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The Dual Violence Against Lebanon: A Quiet Invasion and a Loud Aggression
This article originally appeared in AlRawiya on April 14, 2024 https://al-rawiya.com/the-dual-violence-against-lebanon-a-quiet-invasion-and-a-loud-aggression/ The Ailanthus tree, an invasive species, spreads quietly and persistently—colonizing the land, choking out native ecosystems, and disrupting biodiversity. “This is one of the most poisonous and harmful plants,” says Hadi Awada to his friend Raed Zeno in the opening scene of Zeno’s short film…
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Memory for resistance: Beirut’s battle against violence and forgetfulness
This article originally appeared in UntoldMag on November 27th, 2024 https://untoldmag.org/memory-for-resistance-beiruts-battle-against-violence-and-forgetfulness/ “Nothing is left for us except the weapon of madness. To be or not to be. To be or to be. Not to be or not to be. Nothing is left except madness. Besiege your siege with madness.” I recently read this passage from Mahmoud…
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Rethinking development indicators in the context of Palestine
“I lost the center again. I lost everything again, and I am not sure how many times I can start over. I feel very helpless,” told Alaa Abu Mudallah, a resident of Gaza after she lost her training center, Khotwa, twice. It was first hit in the May 2021 Gaza escalation and again following the…
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Justice Denied: The Perpetual Punishment of Palestinians
“Dark is Gaza’s night except for the glow of missiles, silent except for the sound of bombing, frightening except for the comfort of prayers, black except for the light of the martyrs. Good night, #Gaza,” tweeted the poet Hiba Abu Nada, in Arabic, on October 8th, 12 days before Israel killed her in an airstrike.…
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The Forced Disappearance of Street Vendors in Beirut
On a sunny November day last year, a street vendor ran panickily down Beirut’s Corniche, pushing his cart, laden with corn and cotton candy, and crying out in agony. He was being chased by three police officers, who eventually caught and cuffed him. A little more than a year earlier, in June of 2021, a…
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Transport Towards a More Just Lebanon
“There are probably less taxi drivers on the streets, and if the ride fare further increases because of fuel price hikes, I will stop working because I won’t get customers anymore,” said Jamal, who drove a shared taxi car also known as “service,” part of a largely self-organized and unregulated system securing affordable transportation to…
