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Israel has pummeled Lebanon with an unprecedented airstrike campaign in less than three weeks, killing over 1,400 people, injuring nearly 7,500 others and displacing more than one million people from their homes, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The bombardment, which Israel says is targeting Hezbollah strongholds in the country, marks the world’s “most intense aerial campaign” outside of Gaza in the last two decades, according to the conflict monitoring group Airwars. Israel’s strikes are occurring at “a level and intensity that Israel’s own allies just simply would not have carried out in the last 20 years,” Emily Tripp, director of the UK-based group, told CNN. She pointed to the United States-led military campaign against ISIS in 2017, where, at the height of the battle for Raqqa – the terror group’s de facto capital – 500 munitions were deployed in a single day. Over the course of two days, on September 24 and September 25, the Israel military said it used 2,000 munitions and carried out 3,000 strikes. In comparison, for most of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan, the US carried out less than 3,000 strikes a year, barring the first year of the invasion, where around 6,500 strikes were carried out – according to data from Airwars analyzed by CNN. “This isn’t normal,” Tripp said of both the scale and size of Israel’s strikes on Lebanon.  While Israel’s air campaign is extremely “unusual,” Tripp said its assault on Gaza over the last year – where nearly 60% of buildings are estimated to have been damaged from Israeli strikes – have normalized such mass assaults. (x)

Not Just Communes: A Reading List on Intentional Communities

Christine Ro brings us six stories highlighting communal living, past and present. 

Like many people, I developed some strange fixations during the pandemic. One week, I fell down an embarrassing rabbit hole of watching, and learning the rules of, sheepdog trials. It was all too easy to sentimentalize rural traditions while cocooned within my 16th-floor apartment.

Intentional communities offered a more enduring fascination. They’ve been described as voluntary living arrangements of at least five people from multiple families, with a sense of affinity outside of the mainstream, though not necessarily pooled income. For instance, one tiny community that I learned about was a 10-person household in rural Austria, made up of  permanent members and donation-based visitors, in a continuing battle for financial solvency and a critical mass of residents. Overall, it’s not hard to see why the pandemic drove my curiosity about intentional communities. Being cooped up at home naturally made me consider alternatives for a less isolated life.

Arrangement with flowers in jugs and cherries on a plate   -  Arne Kavli

Norwegian, 1878-1970  

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