Electronic Intifada : Action & Activism

Palestinians in Lebanon seek right of return

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 10:19:41 PST

TYRE, Lebanon, 25 January (TerraViva/IPS) - "We know when we start a campaign we work for an achievable goal," declares Wafa Yassir, the energetic head of Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), which runs programs for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. "And we know the right of return is not an easy goal. It may not happen in our lifetime. But we have to keep this right for the coming generation, and after that. And one day we will get it because it's our historic right and we won't give it up."

Video: The looting of Nahr al-Bared camp

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:11:33 PST

In May 2007 the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, home to around 40,000 Palestinian refugees, became the site of a three-month battle between the Lebanese army and the extremist group Fatah al-Islam that had established itself in the camp. All 40,000 of the camp's refugees were displaced. From the official end of the fighting in early September until 10 October the camp has been exclusively under the control of the Lebanese army. This video documents some of the refugees returning to Nahr al-Bared and the abuses by the Lebanese army.

Video: "Homeless in Shatila"

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:46:58 PST

The anarchist film collective "a-films" presents a short video on refugees from the destroyed refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared who are stranded in Shatila Camp, Beirut. The conflict in Nahr al-Bared between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam militants left homeless tens of thousands of Palestinians. Under fire and assuming they could soon return to the camp after their flight, most of them didn't taken any of their belongings with them. While Baddawi Camp near Trablous (Tripoli), northern Lebanon, is hosting the majority of those who fled, thousands of the camp's residents are scattered all over other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Video: Nahr al-Bared refugees' joyless Ramadan

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:21:56 PST

The anarchist video collective "a-films" presents a 20-minute film entitled "Tragedy Without Borders," produced by refugees from the destroyed Nahr al-Bared Refugee Camp during a video-workshop held in Baddawi Refugee Camp near Trablous (Tripoli), northern Lebanon. For two weeks, a-films has trained a group of refugees in filmmaking. Thousands of families living in Nahr al-Bared were displaced during the Lebanese army's summer-long siege on the camp, where a militant group called Fatah al-Islam had established itself. The camp was destroyed during the conflict.

Exhibition: "Lebanon: Open Skies of Struggle"

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 23:28:00 PST

In the context of historical political events occurring in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East, photojournalist Stefan Christoff is currently touring a photo exhibition entitled Lebanon: Open Skies of Struggle. Christoff, who is a regular contributor to The Electronic Intifada, was interviewed by Montreal-based independent journalist Mostafa Heneway on the current Lebanon exhibition traveling across Canadian galleries.

Radio Tadamon! reflects on Lebanon war

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 01:50:00 PST

This special edition of Radio Tadamon!, a monthly hour-long radio program broadcasted in Montreal and uploaded to the Internet, focuses on commemorating the July 2006 Israeli military assault on Lebanon. The 34-day war left over 1,300 Lebanese civilians dead, large parts of the national infrastructure destroyed and southern Lebanon littered with over a million unexploded cluster bombs. The program features multiple testimonies and reflections on the 2006 war on Lebanon recorded at a Montreal community commemoration event that attracted hundreds of participants from the Montreal region.

Die-in at Lebanese army checkpoint at Nahr al-Bared entrance

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:37:00 PST

We drove up to Baddawi refugee camp Sunday morning at the request of the women of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp who are now among the thousands of internally displaced Palestinians (IDPs) in Lebanon. They asked Lebanese and internationals to join them in a die-in at the southern checkpoint of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. We painted our t-shirts with red paint and we made signs in English and in Arabic; each sign had one of the seventeen known names of Palestinians who have died as a result of the Lebanese army's siege of the Nahr al-Bared camp.

Seventy-two hours

Mon, 28 May 2007 17:56:00 PST

Today the Lebanese army gave the PLO 72 hours to take out Fatah al-Islam or else the violence will be escalated in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. It is not clear if this means that they will enter or if they will use heavier artillery, but I fear that they will raze the camp. This would not be the first time that it has happened. The Dbeyeh refugee camp was destroyed in 1976 during the Civil War in Lebanon when most of the Palestinian refugees living there were killed or forced out. The shelling in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp has resumed yet again; more Palestinians are trapped inside and many of them seem to be men.

Nahr al-Bared Flees to Beirut

Sat, 26 May 2007 10:11:00 PST

As we walked in to Shatila refugee camp in Beirut this morning we were approached by a family from Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Tripoli who was wandering the streets of the camp in search of a place to live. They fled the violence in their camp and made it to Beirut to seek shelter. This family is one of 100 families who are now residing in Palestinian homes inside Shatila camp, with around 30 people to each two-room flat on top of the already family living in these homes and some of these homes have no electricity.

Aid for Nahr al-Bared

Fri, 25 May 2007 07:45:00 PST

The road to Nahr al-Bared was a difficult one. For those who traveled on busses to Badawi camp they found their children taken off and assassinated by this militia group. For others they found themselves cramped into a refugee camp far smaller than their own and the new arrivals doubled the population of Badawi camp which previously held 18,000. The upsurge in population happened so suddenly that aid agencies have not had time to coordinate aid relief distribution.

This Protest Won't Go Away

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 17:30:00 PST

BEIRUT, Apr 25 (IPS) - Lebanon is caught in political gridlock in the face of sustained opposition to the U.S.-backed government. The government is refusing to give in to opposition demands for more representation. The government says it is there to stay; so do the protestors. Their opposition is very visible. Scores of tents, many with solar powered television sets, wooden walls and doors, and cooking facilities fill several huge parking lots at the foot of the heavily barricaded headquarters of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government.

Montreal: Resistance and Hezbollah

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:50:00 PST

MONTREAL: Over 100 people gathered at the Mile End Cultural Center on Tuesday, March 20th for a film-screening and public discussion entitled "Lebanon: Resistance & Hezbollah" organized by Tadamon! Montreal. In the shadow of the 2006 Israeli attack on Lebanon, widely opposed in Quebec and internationally, public discussion and debate on the Lebanese popular movement and political party Hezbollah has grown. The event featured a documentary film produced by Swiss Television, which focused on former Lebanese political prisoner Soha Bechara's return to Lebanon after 2006 war.

ADC calls for congressional inquiry into Bolton remarks

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:59:00 PST

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today calls on the United States Congress to conduct an investigation into remarks made by former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton stating that the US deliberately resisted calls for an immediate ceasefire during the summer 2006 war in Lebanon. Bolton was quoted in an interview with BBC saying he was, "damned proud of what we did" to prevent an early ceasefire.

Lebanon Support Portal

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:09:00 PST

The Lebanon-Support portal was launched during the Israeli attack on Lebanon, and its services were launched fully by the time of the cease-fire and the beginning of the recovery phase. The portal was conceptualized after several discussions between the partners on the best manner to support coordination efforts where all actors can interact and share information. The portal had been designed to take into consideration the fluid situation regarding relief coordination in Lebanon.

Canada: Fight the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 21:20:00 PST

As we enter 2007, the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees marks its fourth year of fighting against the deportation of Palestinian refugees from Canada. We have, since early 2003, been publicly organizing to reverse the efforts of Immigration Canada to deport Palestinian refugees and for them instead to be granted permanent residency in Canada. The year 2006 provided numerous examples of the arbitrariness and injustice with which Immigration Canada has treated the cases of the stateless Palestinian refugees in Canada. While two members of the Coalition received positive decisions on their applications for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, others were unjustly refused, and still more have been left in wait for years.

Australian Delegation Visits Cluster-Bombed Areas of Lebanon, Calls for Ban

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 11:10:00 PST

A joint humanitarian delegation, representing Australians For Lebanon (AFL), the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW), and later joined by the Australian Lebanese Youth Association (ALYA), has recently returned to Australia from areas of Southern Lebanon heavily affected by cluster bombs. It is calling for a global ban on these inhumane weapons. The delegation spoke with authorities in Lebanon who are attempting to clear the munitions, including the National De-Mining Office and the UN Mine Action and Coordination Centre near Tyre in Southern Lebanon, and saw at first hand the terrible impact the weapons have on communities.

Appeal to Oppose Canadian Foreign Minister's Visit to the Middle East

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:42:00 PST

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter MacKay, who recently traveled to Afghanistan, is planning a larger visit to the Middle East region, with the stated aim of promoting "peace and dialogue". Conservative Party Foreign Minister MacKay will arrive in Lebanon and Palestine in the coming days. Tadamon! Montreal issues this appeal in an effort to highlight the Conservative government's role and position as an imperialist player in the Middle East. Canadian intervention in the region is best illustrated by the Conservative government's open support for Israel's brutal assault on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 and by Canada's ongoing military presence in Afghanistan.

Down but not out: Artists refused to give up

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 12:02:00 PST

The past year hasn't been a great one for the art scene in Beirut. As of January, Lebanon was still reeling from the political assassinations and phantom bombings of 2005. Whatever momentum artists, curators and dealers built up over the next six months was trounced by the war with Israel that erupted in July. Numerous projects geared toward establishing a modern art museum or a contemporary art center in the Lebanese capital got shoved to the back burner, gallery exhibitions were cancelled and individual bodies of work had to be shelved by the artists who had been hoping to realize them.

Weblogs on Current Effects of Israeli Military on Lebanon

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:44:00 PST

Tadamon! Montreal has launched two Weblogs focused on Israeli violations of the U.N. ceasefire and incidents involving cluster bombs, as a contribution to the growing international challenge to Israeli's ability to defy international law with impunity. In the media-induced amnesia that defines North American political culture, these virtual memories will help track important historical facts, even as political leaders manipulate the public's weak grasp of history in pursuit of their political agendas.

Montreal Organizations Call for Fair Coverage of Mass Protests In Lebanon

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:30:00 PST

MONTREAL: Several Montreal-based organizations are speaking out in defence of the popular protests which have overtaken Lebanon's capital for more than a week. The groups are concerned with a prevailing bias in Canadian media coverage of the events in Lebanon. This bias misrepresents the purposes of the protests and the dynamics that underlie them. It also fuels a dangerous sectarianism that threatens Lebanon.