Long before Syria's civil war broke out, the Lebanese border town of
Arsal was known as a hub of smuggling activity. The surrounding
mountainous terrain is perfect for sneaking contraband of all sorts
between Lebanon and neighboring Syria — and that's why Arsal has become a
focal point for Lebanese security agencies, Hezbollah, refugees,
foreign jihadists, Syrian opposition fighters, and the Syrian regime.
This week, Syrian warplanes fired missiles at the outskirts of the town shortly before the Nusra Front launched grenades
into Arsal from across the border in Syria. Arsal is the lone Sunni
Muslim village in Lebanon’s predominately Shiite Bekaa Valley, and the
local population of about 35,000 is sympathetic to opposition forces
fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad — a combination that
makes it a target several times over.
A man I meet named Abu
Hussein is perched on a couch in his modest apartment in central Arsal,
sitting on his feet while smoking a cigarette. Four of his brothers are
currently in Yabroud, just across the border, fighting against Syrian
forces with the Islamic Front’s Farouk Brigades. Hussein isn't avoiding
the conflict, however — he's busy smuggling fighters in and out of
Syria.
read more: https://news.vice.com/articles/the-lebanese-border-town-in-the-middle-of-syria-s-civil-war
Friday, March 7, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
Christian villages on Lebanon-Syria border beef up security & other recent stories
Not much time to post stories to the blog lately so here are a few together:
Christian villages on Lebanon-Syria border beef up security
Monday, December 16, 2013
Zaatari: Jordan's new city of Syrians
This article first appeared in The Atlantic Post: http://www.theatlanticpost.com/middle-east/jordan-middle-east/zaatari-jordans-new-city-syrians-6160.html
By Justin Salhani
ZAATARI, Jordan – Countless tents
scattered over a plot in the northern Jordanian desert are being
replaced with caravans, as this camp built for displaced Syrians
continues to evolve into a city in its own right.
Zaatari refugee camp, located 10 km east
of the northern Jordanian city Mafraq, was opened on June 28, 2012 to
host a small portion of the thousands of refugees flowing over Syria’s
southern border due to the increasing intensity of the civil war. To
date, more than 120,000 people have been killed in the vicious conflict
and millions have become displaced. Nearly 570,000 Syrians have sought
sanctuary in Jordan.
While the number of refugees in Zaatari
is currently around 80,000 according to UNHCR officials who run the
camp, their data-keeping website puts the figure at over 117,300. Ninety
percent of the refugees hail from Daraa in southwest Syria. The figures
are unlikely to grow by much as the Jordanian government has began
limiting the number of refugees it allows across its borders to around
200-250 each day, a stark decrease from the daily thousand. The
previously uninhabited stretch of desert has grown so massive that it is
now Jordan’s fifth largest city and even appears on Google Maps.
“We are doing more planning and looking
to connect with the local government to find ways to provide services,”
said Killian Kleinschmidt, UNHCR’s senior field coordinator at Zaatari.
Kleinschmidt, a veteran in dealing with refugees from many of the
world’s hot zones over the last two decades, says that current plans for
the camp are more akin to city planning – something he is experiencing
for the first time.
One way UNHCR is trying to expand in
Zaatari involves looking into more effective ways to distribute water
and electricity. Currently, Kleinschmidt says 73 percent of the refugees
have illegally connected electricity which costs UNHCR half a million
dollars each month. Kleinschmidt and UNHCR are looking into ways to
empower the refugees so they earn their own money and can afford to pay
for such services. They are also contemplating a camp-wide plumbing
system.
“We need to do more than just keep them
alive,” said Kleinschmidt, adding that he believes by empowering
refugees they can regain some of the dignity that has been lost by
losing their homes and being forced to live off handouts. The strategy
seems to be working, says Kleinschmidt.
“People used to get angry when the
electricity collapsed,” he said about the electrical grid’s inability to
support all the illegally wired tents using electrical heaters during
colder nights. “Now they understand that a proper connection is needed.”
Kleinschmidt said that one thing UNHCR is trying to instill in the refugees in Zaatari is a sense of order.
“We are putting a frame because there is
a rejection of governance and they don’t respect administration or
rules. We bring that frame back otherwise there is chaos… [This frame
is] important for the future of Syria,” he said.
Kleinschmidt says one example of the
progress made is apparent from parents’ reaction to their children’s’
actions. “Children lost their bearings because adults used to laugh when
they’d throw stones but now the adults get angry at the kids.”
But with the progress also comes
potential problems. “The Jordanian government is nervous,” said
Kleinschmidt. The Jordanians will remember back to the civil war in
1970, in what is known as Black September, between Yasser Arafat’s
Palestinian Liberation Organization and King Hussein’s Jordanian Armed
Forces. The refugee Palestinians and Hashemite Kindgom’s forces engaged
in a ten-month conflict that killed thousands, mostly Palestinians, and
resulted in the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon.
The situation is made all the more
worrying for the Jordanians considering developments in Syria, where a
nearly three year long war shows no signs of abating. Refugees initially
set up in Zaatari’s tents with an aim to return to Syria in the short
term but that notion has recently changed.
“At first I wanted to go back quickly
but now we know we’ll be here a long time,” said an imam called Abu
Walid from Daraa’s Sanamayn region.
Many of the refugees in Zaatari have
accepted their circumstances and started trying to make their plots of
land more homey by constructing gardens, hanging birdcages, and planting
trees outside their tents or caravans. Abu Walid’s neighbors have laid
the ground for gardens that will sprout vegetables after winter and
built large handmade fountains that will add a bit of blue to the dusty,
rock-strewn Jordanian countryside. Kleinschmidt says that 70-90 percent
of homes in Zaatari have also recently erected private toilets.
The Tareeq al-Souq (Shop Street), which has alternately been labeled the Champs Élysées of
Zaatari after Paris’s famous strip, has sprouted 685 shops that may
bring in an income of anywhere between $5,000-15,000 each month,
according to Kleinschmidt. Here residents can find a plethora of
offerings, including Syrian delicacies like the deep fried chickpea
patties called falafel, chicken or meat kabob called shawarma, or
roasted chicken. Other shops sell mobile phones, rugs, furniture, shoes,
teddy bears, and a wide collection of other accoutrements. The street
also boasts such luxuries as butchers and computer shops, where the
camp’s youth play video games.
Despite the urbanization of the area,
there will come a day when the war subsides and many Syrians decide to
return home. But some refugees who have established themselves
economically may decide not to uproot their lives once again.
“They are keen and eager to go back but
some business people might stay and contribute to Jordan’s economy,”
said Kleinschmidt. With infrastructure already in place and some
businesses established, a handful of Syrians may choose to continue
residing in Zaatari, while Jordanians in lower economic classes
potentially could vacate lots left by the returning Syrians. Even if the
Syrian war were to end there is a high chance that Zaatari, the city,
could live on.
“Syrians who directly invest in Jordan will have a positive impact,” said Kleinschmidt. “Most will go, some will stay.”
Justin Salhani is The Atlantic Post’s Lebanon Correspondent, based in Beirut.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wounded Syrian fighters yearn for return to frontlines
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/Blog/2013/12/11/Wounded-Syrian-fighters-yearn-for-return-to-frontlines/3941386751396/?spt=sec&or=tn
AMMAN, Jordan, Dec. 11 (UPI) --A
little over three months ago in the village of Ghabagheb in Syria’s
southern municipality of Dara’a, a two man hit team from the Free Syrian
Army awaited the arrival of an important Syrian Arab Army figure. One
of the FSA soldiers, a 24-year-old defected SAA soldier from Dara’a
named Sultan, had been tipped off by a contact still enlisted in the
army battling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The pair
waited but the man never came. Instead, a mini bus arrived and seven SAA
soldiers emerged. Realizing they had been betrayed, Sultan’s comrade
fled, leaving Sultan face-to-face with the enemy combatants. Time slowed
down as Sultan was overcome by melancholy. As he stared at his foes a
thought crept into his conscious: “Am I going to die here, in this
place?” Despite being filled with fear at the notion of an unavoidable
demise Sultan felt no regrets. Both sides opened fire.
Sultan took down two of the soldiers before his luck ran out. Three exploding bullets crashed into his right leg, just under the knee in the upper shin area. As the bullets penetrated his leg the fear vanished, he says.
“Before you are shot you feel fear but when you are shot the fear goes because you know death is coming.” But Sultan wasn’t prepared to die. He crawled 100 meters to safety behind the corner of a nearby building and continued returning fire. Here, a local woman found him and pulled him a further 150 meters away from the fighting. For 45 minutes, Sultan waited until FSA forces arrived to take him to a field hospital.
The Syrian Civil War has dragged on since March 2011 pitting opposition forces against the Assad regime. The war has grown in intensity in the past year, as packs of foreign fighters have entered the fray on both sides, twisting the conflict into a brutal sectarian affair. Despite peace talks in Geneva planned for January 22 there are few who believe the war is nearing its conclusion. While exact figures are hard to find, most estimates put the dead in Syria at over 120,000, a figure that will only be added to as neither the opposition nor the regime appear ready to concede. As the war continues to destroy proud cities and claim heavy casualty counts, Sultan and other wounded opposition fighters are rehabilitating in hopes that they regain enough mobility to return to the battlefield.
“As soon as they recover everyone wants to go back and fight,” said Abu Yara, a 19-year-old who was shot through the left shoulder by a sniper and was told by his fellow soldiers that he would “definitely die”. He had an emergency operation and rested at home for a month before going north to Turkey, selling his rifle and motorbike, and buying a ticket from Antakya to Istanbul and then on to Amman.
Sultan and Abu Yara now reside in a hospital in the northern Jordanian governorate Mafraq where wounded Free Syrian Army fighters receive free accommodation and physical therapy paid for by private donors from Gulf countries and various NGOs. The hospital is currently hosting around 60 wounded or disabled fighters and is staffed by three doctors and four nurses. The hospital is not publicized but is known by fighters simply by word of mouth, in order to keep it secret from authorities.
Sitting on a bench in a public area in Jordan’s capital Amman, Sultan now needs a crutch to walk. The inside of his right knee is indented by a large crater and he has three metal rods sticking out of his right leg, with a further three scars where the rods were previously inserted. While his black, slicked-back hair shows tips of gray beginning to creep in, a possible sign of the constant pressure of living through war that is stealing the remainder of his youth, his piercing green eyes constantly squint as his round face breaks into laughter. As he puffs a cigarette, he speaks of an unflinching itch to return to the battlefield.
“Once you fight you want to fight again, you get used to it,” he said. “When the fear breaks you don’t care anymore.”
Despite his desire to get back to fighting, Sultan realizes there are obstacles in his and his comrades’ paths.
“Seventy percent of the hospital’s wounded are disabled and even if I recover I won’t ever be 100 percent like before,” he said. Pictures of his initial x-rays show a large portion of his shinbone completely missing after being shattered into tiny pieces by the exploding shells. He had to have marrow removed from his hip and placed into his shin so the bone could properly regenerate.
A day later, Sultan posted a photo on Facebook featuring himself, Abu Yara and five other former opposition fighters. In the photo, one man is on crutches and another holds up a peace sign with his right hand as his left one is bandaged. The caption to the photo reads: ‘We will return to our country. Being hit will not stop us from continuing on our path.’
Sultan took down two of the soldiers before his luck ran out. Three exploding bullets crashed into his right leg, just under the knee in the upper shin area. As the bullets penetrated his leg the fear vanished, he says.
“Before you are shot you feel fear but when you are shot the fear goes because you know death is coming.” But Sultan wasn’t prepared to die. He crawled 100 meters to safety behind the corner of a nearby building and continued returning fire. Here, a local woman found him and pulled him a further 150 meters away from the fighting. For 45 minutes, Sultan waited until FSA forces arrived to take him to a field hospital.
The Syrian Civil War has dragged on since March 2011 pitting opposition forces against the Assad regime. The war has grown in intensity in the past year, as packs of foreign fighters have entered the fray on both sides, twisting the conflict into a brutal sectarian affair. Despite peace talks in Geneva planned for January 22 there are few who believe the war is nearing its conclusion. While exact figures are hard to find, most estimates put the dead in Syria at over 120,000, a figure that will only be added to as neither the opposition nor the regime appear ready to concede. As the war continues to destroy proud cities and claim heavy casualty counts, Sultan and other wounded opposition fighters are rehabilitating in hopes that they regain enough mobility to return to the battlefield.
“As soon as they recover everyone wants to go back and fight,” said Abu Yara, a 19-year-old who was shot through the left shoulder by a sniper and was told by his fellow soldiers that he would “definitely die”. He had an emergency operation and rested at home for a month before going north to Turkey, selling his rifle and motorbike, and buying a ticket from Antakya to Istanbul and then on to Amman.
Sultan and Abu Yara now reside in a hospital in the northern Jordanian governorate Mafraq where wounded Free Syrian Army fighters receive free accommodation and physical therapy paid for by private donors from Gulf countries and various NGOs. The hospital is currently hosting around 60 wounded or disabled fighters and is staffed by three doctors and four nurses. The hospital is not publicized but is known by fighters simply by word of mouth, in order to keep it secret from authorities.
Sitting on a bench in a public area in Jordan’s capital Amman, Sultan now needs a crutch to walk. The inside of his right knee is indented by a large crater and he has three metal rods sticking out of his right leg, with a further three scars where the rods were previously inserted. While his black, slicked-back hair shows tips of gray beginning to creep in, a possible sign of the constant pressure of living through war that is stealing the remainder of his youth, his piercing green eyes constantly squint as his round face breaks into laughter. As he puffs a cigarette, he speaks of an unflinching itch to return to the battlefield.
“Once you fight you want to fight again, you get used to it,” he said. “When the fear breaks you don’t care anymore.”
Despite his desire to get back to fighting, Sultan realizes there are obstacles in his and his comrades’ paths.
“Seventy percent of the hospital’s wounded are disabled and even if I recover I won’t ever be 100 percent like before,” he said. Pictures of his initial x-rays show a large portion of his shinbone completely missing after being shattered into tiny pieces by the exploding shells. He had to have marrow removed from his hip and placed into his shin so the bone could properly regenerate.
A day later, Sultan posted a photo on Facebook featuring himself, Abu Yara and five other former opposition fighters. In the photo, one man is on crutches and another holds up a peace sign with his right hand as his left one is bandaged. The caption to the photo reads: ‘We will return to our country. Being hit will not stop us from continuing on our path.’
Monday, October 14, 2013
Latest work
I've been busy lately so instead of individually posting stories I'll just post links to the latest pieces I've had published.
Women hope for increased rights in Lebanon
Syrian refugees struggle for existence in Lebanon
Lebanese war photographers...
Lebanon addresses UNGA, US pledges aid
Hezbollah hands security to LAF
Possibility of new government still uncertain in Lebanon
Faces of the Economy: Ziad Kamel
Faces of the Economy: Mazen Hajjar
Thanks for reading...
Women hope for increased rights in Lebanon
Syrian refugees struggle for existence in Lebanon
Lebanese war photographers...
Lebanon addresses UNGA, US pledges aid
Hezbollah hands security to LAF
Possibility of new government still uncertain in Lebanon
Faces of the Economy: Ziad Kamel
Faces of the Economy: Mazen Hajjar
Thanks for reading...
Monday, September 16, 2013
Lebanese political party relaunches war-time magazine
By Justin Salhani
BEIRUT, Lebanon – In a country where most media are controlled by the plethora of political parties, another Lebanese political entity has joined in with the re-launch of a magazine first published during the dark days of the Lebanese civil war.
“During the war, all Christian people [in Lebanon] used to look to Al-Massira to see what would happen in Christian areas,” said Amjad Iskandar, editor and chief of Al-Massira, the newly re-launched magazine of the Christian nationalist political party, the Lebanese Forces (LF).
The LF was initially formed during the Civil War as a Christian militia led by Bashir Gemayel. The militia was rebranded later as a political party under the guidance of Samir Geagea, a former officer under Gemayel, who was assassinated in 1982.
Read full story: http://www.theatlanticpost.com/culture/lebanese-political-party-relaunches-war-time-magazine-2864.html
BEIRUT, Lebanon – In a country where most media are controlled by the plethora of political parties, another Lebanese political entity has joined in with the re-launch of a magazine first published during the dark days of the Lebanese civil war.
“During the war, all Christian people [in Lebanon] used to look to Al-Massira to see what would happen in Christian areas,” said Amjad Iskandar, editor and chief of Al-Massira, the newly re-launched magazine of the Christian nationalist political party, the Lebanese Forces (LF).
The LF was initially formed during the Civil War as a Christian militia led by Bashir Gemayel. The militia was rebranded later as a political party under the guidance of Samir Geagea, a former officer under Gemayel, who was assassinated in 1982.
Read full story: http://www.theatlanticpost.com/culture/lebanese-political-party-relaunches-war-time-magazine-2864.html
Lebanon’s celebratory gunfire culture
By Justin Salhani
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Bayan Bibi was strolling through one of Beirut’s shopping districts last Saturday evening when an object fell from the sky and hit her in the back. The object was a bullet.
In Lebanon, and elsewhere in the Middle East, a gun fired in the air can be ubiquitous with weddings, funerals or when a popular politician delivers a rousing speech.
On Saturday, Amal leader Nabih Berri was delivering a speech on the 35th anniversary of party founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr’s disappearance. Gunfire could be heard emanating from the streets in close proximity to Amal’s green flag clad office by the Beirut seafront. The bullet that struck Bibi is likely to have come from someone celebrating Berri’s speech.
“When there is joy or sorrow people shoot their guns,” said Ali Moussa, 38, an Amal member, outside Amal’s Ain al-Mraisse office in Beirut. “It has a long history here and in the region.”
Read Full Story: http://www.theatlanticpost.com/culture/celebratory-gunfire-lebanon-leads-injuries-deaths-3286.html
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Bayan Bibi was strolling through one of Beirut’s shopping districts last Saturday evening when an object fell from the sky and hit her in the back. The object was a bullet.
In Lebanon, and elsewhere in the Middle East, a gun fired in the air can be ubiquitous with weddings, funerals or when a popular politician delivers a rousing speech.
On Saturday, Amal leader Nabih Berri was delivering a speech on the 35th anniversary of party founder Imam Moussa al-Sadr’s disappearance. Gunfire could be heard emanating from the streets in close proximity to Amal’s green flag clad office by the Beirut seafront. The bullet that struck Bibi is likely to have come from someone celebrating Berri’s speech.
“When there is joy or sorrow people shoot their guns,” said Ali Moussa, 38, an Amal member, outside Amal’s Ain al-Mraisse office in Beirut. “It has a long history here and in the region.”
Read Full Story: http://www.theatlanticpost.com/culture/celebratory-gunfire-lebanon-leads-injuries-deaths-3286.html
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