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At Funeral, a Sunni
Village Condemns Hezbollah’s Presence
By:
Resident of Marwaheen, Lebanon
MARWAHEEN, Lebanon, Aug. 24
- For months, the residents of this predominantly Sunni village near
the Israeli border watched anxiously as the Shiite Hezbollah
militiamen brought arms and rockets into town in preparation for
battle. The residents grappled with whether they should accept the
fighters' presence and face a possible Israeli attack or try to
eject them, with the more probable risk of retribution by Hezbollah.
>On Thursday, as the
village buried 23 people who were killed by
>Israeli warplanes while
trying to flee on July 15, many had belatedly made
>up their mind.
>"We kept beseeching them,
'Stay out! Stay out!' " said Zainab
>Ali Abdullah, 19, who lost
her father, brother and several other
>members of the family in
the attack. "They said, 'We're all in
>the same boat together, so
deal with it.' But why should our
>children die for their
cause?"
>Hundreds of people
gathered here on Thursday to lay to rest the last
>bodies that had been left
at a temporary mass grave in Tyre, burying
>them in a grave site on the
edge of a tobacco field overlooking a
>valley in an emotional
ceremony that brought much-needed closure to
>the town's ordeal. The
bodies had languished in the temporary grave for
>more than a week after the
cease-fire, until the residents decided
>it was safe to return.
>For many, the gathering on
Thursday also became a chance to air
>grievances against
Hezbollah, whom they blame for having brought
>trouble to their quiet
community.
>Criticism of Hezbollah is
rare in southern Lebanon, where the group
>exercises significant
influence and economic power. Villages like
>Marwaheen - which largely
supports the Future Movement of Saad
>Hariri, son of the
assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri -
>often miss out on
Hezbollah's largess but pay the price for its
>politics.
>"There is no way for us to
stop them," said Ibrahim, who lost
>several relatives in the
attack and who asked that his last name not
>be used for fear of
retribution. "These are not people you can say no to."
>On July 15, Israeli
loudspeakers across the border warned villagers
>to evacuate after Hezbollah
began firing rockets into northern Israel
>from near the town. The
families gathered in the center of the village
>and then went to a nearby
United Nations base for shelter, but, they
>said, they were turned
away. Many returned to the village, but one group,
>including Ms. Abdullah,
drove in two cars in the direction of Tyre,
>a larger coastal town that
they hoped would be safer.
>About five miles away, one
of the vehicles broke down, Ms. Abdullah
>said, and was soon struck
by a shell from an Israeli gunboat.
>Israeli helicopters then
fired rockets at both cars and continued with
>machine gun fire, she said.
Only four people survived the attack, she said,
>including herself, her
niece Lara, who lost her entire family, and
>two neighbors.
>Ms. Abdullah said she
walked with shrapnel wounds in her leg and stomach for an hour and a
half to get help.
>The town's troubles began
sometime last year when a local resident
>who had converted to Shiism
was appointed the local representative
>of Hezbollah, residents
said. Soon strange things began to occur:
>strangers came through for
late-night meetings; trucks would come
>and go in the middle of the
night; and a suspicious-looking white van
>was parked at each end of
the village.
>When the war broke out,
rockets flew out of the village and a
>hilltop nearby, and the
fears of many residents that trouble would come grew stronger.
>On Thursday, one of the
suspicious white vans was sitting next to the town mosque. The van
had apparently been hit by an Israeli missile,
but the launching platform
for a Katyusha rocket could still be seen
>inside. A rocket that lay
next to the van a few days earlier had
>been removed. Elsewhere,
villagers showed off a weapons dump that included heavy
>machine guns, mortar
rockets and launchers, and numerous other
>rockets left behind. Part
of the weapons store had been bombed, but a much
>larger store down the
street was intact.
Residents said Hezbollah was
using them as human shields. "One man in this village was able to
turn all our lives upside down for just a bit of money," Ibrahim
said. When the villagers left, he said, the fighters did too, as
evidenced by the limited damage done to the
>town.
>"We want the army and the
United Nations to come in here and protect
>us," he said. "Israel is
our enemy, but the problem is that
>Hezbollah gave them an
excuse to come in and kill our children."
>In an emotional two-hour
burial, a train of ambulances carrying the
>bodies drove into town with
sirens blaring and recitation from the
>Koran playing over
loudspeakers. Survivors ran to the vehicles.
>"That was my dad," Ms.
Abdullah said pointing at a poster on a wall
>in town depicting her
family members who were killed. "That was my
>brother, and that is his
family. I wish God had taken me with them."
>Ms. Abdullah stood outside
as the coffins were carried to a makeshift staging ground for the
burials, waving farewell to each body as it was carried past.
>"Farewell, father," she
cried as his coffin moved past, fighting
>off her cousins who tried
to hold her back. "Farewell, brother, I will miss you."
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