Last night , 60 raids were executed all over Lebanon , from Tripoli in the north to Baalback in the East ,and in Beirut. Since Thursday 197 civilians were killed and 35o injured according to the health ministry , but this can not be a finel account since whole villages and cities are completely cut off , there’ s no way to reach them or know wht’s happening there. Now what happened in the south last night seems to be outrageous . People are fleeing in masses , there are humongous traffic jams in Saida , caused by hundreds of people fleeing to Beirut through the South. Those people have nowhere to go in here , and that’s way they hadn’t left their villages so far. This morning, the streets of beirut were full with families carrying plastic bags in whivh they packed their belongings , or what’s left of them. Appartement buildings in beirut are either full or over priced. People took in relatives and friends in their houses . Now all this is fine, it’s war , killing destroying , moving people , cutting off cities , destroying infrastructure , it’s classical. But , please , take a minute and look at any of these pictures in a different way. Some countries said they will help lebanon’s reconstruction (thanks) . Saudi Arabia said it will give 50 milion $ in aid. A small calculation of the difference in oil prices between last Wednesday and today will show how generous this offer is , especially that the Saudis political stand almost gave the israelis a green light to go on. Anyway , that was not my point . The point is , if you take a real look at the pictures , you will see: a house , a car , a shop… Destroyed ones. But , 6 days ago , they were somebody’s car , shop , and house. Inside the houses were toys for children , books and music. All gone, and no one will pay for it. The shops are all what these people own. The harbour that was burnt last night , contained goods someone had paid for. People will go bankrupt. Did I mention that the targeted areas are the poorer in Lebanon? Oh yeah , and I forgot to mention all the people who died.
I only put one picture here (it shows destroyed homes in the Beirut suburb of Safir, I think), the rest of them are on Flickr. Be warned, some of them are extremely graphic and show burnt and mutilated bodies.
Ten of my relatives, all American citizens, tried to leave from the suburbs of Saida on Sunday in a van. Their number includes several teenagers who were in Lebanon for the summer without their parents. They are trying to get to the Embassy.
Since they are actually relatively safe in my village I am hoping that they didn’t leave yet. We haven’t heard any word one way or the other.
I think like many readers of the site, I know about a dozen people in Lebanon that have to make it through this somehow. You’re probably right that staying in the countryside is the best thing to do.
I hope everything goes well for your relatives and that they can get out. The problem is that with even the ports being hit now, there are not a lot of options for escape.
[…] Since I posted a few days ago a set of pictures from Lebanon on Flickr, more than 40 people have added me as a contact, three publications have written to ask to publish them, and it got mentioned on Boing Boing, one of the most-read geek-hip sites (one I read daily, actually). […]
[…] In a disturbing series some guy has posted pictures he’s taken in Lebanon that show the horror of what’s happening. Quite disgusting what the world is allowing Israel to do. More info on the pictures can be found here: […]
Thanks for bringing it a reality – as mainstream media just does not….This quote by Frisk, journalist seemed fitting:
“If you go to war, you realize it is not primarily about victory or defeat, it is about death and the infliction of death and suffering on as large a scale as you can make it. It is about the total failure of the human spirit. We don’t show that because we don’t want to. And in this sense journalists, television reporting, television cameras are lethal. They collude with governments to allow to you have more wars because if they showed you the truth, you wouldn’t allow any more wars.”
-Robert Fisk.
From a Democracy Now Interview
[…] I’ve uploaded some 144 pics sent by email by Hanady Salman, of the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, at the Flickr account. Let people see them since they won’t be shown in most newspapers (even though many are from AP and AFP!) WARNING: some of them are even more graphic than the first set — it makes you wonder what weapons are being used that could cause so much damage to human bodies. […]
I’m sure that what happened and is happening at lebanon is crazy,inhuman…
But did any of you stop and think what this war is all about.
Lebanon gave sponsorship for a terror organization.The people in lebanon have chosen this organization to lead them and gave them the power to act.
Why should the world see anything else than your choice.
What i want to know is :
What did the Hizbullah do to fight poverty?
What did they do to make lebanon a better country to live in ?
A safer country?
How do you think they can focus on anything that all what they care of is fighting against the zionic enemy and proving to the world how strong they are?
The difference between israel and lebanon isthat wer’e fighting for peace and not for honor.