Category Archives: Lebanon

Postcards from Beirut

Lebanon, Photography

Since I am currently in Beirut and I am not sure what my internet access will be on a regular basis, here are some old postcard views of Beirut, starting with the image above of the Beirut Post Office from about a century ago.

Lebanon …Without A Daily Star Until Further Notice

Journalism and Media, Lebanon

Lebanon …Without A Daily Star Until Further Notice

By Thair Abbas, Asharq Alawsat, 30/01/2009

Beirut.
The Lebanese English-language newspaper The Daily Star has been temporarily shut down since the middle of January due to a financial lawsuit between the newspaper and Standard Charter Bank. The newspaper was the only source of internal Lebanese news for many of the Lebanese “orphans” living abroad and for foreigners living in Lebanon, who would use it to follow the news of Lebanon which is rife with contradictions, events, and crises.

This is not the first time that The Daily Star has been “temporarily” shut down, indeed the newspaper has been closed down three times since its foundation, but it returned to print each time as a result of the market’s need for a publication to fill this niche. Continue reading Lebanon …Without A Daily Star Until Further Notice →

Lebanon Cluster Bomb

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Film and Video, Lebanon, Shi'a

Screening and Discussion:
Sneak Preview Screening of Jawad Metni’s “Lebanon Cluster Bomb”

To mark the 2nd anniversary of Israel’s brutal war on the people of Lebanon, Alwan for the Arts and Deep Dish TV present four evenings of films from Deep Dish TV’s new eight part television series NOTHING IS SAFE. The screenings are on consecutive Wednesdays July 23, July 30, Aug 6, and Aug 13.

July 30, 2008 Program
Free and Open to the Public
A sneak preview of Jawad Metni’s new feature documentary “Lebanon Cluster Bomb”

LEBANON CLUSTER BOMB
Sneak preview (2008, Jawad Metni, 90 min)

LEBANON CLUSTER BOMB follows the men and women of South Lebanon who were hired and trained to clear unexploded cluster munitions after the July 2006 war. The Israeli Defense Forces dropped nearly 1 million of these dangerous weapons across 40 million square meters of South Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands failed to explode, and continue to kill and maim civilians 2 years after the war. The film is a primer on the cluster munition problem in Lebanon, but much more so an intimate portrait of those struggling to rebuild their lives after the devastating 2006 war. The under-represented of South Lebanon are given voice here, as they work shoulder to shoulder to return the land back to their fellow Lebanese. Continue reading Lebanon Cluster Bomb →

Buns and Guns in Beirut

Food and Drink, Lebanon, Terrorism Issue

‘Buns and Guns’ Fast Food Eatery Opens in Beirut

Asharq Alawsat, 27/06/2008

BEIRUT, Lebanon, (AP) – At the “Buns and Guns,” the chefs wear military helmets, the food is wrapped in camouflage paper and the advertising slogan is “a sandwich can kill you.”

The fast food eatery with a tongue-in-cheek military theme opened three weeks ago in Beirut’s Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs and is drawing in residents proud of the Shiite militant group’s battlefield successes.

Done up like a military outpost, the restaurant is located in the heart of a neighborhood heavily pounded by Israel during its 2006 war with Hezbollah, which fought the Israeli military to a standstill.

Neatly stacked sandbags cover the exterior, while the inside is festooned with camouflage nets, defused mortar shells and live ammunition. Employees in military uniforms serve meals to the taped sounds of gunfire as “background music.” Continue reading Buns and Guns in Beirut →