The lights aren’t completely out in Lebanon yet. The bloggers in Beirut are still typing furiously away in front of their computer screens.
Although Israeli air strikes have taken out much of the country’s infrastructure and cut electricity to parts of the capital, people here are turning to the internet as one of their information sources — and to get their views out.
Under siege and unable to leave, their missives underscore the rage, fear and desperation being felt by the population as the bombardments continue.
For them, its blogs versus bombs. And the frequent sense of victimisation is palpable.
One writer, identified as Bob, AKA Beirutus, said in an entry filled with spelling errors — but also with anger — that Israel was guilty of incomprehensible brutality.
”The Israeli maddness has been pretty ugly, shattering people, targetting fleeying cars turning whoever inside of it from babies who have no idea who Hezbollah are into charred bodies and turning people into mere pieces of flesh scattered all over.”
His site, 12manypeaches.com, which links to an online petition (julywar.epetitions.net) urging people to ”Save the Lebanese Citizens”, added that he could not understand how Israel has ”no problem in cornering a whole population of a sovereign nation, and killing them”.
Another blogger, Mustapha of BeirutSpring.com, laid the blame on the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets at Israel and threatening the Jewish state with more strikes if the Israeli offensive continues.
Calling that strategy ”foolish”, Mustapha said that ”Israel has the capacity to crush Lebanon, but Hezbollah is relatively just an annoying mosquito”.
He urged Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah to ”hand in your weapons and quit your gang-ho stupidity”.
Hardig, a Swedish student stuck in Beirut, has started a site called Beirut Under Seige, on which he wrote that ”in between their raids, there is really nothing to do, other than think about what a depressing situation this is”.
He said he loved Beirut and was reluctant to flee.
”I think it’d be more risky for me to try and make it to Syria on my own, and as for the organised evacuation of Swedish citizens, I think there are others that have been more directly affected by the bombings and therefore should be evacuated before me.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Hardig said he was finding it hard to change his habits, particularly when going to the supermarket to prepare for a long hunkering down period.
”I’m terrible at shopping for war. I keep glancing at the wine bottles, then realising that that’s hardly emergency products! Well, it could be I suppose, but I’d rather keep my head clear with the situation as it is.”
The blog index site www.technorati.com noted that ”Beirut” mentions in the blogging community skyrocketed after Israel began its offensive last Wednesday.
Not all the bloggers were in Lebanon. At least one said he was in Iraq — on the site Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome.
”I am not going to play ‘my war is better than yours’ but it is enough to say that by Iraqi standards the whole crisis in Lebanon still seems more like a walk in the park,” he wrote.
”But as time goes on and the heat rises, I can only wonder if Lebanon will see the same sad scenes and massive tragedies as Iraq.” – Sapa-AP