Monday, June 4, 2007

Die-in at Lebanese army checkpoint at Nahr al-Bared entrance


Names of the known Nahr al-Bared Refugee Camp residents who have been killed during the Lebanese army's assault.

Dr. Marcy Newman, Live from Lebanon, 4 June 2007

"We drove up to Baddawi refugee camp Sunday morning at the request of the women of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp who are now among the thousands of internally displaced Palestinians (IDPs) in Lebanon. They asked Lebanese and internationals to join them in a die-in at the southern checkpoint of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. We painted our t-shirts with red paint and we made signs in English and in Arabic; each sign had one of the seventeen known names of Palestinians who have died as a result of the Lebanese army's siege of the Nahr al-Bared camp......

The Lebanese army harassed the protesters.

And it is not just isolated in the refugee camps. Palestinians -- especially men -- are being rounded up by Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF), handcuffed, beaten up, and arrested. We had a close call at a checkpoint with a key medmber of our relief organization a week ago when we made our second aid run to Baddawi camp and the army removed him from the car and took him to their holding area where other Palestinian men were handcuffed and detained. Tonight it happened again to the same man who was on his way to our relief campaign meeting. When he left his taxi, the ISF asked for his papers, saw he was Palestinian, slapped him, handcuffed him, and threw him to the ground while continuing to kick and beat him before telling him to leave.

The repression, violence, and harassment of Palestinians in Lebanon is increasing in every crevasse of Lebanese society. While the state uses its power to intimidate and terrorize Palestinians, many Lebanese remain quiet, acquiescent to the military and media's reporting on the situation while further dividing the country. And in the end (and yet again) the victims are those who bear the brunt of this blame and its physical manifestation.

All photographs copyright Dr. Marcy Newman."

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