MER Article To Clear the Minefield Irene Gendzier, Notes from the Minefield: United States Intervention in Lebanon and the Middle East, 1945-1958 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997). With the February 1998 news that the Clinton administration was preparing unilateral military action against Iraq, sectors of the US public see Karen Pfeifer • 6 min read
MER Article Secularism and Personal Status Codes in Lebanon Marie Rose Zalzal is secretary general for Tayyar al-‘Ilmani (Movement for Secularism) and a practicing lawyer in Abu Rumana, Matn, Lebanon. Part of a research project on the impact of Lebanon’s civil war (1975-1990) on women, the interview was conducted by Suad Joseph on September 29, October 6 and Suad Joseph • 8 min read
MER Article Never-Never Land Just north of Metula, there is a hill in Israel that offers a breathtaking view of the northern Galilee, the upper Jordan valley and southern Lebanon. Also within view from this hill, about ten kilometers north of Metula -- in what Israel calls its “security zone” and the Lebanese call territory occ Aviv Lavie • 11 min read
MER Article Disappearances Some of the cases are old but certainly not forgotten. The most recent inquiry that I received about a “disappearance” in Lebanon came in April 1997 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The caller was a Palestinian whose brother, Rushdi Rashid Hamdan Shihab, “disappeared” in Sidon in October 1987. “At 10 am, Virginia N. Sherry • 8 min read
MER Article Skirting Democracy The practice of selecting political representatives by voting is not new to Lebanon. The parliamentary framework of modern electoral life in Lebanon was established in the 1926 constitution. Elections were held regularly during the French Mandate period, except for interruptions during World War II. Paul Salem • 8 min read
MER Article Reconstructing History in Central Beirut With the project to develop central Beirut now well underway, the Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut’s Central District -- better known by its French acronym Solidere -- has expropriated legally most of the land in the ancient city center. Previous holders of the property rights have Saree Makdisi • 8 min read
MER Article Syrian Involvement in Lebanon The Syrian army has been involved in Lebanon since 1976. Mainly playing the role of balancer between contending Lebanese factions, Syria has its own strategic, political and security interests in Lebanon. In 1982, when Israel invaded Lebanon to expel the PLO and establish a pro-Israeli regime, the Syrian forces were Volker Perthes • 2 min read
MER Article Myths and Money “The price of prosperity has already been paid,” read an ad that Lebanon’s Investment Development Authority ran in the summer of 1996. “Now is the time to harvest.” The ad also mentioned, euphemistically, that the price had been “a period of unrest.” The message was meant to convince international i Volker Perthes • 15 min read
MER Article Palestinians in Post-War Lebanon As Lebanon’s elite strategizes post-war reconstruction and national reconciliation, the future of the Palestinian community in the country hinges on the outcome of the Arab-Israeli peace talks, particularly the multilateral talks on refugees. [1] Popular sentiment holds that “peace” will not produce Julie Peteet • 11 min read
MER Article The Modernity of Sectarianism in Lebanon On February 15, 1996, 13 squatters were killed in Beirut when the building they were living in was brought down by demolition workers for Solidere, Lebanon’s reconstruction and development company. Solidere, a brainchild of Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, claimed it was a mistake; the dead were cart Ussama Makdisi • 13 min read
MER Article A New World Order, A New Marcel Khalife Marcel Khalife has always demanded a certain respect for his formal compositions when performing, interspersing his most popular songs featuring the phenomenal voice of Omayma al-Khalil with more symphonic, purely instrumental pieces. But during his last tour of the United States this insistence on his status as a composer was Robert Blecher, Elliott Colla • 7 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Summer 1996) From June 4-14, tens of thousands of officials and experts from around the globe will gather in Istanbul for the Second UN Conference for Human Settlement (Habitat II), the last of the global UN summits. The non-official NGO gatherings should take the occasion to scrutinize how the attending states (Author not identified) • 3 min read
