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Lebanon Bloggers

(List updated again 8/12.) Israel has cut off air and sea transportation to Lebanon. War is beginning again. But the Internet is still up and Lebanese bloggers are online. Here are some links to blogs about personal experiences in Lebanon - please let me know if you find others....

Bloggers Living in Lebanon

A list of bloggers living in Lebanon who haven't left yet. A diverse group.

Raja and Doja on The Lebanese Bloggers have been posting updates from Lebanon. (Raja is in Lebananon, Doja is overseas.)

Bashir at UrShalim is posting pictures and experiences from Beirut.

Mustapha from BeiruitSpring.com is in Lebanon and comments on the blockade. He also posted a few words on the Guardian blog.

Razmi on Razmi's Blah Blah posts from Beirut some poetry about nuclear war.

Emily on Anecdotes from a Banana Republic writes about losing her cellphone (and getting it back), the shrinking newspaper, and witnessing gasoline theft in wartime Beirut.

Finkployd at BloggingBeirut posts his own pictures of life in Beirut under bombing.

CedarSeed on Manamania has an active LiveJournal blog; she is finding it hard to do her art because she is getting headaches from the bombing in Beirut.

Bechir Saade on Remarkz finds humor in his battle with a mosquito as the doors and windows are shaking from bombing in Beirut.

Ibrahim (Bob) on LebanonHeartBlogs is in Beirut and describes his thoughts. He also posts a picture of the leaflet that Israel has been dropping on Beirut, above. He is interviewed on the G'day World podcast here.

Rami from the Lebanese Political Journal writes that Life is normal in Beirut, but a bit quiter than usual, with the power and internet and cellular still on.

Jamal on his Propaganda Site expresses frustration with Hizbullah and posts a picture of the Israeli warning leaflet, explaining "It Basically reads: Duck Motherfuckers!!! Signed: State of Israel."

A student in Rabieh, Lebanon writes about listening to the sound of jets, frustration with the Israelis, and the sound of children playing.

Jonah on Beirut Impromptu has replaced his old Beirut Afterhours blog with a new blog where he describes the pileup of garbage on the streets of wartime Beirut.

Zena on Beirut Update is an artist who is posting about her emotions, her friends, and her daily life in Beirut under war.

Glass Garden is keeping a war diary on LiveJournal and recounts the experience of unsuccessfully trying to sleep through bombings, watching Nasrallah on TV, and dreaming about rain.

Tanya on Beirut Lives posts pictures of "what war looks like" from her house, and she posts a letter about the war to her friends in Ireland.

Tom at Reading While Falling is an American who evacuated Beirut after the bombings began but who returned to work with the relief efforts. His blog is excellent and includes his personal experiences, photos, and thoughtful commentary, posted whenever electricity is available. He discusses his return to Beirut here.

Caroline and Curtis are separated, with Caroline stuck in Lebanon. On their blog, Caroline's sister Natalie writes "I just miscalled my 2 friends right now ,4 :20 a.m, since they live in beirut….thankfully their phone’s are ringing…which means they’re still alive…"

Ana Min Beirut is an environmental worker in Beirut who blogs about the bizzare twists of life under war, describing the experience of going to the grocery store for the first time two weeks after bombing began.

Cairne at Chercheuse d'or is kept awake by the smoke from bombing in Beirut; and worries about a friend, a Lebanese reservist, who is expecting to be called up with the 15,000 Lebanese troops that are being planned for the south.

Rena on From Beirut with Love describes the experience of attending the anti-UN demonstrations after the Qana bombings.

Rasha on Notes from the Seige of Beirut has another description of the day of demonstrations after Qana.

On Beirut Journal an anonymous Cairo blogger is posting daily letters she is receiving from a journalist friend in Beirut.

The Dancy Fairy at Distorted Reality writes from a cafe in Clemenceau, "my mind is tired, my nerves are tired, my body is tired... it's getting scary now. it's not safe anywhere anymore."

Pazuzu on Einmal is Keinmal blogs from Mount Lebanon, where says "we hardly notice that there is any war going on, even the market didn't close," and contrasts that experience to his friends in other parts of Lebanon.

Zeina at the NCA blog is posting about her experiences in relief efforts at Saida.

Joumana on Hopeful Beirut writes "Yesterday I painted my fingernails pink. It is an act of protest. I refuse to be sucked in to this war. I refuse to let it get the best of me."

Mazen Kerbaj on Kerblog posts almost daily art from Beirut - an artistic and personal commentary on the war.

Bob at 1 Too Many Peaches blogs from Beirut on his frustration at the violence.

Gazi posts on Amir Irani-Tehrani's blog from Beirut. Last month Amir posted an amazing photo journal of a June 19 tour of Hizbollah south Beirut and southern Lebanon. Fascinating to see photos and stories from what weeks later is a war zone - the Iranian embassy, Khiam prison, Hizbollah outposts, UN monitors, the border in view of Shabaa Farms, Golan Heights, and Israeli apple farms.

Christian Henders on Siege of Lebanon is posting email from Lebanon he receives on his blog.

Fouad at Welcome to My Lebanese Dream posts his own Munch-like scream from Beirut.

Code Vault from Beirut started a blog about programming a few days ago but found himself in a war instead.

Ahmad at Cold Desert writes about being stuck at home away from work because of a bombed bridge, and about power being cut off for most of the day.

Little Paper Boat posts daily war art on LifeJournal from outside Beirut.

Delerium posts poetry from Lebanon "wishing it's just a bad dream."

Filmmaker Rasha Saiti on Rawi News arrived in Beirut on the 11th and writes about what she sees.

Etienne posts on her War On Lebanon blog from the Beqaa Valley.

Marcello on View From Solidere posts on a new blog from Beirut, pleading to the world to allow his children to discover their innocence.

AnZlives writes that his office in Beirut is closed, and worries that he might lose his job.

Shoubasi on Capisho posts his weekly (dark) humor from Beirut, imagining Lebanon as a movie written by Syria, directed by Hizbullah, and produced by Iran.

Bloggers Visiting Lebanon

By now almost all foreign tourists, students, and businessmen in Lebanon have evacuated. The blogs below are of visitors who were in Lebanon in the early days of the conflict.

Andy from Beirut to Doha arrives in Beirut to write about the Syrian Lebanese relationship and finds himself in the middle of a war.

Ryan at A Texan Abroad, a researcher studying in the libraries and national archives of Lebanon, writes about being an American stuck in Beirut.

John Orak at his Lebanon Blog writes about bombs, bombs, and more bombs, and counting thirteen seconds between when he first sees explosions on TV and when he can hear them in real life.

Sean from The Human Province is stuck in Beirut and is considering trying to get out through Syria.

Chris Bowman writes about his experience escaping from Beirut to Damascus, recounting crowds of Saudis and Kuwaitis at the border getting out.

PollyPolly on blogdrive has been traveling in Lebanon since the 6th and continues to blog.

Byron Horton is an intern stuck in Dbayeh (north of Beirut) who had been on the way from Cairo to Damascus.

Hala on Madly in Love with Iraq recently arrived in Beirut and described the shops in the southern part of the city closing up in a hurry.

Austin Gerassimos Mackell is an Australian in Beirut who describes his conversations with the locals, the Australian evacuation, and his concession that "summer is cancelled."

Ashley from Thawrah's Den documents her experience from the Lebanese American University, and is considering evacuating Beirut.

Eva from Bilder Und Geschichten is trapped in Beirut and comments on the lack of traffic, sounds of helicopters, and explosions.

David Goldi Merhige was stuck in Beirut with Byron and posts his diary, and pictures of his airlift out.

Josh on Summer o' Lebanon has been visiting Beirut and describes being woken up this morning by the sounds of antiaircraft fire.

Hardig in Beirut Under Seige is a Swede in no hurry to leave Beirut who writes "the only places that are really busy these days are the supermarkets."

Lumi at MySpace is starting a blog from Beirut and describes flashes of bombing followed by the sound of explosions 10 seconds later.

Steph at Life Is Good is stuck in Beirut and posts a long note to her friends saying "it's not exciting anymore i want to go home."

ZadigVoltaire at Beirut Notes was recently evacuated from Beirut.

Reporters Blogging in Lebanon

The visitors who have gone have been replaced by war reporters. Some of the news gatherers in Lebanon are keeping blogs about their personal experiences. (And not enough; we really need more first-person blogging.)

Raed Rafi, a contributor to the Daily Star, talks about the experience of getting leaflets dropped on his city, and worrying about a safe place to stay.

Christopher Allbritton on Back to Iraq is back in Beirut, noting craters and shattered glass in Dahiyeh. The week of 7/17 he will be posting on Time magazine.

Several Lebanese journalists are contributing to a blog called "Beirut Live".

CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper and his team are maintaining a blog about their experiences reporting on the conflict.

Stuart Hughes, BBC correspondent and blogger, is posting audio and photos of his personal experience in Beirut.

Lebanese on the Outside

Safia Aoude will be blogging and plans to post cellphone pictures from her family who is stuck in Lebanon and is angry with Israel.

Razmi on Rrizk, a Lebanese studying in Germany vents his frustraction at Hizbullah.

Evengy on Sharp & Sound posts photos and email from friend Ionut Lacusta, a Georgetown student in Beirut.

Lots of other bloggers are calling friends and family in Lebanon to check on their safety: Maya on About Lebanon; Mikey at Shooyamike; Patricia at Windchime Walker; Abu Kais on BeirutBeltway.com, Lulwa at LuluJordan, Donovan at Where I Stand, Joseph Ryan at Mediawingnuts; Sarah at Zuljenah; Commonsense and Wonder; Shoofly at Darn Knit; Moclipper; Stephen Frug at Attempts; Confused Arab Chick; Jan at Happening Here; KGB files; Nisrin at On the Verge; Love has a Price Tag; Poetic Remi; ForeignKid; Caroline Abdallah; WarHistorian; Aka-ka; Nadia at Myspace; ZDistrict; If You Were Green; The Other Lebanon; Roads to Iraq; Neurotic Iraqi Wife; Nathdud; Ria in Cairo; DragonBallYee; More From Elizabeth...

Posted by David at July 13, 2006 10:02 AM