Lebanon

(AFP) Angry Lebanese protest over attack on priest’s library (via AFP) Hundreds of Lebanese took to the streets of the northern city of Tripoli on Saturday to protest the torching of a decades-old library owned by a Greek Orthodox priest. The demonstrators held up banners that read “Tripoli, peaceful town” and “This is… —– […]

Bahrain

America’s Foreign Policy Challenges in the Middle East, 2014

Juan Cole

Those who suggest that the United States as a superpower is weaker in the Middle East today than nine years ago overestimate the impact on the region of the Bush administration’s frenetic invasions and occupations. Iraq and Afghanistan were off in corners of the Middle East, and the US clearly got bogged down in them […]

Lebanon

Beirut Teen who took Selfie moments before Carbomb exploded dies of Injuries

Juan Cole

(AFP reports) Teen in Beirut bombing ‘selfie’ dies (via AFP) A Lebanese teenager seen posing for a group “selfie” in front of a bomb-laden car moments before it exploded in the capital Beirut died of his injuries on Saturday. “The number of victims from the attack rose to seven after the death of young Mohammad… […]

Featured

Syria spills over on Lebanon: Beirut Bombing Kills Sunni Critic of Syria’s al-Assad

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Respected Lebanese politician and former ambassador to the United States, Muhammad Shatah, was assassinated by a massive car bomb near the parliament building on Friday. He was on his way to a meeting of the Future Party. He was an adviser to former prime minister Saad Hariri of Future, whose own father […]

Human Rights

842,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon (pop.: 4.4 mn) as UN Calls for $6 bn Aid

contributors

(By Agence France Presse) One in five Lebanon residents Syria refugees: UN (via AFP) One of five people living in Lebanon are refugees who have fled the conflict in neighbouring Syria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Monday. The UNHCR says there are more than 842,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon but the actual […]

Christianity

Syrian Christians Menaced by Extremist Sunnis, Slam Lack of Lebanese Support

Juan Cole

Layal Abu Rahhal reported in Arabic from Beirut for al-Sharq al-Awsat [The Middle East] on the dilemmas of Syrian Christians and their Lebanese neighbors, Dec. 13, 2013. This is my paraphrase, influenced by the translation done by BBC Monitoring: Considering what the Christians of Syria are facing, Christians in Lebanon are raising alarums about the […]

Featured

Sunni-Shiite Tensions soar in Lebanon; Hizbullah accuses Saudis in Iran Embassy Bombing

Juan Cole

Several dramatic accusations and events have heightened Sunni-Shiite tensions in Lebanon, as the Syrian Civil War continues to spill over onto Beirut’s politics. In the northern city of Tripoli, Sunni Salafis (who support the rebels in Syria) have fought in recent days with `Alawis (a sect of the Shiites, who support Syria’s Alawite-dominated Baath government), […]

Lebanon

Syrian Civil War Spreads to Lebanon: Beirut Shaken by Iran Embassy Blast, kills 23, wounds 150

Juan Cole

Al-Hayat [Life] reports on the targeting by two suicide bombers of the Iranian embassy in south Beirut on Tuesday, which killed 23, including the Iranian cultural attache and embassy guards, and wounded 150. It was the first attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut since the outbreak of the civil war in neighboring Syria. Since […]

Lebanon

Plight of Syrian Refugees in Jordan

Juan Cole

Some 750,000 Syrians have been forced to seek refuge in Jordan. About 2/3s live in apartments or with families, with about a third forced to live in unsanitary tent cities. DeutscheWelle reports: Rochelle Davis and Abby Taylor have [pdf] have just issued a report at Georgetown University on the difficulties the Syrian refugees face: They […]