For more than 20 years Israel's allies in Lebanon helped boost the Jewish state's occupation with regular broadcasts over the radio. Today the Israelis are gone, but the "Voice of the South" is back with its decidedly Israeli view of the region.
The new station began broadcasting for the Christian and Muslim holidays and is called "Mediterranean Basin Experimental Radio." But, broadcast like the Voice of the South on 756 kilohertz medium wave, few Lebanese believe the name-change is more than cosmetic.
"The presenters are all the same. We all recognized their voices instantly, with no doubt whatsoever," said a resident in the zone Israel occupied for 22 years.
Voice of the South was run by the South Lebanon Army, Israel's proxy militia during the Israeli occupation. The station headquarters, just into Lebanon from the Israeli border, was hastily dismantled on May 24, hours before the last Israeli troops left.
Mediterranean Basin Experimental Radio comes through with great reception in the former occupied zone, and the station can be heard from 50 kilometers (30 miles) away. The radio is most popular in Christian villages, the key centers of support for Israel during the occupation.
With tensions still high with Israel, the station's rebirth has predictably infuriated officials in Lebanon and in Syria, the major powerbroker in Beirut.
Qassem Hashem, a member of Lebanon's parliament who is part of Syria's ruling Baath party, told AFP that Mediterranean Basin Experimental Radio was "a flagrant interference in Lebanese political life and reveals Israel's intentions to continue its aggression against Lebanon."
And the station hardly shies away from the issues that enrage Israel's foes. The radio's political program kicks off with Lebanese songs of nostalgia and then usually dwells on the need for Syria to withdraw its 35,000 troops from Lebanon, a demand of many Lebanese Christians.
Other favorite topics on the radio are the internal situation in Syria, particularly rifts within President Bashar al-Assad's family and the ruling clique, along with "the danger of Iran, whose sole goal is to export Islamic revolution to Lebanon.”
But the biggest draw to the radio station is not politics, but family. Some 4,000 Lebanese fled to Israel following the May withdrawal, likely fearing retribution from Beirut authorities or Islamic militants, and many of the refugees left behind relatives.
Each day dozens of people, mostly women and children, send messages to their loved ones left behind in Lebanon. The broadcasters identify their first names and their home villages, but never their surnames.
"Hello, my name is Karin. I am from Rmeish and I am 11 years old. For the holidays I want to send my greetings to my friends and my instructor Siham and I hope to come back to school as soon as possible," begins one message.
"I give kisses to my grandmother, my grandfather and my aunt. We are in good health; don't worry about us," says Lara, from Qlaiaa.
Camille, apparently a former pro-Israeli militiaman, is slightly blunter: "I greet my loved ones in Ain Ebel. My wife and my children are doing fine and send you kisses for the holidays. We hope the situation will turn around soon and we will see each other soon in the homeland we miss."
The station broadcasts in the morning and the evening with a slogan: "We are with you to reduce distances and heal the wounds."
And, despite the political situation, some Lebanese feel no guilt in tuning in.
"What do you want?" asked Adel, a carpenter in Marjayoun. "Is it a crime to hear your brother's or your cousin's voice when you can't get the news any other way?" -- MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
