Immigrants see hope for homeland

By Scott DavisHanan

Salamey still remembers the smell of burning flesh on her way to school in Beirut, Lebanon.
Walking with high school classmates in 1989, she saw the mortar shell hit a car less than a mile away and later glimpsed the victims.
"There were bodies everywhere," said Salamey, now 34, a Lebanese immigrant who lives in Saginaw Township. "You never knew when they were going to start bombing."
For decades, that was story of Salamey's homeland -- skirmishes between Israelis and Syrians, constant bloodshed among religious and terrorist factions.
But this week's move by Syria to begin withdrawing troops from Lebanon gives Salamey hope the country will become fully independent -- and eventually a land her four children can visit in peace.
"It's not just talk. It's action," Salamey said. "(Syrians) should leave Lebanon. Lebanon should be free."
With her husband, Ahmad, Salamey watched TV coverage Tuesday of Syrian troop withdrawals -- one phase of a pullout announced by Syrian officials Monday. Syrian troops entered Lebanon in 1976.
The 14,000 troops are to pull to the eastern Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, and then to the border before the countries negotiate a final withdrawal. Lebanese officials say Syrian troops should arrive at the border by late March.
Syria has come under increasing world pressure to leave the country since the Feb. 14 assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
"(Withdrawal) is a good thing," said Ahmad Salamey, who immigrated to America from the war-torn country in 1975. "(Lebanon) has a strong army now, and they can take care of themselves."
But not all Lebanese immigrants are happy to see the soldiers leave.
Habib Kheil, a Lebanese immigrant who lives in Saginaw Township, said he is worried the removal of troops will spark renewed fighting among factions in Lebanon. Until Hariri's assassination, Lebanon had stayed relatively peaceful in recent years.
"I'd hate to see it go back to the chaos of the 1970s and 1980s," said Kheil, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a professor of mathematics and computer science at Delta College.
"Destruction is quick. Rebuilding is very slow. That's what worries me."
Although Syria's occupation of Lebanon was at times brutal, Hanan Salamey agreed Syria achieved some good by stabilizing Lebanon in recent decades.
Today, she said, troops no longer are needed, but she worries Syrian secret police will remain along with hundreds of thousands of Syrians, who she believes are a drain on Lebanon's economy.
"We want those people out of there more than the soldiers," she said, referring to the secret police who have reportedly kidnapped and tortured dissidents.
The Salameys say they know obstacles remain on the road to independence. Thursday, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud reappointed pro-Syrian Omar Karami as the country's new premier -- 10 days after Karami resigned under pressure.
Hanan Salamey and Kheil say they were shocked by Hariri's assassination last month and viewed it as a major setback for the nation. As prime minister, Hariri rebuilt much of the nation's schools, roads and hospitals in recent years, and had remained a staunch advocate for Lebanon's independence.
Some blame Syria for the assassination. Others blame Israel.
Kheil said he is concerned about further violence in the country.
"That's what worries me the most," said Kheil, father of an 8-year-old girl and 6-year-old boy. "It's scaring my kids now. They went to Lebanon two years ago, and they are worried about going back now."
Scott Davis is a staff writer for The Saginaw News