Lebanese Israelis Reflect on the War

ISIFIYE, northern Israel – As she watched the desperate escape from Lebanon of thousands of tourists and foreigners, Rabiye Abu Sahad remembered her own flight from the country six years ago: Keys still in the ignition, her family abandoned their car and fled on foot over the Israeli border.

“I know what its like to run from that country,” she said of her motherland.

Rabiye’s husband was in the South Lebanese Army (SLA), an Israeli-backed militia that helped provide security and fight Hizbollah during the Israeli presence in Lebanon from 1982-2000. Israel’s unilateral pullout from Lebanon in 2000 was sudden.

They didn’t have much warning, so they grabbed a bag of valuables and sped to the border where they joined a traffic jam of other SLA fighters and their families also trying to escape Hizbollah revenge. But word soon trickled down the line of cars: Hizbollah terrorists were on their way to the border. That prompted many terrified Lebanese to flee on foot. Approximately 6,000 sought refuge in Israel.

Unlike many Israeli Arabs who have expressed sympathy for Hizbollah, several Lebanese who spoke with Israel Today expressed their appreciation of Israel and even supported its assault on Hizbollah. They spoke fondly of both nations, peace and the hope to one day see their families who are just a few miles away, but just out of reach; returning to Lebanon would mean certain imprisonment and possibly death.

Abu Sahad, a Druze, is now an Israeli citizen along wither her husband and three children. She hoped Israel would finish the job and wipe out Hizbollah. “I don’t like them,” she said. “They’re the reason I had to leave.”

Still it was hard to sit on the more peaceful Israeli side while the rest of her family sat under the threat of Israeli warplanes. She watched the news all day for the first 15 days of the conflict especially after her parents’ phone lines went down. Finally she decided to put on music instead and try to get her mind off the constant worry.

“I have to hold myself together mentally for the sake of my own family,” she said. “I have no relatives here, no one to turn to.”

Ferriel Amacha, 35, cried openly as she talked about her loneliness in a safe but foreign land. She too barely escaped Lebanon with her husband. But she now frets over her family, all still in Lebanon.

Meeting family, even in a neutral country, is impossible for Lebanese in Israel. They worry about the consequences for their family in Lebanon if they are found to have had any contact with “Israelis.” The fear of Hizbollah—from spies to Katyusha rockets in the north—still dominates life for many former Lebanese.

“They’ve ruined the whole country [Lebanon],” Amacha said. “I want them out no matter how. Get rid of them and then Lebanon can be a country again.”

Rabiye hopes Israel will regain control of the south and that she would one day be able to see her family again. “I don’t see that there’s any solution to it—only God.”