Lebanon Update
Elizabeth Kucinich was kind enough to respond to a comment I'd left asking for more info. Here's what she said:
She also linked to Kucinich's original report, A Message From Qana.
Read it and judge for yourself. I'm happy Elizabeth was kind enough to respond, and it's helpful. Some of my worst fears are laid to rest in that their trip appears to be born out of empathy, and I can appreciate that. As they went along with a trip sponsored by the American University in Dubai, they personally may not have had to deal with many of the Hizbollah-types. But I still think it was unwise because the trip also functioned as a PR win for Hizbollah by the mere fact that an American Congressman showed up to legitimize them. Kucinich has always had integrity, of a certain cort anyway. I don't doubt that he means well. But, like a lot of his actions, I do not see what good could have come of this. If anything, to show up on the scene in Hizbollah-land it could only bolster the perceived strength of Hizbollah. And what good does that do?
Hello Mike,
Thank you for your comments and questions. Our visit to the region was a personal trip with no notification to the State Department. We wanted to meet the people, breath their air and open our hearts to theirs, in Lebanon, Israel and Palestine.
We went to the areas with an open heart and that is exactly the response we received back from the people. It was an incredible journey that completely changed our lives.
We speak of human unity, but in Lebanon particularly we really felt it. In the dust and rubble of destroyed homes, we were greeted with love, a craving for dialogue and peaceful existence.
We saw only cooperation between each of the religious communities in Lebanon. Religious divide is a theme that the media likes to portray, but we saw none of it.
People in the villages of South Lebanon had lost everything, yet had the capacity to express their dignity and humanity which was truly life transforming for us.
We made the trip so that we could learn about the people and the politicians, the policies and the reality on the ground, with the aim of finding a way of learning how to bring parties in the region together.
She also linked to Kucinich's original report, A Message From Qana.
Read it and judge for yourself. I'm happy Elizabeth was kind enough to respond, and it's helpful. Some of my worst fears are laid to rest in that their trip appears to be born out of empathy, and I can appreciate that. As they went along with a trip sponsored by the American University in Dubai, they personally may not have had to deal with many of the Hizbollah-types. But I still think it was unwise because the trip also functioned as a PR win for Hizbollah by the mere fact that an American Congressman showed up to legitimize them. Kucinich has always had integrity, of a certain cort anyway. I don't doubt that he means well. But, like a lot of his actions, I do not see what good could have come of this. If anything, to show up on the scene in Hizbollah-land it could only bolster the perceived strength of Hizbollah. And what good does that do?
posted by Michael at 11:05 AM
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