ELECTRONIC LEBANON
Lebanon
The Lebanon section of Electronic Lebanon, a project from the Electronic Intifada, offering commentary, analysis, human rights and development information, and diaries from on the ground. Quality submissions are welcomed, preferably from contributors with an organisational affiliation.
Uncertainty in Beirut
Maureen Clare Murphy writing from Hamra, Beirut, Live from Lebanon, 9 May 2008
Beirut is exploding all around me. After Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah made his speech this evening, during which he accused the governing coalition of declaring war on the resistance, opposition and March 14 supporters started fighting each other and making their armed presence felt all over West Beirut, including my neighborhood of Hamra. EI editor Maureen Clare Murphy writes from Beirut. [MORE]
Opposition forces take control of Beirut
Mona Alami writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 9 May 2008
BEIRUT, 9 May (IPS) - Men clad in black have roamed the streets of Beirut since Wednesday, their faces covered with ski masks or dark kaffiyeh (checkered scarf), as they wreaked havoc in the large avenues leading to the airport or dividing Sunni and Shia areas. As darkness loomed over Lebanon, the winds of discord seem to set the Lebanese capital ablaze.
[MORE]
Battle for Beirut
Report writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 9 May 2008
BEIRUT, 9 May (IRIN) - Everyone kept insisting it was not a civil war, but jumping for cover as a rocket-propelled grenade slammed into the apartment block beside us, and masked gunmen fired deafening salvos across the road dividing Sunni and Shia neighborhoods of Beirut, it certainly felt like it. "It is impossible for Shia to shoot on Sunnis," insisted a military commander of Shia opposition group Amal, allied with Shia resistance group Hizballah. [MORE]
High prices, low wages feed violent political stand-off
Report writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 8 May 2008
BEIRUT, 8 May (IRIN) - Ramzi Ali was nearly 13 when his parents took him out of school to work as a motorbike mechanic. "Conditions are hard, and political tensions are destroying the country," said Ali, now 14, as he manned a barricade of burning tires in central Beirut on 7 May. "My parents just couldn't afford to keep me at school any more." [MORE]
Video: Who burned Nahr al-Bared?
Ray Smith writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 5 May 2008
Since 10 October 2007, residents of the destroyed Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon have been gradually allowed by the Lebanese army to return to the ruins of their homes. However, the core of the camp, the so-called "old camp," as well as parts of the "new camp," which doesn't fall under the mandate of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, remain sealed off and are still under the exclusive control of the Lebanese army. Ray Smith reports from Nahr al-Bared. [MORE]
Palestinians protest exclusion as government moots minimum wage
Report writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 2 May 2008
BEIRUT, 1 May (IRIN) - With inflation in double digits and the cost of living rising, the government has proposed raising the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, but Palestinians say they continue to be marginalized in the labour market. Several hundred Palestinians protested at the edge of Shatila camp in south Beirut on 30 April ahead of the 1 May labour day holiday, traditionally a time for workers' to air their grievances.
[MORE]
Meet the Lebanese Press: From dialogue to declarations
Hicham Safieddine writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 30 April 2008
The merry-go-round of dialogue sessions between the government loyalist and the opposition camps just got a fresh push when persistent parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri called for yet another set of roundtable negotiations after several months' hiatus. The press is abuzz with weighing the pros and cons, as well as gauging the chances of success or failure, of such talks. [MORE]
The "humanitarian" sidelining of Nahr al-Bared
Ray Smith writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 8 April 2008
On the rare occasions the media have covered the situation of destroyed Nahr al-Bared camp's more than 30,000 inhabitants, they have done so with only a narrow focus on the humanitarian problems they face -- ignoring the glaring political questions that only the camp residents seem to be left asking. Ray Smith analyzes such a report for Electronic Lebanon. [MORE]
Meet the Lebanese Press: Post-summit syndrome
Hicham Safieddine writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 7 April 2008
What's next for Lebanon after the Arab Summit that concluded last weekend in Damascus? Marx said history repeats itself first as tragedy, second as farce. Arab summits tend to repeat themselves as tragedies and farces at one and the same time, and the latest summit in Damascus was no exception. Summit soap opera moves by top and low-level delegates over closing statements, the tone of speeches, and other trivialities were the norm. [MORE]
Another Arab tea party ends
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani writing from , Electronic Lebanon, 1 April 2008
CAIRO, 1 April (IPS) - The 20th Arab League summit, convened earlier this week in the Syrian capital Damascus, drew relatively few heads of state, with both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz choosing to stay at home. According to local commentators, the low level of diplomatic representation served to show up Syria's isolation within the otherwise US-dominated Arab fold. [MORE]
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