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.