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Can War Be Over When Battles Remain?

Iqbal Jassat South Africa 8 October 2006


Less than a month after the guns fell silent - despite the ear-splitting roar of Israeli jet fighters regularly searing through Lebanese air space in violation of a UN brokered “ceasefire” - my recent trip to Beirut and the war-ravaged southern Lebanon brought home the brutal reality of Israeli savagery. In scores of places where we stood knee-high deep in debris and rubble of towns and villages, the signs of life are steadily becoming more and more visible. Noises emanating from the engines of front-end loaders, tipper trucks and bulldozers clearly signal the intent of the million plus displaced Lebanese not to allow Israel to succeed in turning their homes in picturesque southern landscape into no-go “ghost” areas. 

The King of the Jungle

Rima Merriman 8 October 2006


When it comes to imposing law and order on the Palestinians, what applies is not international humanitarian law, but the law of the jungle. And, of course, it is quite clear who the king of the jungle is. The Palestinian Israeli conflict is about survival, about the right of one strong party backed by a superpower to “exist” as a Jewish state at the expense of the indigenous non-Jewish population of historic Palestine and their descendants who are not allowed to “exist” in a separate but unequal state of their own. It is about the right of the weak party to negotiate for its own autonomous survival on bits and pieces of leftover “territories”, but only if it first concedes its dispossession, if it ensures the security of the strong party and remains its “client”. 

"You never know what's next": An interview with activist Barbara Lubin

Chris Brown 7 October 2006


Education plays a big part in Barbara Lubin’s life. In fact it was a broad-based education that made her realize that she was getting a distorted view of what went on in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Lubin was born into a conservative Zionist family. She had been taught that the Jews needed to establish a state of their own; that what had happened to her relatives during WWII; when their land was occupied, and family members murdered in camps, should never happen again. For much of her life Barbara Lubin felt that the Zionist ideal was the right thing. However, in 1982 her eyes were open to a new horror. 

Hazardous Intent: US Brokers in Palestine

Remi Kanazi 7 October 2006


Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is back in the Middle East and she is in a “very concerned” state. For someone who has played Israeli ambassador to the Middle East since her tenure began, her on again, off again concern for the plight of the Palestinian people has become more predictable than orange alerts during election season. In her newest stint, providing false promises and pernicious rhetoric, Rice vowed to “redouble” US efforts to “improve conditions for the Palestinian people.” Rice, however, came to the table empty handed, with photographers trailing closely behind to capture images of hope, concern, and heartfelt declarations. 

Mideast chaos, grief resound in the air

Alice Rothchild 7 October 2006


The “Solidarity with Israel” and “Free Lebanon” rallies have quieted, and a combustible mixture of grief, fear, and anger hangs like an ugly cloud over the rubble and ruin. As Israelis emerge from their bomb shelters and their shattered sense of security, they count 154 dead, 422 wounded, and a military embroiled in controversy. As the Lebanese survey their crumpled bridges, airports, and apartment blocks, they too grieve for thousands dead and injured and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes. In Gaza, 228 Palestinians were killed, 720 injured. The main power station was bombed; homes and businesses have no electricity or water; the medical system has collapsed; children are starving. 

Bleak Ramadan in Palestine

Khalid Amayreh West Bank 7 October 2006


Normally, the holy month of Ramadan is a festive season of heightened spirituality and good will. It is also an occasion where family members share the usually exquisite Iftar meals immediately after sunset at the end of the day-long fast. However, for many Palestinian families, hard-hit by extremely harsh Israeli-western sanctions, this Ramadan has the smell of real penury. Abject poverty is also becoming increasingly apparent among the traditionally weak sectors of society, such as day-laborers. Yousuf M. Suleiman is a school teacher of 30 years from the southern West Bank town of Hebron. He has a family of eight but can hardly get things “under control” when it comes to securing the basic needs such as flour, sugar and rice. 

The struggle for Palestine's soul

Jonathan Cook 7 October 2006


The message delivered to Condoleezza Rice this week by Israeli officials is that the humanitarian and economic disaster befalling Gaza has a single, reversible cause: the capture by Palestinian fighters of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in late June from a perimeter artillery position that had been shelling Gaza. When Shalit is returned, negotiations can start, or so Rice was told by Israel’s defence minister, Amir Peretz. If Peretz and others are to be believed, the gunmen could have done themselves and the 1.4 million people of Gaza a favour and simply executed Shalit weeks ago. 

News updates over the past year

Jim Ashling 1 September 2006


Electronic Lebanon, however, is more of an electronic newspaper/magazine that combines editorial pieces, blog entries, news, and analysis. It is a project from the Electronic Intifada (EI), a nonprofit electronic publication devoted to the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. EI was created 5 years ago by two Palestinians, an American, and a Scot, each with their own biases. But if you need a better analysis of the situation (other than comments from President George W. Bush when he was unknowingly recorded at the recent G8 Summit), they make much better reading. 

Reaching out to worried families in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley

Annette Rehrl 4 October 2006


Local and international attention has focused on rebuilding southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut since the end of Israel’s military incursion, but this area in the north was also badly hit during the summer conflict. Israeli air strikes caused substantial damage to houses, farmland, industrial plants and infrastructure, while thousands of traumatised and scared civilians fled from the Bekaa Valley to neighbouring Syria. They started flooding back across the border right after the August 14 ceasefire was announced, but many returned to scenes of devastation in their home areas. 

Major violations on both sides in Israel-Lebanon conflict, say UN experts

4 October 2006


A detailed study presented by four UN experts to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday concludes that serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel during the recent conflict in Lebanon. In many instances, Israel failed to distinguish between military and civilian objectives; to fully apply the principle of proportionality; and to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian injury and damage. The experts also concluded that Hezbollah violated humanitarian law in many instances by targeting civilian populations and by disregarding the principle of distinction.