To all of you who sent messages and emails of concern and support, and who called my family in the US to make sure I am safe. I am so, so touched. What can I say - I am living a nightmare. Just last week, Lebanon was expecting 1.6 million tourists, a record number since before the civil war. We were expecting $4.4 billion to be injected into our economy. Now it’s in shambles. Imagine a militia in the US that acts on its own and kidnaps two Candian soldiers, imagine Canada in response bombing our ports, roads, bridges, residences, neighborhoods - killing US citizens, destroying lives, creating refugees … stopping life. Lebanese did not want this war … we are fed up; we have no voice. Read more about Lebanon: The pride of my heart
Many foreigners have been finding ways out of Lebanon. American students at AUB will be given first priority tomorrow; the Embassy says it won’t announce until the last minute if by land, sea or helicopter. Others will apparently have the opportunity as early as tomorrow, and most likely within the next three days. It is interesting what causes tension among people in situations like this. They have been told they can only have one small bag. The dilemma is like the subject of a high school essay - what would you bring if you had a few hours to pack and could only fill one small bag? There was a great deal of discussion about going or not going. Read more about Not a normal Monday
This evening as we gathered in Ras Beirut with some close friends for food and conversation, I asked if this war had a name yet. Someone suggested that all of Israel’s wars are known by dates, so this would be the 2006 war. To the Arabs, they are all known as tragedies. This could be the rape of Lebanon (though hardly the deflowering), the July massacre (this only works for the one-month war). If I knew the names of the two captured Israeli soldiers, I might suggest the war be named after them, or has it gone way beyond that? Read more about This nameless war
Today I drove through downtown on my way to visit my parents. I was driving alone and was a bit nervous. First time in a car alone since this whole thing started … But I had to see my parents. I came across a red light and stopped. The streets were empty, and I caught myself wondering why I stopped and didn’t just go through. Streets were totally empty - no other cars, no traffic police. Then I remembered my latest policy that is helping to keep me sane; that even under attack, we should not lose our manners. That even under attack, there are still some regulations we should abide by. Somehow, by not crossing the red light, I was able to maintain some dignity. Read more about At a crossroads in downtown Beirut
“I have lost a total of $1,000 US dollars since the power supply has been cut, the number of my customers has decreased to minimum, I stay idle at my shop for long hours; what shall I do?” asked 31-year-old Alaa’ Salahat, a local vendor of frozen foods from the central Gaza Strip refugee camp of Maghazi. He spoke of his experience while sitting in the darkness with only a kerosene lamp illuminating the worry lines in his face. “This is really a very terrible situation; we are civilians - what does Israel want? This is really a collective punishment against an entire people,” said Alaa’. Read more about Gaza under darkness
Maymanah FarhatNew York, United States17 July 2006
Residents of our village are leaving for fear of running out of food; water is scarce and there are only four small grocery stores for a population of about 15,000 people. This is common throughout the South, as most depend on the cities for commerce (cities they are now cut off from). My grandmother and aunt have left the safety of our family’s bomb shelter to stay in a village on the coast. What appalling choices they have been given — seeking refuge in a building with no bomb shelter, in closer proximity to Israeli war ships, or remaining in a village where food is running out. The death toll in Lebanon is now 150 civilians, with the number of injured rising to 350. Read more about Israel's latest attack on the poor
People were hiding in bomb shelters or trying to find a way out of town yesterday as Hezbollah rockets rained down on Haifa. I couldn’t sleep all night; every noise sounded like a rocket landing. They came in like pop flies and you could hear the thwapping as they landed in the distance. As I jumped in to the shower at 9:00, something hit hard in Haifa near the water. The sirens went off and the streets became deserted. Thursday nights hit had only engendered a kind of black comedy amongst the residents - this time it was real. Read more about From Haifa to Jerusalem: Thoughts While Getting Out of Missile Range
A quiet night in Beirut, more or less, compared to what the inhabitants of Tyre and the south and the Beqaa and Tripoli experienced. They were shelled from the air and sea with little respite. Tyre is in a tragically dire situation. 30,000 are displaced; the mayor was on TV screaming for help, his voice choking with despair. They are out of supplies, they have more wounded than they can handle and the city’s reserves in fuel and other basic amenities are nearly depleted. (The IDF wants to “clear” three provinces in the South: Tyre, Marja’uyun and Bin Jbeil, in preparation for the “20 km buffer zone.”) The port of Tripoli was bombed, the port of Beirut was bombed. Read more about Day 5 of the siege
Nora Barrows-FriedmanDheisheh refugee camp, Palestine17 July 2006
There will be no statistics in this journal entry because what difference does 10 shredded children in Gaza, or 15 sliced children in Lebanon, or 40 smashed children in Iraq make to the international community anyway? What difference does it make when the twisted and sick US corporate media doesn’t even mention their names, or their ages, or their favorite color — something to put a human face on the mangled mess made by the latest US-manufactured, Israeli-fired missile that destroyed what used to be a nose, a mouth, two eyes, freckles, cheek, or forehead? Read more about Nameless and faceless: The anonymous killed
This is the leaflet that was dropped on Beirut by Israeli planes on 13 July 2006, amidst the Israeli bombing campaign that has targeted the city and its infrastructure. Coming amid the killing of Lebanese civilians and the destruction of Lebanese infrastructure, including major portions of the Beirut airport, its tone of alleged concern for Lebanese “safety” and the “prevention of harm” is cruelly ironic: “For your safety and because we want to prevent any harm coming to uninvolved civilians, you must refrain from being present in places where Hizballah is deployed of from which it operates.” Read more about Leaflet dropped on Beirut by Israeli forces
