By Weedah Hamzah Jul 10, 2007, 11:31 GMT
Bint Jbeil, Lebanon - A year after Israel's war with the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, the Lebanese government and Hezbollah - which is well funded by Iran - appear to be in competition for the hearts and minds of the Lebanese public.
Hezbollah was prompt in assuaging the anger of its followers, announcing two days after the 33 days of war ended on August 14 that it would give 12,000 dollars to each of the families that had lost their homes in the destructive conflict.
The money, which would cover each family's rent for a year and enable them to buy furniture, was paid - in cash - to up to 15,000 families.
About 20 square kilometres of Beirut's southern suburbs, a cradle of Hezbollah support, was destroyed or badly damaged in the intense fighting. An estimated 500,000 residents - most of them Shiite Muslims - lost their homes.
But with money that poured in from Iran, they were able to survive.
'Now our yearly rent is going to expire. The new school year will be ready to start. Up until now there have been no promises from the government to pay us,' said Amina Zeineddine, whose building was flattened to the ground in the area of Haret Hreik.
'We trust Hezbollah, but we do not trust this government,' she said. 'It has been a year now and nothing has been accomplished. Hezbollah has done their part, and it is the duty of our government to rebuild our homes.'
The Lebanese government however, argues that there are legal considerations.
'We have started paying the people who lost their homes in southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs,' a government source said. 'But the delay comes because we are checking all the papers and legal ownership of the houses that were destroyed.'
'A number of the buildings which were destroyed lack the right legal papers. We only want the owners to legalize their papers and we will pay them accordingly and equally like others,' said the source, who requested anonymity.
Prior to the 2006 war, Hezbollah was widely respected by most Lebanese for successfully standing up to Israel and forcing the withdrawal of Israel's self-imposed security zone from southern Lebanon in 2000.
But after the Shiite group's cross-border seizure of two Israeli soldiers in 2006, a section of the Lebanese public blamed the Shiite group for the subsequent Israeli retaliation between July 12 to August 14, with an estimated 5,000 bombs dropped per day.
Lebanese homes, infrastructure and an already frail economy were destroyed in the war.
The massive damage caused by the July War, as it is known in Lebanon, was not confined to Beirut's southern suburbs but touched most villages close to the border with Israel, such as Bint Jbeil, less than five kilometres from the Lebanese-Israeli border.
'I have come back to work on rebuilding our home, so that my family would be able to spend the summer here,' said Bint Jbeil mayor Ali Beydoun, standing in front of his partially rebuilt house.
He is as angry with the current Lebanese government as with the Israeli military.
'I think our prime minister should come and see the extensive damage caused by the war. This will help him picture how much the people are suffering in this area in order to return to their land and houses,' the mayor said.
Rather than receiving direct funds from the Lebanese government, Bint Jbeil is being rebuilt primarily with outside money.
'Our government is not helping much,' Beydoun complained. 'Most of the rebuilding was done with the help of Qatar and Hezbollah as well as Iran, but not from our own impotent government.'
According to government estimates, the owners of houses that were completely destroyed will receive 40,000 dollars, with compensation for lesser damage awarded according to an official assessment.
Assessment teams have counted more than 10,000 homes entirely destroyed, 1,255 partially destroyed and 73,000 damaged by the time fighting ended.
Sources close to the government said that within the first six months that followed, substantial progress had been achieved in providing financial assistance to those most affected, with repair to infrastructure, the reopening of schools, and cleaning up of environmental damage.
But Prime Minister Fouad Seniora said Lebanon needed go beyond reconstruction.
'Lebanon now seeks our help to realize the hopes and dreams of its people, and its potential as a positive force in a troubled region,' he said.
The Israeli offensive on Lebanon had a heavy burden on the already ailing Lebanese economy, with economists estimating about 2.4 billion dollars in direct damage plus another 700 to 800 million dollars in indirect damages.
According to economist Louis Hobeika, 'instead of the 6 per cent growth that had been projected for 2006, the economy declined by 5 per cent.'
Due to the war, around 120,000 people lost their jobs and now face poverty. Another 200,000 people - many of them young and highly skilled - have emigrated, further draining the country of its potential.
But despite all this, Hobeika believes that 'in Lebanon, you have to take into account that after many wars, people are familiar with this kind of catastrophe and always return - they are trying to return - to normal life as quickly as possible.'
But it remains to be seen whether the government can help them achieve this. If not, there are others waiting on the sidelines that appear more than willing to help.
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