Word: bekaa
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...just how fragile the peace can be became clear last weekend when a gunfight erupted in Lebanon's central Bekaa Valley only days after Resolution 1701 was adopted. Israel said that a commando operation was aimed at preventing a fresh shipment of arms from reaching Hizballah guerrillas. Hizballah officials believe that the commandos sought to abduct or kill Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek, a prominent Shi'ite cleric and Hizballah official with close ties to Iran...
...just 200 soldiers to help the Lebanese Army take control of the south provoked dismay in Beirut. "We thought they were going to send thousands," says a Lebanese military expert. "This means they don't think it's safe." With Israeli commandos raiding a Hizballah stronghold in the Bekaa Valley on Saturday and Israeli drones still flying over Beirut and Hizballah ready to reload, it's hard to disagree...
Nesher was a 23-year-old rookie in the Israeli secret service when he was captured May 1,1984 by Syrian forces, who occupied parts of Lebanon at the time. Israeli and Syrian forces were facing off over the Bekaa region - the area near Syria that Israel attacked earlier this week, including bombings on the town of Baalbek. There were fears that Nesher's capture would touch off a large-scale confrontation. He was brought to Damascus where he says he underwent two months of interrogation and torture. He was eventually released as a part of an exchange for more...
...left with the difficult task of reconciling how much has changed in such a short time. On the day of the kidnappings and the initial Israeli response, I met with an American professor friend to discuss a non-partisan American voter-registration drive we were organizing in the Bekaa Valley. I had volunteered at a similar event in May, at which we processed over 100 voter registration and absentee ballot requests from expatriates and Lebanese-Americans...
...left that drive hopeful that it could serve as a model for Lebanon, where parties are often feudal arrangements of patrons and clients, based on ethnic or religious affiliations. The first drive had been held in Achrafiyeh, Beirut's most upscale Christian neighborhood. Holding the second in the Bekaa would allow us to reach more Sunni, Shia, and Druze Lebanese-Americans - a chance to demonstrate one of the American ideals I love most: that our diversity is our strength, and that we value all citizens, regardless of race or religion. Those ideals, of course, often aren't honored; the most...