Articles by: Franklin Lamb

2018 Portends Intensification Of Syria’s Civil War

2018 Portends Intensification Of Syria’s Civil War

Hama, Syria: Rather than the conventional wisdom of a “wrapping up,” of Syria’s seven years of civil war, this observer calculates that the conflict is on a trajectory to expand during 2018. Granted, over the past six monthsthere have been perhaps more than a dozen inflated declarations of “Victory.”  including 2 or 3 of the “Devine Victory” variety from three[Read More…]

by 23/01/2018 1 comment World
What’s Behind the ‘Disappearance’ Of 420,000 Palestinians in Lebanon?

What’s Behind the ‘Disappearance’ Of 420,000 Palestinians in Lebanon?

  Rashidieh Palestinian camp, on the border of Occupied Palestine: The first ever official census of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon was finally released on 12/21/2017 in Beirut. The village by village and camp by camp survey by 500 specialists found that only 174,422 Palestinian refugees are living these days in the country. Counted were al Palestinians living in the 12 official[Read More…]

by 06/01/2018 1 comment Palestine
Palestinian burn a poster of the U.S. President Donald Trump during a protest in Bethlehem, West Bank, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2017. President Trump forged ahead Tuesday with plans to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital despite intense Arab, Muslim and European opposition to a move that would upend decades of U.S. policy and risk potentially violent protests. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Playing The Jerusalem Card In Lebanon With Deft Hypocrisy

  Oxford: Not 20 minutes had passed following President Trump’s outrageous “Capital offense” declaration recognizing all of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel when shouts were heard in parts of Lebanon of an arriving apocalypse.Some self-flagellations were observed in certain Shia quarters, predications of end of times spread as well as many calls for a Third Intifada to “liberate Jerusalem.”[Read More…]

by 22/12/2017 Comments are Disabled Palestine
Occupiers Of Syria Crib Bush’s 2003 “Mission Accomplished” Boast

Occupiers Of Syria Crib Bush’s 2003 “Mission Accomplished” Boast

 Idlib, Syria: George W. Bush’s  “Mission Accomplished!” boast takes its name from a banner that was displayed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during his May 1, 2003 televised address. It referred to his claimed victory in Iraq fourteen years ago. In a less publicized incident, US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld also declared an end to combat operations referring to “Mission Accomplished” in Afghanistan on May 1, 2003,[Read More…]

by 06/12/2017 Comments are Disabled World
Lebanon Facing Long ‘Independence’ Odds Given Iran’s Regional Triumphalism

Lebanon Facing Long ‘Independence’ Odds Given Iran’s Regional Triumphalism

    Tehran: In many respects the people of Lebanon are gifted if not blessed. Most of whom this observer has been honored to meet are strikingly intelligent, creative, often charming, sometimes cunning and devious, hardworking, ingenious, adaptive, and good natured—much like most people in this region including dear friends in Syria. And all want a real country, and many[Read More…]

by 03/12/2017 Comments are Disabled World
Western Intelligence:  Saad Hariri Resigned To Avoid His Father’s Fate And Salvage Lebanon

Western Intelligence:  Saad Hariri Resigned To Avoid His Father’s Fate And Salvage Lebanon

  Last week’s resignation of Lebanon’s popular Prime Minister Saad Hariri has fueled a plethora of politically inspired conspiracy theories.  At the forefront are some of Iran’s several Lebanese proxies who immediately in knee-jerk fashion, accused Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri hostage while they demanded the PM’s return to Lebanon. For what purpose is still not clear. Many in Lebanon[Read More…]

by 17/11/2017 3 comments World
Is Israel Winning “The War Between The wars” With Iran/Hezbollah?

Is Israel Winning “The War Between The wars” With Iran/Hezbollah?

Israeli commanders, stationed along Syria’s southern border and the Golan Heights and Quneitra Valley, with some of their forces now operating daily more than 14 km inside Syrian territory, reportedly are expressing plenty of confidence these days. One reason is because they believe that Iranian-Hezbollah forces are losing the high stakes struggle to win the hearts and minds of Syria’s[Read More…]

by 03/11/2017 1 comment World
Granting Palestinians The Right To Work Can Salvage Lebanon’s Economy

Granting Palestinians The Right To Work Can Salvage Lebanon’s Economy

With every Palestinian birth in Lebanon the resolve for Full Return deepens. (Image by Wikipedia)   Permission   Details   DMCA  [Part 1: Is Lebanon’s economy heading for free-fall?] Part 2: Granting Palestinians the right to work can salvage Lebanon’s economy: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the offspring of nearly 800,000 ethnically cleansed from their homes in Palestine during the 1948-50 Nakba, are today[Read More…]

by 27/10/2017 Comments are Disabled Palestine
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (R) and Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh hold hands in Gaza City October 2, 2017. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo

Hamas Can Achieve The Right To Work For Palestinians In Lebanon By Reconciling With Fatah And Iran

  Damascus: Despite the 12/12/2017 announcement by rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah that a deal has been agreed to during this month’s Cairo Reconciliation talks and that details would be announced later, it is doubtful that substantive progress will result. Or that this time the results will differ much from the preceding half-dozen still-born ones over the past decade. When[Read More…]

by 14/10/2017 1 comment Palestine
IDF Brass: Israel Faces “Catastrophic Defeat” if Next Hezbollah War Exceeds Ten Days

IDF Brass: Israel Faces “Catastrophic Defeat” if Next Hezbollah War Exceeds Ten Days

This week’s words from the Levant offer contending messages for Israel’s and Hezbollah’s friends and foes alike: “We are naturally unhappy about the fact that Lebanon will be largely destroyed. Ask Iran why this may well happen? But be assured that it won’t drag on for anything close to 34 days like last time. (July 2006). We urge all civilians[Read More…]

by 07/10/2017 1 comment World
Hezbollah Has Launched The Initial Phase Of The Next Israel-Hezbollah War

Hezbollah Has Launched The Initial Phase Of The Next Israel-Hezbollah War

  Mt. Bental, Golan Heights, Israel (Image by tcees)   Permission   Details   DMCA Oxford: For Israel, the initial phase of its next long predicted war with Hezbollah is focused on neutralizing Iranian arms shipments to Hezbollah while destroying factories allegedly under construction to build long-range missiles. Some Israeli recently bombed sites are also claimed to have been housing chemical weapons. Earlier[Read More…]

by 28/09/2017 2 comments World
Thirty-Five Years After The Sabra-Shatila Massacre Where’s “The Resistance”?

Thirty-Five Years After The Sabra-Shatila Massacre Where’s “The Resistance”?

Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp, Beirut: This week commemorates the 35th anniversary of the Wednesday, Sept. 15 to Saturday, Sept. 18, Sabra-Shatila Massacre in the Fakhani neighborhood of Beirut. For many of the families and loved ones of the victims, as is certainly the case with this observer, it seems as though the Sabra-Shatila Massacre was committed at most four or five[Read More…]

by 16/09/2017 2 comments Palestine
Russia, US, Iran And Israel War For Syria

Russia, US, Iran And Israel War For Syria

Editor’s Note: The University of Oxford Interviews Professor Franklin Lamb about the Future of Syria. Interview conducted by graduate students from Oxford Universities Middle East Center, St Anthony’s College, UK. August, 2017. Franklin Lamb is Oxford University Research Fellow, Oxford, UK Franklin Lamb is a Doctor of Philosophy in international law and is currently a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford,[Read More…]

by 03/09/2017 2 comments Imperialism
Life And Death Struggle For The Children Of Syria

Life And Death Struggle For The Children Of Syria

The Story of One Child’s Struggle to Survive: On 2/17/2017 ten year old Ghina Wadi, who has spent the past seven months often in unbearable pain, which for the first month was periodically relieved for only approximately 15 minutes at a time- by heavy injections of morphine, had another of what hopefully this time will be a leg saving operation.[Read More…]

by 21/02/2017 1 comment World
Obama’s Stellar Effort To Preserve Our Cultural Heritage in Syria

Obama’s Stellar Effort To Preserve Our Cultural Heritage in Syria

The National Museum, Damascus: President Obama’s Syria legacy is already being widely debated. In 2009 the former Southside Chicago community organizer and Law Professor entered the White House promising a new direction and vision in the Middle East from that of his predecessor and pledging “a new way forward.” “A New Beginning” is the name of the speech he delivered on[Read More…]

by 13/01/2017 3 comments World
Nagham and Lucy with their new puppy, “Lucy” on December 6, 2016.Ghina’s leg is much better and she is also receiving physical therapy in Damascus.Photo: Franklin Lamb

Will Proxy Politics Bring Death For Madaya Siblings Manal And Mohammed-Kamal?

Outside of Madaya, Syria: It was this past July that ten year old Ghina and six year old Nagham, old sisters of four year old Manal and three year old Mohammad-Kamal, left their apartment near the main street in Madaya, Syria to collect some medicine from the nearby town’s clinic for their mother Sahar. As they left the clinic and[Read More…]

by 22/12/2016 1 comment World
IS Re-Occupies Palmyra

IS Re-Occupies Palmyra

  The National Museum, Damascus: It’s a god-awful situation today in Palmyra.  How much of our priceless cultural heritage will be destroyed during the expanding re-occupation by Islamic State (IS)? This observer has received more than two dozen emails in the past 72 hours asking for details of what is happening in Palmyra.  Many scholars and citizens interested in Palmyra[Read More…]

by 17/12/2016 1 comment World
US-Led Sanctions Targeting Syria Risk Adjudication As War Crimes

US-Led Sanctions Targeting Syria Risk Adjudication As War Crimes

Beirut: As many of us would agree, the continuing conflict in Syria has created a devastating humanitarian crisis: the magnitude of humanitarian needs is overwhelming in all parts of the country and affects the region and beyond. The Syrian conflict has become the world’s largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, the estimated number of people in need of the[Read More…]

by 22/10/2016 1 comment World
Political Defamation Campaign Targets Rescue Workers In Syria

Political Defamation Campaign Targets Rescue Workers In Syria

“Attacking hospitals and medical workers is a non-negotiable red line. As such, it must be set out – in clear and simple terms – in all military manuals, rules of engagement and standard operating procedures. Too often, unverified intelligence, or opaque claims that a hospital is a quote “command and control center,” is justification enough for an attack. To stop[Read More…]

by 15/10/2016 2 comments World
The Day After the Fall Of Aleppo Will International Humanitarian Law Still Be Relevant?

The Day After the Fall Of Aleppo Will International Humanitarian Law Still Be Relevant?

  Aleppo University Faculty of Law, Aleppo, Syria: Contrary to most recent media reports, and frankly to this observer’s surprise, forces defending both rebel controlled East Aleppo as well as government controlled West Aleppo during the unrelenting slaughter of this savage war, do sometimes appear restrained in their attacks. This observer does occasionally sense some concern among belligerents for civilian[Read More…]

by 07/10/2016 2 comments World
Palestinian families marching and remembering their loved ones murdered 34 years ago at Shatila camp, Beirut.  Photo: Franklin Lamb

34 Years After The Sabra-Shatila Massacre

  Shatila Palestinian Refugee camp, Beirut: The intense summer heat was gone and the evening was breezy and cool that fateful Thursday evening, September 15, 1982, according to survivors of the Sabra-Shatila Massacre who, 34 years later, still remember and recount many details of the slaughter that was soon to follow. It was following the 9/14/1982 assassination of President-elect BachirGemayel, leader[Read More…]

by 24/09/2016 1 comment Palestine
Can The Growing Number Of Government-Rebel Reconciliation Agreements End The Bloodshed In Syria?

Can The Growing Number Of Government-Rebel Reconciliation Agreements End The Bloodshed In Syria?

Al-Moaddamiyeh, Damascus Countryside: September 8, 2016 was a long hot tense day at the border-crossing at al-Moaddamiyeh, at town roughly ten kilometers southwest of Damascus. Approximately 135 Syrian soldiers and 35 volunteers from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society (SARCS) evacuated more than 300,  mainly civilians, who have spent the past more than four years trapped, two years in Daraya and[Read More…]

by 12/09/2016 1 comment World
Photo: Franklin Lamb. Yabroud citizens repairing their Cathedral in March of 2014. (Photo: Franklin Lamb 8/11/2016).

As Our Cultural Heritage In Syria Hemorrhages, Villagers Work To Restore It

Qalamoun Mountains, Syria: Reports continue nearly daily of yet more damage to our archeological treasures Syria. A few examples include the recent ISIS destruction at Tal Ajaja, one of Syria’s most important 2nd century AD Assyrianperiod. “More than 40 percent of Tal Ajaja was destroyed or has been ravaged by IS recently”has revealed Khaled Ahmo, the Director of Antiquities in Hasakeh.[Read More…]

by 15/08/2016 1 comment World
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015 file photo, relatives and comrades pray as they surround the Hezbollah flag-draped coffins of Shiite fighters who were killed in Syria, during a rally to mark the 13th day of the Shiite mourning period of Muharram, in Nabatiyeh, Lebanon. At tightly guarded facilities in south Lebanon, men as young as 17 undergo intensive training on how to use automatic rifles and heavy machine guns before being shipped off to Syria to fight alongside President Bashar Assad's forces. The training is part of a massive Hezbollah recruitment effort to make up for its human losses in Syria's war, now approaching the death toll incurred by the group during 18 years of fighting Israeli occupation.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)

Team Clinton Focuses On The Demise Of Hezbollah

  Tel Hara, on the Golan Plain, Syria: The likely next American President, Hilary Clinton is fielding an array of foreign policy advisers, a few being sort of table scraps from the Bush administration and others having resigned from Obama’s. They are today preparing white papers on all manner of “adjustments” to what the presumed 45th American President reportedly believes was a[Read More…]

by 07/08/2016 1 comment Imperialism
Many Syrian youngsters vow never to abandon their country as they work to ease the suffering of others. (photo: Khaled Younis 7/23/2016)

“Don’t Cry For Us Syria … The Truth Is We Shall Never Leave You!”

Jablah, North Syria: “Don’t cry for us Syria” has recently become a motto/logo of sorts for many physically and psychologically brutalized youth around this ancient land. They are the youngsters who represent a new generation of Syrians, many of whom were born in this century. It is into their patriotic hands that the Syria’s Torch has been passed. Amid all[Read More…]

by 30/07/2016 Comments are Disabled World
A Roadmap For Lebanon To Grant Civil Rights For Palestinian Refugees In Lebanon

A Roadmap For Lebanon To Grant Civil Rights For Palestinian Refugees In Lebanon

The United Nations Human Rights Council, along with the global community and many in Lebanon, has become increasingly concerned about the massive violations of Palestinian civil rights. As noted in Part I of this discussion, Palestinians in Lebanon suffer from more than two dozen targeted violations including ambiguous legal status, absence of protection; the outlawing of their right to work[Read More…]

by 23/07/2016 1 comment Palestine
Lebanon Escalates Its Denial Of Civil Rights For Palestinian Refugees

Lebanon Escalates Its Denial Of Civil Rights For Palestinian Refugees

Yarmouk Palestinian camp, Damascus:  In Lebanon today, Palestinians are beingthreatened by the governmentthat ISIS (Daesh) and Al Nursa are plotting to take over Ain el-Helweh and the other 11 camps in Lebanon. Palestinian factions and the residents of the Ain el ­HilwehPalestinianrefugee camp in Saida Lebanon know verywellthat militant jihadist groups including ISIS (Daesh) and Al-Nusra  are nowdeeplyimplanted in theirmidst[Read More…]

by 16/07/2016 Comments are Disabled Palestine
Accusation Claims Syrian And Russian Troops Are Looting Palmyra! Indictment Not Proved

Accusation Claims Syrian And Russian Troops Are Looting Palmyra! Indictment Not Proved

Palmyra: “Syrian Troops Looting Ancient City Of Palmyra, Says Archaeologist.”  So shouted the highly respected UK Guardian’s headline of June 1, 2016 on the eve of the opening day of this month’s two-day Berlin Convergence attended by more than 170 scientists, archaeologists, architects and planners.  The gathering of experts was convened to discuss how best to preserve Syria’s, and our heritage,[Read More…]

by 29/06/2016 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
How 100 Syrians, 200 Russians And 11 Dogs Out-Witted ISIS And Saved Palmyra

How 100 Syrians, 200 Russians And 11 Dogs Out-Witted ISIS And Saved Palmyra

According to the Syrian General who commanded the whole neutralization of the ISIS “Erase” project, and who generously gave these observer hours of his and his staff’s time, all of Palmyra and the close-in surrounding area are now cleansed of bobby-traps and are safe. The General proclaimed just this week that Palmyra and our cultural heritage sites here are ready and waiting to again receive foreign friends.

by 25/06/2016 1 comment World
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