Electronic Lebanon

Nahr al-Bared reconstruction delays protested

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:16:18 PST

Since the end of August, construction equipment in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, has stood unused after the Lebanese State Council granted a two month moratorium for the reconstruction of the camp. Nahr al-Bared, home to approximately 30,000 refugees, was destroyed during a three-month-long battle between the Lebanese army and the militant group Fatah al-Islam in the summer of 2007. Ray Smith reports for Electronic Lebanon.

Shebaa Farms "real issue" is water

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:32:50 PST

BEIRUT (IRIN) - The politics of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, a rugged sliver of mountainside wedged between Lebanon, Israel and Syria, have long overshadowed what some Lebanese environmentalists call "the real issue" of the disputed area: its water resources. Now activists are calling for hydro-diplomacy to take precedence over political maneuvering as the most effective solution to one of the key stumbling blocks to Middle East peace.

Lebanon's politics of real estate

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:19:43 PST

Nostalgia, insists architect and academic Rami Daher, is a legitimate feeling. While most individuals' instinctive thoughts of the glories of Levantine architecture might run to ancient mosques, castles and palaces, Daher's yearning is towards an era in living memory, and on a more everyday scale. Sarah Irving reports for Electronic Lebanon.

Nahr al-Bared a test case for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:56:07 PST

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (IPS) - Palestinian refugees at Nahr al-Bared in north Lebanon are living under tight military siege two years after a war destroyed the refugee camp. It has now become a test case for a new approach in Lebanon's security policy towards Palestinian refugee camps.

Two years later, reconstruction to start in Nahr al-Bared

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:55:31 PST

NAHR AL-BARED (IRIN) - Two years on from the devastating battle which destroyed their homes and livelihoods, Palestinian refugees from Nahr al-Bared are set to see reconstruction work begin inside the camp's official boundaries. Despite a resilient recovery under way among Palestinians living in the new camp -- the area around the edge of the official Nahr al-Bared refugee camp -- legal hurdles, political wrangling and the recent discovery of archaeological ruins under the site of the old camp have delayed reconstruction work there.

No law for detained Palestinians

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:28:16 PST

BEIRUT (IPS) - Palestinian refugee Youssef Shaaban was released from prison early this month -- after serving 16 years in a Lebanese prison for a crime he did not commit. Shaaban was convicted by Lebanon's Justice Council in October 1994 on charge of shooting and killing the first secretary of the Jordanian embassy, Naeb Imran Matiyeh.

Elections only fortify Lebanon's sectarian politics

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:45:55 PST

Lebanon's elections last month confirmed yet again that in this tiny Mediterranean country, sectarian politics are paramount. Long gone from the collective consciousness are the lessons of the 15-year civil war that began as a political and class dispute and descended into sectarian enmity. Forgotten also are the post-war years that led up to the recent elections and were characterized by the ebb and flow of civil strife. Sami Halabi comments for Electronic Lebanon.

The dream of returning home

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:37:11 PST

Fadi looked up and pointed at the rain. "This is like our life. We hate the rain. But we can't change it so we will stay under it." This rain appeared all the more invasive when picking lemons in winter. It is a cold, wet and miserable task, for the equivalent of $7 a day. A task only perceived to be fit for Palestinians in Lebanon. Despite Fadi's postgraduate qualification in accounting and fluency in English, he rightly pointed out that "I can't be a lawyer, I can't be a doctor ... Seventy-two jobs I can't do." Mary Pole writes from the al-Buss refugee camp.

Video: Nahr al-Bared "Two Years Under Siege"

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:27:57 PST

Two years after it was destroyed in the wake of fighting between the Lebanese army and a militant group, the fate of the Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr al-Bared remains unclear. This 10-minute film, the co-owner of an ice cream factory, the president of the local traders committee and the imam of the al-Quds Mosque, all Palestinian refugees, speak about the siege and its economic consequences.

Nahr al-Bared's future remains unclear as army holds on to neighborhoods

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:48:26 PST

The three-month-long war between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam militants in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon ended on 2 September 2007. While the Lebanese army has allowed displaced residents to return to some parts of the camp, the fate of other parts of the camp still under the army's control remains unclear. Ray Smith reports for Electronic Lebanon.

Video: Nahr al-Bared, "A Sip of Coffee"

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:55:58 PST

This 26-minute film follows a father and his son in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp as they attempt to deal with their unemployment. The two have been living in temporary metal shelters for more than a year, waiting to return to their camp. By documenting issues of reconstruction, temporary housing, economy, unemployment and despair, the film touches on the daily experience of life in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.

No work in Nahr al-Bared camp

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:04:28 PST

Mohammad and Mahmoud sat on an idle field on the edge of the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. While Mahmoud sang to the songs being played on his mobile phone, Mohammad used his for gaming. Mohammad looked up and explained, "We spend our days doing nothing. We get up and sit at the cafe for a few hours. Then we go home and pray. We gather again and return to the cafe. There we sit until the evening. Every day passes like this." Ray Smith reports on the dire economic conditions in Nahr al-Bared.

Women battle for citizenship rights

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:25:47 PST

BEIRUT (IPS) - One can be born in Lebanon and live here all one's life, and still not be a Lebanese citizen. Lebanon is one of few remaining countries in the Middle East where a mother is unable to pass citizenship to her children. Campaigners have succeeded in securing that right in countries such as Egypt, which amended the law in 2004 to allow women to pass citizenship to their children, and in Algeria, which granted women full citizenship rights in 2005. In Lebanon the struggle continues.

Two years later, no reconstruction in Nahr al-Bared

Wed, 20 May 2009 10:52:00 PST

About two years ago, a battle broke out between the Lebanese army and the militant group Fatah al-Islam in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. The summer-long battle concluded in September 2007 and the camp was totally destroyed -- the rubble indicating that the destruction was systematic, most likely committed by the Lebanese army. After several delays, the UN-mandated core of the camp, the so-called "old camp," has meanwhile been cleared of approximately 600,000 meters of rubble. Yet, reconstruction hasn't begun and residents are still unable to enter the old camp, the access of which is controlled by the Lebanese army, and displaced refugees are increasingly resentful. Ray Smith reports.

Palestinian refugees neglected in "gatherings"

Tue, 19 May 2009 12:08:23 PST

KAFR BADA, Lebanon (IRIN) - For the last 30 years Ali Mohammed Hindawi, aged 84, has lived alone in a rusty tin shack in south Lebanon, without water, electricity or a toilet, sleeping among chickens, flies and litter, and separated from his family by displacement and poverty. "What do I think about at night? I think about my situation, that this is not a life for me," said the frail old man, barely able to sit up after weathering another winter of freezing temperatures and downpours.

Funding cuts threaten cluster bomb demining

Mon, 18 May 2009 05:06:48 PST

BEIRUT (IRIN) - Deminers in south Lebanon clearing hundreds of thousands of unexploded Israeli-dropped cluster bomb submunitions will lose two-thirds of their teams this year unless a drastic funding shortfall is addressed. The shortfall could mean that the mostly agricultural land will not be cleared of deadly ordnance for eight years or more.

Lebanon's empty notion of justice

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:10:43 PST

On 1 March 2008, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon came into effect pursuant to the request of the Lebanese government and United Nations Security Council resolutions 1644 and 1757. The trial is intended to bring to justice to those who carried out the assassination of former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafiq Hariri and 22 others. Sami Halabi comments for Electronic Lebanon.

Fair deal for domestic workers?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:44:40 PST

BEIRUT (IRIN) - Eighty Ethiopian women have been in Tripoli Women's Prison in north Lebanon for over a year, accused of not having a passport, which was either taken from them when they started as domestic workers or which they never had in the first place. Most were arrested on the street after running away from their employers -- usually because of abuses ranging from forced confinement and starvation to physical harm and rape.

Wretched conditions for Syrian workers

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:18:00 PST

BEIRUT (IRIN) - Rights and labor groups say almost all the estimated 300,000 Syrians working in Lebanon have no official status, often endure dangerous conditions, and earn about $300 a month doing jobs shunned by most Lebanese. In 2006, the Labor Ministry issued just 471 work permits to Syrian nationals, meaning the remainder worked unregistered.

The children of Shatila: no future and no past

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:40:47 PST

My wife Linda and I went back to Beirut, Lebanon recently to visit the American Community School that I graduated from in the 1950s. One of the counselors at the school, an American named David Bakis, has started a project to bring some cheer into the lives of children in the Palestinian refugee camps near Beirut. No easy task. Curtis Bell writes from the United States.