News about rebuilding the Magen Abraham Synagogue are being spread.
I’m getting calls from friends in Europe informing me about the news.
It is already in newspapers here in Lebanon. Friday I read it in the French newspaper, L’Orient Le Jour.
Now that the Lebanese government has given its consent, and the Hezbollah has “agreed”, and that there is a beginning of a funding, the process of rebuilding of the Magen Abraham Synagogue has begun, and this might be as early as October.
The cost of the renovation is estimated at 1 million dollars. 40 000$ have already been collected. Apparently Solidere(the Lebanese joint-stock company in charge of planning and redeveloping Beirut central district), is going to fund some 100 000$ (as it has done to all the worship places that needed restoration).
It seems the Safra family (of Edmond Safra, National Bank of New York) is going to participate also, as well as 2 banks whose founders are Jews of Lebanese origins.
This is wonderful news. But I am really pessimistic about it…
If Hezbollah has given its ok, do they realize that Lebanese Jews might not be against Israel, like they want us to be? Can they tolerate that? Or would we be charged of treason?
Does any Jew feel safe enough in Lebanon to go and pray at the synagogue (would we find a rabbi?)? Would we live our Judaism in the open and therefore risk our life and the lives of our family because of some extremist groups like hezbollah or the PSNP (Syrian national socialist party) who are the equivalent of the nazis?
When, in 2006, the incidents of the caricatures of Mohammad occurred in Denmark, Muslims went into Christian resident areas in Beirut (Ashrafieh) and sabotaged homes, cars and burned down the embassy along with a few office buildings around it.
Can we afford taking the risk of living on the edge?
If anything happens in the world between Jews and Muslims or between Israel and other arab countries(which is frequent), will they take it out on the minority of Jews who dared come out of the dark?…
The answer is obvious.
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2 comments:
what surprises me is that you are mostly afraid of what you call "groups like hezbollah or the SNSP", but that at no time you say anything about the sunnite fanatics (the ones who burned the danish embassy you re talkin about), those sunnite salafiste fanatics who are ideologically very close to al-qaida, and who are led and financed by countries such as KSA which, for some reason, is considered by the USA and israel the role model of moderate arab states !!
that s a paradoxe i can not understand.
sure there is a problem with hezbollah, but it is a political and war problem (and yes it will take ages to recover from it if ever). but the problem with the sunni alqaida like fanatics is more religious since, war or not war, they consider you as unworthy to live. this is the real danger.
I think what hezbollah has done here by "agreeing" as you say is a great step. thing won't be just ok like that. we need small steps to be able, later on, to bring people back to the road of piece.
most lebanese don't even know there still is a jewish community in beyrouth. most lebanese born and living in lebanon have never seen a jew. it is easy to hate someone you don t know, you have never seen, and have heard lots of bad and only bad stories about.
so i think that with initiatives such as restoring the synagoge, or projects such as thejewsoflebanonproject.org , it s a first step, to bring back the jews of lebanon in the picture, in a country where all minorities suffered one day and still do, and where we need a lot of work to go foreword, one day.
you asked if you could "afford the risk of living on the edge". I understand your fear. but you have stayed in lebanon despite everything, so i think you have been brave enough, and should go further and grasp this initiative, grasp the "agreement of hezbollah and other lebanese groups to say out loud that your here. many of us will be ready to welcome you "back" in our community. because many of us, even though not jews, have suffered a lot of this hatered between communities in lebanon.
Be proud, be strong, be faithfull in you lebanese friends. and most of all, be optimistic.
Sorry for this long comment, but i ll end it with a quote. once i heard shimon perez tell butros ghali in a french talk show that unlike him he was optimistic about the future of the region and the peace process and added that : "Do you know what is the difference between the optimistics and the pessimistics? they both die the same way, but they live very differently".
So peace for you, your community, and your country, this beloved lebanon. and a lot of optimisim for a bright peaceful future.
everyone has the right to practice there faith open, with fear of what others think.
but you seem to care what others think about you supporting isreal.
i think the more important thing is...do you support your country (Lebanon)? its people? the christians and the muslims? because if you dont ...then that is another issue.
i have heard of jewish familys in Beirut who pretend to be muslim or christian to save the the hassle...of those few left..i think it would be a gret thing should able to practice there relgion openly. but the most important...is that they love lebanon...and the lebanese people no matter there relgion...before a country outside of lebanon.
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