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The long, hot summer has already begun

Robert Rosenberg 20 July 2006


The Israeli consensus is holding largely because its media is still behind the operation, and focused on the empty streets of the northern communities and the individual suffering of various families who have lost relatives to the rockets or seen their life possessions demolished in a moment. Of the many, many hours of television time devoted daily to the violence, only a few minutes are given to the scenes from Lebanon. Regular programming has disappeared from the three main channels. A ground invasion would indeed raise the specter of a lengthy stay in hostile territory and casualties among Israeli soldiers and that would certainly lead to protests. 

And after the attacks in Lebanon and Israel?

George Bisharat 20 July 2006


Little did we realize, as we departed for home through the gleaming halls of Beirut’s new airport and boarded what turned out to be one of the last flights out, that within days, as Israeli Chief of Staff Dan Halutz put it, the Israeli military would “turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years.” Hundreds of millions of dollars of investment, and untold ingenuity and effort, have been blown to rubble in Israel’s outburst of violence. The airport, highways, bridges, gas stations, power stations, the port, even the modern lighthouse on Beirut’s coastal promenade — all have been devastated in Israel’s lethal tantrum. 

Reliving the terror, once again

Najla Said Damascus, Syria 20 July 2006


Evacuated again. Throwing up, shaking, fearing, hurting, crying. Again. And again the feeling I keep having is that terror. That terror that I had twice before. The feeling that it is gone, it’s over. You summon your courage, your optimism, your humor - the things that people love you for. You decide that tomorrow Beirut will be back, that you will see daddy again (oh how I kept turning my brain away from thoughts of him when he died - it was too difficult to fathom the reality). The idea that you will never see something or someone you love again is unbelievably terrifying when you know really that it’s over, it’s gone, and it’s getting worse every day. 

International Day of Action Against Israeli Aggression

20 July 2006


As Israeli attacks on civilians continue and escalate day after day in Lebanon and Palestine and as the world’s governments support Israel’s crimes or, at best, turn a blind eye to its actions it is time for the people to speak. Saturday July 22, 2006 has been declared “International day of action against Israeli aggression”. We call on people all around the world to rise up on that day and be heard. Please organize an action in your city or area on that day under the banner of the “International day of action against Israeli aggression”. If you already have something planned for that day condemning Israel’s actions or in support of the people of Palestine and Lebanon, please link it to the international action. 

Journalists Call on Israel to Explain Shooting of Al Jazeera in Palestine

19 July 2006


The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on the Israeli Defence Forces to explain a shooting incident in Nablus, in which a news crew of TV satellite channel Al Jazeera was fired upon and a technician injured. “First reports suggest that here was an unarmed media crew suddenly subject to an unprovoked attack by Israeli soldiers,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White. “If true, it is an astonishing and terrifying example of targeting and the Israeli authorities must give an explanation as to how this happened.” 

Emergency demonstrations in the UK

20 July 2006


Lebanon torn to shreds. End Israel’s crimes against humanity, join the demonstrations on July 22. More than 300 killed, 500,000 flee their homes, all major roads destroyed, no supplies reaching many areas. Apartment buildings, churches, mosques, petrol stations bombed. Lebanon’s largest dairy farm and pharmaceutical plant destroyed. Desperate need for water, medicines and sanitation for those fleeing Israel’s bombardment. An emergency demonstration will take place on Saturday July 22, London at noon from Whitehall Place to Hyde Park. Emergency Demonstrations round the country: Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Kirkcaldy, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Sheffield, York. 

Israel's long roll call of dishonour

Jonathan Cook 20 July 2006


The general surprise that Lebanese civilians are taking the brunt of Israel’s onslaught — and the unwillingness in some quarters of the media to report the fact — reflects a poor understanding of Israel’s historical use of violence. Since its birth six decades ago, Israel has always been officially “going after the terrorists”, but its actions have invariably harmed civilians in an indiscriminate manner. The true reasons are concealed from credulous observers by Israel’s use of Orwellian language. When it says it is destroying the “infrastructure of terror”, Israel means it is crushing all Arab resistance to its territorial ambitions in the region. 

Mideast News: Beyond the Mainstream

Peter Rothberg 19 July 2006


From an unscientific survey, the better blogs seem to include Beirut Spring and From Beirut to the Beltway. The Angry Arab News Service offers less polemical content than its name would suggest, though the especially disturbing pictures of children killed in recent bombings do inspire anger, among other emotions. The Electronic Intifada is a good portal for news, commentary, analysis, and reference materials about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a Palestinian perspective. Since Israel’s attack on Lebanon began, the site has posted 112 articles from the ground on the conflict while continuing to keep track of simultaneous Israeli aggression in Gaza. And check out Electronic Lebanon, a new section of the site devoted exclusively to the new (but old) Israeli invasion. 

Annan calls for immediate end to conflict

20 July 2006


Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Thursday for an immediate halt to the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia but said there were “serious obstacles to reaching a cease-fire.” Annan addressed members of the Security Council during a meeting on the situation in the Mideast at United Nations headquarters in New York. He condemned Israel’s “excessive use of force” and collective punishment of the Lebanese people, saying it had triggered a humanitarian crisis. He urged the members of the Security Council to take firm action towards ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East region as mandated by the Charter of the United Nations. 

South African lawyers condemn Israel's flagrant breach of humanitarian law

20 July 2006


The National Association of Democratic Lawyers of South Africa condemns the flagrant breaches of international humanitarian law and the violations of the human rights of Palestinians further exacerbated by the latest attack by Israel on the residents of Gaza in Palestine. We associate ourselves with the views expressed by our allies in the struggle against apartheid, the South African Council of Churches and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. By virtue of our history, we have an obligation to support the just struggle of the Palestinian peoples right to self-determination. We call on the South African government to immediately recall the South African ambassador.