Beirut fishermen devastated by Israeli port attack

Sun Aug 6, 3:28 PM ET

UZAI, Lebanon (AFP) - The men walked sombrely past the skeletons of bombed buildings, shards of broken glass and charred metal crunching under their feet.

A day after Israel pounded areas south of Beirut, the fishermen of Uzai came to inspect the damage to the boats in their port, in the mainly Shiite southern suburb of Beirut.

Standing on scorched green fishing nets and blue ropes, Abu Mohammed looked in disbelief at the disfigured port and the 700 boats that had been wrecked by the attack.

"God help us, we'll have to start from scratch," he told his son Mohammed.

The pair are originally Palestinian. The father fled Gaza in 1948 to find refuge in Lebanon. But now everything they owned in Lebanon, a home overlooking the port and two fishing boats, has been destroyed by the Israeli raids.

"We're being bombed here and my uncles are being bombed in Gaza. It's coming at us from everywhere," said the 25 year-old Mohammed referring to Israel's twin offensive in Gaza which has killed 168 people since June 25.

The Jewish state's air, land and sea assault on Lebanon, which began on July 12 following the capture of two of its servicemen by members of the Shiite group Hezbollah, has crippled the country by destroying much of its infrastructure.

As well as the raids on Uzai port which left a Lebanese soldier dead, Lebanon's main ports of Beirut, Tyre and Sidon have also been largely destroyed.

Imad Dajani, his wife and their two children were woken up in the middle of night by the Uzai port strike. Terrified, they packed into their little Fiat and fled for the mountains.

He came back Saturday to see what was left of his boat "Adnan". Like many of the fishermen in the tiny port, Imad is originally from south Lebanon.

Uzai and its neighbouring suburbs were once luxury beaches where Beirut's well-to-do came to tan and socialise. After Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, many southern Lebanese fled to the suburbs of the capital and set up shop in Uzai and the neighbouring areas close to Hezbollah strongholds, devastatingly pounded by Israel.

Before this week's raid, Imad woke up every day with the Muslim dawn prayer and headed to the port to prepare his boat and equipment for a day's fishing which ended as the sun set.

His catch would be sold at an auction in a large square by the entrance to the port, now reduced to rubble.

"I'll have to fix the engine," he said after he found "Adnan" whose blue tip was peeking out of the water. "When things calm down, I'll go back to work."

"These poor fishermen, just two days without a catch and they'll starve," said Nader Ismail, a cement trader, who fishes as a hobby. His boat which cost him over 5,000 dollars (4,000 euros) was nowhere to be seen.

The Lebanese use traditional fishing methods. Dragnet, trawl line and fishing lamps are the main fishing equipment, according to a UN report on Lebanon's fisheries. The industry suffered considerably during the 15-year civil war which ended in 1990.

Boats cost anything from 2,000 dollars to 250,000 dollars, and equipment from 2,000 to 12,000 dollars.

A few steps away from Imad, two fishermen stood by their damaged boat making calculations, trying to figure out how much the damage will cost to put right.

Another, a cigarette in one hand, poured black water out of his lightly damaged "Alisar" with the other, using a small plastic container.

"We're just fishermen from Beirut," he said, his soaked grey shirt clinging to his body. "Why are they doing this to us?"

Throughout the morning more of them filtered in, shaking their heads as they caught sight of the destruction, murmuring prayers and shouting insults simultaneously.

A few fishermen clustered on the edges of Uzai's pier to lament the destruction of "Rawan", the port's "biggest and prettiest boat," they said.

The distant rumble of a plane grew increasingly louder, causing jitters among the few standing by the once bustling port.

"Don't be scared, it's just an aid plane, it won't hurt us," said one of them pointing to a small aircraft painted with the flag of an Arab country, preparing to land at the nearby Beirut international airport.

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