Tinkling While Lebanon Burns
“US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, seen here at the piano, is expected to resume her Middle East crisis mission, as the United States warned against a “fake peace” to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah(AFP/HO) “
“My day covering Tyre begins with a visit to a mass grave site. Here, the bodies lie in thin plywood coffins in a shallow trench marked only by a large stone at one end and a metal pipe at the other.
According to officials at the city coroner’s office, this is just a temporary resting place (partly a way to meet the immediacy of Islamic burial requirements) until the fighting is over. Then, the bodies will be moved to more dignified burial grounds.
Next to the site is another long trench already dug out and waiting to be filled. Dozens of empty coffins are also stacked in the courtyard of the city morgue. I ask one of the medical examiners if they are for people already killed or for the future.
“The future,” she says, with a small sigh.”
