Israeli invasion of 1982 haunts survivors (another recent "memorial")

[Aidoneus]

Israeli invasion of 1982 haunts survivors
By Nayla Assaf
Daily Star staff
Monday, June 07, 2004

BEIRUT: On June 6, 1982 Beirut witnessed one of the most dramatic days in its history. With land, sea and air bombardments pouring in from all sides, the capital came under siege and Beirut residents watched helplessly as their city was being used as a battlefield by Israelis seeking to oust the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Within minutes, pink leaflets dropped from Israeli fighter jets had covered the streets of the city, announcing the inevitable and causing mass terror. The siege of Beirut lasted for 88 days.

Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and wounded. Many were disfigured as a result of Israel's use of cluster bombs, which international laws ban in civilian areas, and whose delayed and far reaching explosion causes wide- ranging damages.

Estimates place the number killed at around 20,000, those wounded at 30,000, while approximately half a million people were made homeless.

Instead of hiding away in a shelter as many others did, Jamal Saidi spent his days during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Beirut leaping from one rooftop to the other. Saidi, now the head of the Photographers' Union, was trying to capture "history being made."

"We had chosen a high rise in Tallet al-Khayyat (a hill inside Beirut) as our headquarters. From there, we could see Israeli troops advancing and closing up on us and more importantly, we could see the fighter jets shower us with bombs," he said.

--snip--

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=4900

[Laughing Mirror]

1. And that was the day that I ended all support and sympathy

for the state of Israel.

[Aidoneus]

3. I am too young for such a reaction to have been 'live' for me

Though in my studies, this and the suppression of the previous intifada had the same chilling effect on me.

[Aidoneus]

2. Let me make this topical

This was an invasion that Raygun supported and backed, later putting troops into Beirut to further help the occupation along alongside their "diplomatic" aggressions. There were, amazingly, some geniunely humanitarian acts carried out by the unwanted US forces at the very start (mineclearing being the biggest, which meant nothing compared to the buick-sided bombs the USS New Jersey fired onto peoples' homes and villages), but by and large it was a hostile presence that culminated in their defeat and expulsion.

[Jim Sagle]

4. If the survivor were a Lebanese patriot instead of a pro-Syrian traitor,

he would also be haunted by the Syrian occupation. Fuck'm.

[thebigidea]

5. as if you cared about Lebanon...

[Jim Sagle]

6. As if it's any of your business...

[Jim Sagle]

8. Good non-reply. I'll take that as an admission that I crushed this sorry

thread.

[Malikshah]

10. Crushing threads?

What a fascinating use of language.

Crushing threads...rhymes with crushing heads

Yes, most folks will not read or respond to this thread. It is something that the average person knows little about. 1982 was indeed a horrific year in Lebanon (and in Syria for that matter with Hama)

Too bad those responsible are either dead or protected from prosecution (i.e. cowardly people whose best locality is in the business end of a woodchipper)

Yes, this thread may die, as do many.

Just as countless thousands died in Beirut, their graves spat upon by those who will attempt to stifle threads such as this.

[Jim Sagle]

14. The thread is based on a clearly corrupt but unspoken premise -

that the Syrian occupation of Lebanon is peachy keen.

[IA_Seth]

15. Is Syria a new ally that I am unaware of?

I don't see how this article is pro-Syrian, and my take on it is that these war crimes were committed by a United States ally, which Syria clearly is not.

We can not control the world's nations, but we certainly can choose the nations that we provide aid, arms, and political support. Israel is (and has been) a nation which we should be condemning and sanctioning, not apologizing for and supporting.

A clip from the article......

"Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and wounded. Many were disfigured as a result of Israel's use of cluster bombs, which international laws ban in civilian areas, and whose delayed and far reaching explosion causes wide-ranging damages."

Does this sound like a US ally?

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mmm]

11. Welcome IA_Seth

well said

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Zhade]

12. How about "fuck apologists for the Israeli government's war crimes"?

Sounds a lot truer, and more moral.

Yep. FUCK war crimes apologists. Fuck them all.

Thank God their numbers are dwindling as more people see through the lies of criminal murderers like Sharon.

[Just Me]

13. Yes, the apologists for war criminals and crimes is just too much! n/t

[bemildred]

7. Thinking of Sarajevo, another such feckless enterprise.

Another once thriving and cosmopolitan city devastated in
pursuit of the illusion of "security".