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The Army Wants Action: The great fiasco

Ran HaCohen 16 July 2006


What is Israel’s running wild likely to achieve? Not much. As for the captured soldiers, any action other than negotiations is gambling with their lives, as their families now start to say out louder. As for the missiles shot from Gaza, the military could not stop them when it was sitting inside the Strip - obviously, it cannot stop them by casual incursions and air bombing. As for Lebanon, the disproportional Israeli reaction made Hezbollah fire missiles at the whole of northern Israel, both at communities that had enjoyed relative quiet since 2000 and at places that had never experienced any Lebanese missiles before. 

Israeli War Crimes Continue in Gaza: 4 Palestinians killed and 10 injured

16 July 2006


Today, 16 July 2006, IOF carried out a pre-dawn raid on the town of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. The raid comes after IOF had conducted an incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, and then redeployed its forces outside the targeted areas. During last week’s incursion, IOF committed war crimes in contravention of International Law and customs. Today’s raid has thus far resulted in the death of three Palestinian resistance activists by aerial bombardment. In addition, 10 civilians were injured. The raid on Beit Hanoun is part of a campaign against Palestinians that was announced by IOF two weeks ago. 

EI's Laurie King on KPFK Pacifica

Middle East in Focus 14 July 2006


Electronic Intifada cofounder Laurie King lived in Beirut, Lebanon from 1993-1998. For the first two years, she taught the “Cultural Studies III” course at the Lebanese American University (LAU) and, in 1995, became Editor in Chief of Al-Ra’ida, the quarterly journal of the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World at LAU. She has written for the Daily Star (Lebanon), and worked with the Arab Resource Center for the Popular Arts, which undertakes arts therapy with children and teenagers in Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon. Laurie was interviewed by Don Bustany on the Middle East in Focus program on KPFK, California, about current events in Lebanon. 

Hands full of empty words in Chicago

Lora Gordon Chicago, United States 15 July 2006


If I could stop time I would, stop everything from moving forward, not for long, just for a few moments, just long enough to let out the scream that is growing in my lungs making it difficult to breathe. Here I am in Chicago on the hottest day of the year so far, an overcast day where the air is like a swimming pool, where the humidity is so thick you can smell it, feel it wrap around your skin as soon as you step outside. This morning I walked outside into the humid air and thought, immediately: Beirut. 

Palestine to Lebanon: So close, yet so far away

Sami Hermez Ramallah, Palestine 14 July 2006


As I play back what I have seen and heard today in Ramallah, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and Lebanon, and as I see the Israelis unaffected and showing no mercy for the immorality of their state’s action, I can’t help think about what all this means.  Is it Lebanon’s fate to be the sacrifical lamb of the Middle East as the rest of the Arab leaders remain traitorous masters of rhetoric?  In all honesty, Syria, Iran, Jordan and Egypt should open their fronts.  But they won’t because they aren’t worth the dignity they claim as Arab.  If anything good comes out of this it is that no one should ever question the Arab identity of Lebanon.  

High Commissioner for Human Rights condemns all actions targeting civilians in Lebanon and Israel

14 July 2006


The High Commissioner for Human Rights underscored the Secretary-General’s condemnation of all actions that target civilians, or which unduly endanger them due to their disproportionate or indiscriminate character, OHCHR’s spokesman told a news briefing in Geneva today. The High Commissioner said that, while Israel has legitimate security concerns, international humanitarian law requires that parties to a conflict refrain from attacks directed against civilian objects. In particular, they have an obligation to exercise precaution and to respect the proportionality principle in all military operations so as to prevent unnecessary suffering among the civilian population. 

Israeli forces strike Al-Manar TV facilities

14 July 2006


The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Israel to explain its attacks on Al-Manar TV, the satellite news channel affiliated with the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Al-Manar managing director, Ali-Al-Haji, told CPJ that Israeli aircraft fired two missiles today at the station’s headquarters in the southern Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik. Two employees were injured by flying glass, and a civilian in a nearby house was also wounded. The top floors of the building were severely damaged, al-Haji said. However, the station continued to broadcast. Israeli forces separately struck two Al-Manar TV transmitters, one near Baalbek, northeast of Beirut, and another in Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon. 

NY Times: Arab leaders to blame, fair game for assassination

Patrick O'Connor 15 July 2006


In an editorial this Saturday, The New York Times clearly crossed the line from its already biased reporting in support of Israel, to cheerleading for Israel, and even advocating that Israel conduct illegal, extrajudicial executions of Arab political leaders. Positions taken by the Times matter because it is the US’ most influential newspaper. The Times both reflects and helps to shape US policy and public opinion. The previous two days, the editorial and news departments at the Times had stated clear support for Israel’s assaults on Gaza and Lebanon. 

Gaza: Survey regarding the consequences of the Israeli incursion

14 July 2006


A survey conducted by Medecins du Monde in the health facilities of Gaza following the beginning of the Israeli incursion has revealed pre-occupying results regarding access to drinkable water, food and health care. Represented by Pierre Micheletti, the President of MdM France, who has recently returned from the field, MdM is alarmed by the deterioration of the health of Gaza inhabitants. MdM asks for the ending of retaliations against the civilian population. The MdM teams conducted this survey before and during the incursion, with two samples of approx. 500 patients in 15 health facilities. 

The "Israeli-Lebanese war" is a big day for many

Bechir Saade Beirut 14 July 2006


What a beautiful day it was yesterday. The sky was crystal clear and the sun strong. The beach could have been an option to many of my fellow Lebanese. Moreover, a strange calm overtook the city, as if everyone was resting, like on a typical summer Sunday. I strolled around a downtown that was unusually empty, apart from a couple of people sitting nonchalantly in the shade of restaurants’ parasols. I sat and wondered if we ever had a day such as this since the beginning of the year. By this time, Israeli warplanes had already hit several regions of south Lebanon, the Beirut airport, a couple of bridges, and had imposed a sea and land blockade of the country.