By Tyler White | Sports Writer
It’s always difficult when war takes place. It hurts to watch civilians caught in the crossfire of two forces. It’s even more difficult when there’s an entire side of the story that doesn’t get highlighted as much as it should in the midst of war.
For about the last six months, Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian groups have been at war along the Gaza Strip. As tensions have ebbed and flowed, it’s been sad to watch the destruction and devastation — but what about the stories we don’t see in nearby countries?
A day after the Israel-Hamas war began, Hezbollah — a political party and militant group in Lebanon — led an attack on Israel to take advantage of the situation. From that moment on, the historic tensions between Israel and Lebanon were heightened even more.
Before I go any further, it’s important for me to provide some background about my life. I was a missionary kid for about half my life and spent all of high school in Lebanon. For a while, it was my home, and I still consider it a place near and dear to my heart.
The reason I share this is so that I can better explain my position. When it comes to moments in life like this, I think it’s important to be informed about everything that is going on in the world, not just what the media puts on the front page.
While Hezbollah was the one to initiate the attacks between the two nations this time around, it has been sad to watch it all unfold. While I don’t condone what Hezbollah did, it is still sad to see how both sides have continued to act out of aggression.
On Oct. 13, 2023, an Israel Defense Forces tank fired two shots in the direction of a group of Lebanese journalists, killing Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. This was deemed to break international law and was just one of the many acts of aggression from Israel to Lebanon.
On Jan. 2, Israel conducted a drone airstrike on Dahieh, a Beirut neighborhood. The attack targeted a meeting between Lebanese and Hamas officials and assassinated deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri. This in particular struck a nerve for me, because I have many high school friends who live in Dahieh. It was a surreal moment to read about, considering it was a neighborhood I had been to many times before, in which I never thought of something like that happening.
I could go on and on about the different events that have occurred, but that isn’t the point of what I want to write about. Yes, it is heartbreaking to see all of the destruction taking place, but what’s been harder for me to see is just how little people know about what’s been going on in Lebanon.
This can be applied to many other situations throughout history. People pay attention to the “main event” taking place (in this case, the Israel-Hamas war) but fail to see what’s going on around the rest of the world.
I don’t think you need to know every detail going on in every situation. That’s an impossible expectation. However, one thing I encourage you to do is broaden your information intake. Look beyond what the front page of the media gives you and look deeper at the situation.
