Still they come...

Damascus seems to keep on getting fuller and fuller. My initial optimism that this would be over in a couple of weeks - with the ceasefire and international force providing a convenient face-saving measure for Israel to extricate itself from the mess it's largely gotten itself into - has now been shattered.The failure of the Rome conference to secure a ceasefire has raised possibility that the Israeli-Lebanese conflict will become a protracted war. Many Lebanese seem to have reached the same conclusion. Thousands of people who previously thought they would sit it out are now deciding to take the risk and are fleeing. When Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon says that "all those now in south Lebanon are terrorists", I can't say I blame them.

The Old City is now full of parked cars with Lebanese number plates (plus cars from other countries in the region - tourists from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and the UAE whose holidays in Lebanon have been cut short by the current crisis). Schools, orphanages and other public halls are being used to house the influx of refugees. Last night I passed a mosque in the Old City where volunteers working for an undisclosed religious foundation were unloading supplies from a couple of Suzuki trucks in order to feed the refugees housed within. They said they had been working for 12 hours non-stop in order to provide assistance. It is clear that, although the chaos of last weekend (concentrated in the centre of the New City, around the Syrian Red Crescent office, the foreign money exchanges and the airline offices) has subsided, the scope of this refugee crisis is still very much on the increase, as more and more spaces across the city are commandeered to provide accomodation. Today there were several dozen people from Lebanon who have newly arrived at make-shift shelters on just one street in the Old City. Damascus was a teeming city even before these new arrivals. It looks as if before this tragic mess is resolved it's going to get a whole lot more congested.

Paul Cochrane has a piece in Open Democracy on what he calls the Syria Safety Zone, in which he explores the issue of Lebanese refugees in more detail.

Lebanon Updates have posted this map showing the areas of Lebanon attacked by the Israelis from 12-26 July:

It clearly shows that Israel has attacked targets across Lebanon including all the ports, major roads and border crossings. It also quite clearly shows that the volume of bombing has been greatest in south Beirut and south of the Litani river.

This site also mentions another feature of the conflict that has received no attention from mainstream news: the Israeli attack on the Jiyeh power station has released 10-15,000 tonnes of heavy fuel into the Med - possibly the worst ever environmental disaster in the Med - and it is now ruining the beautiful Lebanese coastline. Given the former importance of tourism to the Lebanese economy, this is both an environmental and an economic disaster (and we haven't even started to talk about Depleted Uranium...).

Meanwhile, Britain is doing all it can to bring about a peaceful resolution of the crisis by acting as a staging post for the delivery of bunker-busting bombs from the US to Israel.


Interesting fact of the day: According to the Lebanese Parliamentary Speaker, since 2000 Hizbu'llah have violated the Blue Line dividing Israel from Lebanon about 100 times. In contrast Israel has violated that line over 11,000 times! (source: The Angry Arab News Service

Interesting fact of the day 2: Hizbu'llah is widely believed to be Lebanon's second biggest employer - aside from a political party and militia they run schools, hospitals, orphanages and other services. The popular TV station al-Manar is also closely linked with Hizbu'llah.

On The Border

A couple of days ago the Red Crescent finally accepted my offer to volunteer my services. I was taken, along with about 15 other volunteers, to help at the emergency Red Crescent post in the no-man's land inbetween the Syrian and Lebanese borders.

We were there primarily to greet those leaving Lebanon - handing out food, water and information. There were also some first-aiders who were able to provide basic medical help.

A steady flow of cars, taxis and vans came through the Lebanese border crossing: Everything from brand-new Mercs packed with Antler cases and affluent couples to beat-up old vans jammed with entire extended families (30 people including 10-15 kids)! Most people seemed so grateful to see us - after arduous journeys over backroads through the mountains, under the watch of trigger-happy Israeli F-16s, it must've been a relief to see a friendly face waving bottled water and bags of food at you! Mind you, it was probably strange to be greeted by an Englishman saying "Welcome to Syria!"

Thankfully, most of the people in the vehicles travelling through the border crossing whilst I was there were fine. A few children were sick, there were some cases of dehydration but, on the whole nothing too serious. If anything, many were impatient to press on with their journeys.

It was surreal handing out basic supplies in the neon glow of the shiny glass-fronted duty free complex, including an Italian restaurant and a Dunkin' Donuts. In the shadow of this building many people are camped out, wondering what to do and where to go. Several hundred people, mainly Palestinians, are trapped in this no-man's land, allowed to leave Lebanon but prevented from entering Syria. It's a serious problem.

Their situation is now getting quite desperate - many have been there for over a week now. They face a stark choice: either stay put, where they are provided with just enough to survive by the Syrian Red Crescent, and await the end of hostilities or return to the Israeli onslaught. Just the journey back into Lebanon is risky - Israeli jets are patrolling in search of "Hizbu'llah rockets" being transported. I don't know how many they've intercepted but they've certainly caused a lot of collateral damage. For example, several days ago a convoy of some ambulances donated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were attacked. Fisky has also reported on Lebanese Red Cross ambulances operating in southern Lebanon being attacked.

Al Jazeera have just done a story on the above, you can read it here

I've been tryng to find out who's doing what to help with the estimated 700,000+ displaced/refugees. Not to mention the hundreds of wounded.

I found the following:
-King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has pledged a total of $1.5 billion - of which $500 million will be directly used in reconstruction and the rest will go to prop up the treasury of the Lebanese state.

-The UAE earmarked $20 million to be put toward humanitarian relief in Lebanon. Other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (i.e. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) have also pledged a total of over $70 million.

-The US has unveiled a $30 million dollar immediate aid package for Lebanon, consisting of 100,000 medical kits, 2,000 plastic sheets and 20,000 blankets.

-Morocco granted Lebanon $5 million in humanitarian aid.

-Canada will give $1 million to humanitarian efforts, split between the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN.

-The UN representative from Finland pledged 1.5 million euros and, speaking on behalf of the European Union, promised another 10 million euros.

-Spain has pledged 1 million euros in aid and will channel the funds via the International Committee of the Red Cross.

-Greece has sent 20,000 doses of antibiotics, as well as various other medical supplies, accompanied by two doctors from the Health Ministry.

-President Jacques Chirac said France would send an aircraft to Cyprus with humanitarian aid. The plane will carry water, generators for hospitals and medicines as requested by the Lebanese government.

The UN has launched "an appeal" for $150 million to help provide emergency relief to the people displaced by the Israeli bombing. Only $10 million is expected to be assigned to Syria, where 200,000 (about a quarter of those displaced) have reportedly fled. With all due respect it strikes me that this is woefully inadequate, especially when you consider that Syria is already home to large Palestinian and Iraqi refugee populations - possibly as many as 1 million in total.

So, I would urge those of you who feel the need to help to find ways to do so. Here are some links to people taking donations - I can't personally vouch for any, but they've been forwarded to me by a friend. They should be able to put your donations directly to use helping people in Lebanon:
Saveleb.org
Relieflebanon.org
Beirut Spring - How You Can Help


Meanwhile, the fighting continues, with both Hizbu'llah and Amal (Hizbu'llah's slightly eclipsed predecessor and rival, also with strong support among the Lebanese Shi'a), putting up fierce resistance. Despite overwhelming military superiority, Israel is still fighting within 4km of the Lebanese border, in the area of Bint Jbail. At the same time the Israeli military forces bombarded a UN observer post near the infamous Khiam prison, one of the symbols of Israeli's occupation of southern Lebanon. The prison - now a museum run by Hizbu'llah - has also been an Israeli target.


Nasrallah - the Secretary-General of Hizbu'llah - is still making confident public proclaimations. He gave a speech last night, rejecting the imposition of any ceasefire he considered "humiliating", and reaffirming his threats to strike "beyond Haifa".