Category: Israel

Shades of gray

U.S. Illusions in Lebanon By Roger Cohen, New York Times op-ed columnist Published: December 13, 2010 BEIRUT — Once upon a time a U.S. secretary of state spoke of the “birth pangs of a new Middle East.” That’s now the most laughed-at phrase in gravity-defying Lebanon, a country with two armies, a “unity” government too …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2010/12/14/shades-of-gray/

Breaking the silence

By Donald Macintyre, Sunday, 12 December 2010 In pictures:  Soldiers’ testimonies … For anyone who has covered Israel, the West Bank and Gaza over the past few years, reading Occupation of the Territories, the new book from the Israeli ex-soldiers organisation Breaking the Silence, can be an eerily evocative experience. A conscript from the Givati …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2010/12/12/breaking-the-silence-2/

A place of ghosts

Lebanon, my Lebanon: A stirring new photography book sparks Robert Fisk’s memories From ancient groves where he once dodged bullets to peaceful mountain ranges, from embattled politicians to wise-cracking locals, Robert Fisk, the Independent’s Middle East correspondent, finds his memories of 34 years living in Lebanon brought into poignant relief by a monumental new photography …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2010/11/20/a-place-of-ghosts/

Today’s YB! award…

From:  Monsieur d’Nalgar To:  Sam Stein Subject: Today’s award… Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:51:44 -0700 It’s been a while since I awarded a “You Bastard!” prize for overt nincompoopery by one of the morning-show bobble-heads, one of the screeching castrati remnants of our once-vaunted Fourth Estate. Your comments this morning about the efficiency and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2010/11/19/todays-yb-award/

On the subject of Beirut and its people…

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae2dEWoKsxA[/tube] A song called Alice in Jericho, where Lebanon/Beirut is the actual subject. The singer is Ireland’s Seamie O’Dowd. The venue is some jazz club in Australia, not sure where. Alice In Jericho Now, the natural part of a Nazarene man is the life he’ll give for his own blood-band; but there’s nothing left over …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2010/11/04/on-the-subject-of-beirut-and-its-people/

Dismal

Dear Friends: Below is the full text of an excellent (make that superior) speech delivered last week in Washington by Kathleen Christison to the annual meeting of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) on the subject of current U.S. policy toward the Israel-Palestine problem. Most of you will recall that Kathy is a retired …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2010/10/30/dismal/

Sowing evil

People who cultivate the land and produce food for their fellow men share a special bond with all other “sons of the soil” who practice the same life’s work.  In all cultures and traditions, the farmer enjoys is a unique place in society, accorded a particular kind of dignity and considered worthy of a special …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2010/10/13/sowing-evil/