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<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2010/04/2010413115916795784.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2010/04/2010413115916795784.html<br>
<br>
</a>Wednesday, April 21, 2010 <br><br>
</font><font size=4><b>Lebanon's women warriors<br>
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<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2010/4/15/20104151273414112_20.jpg" width=565 height=300 alt="[]">
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<br><br>
During Lebanon's civil war - and Israel's invasion and occupation of
Lebanon - some women fought on the frontlines.<br><br>
These women proved determined and were often resourceful in the weapons
they used.<br><br>
In <i>Women Warriors</i>, Lebanese Muslim and Christian women reflect on
the days when they were fighters and talk about how it has impacted their
lives.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
<b>Eileen Boulus, former fighter with the Lebanese Forces </b> <br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2010/4/14/2010414115531154734_3.jpg" width=270 height=180 alt="[]">
<br>
<b> </b> <br><br>
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.<br><br>
She was about 12 years old when she first held a weapon.<br><br>
She moved around living a military life and fought whenever she was
needed.<br><br>
"I don't regret it, no, why should I have regrets? I know I've
defended my neighbourhood, my family and myself.<br><br>
"My favourite weapon is the AK-47 rifle with a rounded steel rifle
stock."<br><br>
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.<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
"I don't think I will ever carry a gun again."<br><br>
<b>Soha Bechara, member of the Lebanese Communist Party </b> <br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2010/4/15/2010415115122342797_3.jpg" width=270 height=180 alt="[]">
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<b> </b> <br><br>
Soha Bechara secretly joined the Lebanese Communist Party in 1982, the
year in which Israel invaded Lebanon.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
Under the guise of being an aerobics instructor to his wife, Bechara
frequently visited Lahad's house.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
But eventually, motivated by feelings of obligation to the resistance,
Bechara shot Lahad twice in the chest<br><br>
"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."<br><br>
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.<br><br>
She was finally released in 1998.<br><br>
"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."<br><br>
<b>Fadia Bazi, former fighter in the war of the camps</b> <br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2010/4/20/2010420142048699580_3.jpg" width=270 height=180 alt="[]">
<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
"When the battle ended it was like the window of my memory had
opened completely.<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
"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."<br><br>
<b>Maysloon Farhat, former Syrian Social Nationalist Party
fighter</b> <br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2010/4/14/201041411583779734_3.jpg" width=270 height=180 alt="[]">
<br><br>
Maysloon Farhat became a fighter with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party
(SSNP) when she turned 14.<br><br>
"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."<br><br>
She married another fighter and continued to fight while pregnant, but
her husband was killed.<br><br>
Her son was arrested in 1985 for carrying out an operation against the
Israelis. He was imprisoned for 12 years.<br><br>
"I raised him to struggle, to be a fighter ... and I will raise my
grandchildren in the same way."<br><br>
<b>Jocelyn Khoueiri, former fighter with the Phalangists</b> <br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2010/4/14/201041411573113580_3.jpg" width=270 height=180 alt="[]">
<br><br>
Jocelyn Khoueiri became an iconic image of women fighters for the
Christian Phalangists.<br><br>
She first held a gun in 1973 when she began military training, inspired
by concerns about the Palestinian armed presence in Lebanon.<br><br>
After fighting broke out between the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) and the Lebanese army, Khoueiri took part in several battles.
<br><br>
"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. <br><br>
"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."<br><br>
<b>Wafa'a Nasrallah, fighter in the Lebanese Resistance Brigades</b>
<br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2010/4/14/2010414115943685580_3.jpg" width=270 height=180 alt="[]">
<br><br>
Wafa'a Nasrallah is a female fighter in the Lebanese Resistance Brigades,
which is linked to Hezbollah.<br><br>
Her brother was a fighter and through him she learned how to use and love
weapons.<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
"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."<br><br>
She has spent her whole life fighting and still holds on to her
weapon. <br><br>
"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".<br><br>
"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."<br><br>
<b>Sana'a Mehaidli, former SSNP fighter</b> <br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2010/4/14/2010414115856857621_3.jpg" width=270 height=180 alt="[]">
<br><br>
Sana'a Mehaidli was a member of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party
(SSNP) in Lebanon.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
Before she joined the SSNP, she worked at a video store, where she later
recorded her will.<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
"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."<br><br>
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.<br><br>
<b><i>Women Warriors</i> can be seen from Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at
the following times GMT: Wednesday:</b> 1900; <b>Thursday:</b> 0300,
1400; <b>Friday:</b> 0600; <b>Saturday:</b> 1900; <b>Sunday:</b> 0300.
<br>
Source: AL Jazeera <br><br>
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