Beirut Journalist

Where have all Lebanon’s friends gone?

2006-08-11T00:53:00.000+03:00

Ask most Lebanese what their biggest frustration is of this whole war and they will tell you the impotence of the international community. Lebanon was the hope of the new democratic Middle East when one million people marched in downtown last year demanding independence. Those same people that tried to take the credit for revitalizing Lebanon are now the same people that have abandoned the Lebanese in their hour of need.

And for what?

Israel says it is trying to disarm Hizbullah, and has the apparent diplomatic cover of our friends in London and Washington. Well anyone clued up on Lebanese politics will know there was a national dialogue going on discussing that actual topic. So instead of letting Lebanon engage in a national dialogue and consensus building Washington eagerly watched Israel try and destroy Hizbullah, and Lebanon in the process.

So what have they achieved?

Nothing. Hizbullah is still strong and firing more than a 100 rockets into northern Israel. Well actually they did achieve something the destruction of Lebanon. Because of the great friends of Lebanon who have just stood and watched the country now has been taken back 20 years as an Israeli General promised. $2.5 Bn is the estimated amount Lebanon needs to rebuild itself. Almost all the bridges in the country have been destroyed. Whole suburbs in Beirut, Sour, Saida have been destroyed.

Not to mention the human tragedy.

1000 civilians killed mostly women and children. 3,000 injured and over a million refugees. Human rights watch in America, UN World Food Program and many other aid agencies have said Israel has constantly violated international law in this conflict, bringing Lebanese to their knees in the most brutal form of collective punishment.

So what now?

What will London and Washington the great friends of Lebanon do about these war crimes? Probably reiterate Israel’s’ right to have a secure border, even if it means massacring its neighbor people and destroying their country.

Weekends in Lebanon

2006-08-04T22:23:00.000+03:00

Beirut in the summer is normally the party capital of the Middle East. If its not a superstar DJ coming to town then you can always make your way to some beach party, or even better one of Lebanon’s trendy rooftop bars.

How times of changed.

I spent Friday night watching Beirut being destroyed by Israeli warplanes. It’s routine now. You hear the jets fly past followed by a flash of light. There is a short delay before you hear the thud of the Bomb.

Beirut is once again being destroyed.

And yet many Lebanese showed profound shock to Israel’s reaction that Hizbullah might bomb Tel Aviv. Hizbullah’s leader said he would respond to any attack on central Beirut by hitting Tel Aviv. Israel said they would consider this a major escalation.

Yet the Irony to many Lebanese is the fact that they don’t see blockading Lebanon by land, sea and air as an escalation. They don’t see 900 civilians killed by Israeli bombs as a major escalation. They don’t see creating 900,000 Lebanese refugees as a major escalation. They don’t see destroying Lebanon’s infrastructure as a major escalation. Damages are now estimated to be around 2 billion dollars.

Beirut used to be a happening place during weekends. Nowadays Lebanese just contemplate the destruction of their country.

Cost of War

2006-08-02T00:44:00.000+03:00

As a reporter you get to witness things many people don’t see. When I went down to a hospital in south Beirut the true cost of war hit me. These are not images you would forget of in a hurry. The stories that were coming out of the hospital are as shocking as the injuries they had suffered. I would like to share with you just a few.

In one of the most distressing cases there was a ten-year-old girl with 3rd degree burns all over her body. Doctors have to giver her morphine every time they treat her.

In another room lay two men. One of them was sleeping when an Israeli jet bombed his house. His neighbor had gone in to try and rescue him when the jet came round and bombed the house for a second time. They were both having multiple fractures.

A teenage kid no older than 18 lies in the bed with his leg amputated. He was standing on the side of the road when a bomb landed next to him. His friend died.

The man that I interviewed for my newspaper was in complete distress. He has a fractured knee and wrist, cut in the oracle of his ear, 3rd degree burns on his back, chest, elbow and lacerations on his head. He had just come back from work and his family were preparing for dinner. That’s when an Israeli jet passed over and blew up his house. The last thing he remembers before he became unconscious was the wall falling on him. When he came to his sister and brother and law were dead.

Unfortunately for Lebanon there are thousands of these stories to be told in every hospital.

Ceasefire NOW!!!!!!!!!

2006-07-30T22:33:00.000+03:00

Lebanon is reeling from another bloodbath. Everyone here is in a state of shock at the massacre that took place in Qana today. It was truly a war crime! The western media censor the pictures of this brutal Israeli attack that killed 60 people, 37 of them children. The Arab media on the other hand doesn’t, and believe me as you watch the pictures the true cost of war is there for everyone to see. You can’t fathom the emotions you feel as you see Red Cross workers in tears as they carry corpses of 12-year-old girls from the rubble.

Unfortunately this was not the only tragedy to come out of Lebanon this weekend. A baby, less than an hour old was killed. I can’t help but feel the Israelis are deliberately targeting civilians when I heard this story. A women and her husband were in a taxi trying desperately to reach the hospital before she delivered. They were coming under fire from Israeli jets as the women was giving birth in the taxi. A missile finally hit their car killing the baby, the father and the taxi driver. The mother is in a coma, unaware of the fate of her family.

A war crime has been perpetrated here today and I hope the people responsible are brought to justice for this ugly crime.

And if anyone still needs convincing of the need for an immediate ceasefire just take some time out of your day to look at the pictures on http://www.naharnet.com/, pictures you wouldn’t see in the western media. Look at the massacre through the eyes of millions of Arabs.

What is terrorism?

2006-07-28T22:54:00.000+03:00

Welcome to the nightmare that is Lebanon. Around two weeks into the conflict and Israeli warplanes are still destroying this country building-by-building, road-by-road, and bridge-by-bridge. Civilian deaths are mounting at an alarming rate, around 400 now, most of them women and children. Some of them are still stuck under the rubble of their house because relief workers can’t get there so pray for them.

As a political analysis I have obviously become familiar as we all have with the word terrorism, no doubt a picture of Bin laden sitting in a cave comes to mind. But I never really understood the word till now. I am experiencing it first hand. Bear with me. Let me explain terrorism as I have witnessed it.

Terrorism is when a military superpower decides to blockade a country with no navy or air force by land, sea and air. Israel says this is in its right to defend itself after Hizbullah kidnapped two of its soldiers. They did this to try and force Israel into a prisoner swap with Lebanese prisoners who have been in Israeli jails for more then 28 years with no trial. Well this is not defending yourself this is collective punishment, illegal under the Geneva Convention.

Terrorism is when a country destroys its neighbor’s infrastructure. Israel says it is bombing Hizbullah’s terrorist infrastructure. What it is really doing is acting on a promise by an Israeli general to bring Lebanon back twenty years.They have brought Lebanon to its knees as our prime minister said. It has crushed the country’s ports, airport, and over 50 bridges connecting the country. It has destroyed three million people’s hopes and dreams of prosperity.

Terrorism is when whole neighborhoods are flattened. Israel claims it is hitting Hizbullah positions. Adding to their madness an Israeli general also promised to raise ten buildings in a Beirut suburb for every rocket fired into Israel. Translate that into English and you get whole suburbs of Beirut destroyed, Tyre in the south and many more villages. It also translates into the deaths of 400 people, mostly women and children living in apartment blocks. It also translates into creating 750,000 refugees.

If this is not terrorism then I don’t what is.

The voice of Lebanon

2006-07-28T00:10:00.000+03:00

This is my first entry so if you’re reading this you are reading the first of many. I am a journalist living and reporting from Lebanon on the current conflict between Lebanon and Israel. I am not naive enough to think this blog can male a difference and stop the current Israeli aggression on Lebanon, but if my stories can make one person shed a tear for the plight of the Lebanese than it has been a success.

And this is what this blog is about, showing people the injustice and suffering the Lebanese people have to bare. So if you’re looking for a racist rant this site is not for you. If you’re looking for a lot of swearwords and cursing and absurd theories based on prejudice and ignorance then this site is not for you.
This site is for people who are open to alternative ways of thinking and are willing to listen to the Arab perspective on the conflict that are never presented in the main stream media, apart from the odd guy living in a cage from al-Qaeda. This site is not for the faint hearted, as some of the stories of people caught up in the bombing are very distressing, so be prepared.