Current Analysis Walking into Israel's Trap? The most recent Hizballah cross-border attack in the Shebaa Farms area on April 14, and the subsequent Israeli air raid against a Syrian radar station on the Dahr al-Baidar ridge, have heightened fears of a regional conflict between Syria and Israel. These fears are probably unfounded, given the reluctance of Michael Young • 6 min read
MER Article The Sneer of Memory Last February 10, readers of Lebanon’s leading Arabic daily, al-Nahar, awoke to find a strange apparition on an inner page of their morning paper. Slotted in the top lefthand corner of page five was an open letter written by one As‘ad Shaftari, a former attendant to Elie Hobeika, Michael Young • 8 min read
Current Analysis Hizballah Outside and In Five months after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon, Hizballah refuses to go away. In early October, Hizballah made headlines in its struggle against Israel by kidnapping three Israeli soldiers, and a fourth man, Elhanan Tannenbaum, accused of spying on Israel's behalf. The high-profile abductions were Michael Young • 4 min read
MER Article Mediterranean Blues Under pressure to solve immediate economic problems, Middle Eastern countries seek to industrialize as quickly and as cheaply as possible. While developed countries around the world are very slowly adopting technologies and production methods that exert less pressure on the environment, Western in Zeina al-Hajj • 4 min read
Current Analysis Lebanon: An Occupation Ends Just about everything about last week's Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon was surprising to most observers. When, in the early hours of May 24, the last Israeli soldier stepped off Lebanese soil and locked the border gate behind him, he ended a 22-year occupation several weeks ahead of Lara Deeb • 6 min read
MER Article Women, War and Exile Miriam Cooke, War's Other Voices: Women Writers on the Lebanese Civil War (Syracuse University Press, 1996). May Ghousoub, Leaving Beirut (London: Saqi Books, 1998). Emily Nasrallah, Flight Against Time (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997). Anita Vitullo Khoury • 5 min read
Current Analysis News Not "Fit to Print" On February 8, at 12:45 am, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of air strikes against Lebanon as revenge against recent Hizballah attacks in south Lebanon. Three power switching stations, the most vital electricity facilities in the country, were bombed -- one in the Jamhour district of Jennifer Loewenstein • 7 min read
Current Analysis Petition Charges Israel with War Crimes QANA, SOUTH LEBANON -- A sprawling mass tomb in the heart of this small hilltop village bears silent witness to a war crime committed by Israeli forces here one spring day in 1996. The town, less than five miles away from Israeli-occupied south Lebanon, is the site of a United Laurie King-Irani • 7 min read
MER Article A Modern-Day "Slave Trade" In what can be termed a modern-day slave trade, Sri Lankan women arrive in Lebanon only to find themselves abused, imprisoned, raped, hungry, defenseless and alone. Siriani P., 27, came to Beirut in a desperate attempt to save her family from a life of poverty. Just ten months later, however, she gr Reem Haddad • 7 min read
MER Article Liberating Arnoun This interview with student activist Hassan Marwany was conducted, transcribed and translated by Marlin Dick of The Daily Star in May 1999. The initial spark for the liberation of Arnoun was a candlelight vigil and march from St. Joseph’s University to UN House in central Beirut, organized by the T Marlin Dick • 3 min read
MER Article Beirut Dispatch Two things one hears daily in Lebanon: The government is more corrupt than ever, and relations between people are becoming harsh. Let’s consider whether any correlation exists between government neglect and widespread individual survivalism. And let’s focus on highway transportation, where public po K. S. • 3 min read
MER Article Two Faces of Janus Eight years after the end of the war in Lebanon, the discrepancy between free minds and free markets is growing ever sharper. Since 1992, Lebanon’s billionaire prime minister, Rafiq al-Hariri, has been the individual most responsible for outlining an economic program for the post-war era. The prime Michael Young • 10 min read
