Wednesday, November 27, 1985/The Battalion/Page 11
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Lebanese woman, children
starting ‘new life’ in Texas
Associated Press
SHERMAN — It’s difficult to
imagine living through a bloody
civil war like the one raging in Leb
anon. Americans are used to read
ing newspapers and seeing video
images of war and death in other
countries, but somehow it never
touches home.
But to someone who has lived
there during 10 years of hell, it is all
too real.
“I came here because there is no
life in Beirut,” says Maha Ailafneh,
who was born in Beirut. “Three-
quarters of our life is spent in shel
ters, escaping the bombs. It’s a mis
erable life in Beirut. It’s no life.”
At 28, Allameh came to Sherman
with her children to see “if there is a
possibility of starting a new life in
the United States.” Her husband
remained in Beirut, where he main
tains equipment in an all-too-busy
Beirut hospital.
“When I came here, there was so
much fighting, there was no one to
replace him,” she explains.
As her children, 4-year-old Naim
(whose name means Glory) and 3-
year-old Farah (Joy) watched car
toons, Allameh spoke of life in Bei
rut, and life here.
“The first thing my children
asked about (when we arrived in
Sherman) is ‘Where’s the shelter?’
and I told them ‘They don’t use
shelters here — It’s a different
country.’ ”
The civil war in Lebanon began
“The first thing my chil
dren asked about (when
we got to Sherman) is
‘Where’s the shelter?’ and
I told them, ‘They don’t
use shelters here. — It’s a
different country.’ ’’
— Maha Allameh, a Leb
anese immigrant.
in earnest in 1975 and has focused
on Beirut, the country’s capital and
former “Paris of the Middle East.”
The fighting now is mainly between
rival religious factions, she says,
each afraid of losing political
power, or being persecuted for reli
gious reasons.
“The strange thing about it is
people get used to the war,” the for
mer stewardess and bank clerk said.
“They’d spend all night in the shel
ter hearing bombs, and get up the
next morning and dress and go to
work.”
She has been living in Sherman
with her brother ana sister-in-law,
both U.S. citizens, in a quiet home
on a quiet block with a quiet school
just down the street.
In Beirut, it’s different.
“We live right next to the bor
der,” or Green Line, that divides
Moslem West and Christian East
Beirut,” she said. “We’re in the
middle, near the airport. It’s mostly
a Shi’ite (a Moslem sect) area, and
Christians don’t like Shi’ites, so they
keep bombing the area.
“My kids have spent most of their
lives m shelters. We’re almost al
ways sleeping in the shelter. If
there’s nothing (no bombs), we
sleep at home, and in the middle of
the night hell would break out, and
we’d be on our nerves until morn
ing.”
One problfem facing Allameh if
she decides to move to the U.S. is
the wait for a work visa. The ear
liest she could obtain a green card,
according to Immigration officials,
is four years from now.
Yet she still hopes to bring her
family to America. Her sister-in-
law, Mary Newman Said, explained
why many Lebanese hope to come
to the U.S., despite the wait.
“When my husband and I were
in Beirut, people would ask us
about America, and get this look on
their faces like ‘Oh, America!
That’s the promised land,”’ she
said.
Yet most stay in Beirut, lacking
the money, green card, or will, to
leave their home.
“It’s a very hard thing, just to
? jve up and start a new life” in a
oreign country, Allameh said, not
ing now family and culturally
oriented the Lebanese people are.
Godfather's Pizza
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Aggies from Lebanon keep sense of unity
(continued from page 1)
her return to the United States for a
few days.
Hamade says the Lebanese at
A&M share a love for their country.
She sttys they also find a common
bond in that they all feel homesick
for their country.
She adds that she thinks it will be a
long time before the situation in
Lebanon is resolved.
“I don’t have any hope for Leb
anon right now,” Hamade says. “E-
ven if the war ends, you still have the
system messed up.”
Roula Freiha, secretary-treasurer
of the LSA, says group members
find a common bond in that it is eas
ier to relate to others facing the same
situation.
“The way I feel since I’m out of
Lebanon is that I feel closer to those
who are also out of Lebanon because
there are so few of us,” Freiha says.
“When we come together we feel al
most like we’re home because we
share the same culture.”
Freiha, whose family moved from
Beirut to Houston four years ago,
also says the bond between the Leb
anese students here is strong enough
that a change of setting would not
break it.
“Even if we were in Lebanon I
think we would still all be friends,”
she says.
Ziad Tassabehji, vice president of
the LSA, says the Lebanese students
here are drawn together through
common feelings they share.
“Everyone reels the same,” he
says. “They miss their country and
their friends.”
Tassabehji also says the tensions
abroad do not carry over to the Leb
anese on campus.
“Here, you kind of forget those
problems,” he says, “because you’re
not exactly in contact with all the
problems.
“You have enough other prob
lems over here like getting your
money on time and making your
grades.
“One important thing is that edu
cated people are usually less inter
ested in politics.”
He says the people fighting in the
streets of Lebanon are not among
the country’s more educated.
The plans for life after A&M vary
among the Lebanese students.
Freiha says she would like to go
back to Lebanon when everything
gets back to normal.
Khalil says, “I plan to go back no
matter what.”
Hamade says she enjoys the op
portunities available in the United
States and is unsure about returning
to Lebanon anytime in the near fu
ture.
Tassabehji says the Lebanese want
to rebuild their country.
“We would like to go back to Leb
anon one day and try to make things
better and help as much as we can in
the way we can,” he says.
Fares echoes those sentiments.
“We’re trying to show that Leb
anon is a good country,” he says.
“It’s nothing like the media show it
to be.
“Our generation’s main goal is to
go back to Lebanon and rebuild it
and make it a better place.”
A Feast
At The Hilton
Lord and Lady Raleigh will throw open the
castle gates Dec. 4-7 for a Yuletide feast in
the splendor of renaissance England. MSC
Madrigal Dinners presents jugglers, wen
ches, madrigal singers and a hearty meal to
put you in the holiday spirit. And should a
touch of the devil get into you-you may pur
chase wine from the lord’s private stock.
Tickets are available at the Ticketron outlets
in Dillard’s and Rudder Tower. Tickets are
$18 for the public and $14 for senior citizens
and A&M students. Call 845-1234 for more
information.
Overflowing With Good Cheer December 4-7
it
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