writing style is simple, stylish, and down to earth; I am surprised how many books Jimmy Carter has written. Indeed, how Israel is treating the Palestinians conveys they didn’t learn anything from the holocaust.
Beirut is a very open sociable city. Nevertheless, the socialization is based on how well a person knows the other. Between strangers, people are cautious, suspicious, and guarded. The main question people ask is “where are you from?” the reason, because, it reveals what religion the person was raised around. Even so, I was talking to a younger person and he said he has friends outside his religion.
I have been spending some time at this neighborhood coffee shop frequently. Lately, the employees have become friendly, but it has taken awhile – I do go there every morning.
The different groups of people do work within the same workplace and there is tolerance. If there is trouble in the country the Lebanese Army will not get involved, because in 1975 when the civil war started, the army sided with there own group. This is the reason the army did not get involved in the trouble that happened a couple of months ago. Indeed people can dress they way they want to dress. Even so, the percentage of men that wear trousers is surprising; the heat is at an ultimate level of humidity. Even so, my respite time here in Beirut is beneficial.
Please notice the new travel blog links I posted. I do enjoy reading about the adventures of other people. Every one does have a different style of travel.