> >STOP NATO: °NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG > >Boson Globe >On streets of Beirut, rallies bespeak anger at US for Israel stance >By Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff, 2/21/2000 >EIRUT - The US Embassy compound here has the feel of a crusader castle. >It is perched on a rocky outcropping with a winding entry that leads up >to a bunkered complex ringed by massive stone walls, gun turrets, and >steel barricades. >Officials inside this fortress are anticipating more demonstrations >today reflecting the rising anger in Beirut against what many here see >as an unjust US policy that supports Israel even when it hits civilian >targets in Lebanon. >Analysts, who see the hand of Hezbollah in promoting the demonstrations, >say the anger nevertheless is real. >''Everyone just got sick and tired of American support for Israeli >aggression,'' said Fouad Faris, 19, a college student who describes >himself as apolitical but who joined last week's protests. ''Look at >America hiding behind all this barbed wire, and all these walls. If they >had a fair policy, they wouldn't have to do all this,'' Faris said. >That sentiment notwithstanding, the security here is a holdover from the >1980s, when Americans in Lebanon were the targets of kidnappings and >Hezbollah-orchestrated bombings and sniper attacks that killed more than >260 Americans. >In 1983, the seafront American Embassy, just 800 yards from the new >embassy, was destroyed by a bomb that killed 63 people, including 17 >Americans. Another bomb attack destroyed a barracks near the airport, >killing 239 US military personnel, including 218 Marines. >Today, the shells of some of these buildings are visible from the >embassy compound, which has retreated to a more strategic hilltop >overlooking the sea. Noticeably absent are any Marines at the guard >posts. Instead, the embassy staffs Lebanese security guards clad in >black Kevlar vests and wielding M-16 machine guns. >Adding to the image of a diplomatic mission under siege, a cluster of >offices in small trailers is sealed in sheet metal, and the central >building is outfitted with steel-mesh cages to protect windows from >rocks and Molotov cocktails. >Embassy officials, meanwhile, say they do not feel any danger from the >demonstrations. >It is clear that the protests are against US policy, and analysts point >out that the rhetoric and slogans being shouted should not be confused >with anti-American sentiment. Indeed, just down the street from the >protests is a commercial boulevard of American commerce: a massive >Burger King, a brand new Kentucky Fried Chicken, and other American >chains and outlets with glittery window displays. >On Friday, one demonstrator holding a placard that read ''Death to >Israel, Death to America'' was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat turned >backward. Another young man in the crowd pressing against the police >line was wearing a ''South Carolina'' sweatshirt. >Hundreds of protesters also rallied in front of CNN's offices - a unique >expression of outrage against the global news channel and what Lebanese >perceive as a pro-Israeli bias in its coverage. One mocking placard >read: ''Q&A: Where is the other side of the story?'' >Israel's airstrikes on Lebanon this month, in which three power stations >were destroyed and 20 civilians wounded, were in retaliation for >Hezbollah attacks on its soldiers in southern Lebanon. The guerrillas >have killed seven Israeli soldiers in a series of attacks since Jan. 25. >Observers here say the recent demonstrations are significant, largely >because they seem to be uniting Lebanon with Hezbollah in a way that it >never has been. >Last June, when Israel retaliated for Hezbollah's shelling of northern >Israel by targeting civilian infrastructure and killing five Lebanese >civilians, there were no such demonstrations. >Then there was a backlash against Hezbollah, which was seen by many >Lebanese as contributing to the cycle of violence. >But not this time. Now, the Lebanese believe Hezbollah hit legitimate >military targets when it killed Israeli soldiers who are occupying >southern Lebanon. >''This time Hezbollah played its cards very well,'' one diplomat in the >region put it. >In the US compound ringed by concertina wire, Anne O'Leary, a >spokeswoman for the embassy, said the demonstrations ruined the visit of >an orchestra from Keene, N.H., which was performing a series of concerts >as a sign of American solidarity with the Lebanese people. >Last Monday, the day after Israeli airstrikes near Beirut, hundreds of >student protesters swarmed the concert at American University in Beirut >and heckled US Ambassador David Satterfield by chanting ''shame, shame'' >throughout the performance. >Another concert scheduled for Thursday was canceled. >''The concerts were to be a symbol of our confidence in their country >and its stability, and were much appreciated by many Lebanese,'' O'Leary >said. ''It was ironic that the events instead became a magnet for >student protesters who overshadowed the good they intended to do.'' >Nizar Hamzi, a political scientist at American University, and an expert >on Hezbollah, says the ''anger in the street is legitimate, and real.'' >He also sees the demonstrations as an effort by the Islamic guerrillas >to shore up public support, especially among students, as the group's >political leadership faces an uncertain future if Israel pulls its >forces out of the occupied zone in south Lebanon. >By Friday afternoon, more than 10,000 people were in the streets. >''The people are gathering in the street because they have found rare >common ground,'' said Charles Adwan, a researcher at the Lebanese Center >for Policy Studies. >''This was not only Hezbollah, this was Christian students, Sunni >students, a mix of student political parties; there were those who >support Syrian presence in Lebanon and those who adamantly oppose it. >There was the whole spectrum of Lebanese voices,'' he said. >''This is legitimate anger,'' he said, ''and America would do well to >listen to it.'' >This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 2/21/2000. > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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