Brooklyn, NY - The scene is almost indescribable. Facades of homes are torn off. Houses have been wrested from their very foundations. Brick walls and slabs of concrete are violently tossed and strewn about. A microwave oven can be seen lying on its side in what is left of a front yard. A cheerful floral mural painted on an inside wall and a closet still containing clothes and shoes can be seen through what was once an entryway. These are all remnants of the lives of many residents of Sea Gate, Brooklyn.
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צילום: לע”מ, איתי בית און סאונד: איתמר בוטון
Millions of pilgrims arrive this week in Mecca for Islam’s annual haj pilgrimage with Saudi authorities warning they will stop any disruptive protests over the conflict in Syria. The Grand Mosque, the focal point of the Islamic faith, is already teeming with joyful pilgrims wearing the simple white folds of cloth prescribed for haj, many of them having slept on the white marble paving outside.
The Israeli air force struck a rocket launching squad in the northern Gaza Strip, reportedly killing two militants. The airstrike came in response to rocket fire on southern Israel from Gaza and a mortar attack on an Israel Defence Forces patrol. At a meeting in Jerusalem with Middle East quartet envoy Tony Blair, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to stop Hamas rocket attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We have rockets. We’ve got Hamas, supported by Iran, firing rockets at us, they’ve fired again. We’re not going to let anyone arm themselves and fire rockets on us and think that they can do this with impunity. They’re not going to get away with it. We attack them before, we attack them after and we’re going to prevent them from arming themselves. This is our policy. This is a very different policy that I put in. You don’t let them get away with it. And they know it. That’s what we’re doing.” Gaza’s Hamas rulers reported that one of the men killed was a member of the group’s military wing and promised to retaliate. Over 500 missiles from Gaza have struck Israel this year. The Israeli government holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire from the area.
Fighting has been raging on the streets of Tripoli, as pro-Assad Alawites have clashed with anti-Assad Sunnis. Reports put at least one dead and 10 wounded, as violence continues to spread from the Syrian conflict. These latest incidents come in the aftermath of last week’s massive car bomb in Beirut, which killed seven and injured around eighty. The attack was said to be an assassination on General Wissam al-Hassan, an intelligence official said to have pro-opposition affiliations to Syria. Gunfire in Tripoli could be heard from across as gunmen from rival neighbourhoods fired rocket-propelled grenades at each other. As reports of similar fighting are reported in Beirut and other Lebanese towns, ruptures from Syria are putting Lebanon’s fragile political balance at risk. Soldiers in Tripoli and Beirut are now patrolling the streets to try to restore order to the beleaguered city, as the government acts to stop further spread.
Hundreds of protesters, reportedly as many as 500, have stormed into the grounds of the Libyan parliament to demand an end to the fighting taking place in a former Colonel Gaddafi-stronghold. The unarmed group are said to largely originate from Bani Walid, where the escalating violence has been taking place, which has claimed the lives of at least 22 people with a further 200 wounded. Hundreds have also fled from the town in recent days. The campaigners are calling for an end to the ongoing fighting, which is said to be between government-backed militias and Colonel Gaddafi-loyalists. Part of Libya’s legacy in the post-Gaddafi era are the militia groups which still control large parts of the country. After the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi in September, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans including US ambassador Chris Stevens, thousands took to the streets demanding the militias be dismantled. In response the government is now incorporating militia groups into the army in a bid to create peace. But although militia groups are handing in their weapons, many remain concerned that the freedom of life without Gaddafi, who ruled Libya from 1969 until the civil war in which he was captured and killed just over a year ago, has led to Libya becoming decentralized and unstable, with residents in different cities still bearing grievances against others for things that happened under the dictator’s four decade-long rule.
צילום: רועי אברהם, סאונד: איתמר בוטון, לע”מ
צילום: רועי אברהם, סאונד: איתמר בוטון, לע”מ
צילום: רועי אברהם, סאונד: איתמר בוטון, לע”מ