“The fear is growing in Beirut. Beirut is sad, scared, wounded and … left alone,” writes Hanady Salman. “Today has been an exceptionally calm day: the US marines are evacuating US citizens. By tomorrow, the country will be left to its own people and Israeli shelling. In Beirut, by Saturday, there will only be those who have nowhere else to go and the very few who deliberately decided to stay. There were also be those who managed to flee the south and the southern suburb of the capital. What will happen to us on Saturday? Worse than not knowing what will happen is knowing that whatever the Israelis decide to do, nobody wants or can stop them.” Read more about The fear is growing in Beirut
It is Tuesday and Mariam has a smile on her face this afternoon; something that I haven’t seen since Saturday. She finally heard from her family. They are safe, she says, after a hard trip from Tyre to Sidon. She has been staying at my house since Thursday morning, trapped in Beirut after the roads to her native village Siddiqine, just 12 kilometers west of Tyre were blocked. Her only alternative refuge was an apartment in Haret Hreik, too close to Hizbullah’s headquarters to be safe. I am relieved that she is here, out of harm’s way in my house that now hosts many other friends. I think of her family, this one is not their first escape. They fled Siddiqine last week and stayed with relatives in Tyre. Read more about Reconnecting the Displaced: An Update from Lebanon
In the early evening, we watched from our apartment balcony as a huge white cruise ship glided past west Beirut toward Cyprus. Aboard were several groups of evacuees, including a number of US students from American University of Beirut. A few minutes later, another colossal cruise ship came by in the opposite direction; we heard it was a French ship that would be taking out more evacuees tomorrow. It looked like time for a Caribbean festival. At our apartment were gathered a group of about 10 AUB faculty and staff, and one young Filipino woman. The phone rang: it was an AUB official who needed immediate answers. The time had arrived: each of us had to decide whether to stay or go. Read more about Cruising out of Beirut
Most of Beirut is in the dark. I dare not imagine what the country is like. Today was a relatively calm day, but like most calm days that come immediately after tumultuous days, it was a sinister day of taking stock of damage, pulling bodies from under destroyed buildings, shuttling injured to hospitals that have the capacity to tend to their wounds more adequately. The relative calm allowed journalists to visit the sites of shelling and violence. The images from Tyre, and villages in the south are shocking. Read more about Day 6 of the siege: Notes on solidarity, Hezbollah, and Israel
Every time you hear that Israel is “minimizing civilian casualties” with “surgical strikes”, know that the south of Lebanon and everyone in it, as well as those in the southern suburbs of Beirut, are decimated and continue to be bombed many times daily. Also know that Lebanon is the size of Rhode Island, or Connecticut - which one, I forget exactly - it’s small. So while bombing every bridge and road in and out of the country plus every port may seem to be better than targeting civilians, it is a slower and more insidious kind of targeting - a complete and knowing crippling of an entire nation’s ability to get help to those wounded or supplies to people who need them. Read more about From Damascus
I am a Christian Lebanese living in Jounieh, a city in central Lebanon. We have been under Israeli attack since last Wednesday, 12 July, 2006, following the capture of two Israeli soldiers for the purpose of exchanging them for 6 Lebanese prisoners who have been in Israeli prisons for 25 years. Where do I start? Do I talk about the monstrosity of Israel? Or even worse, of the American support of the ugly war and their refusal of any discussion of a ceasefire? Well, why should “Condi” care? It’s not her children who are being massacred while trying to flee from the chaotic Israeli fire! Read more about Wondering who the terrorists are...
The following drawings are by Mazen Kerbaj, a Beiruti comic author, painter, and musician who was prompted to start his “Kerblog” after “two years of laziness” when Israel began to bomb his country and city. With the dark humor characteristic of his blog entries, he writes, “I’ll begin then by thanking Israel, who burned in one night two years of efforts to avoid getting myself trapped in this adventure. Good job guys! Especially the airport party. And the bridges. No way to leave the country. Nothing else to do than this blog.” His entries onto Kerblog are a heady mix of despair, wit, and the determination to persevere. Read more about A Beiruti's drawn diaries: "How can I show sound in a drawing?"
As I write this message, the southern suburbs of Beirut are still under attack with air raids from Israeli warplanes and villages in the south on the border are all under heavy artillery. Tens of buildings of eight and ten story height are all leveled to the floor. The aim is to empty the area of any inhabitants and supposedly be able to isolate the resistance fighters. In Beirut, they bombed the port once again targeting the wheat containers also killing on individual. In the Beqaa they bombed a plant of dairy products called Liban Lait, a gas station, and a school. Read more about Another day of devastation and destruction
Yesterday was focused on killing civilians in South Lebanon, Baalbek and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israel continuously bombed homes and buildings. One set of bombings killed over 20 people when Israel targeted a twelve story building in Tyre (Sour) and leveled its top four stories. Another near Jibsheet village targeted people’s homes. Reports of bombs with ugly gas smell were confirmed by the Lebanese army, indicating that the IDF may be using phosphorous and other types of bombs outlawed internationally. At the Jieh power plant that Israel bombed on July 16, fuel tanks are on fire. Read more about Not a spontaneous response
During the course of the G8 Summit meeting in the European city of St. Petersburg, world leaders have been forced to address the crisis in the Middle East caused principally by Israel’s military aggression, both in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Lebanon. While the response of the United States has been predictably devoid of criticism against Israel, messages coming from the European Union appear to be taking a different turn. Time will tell whether Israel’s current atrocities will generate more than just strong words. But history can be shaped as well. Just as what happened in the 1980’s concerning apartheid South Africa, Europe, its leaders and its citizens must take the opportunity to raise their voices against injustice and oppression. Read more about European citizens must raise their voice
