Nice work, keep them coming....Maybe one day we'll visit Europe by car, vi Lebanon,Syria,Turkey. That will be nice :)

Oh, I hope so. Can you imagine how great that would be?

lisa! You look so gorgeous and relaxed. I am so glad to finally see those clips.

Great videos. thanks for the translation. What a fascinating trip -- two trips to Beirut. You do such excellent work. I am enjoying this immensely. And I have to say this - girl, you got balls !!

I don;'t speak Hebrew but just listening, you speak like a person with total, flawless fluency.

Thanks for your great contribution.

Dan C.

Dan, you always leave such supportive comments. Thank you!

Now I see why all of you lust after that Zvi dude, seriously cute!!!!
Ditto on the excellent Hebrew, especially in the second interview.

I actually wrote a response to the Daily Star about their original article - and especially my disappointment that they not focus on how depressing it is that in Lebanon, a country which wants to move forward, that interviewee was so scared of repercussions that he retracted his whole interview. I also pointed out that by beating that false drum and saying you had endangered him, they were in fact endangering him more by using him to prove a point.

I'll happily write more directly to the editor if you like, and I would encourage anyone else too - especially Lebanese.

And how typicall that the article was written by a foreigner in Lebanon, it is the "activist" types who seem to be the most obsessive, without the excuse of growing up in a paranoid atmosphere.

Hey Lisoosh -

Re. Zvi: so now you can join the Noorster-Lisa fan club. ;)

Re. the Hebrew: Chen chen. ;)

Re. the Daily Star: I'd be really grateful if you would write to the editor, and I extend the request to anyone else who is as revolted by the Star's article as I am.

Just FYI, a Palestinian-Lebanese journalist who worked with Rinat in Lebanon, and who knows Nour personally, has written a long letter of protest to the editor of the Star. He reiterates my point about the Arab media having free access to Israel, and rakes the so-called professors of journalism over the coals for declaring their support of limiting press freedom. I've read the letter, and it rocks. If I can get Rinat's permission, I'll publish it in this thread.

Will write, and would love to read the guys letter. The more the merrier I think.

Also wanted to say that I found the bartender talking about the "Jewish book" and planned expansion just incredibly sad. It is a perfect example of how desparately important communication across that border really is.

lisoosh - you're absolutely right about the importance of communications. I've encountered those same claims about "Israel's plans to expand from the Prath to the Hidekel" in discussions with Arabs on the Internet. Apparently, this is a common belief. I'm sure there are also Israeli misconceptions about the Arabs. Communications across the border are the only solution.

Shuv, kol hakavod.

All the more for maintaining your sweet cool w these two so-called interviewers. They appeared to be Tweedledee and Tweedledum, those fictional characters in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass" and in other tales. Like Carroll's characters, these look-alikes (tie, jacket, hairstyle, glasses, paunch, shirt, age) never contradicted each other; instead, they both uttered the most vacuous comments and blandest questions. Oh, yeah — it must have been the cleavage that affected their brains.

At least Mister Cutie Pie got to say a few meaningful words at the closing. And the footage (yours, I reckon) was so interesting. Thank you!

Tamar - LOL! I have to agree that that interview was not one of Yaron and Moti's finer moments. Y'think it was the cleavage? ;)

Zvika redeemed himself from the motorcycle trip in the Jordanian desert debacle with his closing comments, though...

Finally!

I've been dying to see what all these videos were about (in English). Thank you so much for taking the time to translate Lisa.

Boy, that was fascinating! I have a lot of comments, questions, you name it. But overall, great job!
The 2 older guys in the second clip did ask some pretty vacuous questions, and seemed kind of incredulous about the fact that us Lebanese are not savage monsters.
Then again, it served as a pretty good counterpoint to the bartender guy going on about the Jewish conspiracy to take over Greater Israel. Goes to show how ignorant both sides can be. We have a LOT of educating to do on both sides, and this story of yours is a huge step in that direction.

Bravo again!

Okay, I got permission from Rinat to publish the letter. I've omitted the journalist's name at the end, at her request. A little background: he grew up in Brazil, but was born in Lebanon to Palestinian and Lebanese parents and returned to Lebanon as a young adult. Rinat said she was very surprised that he wrote the letter, because he is virulently anti Israel and quite buddy-buddy with the Hezbollah guys down south.

*******

Dear editor,

I`ve read the Nour Samaha's article about the two israeli journalists,
which one of them was also brazilian. I think Samaha's article got the
point. But there are some things that the public probably doesn't know.

I am a Brazilian journalist and a BBC Brasil world service reporter in
Lebanon. Nour Samaha knows me.
After reading the article I decided to write you and I hope this comment
reaches Nour, since I don't have her e-mail.

Rinat Malkes, the 'israeli' journalist is in fact Renata Malkes, who came
to Lebanon as part of the crew of TV Record, one of the leading tv
stations in Brazil. After we discovered she was also israeli, we saw thet
she lives in Israel/Palestine for only 5 years. For us, brazilians, she is
Brazilian. And, we don't check the background of fellow coleagues, this is
police's job, general security's job at the airport at the moment they
gave her the visa.

She works as a producer and also writes for the Brazilian newspaper O
Globo. They contacted the Brazilian Consulate and I met them through the
Brazilian Ambassador. We were with Brazilians, and brazilians don't care
about what religion, etnic group or family's name a person has).

I true understand that the case of the two israelis in lebanon was imoral
for the lebanese, and in their view there was a lack of ethics (since
we`re living in such conflicts in the middle east and we are prevented
from doing our job because of rules and old believes in security). I
cannot disagree with them...it's their right to feel fooled or insulted
and i respect it.

But I couldn't agree with some of the points in the article proposed by
the professors. I will give my reasons.

First of all, Renata Malkes came to Lebanon on assignment to TV Record and
O Globo. If she acted unethic also writing for yediot ahranot is another
problem.

Second, until I know (and regarding my own experience). There are many
places in the south that Hezbollah has to give permission. The false idea
of the lebanese Army controlling the south is something that most Lebanese
really wanted to believe but doesn't reflect the reality.

Third, I couldn't believe when I read what the 'geniouses' professors
said. CONTROL over foreign journalists? Well, this is the last step for a
regime. And what suprises me that one of them was a journalism professor.
Where`s Press Freedom? Obviously, press freedom doesn't mean break the
laws. Many journalists think they are above the law. But if one of the
journalism's purpose is to monitor the centre of powers, governments and
their acts. How can we say that we must serve governments purposes?

Fourth, it quite obvious that there are many people who visited or worked
in Israel before coming to lebanon (not my case, since I came from Spain
and before from Brazil). So, we know many people change their passports to
avoid not getting visas to Lebanon or Syria. Isn't that breaking the law?

Fifth, I agree that due to the situation Israeli journalists should not
come to Lebanon undercover (but why not coming according the law?). but
here's an interisting fact. Many media groups from arab countries,
including hezbollah's Al Manar, have arab correspondents
in Israel/Palestine...that many journalist there work
for some media and also contribute to arab media organisations like Al
Manar. So, isn't that the same in Malkes's case? So, aren't they breaking
the law of their own countries? what's the difference anyway?

In my opinion, the fault is from the government. But I agree with one of
the professors when he said that there's little to do. Only hope that
their reports are fair. I am half palestinian and as so, I would like to
report in Palestine and Israel. As a JOURNALIST. It is not up to me get
involved in the politcs. And I would be glad if I could do my job without
breaking laws. JOURNALISM should last at the end (respecting people and
being honest of course). But, if the kind of journalism being taught at
the lebanese universities is the one proposed by one of the professors.
Poor lebanese press.

Best regards,

After we discovered she was also Israeli, we saw thet she lives in Israel/Palestine for only 5 years... For us, Brazilians, she is Brazilian. e were with Brazilians, and Brazilians don't care about what religion, ethnic group or family's name a person has.

But "Israeli" isn't a religion or an ethnic group. It is a nationality.

True, but I think we need to bear in mind that this journalist is obviously not a native English speaker, so this error may not have been intentional.

Just saw you on International Correspondents! It was on at 10:30 am here in Melbourne, Australia. So I wanted to be the first to congratulate you on presenting your side of the story so eloquently, calmly and convincingly. And it was a thrill to actually get to see you on CNN!

Lisa, I'm sorry. Really I am. I still don't think, even with the above letter written by this Leb/Pal journalist, that Rinat's entering the south of Lebanon was warranted or ethical. It's one thing to enter a country that's divided by opinion in a city we know opinion actually IS divided or entering an area everyone knows (!) an Israeli would not be welcome (understatement) - I think that s-o-m-e hitchasjvut should be in place.

Therefore, although it sounds hypocritical, I view your reporting mission as a step forwards, but cannot agree with that of Rinat (not Rinat personally, but every Israeli that would have entered that region).
To approach hizbAllah supporters/members their wishes should be respected as well, because without respect there is no hope in this region.
I wonder when we start to learn this...

and btw: I don't mean respect for Hizb's 'ideology' of course - but in human-to-human relations.

Lisa, i really think your behaviour throughout this whole ordeal has been very selfish. Lebanon is not your a liberal democracy. To get your fifteen minutes of fame, you seriously endangered your talent. You obviously dont understand what kind of society this is. It is a paranoid society. It is unreasonable. The people you interviewed could have faced serious consequences. Ok, it looks like they may have escaped unscathed, but did you seriously think through how you were just using and playing with these people's safety? Thats journalism 101. And you have also caused alot of problems for legitimate professional reporters who report from Lebanon (and who actually try and make an effort to understand the situation.) It's already hard enough trying to operate here with the paranoia. But now, do you realise what we will go through when we pass through Beirut airport now, thanks to your little visit? It shouldn’t be this way but it is. This is the reality. This is Lebanon. Thanks alot. You've launched your ‘journalism’ career through seriously endangering your interview talent and have now also seriously endangered the working environment for countless foreign correspondents who work tirelessly in this country to try and bring an accurate and fair picture to the world.

Hello Anonymous - or should I call you Ramez Maluf, since you have pretty much regurgitated exactly what this so-called professor of journalism, who, incredibly, advocates limiting press freedom, said during the CNN interview?

I fail to see how a taxi driver and a cafe barman would face "serious consequences" for telling a journalist (and I did identify myself as a journalist to both of them) that they like Nasrallah and don't trust Israel. Perhaps if I had quoted the Lebanese who told me they hated Hezbollah and wished Israel had finished the job last summer, you would have a point. However, I was very careful to avoid quoting anyone who might have said something that would put him at risk.

I did not "launch" my career with my report from Lebanon. It was already launched - several years ago. And if Al Manar, the Hezbollah TV station, had not broadcast my report and made such a big deal out of it, no-one outside of Israel would have known about it.

So if you are going to go around blaming me for "seriously endangering the working environment" for foreign journalists in Lebanon, I suggest you direct your blame at the Hezbollah guys who are so effectively intimidating journalists in Lebanon.

As for the "countless foreign correspondents who work tirelessly" in Lebanon to "try and bring an accurate and fair picture to the world" - well, perhaps you should try harder to be accurate and fair. Because given that most non-Lebanese people seem to have the impression that the majority of Lebanese are either homeless, impoverished victims of the summer war, or militants running around with rocket launchers on their shoulders, it seems that you are not doing a very good job at all in presenting an accurate and fair picture of Lebanon.

And finally, I am rather shocked that one journalist would level these ludicrous accusations at another journalist. Where I come from, journalists support one another's efforts to report the truth.

Whoever you are,

I am Lebanese and I see absolutely nothing wrong with Lisa's behavior. I find it shameful that a journalist, or any private citizen for that matter, needs to feel threatened in any way by coming to our country. What does that say of our country? Freedom? Bah!

The same comment goes for the "consequences" you mention when it comes to the Taxi driver and bartender.

Such intimidation tactics sound oddly reminescent of something one would see in a mob movie. ("Don't talk to the cops or else there will be consequences").

The language is staight out of the segregationist South ("We don't want any black people around here").

Is that where we envision Lebanon? In the company of oppressive regimes and cultures, where people are bullied and intimidated? Where foreigners are told where they can or can't go, who they can or can't talk to? Where everyone and anyone is suspect people must not speak what's on their mind for fear of "consequences"?

No sir, I aspire for freedom of speech and movement. I aspire for a country where private citizens can speak their minds without fear of retribution and where anyone can go wherever they please and talk to whoever they want.

Go back to the dark ages, North Korea or Libya, if that's the lifestyle you prefer. But spare the rest of us this utter nonesense about morality. It is not Lisa's actions that are immoral, it is the bullying and intimidation (the "consequences" you allude to).

Bad Vilbel, I was hoping you - or someone else like you with an astute mind - would come along and slam-dunk the anonymous jerk who claims to be a journalist concerned that Lisa's behavior undermines the ability of Lebanon-based foreign correspondents to do their job. If he/she wants to be an effective journalist, then he/she needs to do the things that make journalists effective, and stop whining about what he/she thinks stand in the way. Journalism is about truth and finding ways to bypass the obstacles to truth. If you can't do that, then you need to go haul manure -- or just shut up.

Thanks Bad Vilbel. You have been a mainstay of reason and compassion in the conversations since before last summer.

What I don't understand is how ethics come into this. Both Lisa and Rinat have been accused of unethical behavior because of their visits to Lebanon. Why?? I am a university professor and for years I have been asking my school of journalism colleagues (at several institutions) about whether or not they teach ethics in their curriculum. Universally, they don't. One commenter even let Lisa off the ethical hook while condemning Rinat for her incursion into the south of Lebanon for unethical behavior. What is the difference ??

I am worried about the fabulous Rinat, and I wonder if the removal of the blog wasn't a little extreme and not necessary. It's archived anyway, beyond the control of the creator. (Beyond all this, I miss The Noorste. I want my Noorster back -- I can't stand it -- Aaargh!!).

Whew!!
Dan C.

Dan, don't worry about Rinat and Noorster.

Noorster's just taking a little break and she'll be back soon with a new and even more fabulous blog.

Rinat is now writing a blog for O Globo (in Portugese); I see her nearly every day (we live just a couple minutes' walk from one another) and she's fine - a little tired, but otherwise okay.

And I second everything you wrote about BV's intelligence and compassion.

That's the thing I don't understand either. There is no ethics issue here. Those complaining about ethics (if I understand them correctly) are using the following argument: If you don't want me in your backyard and I sneak in there without letting you know, i'm "trespassing" (legal definition) and therefore, one could say my ethics are questionable.

But the flaw in that logic is in the hypothesis that "You don't want me in your backyard". First off, it is not YOUR backyard. South Lebanon is not the property of Hezbollah or Hezbollah supporters. It is the property of all Lebanese. It is a public space. Let's replace "your backyard" with a public space like "your favorite restaurant" in the above metaphore: You do not want me going to your favorite restaurant. I go to it anyway. Have I broken the law? NO. Are my ethics questionable? Nope.

The second flaw in the logic above is that Rinat "sneaked" into the backyard in question. That is outright fallacy. I am assuming that Rinat was authorized by the Lebanese government (or through whatever laws governing foreign journalists) to go to South Lebanon as a reporter for El Globo. No "sneaking" there.

So, I'll repeat again, there is no ethical issue here.

And that's not even getting me started on the fact that, ethics or not, I don't want Lebanon to be a state where freedom of the press is curtailed, and where people live in fear and intimidation (see my previous post). But that's just me and what i wish for. The ethics issue on the other hand is a plain old fact.

I think the ethical point is that perhaps Lisa and Renat did break the law by going into Lebanon. You could argue that the law is unequally enforced (see the letter by the Lebanese journalist a few comments up), or that the law itself is unethical, but the law was still broken. Then you have a civil disobedience situation, where they may have pursued a greater moral good by breaking an immoral law. I don't live in either Lebanon or Israel, so perhaps I am lucky that I naturally struggle to distinguish Beirut from Tel Aviv, Lebanese from Israeli, etc. But when I think about people from outside the US (where I live) coming here to take a stand against a US law they disagree with, I get a bit worried (even if I think it is a bad law as well). So I can understand why some people in Lebanon would be offended/angered/scared by an Israeli breaking one of their laws.

But I am thrilled that Lisa and Renat went to Beirut - it is really hard to get credible information about the region, and I believe a greater good was in fact served by their trip. Although I don't think they viewed the trip as an kind of aggressive act, I think many people in Lebanon will have gotten something positive out of it in spite of themselves.

I don't believe Lisa or Rinat broke any laws entering Lebanon or conducting their interviews.

They both entered on foreign western passports (Canadian and Brazilian, I believe) which is a fully legitimate and legal means of entering Lebanon.

I still don't see the problem. No laws were broken by anyone. Some people in comments above objected not on account of laws being broken, but on account of "they locals didn't want Rinat there" (a claim, which I would argue, but that's neither here nor there). While the author of this objection is certainly entitled to their opinion, it remains just that: an opinion. No laws were broken and no ethics were sacrificed as far as I can see.

So again, I don't see the problem.

Tsedek -

I am afraid that I must disagree. Southern Lebanon is supposed to be under the control of the Lebanese government and army. In fact, it is under the de facto - although illegal - control of Hezbollah, which exercises strict control of the press. If Hezbollah was willing to allow Renata Malkes, O Globo reporter, into the villages that they control illegally, then they should also have been willing to allow Rinat Malkes, Yedioth Ahronot reporter enter. I say this not as an Israeli, and not in order to score points off the Hezbollah, but as someone who believes in a free press.

Rinat did not show disrespect to anyone. Her reporting is accurate and fair. Its aim is not to humiliate the Hezbollah, but to inform Israeli readers - just as Al Manar informs its viewers about what is going on in Israel, via its own correspondent.

Exellent CNN interview Lisa! .... saw the repeat this morning at 05.30GMT .The AUB Prof was a real twit at the end,lol

Akiva! You got up at 5.30 a.m. to watch the interview? I am very touched. ;)

BTW, in response to your question over at PJM: yes, I am going to contact the editor of the Star.

Fascinating interviews, Lisa.

Thanks, Dave.

Hi Lisa
I am a Christian Lebanese ,i saw your interview on CNN and you were 100% right and i think the Lebanese journalist knew that too but i can understand his situation,he couldn't say anything else, we all know how easy is to destroy his career at this critical period in Lebanon.
I want to thank you for showing your people and the world how beautiful is to live in Beirut in spite of everything ,i respect your courage it was amazing what you have done, and you don't have to be sad for not getting into Dahiah "the official city of Tehran" HEHE.
I hope by the second round of the war that your army will more concentrate on Hezballa territories and leave our infrastructure intact because we tried so hard to rebuild our country.
Each time your army leaved a large unnecessary destruction" which can avoided " to our infrastructure and economics that we, the educated Lebanese and not Hezballa, builded It with our money ,our taxes ,our international Debt ,you have to know that each time thousands of educated Lebanese leaved their country and on the other hand the area of "Tehran city " have been larger and larger .The main point is: your army have no right to destroy everything on his way by each strike on Lebanon .
At the end i want to tell you that we know that your people don't know which kind of people we are but now you know and thank you for telling them about us it was great.

Hi Anonymous Lebanese -

Thank you so much for letting me know that you understand my intention in making that report: to show Israelis what Beirut is really like.

I hope that Lebanon comes through its current political crisis and continues to build and prosper. And you're right - Beirut is a great city.

does ur new matey know about the post about his trip to jordan?:)

Lirun - Probably not. ;)

But I've got no problem with him knowing. I'm pretty sure he can handle constructive criticism, if it's given in the right spirit.

Well done, that was good reporting. Thanks for the translations.

Thanks for dropping by, Lisa, come back often :) *hugs*

Dear Lisa,
I am Lebanese. I wanna congradulate you for the fine work. Its good to see how Beirut looks like. Its good to transmit the real image og Beirut, called once (Eastern Paris).
I think we have to overcome the bloody History between the two nations, I think it should start by a goodwill step from the Isreali side. We should live as neighbours and exchange thoughts not bombs.

Lisa, Please stay in touch. I adore you as a person and as a journalist.
I would like to have your email, so that we can stay in touch. I cant post mine for security reasons.

Ciao

You have become al manar's "Anna Nicole Smith babydaddy" saga. Surely they have more important things to write about than your report but they can't look away from your fabulous bosom;)

I love reading all the comments and your replies. Lots to learn here as the conversation unfolds...

QUESTION: Why is a Jewish man head of the Arab Desk at the Israeli TV station that hosted you? If this fact weren't so unpleasant and such a disconnect (kinda sorta like an American station with a white person heading up the African-American desk — not that I've heard of such a desk). What, do you surmise, is going on? TIA.

Hi Tamar
There are many of us who consider ourselves Arab Jews, if that is what you mean. My family roots are Iraqi and go back many generations.

Rgds
K Shamash

The "Arab Desk" refers to "Foreign desk focusing on the Arab world".

Hence the only requirement to head the desk is to be knowledgeable about the Arab world. Just as the Foreign Desk guy need not be foreign, just speak foreign languages maybe.

There is no race issue involved; See correspondents Suleiman ash-Sha'fi (Channel 2) and Khaled Abu-Toameh (Jerusalem Post).

I take offense at your comparison. Since Arabs have their own countries and national identit(y|ies) the analogy to African-Americans is void. Your comparison implies Yekhezkeli is "resident expert on those crazy natives" whereas the depth and nuance of his coverage demonstrates quite the opposite.

Tamar, the same station (channel 10) has an Arab Muslim Israeli anchorwoman, Lucy Aharish.

Do you also find it "unpleasant" that Aharish covers stories involving Jews? Is this a "disconnect"?

Over on Liza's blog there is an interesting discussion of the decision by the Israeli Minister of Education that the Palestinian narrative of the events that took place in 1948 will be taught in "Arab-Israeli" schools along with the Israeli version currently taught. My point was that Arabs may read history and current events very differently than might, for Example, Israeli Jews. Look what Al Manar and Al Jazeera did with the excursions to Lebanon by Lisa and Rinat -- although some of that was obvious willful distortion, might not some of it be just seeing events differently? I don't know.

But that's not where I'm going with this. Arab-Israeli schools? And now along comes K. Shamar of Iraqi extraction who identifies himself as an Arab Jew on this blog and says that many others do as well.

This raises a question that has long been bothering me (and will probably embarrass me for its ignorance). Why are most people in the Middle East, except for the Jews of Israel, referred to as Arabs? As far as I know, the Egyptians are not Arabs, the Lebanese are not Arabs, the Palestinians are not Arabs, and for sure the Persians of Iran are not Arabs.

Sure, they speak Arabic (and Farsi in the case of the Persians). Is that what makes them Arabs? Egypt was conquered (overrun) 3 or 4 times by Greeks, Turks and Arabs, but conquest by Arabs does not make one an Arab. Or is it the religion, which is predominantly of Arabic origin? I don't know. Maybe it's a moot distinction and irrelevant. But I wonder. Does an Iraqi Kurd see the world as a Kurd or an Arab? I think Kurds are Kurds. What about Druze or Copts? How far apart are we in the peace-making arena because of multiple realities carried around in the heads of participants? And is it forever?

I know that Lebanese and Israelis are capable of thinking on the same plane on tough issues -- Lisa and others have demonstrated that for a long time now. But I wonder just how sticky this wicket is destined to remain.

Dan C.

Iranians are obviously not Arabs. Kurds are not Arab. As for the Lebanese, it depends which group you speak of ie Druze. From my impressions from some of the other subsections ( not Druze, Armenian, etc ), they identify themselves as Arabs. True, especially from the historical aspect there ( as well as the prevalence of more fair haired individuals ), you can see the residual effect of previous mixing. As for Egyptians not being Arabs, where did you get that from? Maybe with the exception of those from the south of Egypt, I would not say they are fully the decedents from those mummies. I'm not getting even the point of your rambling. In the general, big picture, none of are exactly "pure" [insert preferred ethnic background]. There was some sort of mixing at some point in our gene pool.

First of all, these distinctions are important and you shouldn't apologize for philosophizing about them. I remember once reading some forum post by a guy who said "Middle-Eastern" to refer to everyone but Israeli Jews, as if Israelis are not residents of the middle-east*.

Essentially your first premise was the correct one. Arabic-speaking peoples, as a rule, tend to identify themselves as Arabs. As Kurds' national language is Kurdish and most Iranians speak Farsi, these are not Arabs, not by their own definition, not by anyone else's. IIRC southern Iran is populated by Arabic-speaking people, Shi'ite I think, who are Iranian Arabs.

All Arab countries can date their histories back to pre-Arab times. As the Egyptians have the pharaohs and the Iraqis have the Babylonian empire, modern-day Syria used to be the home to multiple empires from the Assyrian to the Seleucid (Hellenistic). The Tunisians and the Lebanese can take pride in their respective Carthiginian and Phoenician pasts, which are closely related. Funnily enough, Zionism in the 1940's saw the rise of Hebrew Canaanism, who were Jews who identified themselves as more Canaanites than Jews!** But the ancient is just one layer of identity of many in a complex patchwork for middle-easterners, competing with the changes in medieval and modern times such as the Islam-other religions rift, the Shi'a-Sunni rift, national boundaries imposed post-WWI, the rise of Arab Socialism and then Islamism.

The Druze are actually an interesting exception to the "Arab identity rule", so-to-speak. Most Druze in Israel identify themselves as part of the Druze people, who happen to speak Arabic. But in other countries, the Druze often identify themselves as Arabs (probably not "Arab first", though).

* And the term "Middle East" is a topic for much semantic debate too; "Southwest Asia" is less eurocentric but it seems residents of the region don't really mind the eurocentricism
** See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaanites_%28movement%29

What a fascinating story, Lisa. I will continue to follow it, on your blog as well as all over the blogosphere, where it is creating quite the stir!

BHG

hi lisa..can u post the cnn interview on internet. take care. thx

Hi Georges -

Link to the CNN interview is here.

Best,

L.

Lisa, congratulations, and more power to you in all you do! Ignore the idiots, and be well.

(and sorry for being a latecomer...)

I'm jealous.
I didn't get this sort of controversy when I crossed over the fence.

Well, maybe if you'd been interviewed on Israeli television... ;)

Hi Lisa,

Congratulations on completing your mission for the Lebanon Department of Tourism. ; )

You have a boatload of guts. If the Hez had caught wind... I have the feeling they don't like the smell of Estrogen!

Twice! Astonding. Thanks for the English trans. Somehow I suspect there is more of a story here than two sound bytes for the evening news

My helmet is off to you. : )

Bill

finally took a look at the clips today (internet video makes me nervous). you handled yourself very well, & i've gotta say i'm jealous of your accent! i couldn't roll my reshes like that in a million years.

great work, congratulations :)))

Lisa, where ARE you? Don't tell me you'll start your next blog entry with "OK, the secret can be told now, I'm just back from a trip to Syria", hey :D

I realize I am jumping late on the bandwagon, but I need to point out a couple of inaccuracies. There is no checkpoint at the entrance to Dahiyah. The security is concentrated around the security square which has been bombed to rubble. There, they definitely ask for ID. Dahiyah, however, is much larger than that. It also has a middle class of its own. In fact, there are neighborhoods within Dahiyah - such as Hayy Madi - that are almost completely middle class, so don't fall into the Lebanese trap of stereotyping the area.

As for the south, I went with a blond person all the way to Maroun al-Ras, photographed across the border and in all directions and no one so much as gave a poop.

I realize that you did not want to take the risk and go to Dahiyah or the South to ascertain things for yourself, which was wise, but I am sure you also do not want to propagate misconceptions in your reporting.

Other than that, great job. I hope you have started a trend!