Something terrible has been done to the residents of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, and the Lebanese people are being spared the details. Over the past two weeks, since the camp was partly reopened to a few of its residents, many of us who have been there have been stunned by a powerful reality. Beyond the massive destruction of the homes from three months of bombing, room after room, house after house have been burned. Burned from the inside. Activist Michael Birmingham, who lived in nearby Baddawi camp with thousands of Nahr al-Bared’s displaced during the Lebanese army’s siege there, comments. Read more about Nahr al-Bared was destroyed, but who noticed?
Electronic Lebanon is pleased to introduce Meet the Lebanese Press, a twice-monthly review of what is making the rounds in the Lebanese press and the pundits’ take on it. This week, the roller coaster of speculations in the Lebanese press about the outcome of shuttle diplomacy among Lebanese politicians and world leaders over the presidential file reached a significant low last week only to climb back into a new high over the weekend. Read more about Meet the Lebanese Press: Guess games and plotters
We’ve had Live 8 and Live Earth, and this week, albeit on a smaller scale, we almost had One Million Voices. Organized by the OneVoice group, the declared aim was to bring together Palestinians and Israelis in simultaneous events in Tel Aviv, Jericho, London, Washington and Ottawa to voice support for the “moderates” and call for a negotiated two-state solution. EI contributor Ben White comments. Read more about The moderate blindfold
The “Middle East Peace Process” is like one of those big budget Broadway extravaganzas; they go on for years, but with each revival the cast changes. What may seem like a tired production to some nevertheless manages to remain fresh to the gullible throngs willing to hand over the price of admission. EI’s Ali Abunimah comments. Read more about The show goes on ... and on
Next month the US plans to host a regional meeting to discuss peace in the Middle East, or at least peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The maneuvering, deal making and negotiating about what will be on the table has been going on for some time. But the details of the agreement being discussed have been a well-guarded secret but for the steady flow of leaks and trial balloons. Deciphering this information combined with facts on the ground, one can put together a clear outline of Israel’s “next generous offer.” Neta Golan and Mohammed Khatib comment for EI. Read more about Formalizing apartheid packaged as peace initiative
In a recent article on the openDemocracy website, the rewritten Palestinian Authority policy document that replaced “muqawama” (resistance) with “popular struggle” was hailed as having “the potential to dramatically transform a conflict whose just resolution has continually eluded diplomats and militants.” EI contributor Ben White comments that the writer Maria Stephan may be admired for her optimism about the possibility of large-scale mobilization in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for a program of nonviolent resistance, but there is a twofold failure of contextualization that compromises her analysis. Read more about Nonviolent resistance a means, not the end
The recent death of Haider Abdul-Shafi could not have come at a worse time. Bearing in mind the grim shortcomings of the Palestinian leadership and the lack of any serious attempt to rectify the situation, the loss of this unique and iconic leader feels all the more acute. Ramzy Baroud remembers the life of the late Palestinian leader. Read more about Passing undefeated: Remembering Haider Abdul-Shafi
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his lackeys are offering Palestinians a simple and false choice: either you are with “us” (i.e., the PA and Fatah) or you are with the “terrorists” (i.e., Hamas and Iran). In the United States, Abbas has been aided in this effort by the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), a fledgling organization that professes to represent Palestinian-American interests. EI contributor Osamah Khalil finds the implications of these tactics on Palestinian advocacy and aspirations in the current political climate bear further scrutiny, as do the organizations and individuals which employ them. Read more about Politics of fear
The true measure of the alliance of any two states or political groups rests on an accurate and fair reading of two forms of support: military aid and economic assistance, and reaching a verdict about these two forms of support is based on the examination of three properties of such aid: the monetary value (size or quantity) of this aid, the declared and hidden objectives of the aid and the conditions attached to it (the quality of the aid). Based on these criteria, Hicham Safieddine asks, what is the truth behind the US support for Lebanon, in numbers and according to Washington’s own sources? Read more about US aid dependency: The road to ruin
The clinking champagne glasses on Engage’s website said it all. The movement established to oppose the proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions was celebrating a victory, as the British University and College Union (UCU) announced that to even discuss the boycott risked “infringing discrimination legislation.” The boycott of Israel, it seemed, had suffered a blow. Ben White comments on the seeming defeat for the Palestine solidarity movement. Read more about Only the beginning of the end
