Youth in War 5

I have lost the momentum of writing these tails of horror.. but I encountered a very interesting person that I will respect anonymity that told me that he read my blog. I thought that I can't be traced, obviously I was naive. I was very touched that he read it and liked the story, and here I am more encouraged on continuing. It is not easy to open these wounds that you work hard on burying them....

Back to Ghineh, a small town with 900 m elevation from sea level. This part of the country was living a normal life except from time to time seeing military cars passing by. we lived across from a vineyard which probably influenced me early in loving all the extract of this generous fruit... and used to play with my neighbors, biking back and forth uphill where there was a water fountain that later on in my life, when I visited Rome and saw all of these " fontanas" couldn't from remembering the water fountain of Ghineh.. People used to park there cars and come fill up water tanks for there family drinking needs and also it was the place where young couple used to meet, exchange smile and gossips... it was a peaceful and innocent place considering the savagery going on down in Beirut....For us children at that time it was funny to observe this interaction and use to tease the young men by telling them I will tell your dad or mom, and used to run after us throwing stones on us, while we biking as fast as possible laughing until we got caught by them and get beaten up, than no fun anymore... I kept living these peaceful days playing until summer was ended and fall came and still no end for our civil war. My dad started teaching at home everyday French, Arabic, Mathematics etc.. I hated it all I was thinking about was chopper bike and my friends. I guess I was fortunate that my father owned a school that my education didn't end like the other children...

My sister and brother were living there teenage life by sneaking out and watching movies and gossiping. My brother stayed mostly in Beirut around the fighting with the guys... and used to come visit and stay a week and go back. One day, I remember they were all excited with there friends about a movie that just came out and they were going to watch it... when they came back the joy on their faces and in their eyes was overwhelming... the movie was " Saturday night fever". My sisters started showing me the moves and wanted me to dance with them.... I was their male partner and that lasted for long time and I guess it did me good in my adult life....

One day my dad had for lunch on a Sunday the two local leaders of the rival Christian parties of town of Hadath. They were fighting for turf control as one can expect. The lunch went fine and they shook hands at the end. the head of the Hadath Ahrar party Joseph Asmar, took his glass and looked at me and called me by my nickname saying I want you to join the Ahrar, I looked at him and responded swiftly over my dead body...everybody started laughing.... later on I understood if I I was an adult and I have told him that than my life would have been short, imagine a head of mafia and you challenge him like that what would have happened.... I guess when you are 7 years everything is accepted. After the head of the Kataeb party Dr. K came to me and took from his neck less the emblem of the kataeb and gave it to me and I kept it around my neck for years. Years went by and I reconnected with his nephew, also goes by the name Dr. K, who was recently a cabinet minister and I told him the story and we started laughing about it....telling me well it was a good move you still on the same political path.

Our Christian areas were filled with Palestinian refugee camps that our forces militias surrounded them and cleaned them up... you can imagine when militia forces enters a succumbed areas with civilians to kick out.... I am not here to judge anybody action but in the Middle East emotions can go high and usually civilians pay the price.... everybody succumbed to this path even the US forces, and before them the French, Brits and all the people who passed through our lands.... The big decisive battle was Tel-al zaatar, the camp was on a hill surrounded by valleys... a lot of people lost their lives trying to take it over... My brother went in just after it fell and took a lot of pictures that still make me sick to my stomach till today...but war is war and people will die but you can't stop thinking of the family left behind, did they find out about their lost ones or are they still waiting for them....

On other hand, the Palestinian forces and their Muslim allies took over a Christian town and committed one of the most horrible massacres killing children, women in a town called Al-Dammour. Due to this atrocity, the Arabic countries and under pressure by the US and the French made that Arabic force and that fulfilled the Syrian dream of occupying Lebanon.A cease fire was achieved after the neighboring Syria went in with its army as part of the" Arabic Force of order" known in Arabic "elradeeh". The canon were finally silenced after two and half years.


We went back to Baabda and my dad went to open his private school that was turned into a military Fort by the Syrian army.... Our school had basement all underneath the 10,000sqm of buildings and all were filled up to the ceiling with ammunition, the play grounds had the trucks and those scary T-62 Russian made tanks and the classrooms dormitory for the soldiers....it was a difficult negotiations that my dad had to go through with the Syrian commander and a lot of bribery, but they vacated the school and it reopened its doors for the students. I will always the happy face of my dad with his big smile welcoming them back, I could feel what he feels now that I have responsibility myself, that weight was relieved of his shoulder, his family is safe, his school is back, it must been for him a nightmare that ended on a good note, but little he knew what the future is hiding for him....