"…in an instant, our women, our parents, our children disappeared. We saw them for a short while as an obscure mass at the other end of the platform; then we saw nothing more."
—Primo Levi



BALTIMORE (7/25/06) — Near the words of Primo Levi, blue and white flags of Israel and red, white and blue ones of the United States waved, flags of nationalism, flags of imperialism.

500 or more gathered in front of the Holocaust Memorial on Lombard Street to show that
"Baltimore Stands with Israel." Judging by attire the crowd was predominantly middle and
upper-middle class. Judging by color, it did not represent Baltimore, as Baltimore is 64.3% of
African descent. As the majority of the group came by way of rented bus, it is possible that many
were not residents of the City at all.

Across the street, behind steel barriers erected by the Baltimore Police Department, was a more
diverse group of 75, protesting the bombing of Beirut, and the complicity of the United States
government in what they consider to be Israel's illegal actions in Lebanon.

Near the words of Primo Levi, personal stories of US teenagers experiences of fear and terror
while visiting Israel were recounted, not by the teenagers, but by Jimmy Berg of The Associated:
Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore who said "Israeli youth move north to defend our
homeland." Berg announced that Baltimore pledges millions of dollars to the cause of Israel's
defense against Hezbollah and Hamas.

Near the words of Primo Levi, the Beth Tfiloh Choir sang the United States national anthem in
English, then the Israel national anthem in Hebrew.

With the words of Primo Levi in the background, sat Governor Robert Ehrlich, Mayor Martin
O'Malley, Congressman Ben Cardin, States Attorney Robert Curran, City Councilman Keiffer
Mitchell, and other elected officials.

Governor Ehrlich said Israel "has a right to protect itself from terrorist groups." For the sake of
Israel and its kids, for the sake of Lebanon and its kids, Hezbollah, funded by
Iran and Syria, according to Ehrlich, "must be taken down." The Governor of the State of
Maryland said "Israel needs our help now!". The other politicians, Democrat and Republican, said
much the same.

Indymedia spoke to Lanny Morrison, an intelligent looking man with a neatly-trimmed grey
beard. We asked Morrison to comment on an analysis that says that Israel is violating
international law and creating a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. Morrison said that "if Lebanon
would intervene to stop Hezbollah, there would be no bombing from Israel." UN resolution
[1559] called for "Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, but Hezbollah did not do that." Israel chooses
military targets, but Hezbollah chooses to locate in residential areas, according to Morrison.
Hezbollah fires rockets to northern Israel, not specially targeted, but hitting both civilian and
military targets, said Morrison, who visited Israel last March.

We asked Morrison, a health policy analyst who lives in Columbia, if he thought the goal of
Israel in Lebanon is "regime change," as some writers have suggested. He said this is "a false
analysis. The Lebanon government must be responsible for its citizens." We pointed out that the
government of Lebanon did not attack Israel. Morrison responded "that [Hezbollah] is only part
of the government doesn't matter."

Near the words of Primo Levi, Israel and US flags waved as buttons saying "Baltimore Stands
with Israel" were given out. We crossed the police barrier to the south sidewalk of Lombard. Here we
met Dean Pappas, a member of the steering committee of Baltimore's Tikkun chapter.

We recounted to Pappas our conversation with Lanny Morrison who holds the government of
Lebanon responsible for the actions of a minority member. "Like the Oklahoma government
didn't stop Timothy McVeigh from bombing the federal building in Oklahoma City, then
Oklahoma should be bombed." "Seriously," Pappas said, "I'm a pacificist."

Pappas, who teaches science at Friends High School, spoke knowledgeably about Middle
East history. "Initially, when Israel intervened in Lebanon in 1982, Shi'ites met Israelis 'with
flowers' hoping for relief from what they felt was oppression by the presence of the secular
Palestinian Liberation Organization in Lebanon. Then, Shi'ites felt put in the middle of the PLO-
Israel conflict. Later, Hezbollah formed with a military wing and social service programs.
Hezbollah fought Israel and the PLO. 18 years later there's 600 dead Israeli soldiers and Israel
pulls out of Lebanon." In other words, the United Nations did not get Israel out of Lebanon,
Hezbollah did.

Reacting to the idea that Israel's current aim is to establish a puppet regime in Lebanon, Pappas
stated "I thought Lebanon was a puppet regime. After the assassination of Al-Hariri, the
government must not have been servile enough. The US and Israel are stupid because they
alienate their own puppet regimes." Governor Ehrlich claims that Hezbollah gets funding from
Syria and Iran, we noted. "Iran may help with weapons for Hezbollah, like Israel gets F-16s from
the United States," Pappas pointed out.

Green Party candidate for US Senate Kevin Zeese was also at the counter-protest. Zeese, who has family members who are Jewish, said that in his campaign he tries "to break the taboo of non-discussion of the role of the US and Israel in the Middle East. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will criticize Israel." Zeese sees the Israeli military intervention in Lebanon as "more about re-making the Middle East." He fears that the war will draw in Syria and Iran.

The US media blames Hezbollah, "but Israel took civilians from Lebanon's soil. Then, Hezbollah
responded with rocket attacks." Like Pappas, Zeese sees the creation of Hezbollah as a result of
the 1982-2000 military occupation of Lebanon by Israel. Hezbollah is largely made of families of
those Lebanonese killed during the Israel occupation, and it provides employment (up to 33%) ,
economic development, and social services, according to Zeese, who also argued that
Hezbollah's military wing exists to defend against Israel's aggression.

At the counter-protest, Indymedia met Lara Abou Saifan, a Palestinian woman from Dahrieh who
lives in Beirut and is married to a man from Tyre, South Lebanon. The 30-year old Saifan is a
media worker in the US for a television project. We asked her what the situation in Beirut and
Lebanon is now? In a follow-up interview at the Alternative Press Center, she offered her
observations, though without claiming to be an expert, but as a Lebanese resident.

"It's horrible. Where I grew up, a southern suburb, it's half destroyed. More than 320 have been
killed, half of them children. Israel says leave a target area, then it bombs the people when they are leaving. It's an invasion, actually. There were more than 700,000 refugees when I left Lebanon. Tyre, where my husband is from, it's something like a ghost-village, a ghost-town."



Commenting on the political situation in Lebanon, Saifan said that the state is "not really united
together. There are 16 or 17 different sects, the majority Christian or Muslim. They are all against
Israel, all for resistance to Israel whether they support Hezbollah or not. After the assassination of Rafiq Al-Hariri in 2005, Lebanon became more and more divided. Siniora, the current prime
minister, does not really know how to deal with the country. Politics in Lebanon are really
complicated."

Israel says that if the government of Lebanon does not disarm Hezbollah, Israel
intends to do it itself, violating Lebanon's sovereignty. In recent days, spokespersons for the
Israeli government have suggested, much as Governor Ehrlich, that forced disarmament will
benefit both the people of Israel and the people of Lebanon. We asked Saifan what Hezbollah
might have intended in its recent actions,

"In the recent history of Lebanon, it was Hezbollah which first arranged an exchange of
detainees. The declared aim of Hezbollah is to exchange more detainees. I don't know what to say about its aims beyond this. Socially, Hezbollah makes contributions in the south with schools, hospitals, security. Socially, it is really active and people really like it, especially in the south. Even in my family, my parents-in-law are communists, there is appreciation of the role of Hezbollah. During the municipal elections, my mother-in-law, who is very active, told me she would vote for Hezbollah. As a communist, this is really something to do, you know."

Is there an active Left in Lebanon, we asked. "A group of the democratic Left has developed out
of the Lebanese Communist Party. The Left was very active during the 1982 war and before.
There is more left activity again. There is trade union activity, but it is weak."

When asked about the role of the United States, Lara Abou Saifan replied "The US is the only
way out, the only power that might stop Israel in what it's doing now."

We noted that, at the time of pubication, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush
say that the military situation must play out before the US will call for a cease fire, as they fear
"status quo ante.".

Finally, we asked a more personal question about Lara's work in the US. She preferred not to talk
about the work itself, but recounted interactions with a co-worker who is Israeli. "We have
conversations," she said. "He is against what Israel is doing, but we have really different views.
This [dialogue] is really positive for me because we get to talk as humans and not kill each other before anyone has the chance to say anything."

We remembered words of Primo Levi other than those on the Holocaust Memorial. This great Italian writer, author of If This is a Man, The Periodic Table and The Drowned and the Saved, had these words to say about Israel's 1982 military occupation of Lebanon.(1)

"The moral objection is the following: not even a war justifies the bloody arrogance shown by
Begin and his men. The political objection is just as clear-cut: Israel is rapidly heading towards
total isolation…..

Q: Can Sharon be defined as a Fascist?

I can't talk about Sharon because … I don't know his background. But for Begin, 'Fascist' is a
definition I can accept….He was a student of Jabotinsky, who represented the right-wing of
Zionism, who called himself a Fascist and was one of Mussolini's interlocutors….That is Begin's
history….

Q: … some are writing that there is a risk of the state of Israel becoming the worst enemy of Jews,
of the people of Israel …. if we replaced the words 'the state of Israel' with 'the present
government of Israel'?

In that case, yes….the present behavior of the present government of Israel risks becoming the
Jewish people's worst enemy….as long as things remain as they are today, you have no right to
claim help, whether economic or moral, from the Jews of the Diaspora. No, you cannot ask those
of us who criticize Israel for its militarism for money and then spend that money on arms." (2)

We wonder what would Primo Levi have to say to Israel today….

1. "Primo Levi: Begin should Go." Interview by Giampaolo Pansa for La Repubblica, 9/24/92.
Translation in The Voice of Memory: Interview, 1961-1987 Primo Levi. Edited by Marco
Belpoliti and Robert Gordon. The New Press: 2001.
2. Menachem Begin was prime minister of Israel 1977-1983.

Background Material:

UN Resolution 1559
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1559

Israel's Dual Onslaught On Lebanon And Palestine by Gilbert Achcar
Z Net / Z Magazine (7/16/06)
www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm

The Real Aim by Uri Avnery
Gush Shalom (7/15/06)
zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1152991173

Lebanon: the Other Palestinians by Marina Da Silva
Le Monde Diplomatique (July 2006)
mondediplo.com/2006/07/03refugees

Empire Leaves Beirut to Burn by Robert Fisk
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/23/06)
www.commondreams.org/views06/0723-27.htm

Letting Lebanon Burn by MERIP Editors
Middle East Report (7/21/06)
www.merip.org/mero/mero072106.html

Lebanon: Scale of the Human Crisis
Emerges. By Brian Whitaker
The Guardian (7/25/06)
www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0725-02.htm