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War games

Laila El-Haddad Gaza City, Palestine 23 May 2007


I can’t sleep. I get up maybe once every two hours. Go to the bathroom, walk around a little, and then doze off again. Only to be awakened by the drones, followed by the manic hovering of helicopter gun ships. This time they were directly over our apartment building. I would have been afraid, except this happened once before, maybe two years ago. Panicked and fearful at the time, I called my cousin, who reassured me that when an Apache is directly overhead, it means its intended target is about 500 metres to one kilometre away. It is information I wish I did not know. 

Humanitarian work resumes in Gaza as factional fighting ends

23 May 2007


JERUSALEM, 23 May 2007 (IRIN) - As Israeli operations against suspected Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip increase and internal violence wanes, some humanitarian organisations are resuming work in the troubled enclave which remains closed off from the rest of the world. The Rafah Crossing, the only crossing to destinations outside Israel, has been closed for over a week. The other crossings lead to Israel, and most Palestinians from Gaza, barring exceptional humanitarian cases, are not able to obtain the requisite permits. 

Thousands flee fighting as army accused of shelling relief convoy

23 May 2007


BEDDAWI, 23 May 2007 (IRIN) - At least 10,000 Palestinians from Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon have fled to neighbouring Beddawi camp following a lull in fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants, according to an official in one of the schools over-run with an influx of displaced people. “We estimate 10,000 people have entered Beddawi camp since late afternoon yesterday [Tuesday],” Nadar Abdel Ghani, head teacher at Kawkab School in Beddawi camp, told IRIN. 

"The situation is very bad"

Jackson Allers and Rania Masri Lebanon 23 May 2007


The following interview with Ashraf Abu Khorj, a youth organizer, was conducted on May 21 at around 3pm as the Lebanese Army was shelling the Nahr al Bared refugee camp: “The situation has calmed down now — from a half hour ago. For the past two days, and since 4 am this morning, there have been lots of attacks. Homes attacked. Homes burned. People injured. Children hit. Youth killed. The situation is very bad. No electricity for the past two days. There is no water. There is nothing. We don’t have a hospital in the camp.” 

The result of bad politics

Hasan Abu Nimah 23 May 2007


Bad politics create bad consequences, but because linking the effect with the cause implicates the initiators, the tendency is often to attribute man-made disasters to unrelated circumstances. It is easier, therefore, to blame the tragic fighting amongst the Palestinians in Gaza on a foolish and selfish struggle for positions, rather than the rotten politics of Oslo, cooked a decade and a half earlier. Indeed, and in many ways, it is a fierce struggle for power, but the roots of even that should be traced further back than the election results that swept Hamas into power. 

Human Rights Watch: Fighting at Refugee Camp Kills Civilians

23 May 2007


The number of civilians killed in the fighting remains unknown, as the Lebanese authorities are restricting access due to the ongoing fighting. Health personnel who have gained access to the camp have focused on evacuating the wounded. A Lebanese Red Cross official told Human Rights Watch that the organization transferred at least 57 wounded from the camp to hospitals in the last 48 hours of fighting, including 40 on Tuesday. According to Reuters, at least 27 civilians have been killed since Sunday, as well as 22 militants and 32 soldiers. 

Sderot created the Gaza Strip

Philip Rizk Gaza Strip, Palestine 22 May 2007


Yesterday eight members of one family were murdered on the spot in Israel’s latest military strike on Gaza. The target, doctor Khaleel Al-Haya, a Hamas member, remained unharmed. Later in the day Islamic Jihad responded by firing two homemade rockets into Gaza. One Israeli citizen was killed, another wounded. This sounds like a horrible, but straightforward series of events. The only aspect that calls for attention is that one of these attacks is considered terrorism, while the other is mentioned in most media outlets only in passing, and referred to as a legitimate attempt on a bad man’s life. 

Crisis deepens as relief still not reaching besieged Palestinians

22 May 2007


BEIRUT, 22 May 2007 (IRIN) - A shaky ceasefire has failed to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis inside Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, where over 40,000 civilians remained trapped as fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamic militants entered its third day. Though the army appeared to have eased its artillery and tank bombardment of positions suspected to be held by radical Sunni fighters from Fatah al-Islam, key relief organisations remained unable to access the camp to deliver aid to those in need. 

Violence Highlights Regional Polarisation

Ellen Massey 22 May 2007


WASHINGTON, May 22 (IPS) - The violence in Lebanon’s Nahr al-Bader Palestinian refugee camp that has killed more than 55 people in the past two days is focusing attention on a relatively unknown and shadowy Islamist group, Fatah al-Islam. Two bombings in the Lebanese capital Beirut, one Sunday night and one late Monday, also killed one person and injured at least 20. The violence followed the attempted arrest by Lebanese officials of a group robbing a bank in early Sunday. 

What is happening in Lebanon?

Laurie King 22 May 2007


Simplistic and knee-jerk reactions to Lebanon’s current travails are too easy, and not up to the standards of good and responsible journalism. I’ve spent much of the past 48 hours trying to get a better grasp on what is really going on in Tripoli. It’s not easy to do, and it occured to me this morning that this may, in fact, be the story: the difficulty of interpreting these events stems from the lack of a comprehensive understanding of the ways that dramatic changes throughout the region, and indeed, the world, are echoing through Lebanon’s war-damaged sociopolitical landscape.