Human Rights/Development

International tug of war complicating Lebanon's election outcome



BEIRUT, 1 October (IRIN) - Lebanon’s tussling factions are headed for a stalemate, settlement, or war, and international actors as much as local ones will decide which, analysts say. The presidential vote which was to be held on 25 September was deferred until 23 October after lawmakers failed to find a consensus candidate. Opposition members of parliament (MPs) boycotted the vote, arguing that Lebanon’s fragile sectarian political system requires a president agreeable to both camps. 

All to lose and much to gain in divisive presidential election



BEIRUT, 20 September (IRIN) - Hajj Mustafa Zaatari, a baker from the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon, has little patience for his country’s beleaguered politicians as they struggle to overcome deep divisions ahead of electing a new president. “Why would I want to talk politics?” he asks. “It’s the holy month of Ramadan, and politics in this country is blasphemy, pure blasphemy.” 

Hamas flag goes up in Lebanon camps



BADDAWI CAMP, Lebanon, 5 September (IPS) - There is a new look to the entrance of the Palestinian refugee camp Baddawi in northern Lebanon. Hanging above the armed man who guards the entrance are posters of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the slain spiritual leader of Hamas, and other fighters from the Palestinian guerrilla group. Nearby, a huge Hamas banner covers the side of a house, and down the road Hamas flags flutter in the wind. 

Israel driving southern Lebanese into Hizballah's arms



MAROUN AL-RAS, Southern Lebanon, 22 August (IPS) - It has been especially difficult for Ali Nasrallah to tend to his garden this time of year. Nasrallah, a 40-year-old construction worker from Taybeh in southern Lebanon, lost his mother, father, brother and sister during last year’s war between Hizballah and Israel. “Every time I water my garden, I remember the atrocity that happened to my family,” he says. “It is a deep wound on my soul.” Almost exactly a year ago, Israeli soldiers arrived at the Nasrallahs’ modest two-floor home. As Ali’s sister stood near the small garden that marks the home’s entrance, the soldiers tossed a grenade at the house, killing her instantly, Nasrallah says. 

Israelis airdrop an occupation



BEIRUT, 17 August (IPS) - With an estimated one million unexploded land ordnances meaning lack of access to their lands, many farmers in southern Lebanon see cluster bombs as an Israeli “occupation.” An estimated 25 percent of cultivated land is now inaccessible in the south. Last summer, Israel pounded Lebanon with over four million cluster bombs and artillery shells that destroyed villages, displaced thousands and wrecked more than 70 percent of the southern economy. Financial losses to the livestock sector alone were estimated at nearly 22 million dollars. 

The ongoing Nakba: Sickness and health among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon



Public health expert Michael Marmot underlines the relation between health and two fundamental human needs: autonomy and full social participation, adding that “deprived of a clean safe neighborhood, meaningful work, freedom from police harassment and arrest, and freedoms from violence and aggression, it is harder to have control over one’s life or be a full social participant.” [1] The values Marmot describes are ones that camp refugees in Lebanon — like Palestinians in many other places — do not have. Rosemary Sayigh analyzes the impact of the political situation on the health rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. 

"Army torturing Palestinian refugees"



BADDAWI REFUGEE CAMP, Northern Lebanon, 13 August (IPS) - Palestinians displaced by the fighting at the northern Lebanese refugee camp Nahr al-Bared have accused the Lebanese army of torturing and abusing civilians. As the fighting between the Sunni Islamist group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army enters its 12th week, thousands of Nahr al-Bared residents have sought refuge in the nearby Baddawi camp. Many give detailed descriptions of days spent in detention under harsh interrogation. 

Rival Islamist groups vie for control of refugee camp



EIN AL-HILWEH, 5 August 2007 (IRIN) - Ein al-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest and most lawless refugee camp, has a street called Sharia Bustan Yahoudi (Jewish Park Street); the irony is a small instance among a litany of indignities suffered by the Palestinian refugees living there. “It’s named after the Jews who used to live around Sidon,” Khoder Abdel Aziz, a 24-year-old resident of the street, tells us, referring to the neighboring port city, 45 kilometers south of Beirut. 

Nahr al-Bared residents flee ahead of expected final assault



BEIRUT, 11 July 2007 (IRIN) - Up to 150 people from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon fled on 11 July, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Witnesses said the army was preparing a final assault on the Fatah al-Islam militants holed up inside. ICRC spokeswoman Virginia de la Guardia said between 140 and 150 people, mostly men, had left the camp during a lull in fighting early in the day. By afternoon, the army had resumed heavy bombardment of positions suspected to be held by the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamist militants. 

Crisis persists despite beefed up peacekeeping



UNITED NATIONS, Jul 6 (IPS) - Despite a massive boost in its peacekeeping force in Lebanon — from about 2,200 in July last year to some 13,700 last week — the United Nations has little good news to report regarding the politically-troubled country. “I am deeply concerned that Lebanon remains in the midst of a debilitating political crisis and faces ongoing attacks aimed at destabilizing and undermining its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report on the first anniversary of last summer’s conflict between Hizballah and Israel. 

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