Dear Friends
Citizens worldwide are now reporters.
After all the nonsense we have read about the "terrorists" backed by Iran, I thought it fair and adequate to let you have a quick look at the reality of Lebanon in late August of 2006:
Lebanese residents answer your questions -- The BBC News website's Martin Asser spent Wednesday 23 August with residents of al-Khiyam in southern Lebanon.
This is an amazing link-feature at BBC online which shows a reporter in Lebanon in contact with local refugees as they return to their bombed-out or non existant homes. They discuss via internet with the world the questions and talk about what they experience. Here one excerpt:
... Ahmed Hassan, arrives. He is very apologetic for not having participated earlier. But he has a very good reason.
Ahmed: "Today I was responsible for paying compensation for people whose houses were totally destroyed by Israeli bombing. This money is from Sayed Hassan (Nasrallah) and Hezbollah.
Each family got $10,000 in cash which is for one year's rent and furniture. It was my job to vouch for the people who came and said they lived in Khiyam and I was asked by Hezbollah to do this. Three mukhtars were working flat out at the municipality and there were three others going round with Hezbollah engineers assessing the damage to each house.
In all, we paid about 140 families their compensation. My job is to prevent corruption - and there is another Hezbollah committee to double check whether people are eligible or not."
Question from Sarah Kelly, UK to residents, 1740 local time (1440 GMT / 1540 BST)
Q: Do you feel that your community has generally become more or less supportive of Hezbollah since the bombing?
Nabil: As far as I know, from the media and the people I talk to, Hezbollah is huge. We are a democratic people and we believe in freedom of expression. Maybe before the bombing 99% supported Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. And now afterwards, if that number didn't stay the same, it will have gone up.
Read more about the reality, while UN chats about it:
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5276272.stm
Laptop panellists in Lebanon talk back live with world
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Meanwhile Israeli foreign minister Livni is urging the EU to send the UNIFIL troops rapidly in to Lebanon to "keep the peace" and Syrian President Bashar Assad has meanwhile indicated his opposition to the deployment of UN troops along the Lebanese-Syrian border... it will get very interesting now.
Read BBC online here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5279336.stm
The European Union is falling apart about how to implement UN resolution 1701. The talk was cheap and delicate and took one month. The walk will be expensive and even more delicate. See here why:
"We cannot send our soldiers into Lebanon if the IDF continues to shoot." - Italian Foreign Minister Massimo-D'Alema
Then what are you there for???
EU facing test over Lebanon force
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5277996.stm
Israel stands accused over war crimes
Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon. ((See also RMN article by Christopher Bollyn))
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5276626.stm
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Peace -
St.Clair
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