[News] Lebanon's women warriors

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2010/04/2010413115916795784.html

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Lebanon's women warriors

[]



During Lebanon's civil war - and Israel's invasion and occupation of 
Lebanon - some women fought on the frontlines.

These women proved determined and were often resourceful in the 
weapons they used.

In Women Warriors, Lebanese Muslim and Christian women reflect on the 
days when they were fighters and talk about how it has impacted their lives.

Through the eyes of women who fought on the frontlines, this film 
offers a fresh perspective on the Lebanese civil war and a 
contemporary insight into Lebanon today, the role of women there, and 
the relationship between women and violence.

Eileen Boulus, former fighter with the Lebanese Forces
[]



Eileen Boulus became a fighter with the Lebanese Forces militia after 
her sister was killed in a bomb blast and her brother paralysed by a 
bomb that hit their house.

She was about 12 years old when she first held a weapon.

She moved around living a military life and fought whenever she was needed.

"I don't regret it, no, why should I have regrets? I know I've 
defended my neighbourhood, my family and myself.

"My favourite weapon is the AK-47 rifle with a rounded steel rifle stock."

She now works as a bus driver. In the evening she lights a coal fire 
and says she never really gave up the simple military lifestyle.

"Fire and war are like each other. Fire is raging and the war is 
raging. Fire will not die out on its own. You have put it out 
yourself. In the same way the bullets will not stop until you stop 
the fighting.

"I don't think I will ever carry a gun again."

Soha Bechara, member of the Lebanese Communist Party
[]



Soha Bechara secretly joined the Lebanese Communist Party in 1982, 
the year in which Israel invaded Lebanon.

She left college in 1987, and in 1988, at the age of 21, attempted to 
assassinate General Antoine Lahad, the leader of the South Lebanon 
army (SLA), a Lebanese militia that operated in southern Lebanon with 
the support of Israel.

Under the guise of being an aerobics instructor to his wife, Bechara 
frequently visited Lahad's house.

She struggled to carry out the operation at first. "I was then about 
to pull out my gun but instead I pulled out a tissue and left the 
house without carrying out the operation. That was the first time I 
had felt such a dilemma."

But eventually, motivated by feelings of obligation to the 
resistance, Bechara shot Lahad twice in the chest

"I felt it was my duty to take part. If we did nothing, I said, we 
Lebanese would suffer the same fate as the Palestinians."

Lahad survived and Bechara was arrested and held without trial in the 
infamous Khiam prison, a brutal detention centre in the mountains of 
southern Lebanon created by the Israelis and managed by the SLA.

She was finally released in 1998.

"There is no sense of personal revenge between me and Antoine Lahad. 
No personal revenge. There was an invader and we fought against this invader."

Fadia Bazi, former fighter in the war of the camps
[]


As a seven-year-old, Fadia Bazi watched her father teach her older 
brothers how to dismantle a Kalashnikov and put it back together 
again. That was how she learnt how to use weapons.

 From the age of 16, Bazi fought in the war of the camps, a 
subconflict within the civil war in which Palestinian refugee camps 
were besieged by the Shia Amal militia.

"When the battle ended it was like the window of my memory had opened 
completely.

"For my whole life I had worn men's clothes. But suddenly I changed 
dramatically - a 180 degree turn. I started wearing skirts, I started 
wearing dresses and high heels. I fixed my hair the way I liked it. I 
bought make up .... I started noticing other girls my age and the 
lives they led. I wanted to live like them.

"I was forced to be a fighter. My father taught me when I was seven 
years old. I don't imagine raising my son in the same way my father 
raised us. The situation now doesn't justify me teaching my son to 
use weapons to defend himself.

"I should be the one to defend him as I am the one who brought him 
into this life. That would be the only reason why I would ever carry 
a gun again."

Maysloon Farhat,  former Syrian Social Nationalist Party fighter
[]


Maysloon Farhat became a fighter with the Syrian Social Nationalist 
Party (SSNP) when she turned 14.

"I love weapons a lot. They are a part of me. I feel they are part of 
my blood. This gun is our honour and our dignity."

She married another fighter and continued to fight while pregnant, 
but her husband was killed.

Her son was arrested in 1985 for carrying out an operation against 
the Israelis. He was imprisoned for 12 years.

"I raised him to struggle, to be a fighter ... and I will raise my 
grandchildren in the same way."

Jocelyn Khoueiri, former fighter with the Phalangists
[]


Jocelyn Khoueiri became an iconic image of women fighters for the 
Christian Phalangists.

She first held a gun in 1973 when she began military training, 
inspired by concerns about the Palestinian armed presence in Lebanon.

After fighting broke out between the Palestine Liberation 
Organization (PLO) and the Lebanese army, Khoueiri took part in 
several battles.

"I think that women can be better fighters than men. Because a woman 
has inside of her all the energy of mothering, and all the energy of 
life, and all the energy of love. This energy is used to defend the 
people she loves.

"Training to fight was a good experience for me, a positive one; it 
suited my personality and my nature. The training gave me - as it 
gave everyone else - a kind of serious strength. It made me ready for 
anything in the future."

Wafa'a Nasrallah, fighter in the Lebanese Resistance Brigades
[]


Wafa'a Nasrallah is a female fighter in the Lebanese Resistance 
Brigades, which is linked to Hezbollah.

Her brother was a fighter and through him she learned how to use and 
love weapons.

"I loved guns ... not like little boys who play with toy guns. Unlike 
them, I would clean all the parts of the gun, put it away and hide 
it. I felt that guns were something very important.

"My first military operation was planting a bomb to blow up an 
Israeli convoy of six trucks. At that time, girls played a bigger 
role than young men, as girls were less likely to be caught and 
arrested by Israeli soldiers."

She has spent her whole life fighting and still holds on to her weapon.

"My third daughter is 11 years old, she is a fierce fighter. She says 
'I am my mother's daughter'. Her military name is "Batool".

"My youngest boy, Hussein Abu Ali, is six years old. He knows how to 
shoot a gun; he can descend a building by a rope; he wears a military 
uniform and marches like a soldier. He can crawl like a fighter. He 
can dismantle a weapon and tell you exactly what each piece is used 
for. Those children alone are an army regiment."

Sana'a Mehaidli, former SSNP fighter
[]


Sana'a Mehaidli was a member of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist 
Party (SSNP) in Lebanon.

In April 1985 she carried out a suicide attack against an Israeli 
military convoy in south Lebanon. Two Israeli soldiers were killed 
and two others injured.

Before she joined the SSNP, she worked at a video store, where she 
later recorded her will.

"I am very comfortable with carrying out this operation. I choose to 
do this because I am fulfilling my duty towards my land and my 
people," she said in her recorded will.

"I want to send a message to my mother and ask her for forgiveness as 
I have left without saying goodbye. And I hope that she will pray for my soul.

"Mother, you taught me to love, to sacrifice and to show respect. Now 
I am loving my country, sacrificing my life and respecting the people 
of the south."

Twenty-three years later, as part of a prisoner exchange deal between 
Israel and Hezbollah, Sana'a Mehaidli's remains were returned for 
burial in her hometown in south Lebanon.

Women Warriors can be seen from Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at the 
following times GMT: Wednesday: 1900; Thursday: 0300, 1400; Friday: 
0600; Saturday: 1900; Sunday: 0300.
  Source: AL Jazeera




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