Monday, August 07, 2006

It just got (more) personal


My second cousin is in the army. Or was.
He was stationed in Tyre, to man a prehistoric anti-aircraft gun that could only intimidate migrating birds.
He heard Israeli choppers flying in to drop commandos in a civilian area.

We don't know if he actually managed to get a round fired off or not.
Moments later he became a charred body in a destroyed vehicle.

In my heart, I know his death served no purpose.
He is fodder to the raging inferno of death and hate sweeping Lebanon, leaving ash and dust in its wake.

But when his toddler kids grow up, and ask me what happened in 2006, I will say he died a hero.

Would they understand the truth? Would they forgive us if they did?


شرف تضحية وفاء


40 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramzi, very sorry for you loss, and my deepest condolences to his family. Take care and stay safe. Atchi

1:34 AM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger julie said...

Ramzi, I am sorry for your loss.

Julie

2:17 AM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger Lycanthropy said...

so sorry for your loss, allah yirhamou.
my thoughts are with you and your family.

3:40 AM, August 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry for ur couz,it's awful,ur right he's dead for nth cuz he had nth to do
with this damn war,like the majority of lebanese people!As usual we die for the
wars of others,that's y his death is probably more heroic than any "resistant's"
one,the dramatic part is that he didn't ask to be a hero!

3:50 AM, August 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sooo sorry for your loss...
This needs to end NOW!!!!!!! Please please let it stop...we just can't take it anymore..
Na

4:05 AM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger snurdly said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

4:08 AM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger Akiva M said...

hate to hear that. It's as horrible as hearing of deaths in qana or haifa, though in a different way, since it's personal. you have my deepest sympathies.

5:56 AM, August 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In war,truth is always the first causuality.........Aeschylus
So sorry for your loss

7:22 AM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger Moussa Bashir said...

really sorry

12:37 PM, August 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Ramzi,
all my solidarity from Italy.

Bruno

1:14 PM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger Slink said...

Ramzi, condolences to your family... I'm sorry.

1:40 PM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger Akiva M said...

Poul,

and you are a live idiot and asshole. Do you take courses in how to be insensitive? Lectures on how to help ruin the image of Israel and its supporters? Because you couldn't do a better job at that if you tried. So if simple humanity won't prevent you from being such an assclown, will practicality (i.e. you're only hurting your own cause)? Somehow I doubt it . . .

3:25 PM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger Mar said...

So Sorry for your loss Ramzi.

4:33 PM, August 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

May your and Lebanon's martyr rest in peace...

Vito

7:11 PM, August 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you have my deepest condolences
i do not think its heroic to die in a war. in any war. i think its a great misfortune and a tragedy and that it would be wrong to glorify it. there is no glory in war just as there is no glory in diying from poverty or desease or any other cause that cuts life short.
again my deepest condolences fot your grief and no disrespect meant.

7:14 PM, August 07, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am very sorry for your cousin.

7:26 PM, August 07, 2006  
Blogger poshlemon said...

So sorry. I know how personal this can get. We lost a dear cousin 3 days ago. We've reached a point when this war has became way too personal...

My heart is with your cousin's family.

Nada.

12:58 AM, August 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry for your loss Ramzi..I don't know if words can help...It will start going more personal after thursday..God help all the army there..

1:19 AM, August 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am sorry, I hope your family well.
thank you for sharing!
blessigns,
enriqueta

2:38 AM, August 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sympathies on your loss.

5:41 AM, August 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As I have no sympathy for Hizbollah, I'd offer a smartass comment on death, but at the end of it, even I know he was just a kid doing his best for his country. It could have been my friend, my cousin, or me. I have known your pain and it is a sadness I wish on no one.

Not to discount his worth or his value as a human, but he died for nothing. That's the waste of it all. As the Israeli kids come back in body bags or in bits & pieces a new generation of Israeli mental basket cases is created. As the Lebanese are bombed endlessly in the futile hunt for rockets hidden in residential areas, a new generation is embittered and emotionally destroyed. So much for evolution and learning from our mistakes. What gets me is the continued encourgagement from Syria & iran, and the empty gestures and words from arab & european nations. It's as if they really don't care, despite the condemnations or the public relations aid donation gestures. In the meantime, some kid is being terrorized by falling bombs or rockets. Yea, even a cold merciless prick like me wants it to end now.

6:54 AM, August 08, 2006  
Blogger Xylocaine said...

my condolences...it's always the brave who die first

2:55 PM, August 08, 2006  
Blogger Neil Williams said...

Our hearts are with you - From Respect - The Unity Coalitin (UK).

In case you missed it:

"George Galloway Savages SKY NEWS!" Video - its already gone around the world! See it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249JaIaubVw

This is what Pakistan News Service said:

"George Galloway has spoken out in support of Lebanon, saying he believes Hizbollah is justified in defending Lebanon against Israeli
attacks . The Respect MP also lambasted media coverage of the war and said the UN resolution means nothing.

In the name of humanity and all that is dear to you, please listen to this 9 minutes interview. Galloway says in 9 minutes what the entire Muslim leadership has not been able to say in the past 60 years."

One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter... at (their own link - but its a better link above on You Tube):

http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?151782

More videos and articles from George Galloway the Respect MP in the UK Parliament avaiable from the Respect Blog link below.

Neil Williams
Respect Blog
http://respectuk.blogspot.com/

Frredom for Lebanon
Freedon for Palestine.

3:59 PM, August 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramzi,

Very sorry for your loss. This is terrible. Surviving the war in Lebanon with all my family (nuclear and extended) safe and alive, one gets the feeling she/he is immune.

It's a wake up call when it hits home. Your cousin died a hero.

Dana

7:11 PM, August 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramzi,

Very sorry for your loss. I pray that this madness stops now, and other innocents (on both sides) are saved, and children and their fathers and mothers are given the right to live.

9:50 PM, August 08, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ramzi, you have touched us all. Peace. Inshallah.

12:06 AM, August 09, 2006  
Blogger Doc said...

I wonder when this madness who cost so many innocent lives on both sides will ever end? My thoughts and prayers are with you.

11:24 AM, August 09, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry about your family's loss.

Maybe the kids will ask you why you didn't go and pay the IDF back?

Just wondering.

12:31 PM, August 09, 2006  
Blogger Raja said...

Ramzi,

For what its worth, I offer my condolences.

4:02 PM, August 09, 2006  
Blogger Josy said...

My deepest condolences Ramzi.

10:24 PM, August 09, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From God we come, to God we return.

God bless you and the rest of your family, Ramzi.
Everyday i pray that this war will end

1:12 PM, August 10, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

really sorry for your loss :-(

7:54 PM, August 10, 2006  
Blogger Sarah said...

Sorry to hear it, Ramzi. Hope this finds you well w allah yirhamo and the thousand other innocent civilian deaths.

Keep blogging.

2:49 AM, August 12, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

lamento mucho la perdida de tu familiar y las muertes de todos los ciudadanos libaneses.


mis respetos y mi solidaridad desde la argentina.



viva el libano!

6:14 AM, August 12, 2006  
Blogger Richard said...

I'm so terribly sorry for you & his family. The war is terrible even w/o it hitting home like this in such a personal way. But when it does become tragic & personally so, it makes the bitterness that much more intense.

What an utter waste on all sides.

10:54 AM, August 12, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

...you havent posted for a while Honey, i hope you are ok. You and your countrymen are in my prayers

9:27 AM, August 13, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Ramzy,

I am a bit anxious for you as you didn't post anything since a while ...

Take care and VIVE LE LIBAN

Myriem, PARIS

8:33 PM, August 13, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nous implorons Dieu dans chaque prière d'aider le Liban et ses habitants.
Tu diras aux enfants de ton cousin, qu'il était un brave homme, un martyr, un héros.
Tout l'honneur à ton cousin et au millier de martyrs Libanais. Nous prions pour eux.

)
"On peut détruire les infrastructures materielles mais on ne détruit pas la mémoire d'un peulpe" Mahdi EL MANDJRA (Valeur des valeurs - 2006)

1:15 AM, August 14, 2006  
Blogger Paul said...

Sorry about that Ramzi
deepest condolences to you and your family

6:32 AM, August 14, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am glad that you will say he died a "hero" and not a "martyr". Martyrs only suffer for their cause. Heros fight for their cause. I prefer Heros.

-n.

6:17 AM, August 15, 2006  

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