Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

U. Texas family returns home from Lebanon
By Behnaz Abolmaali
Daily Texan (U. Texas)
07/19/2006

(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas — Monday night, Maha Rinaudo and her two daughters, Celia, 10, and Dana, 9, returned home safely to Austin, Texas, after a four-day journey from Lebanon to Syria, Jordan, Italy, and finally back the United States. The family had been on summer vacation in Beirut while the two girls were attending summer camp.

"Lebanon was the utmost best summer spot when all this occurred," Rinaudo said. "Lebanon was like a paradise with thousands of tourists from all different countries. All the hotels were booked."A week into the violence between Israeli forces and Lebanese Hezbollah organizations, thousands of Westerners are attempting to flee the two countries. The conflict has produced a heavy toll on the entire region, which has seen its worst fighting between the two countries in 24 years.

When the violence erupted toward the end of their vacation, it was a sad reminder of a conflict a generation earlier.

"We were all sitting in the corridor at our apartment, and we started putting our hands on our ears and just listening, and the only people we were thinking about was each other," Celia said.

It was the first trip to Lebanon in which Celia and her sister experienced any kind of violence, though she said her mother has vivid memories of violence of past conflict between Lebanon and Israel. The country has visible scars remaining from fighting during a civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990.

During the first days, there was no immediate way to leave the country because of intense military bombardments by Israeli forces, Maha Rinaudo said. The family took a risk, opting to drive through the mountains, a five-hour trip, rather than the one-hour usual commute from Beirut to Damascus.

"[We] left with a lot of danger," she said. "We could have been hurt, because everywhere we went they had either just bombarded or after we left they had shelled the whole area," she said.

Many members of the Rinaudo's family and close friends remain in Lebanon. Those with American citizenship are awaiting evacuation. Rinaudo said she has sometimes been able to get in touch with them by phone. The easiest way to flee the country is by boat, she said.

Rinaudo said she most sympathizes with civilian life in Lebanon.

"Those people who did not choose to make war with anybody," she said.

In recent days, many have suffered a shortage of electricity and food has become scarce, she said.

About 500,000 Lebanese have fled from their homes to escape the violence, according to a report by the United Nations.

Rinaudo is also president of the Arab American Cultural Society of Austin. The group hopes to set up a hotline soon to help its Lebanese American population locate family in the region and help financially any way they can, she said.

Dalia Moghazy, former president of UT's Arab Student Association and psychology junior, said a substantial number of the group's members are Lebanese American. The officers for the group are planning a panel discussion on the conflict and said dialogue will pick up with the start of classes in the fall, she said.

"They were rebuilding their country, and now it's going to be set back 30 years," said Mahassen Ballouli, a Lebanese American and Middle Eastern studies senior, whose extended family remains in Lebanon.

Student and cultural organizations at UT have been networking during the last week to contact members' loved ones in the affected territories. Some are planning events to open up dialogue in the coming months. Both the Arab American Cultural Association and Texas Hillel said they will send letters to lawmakers to encourage support for their countries as the conflict continues.

The International Socialist Organization and the Palestinian Solidarity Committee are planning a protest at the Capitol on Friday. Moshe Itzhakov, a political chair for Texans for Israel said several UT students are currently at a pro-Israel conference in Washington, D.C., where they hope to address the conflict.

Both groups said activism might pick up with the start of classes.

Margo Sack, director of jewish student life at Texas Hillel said the group's headquarters near campus have become a "forum and a place for people to feel safe" since the violence began last week. Dozens of current and former students are in Israel for family visits and birthright trips, and some are serving in the Israeli army, she said.

"We all hope that there'll be some kind resolution that takes into account everyone in the region," Sack said. "It's not a good situation for anyone in Israel."

Students are keeping each other updated on the status of their friends and family, she said.

"We are experiencing life that is far more tense and alert," said Batami Baskin, a Plan II honors and business honors senior currently doing an internship in Tel Aviv. "We have had to learn what to do in case of air raid: Where is our bomb shelter? What if we can't get to a bomb shelter?"

Baskin, an active member of Texans for Israel and Texas Hillel, said she chose Israel as the site of her internship because of a deep religious and cultural sentimentshe feels for the country.

For a month this summer, she watched World Cup soccer matches in the country, explored the country's entertainment and fashion scene, and visited its diverse historical sites. Since the violence, fewer people are in the streets of Tel Aviv, and their moods have become somber, though the city has not been the target of rockets yet, she said.

Baskin cancelled a trip to the northern part of the country where most of the violence has taken place. She said she senses angst about the escalating violence in her countrymen and co-workers as many friends are being called up for reserve duty. The events have raised a sense of unity and national urgency in many.

"The kidnapping of soldiers takes its toll on people. Everyone understands what it means to be a soldier since the country has mandatory service," Baskin said. "This is a country that people love and will do anything to protect,"

She said her fellow interns and herself have decided to remain in the country, though many tourists and youth groups have cancelled trips.

The whole country, she said, remains connected to the most recent news for the latest reports, she said. Because Israel is such a small country, news about the loss of life or the destruction of someone's house hits close to home for everyone.

"Still, its not all doom and gloom," she said. "People crack jokes and go out to the movies or to the mall."

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