Mike di Paola writes an excellent summary of the environmental and archeological damage from the Lebanese war for Bloomberg, Aug. 15. One of the coastal areas affected by an Israeli bombing-induced oil slick is the ancient Phoenician Canaanite harbor of… Read moreLebanon: historic Byblos threatened by oil slick, Israeli naval blockade
Seymour Hersh‘s latest feature in the Aug. 21 New Yorker openly portrays Israel’s Lebanon adventure as Washington’s test war for an attack on Iran. Like most of his recent journalism, it relies overwhelmingly on anonymous sources. One “US government consultant”… Read moreSeymour Hersh: Lebanon was Bush’s test war for Iran
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli soldiers fanned out across the Litani river, and between 10 – 30,000 may remain in Lebanon, creating certain logistics problems. According to Ha’aretz, Aug. 14: IDF general: Soldiers may steal food from south Lebanon stores “If… Read moreIsraeli general: troops in Lebanon should steal food, get ready for winter
Online at Media Monitors, but forwarded to us from Gush Shalom (which we like a lot better): What the Hell has happened to the Army? So what has happened to the Israeli army? This question is now being raised not… Read moreUri Avnery on Lebanon aggression: “defeat can be a blessing”
Received from The Other Israel (although it appears not to have been posted to their website): So, it goes on. For the past week and more we had lived under the illusion that when the UN Security Council solemnly resolves… Read moreDespite ceasfire resolution, aggression continues in Lebanon —and West Bank
From the Lebanon Solidarity website: U.S. Citizens, Internationals and Lebanese risk safety to bring humanitarian aid to devasted Southern Lebanon On August 12, at 7 AM, Lebanese from throughout the country and international supporters who have come to Lebanon to… Read moreLebanese civil resistance organizes aid caravan
For all of the endless talk about religion as a cause of war in the Middle East, it is rare that a media account mentions the actual resources that are being fought over. This welcome exception from the Los Angeles… Read moreIsraeli air-strikes on irrigation works; designs on Lebanese water seen
From The Forward, Aug. 11: JERUSALEM — Young Israeli activists are fighting back against Hezbollah — with a boycott on smoking hash. Hashish, or oil resin from marijuana plants, is one of the primary recreational drugs available in Israel. It’s… Read moreIsraeli stoners boycott Hezbollah hash
Trees, it seems, can be ideological. But the ideology, as Grace Slick once sang, “doesn’t mean shit to a tree.” Or, as Gertrude Stein might have had it, a tree is a tree is a tree. In other words, even… Read moreHezbollah rockets ravage forests of Galilee
The carnage in Lebanon has pushed Gaza from the headlines. But lest we forget… From Reuters, Aug. 8: Hospitals in the Gaza Strip have seen a significant increase in war casualties with severe injuries over the past month and are… Read moreGaza: hospitals overwhelmed
How perversely ironic. Last Wednesday, Aug. 2, was Tisha b’Av, the Jewish holiday commemorating the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE, as well as several other calamities in Jewish history. Yet this year, Tisha b’Av… Read moreJerusalem: fear at the Temple Mount
A note of irony. From IMEC News, July 31: In an official report, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israeli soldiers took 600 Palestinian residents prisoners since the abduction of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from a military… Read more600 Palestinians taken prisoner in July
