Dahieh

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Satellite photographs of the Haret Hreik neighborhood [Dahyeh district] of Beirut, Lebanon, before and after 22 July 2006. See also high resolution photographs before and after.
Satellite photographs of the Haret Hreik neighborhood [Dahyeh district] of Beirut, Lebanon, before and after 22 July 2006. See also high resolution photographs before and after.

Dahieh[1] (Arabic: الضاحية الجنوبية al-Dahiya al-Janubiya, meaning "the southern suburb") is a mainly Shi'ite Muslim district of southern Beirut, Lebanon. But in some cities like Chyah, Haret Hreik and Bourj el barajneh, there are important presence of maronite christians. It is located north of the Rafic Hariri International Airport, with the Airport Road passing through it. Prior to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, it was a residential area as well as a commercial area with malls and stores. It was also the Beirut stronghold of the Shi'ite Islamist militant group, Hezbollah, and it had a large auditorium in Haret Hreik where Hezbollah followers gather during special occasions. Sometimes, its leader Hassan Nasrallah would be among the guests of honour. Some government offices have been restricted from operating in Dahieh as long as Hezbollah influence was present.

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[edit] 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict[2]

On July 13, 2006, Israeli jets dropped leaflets over Dahieh warning residents to evacuate the area before carpet-bombing the neighborhood to rubble. However, not everyone managed to flee the town, and those who did escape became refugees within the mainland "north" Beirut. Those who remained behind experienced Israeli assault round-the-clock.

Investigations by Human Rights Watch were unable to earth even a single instance of Hezbollah hiding weapons or guerrillas among civilian population centres like Dahieh.[citation needed].

The neighbourhood of Dahieh continued to be a frequent target of Israeli jets and warships. The Hezbollah auditorium and residential areas were destroyed according to Lebanese, Arab and western media.[citation needed] Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar, was also targeted in the area.

Hours after the August 14, 2006 ceasefire, Hezbollah pledged to reconstruct houses for the dwellers of Dahieh, and it offered rent money for the time-being as attempt to build better houses condenses[3].

On September 22, 2006, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah attended a mass rally in Dahieh declaring a "Divine Victory" against Israel. Apart from mentioning Hezbollah having 20,000 rockets at its disposal, he also went on to criticize Lebanon's central government, stating it should step down and form a unity government. [4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dahieh is sometimes spelled as "Dahiyeh" in Lebanon.
  2. ^ Free Patriotic Movement's live news report during the war, http://www.tayyar.org
  3. ^ Boston.com
  4. ^ AlJazeera International

[edit] External links

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