The Globe and Mail - Witness: Mideast

It's really over -- at least for now

mmackinnon — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:08 EDT

I drove along the Israeli-Lebanese border earlier this week --[amp]nbsp;something that's been impossible to do since all this began back on July 12. Watching a team of Israeli soldiers knitting together the fence that had been cut to allow their tanks to drive through five weeks ago, I finally started - Follow link to read full post

On a road trip through the devastation

Carolynne Wheeler — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:59 EDT

The road that runs through the Jordan Valley and into[amp]nbsp;Galilee and beyond has become a kind of road map for the effects of more than a month of conflict.[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp; Route 90 is a twisting, winding road of just two lanes for most of its length, which starts at Israel's southern tip near - Follow link to read full post

Dear Diary...

mmackinnon — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 17:00 EDT

Dear Diary, Sorry I’ve been remiss in writing these past few days. As you may have heard, peace – or something we hope is close to it – has broken out in south Lebanon. But that doesn’t mean the lights are back on yet. [amp]nbsp; We’ve only had five hours of electricity - Follow link to read full post

So the cycle continues

Carolynne Wheeler — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 15:14 EDT

I finally got the go-ahead from the Globe's driver Ashraf in Gaza – he of the seven children and hearty handshake – that ground military operations in part of the Strip seemed to have slowed, and so off I headed this week. I didn't know quite what to expect, though I'd heard the devastation - Follow link to read full post

My friends and their war

mmackinnon — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:56 EDT

One of the great frustrations about covering any war is that it often becomes all about reporting the latest casualty figures and the latest faraway utterings from Condoleeza Rice. That’s the “news,” at least in a conventional sense. For a change, I’d like to tell you the news - Follow link to read full post

We are reminded daily how precious life is

Carolynne Wheeler — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 11:22 EDT

A sample reconstruction of a typical phone conversation when partners in a marriage are on opposite ends of a major conflict: "Hello?" "Hello!" "Hello?" "Hi, can you hear me?" "Hello?" "It's ME! Hello? Can you hear me now?" "Oh yeah. There you are. Hi! How is your day going?" "Fine. Just back - Follow link to read full post

Will you tell people in Canada?

mmackinnon — Wed, 9 Aug 2006 10:41 EDT

Beirut -- I took a bit of a down day today (don’t tell my editors), feeling that I needed a few hours of normalcy after what had been an exhausting stretch of travelling around first south Lebanon and then the Bekaa Valley in the east. In the centre of Beirut, cafés and restaurants that were closed - Follow link to read full post

On the road with Hezbollah

Mark MacKinnon — Mon, 7 Aug 2006 07:52 EDT

Beirut – These days, you don’t find Hezbollah, they find you. Even when travelling through the battlefield cities of southern Lebanon, you don’t see the well-armed Islamic militia that Israel is fighting. Just weaponless men on motorcycles who follow you at a distance. Sometimes they - Follow link to read full post

Re-visiting a caravan town

Carolynne Wheeler — Thu, 3 Aug 2006 10:22 EDT

I drove down to the idyllic shores of Nitzanim beach, a little north of Ashkelon on Israel's southern Mediterranean shores, this week. Sometime along the way I realized the last time I drove this exact route was just about one year ago. Nitzanim beach, presently a holding ground for about 5,500 people - Follow link to read full post

Caught in the crossfire

mmackinnon — Wed, 2 Aug 2006 16:57 EDT

Tyre, Lebanon - This is what it’s like to still be in Tyre, the largest city in south Lebanon right now. For hours on end, you listen to the high-pitched drone of Israeli spy planes above you. It’s inescapable. Whether you’re inside a building or outside on the street, the whine of - Follow link to read full post