LEBANON: An environmental disaster looms

BEIRUT, 29 Jul 2006 (IRIN) - Lebanon is facing an environmental crisis after an Israeli air strike on the Jiyeh power station, about 20km south of Beirut caused 10,000 tonnes of oil to spill into the Mediterranean sea.

The air strikes on 13 and 15 July hit the power station’s fuel tanks and the leaking oil was pushed north by winds, and a thick sludge now coats much of the Lebanese coastline. At least 80km of the 200km coastline is affected.

Officials at Lebanon’s environment ministry say that the clean-up operation will take at least a year to complete and at an estimated cost of more than US $ 130 million.

“It is about 10,000 tonnes of oil, but because of the security situation we cannot go into the sea to see what the real situation is,” said a spokeswoman at the ministry, who requested anonymity.

There are fears that more oil could spill into the sea due to a fire at the facility that began on Thursday and now threatens a undamaged tank that contains 15,000 tonnes of oil.

The fire at the facility has created a thick cloud of black smoke that has polluted the air over Beirut and its suburbs.

Government officials say although the fire poses a environmental hazard in the long-term it is less damaging than a spill into the sea.

“It’s good in a way because air pollution is the better of the two evils,” the spokeswoman said.

The oil spill will have a serious long-term impact on the fishing and tourism industries which already have been hit hard by the conflict between Israel and Hizbullah.

Fishermen are unable to take their boats out to the sea due to the presence of the Israeli navy off the coast of Lebanon, and most tourists have fled the country.

Arif Hala an employee at a café on the Ramlet al-Baida beach in Beirut said the summer trade had been ruined by both the war and the oil spill.

“The situation is terrible… normally during the summer season we would make 10 or 15 million Lebanese pounds (US $6,666) a week, but that is finished now,” he said.

Officials have warned people who live near the sea to keep their windows closed and stay away from the oil as the fumes can cause skin and breathing problems.

The spill will also threaten Lebanon’s marine life and endangered species such as the Green Turtle and the Blue Fin Tuna.

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Riah Abu El-Assal is the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem. As presiding bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, he oversees the Anglican Church in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Yesterday he issued the following statement on the crisis in the Middle East:

Dear Friends,

For the past forty years we have been largely alone on this desert fighting a predator that not only has robbed us of all but a small piece of our historic homeland, but threatens the traditions and holy sites of Christianity. We are tired, weary, sick, and wounded. We need your help.

We have seen and we have been the recipients of the generosity of our American and British friends. We cherish the support of everyone throughout the world who stands with us in solidarity. Daily, I hear from many of them who express outrage at the arrogant and aggressive positions of President Bush, Secretary Rice, Senator Clinton, and Prime Minister Blair. I am saddened to realise just how much the deserved prestige of the United States and Britain has declined as a result of politicians who seem to devalue human life and suffering. And, I am disturbed that the Zionist Christian community is damaging America’s image as never before.

Little more than a week ago, we were focused on the plight of the Palestinian people. In Gaza, four and five generations have been victims of Israeli racism, hate crimes, terror, violence, and murder. Garbage and sewage have created a likely outbreak of cholera as Israeli strategies create the collapse of infrastructures. There is no milk. Drinking water, food, and medicine are in serious short supply. Innocents are being killed and dying from lack of available emergency care. Children are paying the ultimate price. Even for those whose lives are spared, many of them are traumatised and will not grow to live useful lives. Commerce between the West Bank and Gaza has been halted and humanitarian aid barely trickles into some of the neediest in the world.

Movement of residents of the West Bank is difficult or impossible as “security measures” are heightened to break the backs of the Palestinian people and cut them off from their place of work, schools, hospitals, and families. It is family and community that has sustained these people during these hopeless times. For some, it is all that they had, but that too has been taken away with the continued building of the wall and check points. The strategy of ethnic cleansing on the part of the State of Israel continues.

This week, war broke out on the Lebanon-Israeli border (near Banyas where Jesus gave St. Peter the keys to heaven and earth). The Israeli government’s disproportionate reaction to provocation was consistent with their opportunistic responses in which they destroy their perceived enemy.

In her recent article, “The Insane Brutality of the State of Israel,” American, Kathleen Christison, a former CIA analyst says, “The state lashes out in a crazed effort, lacking any sense of proportion, to reassure itself of its strength.” She continues, “A society that can brush off as unimportant an army officer’s brutal murder of a thirteen year old girl on the claim that she threatened soldiers at a military post (one of nearly seven hundred Palestinian children murdered by Israelis since the Intifada began) is not a society with a conscience.” The “situation” as it has come to be called, has deteriorated into a war without boundaries or limitations. It is a war with deadly potential beyond the imaginations of most civilized people.

As I write to you, I am preparing to leave with other bishops for Nablus with medical and other emergency supplies for five hundred families, and a pledge for one thousand families more.

On Saturday we will attempt to enter Gaza with medical aid for doctors and nurses in our hospital there who struggle to serve the injured, the sick, and the dying.

My plan is that I will be able to go to Lebanon next week - where we are presently without a resident priest - to bury the dead, and comfort the victims of war. Perhaps as others have you will ask, “What can I do?” Certainly we encourage and appreciate your prayers. That is important, but it is not enough. If you find that you can no longer look away, take up your cross. It takes courage as we were promised.

Write every elected official you know. Write to your news media. Speak to your congregation, friends, and colleagues about injustice and the threat of global war. If Syria, Iran, the United States, Great Britain, China and others enter into this war - the consequence is incalculable. Participate in rallies and forums. Find ways that you and your churches can participate in humanitarian relief efforts for the region. Contact us and let us know if you stand with us. I urge you not to be like a disciple watching from afar.

2 Corinthians 6.11
“ We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians, our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return - I speak as to children - open wide your hearts also.”

In, with, and through Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Riah H. Abu El-Assal
Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem

Dancing on Lies

The latest Flash animation from Peter Nicholson and the Rubbery Figures crew.

July 22, 1946: The Zionist militant group Irgun bombs the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the British Mandate Secretariat in Palestine. A total of 91 people were killed. The Irgun were led by Menachem Begin, who was subsequently Prime Minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983.

Wikipedia describes the events in more detail. The Times’ reportage of the outrage in 1946 can be read in a PDF of page five of the July 23, 1946 edition. Sixtieth anniversary commemorations are taking place this week in Jerusalem, and have been condemned by the British Ambassador to Israel and its Consul-General in Jerusalem.

Uncle George Galloway has had a spray on the topic in today’s Guardian.

“I made it clear to the Congress that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line. I felt like crossing this line would be a mistake, and once crossed, we would find it almost impossible to turn back.”

- George W Bush, 19.7.06, speaking out against the innocent killing of human life. Not the people of Lebanon, but embryonic stem cells.

“How you get a ceasefire between one entity, which is a government of a democratically elected state on the one hand, and another entity on the other which is a terrorist gang, no one has yet explained.”

- John Bolton, US Ambassador to the UN, 20.7.06, as clueless about the diplomacy business as ever. And what about when the “terrorist gang” is also part of the government of a democratically elected state?

“That might make people feel good for a few hours”

- Tony Blair, dampening calls for him to support a unilateral ceasefire by Israel, 21.7.06. I would have thought the end of hostilities would have the Lebanese people feeling good for more than just a few hours…

“get Hezbollah to stop doing this Shi’ite…”

- what George W Bush really said to Tony Blair, St Petersburg, 17.7.06

As I’ve said many times before there’s nothing magical about the “blog”, and certainly nothing exalted about the “blogger”, but yesterday (July 21) was the second birthday of now.rickeyre.com in a blog format.

It started briefly on the Mambo CMS (now Joomla) before I turned to Wordpress. (Messages dated before July 2004 on this blog have been re-posted retrospectively, having been written elsewhere.)

Some familiar themes were present in those first two posts of July 2004. First up, was the start of a favourite series of mine… John Howard’s total apathy towards one of the major humanitarian crises of our time, in Darfur. As subsequent items have shown, nothing has changed.

Second item for July 2004 was my first post on the impending, and at that stage undated, Federal Election. I announced my endorsement for the re-election of the ALP’s Anthony Albanese as my local member, including a classic quote from Hansard in support. I still admire Albanese, but not so the Labor Party as a whole, especially at State and Local Government level, as later entries have shown.

August 2004, and the Athens Olympics set my blog alight, but alas I don’t have the time to produce that sort of intensity any more.

While my personal life has changed in the past two years, my worldview has been reinforced. There’s plenty to maintain faith about, and I’ll be here writing about it. (Hopefully in better constructed sentences than that one.)

A protracted colonial war:

Tariq Ali’s excellent op-ed in today’s Guardian on the Israel v The Rest conflict.

“Yo Blair!”
- George W Bush, G8 summit, St Petersburg, 17.7.06

(Source: Adam Boulton, Sky News UK)

Human Rights Watch has today released a Q&A paper which attempts to outline the rules of international law that apply in the current conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah. They make no attempt to assess the legitimacy of either side’s move to resort to war. The stated purpose of the document is to “provide analytic guidance for those who are examining the fighting as well as for the parties to the conflict and those with the capacity to influence them.”

It is well worth reading to gain an understanding of what is and is not considered legitimate conduct in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law.

It is worth noting that HRW considers Hezbollah, and not Lebanon itself, as the combatant party against Israel.

On my reading of things, there appears to be a prima facie case that the Hezbollah are guilty of war crimes for (a) capturing opposing soldiers for use as hostages, and (b) for the firing of Katyusha missiles indiscriminately at civilian areas. (The specific issues with Katyushas is addressed in the HRW’s article.)
Israel’s culpability for war crimes is not so clear cut - according to HRW, civilian areas can be considered legitimate targets if they serve a “dual-purpose” as military installations, however all reasonable effort must be taken to avoid harm to civilians. Israel might be on shakier ground with the bombing of key infrastructure and blockading of roads and ports, especially if these are done to cause hardship to civilians in order them to pressure their government into taking action.

HRW has earlier expressed its concern over Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip, while also asserting that the Palestinian capture of Gilad Shalit as a hostage is a war crime.