Causes, if they are to prevail, exact a price. As a collective commitment to the pursuit of a common goal, no cause advances without human and material sacrifice. Along that road, an identity is fashioned, and a collective self takes shape, founded on the individual’s submission to the greater good. Or so the champions of these causes say.
But as people are asked to continuously sacrifice, the cause itself continues to suffer multiple defeats. In the space of a little more than a month, Israel has killed more than 2,000 Lebanese, wounded thousands more and destroyed entire villages. As for the over 1 million displaced, return is unlikely anytime soon, both because of the danger that still exists in their towns as well as the fact that many don't even have homes to return to, nor have basic services like water and electricity been restored.
Despite this devastating toll, talk of a "just and sacred cause" continues to bellow from the bellies of its champions. Meanwhile, internal divisions over questions of war and peace continue to plague the nation. Oftentimes, these divisions manifest in ugly, sectarian slurs hurled across televisions. Some Lebanese refuse refuge to displaced compatriots from the "wrong" sect.
