More obstacles and Welcomes  
The second obstacle is I can't think straight. Why? I arrived in Germany in the middle of summer, although the Dog days temperatures up to 37° Celsius were uncomfortable for working, the people in general were happy. I met so much smiling and open minded people chatting with me about my time in the Middle East and life in Germany. But even the scared ones which were surprised seeing someone coming back from there alive where curious to know more about. "So happy Welcome in Germany" i heard a lot and it was funny cause this reminded me on the omnipotent "You are Welcome in Jordan".

But what gave me a hard time to write something in this blog is the contrast between German reality and the horrible view over Middle East "reality" provided by the very vivid German media. O.k. there were problems in Germany like the melting tar-bitumen streets and a problem with fresh water supply for drinking and as refreshment for atom generators as well but after all I witnessed no acute things besides the everlasting discussions about the social reforms and the number of unemployment people. But the problems of everyday life here in Germany seem to be a joke compared to other realities, or?

In contrast to this friendly (sleepy) calm political and social atmosphere I was listening to the worst news from Lebanon which are since beginning of July till now topic number one in the media! Then ever I turn on a serious radio station like Deutschlandradio or open the Spiegel Online I am confronted with news, comments, documentaries and live interviews, photos and a lot of analysis around it. The headlines and experts explanations about the situation seem to be reloaded from a second to the other. So I am confused by assimilating all this kind of news. Refusing any war and the human and environmental catastrophe in Lebanon was the point of view I shared most probably with all my Jordan and Lebanese friends. But while people from Middle East blaming the west not to help when Arabs are die (like the often quoted blog of a young Iraq women which is now published in Germany as book and audio book: Qana Massacre...) other serious independent voices blaming Europe especially us Germans of being anti-Semitic towards Israelis by always criticising and advising them (e.g. the article by Henryk M. Broder which shows somehow very good how German perception and opinions are in the moment: The Harmless Children of Hezbollah?) to stop the war. Anyway I think the pacifistic view of Germany nowadays is the same like during Iraq war. So is a German pacifist (thanks God that we had this movement in the last century) necessarily an anti-Semite?

Being far away from the Middle East my emotions rising up and down like the temperature these days here. For 80% chance we are expecting now rainy cloudy days under a grey sky and temperatures around 18° Celsius. This isn't easy for sensitive minds. So then emotions are confusing you try to think objective but how can I? Whenever I listen to Arabic and Israeli or international media pro or against war or Israel I find very true interpretations about the conflict in the Middle East. After all this overloading media input which also let us in the West ignore the Lebanon-News slowly I am not really sure if interpretations of who is victim and committer will help us. The world is not black and white. But it seems that the western media actors pretend to know what is going on there. But I think in our safe comfortable armchairs we will never have a glue of what's going on "down there" although we will watch bloody news from morning to evening. What happens to us is only that we get blind for people suffering and that we forget the real world behind the news. So when the media is echoing continuously the lurid and dramatic spots from Lebanon the Germans get fed up with it soon and another topic will replace it. Someday we will forget Lebanon like we forgot Iraq now or other places which I can't mention here because I simply forgot! But anyway I will never forget this beautiful country with its kind people and I start praying even if I am not what you call religious that the suffering there will stop as soon as possible! 
4.8.06