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A night at the symphony in Damascus

Leila Buck Damascus, Syria 30 July 2006



Salaam a’laykum - peace be upon you. The greeting used by Arabs and Muslims all over the world - and for the people of Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, a poignant reminder that peace is a precious thing. Seeing the images of massacre at Qana today I don’t know where to begin - or how to stop crying. I feel I can only convey fragments - perhaps because my heart is breaking. I’m trying hard not to seem melodramatic, because I know how it is there - you read this in the midst of a long, exhausting, busy day and too many of these and it’s too much to bear, it feels so far away. 

Israel Responsible for Qana Attack: Indiscriminate Bombing in Lebanon a War Crime

30 July 2006



Responsibility for the Israeli airstrikes that killed at least 54 civilians sheltering in a home in the Lebanese village of Qana rests squarely with the Israeli military, Human Rights Watch said today. It is the latest product of an indiscriminate bombing campaign that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have waged in Lebanon over the past 18 days, leaving an estimated 750 people dead, the vast majority of them civilians. “Today’s strike on Qana, killing at least 54 civilians, more than half of them children, suggests that the Israeli military is treating southern Lebanon as a free-fire zone,” said HRW’s Kenneth Roth. 

Israel's Latest Massacre in Qana: Racist Jewish Fundamentalism a Factor

Omar Barghouti 30 July 2006



Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora condemned Israel’s massacre in Qana today as a “heinous crime” and called Israeli leaders “war criminals.” Reacting to an earlier atrocity, he wondered: “Is the value of human life in Lebanon less than that of the citizens of other countries?” Israel’s latest bloodbath, which claimed the lives of dozens of children and women hiding from the relentless bombing in what they hoped was a secure basement in Qana, betrays not only Israel’s criminal disregard for the value of Arab human life, a typical colonial attitude towards natives, but also its increasingly fundamentalist perception of Gentiles in general as lesser humans. 

The recurring scenario of death at Qana

Beshara Doumani Nablus, Palestine 30 July 2006



It is mid-morning here in Nablus and the sound of bullets are ripping through the air from somewhere very close by. Sirens are wailing in the distance. Yesterday, around midnight, special Israeli forces assassinated two activists near the old city of Nablus. The scattered volleys and the sound signatures of different caliber bullets are tell-tale signs of a funeral procession. But what I see in front of me on the television screen is much more disturbing. Videos of little boys and girls, all dead, being pulled out from under the rubble of a building. It is much too painful to look for more than a few seconds at a time. 

Arab states must repudiate ties with Israel now

Ali Abunimah 31 July 2006



The scenes of carnage from Qana, where ten years after an almost identical massacre, rescue workers are pulling the broken bodies of children from the rubble, break the heart and generate a deep and boiling anger. But it is not enough to point the finger at Israel’s war criminal government which carried out the atrocity, nor the United States administration, which encourages Israel and arms it. We must also demand that all those with the power to act do so immediately. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah argues that Arab states must immediately break off ties with Israel to show Israelis they will pay a price unless they change course. 

UN force in Lebanon again lodges protests as firing continues in its vicinity

30 July 2006



With heavy fighting continuing in southern Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) there today again protested firing in the vicinity - which caused material damage and lightly wounded two blue helmets - to both the Israeli and Lebanese authorities. Five aerial rockets from the Israeli side impacted between 5 to 20 meters of a UNIFIL position in the area of Addaisseh yesterday afternoon, the mission reported. One exploded in the air above the position and two UNIFIL soldiers from the Indian battalion were moderately wounded and evacuated to the UNIFIL hospital in Ibil As Saqy. One artillery round from the Israeli side impacted directly inside the UNIFIL position in Mays Al Jabal. 

"And still, it continues ...": Lebanese bloggers react to massacre at Qana

Lebanon 30 July 2006



“The families will grieve. The children will grow up without their mothers. The memorial at Qana, already displaying the coffins of 106 civilian deaths, will swell by at least 55 more, at least 20 of them children’s sized. And the atrocities, tacitly and repeatedly permitted, will continue. ” Today in the Lebanese village of Qana, over 54 civilians, including at least 34 children, were killed in Israel’s most deadly strike on Lebanon since it began bombarding the country 19 days ago. The attack echoes Israel’s strike on the same village 10 years ago, when 100 civilians taking shelter in a UN base there. Here is a collection of posts made on Lebanese blogs in reaction to the massacre. 

Security Council must condemn Israeli attack in the strongest possible terms, Annan says

30 July 2006



UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke at an emergency meeting of the Security Council which he convened after Israeli missiles hit Qana, killing at least 51 civilians, including many children. He said the council had a responsibility to demand an end to the violence. “Excellencies, we must condemn this action in the strongest possible terms, and I appeal to you to do likewise,” Annan said. Annan is deeply dismayed that his earlier calls for immediate cessation of hostilities were not heeded. Annan also referred to demonstrations in Beirut provoked by the Israeli assault on Qana. 

Umm Ibrahim only wants to bury her son

29 July 2006



“All I want from the world now is to take me back to my hometown, Srifa, [90 kilometres south of Beirut], where my youngest son, Bilal [25], is buried under rubble. My mouth is sore from talking to the press. I don’t want to see any of you, unless you take me back to hold Bilal, wash him, and bury him decently. “My son’s body, along with those of seven of my nephews, has been left for 11 days under our house, which was demolished over their heads in an Israeli raid. “My husband and son, Ibrahim, tried to reach him when we heard the house was destroyed, but when they saw the war planes coming back, they had to flee. 

Chasing oil and coming home to another massacre

Zena El-Khalil Beirut 30 July 2006



I had a really bad headache all day … we were driving on the coastal road, stopped every few minutes to document. The smell was so strong. When I got home, I blew my nose and the tissue was all black. I made sure to take a really good shower. We were going to send out the press release, pics and video today, but we got even worse news … There had been a massacre in Qana early this morning. History repeats itself. The Israelis dropped a bomb on a building that was sheltering refugees. The news at this point is that 55 were killed. It was only a few years ago that the Israelis did the same thing, except last time, it was a UN building that they hit and over 100 people were killed.