Beirut 11 May 2008
This is what I have to say about the latest series of political speeches in Lebanon: Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks as if there is no future, but March 14 government coalition leaders Walid Jumblat, Saad Hariri and Fouad Siniora speak as if there is no past. For Nasrallah, the past performance and actions of the Loyalists is the only reference point. Rami Zurayk writes from Beirut. Read more about The time zones of Lebanon
11 May 2008
A new report from Arab Association for Human Rights documents the danger of eviction facing the Palestinian residents of the Ajami neighborhood in Jaffa and reveals the true motives behind this process. For these residents, ethnic cleansing did not end in 1948. It continues to this day, albeit by different means. The process being implemented in Jaffa (and in other locations in Israel) amounts to the “quiet transfer” of the Palestinian residents. Read more about Report: Ethnic cleansing continues in Jaffa
11 May 2008
BEIRUT, 10 May (IPS) - At least 11 people are dead and 30 injured during ferocious gun battles pitting opposition Shia Amal and Hizballah fighters against members of the Sunni Future Movement, which is part of the majority March 14 alliance in government. As the opposition’s militia men clamped down on government headquarters, the balance of power seems to have been shifted permanently in the Land of the Cedars. Read more about Hizballah, in opposition, takes charge
10 May 2008
Lebanon is currently facing a major political crisis, as armed battles have erupted in multiple districts of Beirut between pro-government and opposition forces forces led the Lebanese resistance movement Hizballah. Hizballah-led opposition forces took control of West Beirut, and handed certain areas over to the Lebanese army as the political standoff in the country continues. Stefan Christoff speaks with editor Samah Idriss in Beirut about the tense situation in Lebanon. Read more about Lebanon in crisis: an interview with editor Samah Idriss
Hamra, Beirut 9 May 2008
Beirut is exploding all around me. After Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah made his speech this evening, during which he accused the governing coalition of declaring war on the resistance, opposition and March 14 supporters started fighting each other and making their armed presence felt all over West Beirut, including my neighborhood of Hamra. EI editor Maureen Clare Murphy writes from Beirut. Read more about Uncertainty in Beirut
9 May 2008
BEIRUT, 9 May (IRIN) - Everyone kept insisting it was not a civil war, but jumping for cover as a rocket-propelled grenade slammed into the apartment block beside us, and masked gunmen fired deafening salvos across the road dividing Sunni and Shia neighborhoods of Beirut, it certainly felt like it. “It is impossible for Shia to shoot on Sunnis,” insisted a military commander of Shia opposition group Amal, allied with Shia resistance group Hizballah. Read more about Battle for Beirut
8 May 2008
BEIRUT, 9 May (IPS) - Men clad in black have roamed the streets of Beirut since Wednesday, their faces covered with ski masks or dark kaffiyeh (checkered scarf), as they wreaked havoc in the large avenues leading to the airport or dividing Sunni and Shia areas. As darkness loomed over Lebanon, the winds of discord seem to set the Lebanese capital ablaze. Read more about Opposition forces take control of Beirut
8 May 2008
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the killing of a mother in front of her children yesterday, during an Israeli incursion into New Abasan town, east of Khan Younes. PCHR investigations indicate that at approximately 14:30pm on Wednesday, 7 May, Israeli Occupation Forces troops raided the house of Majdi Abd al-Raziq al-Daghma during an incursion into New Abasan. Read more about Israeli forces kill Gaza mother in front of her children
7 May 2008
BEIRUT, 8 May (IRIN) - Ramzi Ali was nearly 13 when his parents took him out of school to work as a motorbike mechanic. “Conditions are hard, and political tensions are destroying the country,” said Ali, now 14, as he manned a barricade of burning tires in central Beirut on 7 May. “My parents just couldn’t afford to keep me at school any more.” Read more about High prices, low wages feed violent political stand-off
7 May 2008
We are pleased to present the second annual Houston Palestine Film Festival. This exciting festival, cosponsored by The Station Museum, Rice Cinema, Museum of Fine Arts - Houston, KPFT Houston and many others, will bring cutting edge new cinema from Palestine and about Palestine. The second annual Houston Palestine Film Festival brings an honest and independent view of Palestine, its diaspora, culture and political travails through the art of film. Read more about Houston Palestine Film Festival opens 9 May