Civilian Resistance in Lebanon

Sample Application: A Funeral in Zebqine
Imm Abbas held a funeral last Sunday. We were invited to attend, even though we did not know her or the bereaved personally. Upon receiving us in her modest abode, Imm Abbas’s daughter asked if we wanted to see pictures of the bereaved. Framed, colored photograph-portraits were brought out and displayed, engulfing the surviving family members. The imbalance was pitiful: three members alive to mourn, twelve only present in photographs. Zebqine was the first village bombed by Israelis on July 13. The night of July 12th, Imm Abbas’s son had moved his children and wife from their home on the outskirts of the village to a relative’s home closer to the center, to avoid Israeli fire. The family would leave to Beirut the next morning. The motor of their jeep was warming in the driveway when the Israeli plane dropped its bomb. The three-story apartment-come-refuge was instantly flattened, killing 12 of the 13 people inside. The force of the blast sent their jeep sailing into the field below. In a village of 230 homes, 109, or nearly half, were either completely destroyed or seriously damaged. Out of a population of 2200 persons, only 500 are currently resident in Zebqine, though another 500 spend their days there and leave at night to sleep in shelters elsewhere. Over the past week, we have been able to bring five tanks of non-potable water for cleaning purposes, medications for chronic and urgent care to help in rebuilding the municipality clinic, and a generator to provide electricity to one neighborhood which was not connected to the other extant generators. Towards our goal of investing in the local economy, we bought $900 worth of garments from one clothing factory owned by a village resident to use for clothing rations in other areas.

by Ramzi Kysia

Last week, I made my first trip to South Lebanon since the war began. Having traveled a fifth of the world, and been present during “wars” in Iraq, Palestine, and New York – I can honestly say that I have never seen such complete devastation in my entire life. The only thing that even comes close are the pictures I’ve seen from World War II. Much of South Lebanon simply lies in ruin.

In the South, Israeli warplanes occasionally break the sound barrier, rattling people as they fly off on God knows what missions. Israeli drones constantly fly overhead. The low, insistent hum of their engines serves as a continual reminder that Lebanon is not yet safe.

Bombed out gas stations and the twisted, blackened remains of what once were cars line the roads. The roads themselves are a wreck, pockmarked with craters and covered by fallen bridges, in places completely impassable. There are miles of roads lined with chalk-colored vegetation, so covered are they from the dust of destroyed buildings that you can see no green whatsoever. Almost every single city and village throughout South Lebanon has significant war damage. Almost every single one. The dead are still being pulled from the rubble.

In Qantara, a village of some three hundred and fifty families, twenty-five homes are destroyed, and another fifty seriously damaged. A man passes out pictures of his fifteen year old son in barely controlled panic. He hasn’t seen the boy for nearly a month.

Silaa, Lebanon: Israel bombed this small community in southern Lebanon during the 33-day Israeli war against Lebanon, and destroyed 35 homes. Eighty-five people are now homeless. The Campaign for Civil Resistance is going to buy a pump so they can pump water; due to the Israeli bombardment, there currently is no running water in this village. The Campaign will also buy a water tank to store water, and are working on getting the resilient villagers donated clothes and food from people throughout Lebanon.

Today, at 5 pm, families are going to gather where their homes once stood for a ceremony of prayer and remembrance.

“It is impossible to beat the people. You can destroy the stones. You can the houses. You can’t destroy the people,” said Abed Deeb Naeem, whose 65 year old father was killed in Silaa.

There are numerous towns like Silaa in the south of Lebanon, and numerous neighborhoods like Silaa in the southern district of Beirut and in Ba’albeck. More than 15,000 residential homes were destroyed during the war, and thousands of other homes are uninhabitable.

Friends,

Thank you for your interest in joining the civilian resistance in Lebanon initiative. These past 2 weeks have been full of meetings, planning and organizing. The convoy on August 12 was due to be the first step of a campaign of civilian resistance in which international activists would join Lebanese and Palestinian activists in creative, strategic nonviolent resistance to Israel’s aggression and war policies.

Following the action on August 12, we met with our colleagues to evaluate and to start strategizing to move forward. Yesterday we were set with two plans – one in case of ceasefire, and one in case of no ceasefire. Both plans were focused on seeking to help displaced Lebanese return to their homes.

However, by 10 AM Monday, it became clear that the displaced were not going to wait and see, but were ready to reclaim their homes, villages and fields. Even if these things were destroyed, people wanted to return right away to their places that they knew.

While the ceasefire is not yet solidified, and there is indeed a serious wariness of what Israel might try to do to upset the withdrawal of its troops and the end of the hostilities, with every passing hour, more and more people flood into the south, and it seems more and more as if engaged resistance will halt (recognizing, of course that the issues of occupation of Shebaa Farms and overall Israeli aggression to Lebanon does require bombs to be falling or troops on the ground).

from IRIN News

A civilian convoy of more than 150 people in 47 cars was turned back by local police when attempting to bring relief supplies from Beirut to Nabatiyeh, 80km south of the capital on Saturday.

Organisers and participants of the Campaign of Resistance returned to Beirut after being advised by police that it was unsafe to travel any further than the checkpoint at Neama, about 20 km south of Beirut.

“We are currently meeting and discussing our next move,” said campaign spokesperson Rasha Salti. “It is likely, though not definite, that it will be the organisation of another civilian convoy. Either way, we will be taking action very, very soon.”

Participants of the Campaign of Resistance arrived at Martyrs Square in downtown Beirut early on Saturday to launch a civilian movement expressing anger at Israel’s forced blockade of south Lebanon as well as at the overall destruction the country has witnessed over the past month.

The current conflict started after the armed wing of Lebanese political party Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on 12 July. In response, Israel launched a military offensive that has focused largely on the south of Lebanon, from where Hezbollah has since been firing rockets into Israel.

Israel’s bombs have so far destroyed 630 roads and 73 bridges, according to the Lebanese Higher Relief Council (HRC) – a government body set up specifically to manage relief efforts in this conflict. South Lebanon has become almost completely cut off from the rest of the country and, as such, is suffering shortages of a range of essential supplies, medicines and fuel.