How Nancy Wished Everything was an April Fool's Joke

According to a friend, Rabih Mroue is as good as it gets when it comes to Lebanese theatre. Although I know nothing about theatre, I enjoyed seeing a play by him when I was in Beirut. It dealt with how ordinary people became caught up in the sectarianism of the civil war - a topic normally avoided in public discourse, so the piece had been subject to censorship.

I don't know where exactly they're planning to take the "Nancy" play, but if it is coming to a location near you it's definitely worth checking out. The article also contains a remarkable incident of the culture minister's personal intervention in order to lift the customary censorship (the play had originally been banned in Lebanon). If it's that easy to change something, why not go for it and change a few of the other problems as well?

Spendenaufruf/Call for donations

English translation at end of post.

http://www.hier.geblieben.net/
Aktionsprogramm "Hier Geblieben!"
Für das ganze Bleiberecht!
Für die vollständige Umsetzung der UNO - Kinderrechte!

Liebe Kinder und Jugendlichen,
sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

hiermit sende ich einen recht ungewöhnlichen, aber nicht um so weniger
wichtigen Hilferuf aus dem Kreise der "Jugendlichen ohne Grenzen" weiter.
Paymana - die den Aufruf geschrieben hat - ist eine der sehr engagierten
Jugendlichen, die durch ihr Engagement immer wieder auf das Bleiberecht
aufmerksam gemacht haben.

In der Hoffnung das dieser Aufruf nicht ungelesen bleibt - sondern
Unterstützung erfährt, verbleibe ich mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Philipp Harpain

vom GRIPS Theater Berlin

"Jugendliche ohne Grenzen"
----------
" Hilfe für Lisa Saify "

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren und Liebe Freunde,

hiermit möchte ich mich mit einer dringenden Bitte an Sie wenden.

Meine Name ist Paimana Heydar. Ich bin 23 Jahre alt und komme ursprünglich
aus Afghanistan. Zur Zeit lebe ich in Deutschland und mache eine Ausbildung
zum Gesundheits-und Krankenpflegerin. Mit 5 Jahren musste ich mit meine
Familie aus Afghanistan fliehen.Nun lebe ich seit 11 Jahren in Deutschland.
Wenn ich mir die Kriegsgeschichte und Unterdrückung dieses Landes
anschaue,so bin ich froh, dass ich sie seither nur aus Büchern und
Erzählungen kenne.
Seit einigen Monaten habe ich durch Mühsamen Suchen den Kontakt zu der
Familie eine damaligen Nachbarin und beste Freundin gefunden. Die Familie
Saify hat es nicht geschafft wie wir damals aus Afghanistan zu
fliehen.Dementsprechend haben Sie wie tausende afghanische Familien auch
dafür einen großen Preis gezahlt.
Der Vater und die älteste Tochter der Familie ist von den Taliban entführt
und ermodert worden. Die alleinstehende Witwe und ihre 5 Kinder (Töchter)
haben nach dem Tod des Vaters und der Schwester in vielen Flüchtlingslagern
Pakistans unter extrem schwierigen Lebensbedingungen überleben müssen, da
die Mutter weitere Entführungen ihre Töchter in Afghanistan befürchtete.
Ich hoffe, ich muss nicht ausführlicher erklären, wie es in den
Flüchtlingslagern in Pakistan zu sich geht. Es hat uns sehr viel Zeit und
Geld gekostet sie da rauszuholen und eine winzige Zimmerwohnung und deren
Lebensunterhalt gelegentlich zu finanzieren.

Eine Tochter der Familie (nach dem Tod der ältesten, die zweitälteste) mit
dem Namen Lisa hat sich beim Arbeiten als Reinigungskraft eine Fraktur des
Mittelfusses zugezogen. Diese Fraktur wurde mit Nagelung versorgt, es kam zu
einer Pseudarthrose mit Entzündung des Fusses, so dass dringend eine
operative Versorung indiziert ist ( eine Tripelarthrodese des Mittelfusses),
die finanziellen Mittel dieser Familie aber bei weitem hierfür nicht
ausreichen. Zur Zeit lebt Lisa unter ständigem Schmerzen und braucht ständig
starke und teuere Schmerzmittel. Eine operative Versorgung ist die einzige
Möglichkeit ihr Fuss noch zu retten. Sie ist u.a. die Säule für das
Überleben ihre Familie.

Mit Hilfe einer Ärtztin habe ich die CT- Bilder einem deutschen Chirugen
vorgelegt, der sie befundet hat- den Bericht habe ich beigefügt (siehe
Anhang).
Des weiteren habe ich den Kostenvoranschlag der pakistanischen Klinik
beigefügt, die diesen Eingriff vornehmen wird. Mit den Kollegen der Klinik
habe ich persönlich telefoniert. Der Arzt hat mir mitgeteilt, dass er eine
Biopsie der Wunde entnommen hat und es sich um eine bakterielle oder
tuberkulöse Entzündung handelt,so dass das Mädchen aktuell operabel wäre.
Die Kosten belaufen sich ingesamt auf etwa 3500 Euro.

Ich fühle mich für diese Familie verantwortlich, weil ich selbst ein
Kriegskind bin und mir lieber nicht ausmalen möchte in welchen
gesundheitlichen Bedingungen ich leben müsste, wenn meine Familie mich nicht
in sicheren Deutschland gebracht hätte.
Ich kann aber dennoch sehr mitfühlen, wie es Lisa in ihre Lebenssituation
und gesundheitlichen Zustand gerade geht. Daher bitte ich Sie mir jegliche
Hilfe zukommen zu lassen, damit ich Lisa helfen kann wieder auf den Beinen
zu kommen und sie widerum ihre Familie versogen kann.

Wir kümmern uns um unsere Gliedmaßen als Teile unseres Körpers.
Warum nicht um die hilfbedürftigen Menschen als Teil der Menschheit?
Helfen Sie mir, helfen Sie Lisa !!!

In aller Hoffnung Paimana Heydar
p.heydar@hotmail.de

Gemeindekonto
Berliner Volksbank
BLZ : 10090000
KontoNr. : 1734585013
Betreff : Hilfe für Lisa Saify

Ansprachpartner für die Kontoführung
Pastor Dieter Begaße
Gorkistraße 127
13509 Berlin
Tele : 030 / 434 21 45

:: in English ::

The text above has been forwarded to me by a group of people campaigning against the deportation of asylum seekers and other "aliens" from Germany. I worked with them for a few months in 2005. In the forwarded message, Paimana, a 23-year-old woman whose family is from Afghanistan and who was been living in Germany since she was 5, calls for donations. She is trying to raise funds for a family friend, Lisa, who was not as fortunate as Paimana and had to stay in Afghanistan. Lisa's older sister and father were kidnapped and then killed in Afghanistan. She, her mother and 5 other sisters have since been living in harsh conditions in refugee camps in Pakistan. Lisa had a work accident and urgently needs surgery on her foot, which has become infected and might have to be amputated unless she is treated soon. The surgery costs USD 3,500 and the family have no money. If you can donate, contact me or leave your contacts in the comment section, I can find out the IBAN and SWIFT codes.

Photo w/ Lili

Auf dem Kreuzberg...

Munich this June w/ Silke

Some pics from our flat - Julia's b-day, March

Martial arts slide show

Almost there....

For what seems like weeks, the Lebanese army has been saying that they are about to clear out the "remaining Fatah al-Islam" fighters.

This is from today's As-Safir newspaper, translation courtesy of NOW Lebanon:

"The Nahr al-Bared camp witnessed yesterday the heaviest artillery shelling since the clashes started 67 days ago as the army artillery pieces targeted the remaining geographical location that is still under the control of Fatah al-Islam militants (an estimated 40 % of the old camp surface area). Thousands of artillery shells fell on the area from around 4 A.M. yesterday until the evening at a rate of 10 artillery shells per minute, which represents a record since the clashes erupted on May 20."

So 40% of the camp's surface area are what remains of Fatah al-Islam's position. And ten shells per minute averages at one ever six seconds, right? No wonder nothing will be left of the camp.

Meanwhile, many pictures surface of the life of Lebanese army soldiers during the crisis (of course we still don't know much about the life of refugees still inside the camp, or inside Beddawi camp; this information remains confined to blog reporting, such as from Golaniya). This is an example taken from Beirut Spring:

Finally...

...someone (a Lebanese person) is saying something sensible about the situation of Palestinians in the country...

The problem of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is not an Arab or an international problem, it is a Lebanese problem and it is up to us to solve it once and for all. Urgently.

Rubber bullet watch site

In a previous post on this blog I had written about the German police's wish to use rubber bullets against protesters, after having met a guy who was almost killed by one. Now check this out - the UN bans the use of rubber bullets in Kosovo after accidentally killing two protesters with such bullets. They were well past their sell-by date. This is so typically UN - people get killed by inertia.

PRISTINA, Serbia, July 3 (Reuters) - The United Nations is considering banning the use of rubber bullets in peacekeeping operations after the killing of two protesters in Kosovo, U.N. police in the province said on Tuesday.

... The bullets were manufactured in 1991 and had a shelf life of three years. A police report said they had "probably hardened" with age.

Quote of the Day, if not the next 3 Months, if not the Year

I have always admired people who manage to find quotes by wise/experienced/dead/witty people to express what they want to say. Today one such quote has mysteriously made its way to me, courtesy of the Daily Star newspaper, a Lebanese daily otherwise famous (to me, at least) for its unintentionally funny headlines. Check out these words of wisdom from Abbas Zaki, the official PLO representative in Lebanon:

'Zaki stressed that the situation in Nahr al-Bared should resolve itself as quickly as possible and urged the Fatah al-Islam fighters to lay down their arms and surrender. "The Lebanese judicial system is the fairest in the world," Zaki said.'

It requires no further comment, I believe.

Rami Zurayk article

A large scale humanitarian crisis is silently unfolding as the Lebanese army is systematically destroying the Palestinian camp with artillery shelling.

How convenient!

In a statement Thursday, Lahoud urged all sides to form a unity cabinet in order "to save the country and confront any attempt to settle Palestinians in Lebanon and drive Lebanon into anarchy."

Heiligendamm, peacefully, for a change

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Excellent and easy-to-read backgrounder on the situtation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon 1948-present.

Day 17 of the current madness, and counting

"We can't reach people and we can't gain access to where the wounded are," said Igor Ramazzotti, a delegate for the International Committee of the Red Cross. "There's a lot of rubble in the street. That's made it almost impossible to drive into the camp."

More Rostock

Burning cars with Black Block flags....



But we still kind of thought it would end peacefully...



...until the water cannon trucks came forging into the crowds...

40 Years of Occupation

Dear readers. (If you are out there). Forty years ago today, on June 5, 1967, the so-called Six-Day-War between Israel and several Arab states (Syria, Egypt, Jordan) started. Six days later, the newly founded (in 1948) state of Israel had gained enormous amounts of territory from its opposing states, more than its own original state territory: the Sinai peninsula from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank from Jordan, as well as the Gaza Strip.

While the Sinai was returned to Egypt when a peace accord between the two countries was signed in 1979, Israel today, as you know, still holds the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as the Golan. The latter was simply annexed in 1981 and declared Israeli territory (in violation of international law, just for the record). The West Bank and Gaza Strip were initially directly ruled by Israel. As in the Golan Heights, many Israeli settlements were established there. New waves of refugees from the West Bank and Gaza fled to neighbouring states (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan) to swell the already significant refugee populations created when Israel was first established in 1948.

After the first Intifada (a civil disobedience campaign directed against the occupation) had started in 1987 and could not be quelled by military means, at the beginning of the 1990s negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians were begun and led to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and 1996. The PLO led by Yasser Arafat, the main Palestinian interlocutor in negotiations with Israel, recognised Israel's right to exist; the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was created as a proto-state agency, and given some (limited) power to rule things in the West Bank and Gaza. The goal of this exercise, it was declared, was to set up two independent states, Israel and Palestine, living in peace side by side.

Did it work? Obviously not. Although an independent Palestinian state was the declared goal in lofty speeches and negotiations, things on the ground looked very different. The West Bank was now divided into A-, B-, and C-type areas, where the PNA had control over area A, area B meant "shared" control, and C meant Israeli security control. In practice, the set-up of the different areas, the Israeli settlements on large and strategically located swaths of West Bank land, the system of "Israelis-only" roads and tunnels meant that the West Bank remained divided into small enclaves, under Israel's control at any time, and deprived of other criteria of stateness (control of its airspace; control of important water resources being used by Israeli settlements). Jeff Halper has called this the 'matrix of control'.Politically, the achievement of Palestinian statehood remained conditional on the resolution of the most contentious issues (control of Jerusalem; the return of Palestinian refugees; ...) that were supposed to be tackled in "final status negotiations".

So the situation on the ground was contradictory of the Oslo Accords' stated goals, and the proposed final status talks were never begun. Efforts to do this were made at Sharm el Sheikh and at Taba in 2001; but they collapsed (the Palestinians blame the Israelis for this, because the "state" they were being offered could never have lived and breathed for a single day, it was unviable; the Israelis, on the other hand, blame Arafat for rejecting their famous "generous offer" - for a debunking of this myth, see this.). Shortly afterwards, Ariel Sharon triggered the so-called Second Intifada with his visit to the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem... and the rest of the story (or, rather, the bits that reach our mainstream media) we all know from watching and reading the news. It keeps going from bad to worse....

....but let's not be fooled. Although one of the most long-running and seemingly intractable conflicts, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is actually fairly easy to solve. Solutions for all difficult problems have been proposed (at Taba, Sharm el Sheikh...) and need only be put into practice. "Only" being of course somewhat of an understatement. But still. The solutions are known. As time is ticking by, the situation is getting ever more explosive, people continue dying, and the Arab-Israeli conflict remains one of the most important mobilising and rallying causes for international terrorism.... we need to solve it. Two states living side by side in peace, as even the most unknowledgeable person will concede, is needed right now!

Lebanon is burning

Taken from Remarkz

Riot control

For those of you who read German, this is an excerpt of an interview with the head of Germany's police union (hat tip Tobi). His message: after this weekend's riots in Rostock, it's obvious that German riot police need rubber-coated bullets. After all, he says, these are successfully used in other countries.

By the way, at the demo in Rostock I met an Israeli from Anarchists Against the Wall who had lost an eye after being shot with a rubber coated bullet.

sueddeutsche.de: Sie fordern nun den Einsatz von Gummigeschossen gegen militante Demonstranten. Wann genau soll damit denn geschossen werden dürfen?

Wendt: Die Bilder im Fernsehen haben ja ganz deutlich gezeigt, dass die Polizisten nicht in der Lage sind, aus einer Distanz von 30 bis 40 Metern auf Störer einzuwirken, wenn sie mit Steinen und Molotowcocktails beworfen werden. Wir haben den viel zu kurzen Schlagstock und wir haben die Pistole. Der Schlagstock ist wirkungslos, den brauchen wir nicht einzusetzen. Und die Pistole will ja wohl keiner einsetzen.

Um zu verhindern, dass unsere Kolleginnen und Kollegen möglicherweise einmal in Panik zur Waffe greifen, sagen wir: Die Polizei braucht wirkungsvolle Distanzwaffen. Das sind Gummiwucht- und Gummischrotgeschosse. Damit müssen unsere Hundertschaften jetzt ausgestattet werden, um in Situationen, bei denen Steine geworfen werden, auf die Störer einwirken zu können.

sueddeutsche.de: Ein Schlagstock ist wirkungslos? Das überrascht...

Wendt: Über eine Entfernung von 40 Metern ist er wirkungslos. Da kann man mit dem Ding werfen, mehr aber auch nicht.

sueddeutsche.de: Wieso geht die Polizei dann eben nicht näher ran?

Wendt: Wissen Sie, unsere Einsatzkräfte schleppen 15 Kilo mit sich rum. So schwer ist die Sicherheitsausrüstung. Stellen Sie sich mal vor, Sie würden mit eineinhalb Kisten Bier auf den Rücken geschnallt hinter Störern herlaufen. Da haben Sie keine Chance.

sueddeutsche.de: Weil die Störer schneller und wendiger sind?

Wendt: Genau. Wir operieren aus taktischen Gründen nur in geschlossenen Verbänden, nicht mit einzelnen Leuten. Und geschlossene Verbände bewegen sich langsamer als Einzelpersonen. Deshalb brauchen wir auch die Distanzwaffen, damit wir nicht länger dieses Katz-und-Maus-Spiel haben.

sueddeutsche.de: Können Gummigeschosse töten?

Wendt: Gummigeschosse können vor allem sehr weh tun und auch Verletzungen hervorrufen. Aber Waffen, die wirken sollen, müssen auch weh tun dürfen.

sueddeutsche.de: Noch einmal: Kann ein Gummigeschoss, das einen Demonstranten am Kopf trifft, diesen töten?

Wendt: Nein. Ein solcher Fall ist nicht bekannt. Diese Waffen werden in vielen anderen Ländern sehr erfolgreich erprobt. Im Übrigen ist ja auch niemand dazu verpflichtet, Pflastersteine und Molotowcocktails auf Polizisten zu werfen. Wenn er das unterlässt, kommt er nicht mal in die Reichweite der Gummigeschosse.

Interesting connections

From the Daily Star, June 1, Lebanon politics section:

Separately, international talks are being held behind closed doors over the possibility of deploying UNIFIL troops along the Lebanese-Syrian border, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Thursday.
"This issue will be a priority after the UN Security Council approved the creation of an international tribunal," the report said. "Due to the current security developments in Lebanon, firm measures need to be implemented to monitor the border in a more efficient way."
Meanwhile, the UN's Lebanon Independent Border Assessment Team started its evaluation of bordermonitoring capacities along the Lebanese-Syrian border. The team's work should be completed in two weeks, the CNA report said. The team arrived on Monday to evaluate reports of arms smuggling across the Syrian border in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. It was dispatched following the council's presidential statement of April 17, in which the council asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send an independent group to assess security measures along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
The team is led by Lasse Christensen of Denmark and is composed of experts from
Algeria, Germany, Jamaica and Switzerland.

Bad news is back in the news

Well, all of this seems like a re-run of last summer's bad news alerts. But different. On top of the ongoing crisis at the Nahr al Bared camp, where the Lebanese army is still shelling big-time and people are still dying, there are now clashes at Ain al Hilweh camp in Saida (South Lebanon), too. This is really bad news, although it had been expected. A roundup of informed sources includes "Anecdotes from a Banana Republic", which has this video of Nahr al Bared fighting.

(If you put the caption "Lebanese civil war, shelling of Palestinian camps" nobody would notice by the way). And this bit of reporting:

A Swedish woman, a "child safety consultant," according to her business card, briefed us on the latest developments. "We are receiving pictures of the dead-- children, the disabled and elderly. Most of the people who remained are very old; others stayed because they fear not being allowed to return to their homes and being re-located to temporary encampments." "How are you receiving the photos?" I asked. "People are sending them in over their phones. I just received one of a sixty-year old woman, her head blown off. Just now they say a large building near the marketplace, in the densest area of the camp, collapsed from continuous shelling. The situation is bad. Bad. Very bad," she said, and returned to her computer. "Oh and the Lebanese press are denying there are still as many people in the camp," she continued. "There are at least 5,000 who remain inside. They keep reporting that only the Fatah al Islam remain. It's simply not true."

Land and people has more shocking news on the racist fallout of this crisis:

SB was asked for his ID, and when they found out that he is Palestinian, they forced him to lie on the gound for half an hour after which they beat him and kicked him and then told him to go. Just like that, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the busiest district in Beirut. His crime: he is Palestinian.

Rostock

Don't tell me they weren't looking for trouble...





....and that all of this...



...couldn't have been avoided. would have been a much stronger message too, if despite the 10,000 police people wouldn't have taken the bait and things would have stayed peaceful...

it all makes me very angry because this type of violence has no goal, no political demand (at least none that i can recognise), no room for shades of grey, and worst of all, it takes all the coverage and attention away from the real messages people were trying to send...



excuse the shitty images. i was taking pictures with my camera. should get better ones from my flatmate soon.

How low can you go

Check this out

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

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Last update - 18:50 30/05/2007

Sheetrit, Eitan propose firing 'Israeli Qassam' at Gaza Strip
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Staff and Agencies


Ministers Meir Sheetrit and Rafi Eitan proposed Wednesday that Israel produce its own version of the Qassam rocket to be fired at targets inside the Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket fire on its southern communities.

The suggestion was made at a meeting of the security cabinet to discuss the ongoing military operation aimed at countering Qassam fire from Gaza.

The two said that this kind of rocket, which would cost very little, would cause a small amount of damage but would put pressure on the population in Gaza.

The cabinet decided at the meeting to reject a cease-fire with Hamas over the violence in the Gaza Strip, and that the Israel Defense Forces should continue with its ongoing policy of military action against the Palestinian militant groups.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Eli Yishai of Shas proposed that Israel use air strikes to destroy Palestinian towns and villages in response to the rocket fire, after giving local residents advance notice allowing them to evacuate their homes.

Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman also suggested intensifying Israel's response to the Qassams, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected both proposals.

Shas MK Yitzhak Cohen proposed cutting off the supply of electricity, water and fuel to the Strip, and justify the move by saying that Qassam rockets had destroyed Israel's infrastructure and that it will take a long time to repair the facilities with which to supply the Palestinians with basic resources. Shin Bet security service director Yuval Diskin suggested that Cohen's idea is worth examining.

Noting a "relative decrease in Qassam rocket launchings," the cabinet decided to continue "attacks and military pressure on terrorist groups, mainly Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Olmert's office said in a statement.

"It was emphasized [at the meeting] that Israel is not conducting any negotiations for a cease-fire with the terrorist organizations," the statement said.

The methods currently employed by the IDF include air strikes on those responsible for or carrying out Qassam rocket attacks on southern Israel, limited ground operations within the Gaza Strip, and targeted assassinations of those firing rockets and members of the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Meanwhile, Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal said in an interview published Wednesday that the organization intends to continue its attacks on Israel despite the IDF operations in Gaza.

A political source in Jerusalem said Tuesday, however, that Hamas is under increased pressure due to the number of casualties in the Strip and the number of arrests in the West Bank.

According to the source, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are experiencing difficulties in firing rockets, due to Israeli pressure, which is evidenced by a reduction in the number of launches.

The source added that the original Palestinian cease-fire offer was not acceptable to Israel, and that "we must see what they offer in the future."

A Qassam rocket directly hit the fourth floor of a building in Sderot on Wednesday. The strike caused damage to several apartments in the building. No one was wounded but several people were treated for shock.

Security sources told Haaretz that the leaders of Hamas' military wing disagreed on Tuesday as to whether or not to halt the Qassam fire on Israel. According to the sources, the commander of Hamas' military wing instructed the men under his command to stop firing Qassam rockets on Sderot, while the branch of the military wing stationed in the northern Gaza Strip refused to follow his instructions and continued the attacks.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet next Thursday with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will meet Thursday with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Austria.

Meanwhile, Meretz MKs Avshalom Vilan and Zahava Gal-On have been promoting a new diplomatic initiative for several weeks, which would give the Arab League responsibility for the Gaza Strip and install a multinational force, in cooperation with the European Union.

It brings to mind an excellent suggestion made during last year's war: listen up, Eitan & Co.:

Operation Security Roof
Developing Story
by Gilad Atzmon

Following the IDF difficulties in defeating Hezbollah’s and Hamas’s ballistic warfare, the Israeli Government is now searching for contractors with some advanced experience in large scale reinforced concrete constructions. The mission ahead is the building of a solid concrete roof over the entire Jewish State (known as ‘Greater Israel’). PM Olmert is determined that the only way to defend Israel’s populated area is to cover the Jewish State with a thick layer of iron and cement.

The Israeli Government’s decision to build a concrete roof followed a considerable debate within the cabinet. Defence Minister Amir Peretz insisted that a massive extension of the current Security Wall would be enough to provide the goods. Peretz maintained that a substantial increase of the wall to the height of 90,000 ft. would be more than sufficient to stop missiles from entering Israeli territory. Peretz sensibly argued that Israeli youngsters would benefit from seeing the blue sky when they raise their eyes above. Prime Minister Olmert and the Chief of Staff, Major General Dan Halutz, couldn’t agree less. Being fully aware of the nature of ballistic warfare, both Halutz and Olmert agreed that the only way to provide the Jewish State with the ultimate security is to cover it from above with a reinforced concrete shield. Shimon Peres, the legendary peace enthusiast, offered a compromise inspired by the idea of a trampoline. Peres suggested that a Security Wall’s 90,000 ft. extension made of an elastic net would do the job. The elder statesman argued that an elastic net will guarantee that every Arab missile aimed at Israel would bounce back to the Arab territory once it hits the net. Olmert and Halutz dismissed Peres’s suggestion. They argued that considering the excessive Israeli usage of artillery and missiles against its Arab enemies, the Jewish State would suffer far more from the erection of such a ‘bouncy net’. “Israel,” said Halutz, “would never survive the extent of its fierce artillery barrages bouncing back on itself.”

In a press conference following the heated cabinet debate, the Government spokesman Mr Zion Zioni stressed that “following the total success of the Security Wall in stopping Palestinian suicidal terror, ‘Security Roof’ is obviously the natural way to proceed.” Mr Zioni maintained as well that the new Israeli project will turn the Jewish State into a “sealed Jewish Bunker”. “In fact,” Zioni emphasised, “‘Operation Security Roof’ brings the Zionist adventure into its final destination. We are now moving from the ‘Iron Wall’ phase into the ‘Concrete Roof’ future. With a reinforced concrete ceiling from above, a Security Wall in the East and the Mediterranean Sea in the West, the Jewish State will eventually become the safest haven for world Jewry. Herzl’s dream comes true. Long Live Israel!”

Yet, some technical difficulties lay ahead. Probably the most crucial problem has something to do with breathing. Like the rest of the humankind, the Israeli people consume oxygen and release carbon dioxide. Apparently, the Israeli cabinet Ministers were made aware of this very crucial fact by the Health Minister. Olmert, being a man of action, responded immediately. Already in the cabinet meeting he authorised the Defence Ministry to explore different solutions to the acute problem.

We already learned from the Defence Ministry spokesman Lt. Galileo Galilee that ‘Filter on the Roof’, the Israeli-American High Tech chemical giant (traded on Wall Street, operated from Gush Katif) has been contracted to deal with the problem.We have learned as well from Lt. Galilee that Filter on the Roof has already come up with more than a few solutions. Although some of the solutions are rather radical, it is crucial to mention that they are all extremely innovative, as you would expect from an Israeli-American High Tech venture. Probably the most conventional and practical solution proposed by the chemical giant was to bore as many as 6 million ventilation holes in the roof. Peres, Peretz and Sh-Meretz rejected the possibility without even thinking twice. “Considering our traumatic collective memory of the holocaust,” so they said, “turning the Jewish State into a big room with holes in the ceiling is simply unacceptable.”

Probably the most radical suggestion made by the Israeli-American company was to train the Jewish population in Israel to breath like fish. By the time the Israeli people are well trained, all that is left to do is just to fill the Jewish bunker with seawater. In other words, Filter on the Roof suggested to turn the Israeli State into a ‘giant Jewish tropical aquarium’. Though this option seems to be very radical and even inconceivable, most cabinet Ministers reacted enthusiastically. They all agreed that such a solution would fit nicely with the concept of modern Jewish life in general and Zionism in particular. Israelis love the sea. Israelis are not afraid of water. Once the entire Israeli society is covered with water, no one would ever consider throwing them to the sea.

We will be following this developing story and keeping you informed.

What's new in the stuff I read - Lebanon crisis, take x

So, I've been trying to follow what is happening in Lebanon these days. Apart from reading the papers, that involves of course checking out what people write on their blogs. And wow, it can get very tiring very fast to try to form a picture of events that way. It seems pretty much everyone loves their conspiracy theories, with a few helpful and/or thoughtful postings that actually have something meaningful to say. That is at least my impression as a consumer of blog posts, while like everyone else I am of the opinion that my posts do have something to say.

Dissatisfied with the reporting in German and English-language media of the most recent outbreak of major violence in Lebanon which started on May 20, I first came across the UN office for humanitarian affairs' news site. That seemed more helpful. Haaretz, the Israeli paper, also carried much more up-to-date info than anything based over here in Europe, at least during the first few days (they must now be content to file this as unimportant, because Lebanon's nowhere to be found on there these past few days. Or maybe it's because so much is happening in Gaza right now..).

Shocked and awed by what had seemed a total impossibility, judging by the conversations I had while in Lebanon - namely, the renewed outbreak of violence between the Lebanese army and an armed group inside Lebanon - I started to read and watch anything I could find. What particularly upset me was the video footage of the first one or two days of shootings, when clashes happened in several places in Tripoli. It's the combination of the sudden outbreak of anarchy, of each person's life and health suddenly being a matter of luck and negotiation, and the abyss of hatred, anxiety and adrenalin visible on the men's faces in these pictures that shocked me. To me, it seemed that they were falling back into old, all-to-familiar patterns of action left over from the civil war, perhaps - just watch the way the shooters (Internal Security Forces?) are interacting among themselves. There is something so everyday about it, underneath all the fear of the moment. Plus, of course, the way many civilians cheer on the army in firing on the Palestinian refugee camp.

This particulary haunted me when I seemed to recognise places in the city that I might have visited myself during the past year.

It seems that I wasn't the only one to make comparisons with the past during these days - as this Comment by apokraphyte from Remarkz shows:

I will relate a personal anecdote. Last summer when I was in Beirut, I recall seeing an exhibit about the famine that resulted from the Ottoman blockade from 1915-1919 (??). It really shook me. I had always tried to understand the civil war according to the political, economic, military and social realities. But these horribly gruesome picture really made me stop and consider where the terrible inhumanity, where the terrible brutality came from. After seeing those photos, I really began to understand how the value of human life can become so degraded that people will trade in it to achieve their political and economic objectives.

The photos still haunt me. Mostly because I think it is almost impossible for me to reconcile the warmth and generosity of most Lebanese I know with this horrible meanness that seems to lurk under the surface of social relations. Maybe I should do a post, but I am fearful of making wild generalizations for no purpose. Dunno.

Although I haven't read much of the sort by Lebanese bloggers. Perhaps an indulgent foreign pastime.

Anyway, as the events continued to unfold, it quickly became clear who was bearing the brunt of violence: Palestinian civilians. Indiscriminate shelling + 40,000 people + 1,5 sqkm in Nahr al Barid refugee camp = anyone can "do the maths", as they say. The few things I could find on what is actually happening (although I have many misgivings about this particular article) inside the camp are haunting. As is the fallout of this crisis for any Palestinian in Lebanon who is now, more than even before, a target for the various Lebanese security agencies. Not to mention that the closest refugee camp, Baddawi, now has to take in all the refugees from Nahr el Bared, putting further strains on the living conditions there.

Help campaigns have sprung up. UNRWA, after initially being fired upon while trying to get supplies into the camp that has now been cut off from water, electricity and of course, food, for 10 days and counting, is now managing to deliver supplies to Baddawi at least.

As to the political narratives of what is happening - they are many! Most people can agree that Fatah al-Islam, the group the army is trying to eradicate by shelling Nahr al Barid camp, is of an "Islamist" persuasion. Backgrounders on the group are everywhere now - just run a Google search. But what do they want, how did they get into the camp, and who sponsors them? Of course the Lebanese government (in Blog posts often known as "the club", "the Welch club", "Hariri, Inc." or "March 14"), and presumably pro-government blogs which I hardly read, think it's the Syrians. As does, interestingly, a portion of the German press (Rainer Herrman, FAZ). And a colleague of mine at work (I work in one of those think tank thingees) would agree. The argument: Syria wants to stop the formation of an international tribunal to try the suspects in the Hariri murder by creating mayhem in Lebanon. It is not entirely clear how the chain of reasoning works in this, but if anything can be counted as initial proof, it would have to be the postponement of the debate on the tribunal in the UN Security Council.

But a lot of people doubt this is the case. Most prominently, Seymour Hersh, the US journalist. He had argued in an article a few weeks back that Fatah al Islam had been funded by the Hariri movement (the strategy: build up a Sunni militia to counterbalance Hizballah). He refutes the argument that Syria supports Fatah al-Islam in a TV interview, but his reasoning seems a bit twisted. To the point of making, as Remarkz once again points out, CNN presenter Hala Gorani appear more together than he is. And that goes a long way of showing how weak his argument must be. And Jamal averts that Hersh's assertion of Hariri funding for Fatah al Islam is based on a single source.

OK, where does that leave us? To be honest, I have no idea and I can only add that I am instintively wary of Syria conspiracy theories. I simply can't see how the current strife is helping Syria in any way - just as I couldn't - and still can't - for the Hariri bombing. So maybe it has all developed its own dynamics which Syria is not controlling, and it is banking on the long-term effect of being needed for overall regional stability. I don't know. We will probably never know - or will we?

And Hizballah - the opposition? They are lying low it seems. It took them a while to come out in support of Palestinian refugees. Everyone is watching which move Walid Jumblatt is going to make next. The US are shipping arms to Lebanon to support the army. Siniora is trying to retain control. As the saga continues... and oh, I forgot to mention the concurrent bombing campaing: bombs set off at night during the past week, in Achrafiyeh (Christian area of Beirut), Verdun (Muslim area of Beirut), Aley (Druze village)...

Joan as policewoman

This band is the best. Joan rules. And their gig this Monday in Berlin is probably the best concert I've been to. The setting at Volksbühne was great, it being the avantgarde punk rock theatre, or whatever, that it is - a grey concrete slab on the outside, a 70s GDR glam theatre inside. And the music you can check out for yourselves. But it's really the amazing charisma of the band that does it... Joan herself is of course the star and immediately fills up the whole theatre with her amazing presence, just by the way she walks onstage and sits down in front of the grand piano, all the while holding a small white coffee cup and taking occasional sips from it. She makes you follow her every move. At one point I thought I was going to have to become a total victim right there, but luckily she has this easy, charming way of laughing at herself and everything that makes her appear less intense. For example she will tell little anecdotes in between songs, like how during the soundcheck all the seats were covered with canvas covers, until, like in some sudden modern dance sequence, a horde of people came in and wordlessly removed all the covers from the seats in a weird, choreographed way. She has this slightly odd, ironic way of telling the story that makes it funny. Sometimes she will just stop talking and breathe down the microphone in a way that has the whole audience laughing with its mock-erotic charm. Or, after a particularly weird moment of doing that, say 'I am a strange person! Nice to meet you!' You can see that I'm starting to go on about her...
The other two band members are not effaced by her presence in any way though, you can really feel that without them she wouldn't be there doing this and vice versa. It really showed how well they work together on 'I Defy', where normally Anthony of Anthony and the Johnsons sings with Joan. Since he wasn't there, Rainy the bass player and Ben the drummer took turns singing his parts. It was great. By the way, the first time I listened to Anthony and the Johnsons - at full volume - was during a road trip in Lebanon's Chouf mountains, courtesy of Amer from Jordan. On a sunny day when we drove up the mountain real fast in search of the 'cedars', which we never found,instead winding up next to some ex-Syrian surveillance equipment, horsing around really high on thin mountain air. But I've written about that on this blog somewhere....
Back to Joan and the gig - respect is also due for their choice in support band. 'Rythm king and her friends' are two girls in their early twenties doing really, really bad electro-punk-rock stuff with full-screen words like 'industry' and 'desire' projected onto the stage background (in pink). A courageous choice on everyone's part, and great fun.
Jeff Buckley was a lucky guy, is all I can say.

New blog

hey, I've started a new blog about doing my Phd. check it out!

Royal Trekkie

Did anyone know that King Abdallah of Jordan, a guy who bases his rule on his presumed 'family ties' to the Prophet Mohammad, appeared on an episode of Star Trek back in 1995? I discovered this recently and it blew my mind! I guess it just goes to show how far apart perceptions and reality can be. Also, he apparently welds miniature tanks in the (admittedly royal) shed next to his house in his spare time, while his wife Rania bakes cakes for the kids. Says a BBC documentary.

more jamaica

jamaica

some more pics.

also, some jamaican ways to announce (in bars, shops, etc.) that no credit will be given to customers:

'MR CREDIT IS A BAD DISEASE. BUT DON'T WORRY, YOU WON'T GET IT HERE'

'NO MORE MR CREDIT. HE DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT ON HIS WAY IN FROM THE JAZZ FESTIVAL'

???

Jamaica

by the way. this is my getaway from everything having to do with war, lebanon, last summer, etc. it's working!



at miami airport. the immigration people weren't as friendly as this guy and had a lot of intelligent questions about the lebanese, syrian, jordanian and egyptian stamps in my passport (my favourite: "so what is it that you DO, ma'am?", or maybe: "so how was the middle east, ma'am?"). this of course after the iris and fingerprint scans. nice.




downtown kingston is scary!!


on top of blue mountain peak


lynette, owner of coffee fields, runner of whitfield hall guest house, generally the boss of the show


yes. at long bay.


at dicky's - a small rastafarian restaurant. please note the carefully folded napkins with ganja motif.


a "man trap" from the days of slavery. oh my.