Saturday July 15 — It is not me they should be worrying about, my friends from countries around the world who have been calling since Wednesday; after all I live in one of the safest areas of this country, next to embassies and prime ministers. I have water and electricity and, above all, the Internet. If they are to worry, they are to think of the tens of people I am calling everyday. People in the south of Lebanon who are under the shelling, and isolated from the rest of the country. If I am to share a diary I will not share mine, but that of my friend Mohammed and his family. Read more about Mohammed and his family in Tyre
Since there was no power and I couldn’t be glued all day to the news, I decided to go to Shatila [refugee camp]. The city was almost empty; there were few cars in the streets and few open shops. The cab dropped me at the Sabra area, the “poor souk” as they call it in Beirut, which was bustling with people buying food supplies. All shops were packed except for the butcher and poultry shops, which stood empty. “Meat dishes are a luxury for the poor during normal times, so what do you say about war time?” one of the butchers observed. Read more about Shatila Refugee Camp: "What do we have left to fear?"
July 12 2006 — Hey everyone just wanted to let you all know that all our friends and family are all O.K. A lot of them are unable to go home in the south since the roads have been destroyed, so we all have friends crashing at our houses in Beirut till things calm down. The situation has been escalating this week but no one thought it would get this far, with air raids a nightly occurrence. This morning at 5:30am, I woke to the sounds of Israeli planes coming to hit the airport. We have been set back into the dark ages with power cuts, fuel crisis and Israeli ships controlling the coast and not letting anything come in or go out. Read more about Letter from Beirut: They’re Back
July 14th, Morning update — Was awakened again by the Israeli planes in the sky and missiles form the sea. The Daahiye in Beirut (densely populated Shiite neighborhood) was hit all night long. The first planes came at 3:30am, it has been raining ever since. They hit the power plants in the south on their way up to Beirut along with a bombardment of the Damascus Highway (the freeway linking Beirut to the Bekka and on to Syria). We are cut off, trade and supply wise, from the rest of the world. Read more about Letter from Beirut: Sleeping in the day and awake in the night
Stefan Christoff and Mohammed ShublaqBeirut14 July 2006
Israeli war planes are bombing Beirut. Over 70 Lebanese civilians have died since the Israeli military launched a major military offensive against Lebanon on Wednesday, July 12th. Bombs targeted civilian infrastructure throughout the country, including the key highways and bridges across southern Lebanon effectively halting all cross-country transportation. Pictured in this photo is a mosque on the edge of Beirut’s southern suburb with smoke in the sky above due to Israeli missile strikes on the Beirut international airport. Read more about Photostory: Damage after Israeli bombing of southern suburbs on Thursday night
July 14th, Evening update — Well the entire Daahiye is debilitated…they have been bombing all day long…the Israeli birds and sea vultures are no longer limited to nocturnal activity. They completely obliterated the roads even more than before south and east…now they are beginning with the north… The airport building itself was also hit whereas before it was limited to the runways… they fixed the take off runway earlier on Thursday and 5 planes took off loaded with passengers before the Israeli planes hit it again and obliterated the airport building itself. Read more about Letter from Beirut: Return to the Dark Ages
When I last sent you an email, Hizbullah just hit an Israeli ship, right next to us; we can see it from the dorm. We saw it burn and sink from here on TV and we can see the other boats surround us more. Everybody was panicking and running and I just shut my computer and gathered my things as we could see the ship sinking. My dorm is right next to the sea. Although the American University of Beirut (AUB) is pretty safe, right now the fighting is in Beirut, not the south anymore. So now israel is going to hit residential areas in Beirut. Read more about Eyewitness emails: Hizbullah hits Israeli warship
In this crazy game, one is not sure whether it is better or worse that the main two political players behind this invasion are insecure amateurs. Neither Israeli Prime Minister Olmert nor his Defense Minister Peretz have any experience in warfare, which is very seldom for Israel, used to being ruled by experienced military generals who have proved themselves in the handful of wars that Israel has fought. Beside their obvious inadequate military background, both leaders are politically confused to boot. Their political discourse is weak and contradictory and they face severe criticism from their opponents, friends and allies alike for their poor performance in handling the current crisis. Read more about When will Israel learn? (2/2)
The shelling in Lebanon has gotten worse since Israel began attacking a couple of days ago. The roads, bridges and overpasses of the south have been bombed to the point where the entire area is debilitated. Villages are cut off from each other, and from main cities. The electrical plant in the south was bombed early on so hundreds of thousands of people have been without electricity during the hottest time of the year. The smallest of bridges (like the one that links our village, Arab Salim, and the main road) have been bombed. Read more about The report from Dahiyeh: The shelling is getting worse
I live in a neighborhood that is largely supportive of the 14 March 2006 coalition, i.e., my neighbors tend to be critical of Hezbollah and its relation to Syria. The first reaction here, however, was very supportive of the Hezbollah operation two days ago. I first knew of the Hezb operation from screams of joy arising all around the neighborhood. The pharmacist with whom I have argued many times about Syria and the resistance was happy “The IDF deserves it! Is it right what they are doing to the Palestinians in Gaza? Let them take it! Now three soldiers — what are they going to do?”. Then he said: “God bless us though, what will Israel do now? They won’t allow for such an operation; they will go crazy!” Read more about Fear and loathing in Beirut
