Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon

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Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon

4.4 of 5 stars 4.40 · rating details · 686 ratings · 63 reviews

With the Israeli-Palestinian crisis reaching wartime levels, where is the latest confrontation between these two old foes leading? Robert Fisk's explosive Pity the Nation recounts Sharon and Arafat's first deadly encounter in Lebanon in the early 1980s and explains why the Israel�Palestine relationship seems so intractable. A remarkable combination of war reporting and ana...more

Paperback, 752 pages

Published October 24th 2002 by Nation Books (first published 1st 1990)

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A House of Many Mansions by Kamal Salibi

Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon by Samir Khalaf

The Lebanese Civil War, Non-Fiction

1st out of 79 books — 7 voters

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Oct 11, 2012 Abdulrahman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

مشكلة الكتاب الوحيدة أنه لا ينبغي أن يكون قراءتك الأولى عن حرب لبنان و إلا لما فهمت العديد من التفاصيل .. لو اطلعت قبله على برنامج الجزيرة الوثائقي عن الحرب أو كان لك اطلاع مسبق فذلك أفضل ، أيضا الكتاب استمر في ذكر أحداث الحرب حتى 1984 تقريبا و ما بعد ذلك كان جميعه عن اختطاف و حرية صديقه لينهي الكتاب بفصل جيد نوعا ما عن انتهاء الحرب ، المشكلة الأخرى هي ليست مشكلة الكتاب .. هي مشكلة عالمنا المجنون الذي نعيش فيه و الذي ستنهي الكتاب و أنت مليئ بالحزن و الصدمة من أنك تعيش بين هؤلاء الوحوش و بأننا نغ...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Misha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anyhow, I am on page 540 in Fisk. The
Americans/French/British/Italians have just withdrew from Beirut after
American marines headquarters, French paratroop HQ have been bombed by
the suicide bombers. BTW, Am*rican foreign policy was just as
boneheaded then (Reagan as president, Bush Sr. as VP) as it is
now. There was the same rhetoric of combating "international
terrorism" (sic!), using big guns against guerrillas among civilian
population -- that time it was battleship New Jersey lobbing his FV
beetle...more

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Nov 28, 2010 cscb rated it 5 of 5 stars

this book is a lot like "the great war for civilisation" in that it is an episodic and sprawling journalistic account, not a self-contained history. what he does cover, fisk throws himself into with everything his considerable intellect and sensitivity can muster. the result is a highly intricate, yet understandable overview of the political factions and relationships involved in the conflicts of the 70s and 80s, amazing and deeply thoughtful accounts of warfare, events both spectacularly horrif...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

This book was an astonishing read. It was assigned to me as research for a play I'm assistant-directing about the conflict in Lebanon and its effect on a family, but I found it to be eye-opening in a way that fiction could never be. Fisk's love for Lebanon as a country is as strong as his descriptions of the harrowing events surrounding war in Beirut and southern Lebanon. He deftly pins down the history of Western intervention and its horrifying effects on the country, so even someone who knows...more

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Sep 30, 2010 Kamil Salamah rated it 4 of 5 stars

An outstanding work of journalism, again produced by a very capable person.

It is a very enlightening and valuable piece of work for any one trying to take a glimpse into and understand the complexities of Lebanon's political calamity( with its deadly impact on anyone exposed to it) in depth and the Middle East at large.

The dizzying shifts of alliances of the various warring groups(within) and the external forces manipulating them did nothing but destroy its people and the nation itself.

Lebanon...more

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Mar 08, 2009 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Received this book at the end of December 2008. Finished shortly into 2009.
What can one say about the horrors of war. The horrors of civil-war. the complete failure of humanity. And the cancer that is power and control.
Once you read the chapter entitled, "Terrorist", you will realize, through Fisk accounts, that humanity is a grim spectacle.
A chilling remembrance to the victims of atrocities. Fisk gives the ghost of the deceased names, faces, feelings. Sad to say, a rare occurrence, where we a...more

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May 12, 2012 Rhonda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: international-relations

This book fills a lot of gaps about the civil war and ties the complex international influences, consequences and power struggle coherently into Lebanon's civil war context. If you're unfamiliar with the Lebanese civil war than it will be a bit of a challenge to follow but if you're interested in learning about this, it provides thorough coverage of the events.

Some reviewers have suggested that Fisk sensationalized the tragic events. I disagree with this. These events are recounts of his experi...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Mohammed Alaa Kalaji rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, favorites

لا توجد كلمة يمكنها أنه تعبر عن شعوري بعد الانتهاء من هذا الكتاب سوى كلمة (آه) مع تنهد طويل وعميق

ترك هذا الكتاب في نفسي أثراً كبيراً لن يمحى ... علمني الكثير .. وقدم لي الكثير
إنه أكثر من مجرد تاريخ ... أكثر من مجرد توثيق صحفي لويلات وطن ... إنه دروسٌ في الإنسانية ... وكشفٌ للستار عن الجانب الوحشي والمظلم من الإنسان

علمني "ويلات وطن" أن الجريمة لا تختلف باختلاف حجمها ... إن من قتل إنساناً كمن قتل ألفاً ...
تذكرت قوله تعالى :
مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Bryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

On October 23, 1983, two men nearly simultaneously detonated car bombs killing 241 American servicemen, of whom 220 were Marines and 58 French servicemen in one of the deadliest days in American combat history since World War 2. I have known of this for a large part of my life, but wanted to get an understanding of the particulars. Why were we there in the first place? Who was responsible for the bombing? If we were part of a multi-national force to protect the Lebanese from the Israelis and Syr...more

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Aug 02, 2010 Zillah rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone interested in lebanon and/or middle east politics

Shelves: middle-east, 2010, books-l-own, non-fiction, history, all-time-favorites, politics

After finishing this book, l have a feeling that it will follow me for a long time, play with my thoughts, make me think and rethink another million times. It's not just a book about Lebanon; it's a book about disappointment, betrayal, people's tragedies, sadness, politics, and hope.
It took me ages to finish this one; partly because l didn't have much time in this period, partly because it reads like a 700 pages long newspaper article and requires a great deal of concentration, but it's nonethel...more After finishing this book, l have a feeling that it will follow me for a long time, play with my thoughts, make me think and rethink another million times. It's not just a book about Lebanon; it's a book about disappointment, betrayal, people's tragedies, sadness, politics, and hope.
It took me ages to finish this one; partly because l didn't have much time in this period, partly because it reads like a 700 pages long newspaper article and requires a great deal of concentration, but it's nonetheless absolutely captivating. Still, while reading it l realised how little l actually know about political side of middle east and the complexity of conflicts in its countries, and all the notes l took along the way leave me with enough material for another 3 years of investigating the subject.
Reading certain reviews l've noticed people blaming Fisk for his sensationalism, but l'd have to disagree with them. What l found in his book wasn't sensationalism, but profound quest for the truth. Pity the Nation does not give you just one side of the story, it does not try to create your opinion, it simply gives you all the information the writer could obtain from all sides involved and lets you draw your own conclusions most of the time. Even when Fisk states his own opinion, later on you can see him questioning his own words, thoughts and conclusions which l think is essential for a good reporter. l also do not think that anyone is capable of writing something, whether it's a book or a newspaper article, without putting at least a bit of his/her emotions into it. That's why l admire Fisk's objectivity, because even with those occasional little slips, he managed to maintain it to the maximum for a person who is surronded by people's misery and suffering year after year.
A man like him who has stayed in Lebanon for years and lived among both its people and its enemies is more than fit to write a story like that. l think the world needs more journalists like Fisk who aren't afraid to speak out against injustice regardless of the danger that puts them in.(less)

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Nov 12, 2010 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fisk has produced what should be generally regarded as one of the best pieces of journalism ever tansferred to the pages of literature. In attempting to comprehend how the Israeli nation could countenance atrocities committed in its name, Fisk opens this account by travelling to Auschwitz to ground any judgement on the genocide that engendered the diaspora which resulted in the founding of the Israeli state. Though suitably moved by the human tragedy of the holocaust, the author is objective eno...more Fisk has produced what should be generally regarded as one of the best pieces of journalism ever tansferred to the pages of literature. In attempting to comprehend how the Israeli nation could countenance atrocities committed in its name, Fisk opens this account by travelling to Auschwitz to ground any judgement on the genocide that engendered the diaspora which resulted in the founding of the Israeli state. Though suitably moved by the human tragedy of the holocaust, the author is objective enough to determine the Yad Vashem memorial outside Jerusalem as more than a monument to the victims of the Nazis, but also a political statement of intent to justify the state of Israel and all means to defend it. Thus, British paratroopers denying access to Jewish refugees fleeing the persecution, and Yad Vashem, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who embraced the Wehrmacht to prevent Jewish settlement of Palestine, share billing with the Nazi persecutors. Fisk offers a comparative symbol for adherence to Palestinian resistance with the keys and legal documents many of those who fled the civil war of 1948 still possess to homes since requisitioned or destroyed by Jewish settlers. The legitimacy of the claims of this displaced population is often undermined by 1950 Israeli legislation which determines such refugees as 'absentees' and thereby forfeit to any return. Although compensation has been tabled since 1973, few Palestinian landowners have taken up the offer, as the price includes recognition of the state of Israel. The obvious result has been that many Palestinian exiles have established refugee communities in neighbouring Lebanon, where they have joined other minorities which have`made their home in this mountainous region which offers physical protection through its terrain. Fisk reveals the historical roots of Christian and Muslim conflict in this region, detailing the manner in which intervention by European powers in the Levant in the nineteenth century only exacerbated communal differences. The Christian Maronite population are descendants of a community which allied itself to the Crusaders, and the great escarpments which form the spine of modern-day Lebanon are dotted with crusader castles which once guarded this outpost of Christendom. The Levant was also peopled by two minority Muslim communities - the Druze, who originate from Egypt, are regarded as heretics by orthodox Muslims, believing in reincarnation and transmigration of the soul; the Shia Muslims have disputed the leadership of Islam since the eighth century murder of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet, and regard his descendants, the 'Imams', as the true successors to Mohammed. The unfortunate involvement of western powers dates from the 1840s when European powers proposed to the Ottoman Turks, unable to contain bitter disputes between Christian and Muslim communities, that Lebanon should be partitioned between the two communities, thereby sowing the seeds for the grief which has shrouded this country for the next century. In an ensuing civil war in 1860, the massacre of the Christian population led the French army to intervene to protect the latter, while during the First World War, the Allied blockade of the Levant to starve Turkish troops of supplies within the region, exacerbated by the Ottoman bureaucrats, led to famine in which hundreds of thousands died across Lebanon and Syria. In the subsequent peace the League of Nations mandate gave the French power over Syria and Lebanon, who shamelessly utilised religious divisions to further their own interests, utilising Druze fighters as colonial militia. Worse, the state now recognised as Lebanon was an artificial creation by the French in 1920, which stripped Syria, hotbed of Arab nationalism, of its ports and large areas of Muslim dominated land. After brutal repression of Muslim resistance, a Franco-Lebanese treaty in 1936 gave theoretical independence to Lebanon, though France maintained a military and political presence. That same year witnessed the birth of the Christian Phalange, when its founding father, Pierre Gemayel, established this Nazi-inpspied youth movement to establish order and discipline, having been greatly impressed by what he had witnessed as captain of the Lebanese football team at the Berlin Olympics. When the French finally withdrew from Lebanon in 1946, they left a Christian leadership holding tenaciously onto power over a Muslim majority population, with leadership conceded to them as part of a National Covenant in exchange for losing French support and power-sharing, while their Muslim neighbours yielded their demands for reintegration into Syria. Tensions would lead to civil war and American intervention in 1958 with the US afraid that the pan-Arab nationalism espoused by Nasser would engulf this 'lauded' democracy. The growing influx of Palestinian refugees from 1948 onwards,with the establishment of Beirut as headquarters of the PLO when the latter was forced out of Jordan, would increasingly bear the brunt of Philangist anger at rising resistance to their rule, especially with Israeli reprisals on southern Lebanon for PLO armed operations. The Lebanese Christains would be in bitter agreement with the Israelis that the armed Palestinian presence had created a 'stste within a state', while their Muslim neighbours sympathised with the Palestinian cause. Thus, there should not be any surprise that the bloody masscares unleashed by the civil war of 1975-76 pitted the Phalange against both Muslims and Palestinians. Perhaps the bloodiest example of religious war can be provided by what became known as 'Black Saturday' in Dec 75 when in mirrored reprisals, Muslim and Christian militias set up roadblocks in east and west Beirut and brutally slaughtered passing motorists of the wrong religious persuasion - estimates are that 300 of each community met a bloody end that day. With imminent Palestinian victory, the Syrian army invaded in 1976 to defend the vanquished Christians and thereby prevent any revolutionary Palestinian state threaten their own regime's stability. The Israelis issued ultimatums of their own in threatening reprisals should the Syrian military presence extend beyond an established point in southern Lebanon, as Jerusalem had plans of its own to deal with the Palestinian threat, clandestingly arming Phalange militia groups who would label themselves the 'South Lebanon Army'. Yet, with further Palestinian incursions and Jewish civilian casualties, in March 78 Israeli forces invaded Southern Lebanon killing thousands of unarmed civilians and leading to the dispatch of UN forces to restore peace and oversee an Israeli withdrawal. The UN mission was ignorant of the underlying aim of the Israelis - to create a 'security belt' along the Israeli-Lebanese border patrolled by the ruthless Christian militia, from which UN forces were barred. Moreover, UN soldiers came under fire from both Christians and Palestinians, though the former would target UN trops with full complicity of the Israelis - the worst example being the abduction and assassination of two Irish soldiers by the Christian militia with Fisk revealing that the Israelis though denying any involvement assisting their killers to take up residence in Detroit. The Syrian's long-term presence gradually led to conflict with their Christian allies, but it would be the devastating power of the Israeli invasion of 1982 which would finally lead to their retreat from Beirut, six years after their victorious arrival as 'peacemakers'. The supposed incident which led to the invasion was the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to Britain by Palestinian gunmen, though the size and speed of the military intervention suggest that this attack had been carefully and logistically planned in response to the continuing threat posed by the PLO in Lebanon, and the unspoken Israeli aim of eradicating this threat once and for all - according to later testimony from ministerial colleagues, Ariel Sharon, the pugnacious defence minister, even kept these aims from the Cabinet. The Israelis predicted accurately that unless they liquidated the PLO in Lebanon, they would never successfully annex and people the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza captured in 1967. The disappearance of the PLO would also be welcomed by the Reagan administration and most Arab nations in the region regarding their continued military uprising as a threat to their pro-Western regimes. However, the US required a ceasefire to prevent greater Soviet involvement in the region in defence of their Syrian ally, and this was negotiated with the Israelis encircling Beirut and bombarding the Palestinian-controlled western sectors of the city. A darker interpretation of US policy and the negotiation of the ceasefire reveals itself in the simultaneous resignation of US Secretary of State, Alexander Haig. Despite personal denials, Haig's complicit approval of the invasion is claimed by the Israelis, and what is certain is that Haig misled Reagan in concealing Saudi requests for US pressure to end the hostilities, and only when the gravity of the situation reached Saudi threats to withdraw all investment and impose oil sanctions did Haig inform his chief. Though the Israelis proclaimed they had arrived to ensure peace and had no designs on Lebanon, their support for Bashir Gemayel and the Phalange would have disastrous consequences. Indeed, Fisk relates how Israeli reference to the Phalange as 'Lebanese forces' not only shrouded the roots to Nazi ideology but also attempted to portray Gemayel's militia as a legitimate and disciplined army. For the Palestinian guerillas, their determined resistance in West Beirut, which was far from victorious, was maintained with little care for Lebanese civilian casualties. Thus, it would not just be the Phalange who would welcome US, French, and Italian military presence to oversee the agreed evacuation of the PLO in August 1982. Arafat would proclaim a moral victory, pleased that the Israelis had now unvelied themselves as the aggressor, yet ignorant of the joy amongst the Lebanese at the removal of the guerillas. For the Western powers, their prestige would be dependent upon protecting the families of the departing PLO fighters in Sabra, Chatila, and other refugee camps, which constituted one core condition for the agreed evacuation. This would be immediately rescinded with the sudden withdrawl of US troops only 17 days after the evacuation. The short-lived presidency of Gemayel, assassinated in the bombing of the Phalange headquarters, would provide legitimacy to Israel's support of an armed militia, and their joint intrusion into west Beirut. In reprisal for the loss of their leader, these 'legitimate' troops would enter the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Chatila in the early hours of the morning of September 17th 1982 and massacre between 1,000-2,000 unarmed civilian men, women, and children. Fisk provides a haunting description of the aftermath of the bloodshed, and a damning account of the complicity of the Israelis, who not only allowed their allies to perform such an atrocity under their noses but also lend air support in dropping thousands of flares across west Beirut, which gave the murderers greater visibility to conduct their grisly early hours operation. A later inquiry would place great responsibility on the Israeli Cabinet, and especially on Defence Secretary, Ariel Sharon who had claimed that 'terrorists' remained in west Beirut despite the PLO evacuation. Both the inquiry and Fisk would decry the blanket description of Palestinian fighters as 'terrorists', thereby providing the Israelis with the moral certitude to defend all their actions. Indeed, Fisk provides an insightful analysis of how choice of language within the media reveals the underlying discrepancy in reporting Israeli and Palestinian actions within the Middle East. The massacre at the camps led to demonstrations against Menachem Begin's government, while Begin, himself envisioned the invasion of Lebanon and the encirclement of Beirut as justifiable military action, making constant allusions to the Allied march on Berlin. The international presence returned to Beirut but would fall foul of increasing Jihadist influence within the Muslim community, culminating in the devastating suicide bombing of the US embassy in April 1983. With the subsequent Israeli withdrawal further south, the US found itself attempting to defend the Phalange government of Amin Gemayel and eventually led to the disastrous decision to fire upon Muslim positions in the escalasting civil war unleashed within the vacuum left by the Israeli withdrawal. Retribution came swiftly with the suicide bombings of the US and French military headquarters causing the deaths of 241 American servicemen and 58 French soldiers. The exact identity of the bombers has never been established but many associate them with the emergent 'Islamic Jihad' of Hussein Moussavi. The international force would ignominiously depart Beirut in February 1984 while the Israelis would embroil tkhemselves in an escalation of guerilla warfare from Islamic groups in southern Lebanon. Fisk has produced a disturbing, yet, essential account of how religious terror has been allowed to foment and fester in the quagmire that all invading armies have brought to Lebanon. A masterpiece of journalism.(less)

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Aug 19, 2009 Jesse Bacon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: palestineneedsherfreedom

This took me forever to read, partly because it is over 600 pages, and partly because of the density of the emotional and the historical details. It is basically an elegy for Robert Fisk's time reporting from Lebanon, which runs 20 years and spans the civil wars and Israeli and Syrian invasions. It is telling how many of Israel's policies from the Occupation got a tryout here, from white phosphorus weaponry, to the use of collaborators, to referring to all resistance as terrorism. Fisk does not...more

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Sep 10, 2012 فطومه rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: كتب-متنوعة

كتاب مؤلم مؤلم لأبعد حد

أن تقرأ كتاب عن عذابات سنين في بضعة أيام فتشعر بألمهم وتتعذب
شيء مؤلم جدا
ازداد حنقي وكرهي للأسرائيلين بعد هذا الكتاب
استفزني في الفصل السابع مقولة الجندي الأسرائيلي وتصريحه بأنه
يريد قتل جميع الفلسطيينين
وفي هذا الكتاب كشف الكثير من غدر وخداع الأسرائيلين
واعذارهم الواهية في ارتكاب المجازر
وطريقتهم بادعاء الهدنه لتمويل ذخائرهم العسكرية ثم نكثهم للهدن \
ماأثار استغرابي ودهشتي كثيرا كيفية استقبال المسيحين المارونيين للججنود الأسرائيلين بعد كل مارتكبوه
من قصف وقتل ودمار وقتلهم...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Rania Itani rated it 5 of 5 stars

this book was definately one of the best books I read about the Lebanese Wars so far, excluding the latest 2006 israeli war on lebanon. the writer simple does not give his opinions nor supports stereotypes, he simply states what he saw during his coverage of the wars in lebanon. he never states any information unless he encountered it himself. the content of this book is very useful, i have read it three times, once in arabic and twice in english.

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Apr 11, 2009 Marty rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another excellent book by Fisk---an overview of the wars in Lebanon from 1976. Excellent analysis, detailed descriptions of the horror, esp Chatila massacre. Its hard to understand how Israel is allowed to destroy the lives of so many, in Lebanon and now Gaza, without impunity. As I was in Lebanon a few years before the wars, and had a job offer to work there in 1975, it was with luck that I chose Sri Lanka instead. But, the book is heart wretching.

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Mar 01, 2009 Ameena rated it 5 of 5 stars

The story of the Lebanese civil war is tragic, depressing, hopeful and insightful. I learned so much about Lebanon, the Lebanese, and the broader Middle East from reading this book by the famed reporter Robert Fisk. If you have any interest in current affairs or gaining an understanding of the complexity of Lebanon and the Middle East - this is a must-read!

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Feb 20, 2008 Samuel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fisk can be pretty ponderous at times - this very long book could have been cut by at least a quarter - but this is still an incredibly important history of the Lebanese Civil War, told from the perspective of one of a very few western reporters who stayed in Beirut for the duration of it. One of the most enlightening chapters is "Pandora's Box," which talks about the manipulation of language in wartime - he is particularly concerned with, and amply documents, how the word "terrorist" is (mis-)u...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Sierra added it · review of another edition

Two reasons cannot bring me to finish reading this book , they may sound stupid but this how I feel. One of them is the font of the edition is too small , it's like 14 or less. How come I'm gonna read?!
the second is that stupid article about the fox tale ,that was written during reading the book ,I just cannot get over it.It still irritates me.

There is still something I want to mention. To be honest I didn't like MR.Fisk's writing style.I got the feeling that he was the hero of all of the event...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Elio Nakouzi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent read.
Robert Fisk really understands the "Lebanese psyche" and the complexities of its social structure.
This is by no means a historical account of events. It is much more alive; the author has been there. A very critical and sarcastic undertone makes it all the better.

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Nov 30, 2010 Dennis Henn rated it 1 of 5 stars

Too many names I couldn't pronounce, a bouncing timeline I couldn't keep straight, a number of political parties and foreign nations influencing policy defeated me after 150 pages. Written by a journalist who spent eleven years in Beirut during the seventies, this book was way too hard to follow. Perhaps a fitting tribute to Lebanon's confused and violent history of the last fifty years.

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Feb 19, 2013 Qais Jbour rated it 5 of 5 stars

it's a well writen book that i've enjoyed readying twice in less than a year.. gives you a good prescriptive about the powers that control the middle east and the conflict

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Aug 18, 2012 John Middleton rated it 5 of 5 stars

As far as I'm concerned, Pity the Nation, Fisk's seminal work, is the definitive book on the history of Lebanon, a beautiful country with a tragic past.

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Jan 23, 2009 Jarir rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great book about Lebanon and the more recent wars that broke out over the nation during the 80's between different factions, the US and Israel.

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Jul 09, 2009 Steven Salaita rated it 4 of 5 stars

This one is massive, but it's unusually engaging for a work of nonfiction. Fisk knows well the political and cultural terrain of the Near East.

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Feb 24, 2012 Ibrahim Abdelwahab rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: التاريخ-و-السياسة, كتب-لا-أنساها

كتاب رائع بحق مغلومات عزيرة عن الحرب الاهلية اللبنانية وان كان لا يمكن اعتبار ما فيه سردا تاريخيا للحرب
لكن اهم ما فيه من وجهة نظري هو وضع القارىء في اجواء هذه الحرب و التعرف على و يلاتها كأنك تراها رأي العين و تتعاطف مع أولئك الذين اكتووا بنارها و حوصروا بين نيرانه
الكتاب باختصار تجربة انسانية رائعةتترك اثرهافي النفس و تدعو للتفكير

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Jan 27, 2010 Hena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: political, media

Fisk shows that war is a game of chess, and Lebanon was the chessboard for 15 years (and in some ways, still is.) The many political and military factions who fight against each other and continually shift their alliances, are the chess pieces and the land of Lebanon is the chessboard. "Pity the Nation" demonstrates that war is ultimately a game, with fatal consequences for the uninvolved civilians who are the spectators of the horrendous chess match.

Read this book if you want to understand mor...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Ian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: war, lebanon, middle-east, history, contemporary-history

This is a great book about the depressing reality of war in a small country in the Middle East.

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Apr 26, 2010 Javad rated it 5 of 5 stars

So sad. I wept and thought how could human beings be so cruel to do such things to eachother.

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Mar 27, 2011 Jean Grant rated it 5 of 5 stars

An amazing writer--a real page turner. Tremendously absorbing and clear. Magisterial!

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Apr 26, 2011 Alexis rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the best journalists in the Middle East imho.

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About Robert Fisk

Robert Fisk is an English writer and journalist. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States'war in Afghanistan and its 2003 invasion of Iraq. Fisk holds more British and International Journalism awards than any other foreign correspondent. The New York Times...more

More about Robert Fisk...

Books by Robert Fisk

The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East

In Time of War: Ireland, Ulster and the Price of Neutrality 1939-45

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“كان مقاتلو الحرب الأهلية يُعاد تسليحهم من قبل سوريا , وهي الدولة ذاتها التي أخذت على عاتقها تجريدهم من السلاح- بحجة أن الميليشيات الخارجة عن السيطرة السورية تتلقى سلاحها من مصادر أخرى.” — 6 people liked it

“When I arrived in Beirut from Europe, I felt the oppressive, damp heat, saw the unkempt palm trees and smelt the Arabic coffee, the fruit stalls and the over-spiced meat. It was the beginning of the Orient. And when I flew back to Beirut from Iran, I could pick up the British papers, ask for a gin and tonic at any bar, choose a French, Italian, or German restaurant for dinner. It was the beginning of the West. All things to all people, the Lebanese rarely questioned their own identity.” — 6 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99826.Pity_the_Nation?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348192822l/99826.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99826.Pity_the_Nation?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon by Robert Fisk[/url]

Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon

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