Articles by Franklin Lamb
We found 125 results.
Could “Tough Love” Salvage Lebanon?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Jun 2018
22 Jun 2018 – Increasingly these days on Beirut’s streets of Hamra and across much of Lebanon one hears a Sanskrit like mantra that: “Lebanon was never a real country, it is not now a real country and will not be a real country during the lifetimes of its current citizenry.” It’s become a bit of a truism worth some contemplation… The observer avers that salvaging Lebanon is worth a try. But time is running short.
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Hezbollah Claims a 20-Seat Parliamentary Majority – Now Will It Grant Palestinians the Right to Work?
Franklin Lamb – Transcend Media Service,
20 Jun 2018
15 Jun 2018 – On June 11, 2018, Gen. Qassem Solemani, Director of Iran’s Islamic Al Quds Force claimed that “Hezbollah now controls 74 out of parliament’s 128 seats and Hezbollah (Iran) now controls Lebanon’s Parliament. His boasts are accurate.
→ read full articlePutin Gives Israel the Green Light, Iran the Red Light and Assad/Trump the Yellow Light in Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2018
11 Jun 2018 – It is the view of this observer than the coming weeks will witness substantial developments in Syria, Iran and Lebanon. If the outcomes are positive we may be in the position of crediting Russia’s President Putin.
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Syrian Students: We Pray the “Mother” of Our Revolution Is Scylla (Part 2)
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jun 2018
1 Jun 2018 – Were one to credit the notion that Bashar Assad, Ali Khamenei, Hassan Nasrallah, some Gulf countries, Israel, the USA and several countries in the West, among others, are Stepmothers of ISIS and coddled them to varying degrees since the March 2011 Syrian Revolution—Well, who’s the Mother?
→ read full articleThe Multiple Stepmothers of Daesh [ISIS] in Syria (Part I)
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2018
Well dear reader, if Bashar Assad, Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah, among others are Stepmothers of ISIS. Who’s the Mother?
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Have Recent Events Sounded the Death Knell for Iran’s Regional Project?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 May 2018
The people in this region, and beyond, are becoming tired of Iran’s project and its cost in human lives and treasury, not least of whom are the civilian populations of Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon not to mention Russian officials and elements of the Assad regime.
→ read full articlePalestinian Refugees Suffer Setback in Lebanon’s Parliamentary Election
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 May 2018
10 May 2018 – Despite the recent election results, Palestinians in Lebanon will continue their struggle to achieve the elementary civil rights to work and to own a home. Their prospects will increase if more of their international supporters active on myriad internet blogs will focus on their plight in Lebanon and hopefully many will come to Lebanon to help organize an effective grassroots civil rights campaign.
→ read full articleSyria’s New Law Number Ten Devastates Sunni Refugees as Regime Loyalists Are Deeded Their Homes and Real Estate
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 May 2018
Law Number 10 sets in motion a massive political and legal overhaul of the government land registry and gives Syrian refugees, whether inside the country or abroad just 30 days to prove ownership of their houses and property. As of today, 4 May 2018, they have one week and if they fail to do so the state will liquidate their titles and seize their holdings.
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Lebanon’s Politicians Insist Syrian Refugees Return Home Now! But to What?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 – “Uridu an aouda ela bayti fi Sourya!” (“I want to return home to Syria!”). These are the words perhaps most regularly heard by Meals for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon (MSRCL) volunteers and other NGO’s who work with Syrian refugee children in Lebanon.
→ read full articleTehran’s Syria-Lebanon Colonization Project Is Collapsing Iran’s Rial as Iranians Hoard Dollars
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Apr 2018
23 Apr 2018 – “Leave Syria, think about us!” and “No to Yemen! No to Lebanon and Hezbollah! Our lives for Iran!” are among graffiti sentiments scrawled across Tehran. The campaign is being led by students, unemployed workers, and other detractors of Iran’s Wali al Fique “Supreme Leader” rule and its much opposed foreign and monetary policies.
→ read full articleIs Trump Employing R2P to Save the Remaining Syrian People? Or…?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Apr 2018
12 Apr 2018 – The word in parts of Beirut this morning is that Trump’s bluster about bombing Syria in the next few days is, are like many of his emotional threats during his three months in office, to be taken with a shovel of salt. We will likely know more soon. But when, where, why, how or whatever, as we have come to wonder, is anyone’s guess.
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Iran’s Gen. Qassim Solemani Pledges to “Weed the Resistance!” Is Nasrallah His Target?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Apr 2018
30 Mar 2018 – Since he became Tehran’s anointed leader of Syria in early 2012 with final say over Syria’s military and security agencies, Al Quds Force leader Qassim Solemani has been “Weeding the Resistance.” Solemani’s “Resistance Weeding” is also designed to help harvest his personal regional political ambitions and neutralize potential post-Assad competitors rumored to include Hassan Nasrallah among others.
→ read full articleDespite Claims to the Contrary, an Israel-Hezbollah War Is Unlikely for the Foreseeable Future–for These Reasons
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Mar 2018
23 Mar 2018 – In the coming year, but more likely well beyond, Hezbollah and its sponsors in Tehran will be shackled fighting in Syria. A major war with Israel is extremely risky for them. Despite being able to inflict serious damage on Israel, such a war would ignite a fierce Israeli response that could decimate Hezbollah and Iranian forces and bases in Syria and undermine Iran’s regional goals. Iran theocratic leadership is cautious and it’s unlikely that it would take that risk.
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As Syrian War Crimes Tribunals Are Readied, Qassim Soleimani Instructs Assad and Iran’s Militia:
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Mar 2018
“No terrorist bodies; no evidence; no evidence; no crime; no crime; no Tribunals. Disappear terrorist bodies!”
→ read full articleSyrian Sentinels Are Daily Risking Their Lives to Save Fellow Citizens
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2018
7 Mar 2018 – Despite the danger, Syrian civilian Sentinels now regularly appear and risk being killed by insisting that the food and medicines convoys be allowed into Eastern Ghouta. This courage is spreading among the Syrian population to aid their neighbors and families as well as total strangers.
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As Iran’s Women Continue to Rise and Fly Their Hijabs… Woe Be Unto the Mullahs
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Feb 2018
8 Feb 2018 – Increasingly Iranians are demanding the end to Supreme Leadership and to govern themselves. Under Ali Khamenei’s total control, institutions established at the beginning of the 1979 Revolution to wipe out poverty have turned into conglomerates that own half of Iran’s wealth without a supervisory organization to question their actions.
→ read full article2018 Portends Intensification of Syria’s Civil War
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Jan 2018
21 Jan 2018 – 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. It’s a truism that the map of the conflict has been redrawn and currently favors the Assad government and its Russian and Iranian allies who rescued the regime over the past three years.
→ read full articleIranian Students Face Kafkaesque Impediments Challenging Iran’s Theocracy
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 – On several occasions, meeting with brilliant, tech-savvy Iranian university students who are thoroughly charming, fearless and outspoken, this observer is presented a very different picture of what Iranians are facing than what is being offered by pro-regimen internet bloggers and water carriers.
→ read full articleWhat’s behind the ‘Disappearance’ of 420,000 Palestinians in Lebanon?
Franklin Lamb - TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jan 2018
The first ever official census of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon was finally released on 21 Dec 2017 in Beirut. Hopefully growing pressure from the new generation of young Palestinians vying for leadership positions in the camps and the growing number of young Shia in the region who no longer want to be fodder from their leaders seeking revenge for the events at Karbala 1,500 years ago, can persuade the “Resistance” that true Resistance begins with improving the Palestinian camps and being allowed to seek a job.
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Bibi’s “Iran Will Have 100 Nukes!” Math Appears a Bit Wobbly…
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jan 2018
… As Israeli Military Intelligence Evaluates USIS Claims That the IROI Acquired Three Nukes from the DRNK Last Spring
→ read full articlePlaying the Jerusalem Card in Lebanon with Deft Hypocrisy
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Dec 2017
21 Dec 2017 – Jerusalem just happened to be in the geographical area of the war between Arabs fighting the Byzantines. For a period, Muslims did pray towards Jerusalem because of its connections to Abraham and because Mecca was in pagan hands, but when Jews rejected Prophet Muhammad as the promised messiah, and Mecca was cleared of idols, Muslims largely lost interest in Jerusalem.
→ read full articleUS Intelligence Community Claims North Korea Transferred Three Nuclear War Heads to Iran Last Spring–But Where’s the Beef?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
Both Iran and NK feverishly test ICBM’s to neutralize US and Israeli threats. Granted, an interesting assertion.
→ read full articleLebanon Facing Long ‘Independence’ Odds Given Iran’s Regional Triumphalism
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Dec 2017
1 Dec 2017 – One lovely bright student who this observer met and spent time with at Beshesti University north of Tehran last year sent me a message from the American civils rights -anti-Vietnam era: “Remember Dr. Lamb: A people united cannot be defeated. Whether in Iran or Lebanon!” We wish our friends in Lebanon Allah’s blessing on their prayers for achievement of Independence.”
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Western Intelligence: Saad Hariri Resigned to Avoid His Father’s Fate and Salvage Lebanon
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
16 Nov 2017 – Last week’s resignation of Lebanon’s popular Prime Minister Saad Hariri has fueled a plethora of politically inspired conspiracy theories. Beirut and Washington DC sources have suggested to this observer that Hariri’s thinking and motivation for a quick departure from Lebanon was influenced by reports delivered to him personally from three Western security agencies that have for the past six months been monitoring the movements of certain security agents from Hezbollah.
→ read full articleIs Israel Winning “the War between the Wars” with Iran/Hezbollah?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Nov 2017
3 Nov 2017 – Lebanese analysts argue that Hezbollah is paying the price for getting involved in Syria. Part of that price is its lost image as a “Resistance” organization, costing the lives of thousands of young Shia men… The destitute population in South Syria, some rebels and government supporters, those who claim to be apolitical and thousands of internally displaced Syrians are learning of Israel’s “Good Neighbor” policy and the number seeking and receiving aid is growing.
→ read full articleLebanon’s Economy Is in Crisis – Granting Palestinians the Right to Work Will Help Fix It (Part 1)
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Oct 2017
Is Lebanon’s Economy Heading for Free-Fall?
→ read full articleLebanon’s Economy Is in Crisis – Granting Palestinians the Right to Work Will Help Fix It (Part 2)
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Oct 2017
26 Oct 2017 – Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the offspring of nearly 800,000 ethnically cleansed from their homes in Palestine during the 1948-50 Nakba, are today variously labeled by their Lebanese hosts as “refugees” or sometimes described as a particular category of “quasi-residents.” Or as “foreigners.”
→ read full articleHamas Can Achieve the Right to Work for Palestinians in Lebanon by Reconciling with Fatah and Iran
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Oct 2017
13 Oct 2017 – If Hamas takes a leading role and applies its political acumen in negotiating with those who can arrange 90 minutes of Lebanon’s Parliaments’ time to enact Palestinian civil rights, it will achieve historic and much needed opportunity for Lebanon’s Palestinians and usher in a shortened timetable for Full Return to Palestine.
→ read full articleIDF Brass: Israel Faces “Catastrophic Defeat” if Next Hezbollah War Exceeds Ten Days
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Oct 2017
2 Oct 2017 – The view of many analysts in the Israeli and American military leadership as well as among the Israeli lobby in the US Congress is that Israel must ensure that the next war is short. The shorter the better for many reasons. One being that Washington will not ‘green light’ a protracted war that kills large numbers of Lebanese civilians. Another one is that the Israeli public and politicians will not accept many Israeli military or civilian casualties.
→ read full articleHezbollah Has Launched the Initial Phase of the Next Israel-Hezbollah War
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Oct 2017
Israel has recently increased its targeting of claimed Hezbollah/Iranian sites followed by diplomatic warnings by Israel’s leadership that it will not accept an enhanced Iranian and Hezbollah presence on its northern borders. Israel has bombed more than 100 targets since 2011 including some Iranian positions around Damascus military airport, West and South Syria as well as in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley and down south.
→ read full article35 Years after the Sabra-Shatila Massacre Where’s “The Resistance”?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Sep 2017
This week commemorates the 35th anniversary of the Wed, Sep 15 to Sat, Sep 18, 1982 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 years ago. So vivid still in our memories are the horror images of that orgy of slaughter.
→ read full articleThe “Musa Sadr Is Alive” Hoax Has Deceived Lebanon’s Shia for 39 Years
Franklin Lamb | OpEd News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Sep 2017
The Libyan agents put their bags in their rooms, stayed out of site, and they said nothing about checking out to the hotel’s front desk. They simply left their bags, including Rehiby’s elevated shoes “in Imam Sadr’s room” and took a taxi to Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci airport and returned to Libya. For years Rehiby shoes jokes passed among Gadaffi regime insiders according to friends.
→ read full articleRussia, US, Iran and Israel War for Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Sep 2017
Interview Conducted by Graduate Students from Oxford University’s Middle East Center and St Anthony’s College, August 2017 – Franklin Lamb is a Ph.D. in international law and is currently a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict. Prof. Lamb has many years experience on the ground in the Middle East and for the past six has been in Syria dedicated to, among other activities, the grass roots human rights group Meals for Syrian Refugee Children, Lebanon.
→ read full articleHandicapping Israel’s 6th War on Lebanon (1)
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Aug 2017
10 Aug 2017 – These days the US Congressional Israel lobby and its knee-jerk amen chorus are hyping what those still occupying Palestine refer to as its coming 3rd war in Lebanon. Reportedly, Israel is finalizing elaborate plans to once and for all eviscerate Hezbollah while accelerating the collapse of the Iranian theocracy with the claimed support of the White House and the Saudi block among many others.
→ read full articleIsrael’s 6th War on Lebanon (2): What Price Will Hezbollah Pay?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Aug 2017
11 Aug 2017 – The price Hezbollah will pay during Israel’s coming 6th war on Lebanon will likely be less militarily consequential long term, than the near certain acceleration of the Party of God’s loss of its “Resistance” brand. The latter already being eschewed by much of its Shia base for economic, social and political reasons.
→ read full articleAn Inevitable Post-Christian Middle East with or without ISIS?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Apr 2017
24 Apr 2017 – “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)” are reputedly among Jesus’ last words on the Cross at Calvary. Today Christ’s words can be said to apply to all Christians in the Middle East who in this birthplace of Christianity are increasingly facing the most intense persecutions since the Roman Empire and the Bolshevik revolution.
→ read full articleLebanon’s Outlawing of Palestinian Civil Rights
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Apr 2017
14 Apr 2017 – It’s half a century overdue for Lebanon to grant Palestinian refugees, now the fourth post-Nakba generation, the most elementary civil rights to work and home ownership. Both fundamental rights are mandated by international law and enjoyed by every refugee on our planet. Sauf Lebanon. Lebanon’s largely dysfunctional government is unlikely to meet its international legal obligation without the immediately application of serious international pressure and sanctions including the suspension of foreign aid.
→ read full articleObama’s Stellar Effort to Preserve Our Cultural Heritage in Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Jan 2017
Time will tell how Obama’s Middle East legacy is judged and no doubt the verdict will be affected by what President-elect Trump will do in the Middle East, which as of today has many of us scratching our heads. The cultural heritage law enforcement achievements of the Obama Administration must not be dismantled by the Trump Administration.
→ read full articleAssad and Putin Order Their Forces to Again Liberate “The Jewel of the Desert”
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Dec 2016
16 Dec 2016 – 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?
→ read full articleAleppo Update: What Is Becoming of Syrian Families Fleeing East Aleppo?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Dec 2016
It’s not clear if the Assad government will agree to a ceasefire other than on a surrender-first basis. Some think it may have no choice in the matter given Russia’s political and military influence here but others claim that Iran and Syria will reject any Russian agreement penned with the USA and the regimes goal is total “liberation” of all of Aleppo. That will likely happen within days even as ISIS reoccupies Palmyra because Russian and Syrian troops were ordered to leave Palmyra because they were needed in Aleppo.
→ read full articleAleppo Update: An Inspiring Return to the Oft-Bombed National Museum
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Dec 2016
7 Dec 2016 – Of Syria’s 28 museums, the one that holds the record to date for being the most targeted by rebel bombs, mortars, and snipers is probably the Aleppo National Museum, which was opened in 1931, expanded in 1966 and is located just outside of the boundaries of the Ancient City of Aleppo, a World Heritage property.
→ read full articleR2P Palestinian Children: Proposals to Combat Drug Dealers Targeting Lebanon’s Camps (Part 2)
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Nov 2016
15 Nov 2016 – As cases of Palestinian camp children being targeted by drug dealers are further revealed, proposals are being put forward by the Palestinian Community, Local, Regional and International NGOs, and Civil Society organizations on how to end this scourge.
→ read full articlePalestinian Social Fabric Frays in Lebanon’s Camps as Drug Dealers Target Children (Part1)
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Nov 2016
The past few years have witnessed an alarming increase in drug distribution in Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian camps, as dealers target children and teenagers. This conclusion is based on research and surveys by camp officials, residents and activists, as well as in-depth interviews with mothers of targeted Palestinian children between the ages of 11-15.
→ read full articleUS-Led Sanctions Targeting Syria Risk Adjudication as War Crimes
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Oct 2016
Let there be established without further delay a Special Tribunal for Syria, so that the global community can render its judgment on all claims of War Crimes being committed daily in Syria, by all sides. And surely these claims include the US-led civilian targeting sanctions on the people of Syria.
→ read full articlePolitical Defamation Campaign Targets Rescue Workers in Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Oct 2016
The White Helmets are being attacked with all sorts of unfounded accusations and conspiracy theories that have nothing to do with who the volunteers are, what the rescue workers are actually doing, why they are doing it, and their contacts, if any at all, with members of the international public or even political factions abroad.
→ read full articleThe Day After the Fall of Aleppo Will International Humanitarian Law Still Be Relevant?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Oct 2016
This observer rejects the arguments being heard these days that the world is not ready, legally or politically, for broader and stricter international humanitarian law accountability. On the contrary, the international judicial community has had ample experience in achieving justice for many civilian victims of war crimes by applying international humanitarian law. And over the past twenty years it has increased dramatically.
→ read full article34 Years after the Beirut Sabra-Shatila Massacre
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Sep 2016
What followed were nearly three days of slaughter , rape and dismemberment of the civilian population, men, women and children as the Christian militia penetrated the camp and conducted a frenzied, partly drug fueled, killing spree slaughtering an estimated 1, 800 to 3,500. The carnage was aided by Israeli forces that surrounded Shatila, lighted the night sky with flares turning the night into day, provided heavy equipment to bury and hide bodies, communicated with the Phalange terrorists and blocked camp residents from fleeing Shatila during the carnage while ushering reinforcement killer militia inside.
→ read full articleCan the Growing Number of Government-Rebel Reconciliation Agreements End the Bloodshed in Syria?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Sep 2016
The evacuation was the latest one agreed to between rebel forces and the Syrian government and implemented according to President Assad’s Amnesty Decree no. 15 issued on July 28, 2016 . Another 700 were evacuated from nearby Daraya per a similar agreement achieved on August 25. At least half of dozen similar evacuations from rebel areas are reportedly being negotiated between rebels and the government.
→ read full articleAs Our Cultural Heritage in Syria Hemorrhages, Villagers Work to Restore It
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Aug 2016
At times, this observer becomes enervated, discouraged, depressed, and perhaps cynical, at all the carnage being inflicted on innocents in Syria. Yet I remain convinced from my experience in Syria itself that it will be the Syrian people themselves who will preserve, protect and restore this cradle of civilization’s endangered cultured heritage.
→ read full articleTeam Clinton Focuses on the Demise of Hezbollah
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Aug 2016
The likely next American President, Hilary Clinton is fielding an array of foreign policy advisers, table scraps from the Bush administration and from Obama…. Whatever success the Clinton team will have with its goal of destroying Hezbollah and however one evaluates Obama’s policy, this region appears headed for yet more prolonged violence and many more deaths of innocent civilians.
→ read full article“Don’t Cry for Us Syria … The Truth Is We Shall Never Leave You!”
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Aug 2016
Amid all the dissension and fear-mongering surrounding refugees in the midst of a bloody civil/proxy war, many of Syria’s youth are focused on helping fellow Syrians. As much of the rest of the world seemingly passes its time pontificating and posturing in padded chairs and security councils, volunteers around Syria are risking their lives to help those in dire need and who are attempting to find safety.
→ read full articleA Roadmap for Lebanon to Grant Civil Rights for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Jul 2016
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 and to own a home or real property; adequate housing; health; fair trial; freedom of association; opinion and expression; freedom of movement, accommodation and travel, among others.
→ read full articleLebanon Escalates Its Denial of Civil Rights for Palestinian Refugees
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Jul 2016
16 Jul 2016 – In Lebanon today, Palestinians are being threatened by the government that ISIS (Daesh) and Al Nursa are plotting to take over Ain el-Helweh and the other eleven camps in Lebanon.
→ read full articleAccusation Claims Syrian and Russian Troops Are Looting Palmyra – Indictment Not Proved!
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jul 2016
The Syrian army’s work and devotion to protect our shared cultural heritage might be cultural, congenital, or genetic. But it’s real. It is my submission that the current culture here in Palmyra, and the security posted throughout the area, render it very unlikely that looting has been committed here by Syrian or Russian forces.
→ read full articleHow 100 Syrians, 200 Russians and 11 Dogs Out-Witted ISIS and Saved Palmyra
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Jun 2016
There has been much understandable confusion and also a bit of misinformation about the degree of damage to Palmyra’s archeological sites. Contrary to many media reports, only five percent of the area of our cultural heritage archeological treasures was damaged by ISIS.
→ read full articleWhat Four Syrian Refugee Children Have Achieved for Humanity in Lebanon
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jun 2016
10 Jun 2016 – Given the unanticipated intense interest in the subject of my article, which resulted in the receipt of more than 1000 emails, approximately 130 being requests or inquiries about adopting the children, an update about the four beauties is warranted.
→ read full articleU.S. Financial Regulations Increase Starvation among Syria’s Children
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 May 2016
As of May 15, 2016, according to Save the Children and an assortment of UN agencies and NGO’s, nearly 7 million people are displaced within Syria, half of them are children and more than two million of the youngsters are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused, or exploited. One inexcusable action that is today targeting Syria’s children, even if inadvertently, are the US economic sanctions against the country’s leadership.
→ read full articleCan Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Preserve Our Cultural Heritage in Syria?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 May 2016
This month’s Trafalgar Square exhibition in London of a digitally modeled replica of Syria’s 2000-year-old Roman Triumphal Arch at Palmyra, which was destroyed by ISIS in Oct 2015, is sparking yet further discussion about the rights and wrongs of restoration at ancient sites. Approximately two thirds the size of the original, the replica arch was created through the efforts of Oxford University’s Institute of Digital Archeology.
→ read full articleRestoring Our Cultural Heritage in Syria —The Debate over Why, How, When, By Whom, In What Order, & Who Pays? Intensifies!
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Apr 2016
This observer has been advised by two Congressional sources that concerns for the restoration of our shared global cultural heritage in Syria, widespread relief that Palmyra has been liberated from ISIS iconoclasm, and American public support for the repair and restoration of Palmyra’s treasures, are major reasons for moving the tough new and most welcomed ban on Syrian cultural property forward.
→ read full articleIran and Russia Join the Global Alliance to Preserve Syria’s Endangered Heritage
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Apr 2016
8 Apr 2016 – The Islamic Republic of Iran announced this week that it is ready to take part in the restoration of archeological monuments damaged or destroyed by ISIS terrorists in Palmyra (Tadmor), which was named one of the six UN World Heritage Sites in Syria in 1980.
→ read full articleThe Wounded Phoenix of Palmyra
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Apr 2016
31 Mar 2016 – Eyewitness accounts from the scene this morning (3/30/2016) confirm that the Syrian Army has liberated all parts of the city of Palmyra (Tadmor) including all of the ancient city, from 10 months of occupation and destruction by ISIS. This observer harbors no doubt that the Syrian people will restore Palmyra again. Indeed the process has begun.
→ read full articleWhy I Bought Four Syrian Children off a Beirut Street
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Mar 2016
This observer confesses to having purchased four children near Ramlet el Baida beach recently from a stressed –out Syrian woman.
→ read full articleSyria’s Truce Bodes Well for Salvaging Our Cultural Heritage
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Mar 2016
9 Mar 2016 – The tentative cessation of hostilities in Syria, which came into effect on 2/28/2016, brokered by Washington and Moscow, is only in its second week. If the truce holds and the war ends, there are many reasons to believe it will have helped save our cultural heritage in Syria. And that its protection, preservation and restoration will begin in earnest.
→ read full articleNotes from Tehran: Trump, the Iranian Elections and the End of Sanctions
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Feb 2016
Iranians will vote in twin elections for the Iranian parliament and to elect a more powerful separate body known as the Assembly of Experts. And yes, The Donald is now a factor in both of those Iranian elections.
→ read full articleSocial Control Is Emerging as ISIS (Da’ish) Motive for Erasing Our Cultural Heritage in Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Feb 2016
5 Feb 2016 – It is widely recognized that the damage done to our cultural heritage in Syria and to the heritage of those who will follow us, cannot be calculated. Untold quantities of archaeologically vital artifacts have been looted, sold, displaced and discarded through industry-like efforts.
→ read full articleBeirut’s Explosion: The Sunni-Shia Bellum Sanctum Returns to Hezbollah’s Security Zone
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Nov 2015
At least 46 confirmed deaths and nearly 250 wounded, many seriously, are being treated at hospitals. All are victims of the 6 p.m. rush hour terrorist bombings deep inside Hezbollah’s security zone on Nov 12, 2015 that targeted civilians who were shopping at street markets or gathering at the local mosque for the fourth of the five daily prayers. The extremist Islamic State (ISIS/Da’ish) group claimed the attack.
→ read full articleSyria’s ‘Monument Citizens’ Taking Risks Saving the Future of Our Past
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Nov 2015
Increasing numbers of Syria’s women and men, considered by this observer as this war-torn country’s ‘Monument Citizens’ have recently expanded the scope and range of cultural heritage site protection and preservation on behalf of humanity.
→ read full articleIs Putin Iran’s “Senior Partner” in Syria?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Oct 2015
The conversation returned to Russia’s new ‘vitality’ in Syria. The commander explained: “All Syrians love Putin. He is known to us as ‘Abu Ali Putin’” And as my friends effusively recited praise for Valdmir Putin, I couldn’t get a word in sideways, and was reminded of Elizabeth Barrett Bowning’s poem, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”
→ read full articleConfronting ‘Looting to Order’ and ‘Cultural Racketeering’ in Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Oct 2015
It is recalled that the looting following the United States-led 2003 invasion of Iraq involved organized international gangs, sometimes with corrupt “Operation Iraqi Freedom” coalition military personnel involved that were contracted to raid the National Museum in Baghdad and Mosul Museum.
→ read full articleHow AIPAC-OFAC Are Working to Maintain Sanctions Targeting Iran and Her Students
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Sep 2015
Only a small percentage of Iran and America’s population has ever met face to face. Almost none of both countries citizens under the age of 35 have ever engaged in long, often fascinating and passionate conversations.
→ read full article33 Years After the Sabra-Shatila Massacre Takfiri Calls for “Intifada!” Waft from Lebanon’s Camps
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Sep 2015
Denying justice and blocking elementary civil rights for Palestinians in Lebanon is subverting peace in this region and the “terrorist-takfiri” elements are manipulating this reality to establish bases in Lebanon’s camps.
→ read full articleIt’s Time to Reopen the American and Iranian Embassies and Promote Reconciliation
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Sep 2015
The rationale for opening both Iran’s and America’s embassies is compelling and goes back to the reasons for The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 to which 190 countries are signatories. Embassies contribute to the achievement of international peace and security and facilitate the work, cultural exchanges, business, travel, and development of both countries.
→ read full articleTwo More ‘EverySyrian’ Heroes Murdered while Protecting Our Shared Cultural Heritage
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Aug 2015
On 8/20/2015 this observer received a credible report from Palmyra that Da’ish (ISIS) militiamen are currently laying explosives among Palmyra’s ruins as a sort of ‘antiquities shield ‘against armed attack from the Syrian army or from the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, the latter now in its second year of targeting the jihadists with checkered results.
→ read full articleThe Bravenhearts of Wadi Al Nasera, Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Aug 2015
The group of Greek Orthodox nuns was kidnapped in Dec 2013 and held for three months by Jabhat al, released three months later in a prisoner exchange. This observer was honored to spend time with this charming, passionate, energetic, group of sisters on Aug/4/2015 and we discussed many subjects.
→ read full articleReturn to Ma’loula
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Aug 2015
1 Aug 2015 – As of today, approximately 900 Christians and 50 Muslims from the pre-2011 population of 5000 have returned to Ma’loula, their 90 AD ancient village. Ma’loula, is among the nearly 7000 historic places in Syria that have been looted, burned, bulldozed or subjected to mindless jihadist iconoclasm as being ‘un-Islamic,” or which have sustained war damage from more than one source.
→ read full articleIf ISIS Doesn’t Liberate Palestine… Who Will?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jul 2015
This is one of the questions ricocheting between Palestinians in Syria and Lebanon, posed also by ISIS (Da’ish) operatives. However, based on conversations with recently-arrived Palestinian refugees from Syria, as well as old friends in Lebanon’s camps, this observer is confident that today only a small percentage of Palestinians are responding to the siren-call of ISIS. But tomorrow?
→ read full articleIsrael Signals It’s Ready to Destroy Hezbollah – Include Iran as a Twofer?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jun 2015
Yet, with all of Israel’s swelling international legitimacy problems, the Zionist regime still occupying another country, Palestine, can sound its bugle, which having no valves or other political pitch-altering complications, blast-summons its agents in Washington and elsewhere to get busy and circle the wagons.
→ read full articleProtecting and Restoring Syria’s Trains, Part of Her Cultural Heritage
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 May 2015
With Daish (ISIS) advancing (5/15/2015) toward the gates of Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur), an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people and for the world, where this observer has been honored to spend many inspiring awe-filled hours these past few years observing and contemplating its unique blend of Greco-Roman and Persian influences, another global archeological tragedy may be unfolding.
→ read full articleCan Syria’s Cultural Heritage Be a Fulcrum for Ending Its Civil War?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Feb 2015
This country is home to some of the world’s first cities, as well as globally important sites from the Akkadian, Sumerian, Hittite, Assyrian, Persian, Greco-Roman, Ummayyad, Crusader, and Ottoman civilizations and to some of the oldest, most advanced civilizations in the world.
→ read full articleHow Americans Can Help Preserve Our Shared Cultural Heritage in Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Jan 2015
To date, it has been primarily the Syrian people themselves, without much international and practically no American help, taking the lead to protect and preserve this cradle of civilization which has hosted nearly a dozen empires over ten thousand years.
→ read full articleTheir Unpardonable Crime Is That They Are Syrian
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Jan 2015
Unlike Jordan and Turkey, Lebanon has rejected the advice of the UN and has refused to create refugee camps, meaning refugees are dispersed throughout the country and setting the stage for a humanitarian nightmare. Lebanon’s complex sectarian make-up also plays a role.
→ read full articleAs Aleppo Goes, So Goes Syria? – A Strategic Area
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Jan 2015
Freezing hostilities in Aleppo could possibly achieve the same for Syria. It’s worth a try.
→ read full articleThe Germans Rebuilt Dresden and the Syrians Will Rebuild Aleppo!
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Dec 2014
One is distraught over the seeming futility of rebuilding this world heritage site. Would it require half a century as was required in Dresden Germany following three days of firebombing by British and American planes? There are many questions to be answered whether rebuilding would ever restore Aleppo’s old city to what it had been for centuries.
→ read full article“Death to Iran” Over Airline Passenger Safety
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Nov 2014
OFAC Jeopardizes Air Traffic Safety While Congress Prepares Sanctions Coup de Grâce on Iran
→ read full articleSunni-Shia Bellum Sacrum Faultlines Deepen: Gloves Come Off in Lebanon
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Nov 2014
“Everyone in Lebanon, and for many generations, will have their families’ lives negatively affected by the sectarian hostility. The Sunni-Shia hatred is poisonous. Can it be eradicated? And forget about the Christians! In a few years there will probably not be enough of them left in the Middle East to matter.”
→ read full articleIt’s Not Too Late to Save Syria’s Cultural Heritage
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Oct 2014
As Marcus Aurelius instructs us: “Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.” Our shared global heritage, which has been in the custody of the Syrian people for ten millennia, belongs to all of us and each of us must work to preserve it for our progeny.
→ read full articleStreet Scenes from a Damascus Neighborhood
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Sep 2014
Da’ish (IS), Free Syrian Army and al Nusra Compete for Dwindling Support…
→ read full article32 Years after the Sabra-Shatila Massacre: Tension Mounts in Lebanon’s Camps
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Sep 2014
Established during the Nakba 66 years ago, the Palestinian camps in Lebanon—initially intended as “temporary”—have undergone a 400% population increase over the years, and today they are literally overflowing with nearly a quarter of a million desperate Palestinians and Syrians.
→ read full articleSOS! – Hospital Ships Needed to Save Gaza’s Children
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Aug 2014
Middle East analysts point out that it is difficult to recall a time in modern history when there has been so much sustained slaughter of this region’s civilian population, with more than two-thirds of the victims being women and children. Five Hospital ships are urgently needed along Gaza’s shoreline at the following locations: opposite Jabaliya and North Gaza, Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah.
→ read full articleA Nail in Zionism’s Coffin?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Aug 2014
If, against all odds, a genuine ceasefire were to actually take place, the pause would allow time for both sides’ fighters to regroup and re-arm. But what of the civilian population of a now substantially destroyed Gaza? This region, and increasingly the global community as a whole, is planning for a post-Zionist Middle East and how best to achieve it without further suffering.
→ read full articleSolidarity with Palestinians in Gaza Begins in Lebanon’s Camps
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Jul 2014
Gaza isn’t the only open air prison; Lebanon has 12 of its own. And the people there are denied the most elementary right to apply for a job in more than 50 professions. Solidarity—credible, genuine solidarity—is within our grasp; let us reach for it.
→ read full articleJihadists in Lebanon: Can Hezbollah Prevent DAASH (IS) from Pulling Lebanon into Its Caliphate?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Jul 2014
The answer to that question is—perhaps. But for a number of reasons, some suggested below, it’s not a happy picture, and it won’t be a walk in the park.
→ read full articleHindering Restoration of Global Heritage in Syria – EU Sanctions Target Humanitarian Aid
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Jul 2014
Today, a civilization that used to lead the world and for centuries was the beacon of learning, tolerance and trade, and that still protects our global cultural heritage, is damaged—and only the Syrian people can rebuild it for all of us. We need to help them.
→ read full articleSyrian Students Restore Our Global Heritage, Tesserae by Tesserae…
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Jun 2014
The Damascus Citadel, Syria
→ read full articleISIS (DAASH) Now Recruiting in Palestinian Camps in Lebanon–Who Are Those Guys?
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Jun 2014
As Washington and London were affirming the past few days their intentions to continue to arm “moderate rebel factions” in Syria, Tel Aviv just announced it would like to be helpful by joining with “moderate Arab nations” to battle their mutual Muslim enemies.
→ read full articleA Hard Won Victory… The Story of 68 Palestinian Families in Lebanon
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Jun 2014
Masnaa Border Crossing (Syria/Lebanon)
→ read full articleRespected and Protected… Syrians Working to Preserve Jewish Cultural Heritage
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jun 2014
In Syria today there is much evidence to refute the claims, often politically motivated, that Jewish cultural heritage sites are being singled out for destruction by rabid anti-Semites. One example of this is the Eliyahu Hanabi Synagogue in the neighborhood of Jobar, on the outskirts of Damascus.
→ read full articleSyria: “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently”
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
Since 2013 the area has been under the control of “the Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant,” also referred to as “ISIL.”Public crucifixions are warnings to anyone who challenges Islamic rule because they are the enemies of Allah.
→ read full articleResisters of Sykes-Picot Land Grab Perform Key Fighting Roles in Syria
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Mar 2014
Lots of them were never even religious. They are drug addicts who get high and lose their fear of dying so they are dangerous to confront. The “imported Jihadists” die in high numbers because they ignore the battlefield realities. Their average number of dead is estimated to be five times the number of Hezbollah casualties, three times the number of PFLI fighters, and twice the number of casualties than the regular Syrian army.
→ read full articleOne Food Parcel & One Polio Vaccination at a Time – Lifting the Siege of Yarmouk
Franklin Lamb – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Feb 2014
“For the past more than five months I have sold my body for one hour to whoever would give me a kilo of rice which sometimes costs as much as 14,000 s.p. (close to $ 100). I was proud to be a whore for these terrorists in order to keep my parents alive and who are still trapped and I also prevented complete starvation of my children.” She continued, “God did not help me and my family but I promise if I live and ever see one of those dogs I will kill him and he can learn if his God exists or not. None existed for me!” Two young lady volunteers from the PRCS held her, still sobbing, as she and her little ones made their way out to a waiting PRCS ambulance.
→ read full article