[The Second Take] Do Not Hate the Flower That Bloomed Amid Ruins

Director Kim Sung-hoon's 'Unofficial Operation'
An Ironic Storyline Rooted in Humanitarian Thinking
Pointing to Hope in Beirut Like Edward Said

In director Kim Sung-hoon's film 'Unofficial Operation,' diplomat Min-jun (Ha Jung-woo) heads to Beirut, Lebanon, with the aspiration of being assigned to the United States. His mission is to rescue a fellow diplomat who went missing 20 months earlier. He must approach an armed group led by Karim (Fad Bensemshi) and deliver a ransom. Under Karim's protection, he escapes threats from another armed group and airport security forces. This is an ironic development imbued with humanitarian thinking. It prompts reflection on the Middle East conflict as reported unilaterally by Western media.

Western media did not closely examine Israel's invasion of Lebanon in July 2006. They simply regarded Hezbollah (a Lebanese Islamic Shia militant group and political organization) as the main culprit of indiscriminate provocation. On the other hand, they judged Israel's attacks as justified even in inappropriate cases. The essence was Israel's ambition, supported and authorized by the United States, to oppress Lebanon. Dan Halutz, Chief of Staff of the Israeli military, boldly stated on Israel Channel 10 television, "We will return Lebanon to 20 years ago."

This refers to the mid-to-late 1980s, which 'Unofficial Operation' reenacts. Beirut was a wounded and abandoned city. Its misfortune began with the establishment of the Israeli government in May 1948. That year, many Palestinian natives fled the First Arab-Israeli conflict. Palestinian refugees created by Israel's 'Six-Day War' in June 1967 also fled similarly. A significant number joined the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) special forces the following year. The Lebanese government maintained its army and allowed special forces operations in the southern region.

A grim omen materialized into civil war in 1975 when a bus carrying Palestinians was ambushed by right-wing Phalangist militias in Beirut's Ain al-Rummaneh district. It was a fight between Christian militias and right-wing coalitions, including the Christian party, who resented the armed Palestinian presence in Lebanon, and the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) coalition led by Kamal Jumblatt, an Islamic leftist group. The LNM was a coalition of various opposition parties supporting the PLO. Israel, which had been monitoring them, launched a ruthless invasion of Lebanon in June 1982 under the name 'Operation Peace for Galilee.' After invading the southwestern region, it besieged Beirut, causing about 17,000 deaths. The Syrian army, which had been assisting the PLO, retreated to the Bekaa Valley, and Phalangist leader Bashir Gemayel was elected Lebanese president. The PLO was expelled by a multinational force led by the United States.

Despite successive assassinations and massacres, the socialist faction of the LNM launched the Lebanese National Resistance Front to oppose Israel. Around that time, Hezbollah, which was resisting the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, also declared its official establishment. They resisted by staging the Palestinian Intifada (uprising) until 1990. Director Kim does not take sides. He simply struggles to find warmth in Beirut, where sandstorms and bullets fly, as Palestinian-born English literature scholar Edward Said wished in his book 'After the Last Sky (1986).'

"The remarkable feature of Beirut is that it responded immediately to the demands of us Arabs who are already under oppression and living miserable, shabby lives. For a long time, the people of Beirut lived strongly, burning with a jewel-like passion. This city has an excellence that cannot be seen elsewhere, even in corruption and debauchery. What can be taken as consolation even in these dark times is the hope that, since Beirut has risen from chaos before, it can rise again from this catastrophic destruction."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.