<nettime> more news/another place

[JSalloum@aol.com]

Dear friends,

Just to share with you news from Lebanon. You may have different opinions,
but it will be my pleasure to discuss them with you..... After Israeli
army lost 5 soldiers last week in the occupied south Lebanon due to
Lebanese resistance attacks, Israel retaliated early this morning by
bombarding civilian targets all over Lebanese territories. For the second
time in 7 months, electricity power stations were attacked and the 4
million inhabitants of Lebanon will live once again in darkness for a few
months. 

Resistance in South Lebanon is a result of the continuing Israeli military
occupation since 1978. Occupation violates Human Rights and the
International Humanitarian Law in addition to violating the UN resolution
425 calling for immediate Israeli withdraw from Lebanese territories
(March 1978). Since 1978, Israeli attacks caused 34 000 Lebanese civilians
killed and 90000 wounded. Occupation has obliged 200 000 to leave their
villages and cities in the Southern part of the country and live as
refugees in Beirut and its suburbs, creating social and economic tensions. 

The Lebanese resistance (carried first by leftists, nationalists, and then
since 1989 by Islamists and independent guerrilla groups) is targeting
Israeli soldiers inside the Lebanese occupied territories. On the other
side, Israeli retaliation is always targeting civilians and infrastructure
outside the military zones. 

Unfortunately, media coverage in the west is very poor and biased. It
alwaysnarrates events from the Israeli point of view, due to the active
pro-Israeli lobbies and to the guilty feeling of the Europeans (because of
the Holocaust) that remains a major element when it comes to their
position towards Israel... Following is an article by the British
Journalist Nicholas Blandford (Reuters, dailystar). It doesn't give any
analysis, but at least doesn't take any position... 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Israeli aircraft knocked out three power stations in Lebanon. Two large
bangs were heard across the capital as Beirut plunged into darkness. Three
hours earlier the Israeli planes destroyed electrical distribution
stations in Jamhour. Lebanese Army anti-aircraft batteries reportedly
fired at the planes. Earlier raids on the Baalbeck power station in the
East of the country resulted in at least 16 people being wounded, in
eastern Lebanon, Lebanese security sources said. 

At least 12 civilians were admitted to hospital for treatment, the sources
said. In the north of Lebanon Israeli jets struck a power plant in Deir
Nabouh, 13 kilometers north of the port city of Tripoli. 

The final count of civilian casualty is not yet known. Lebanese Prime
Minister Selim Hoss said on Tuesday that Israeli air strikes would not end
Lebanese determination to end Israeli occupation. Hoss made the statement
shortly after the Israeli jets conducted the air strikes. "If Israel is
attacking Lebanese to make them accept the occupation then they will be
disappointed," Hoss said. He stressed that "Lebanon relies on resolutions
of the United Nations which are usually violated by Israel."  On Monday,
Prime Minister Hoss called on the United States to exert pressure on
Israel to prevent a retaliatory offensive in Lebanon. . Hoss said that the
only way of halting the cycle of violence was for Israel to withdraw from
the south, in accordance with UN Resolution 425. 

The resistance hasnever been the cause (of violence), he said. The
resistance is a result of the occupation. Therefore, it is natural for the
resistance to continue as long as the occupation persists. The clamor in
Israel for a military response grew on Monday after domestic television
broadcast graphic footage of casualties being evacuated from the Blat
outpost.

Pictures from Hell, screamed the headline in the Maariv newspaper. "The
Lebanese valley of the dead penetrated the living room of Mr. Israel after
18 years of avoidance" it said, adding that a comparison with television
broadcasts during the Vietnam war were unavoidable. Barak appears to
understand that "Israeli public opinion will not tolerate the current
situation, even if it means hurting the chances for an agreement with
Syria" he wrote. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Ziad Majed

International IDEA

Stromsborg, S-103 34 Stockholm

Tel: + 46 8 698 3700/17/43/49

Fax: + 46 8 20 24 22

z.majed@idea.int  

zmajed@hotmail.com

www.idea.int


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