BEIRUT — The 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah has left Lebanon heavily damaged and politically destabilised, with hopes for a better future only dimming as the New Year approaches. Before Jul. 12 this year when the war broke out, many people in this nation of four million situated north of Israel believed they were
Fractured Govt Leads Devastated Country
BEIRUT, Jul 27 (IPS) – Amidst the rapidly worsening situation in Lebanon, the government finds itself too weak and divided to deal either with the Israel or with Hezbollah. In turmoil since the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, the government of this tiny country of 3.8 million has been struggling
Destruction, Death, and Drastic Measures
The Damage in Lebanon — and Beyond The idea that you can solve social and political problems militarily from the air is, on the face of it, ludicrous. The historical record is filled with the dead dreams of air power solutions to ground-based problems. But that stops no one.
Hezbollah Rides a New Popularity
BEIRUT — As the war in Lebanon approaches the one-month mark, and amid the destruction of much of Lebanon, Hezbollah appears to be gaining strength within the country and around the Arab world. The Israeli aim of widespread bombing of the Lebanese infrastructure in order to create resentment against Hezbollah seems to have played into
A City Lives On With Its Ill-Fated Charm
BEIRUT, Aug 5 (IPS) – The poster on the corniche near the American University campus in Beirut has become justly well known. It shows a Muslim woman in full black abaya walking next to a slender woman in a bikini. Together, they’re the face of Beirut. Again this weekend Israeli jets bombed the Muslim areas
Lebanese Red Cross Repeatedly Targeted
TYRE — Israeli warplanes are attacking the Lebanese Red Cross repeatedly, members of the medical aid group say. “The night of July 23 we were called to rescue a family whose home was bombed,” Kassem Shaulan, a 28-year-old medic with the Lebanese Red Cross in Tyre told IPS. “Just as I finished loading the three
No Hezbollah Rockets Fired from Qana’
QANA — Red Cross workers and residents of Qana, where Israeli bombing killed at least 60 civilians, have told IPS that no Hezbollah rockets were launched from the city before the Israeli air strike. The Israeli military has said it bombed the building in which several people had taken shelter, more than half of them
“You reach a place where you look at life like it’s nothing.”
Mother Jones Website News: Daily Dispatches from the War-Torn Lebanese Capital By Dahr Jamail Walking into the scene of the massacre yesterday in Qana felt like entering a bottomless pit of despair. A black whole of sadness, regardless of the fact that the bodies of the women, 37 young children, the elderly, and what few
“My wife and children are injured, and we have nowhere to go.”
Mother Jones Website News: Daily Dispatches from the War-Torn Lebanese Capital By Dahr Jamail Returning from traveling to Sidon on Saturday, I was emotionally exhausted, physically sick from what I saw.
“If You Haven’t Left, You’re Hezbollah”
SIDON, Lebanon — The Israeli attack on Qana has taken the biggest toll of the war, but it is only one of countless lethal attacks on civilians in Lebanon. Large numbers fled the south after Israelis dropped leaflets warning of attacks. Others have been unable to leave, often because they have not found the means.