Showing posts with label Lebanon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lebanon. Show all posts
Fra Hughes ✒ How is the US deliberately attempting to provoke civil wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon?

First Published In
Al Mayadeen English.

Iraq

When America, Britain, and the coalition of the greedy decided to crush Iraq under a barrage of bombs, cruise missiles, and multiple munitions, in its campaign of Shock and Awe to destroy Iraq, it was only the beginning.


With claims that Iraqi Generals had been corrupted in advance and the much-celebrated Republican guard would collapse, the western imperialist destruction of another sovereign state was only in its embryonic stage.

Crushing the Iraqi military was not a complicated matter. The overwhelming superiority of western military technology and firepower left the outcome of the war in little doubt, but like all wars winning was only beginning. It was the following occupation that would lead to brutal repression coupled with a hearts and minds propaganda blitz on the Iraqi people.

The real threat to western financial gain in Iraq through its programs of resource theft would be a united Iraqi resistant axis, utilizing all of the Iraqi territories, all of its resistance networks, and all those willing to play a part in a national war of liberation against the illegal occupying forces mainly British and American.

In order to prevent the Iraqi resistance from resisting the invaders, a way was to be found to weaken the resistance and have the Iraqi people fight each other and not the Anglo-American invaders.

Sectarian murder was not a feature of daily life in Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion.

Then one Friday afternoon as people knelt in prayer in a Mosque probably praying for peace and an end to the violence and death brought to them at the hands of the invaders, a bomb shattered those prayers for peace along with the bodies of those saying those prayers and a new horror was visited upon the Iraqi people.

An attack on the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf on 29 August 2003 left 95 Shia worshippers dead including Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution in Iraq.

This monstrous event occurred just five months after the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003.

Who was behind this hideous heinous act may never really be known. Al-Qaeda militants later claimed responsibility but that was in 2007.

Many wonder was this a deliberate attempt to provoke a civil war in Iraq?

Was it American or British special forces?

Was it others acting on behalf of, or directed by, western imperialists or Zionists interested in further destabilizing Iraq?

The result was a protracted campaign targeting Mosques, targeting the most vulnerable in society, people at prayer, and the resistance against the foreign occupation crumbled as the country fell into ethnic pseudo-religious sectarian strife. A Shia- Sunni civil war was instigated.

The losers were all those who died, all those who were injured, all those who grieved at the loss of loved ones, and a society that lost security as it became a victim of a senseless indiscriminate campaign of random civilian murders.

The winners were the West and its illegal occupation of Iraq, who were then given a freer hand to rob and plunder at will with little coordinated opposition.

In September 2005 in Basra, two undercover British soldiers disguised as Iraqi civilians shot and killed two Iraqi police officers who had tried to question them. The two SAS officers, Special Air Service soldiers were later detained and their car was found to contain explosives.

They were subsequently freed when the British army using tanks and a SAS assault team stormed the place where they were legally detained and illegally snatched them from lawful custody.

You can make up your own mind on why they were disguised as Iraqi nationals, why they murdered two friendly Iraqi police officers and why they had explosives in their car?

They divided the Iraqi people and the Iraqi resistance and they conquered Iraq for two decades.

Afghanistan

America has made a tactical withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Many claim it is a humiliating defeat for America which it is, but America left voluntarily.

There was no Taliban army at the gates of Kabul. The reality is the Taliban controlled the countryside and the invaders, Britain and America, had the cities.

That was the trade-off, that was the stand-off.

Biden, corporate America, and their hangers-on in the United Kingdom establishment along with the military-industrial complex have robbed Afghanistan as much as they can.

They have used British and American taxpayers' monies to destroy Afghanistan and pay for its continued occupation with trillions of dollars being paid out to private contractors and weapons manufacturers.

America, Britain and now bizarrely Australia are looking to project their power into the South China Sea in an attempt to retain their first world dominance of global commerce, finance, and technology.

A battle they have already lost.

In leaving Afghanistan they appear determined to destabilize the incoming victorious Taliban Afghan government.

They want to keep Afghanistan impoverished at war and away from the influence of China, Russia, and Iran.

To that end, we have now witnessed bombs exploding outside Shia mosques in Afghanistan, killing many, just like we saw in Iraq.

The seeds of civil war and war by proxies of the Afghan ISIS-K who are being reinforced by ISIS elements brought in from Iraq and Syria, armed and financed by the usual suspects from Turkey, EU America, and the Gulf states will only exacerbate the situation.

As relative peace was finally dawning on Afghanistan after another two decades of foreign interference in the internal politics of Afghanistan by western imperialist military and financial adventurism, we now witness the bombs of hate deployed once again.

If they can divide Afghan society through another western-inspired Shia-Sunny civil war, then politically for a time at least they will reconquer Afghanistan.

Lebanon

The tragic events surrounding the Port of Beirut explosion that killed and maimed so many, which left total destruction to hundreds of private homes, apartments blocks, and businesses, the cause of which is being investigated by a Lebanese judicial inquiry.

The inquiry is meant to apportion blame on those who are directly or indirectly responsible for the storage of dangerous nitrates in huge concentrations in the heart of a busy Mediterranean port.

The judge is being accused by many of playing a part on behalf of the enemies of Lebanon in trying to scapegoat Hezbollah for being complicit in the explosion.

As victims and survivors of the bomb blast joined Hezbollah and Amal supporters in a peaceful demonstration at the judiciary offices in downtown Beirut, calling for the judge, Tarek Bitar to be removed, accusing him of being an American stooge trying to divide the Lebanese people, gunmen from the Christian Lebanese Forces opened fire on these unarmed protestors killing 8 and wounding nearly 35 others, some of whom are in critical condition and the death total may very much rise.

For decades, Lebanon -a confessional state- has been at war with itself on behalf of foreign powers like its former colonial occupier France, and more recently "Israel."

From the Sabra and Shatila massacres in September 1982, where as many as 3000 Palestinian and Lebanese unarmed civilians, old men, women, and children were systematically and brutally murdered, after the Palestine Liberation Organisation left Beirut, to the events on October 14, 2021. In order to impoverish and enslave Lebanon, the West and "Israel" use the right-wing Christian Phalange, their political representatives and now the Lebanese Forces to do their killing.

Collectively they are all working against the sovereign interests of Lebanon and are in the pay of foreign nations alien to Lebanon. as Victoria Nuland, American Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, who it is claimed by many, was instrumental in the events leading up to the Maidan Square massacre of February 20, 2014, in Kiev, Ukraine, resulting in the following coup, suddenly appeared in Beirut on the same day fundamentalist right-wing Christians murdered the victims and survivors of the Beirut port blast alongside peaceful unarmed Hezbollah and Amal supporters.

What is Victoria Nuland doing in Beirut?

Well, she was defending the judge Tarek Bitar whom many Lebanese want to see step down, while simultaneously meeting the generals of the Lebanese army confirming America will give the Lebanese army a further 67 million dollars in military aid.

What has America, Britain, and "Israel" got planned for Lebanon?

It looks like America is buying Lebanese army loyalty with 67 million dollars while Britain already stands accused of running spy networks from inside the military intelligence corps of the Lebanese army through a British company.

Is another debilitating bloody civil war the desired outcome of western and Israeli imperialist adventures in Lebanon?

Dividing Lebanon, so the imperialists and colonial "Israel" can conquer the country.

Divide and conquer? Well after all it's the imperialist way.

𒍨The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al Mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.

Fra Hughes is a columnist with Al Mayadeen.

Divide And Conquer ➖ It's the Imperialist Way

Fra HughesLebanon and Syria should strive to build solar energy reserves so they are not held to ransom by external forces over oil gas or electricity needs.

First Published In
Al Mayadeen English.

Talks are being conducted between Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan to secure an energy supply line from Egypt and Jordan through Syria, onward to Lebanon, to help alleviate the chronic fuel shortages being experienced by this small country of seven million people on the coastline of the Mediterranean sea which has land borders with Israel and Syria.


Lebanon has suffered disproportionately for decades from the tensions, wars, and destabilization of the region since the creation of “Israel” in 1948.

The huge refugee crisis that engulfed Palestine with the expulsion, at the point of Israeli guns of 750,000 indigenous Palestinians led to refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt with a diaspora of nearly 8 million Palestinians scattered all over the globe.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation was forced out of Beirut in 1982 by an Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

The systematic massacres in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps that followed left up to 3500 Palestinian / Lebanese civilians murdered by pro-Zionist Falange forces on September 16,1982. This is only one of many atrocities committed during the Lebanese civil war, a war that was encouraged by "Israel", the EU, and America in order to weaken Lebanon, a country that has not known peace or stability for generations.

Over the last several years, since Lebanon liberated itself from Israeli military occupation through the resistance of Hezbollah, Lebanon finally appeared to have weathered the storm through a national government of reconciliation.

This government included all sides involved in the civil war and with input from all sections of society. Finally, Lebanon appeared at peace with itself and was building a united prosperous future for all its citizens.

Lebanon has a pivotal role to play in the region.

Having defeated “Israel”, forcing its retreat in the dead of night from occupied Lebanese land, Hezbollah which is a Lebanese Resistance is perceived as a threat to "Israel" and to EU / American designs on the region.

Hezbollah plays an integral role in Lebanese society through its social welfare programs and in the government.

“Israel”, France, America, Britain, and many others strive night and day to rekindle the old animosities in Lebanon and to reignite the conditions for civil war, to separate Hezbollah from the government to which they have been democratically elected and from wider Lebanese society.

The desired outcome, for “Israel” and the West, is to condemn Lebanon to perpetual conflict with competing and opposite political ideologies tearing the fabric of society apart.

Some are looking again to the West and some looking to the East.

To this end, the government of Lebanon (and the economy) has been brought crashing down.

The catalyst may well have been the explosion at the Beirut docks which killed hundreds and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.

The people demanded accountability and an end to the perceived corruption that lay at the heart of some government officials.

With the government in crisis, the economy in free fall, inflation, and profiteering rising, it was only a matter of time before the external protagonists, who may well have encouraged and engineered these crises, took full advantage of the situation.

They have demanded concessions from the elected government of Lebanon. They are trying to implement neo-liberal reforms as preconditions on loans from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and others.

What America and “Israel” cannot achieve through military occupation, they are trying to do through financial occupation. That is to control direct and influence sections and policies of the Lebanese government who are elected by, and acting on behalf of the Lebanese people, and not some external anti-Lebanese financial and military cabal.

While Lebanon suffers from chronic shortages of petroleum, gas, and electricity, the external actors are trying to force concessions from the government and the people before allowing order and supply to be reestablished.

The bakeries have been at times unable to produce bread.

These are the conditions that led to violent street disturbances.

When parents cannot feed their children, revolutions are born.

Hezbollah on behalf of those in need in Lebanon has sourced petroleum supplies from Iran that arrived by sea.

While some in Lebanon see Iran as a regional enemy, this strategic lifeline has been welcomed by many across the sectarian divide to include Christians and Muslims.

America, which most likely helped create the conditions that Lebanon now finds itself implicated, is concerned that the Lebanese are accepting help from Iran.

They have proposed a pipeline from Egypt and Jordan through Syria to Lebanon in order to supply electricity and gas.

This proposal is in direct response to the proffered Iranian aid.

It is not a humanitarian pipeline. It is a commercial enterprise with gas and electricity flowing in one direction and profits flowing in the other.

This proposed pipeline could make Lebanon vulnerable to the ebbs and flows of national regional and international political agendas.

Will Lebanon become Gaza mark two?

“Israel” decides how much fuel enters Gaza with Egyptian complicity.

They monitor the calorific food intake of Gazans in order to keep them permanently hungry.

They deny imports of medicine and building materials.

They deny exports of Gazan produce in order to impoverish the people.

The Lebanese people should be wary of any proposals that indebt Lebanon to neighboring unfriendly regimes who may simply be waiting to influence the Lebanese government on behalf of “Israel”, the EU, and America.

Lebanon and Syria should strive to build solar energy reserves so they are not held to ransom by external forces over oil gas or electricity needs.

Energy Resources of the Lebanese coast in Lebanese waters must be fully accessed and utilized.

When America proposes to help: be very, very wary.

These proposed pipelines can simply be turned off at the flick of a switch.

Lebanon could find itself with four hours of electricity a day, food shortages, and continued imposed American and EU sanctions.

What they give with the right hand they steal it with the left hand.

Iran, China, Russia, the Belt and Road Eurasian project is the lifeline Lebanon needs.

Everything else is simply shallow window-dressing: a continuation of the corruption so despised by the Lebanese people, false dawn strewn with traps to further destabilize Lebanese national unity.

𒍨The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al Mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.

Fra Hughes is a columnist with Al Mayadeen. 

Lebanon And The Fuel Trap

Franklin Lamb writing from Damascus with a piece that initially featured in Intifada Voice of Palestine

http://www.intifada-palestine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/richard_falk.jpg
Professor Emeritus at Princeton University and Special UN Rapporteur for Palestine, Richard Falk

The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Palestine, Professor Richard Falk, came to Lebanon last week on an unofficial visit to survey opinion while fact finding the condition in Palestinian refugee’s camps.

It was the Professors first visit to Lebanon since the fateful summer of 1982.   Back then, en route by sea to Beirut, which was under Israeli siege and blockade, Falk was Vice-Chair of the Sean McBride Commission of Inquiry into Israeli crimes against Lebanon. Mid-way between Cyprus and Lebanon, the Zionist navy, in a blatant act of piracy on the high seas, intercepted, boarded and commandeered the vessel. Eventually, under reported American pressure via US Envoy Morris Draper’s telephoned profanity to Tel Aviv, the pirates allowed Falk’s delegation to disembark at the port of Jounieh, just north of Beirut.  Draper, who like so many US diplomats, claims he finally “saw the light after retiring”, told this observer that “I never swore so much in my life as I did at those SOBS during that summer of 1982 and after I learned the details of Ariel Sharon’s choreography of the Sabra-Shatila massacre!” Ambassador Draper added, “The world will never know the extent of Israeli crimes committed against Lebanon and its refugees until Washington threatens to cut off all aid until Tel Aviv opens up its archives on this period.”

Professor Falk, as he mentioned during several events here, including a first-rate conference on the status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and their struggle for the most elementary civil rights to work and to own a home, organized by the Institute of Palestine Studies, came to Lebanon not to offer counsel to Lebanon’s sects or even to the Palestinians. (The IPS, founded in 1969, is considered by this observer and many others, as the most reliable and authoritative source of information on Palestinian affairs and the Arab-Israel conflict.)

Falk came to listen and to learn. He did both. He listened intently to each speaker, scribing hurried notes regarding the current conditions of Palestinian refugee, including education and health status, in Lebanon’s 12 camps and two dozen “gatherings,” reports that were presented by several academics and NGO’s based here.

Professor Falk got an ear full from Lebanese based advocates for the elementary Palestinian refugee Right to Work and to own a home. Rights that are accorded every other refugee in every country in the world including Zionist occupied Palestine. Rights that are given to every citizen from any country as soon as they clear immigration. Dr. Falk was advised that all that is required is that those who claim to be the forces of Resistance use their majority power in Parliament and take 90 minutes to repeal the racist 2001 law ( 20 minutes) and grant the right to work for Palestinians ( 70 minutes) who were forced into Lebanon 65 years ago this month.

Falk and others in attendance at the briefings found the findings sobering and alarming.  They included but are not limited to, the following:

There are currently 42,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria who have been forced into Lebanon as a result of the crisis in Syria. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East – UNRWA -reported to the IPS workshop, that they expect 80,000 Palestinians by the end of the year.  Others estimate the December 2013 number will exceed 100,000. According to figures, forwarded to Professor Falk by the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign, supplied by refugee camp committees, approximately 6,000 Palestinians who fled Syria remain in Lebanon’s Bekaa |Valley, close to the Syrian borders, in two main gatherings, al-Jalil (4,216 refugees) and central Bekaa (2,352). In the North, Baddawi camp hosts 4,116 and Nahr al Bared 2,016.   In Beirut, Burj al-Barajneh camp hosts 2,928 additional refugees from Syria, Shatila and the surrounding areas 2,800, and Mar Elias 862. In the South, 8,549 refugees arrived to Ain al-Hilweh and 2,400 are dispersed around Saida. Mieh Mieh camp hosts 1,512, with an additional 2,160 in  Wadi al-Zaineh. Further south to Tyre, Palestinian refugees from Syria are distributed among Shabriha (184), Rashidieh (1,370), Al Bass (478), Burj al-Shemali (2,800), Qasimiyeh (372), and Jal al-Bahr (128).

Falk knew, before gracing Lebanon with his visit, that UNWRA is basically out of money and cannot continue to meet its mandate for aiding Lebanon’s Palestinians even less those arriving from Syria at the rate of more than two dozen families per day. On 5/5/13, the popular committee representative at Jalil Camp near Baalbec reported that they receive on average 8 additional families per day, with dozens now living in the Jalil camp cemetery.

(photo: flamb at Masnaa crossing on 4/20/2013) And still they come from Syria’s 10 Palestinian refugee camps! Not sure where they will stay in Lebanon or if they will receive any assistance. Soon they will discover that the only help they will receive is from their own in the 12 camps and two dozen ‘gatherings’



(photo: flamb at Masnaa crossing on 4/20/2013) And still they come from Syria’s 10 Palestinian refugee camps! Not sure where they will stay in Lebanon or if they will receive any assistance. Soon they will discover that the only help they will receive is from their own in the 12 camps and two dozen ‘gatherings’
Palestinian children in Lebanon, Falk was advised, unfortunately provide textbook examples of the fact of life that it is difficult to concentrate on school when ones stomach is growling with hunger. And it’s even harder to stay in school when there’s even a remote chance to work odd jobs and earn money for food – something education doesn’t immediately offer.  One new local initiative is the Meals for Schools, whose organizers hope serve food to impoverished schoolchildren in Lebanese slum areas. One idea is to give coupons for meals to schools.   Unfortunately the scope will not include Palestinian children “at this time due to limited funding”, according to one AUB student hoping to help children stay in school by helping them to have breakfasts.

Palestinian refugee children have limited access to the public educational system in Lebanon. Only 11 per cent these “foreign” children can access free public education in Lebanon while most refugees can’t afford the high tuition fees of private schools. Palestinian refugees who attend one of the 58 UNRWA begin at age seven since UNWRA cannot afford pre-school level education. Consequently, for Palestinians here, while the elementary sector comprises more than 60% of students, the number drops to 28% in intermediate and only 10% at the secondary level. While the attendance rate for 7 year olds is 98.6%, by the time they reach age 11 attendance falls to 93.4%.   But from this level, the primary level school completion rate cascades to only 37%, due to astronomical dropout rates. The above figures reveal that Palestinian education levels have been indeed progressively dropping in recent years. This is further supported by the passing rate in the Brevet Official exams (official diploma qualifying entry into secondary) which was in some schools as low as 13.6% in some schools according to the UNRWA results of Brevet exams, despite the average passing rate in UNRWA schools being 43% for the 2009-10 academic year.

Professor Falk was briefed on myriad realities including the fact that Palestinians camps in Lebanon remain sites of control and surveillance by the Lebanese Army. People’s mobility and access to construction materials have been restricted by the army check points at the entrance of camps. Palestinian refugees are forbidden by law – since 2001 – to own or inherit real estate in Lebanon; consequently when a Palestinian dies, even if she or he inherited property between 1948-2001, before a wave of revenge led to the 2001 racist law, the property goes to Sunni Muslim Dar al-Fatwa one of the richest real estate holding entities in Lebanon.  Accused of deep corruption by some, their leadership has a history of opposing full civil rights for Palestinian refugees here remain opposed to home ownership.

The UN’s humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, reported this week that seven million people need humanitarian assistance in Syria. “The needs are growing rapidly and are most severe in the conflict and opposition-controlled areas” of the civil-war ravaged country, the global body’s humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told the U.N. Security Council. Amos  cited data showing there are 6.8 million people in need — out of a total population of 20.8 million — along with 4.25 million people internally displaced and an additional 1.3 million who have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

Falk was briefed on most recent household surveys of Palestinian refugees carried out by the American University of Beirut which show that two thirds of Palestine refugees are poor. The extreme poverty rate in camps (7.9%) is almost twice of that observed in gatherings (4.2%). The study also developed a Deprivation Index based on components of welfare which included components such as good health, food security, and adequate education, access to stable employment, decent housing, and ownership of essential household assets. The Deprivation Index showed that 40% of Palestine Refugees living in Lebanon are deprived. The study reported that 56% of refugees are jobless and only 37% of the working age population is employed (Hanafi et al. 2012). It is unsurprising that the poor socio-economic situation often encourages students to leave school to get a paid job.

Despite the importance of education fewer Palestinian refugee students are actually interested in continuing their higher education. Lack of motivation to learn, is believed to be one of the main reasons for the high dropout rates.   Palestinian refugees’ access to Lebanon’s public university is limited by their status as foreigners, and their access to private universities is restricted by a lack of resources to pay tuition fees (Hroub, 2012).

The old cliché that stated that “The Palestinians are the most educated Arab nation”, is just a myth today. This educational hemorrhage among young Palestinians has been attributed to a number of factors such as the deteriorating socio-economic conditions amongst Palestinian refugees and the growing disillusionment with schooling and the benefits it brings. Palestinian students also suffer from an education acculturation as they are forced to learn only the Lebanese curriculum without being able to access the country’s system. The following section examines these three main challenges.

Statistics indicate that just under half of the classrooms in public schools have less than 15 students per class while 20 % are overcrowded with 26 to 35 students per class. However, in UNRWA schools, the average number of students per classroom is 30 making them the most crowded classrooms in Lebanon.

With respect to the UN refugee agency, (UNHCR) the current situation in both Syria and among the more than 450,000 Syrian in Lebanon is only marginally better than the conditions of arriving Palestinians. As Maeve Murphy, UNHCR’s Senior Field Coordinator in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, explained to this observer and others during a visit on 5/5/13, near the Nicolas Khoury Center in Zahle, Lebanon, amidst sea of hundreds of Syrians, some waiting for three months or longer just to get registered, the UN refugee agency is also unable to meet its mandate for the same reason as UNRWA and the World Food Program and others. Ms. Murphy reported that over 453,000 Syrians have either registered with the U.N. agency or are waiting to register. An additional several hundred thousand people are thought to be refugees but haven’t approached the U.N.

Complicating the desperate situation of Palestinian and Syrian refugees seeking sanctuary in Lebanon is the fact that millions of Syrian refugees face food rationing and cutbacks to critical medical programs because oil-rich Gulf states have failed to deliver the funding they promised for emergency humanitarian aid, an investigation by James Cusick  for The Independent on Sunday has found. Pledges for $ 650 minion in donations from various sources including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, made during  the January 2013, Kuwait UN  emergency conference, have yet to materialize.

The World Food Program (WFP), the food aid arm of the UN, says it is spending $19m a week to feed 2.5 million refugees inside Syria and a further 1.5 million who have fled to official camps in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. By July, the WFP says, there is no guarantee that its work on the Syrian crisis can continue. A spokesman told the UK Independent,  “We are already in a hand-to-mouth situation. Beyond mid-June – who knows?”

The emergency conference in Kuwait – hosted by the Emir of Kuwait and chaired by Mr Ban Ki Moon – promised to bring a “message of hope” to the four million Syrian refugees. Mr Ban proclaimed the outcome a shining example of “global solidarity in action”. The reality has been markedly different. Oxfam recently issued an appeal: “The League of Arab States must urge all Arab countries that have pledged to the Syrian crisis, to be transparent and to share information about their commitments, and mechanisms for fulfilling their pledges.”

Mousab Kerwat, Islamic Relief’s Middle East institutional funding manager, said: “It’s better for countries to stay away from donor conferences than to attend and make pledges they don’t intent to keep. As a minimum, they should communicate where their pledges have gone in a transparent process. If Professor Falk was weary as he left Lebanon from all the data, visits, and wrenching experiences he was presented with, it would be understandable. But the humanitarian and scholar he showed no signs of fatigue but rather appeared to be energized by the experience. Given his history as a supporter of resistance to occupation and oppression, Richard Falk’s assurances that he will continue his work armed with the above sampling of data offers new hope for Palestinian and Syrian refugees from Syria and to those who support their Right and Responsibility  to  Return to Palestine.


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About the Author
Franklin Lamb
Franklin Lamb, a former Assistant Counsel of the US House Judiciary Committee at the US Congress and Professor of International Law at Northwestern College of Law in Oregon, earned his Law Degree at Boston University and his LLM, M.Phil, and PhD degrees at the London School of Economics. Lamb is Director, Americans Concerned for Middle East Peace, Beirut-Washington DC, Board Member of The Sabra Shatila Foundation, and a volunteer with the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign, Lebanon. He is the author of The Price We Pay: A Quarter-Century of Israel’s Use of American Weapons Against Civilians in Lebanon. He can be reached at: fplamb@gmail.com He is a regular contributor to Intifada Palestine, and is doing research in Lebanon.

Lebanon greets the Special Rapporteur for Palestine, Richard Falk, with an ear full