Sound and Light Show on Parliament Hill

[Ayiekie]

Did you know Beirut was called the Paris of the Middle East, once?

I happened to be by Parliament Hill this morning. I'd planned to take some photos in order to toss at some international friends of mine, but as it turned out, there was more to photograph than I anticipated.

There was a protest against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. There were, I'd estimate, about 300-400 people there. Some carried Canadian flags, some the flags of Lebanon.

I saw one or two Palestinian flags as well.

People (even Canadians) might not be aware of the fact that Canada actually has a special relationship with Lebanon. In the mid-1970s, during the civil war there, Canada was one of the few countries to adopt special immigration measures to assist Lebanese fleeing the conflict. Later, in 1989, Canada set up an office in Cyprus to help with family reunification and refugee applications. The net result is that Lebanese immigration to Canada exploded; they are easily the largest group of Arab immigrants in Canada, with over a quarter-million living here as of 2002.

This goes both ways. Aside from Sri Lanka, there are more Canadian citizens currently in Lebanon than any other country; estimates range from 40,000 to 50,000, twice as many as the US or France. So it's been quite a concern here since the current conflict exploded.

The protest was peaceful, and bordered a pavilion trying to raise awareness of breast cancer. The people were largely friendly; stirring Lebanese music was played. But they're angry, too, no doubt about that. A speaker up near the Parliament Buildings with a microphone repeatedly called out "Stephen Harper, take a stand! Canadian's blood is on your hands."

I've been following this situation pretty closely in the news. I'm not really making this post to argue for one side or the other. Some issues and crises', I find, are easy to take a firm moral stance on. Some are not. I find this one of the latter. It's easy to understand the plight of the Lebanese civilians who are being harmed or killed by Israeli attacks. It is easy to understand the situation of Israel, who have a chance to cripple Hezbollah permanently. In twenty or thirty years, when it's obvious what the effect of this was, it will be simple to decide what was the right thing to believe. Now, not so much. My girlfriend is Jewish; I watched a woman carrying photos of a niece killed in an Israeli attack. I don't feel like condemning either, nor carrying a sign supporting either country or cause (nor do I necessarily feel either represents a "cause"). This, much like the tragedies in Africa, is a situation that makes one feel sick to one's stomach, but for which there is no clear-cut solution, or even position to take. That is, for me. Clearly, many feel differently.

It's easy to forget, for those of us in the First World, just how incredibly lucky we are to be there. I've been to the Third World, but I still forget that fact sometimes too.

As I said, this isn't really to argue a point. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. But for right now, watching this simply made me thoughtful. Perhaps some of you might find these pictures make you thoughtful too, or that they're just interesting. If not, that's of course fine as well.
Stay safe out there. And remember how lucky you are.