Voices under siege

displaced half a million in the name of "fighting terrorism." We sample here, 4 web-logs (online

journals) from Lebanon and Gaza that tell of the endless suffering the hapless inhabitants of Lebanon and occupied Palestine are enduring.

Nora Barrows-Friedman, electronicintifada.net
July 17, Deheisheh Refugee Camp, occupied Palestine.
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?

Yes, there were "escalations" today in Gaza and Lebanon. There were "military strikes" and "retaliatory attacks" and "intensifications" and "deaths." there were "officials" and "spokespeople" and "leaders" joining in the finger-pointing and the name-calling. Meanwhile, Arab people are burning. Numbers and statistics become, therefore, irrelevant. Language loses its meaning on the tongue, becomes sludge and dribbles down one's chin. My dear friend Siham said today, "What does the term 'civilized society' mean when they are killing people like this?"

What becomes of a language that has lost its original meaning? Does it shrivel up and slink into an abyss to mingle with the ghosts of these headless, armless, forgotten brown-skinned kids? And as we watch the footage, as we hear on the phone from friends witnessing the carnage in their backyards, as we read the articles, how many times can we use the words "unbelievable," "disgusting," "horrific?" They have lost all meaning as well.

We need a new language to describe these nightmares. We need a new vehicle to convey the disbelief and the disgust and the horror as Gaza burns, as Lebanon smolders, as Iraq collapses.

As we rub our eyes tonight, bleary from thick cigarette smoke and too many hours of being glued to the television, my friend Mustafa says, "No one notices, no one cares. We are alone in this world." This is the aloneness. The isolation. Gazan and Lebanese and Iraqi children are huddled in their beds tonight, screaming out to the wall of silence in a sore-throated language, isolated in their terror.

Rami Almeghari, electronicintifada.net
July 17, Maghazi refugee camp.
"I have lost a total of $1,000 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. Why such darkness? Because three weeks ago, Israeli aircrafts bombarded Gaza's power plant.

"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'.

"When I get back home each day having earned only a few shekels [Israeli currency - 5 shekels = $1] in my pocket, I rush to find candles to light the house for my wife. We stay idle, until our turn for electricity current comes. This 'luxury' happens no more than three nights a week," he continued.

"This is a really unbearable situation that nobody on this earth can tolerate. What do the Israelis want us to do? To die, to give up, or what? However, we are steadfast. You know why we are steadfast? Because we know we have the same right to exist as the Israelis. These are our ancestors' lands, and we will remain living here -- even if it is difficult, even if we don't want to stay. Because this is our land." At this last sentence, Alaa' emphasized each word, to make sure I understood what he meant.

In the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, where the same problem exists, a Palestinian mother, Taraji Qdaih, 32, said, "For a very long time, we have been calling on the world to help us get rid of the Israeli occupation, but all our appeals fall on deaf ears. The Israelis are committing massacres; from the girl Huda Ghalia's family, massacred on Beit Lahia beach a few weeks ago, to the missiles fired at us from the air by night and day. And there is not any condemnation from the world at all. Yet when an Israeli soldier has been held, all the countries want to intervene to free him without any concessions. We are always the ones blamed, we are always the ones blamed."

Visiting the ruins of the bombed power plant brings to light the reality of Israeli shelling. Dr. Derar Abu Sasi, the plant's operations director said during a visit to his wrecked office at the base of the plant, "We only have one power plant in Gaza. Now that Israel has destroyed it, we can't produce a single megawatt, or even a kilowatt for our customers. The Israeli bombs destroyed all four main transformers, the only transformers that feed Gaza residents with electricity."

Israeli warplanes have been bombarding and destroying major infrastructure in the Gaza Strip such as governmental buildings for three weeks straight -- the latest was the foreign affairs ministry, hit early in the morning of Monday, July 17, for the second time in a week. Water treatment plants and greenhouses, bridges and homes, have also been the major targets of Israeli bombs in "Operation Summer Rain," the code name for the Israeli military invasion of Gaza that began June 27.

Israeli leaders claim that their actions across Gaza are intended at freeing an Israeli soldier who has been held by some Palestinian resistance groups for the past three weeks after he was captured in an unprecedented resistance attack on an Israeli army base south of the Gaza Strip.

The United States, Israel's strategic ally, has considered Israel's ongoing attacks on Gaza Strip as "self defense," while the death toll amongst Palestinians since then has risen to nearly 100, with over 300 others wounded, some of them are very critical. Some of the injured have lost limbs or have been paralyzed for life. In contrast, a sole Israeli soldier was killed in the Gaza invasion, and although Israeli forces at first blamed Palestinian resistance fighters, they later determined that the soldier had been shot by "friendly fire."

Zena, beirutupdate.blogspot.com
July 24, Beirut.
There is a very strong smell in the air tonight. I have smelled it before.

I was in NYC during the 9/11 attacks. For two months after the attacks, NYC smelled like Beirut smells like tonight. It is a mixture of burnt buildings, electric fires, and charred bodies. It is a putrid and nauseating smell. I closed all the windows in the apartment, but now we are choking from this sweltering heat.

I went to see Maya today and she commented on how everyday in Beirut these days is like a Sunday... no one on the streets... all the shops closed... but really, it is a lot worse than that. Tonight the electricity was out... Beirut was so dark and silent.

Today I thought about my students in the Burj Al Barajni Palestinian Refugee Camp. They are caught in the middle of it all. Located right between the airport and Dahiye, I cannot imagine what they are going through. They already had water, medical and electrical shortages. It must be so bad right now. My heart is breaking...

My sister, Lana, and I had started a class to economically empower young women of the camp. Lana organized it so that each month an artist would come in and teach the women of the camp a craft or artisan skill, so they could make crafts they could sell in order to help support their families. At the end of the classes we were going to have an exhibition of the works made. My month was July. I was only able to give two classes until this madness erupted. We were making objects out of paper mache. The last time I saw them, we were making mini people that represented different people of the camps. We used balloons to make the head, and chicken wire for the bodies... then we covered them with newspaper and glue.

Today I also thought about world domination. About how a few people control so much of what goes on today. It was too scary to continue the thought. So, I stopped.

Nahla, lebanonupdates.blogspot.com
July 24, Beirut
Minute by minute: July 24.
09:55 Israeli tanks penetrate into periphery of Maroun al-Ras.

09:02 Israel army announces that nine of its troops wounded in clashes with Hizbullah near Bint Jbeil.

08:58 Two killed and two wounded in Israeli air strike on al-Halousiyeh.

08:57 Israeli air strike on Hay al-Bayad in Nabatiyeh destroys two homes.

08:56 Five wounded and three homes destroyed in Israeli air strike on al-Duwayr.

08:44 Rice calls for urgent ceasefire that puts stop to Hizbullah threats to Israel.

08:34 Two killed and seven wounded in Israeli air strike on car in al-Ma'liyeh near Sour (Tyre).

07:50 Fierce clashes between Hizbullah and Israeli army near Bint Jbeil.

04:05 Hizbullah Secretary General, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah tells al-Safir newspaper that Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon will have no political implications if it does not stop shelling of settlements in north occupied Palestine, something that has not and will not happen in the future. Nasrallah pointed out that during Israeli aggression in April 1996, resistance capabilities were lower, both in quality and quality, while Israel occupied entire border strip in Lebanon, and still could not stop shelling of settlements. Nasrallah announced that priority now is stopping of Israeli aggression, and when time is right for serious discussion of ideas and initiatives, we will be ready to voice our opinions in framework adopted for solution.

03:04 Precarious calm envelops Lebanese regions.

02:42 Bolton refuses Syria's offer for negotiations.

02:29 Israeli airplanes circle over South Lebanon.

01:30 Al-Jazeera: Israeli army announces capture of two Hizbullah fighters in Maroun al-Ras.

01:25 381 killed in Israeli aggression on Lebanon until now.

0:55 Israeli rockets target al-Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp.

00:30 Israeli air strike on two Red Cross ambulances in Sour (Tyre) transporting three wounded; all six ambulance medical personnel wounded.