A Beach Clean Up & an Intifida

In case you weren't paying attention to the news yesterday, ten Palestinians and/or their supporters were killed on the Lebanese border with Israel. The Daily Star's headline this morning read "Israeli Massacre at Lebanon Border"; the headline on The New York Times read "Israeli Troops Fire as Marchers Breach Border" (they decided to avoid the word massacre).

While all of that was taking place in the south, we spent our Sunday about an hour north of Beirut in Byblos. Some students organized a beach cleanup near the ancient city and we were happy to chaperone.

Yes, the Lebanese are the friendliest people you'll ever meet. Yes, Lebanon has spectacular natural beauty. But there are two things that seem to be lacking over here: public trash cans and guilty consciences when it comes to littering.


So there are hundreds of beaches to clean up. It's admirable that our students, about thirty of them, sacrificed their Sunday to make a dent in Lebanon's littering problem.



Meanwhile, down on the Israeli border, things are tense. We read on CNN and The Washington Post that the anti-Israeli protests were organized by Hezbollah. That's partially true, we're sure. But we also are acquainted with people who were there and they have nothing to do with Hezbollah.


For instance, a brother of a Maronite Christian colleague (Hezbollah is predominantly Shia), was present on the border and saw the shooting from a distance. He signed up to demonstrate via Facebook and assumed that it was going to remain peaceful. One of our students says that she heard the gunshots while visiting her family in a nearby southern village. She doesn't have much to do with Hezbollah, as far as we know. We also have an acquaintence whose cousin was actually shot and is now in the hospital -- the cousin is an AUB student (not a rioting member of Hezbollah).


So while the trash pick-ups are admirable, they may have to take a backseat to more pressing political tensions.