They surrounded us with walls so that we thought the Nakba was forever. Instead, we forgot that the walls existed, so we could see the Palestine we’ve always dreamed of.
As Israeli airstrikes throughout Lebanon continue, the Lebanese state is threatening to disarm Palestinian factions in the refugee camps. Residents fear this is a prelude to an all-out assault on the camps — and the Palestinian cause.
The same reality that compelled Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to take up arms in the 1970s persist to this day. The Palestinians of the camps now view the resistance movement in Gaza with renewed hope for liberation.
The failure of the Lebanese government to protect against Israeli attacks is leading Lebanon down two roads: either Hezbollah will re-enter the war in defense of the Lebanese people, or the government will prevail and content itself to sit back.
Israel announced that it would set up a bureau for the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians out of Gaza. This isn’t the first time Israel has done it, and it won’t work this time either.
The IMF and World Bank are conditioning reconstruction funds on Lebanon’s normalization with Israel and disarming Hezbollah. In the Dahiya suburb of Beirut, the people who’ve lost their homes in the war think this is unacceptable.
Israel’s founding myth of “making the desert bloom” could only work if it eliminated all traces of the society that came before it. That’s why Zionism has always sought to erase the Palestinian people, from the Nakba to the genocide in Gaza.
In the midst of fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel is escalating its military aggressions in the region, begging the question: is Israel experiencing a moment of unprecedented force, or is it afraid of betraying unprecedented weakness?
Michael Arria speaks with expert Sina Toossi about the influence neoconservatives will hold in the new Trump administration and what this could mean for policy toward Iran and the broader Middle East.
Joseph Aoun’s election this week as Lebanon’s new president reflects a new push toward a unified Lebanon. As the ceasefire time frame between Israel and Hezbollah ends there are signs Lebanon will be more capable of resisting Israeli aggression.