LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 05/09
Late Syrian
president Hafez Assad admits in a speech delivered in Damascus in 1976 that he sent his Army
into Lebanon with any Lebanese's call or approval. Click on the below link to
listen to the speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=NL&hl=nl&v=MfpHvn_CH5I&feature=related
Bible Reading of the day
Mark7/24-30 From there he arose, and went
away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house, and didn’t
want anyone to know it, but he couldn’t escape notice. 7:25 For a woman, whose
little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down
at his feet. 7:26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She
begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter. 7:27 But Jesus said
to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the
children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 7:28
But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat
the children’s crumbs.” 7:29 He said to her,
“For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
7:30 She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on
the bed, with the demon gone out.
Matthew15/21-28: "Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 15:22 Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely demonized!” 15:23 But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away; for she cries after us.” 15:24 But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 15:25 But she came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 15:26 But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 15:27 But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 15:28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Hezbollah’s New System/By: Hassan
Haidar/December
04/09
A
very Lebanese resistance/The
Daily Star/December
04/09
Golden Era for Sects/By:
Zuheir Kseibati/December
04/09
Different priorities/Now
Lebanon/December 3, 2009
Prolonging the deadlock/By:Elie
Fawaz/Now Lebanon/December 4, 09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 04/09
U.S. to Cooperate with Lebanese
Government But Not With Hizbullah Ministers/Naharnet
Britain
Denies any Change in Policy toward Hizbullah/Naharnet
Lebanon's MPs prepare for vote of
confidence
Iran
Backs Hariri Government, Jalili Meets Hizbullah, AMAL Officials in Damascus/Naharnet
Abbas to
discuss refugees' plight with Sleiman during visit/AFP
Machine
guns, RPGs fired as Tripoli family clashes with Islamists/Daily
Star
Discussions to precede vote of confidence/Daily
Star
Najjar,
Bellmare discuss STL legal procedures/Daily
Star
Foreign
investors pounce on Lebanon's new Eurobonds/Daily
Star
Lebanon
to host 63rd World Newspaper Conference/Daily
Star
NDU to
launch Arabic book for Diaspora/Daily
Star
Palestinian kids with disabilities 'entitled to education/Daily
Star
Student
polls on hold after corruption claims/Daily
Star
Anti-corruption agency invites calls/Daily
Star
Hariri
sends Eid greetings to UAE, backs Dar al-Fatwa/Daily
Star
Green
party promises big impact in 2010 municipal elections/Daily
Star
Marouni says Syrian PM should have
visited Lebanon after cabinet formation/Now
Lebanon
Analysis: A bus blows up in Damascus - exploding tire
or terror strike?/Jerusalem
Post
Lebanon
Emits 0.07% of World's Greenhouse Gases, Rahhal/Naharnet
Al-Rahi: Country Needs
Unified Defense Authority, Aoun Gave Logical Explanations to Bishops/Naharnet
Cabinet Likely to Win
Sweeping Vote of Confidence/Naharnet
Hariri Out in Force to
Ease Beirut Traffic/Naharnet
Sikamo's Interrogation:
Fatah Islam Killed Francois Hajj, Eido/Naharnet
Dahiyeh Rejoices with
Gunfire/Naharnet
Italy Mulls Reduction of
Peacekeepers in Lebanon after Approving Extra Troops for Afghanistan/Naharnet
Reward for Info on Merhige
Increases to $25,000/Naharnet
Bellemare: No Specific
Date for Indictment in Hariri's Assassination Case/Naharnet
Geagea: Will Aoun Retrieve
Church Bells from Moukhtara?/Naharnet
Palestinian President in
Lebanon to Discuss Refugees/Naharnet
Israel: Lebanese
Government Embracing of Hizbullah Makes Israel's Victory Easier/Naharnet
2 Wounded in Renewed
Clashes in Tripoli/Naharnet
Sayegh: reservation on a clause is natural/Now
Lebanon
Lebanese stability between the “dangers” of Israel and Iran/Now
Lebanon
Geagea: Lebanon threatened to enter the eye of the storm/Now
Lebanon
Harb
criticizes Nasrallah: LAF-resistance duality is impossible/Now
Lebanon
Zahra: state cannot be established in the presence of illegitimate arms/Now
Lebanon
Hezbollah’s New System
Thu, 03 December 2009
Hassan Haidar
http://www.daralhayat.com/portalarticlendah/82923
Al Hayat/By announcing its political manifesto, Hezbollah has blocked the path
of three tracks – political, constitutional and economic – that represent the
vital bases which the Lebanese, in their overwhelming silent majority, were
hoping to lead them towards rebuilding their state, as well as the system they
had agreed over in the Taif Agreement (which was not mentioned in the document,
not even once), bring them out of the vicious circle of division and civil
clashes, both overt and concealed, and define the perspectives of a different
future for coming generations. Indeed, the content of the manifesto, despite
some utopian clichés approaching Plato’s Republic, very simply means that the
current situation will go on indefinitely, or that what resulted from the
imbalanced struggle between an armed organized force and a spontaneous civilian
population has become a consecrated matter, one that cannot be broken away from
under the current balance of power.
In detail, Hezbollah has informed the Lebanese that there was no way democracy,
as generally defined in the whole world, would be applied in their country, and
that the idea of elections itself, as stated in the constitution, no longer
carries any meaning or importance. Indeed, when it stresses on the fact that
consensual democracy is the only available option, it means to say that whatever
the results of any elections that take place in the future, their impact will
not be any greater than that of this year’s elections, which produced a clear
majority that cannot rule nor formulate a program it would implement, but rather
finds itself forced to concede part of its powers and to allow the minority to
participate in rule, and in fact to grant it ministerial portfolios that exceed
its size and accept to remain under the mercy of threats of obstruction. In
other words, this effectively changes the constitutional system without clearly
declaring to do so.
In politics, on the other hand, the manifesto also cancels out the role and the
effects of the National Dialogue council, which was formed to look into the main
issues of dispute between the Lebanese, and particularly the issue of weapons,
when it asserts that “the resistance will remain” as long as does the state of
Israel, that it will “continue to boost its [military] capacity”, and that its
cooperation with the army had been “a complementary process that proved to be
successful” and should continue. This means that there is no longer any use for
dialogue over the “defense strategy”, since Hezbollah has determined its stance
of remaining a military entity separate from the state, with what this will
involve in terms of decisions taken at its discretion, connected to its own
understanding and assessment of any development in the region, and to what it
could consider to be political and security “necessities” that can always exceed
the geographical framework of Lebanon.
Hezbollah spoke in its manifesto of a “just and capable state”, listing tasks
for it which economically and socially advanced great powers bear with great
difficulty, purposely making it impossible in order to justify its refusal to
acknowledge the prevalent concept of building the state – any state – in the
sense of accepting it as a permanent entity that can be developed. This is
followed by asserting the party’s commitment to the Velayat-e-Faqih, which it
says is a doctrinal principle not open for discussion. But what if the Iranian
republic of the Velayat-e-Faqih, whose guardians assert to be in a “fateful
confrontation” nearly with the whole world, decides to call upon the assistance
of its followers and partisans, and among them Hezbollah? And we should remember
the questions that arose over the timing of the operation to kidnap the two
Israeli soldiers that led to the war of the summer of 2006, having occurred a
few weeks after international sanctions against Iran were strengthened.
In its manifesto, Hezbollah blames the “other” Lebanese for not having built the
ideal state that “establishes justice between people” and for not having adopted
“real” democracy, based on abolishing political sectarianism, while the party
itself forbids diversity within the ranks of its own sect and in the areas under
its control, and goes on to assert its legitimacy purely on the basis of
sectarian representation. One cannot give what one does not have.
MPs
prepare for vote of confidence
December 4, 2009
Now Lebanon/Preparations for Tuesday’s parliamentary session are ongoing, as 60
MPs are expected to deliver speeches during the sit-down. (NOW Lebanon)
Preparations for Tuesday’s parliamentary session – which will be held for over a
period of three days – to discuss the newly formed Ministerial Statement are
ongoing, as more than 60 MPs are expected to deliver speeches during the
sit-down. After three days of discussion, the parliament will decide whether or
not to grant the cabinet the vote of confidence.
Speaker Nabih Berri told An-Nahar newspaper that he will not set a time limit
for the MPs’ speeches, even if, he added, the session has to last until
midnight.
“The MPs have the right to discuss every single word in the Ministerial
Statement,” said Berri.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Saad Hariri held a meeting at the Grand Serail on
Thursday with several ministers and security and administrative officials to
study proposals on how to reduce road traffic in Beirut, a growing problem in
the city. Hariri wants everybody’s input and cooperation to reduce traffic, said
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud following the meeting, adding, “Especially during
the coming holiday season in December.”
He also said that around 500 Internal Security Forces (ISF) agents will be
tasked with taking immediate and firm measures to deal with any traffic
violations in order to ensure road safety.
Baroud stressed on Hariri’s “seriousness” about addressing the issue and said
that there is ongoing cooperation between the PM, Minister of Public Works and
Transport Ghazi Aridi, the Council for Development and Construction and the ISF
to present immediate and long term solutions.
Also, a well-informed source told As-Safir newspaper that Hariri, along with a
few ministers and his advisors, might visit Syria immediately after the cabinet
is granted the vote of confidence. The source added that preparations for the
trip to Damascus are ongoing, and the visit will most likely last for a day.
Hariri’s Syrian counterpart, Naji al-Otari, will reportedly welcome him at the
airport, where they will then head to meet with Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad.
LBCI television also reported that Hariri will be taking an official trip to
Washington in the beginning of January 2010 following the PM’s visit to Syria
and other regional countries.
In regional news, a powerful blast wrecked an Iranian pilgrim bus near a shia
shrine in Damascus on Thursday, killing three people in an incident Syria said
was caused by a tire blowout and not a terrorist attack. "It is not a terrorist
act at all," Syrian Interior Minister Said Sammour told journalists at the scene
of the explosion. "It happened while one of the empty bus' tires was being
repaired. An explosion took place as result of the excessive pressure.”Regional
television channels had variously reported that the blast was caused by a bomb
or an exploding gas cylinder packed in with the luggage of the pilgrims and had
caused dozens of casualties. Speculation centered on a possible terrorist
attack, as the incident coincided with a visit to Damascus by Said Jalili,
Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator and secretary of Iran's Supreme National
Security Council.-NOW Lebanon
Israel: Lebanese Government Embracing of Hizbullah Makes Israel's Victory Easier
Naharnet/Israeli security sources warned of the "adoption of the resistance
scheme by the Lebanese government", and added: "That points clearly at the major
influence of Hizbullah in the Lebanese political scene." The Israeli army radio
quoted the sources as saying that "Lebanon has practically declared that it is
responsible for any attack by Hizbullah, and that acting against Lebanon -- in
case of war with that party -- was on the table of discussion" for Israel. "In
case of another war, it will be easier for the army to win a battle against a
state than to win it against a terrorist organization," an Israeli military
source said. On his part, the former deputy leader of the Israeli internal front
during the July 2006 war Ayal Ben Raufen said that "the Lebanese government
makes way and gives legitimacy for the dangerous buildup of Hizbullah's power"
against Israel. He added: "In case of war, Israel has a clear address: Lebanon.
That has to be explained to the entire world." Beirut, 03 Dec 09, 21:28
U.S. to Cooperate with Lebanese Government But Not With Hizbullah Ministers
Naharnet/Washington said the U.S. will cooperate with the Lebanese government
but not with Hizbullah Cabinet ministers. "There is no obstacle to cooperation
with any official in the Lebanese government with the exception of Hizbullah,"
said Nicole Shampaine, the Director of the Department of State's Near East
Affairs Bureau Office for Egypt and the Levant.
In an interview published Friday by the daily As-Safir, Shampaine said
Hizbullah's new manifesto "put a higher priority on the issue of an Islamic
state in Lebanon."
The new political document was "more an attempt to show force in the face of the
United States and Israel," she believed. Shampaine wondered whether the document
"will help make progress towards peace and security in the region, including the
people of Lebanon." She renewed Washington's support for Prime Minister Saad
Hariri's government, saying: "It's totally up to him to decide where he wants to
go and when he wants to go." "We will not interfere in his (Hariri's) visit to
Damascus … Lebanon is an independent country," Shampaine stressed. Beirut, 04
Dec 09, 07:48
Britain Denies any Change in Policy toward Hizbullah
Naharnet/British Foreign office spokesman, Barry Marston, denied any change in
his government foreign policy toward Hizbullah. His remarks were made in
response to comments attributed to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband in
an interview with a local newspaper in which he said the U.K. will resume talks
with Hizbullah. "The past few months witnessed a number of contacts and meetings
with members of Hizbullah, but there is no plan to change this policy or step up
contacts with the party," Marston said. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 07:33
Iran Backs Hariri Government, Jalili Meets Hizbullah, AMAL Officials in Damascus
Naharnet/Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili said
Tehran welcomed the positive developments in Lebanon and expressed its full
support for the Lebanese people and the government of Prime Minister Saad
Hariri. The Iranian stance was carried by Hizbullah official Haj Hussein Khalil
after meeting Jalili in Damasuc on Thursday.
Senior AMAL official and political advisor to Speaker Nabih Berri Ali Hasan
Khalil also attended the meeting with Jalili.Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 07:33
Lebanon Emits 0.07% of World's Greenhouse Gases,
Rahhal
Naharnet/Environment Minister Mohammed Rahhal said Friday that Lebanon emits
0.07 percent of world's greenhouse gases. His remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio
station came ahead of next week's Copenhagen environment summit. A 2009 report
by Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) has warned that global
warming will have a severe impact on Arab states where water is already scarce.
Some of the most feared effects include depletion of agricultural land, spread
of disease and endangerment of many plant and animal species, said the report,
released in Beirut. It said sea level rise will mostly threaten Qatar, United
Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Tunisia, affecting "one to three percent of land in
these countries."
The global conference in Copenhagen hopes to cut a deal to replace the 1997
Kyoto Protocol, which required 37 industrial countries to cut heat-trapping
greenhouse gas emissions.
Rahhal cited a World Bank study as saying that environment degradation costs
Lebanon $ 565 million annually. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 11:12
Al-Rahi: Country Needs Unified Defense Authority, Aoun Gave Logical Explanations
to Bishops
Naharnet/Maronite Archbishop of Jbeil Beshara al-Rahi said Friday there should
be a single authority in defense of the country adding that Hizbullah should not
be an entity separate from the state. On Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel
Aoun's visit to Bkirki on Wednesday, al-Rahi told Voice of al-Mada station that
the patriarchate had "waited for the MP's visit for a long time." Al-Rahi also
hoped that other top Lebanese leaders would take such initiatives in order to
improve ties. The Archbishop said that 95% of reports on Aoun's talks with
Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and the Council of Maronite bishops were not
true. Media reports said Thursday that Aoun and Sfeir have clashed over the
issue of Hizbullah's arms. Al-Rahi told al-Mada that Aoun gave an overview of
regional and international issues and his summary was logical and analytical.
The Archbishop also said that the FPM leader expressed his point of view on the
country's defense strategy. Furthermore, Aoun spoke about the importance of
preserving Christian existence in Lebanon and the issue of return of the
displaced to the mountains, al-Rahi said. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 10:56
Cabinet Likely to Win Sweeping Vote of Confidence
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Cabinet is likely to win a landslide
parliamentary vote of confidence, Beirut media said Friday. They said the number
of deputies seeking to speak before Parliament is expected to reach 60. Speaker
Nabih Berri set Tuesday a date for the start of a three-day process on a vote of
confidence for Hariri's 30-member Cabinet. The vote, due Thursday, will decide
the fate of Hizbullah arms in Hariri's government. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 10:40
Hariri Out in Force to Ease Beirut Traffic
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri was giving first priority to ease traffic in
an around Beirut. Hariri stressed the need to adopt strict measures to ease
traffic congestion during a coordination meeting late Thursday. The meeting was
attended by Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, Public Works and Transport Minister
Ghazi Aridi, Police chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, Governor of Beirut and Mount
Lebanon and Beirut Municipality chief Abdel Monem Ariss as well as head of
Development and Reconstruction Council. Among several suggestions made were two
plans -- short-term and long-term --to address the phenomenon of traffic
congestion in Beirut and surrounding districts. Baroud revealed that the
immediate plan requires several days, adding that police would not tolerate any
violations that will worsen the traffic crisis. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 09:51
Sikamo's
Interrogation: Fatah Islam Killed Francois Hajj, Eido
Naharnet/Fatah al-Islam member Fadi Ibrahim, better known as Sikamo, has
reportedly confessed that the al-Qaida inspired group was behind the
assassinations of Maj. Gen. Francois Haj and MP Walid Eido. The daily Al-Akhbar
said Friday that Sikamo told interrogators that Fatah Islam's new leader Abdul
Rahman Awad had informed him that a Fatah Islam cell had carried out the
assassination of Hajj to revenge his role in the Nahr al-Bared battle. Sikamo
also confessed that Abdel Ghani Jawhar killed Eido in Beirut's Manara
neighborhood in 2007.
Lebanese army commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji had recently said the military
institution has obtained the names of "some" of those directly involved in the
bombings that were carried out in recent years. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 09:15
Dahiyeh Rejoices with Gunfire
Naharnet/Celebratory gunfire and shouts of joy echoed across Beirut's southern
suburbs early Friday as a group of Lebanese returned from Hajj.
Gun shots were heard anew before midday Friday to welcome two more batches
coming from Mecca. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 08:52
Italy Mulls Reduction of Peacekeepers in Lebanon after Approving Extra Troops
for Afghanistan
Naharnet/Italy's government on Thursday said it was ready to send 1,000 extra
soldiers to Afghanistan next year, a move that would result in a "corresponding
reduction" in the Balkans and Lebanon, said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
"We are now in a position to increase the number of Italian soldiers by 1,000
beginning at the start of 2010," said Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa, adding
the deployments would be spread out through the year. The additional Italian
troops would result in a "corresponding reduction" in other international
missions, including in the Balkans and Lebanon, said Foreign Minister Franco
Frattini. Readiness to send 1,000 extra soldiers to Afghanistan came following
U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement of a troop surge. "Obama has spoken
of the beginning of a withdrawal from 2011. We hope that will be possible,"
Frattini said. Italy, one of 43 countries which make up the U.S.-led coalition
in Afghanistan, currently has around 2,800 troops deployed in the war against
Taliban insurgents and their al-Qaida allies. La Russa said the extra troops
would be part of a wider effort to bring stability to Afghanistan more than
eight years into the war. He named "major resources for reconstruction, more
obligations for the Karzai government in the battle against drugs, more training
for Afghan forces".The reinforcements would make Italy's one of the largest
contingents in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Britain
currently has the largest number of troops of any European country with around
9,500, Germany has around 4,500 while France has 3,300. La Russa said earlier in
an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily newspaper that the bulk of the
reinforcements were likely to arrive in the second half of 2010. That would
occur after the return of around 1,000 Italian troops serving in Kosovo and a
further 200 from Lebanon, he said.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 07:41
Reward for Info on Merhige Increases to $25,000
Naharnet/U.S. authorities have increased their reward for information on Paul
Michael Merhige, who allegedly killed four family members at a Thanksgiving Day
gathering in Florida, to $25,000. The Marshals Service also elevated the
week-long manhunt for Merhige to a "major case,'' and decided to devote
"significantly more federal resources'' to finding the Lebanese man. On
Wednesday, police released three new photographs of Merhige at an ATM machine on
Nov. 22, which shows his receding hairline and heavy build.
Merhige, 35, indicated he had a history of mental problems and a "strong
resentment toward several family members,'' according to the marshals website.
Merhige, the marshals said, planned his escape and took pains to avoid law
enforcement detection. "He has a plan. He's following his and we're following
ours,'' said deputy marshal Manny Puri. "We need to catch him before anything
else happens.'' The marshals said in a statement they suspect Merhige is using
only cash. He has made contact with no known associates by phone or e-mail.(The
photo shows Merhige at an ATM machine on Nov. 22) Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 08:21
Bellemare: No Specific Date for Indictment in Hariri's Assassination Case
Naharnet/Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Daniel Bellemare -- who
continued his meetings with Lebanese officials on Thursday -- said that there is
no specific date for the indictment issuance in the case of Lebanese ex-prime
minister Rafik Hariri who was killed in a massive bomb blast on the Beirut
seafront in February 2005.
Earlier Thursday, Bellemare met with Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar. Bellemare
had met with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, and PM Saad Hariri
on Wednesday. He was accompanied by Lebanon's Deputy Prosecutor General Judge
Jocelyn Tabet. Statements issued by Bellemare's office said STL's Prosecutor
cannot set a timeframe for the issuance of the indictment. Bellemare reiterated
that the main goal of his visit was to revive hope for the Lebanese people,
especially the families of the victims, and to reassure them about the
tribunal's commitment to exert all possible efforts to fulfill its mission in
total independency. STL's Prosecutor expressed his optimism "in light of
progress achieved by the investigation", and added that the tribunal commits to
the highest standards of an entirely judicial institution which has a sole
objective of finding the truth in cases under its jurisdiction.
Bellemare stressed upon the importance of Lebanese trust in the integrity of the
tribunal. He added that the mission of the prosecutor's office was to "try
terrorists, achieve justice for the victims, and contribute in putting an end to
escaping punishment in Lebanon."The Hague-based tribunal was set up by a U.N.
Security Council resolution in 2007 to try suspects in the murder of Lebanese
ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri. The bombing was widely blamed on Syria although
Damascus has denied any involvement. A U.N. commission of inquiry said it had
found evidence to implicate Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services but there
are no suspects in custody. Beirut, 03 Dec 09, 20:18
Geagea: Will Aoun Retrieve Church Bells from Moukhtara?
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea asked whether Free Patriotic
Movement leader MP Michel Aoun "would retrieve the church bells existing in
Moukhtara, as he claims."
In an interview with Al-Akhbar daily published Friday, Geagea stressed that
March 14 is still "persistent and strong" and supported his opinion by pointing
at the latest victories in universities and syndicates. Answering a question,
Geagea said that the relation with his allies in March 14 and with Phalange
Party is an "excellent relation."Geagea described the situation in Lebanon as
good "except that Lebanon is threatened to enter the eye of the storm due to the
negative development in the Iranian nuclear standoff."LF leader warned that the
situation between the international community and Iran may deteriorate toward a
military conflict that will spread to Lebanon "because Hizbullah is a part of
the Ummah (Muslim World)." "The endurance of the Islamic regime in Iran is
related to its acquiring of nuclear power, whether for peaceful or non-peaceful
aims," added Geagea. Geagea said the Faqih Rule endorsed by Hizbullah gives
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "the right to decide the political
decisions of the Ummah.""The protection of Lebanon involves keeping it away from
those (regional) conflicts and full commitment to implementing Resolution 1701
-- the thing not happening now," added Geagea. Geagea said that the priorities
of the government are to provide stability and to improve the social and
economical situations. "Minister Ibrahim Najjar stayed in the government to
implement the reform plan inside the Justice Ministry, the thing he was not able
to achieve in the previous government," answered Geagea to a question. Regarding
Hariri's anticipated visit to Syria, Geagea conditioned the participation of
Minister Najjar by whether its program would include "the causes backed by LF
since four years: Border demarcation and solving the detainees' issue." Geagea
stressed that LF does not avoid discussing any political issue, but it does not
see the timing as "appropriate" to discuss the abolition of political
sectarianism. Beirut, 03 Dec 09, 19:16
Palestinian President in Lebanon to Discuss Refugees
Naharnet/Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Lebanon on Monday for
talks with President Michel Suleiman on the plight of Palestinian refugees,
officials told AFP. He said Abbas will also discuss during his one-day visit the
Middle East peace process and the rebuilding of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in
northern Lebanon that was destroyed in 2007. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 07:18
2 Wounded in Renewed Clashes in Tripoli
Naharnet/Clashes with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns renewed
Thursday in Tripoli's Abi Samra district following an overnight brawl between
members of Hassoun family and Tawheed Movement, state-run National News Agency
reported. It said two people were wounded in the fighting which resumed at noon.
The situation was brought under control after Lebanese troops deployed in the
area. Beirut, 03 Dec 09, 09:02
Different priorities
December 3, 2009
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri will head a Lebanese delegation to the UN
Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen from December 7 to 18. The
presence of heads of state and representatives from almost every country in the
world to address ways to combat climate change, as well as the media exposure
the event has generated, is an indication of just how much environmental issues
can impact, and threaten, our daily lives.
In a report by Lord Stern of Brentford, the UK’s leading authority on climate
change, the summit is the world’s last chance to save the planet from
“catastrophic” global warming. If immediate action is not taken by the
international community, temperatures are likely to rise by 9 degrees Fahrenheit
(5 degrees Celsius) by the end of the century. The consequences, says the
report, will be mass migration, war and global hunger.
It remains to be seen if Lebanon’s attendance in Copenhagen is merely lip
service or a genuine demonstration of a new commitment to play its part in
working to clean up this tiny portion of the Eastern Mediterranean. Certainly,
if Hariri’s delegation pays attention to what is discussed at the conference,
they will recognize that Lebanon’s contribution to reducing carbon emissions and
raising a greener, more thoughtful generation is practically zero. By all
accounts the new Environment minister, Mohamed Rahhal, is young enough and aware
enough. We just hope he is given the leeway and money to be effective.
But, even if the will is there, what are Lebanon’s chances of really making
inroads on its environmental obligations when the only political party with the
ability to start a regional war, and which wields huge domestic influence
courtesy of its weapons, presents its manifesto without even a sop to green
issues? This was the case on Monday, when Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan
Nasrallah addressed the party faithful from the by-now-familiar Big Brother TV
screen.
It was vintage stuff. He crowed over what he perceived to be the waning
influence of the US, the special role of the Resistance in all things, the
continued challenge to Arab pride thrown down by Israel, the rights of the
Palestinians in Lebanon and in the occupied territories, the fact that Syria is
a misunderstood and valuable ally, and, last but not least, the evils of
globalization, which he said destroys national identities. Nasrallah also spoke
of the need to abolish sectarianism, but didn’t know how to, so in the meantime
he suggested Lebanon stick with the sectarian system it has. Now there’s forward
thinking for you.
At every opportunity, he wasted no time in dispensing what Egyptian writer Mona
Eltahawy calls the “opium of the Arabs”: blaming the US and Israel for our lot
in life. But that is Nasrallah’s style; he finds problems rather than solutions.
So there we have it. At a time when Australian scientists are trying to breed
sheep that burp less because they consider the resulting methane emissions to be
a liability in the battle against global warming, Nasrallah, who could easily
reduce his own carbon footprint if he appeared in public instead of on TV, still
insists on fighting the good fight without giving a damn about what the rest of
the country thinks or the issues that affect the world. He talks of “achieving a
true democracy, whereby the elected majority can rule and the opposition can
exercise its role,” but in reality his party represents nothing more than
seething hatred, perpetual blame and conflict disguised as sacrifice.
But Nasrallah is not entirely to blame for our sluggishness in seizing the
environmental nettle. He just happens to wield huge influence and uses it in the
pursuit of death rather than life. The vast majority of Lebanon’s other
politicians couldn’t care less about litter, toxic waste, quarrying or rampant
building, let alone carbon emissions. Only the PSP leader, Walid Jumblatt, has
been rock solid on green issues. (Try finding litter in the Chouf and you’ll
have your work cut out.)
Lebanon can claim to be many things to many people. It can claim it is
innovative, stylish, modern and dynamic, and it can claim it defends Arab pride
by giving the Zionist entity a bloody nose, but all these will count for naught
if there is no solid agenda on the real issues of our time, with climate change
at the top.
Prolonging the deadlock
Elie Fawaz, December 4, 2009
Now Lebanon
Since the May liberation of 2000, the Lebanese have pondered the fate of
Hezbollah’s weapons, as many people thought that, with the goal of the weapons
having been achieved, the party lost the justification for its military presence
inside Lebanon.
However, to the surprise of those who believed as such, it became apparent in
the party’s literature that Hezbollah did not want to hand over its weapons to
the state. The party gradually transformed the mission behind its weapons from
that of liberation, to that of resistance, to deterrence, with arms to defend
arms, making their weapons sacrosanct whereby debate on the issue was
unacceptable. The Resistance, according to its theorists, became “not an armed
group which wants to liberate a strip of land nor an instrument of circumstance,
the role of which ends when [its] pretext ends.”
The role of the party and its weapons was manifested first with the occupation
of downtown Beirut, taken over after destructive aggression by Israel in
2006—against the whole of Lebanon—and then with the party’s continual
obstruction of the works of the Council of Ministers and the government; its
prevention of a new president from being elected; and subsequently its invasion
of west Beirut, bringing us to Qatar where obstruction [of power] came to be
imposed by an obscure clause within the Doha Agreement.
This dispute between the state and Hezbollah erupted into the open after the
assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri and the subsequent withdrawal of Syria—a
country which until then had been balancing the fragile coexistence between the
two—from Lebanon.
Clearly today, Hezbollah, via its alliances on the one hand and the force of its
weapons to impose its viewpoints on the other, is trying to bring back the
coexistence between the state of and the Resistance as it had existed until
then.
However, in the absence of Syrian control and the security and intelligence
apparatuses that accompanied it, is it possible to combine the two contradictory
concepts of the state and the Resistance without the danger of slipping into
civil war?
How is it possible to reconcile a state which assumes that “the people are the
source of power and the bearers of [its] sovereignty” with a party which finds
its origins in the Iranian theory of the Wilayat al-Faqih – a theory which
claims that this post “is based on the direct law of God; not the people” and
that orders which come from the Wali al-Faqih, the highest authority in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, are to be considered binding law; or rather they are
given precedence over any other law or constitution were those ever to
contradict the supreme leader.
How do we reconcile a state which deems among its prerogatives to be decisions
of war and peace with a party which purports that the Wali al-Faqih is “the one
who has the authority to make decisions of war and peace?”
How do we reconcile a state whose constitution places all of the armed forces
under the authority of the Council of Ministers and seeks, through the national
dialogue table, to incorporate the Resistance into the army, with those who say:
“What we want from national dialogue is not negotiation over keeping the weapons
or not; nor is it negotiation over the Resistance being integrated into the army
or the Resistance not being integrated into the army. What we want is for this
strategy that we have designed to be completed and for official Lebanese
decisions to be joined with us, side by side, in order fortify Lebanon and in
order to maintain Lebanon’s strength through the army, the Resistance and the
people.”
How do we reconcile a state - whose constitution, in following the provisions of
the Taif Agreement, calls for: “executing [UN Security Council] Resolution 425
and the rest of the Security Council’s resolutions pertaining to the total
elimination of the Israeli occupation,” and also calls for “commitment to the
armistice agreement signed on March 23, 1949, taking all necessary measures to
liberate all Lebanese territory from Israeli occupation, spreading the state’s
sovereignty over all of its territory, deploying the Lebanese army in the
Lebanese border region as it is recognized internationally, and working to
support [UNIFIL] forces in South Lebanon to ensure Israel’s withdrawal,
affording the opportunity for security and stability to be returned to the
border region” - with a party which stresses that, if Israel withdrew from
Shebaa, “we [would] not stop fighting them. Our goal is the liberation of
Palestine. The Jews who survive this war of liberation can return to Germany or
wherever they came from.”?
How do we reconcile a state that seeks to establish better relations with sister
Arab states with a party that infringes upon the sovereignty of these states and
makes the Lebanese residents and investors located in them vulnerable to
expulsion as a result of the party’s ventures, toying with their livelihoods and
undermining their futures and the futures of their children?
Finally, how do we reconcile a state that adopted the Arab peace initiative
launched by Saudi King Abdullah from Beirut as a settlement to Arab-Israeli
fighting with those who proclaim: “It has been, still is, and will continue to
be our position to maintain a position of rejection pertaining to the peace
settlement based on the principle that the choice of settlement [stands] with
the Zionist entity.”
Today the Lebanese continue to ponder [the fate of these weapons] while they
listen to the party’s allies concoct new pretexts for the weapons not to be
handed over to the state: from “preventing the naturalization [of Palestinian
citizens],” to “confronting global conspiracies” which seek “the assets of the
Umma”… So what comes next, especially since the Resistance has not been able to
make Lebanese society join in its plot and that the state has not been able to
incorporate the Resistance?
No matter how some try to look for middle-ground solutions, their efforts will
merely prolong the deadlock. And there is not one state in the world with two
centers [of power] that make decisions pertaining to sovereignty. This article
is a translation of the original, which was published on the NOW Arabic site on
December 1, 2009
Geagea: Lebanon threatened to enter the eye of the storm
Date: December 3rd, 2009
Source: Al Akhbar
Leader of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea said that the general situation in
Lebanon in good, but the country is threatened to enter the eye of the storm due
to the negative developments in the Iranian nuclear issue and the tendency of
the international community to take economic measures against Tehran.
Geagea told Al-Akhbar newspaper that the situation between Iran and the
International community might evolve to military confrontation which Lebanon
will not survive, since Hizbullah is part of the Iranian nation, adding that
“the survival of the Islamic regime in Iran is linked to Tehran’s ability to
obtain nuclear power for peaceful or non-peaceful purposes.”
He said that the concept of Vilayat Al-Fakih adopted by Hizbullah gives this
reference the right to determine the political choices of the nation, pointing
that protecting Lebanon requires to immune it from these conflicts, and commit
to implement the 1701 International resolution, “which is not happening now.”
“The government priority is to provide stability and improve the social and
economic situation and to discuss means to protect Lebanon not to enter the
disputes of the region” he said.
Geagea stressed that keeping Minister Ibrahim Najjar in the government is an
implementation of the Lebanese Forces reform project at the Ministry of Justice,
which was not implemented during the previous government, denying that Premier
Saad Hariri or any of the allies are ashamed of the Lebanese Forces. “The
relation with March 14 alliance and the Kataeb party is excellent”, party leader
stressed, adding that March 14 group is strong and ongoing with its project and
the proof is its victory in syndicate and student elections in most
universities. Geagea said that Minister Najjar’s participation in Hariri’s visit
to Syria is linked to including the LF’s demands in the visit program, like
border demarcation and missing Lebanese in the Syrian prisons. He assured that
the Lebanese Forces does not elude from any political suggestion, but believes
that time is not suitable to discuss the issue of abolishing political
sectarianism, asking MP Michel Aoun: “will he return the church bells which he
says are present in the Mokhtara area?”
Harb criticizes Nasrallah: LAF-resistance duality is impossible
Date: December 3rd, 2009
Source: Al Massira
Labor Minister Boutros Harb criticized Thursday Hizbullah’s manifesto and stated
three main remarks on it. “It did not mention Lebanon’s final entity and the
1989 Taëf peace accord while the third remark is that it explains the Lebanese
consensual system by the rule of the majority and minority together until the
abolishment of political sectarianism,” noted Harb in an interview to Al Massira
magazine to be published Friday. Harb, member of the March 14 coalition, said
that he does not agree with Hizbullah’s secretary general Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah regarding the duality of the resistance and the Lebanese Army, “I
sustain the stance of Maronite Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir who said
that an illegitimate democratic system is impossible.”
As for the defense strategy that is being discussed in a national dialogue at
the presidential palace in Baabda, Harb considered that Nasrallah drew his own
defense strategy “and refused any other defense strategy that does not ensure
the continuity of a free resistance.” MP Harb asserted that Christians of March
14 are the only side that kept its positions, “there is a slight difference with
Almustaqbal Movement but I convinced that Prime Minister Saad Hariri is keeping
his principles.” Minister Harb considered his objection to the ministerial
statement is a normal step as the statement “gives legitimacy to the arms of
Hizbullah,” noting that his position “was based on my conscience and stresses
what I always said since the first day of the formation of the government that I
won’t accept to be a false witness.” He pointed to an essential amendment in the
ministerial statement by citing the exclusive right of the Lebanese State to
decide the general politics of the country. And regarding House Speaker Nabih
Berri’s proposal to abolish political sectarianism, Harb considered that this
suggestion “is illogical as the atmosphere is not adequate and different than
the environment that preceded the Taëf peace agreement.” The Labor Minister
suggested the initiation of a law that regulates the work of the national
committee for the abolishment of political sectarianism, and warned that dealing
quickly with this issue would lead to contrary results. “Hizbullah cannot live
politically outside the Shiite community, because it is based on a religious
doctrine related to Wilayat el-Fakih,” added Harb, noting that the country is
under the threat of war caused by Israel and Iran.
Zahra: state cannot be established in the presence of illegitimate arms
Date: December 3rd, 2009
Source: NNA
Lebanese Forces bloc member MP Antoine Zahra assured that the state cannot be
established in the presence of illegitimate arms, he said during an Independence
Day celebration in Paris on Thursday. March 14’s MP Zahra expressed surprise
that “the issue of limiting arms to the state was ignored and replaced by calls
for abolishing political sectarianism which leads to confronting Christian
representation in particular with another logic.”Zahra asserted the Forces
commitment to articles on expatriates’ right to vote in parliamentary elections
“despite minority-set hampers.” “France, which once directed tutelage in
Lebanon, has become a loyal friend to Lebanon through respecting its sovereignty
and defending it at the international community,” he added, pointing that
“respect for Lebanese sovereignty is a condition for sound and equal ties.”Zahra
remarked that “certain Lebanese groups must not be backed at the expense of
others to achieve regional purposes,” reiterating Lebanese Forces commitment to
the beliefs of the Cedars Revolution.
Lebanese stability between the “dangers” of Israel and Iran
Date: December 3rd, 2009
Future News/The parliament’s sessions to discuss the Ministerial Policy
Statement will begin Tuesday morning, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih
Berri, as the sessions will end up with the confidence vote for the government
of PM Saad Hariri, which is pretty much guaranteed. The vote of confidence will
be held after the parliament members give their outlooks on the ministerial
statement which the government had adopted during its session on Wednesday, and
after they give their demands about the needs of their regions, as well as their
opinion regarding the political issues, mainly those related to the
establishment of the committee for eliminating political sectarianism, and the
issue of the resistance and its weapons, amid Hizbullah’s call for combining the
resistance and the army. It is obvious that the climate of political calm on the
inside bothers Israel, which continues it psychological war against the
Lebanese, as the latest in this regard was its response to the cabinet
statement. Israeli security sources warned against the cabinet’s adoption for
the ‘resistance project’ noting that Lebanon “has practically declared its
responsibility for any attack by Hizbullah”, and that in case of any new war “it
would be easier for the army to settle the battle against the state than against
a terrorist organization.” The Israeli warning to Lebanon comes at a time the
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said the situation in Lebanon is good,
except that it is threatened with entering the storm due to the negative
developments in the Iranian file, after the international community decided to
impose economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.”
Geagea noted that the situation between the international community and Iran
might evolve into a military clash which Lebanon will not survive, because
Hizbullah is part of the nation,” in a reference to Hizbullah’s affirmation to
its organic link to Iran. Within this prospect, the political manifesto of
Hizbullah remained the center of the remarks, as Labor Minister Boutros Harb
made three notes about it: “the first is that it never mentioned the finality of
the Lebanese entity, the second is that it disregarded the Taef accord, and the
third is that it linked the explanation of the Lebanese Consensus System to the
form through which it is implemented.”Harb added that the dangerous part of the
manifesto is that Hizbullah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “has
drawn the lines of the defense strategy which it will approve later, while
rejecting any other strategy except that which accepts the free and decision
maker ‘resistance’ which is something we can never accept.” This comes as
Almustaqbal bloc’s MP Nuhad el Mashnouk said the political manifesto “has
stressed the disputable titles, as it endorsed the consensual democracy as a
permanent doubt until a new constitution is made.”“This is a major issue of
controversy based on the Doha agreement, which is an erroneous agreement,” he
said, noting that the manifesto in the clause related to the weapons “says that
we are in the system but out of the state control which we can never accept.”
A very Lebanese resistance
By The Daily Star /Now Lebanon
Friday, December 04, 2009
Editorial
Hizbullah’s new political manifesto, unveiled earlier this week by Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah, has been recently “making the rounds” in the media. Politicians and
analysts debating whether the document represents something new are tackling a
seemingly age-old question. Is Hizbullah a truly Lebanese party (assumed to be
something positive), or is the Islamic resistance a mere an appendage of Iran
(assumed to be something negative)?
In fact, the party’s document and its performance can be evaluated quite simply:
leaving aside the thorny issue of the party’s weapons and its relations with
Iran, we find that the organization’s less-than-impressive domestic performance
confirms our worst fears – Hizbullah is in fact a very Lebanese entity. When it
comes to defense and military matters, Hizbullah’s dual Lebanese-Iranian
identity is obvious, but ultimately unproductive to debate in the absence of a
politically feasible alternative for liberation.
Neither Hizbullah nor the people of the south created Israeli aggression.
Foreign occupation, and not “Shiite religious thought,” triggered the party’s
emergence.
But when it comes to domestic politics, Hizbullah has been far more adept at
winning elections than actually governing, or producing policies and programs.
The party has little to show for its experience in the executive branch after
the 2005 elections; it produced no successful reform initiatives, whether
legislative or administrative, as it managed the labor, social affairs and
utilities portfolios. Instead, Hizbullah itself was swept up in the eternal
Lebanese political game. Sectarian leaders argue that the government must act on
issue “X.” The government then says that it can’t act on “X” unless the
sectarian leaders are in agreement. And back and forth we go, to nowhere.
Nasrallah and his party have taken care of their own constituency, just like
other Lebanese parties. But they haven’t helped make better citizens, or a
better state. The party endorsed an election law that took the country back to
1960.The party says it wants balanced development, or judicial reform, but so
does pretty much everyone.
Neither it nor the parliamentary majority has put forward policy options that
are so attractive, and needed, that they can’t be refused by the other side.
Nasrallah’s capabilities as military leader, sectarian zaim, and orator are well
known. But when he says many things during a news conference, without really
telling us anything new or challenging, it reminds us of the late Rashid Karami.
Karami could hold forth at length, sometimes as the bombs were falling during
the Civil War, and one could keep listening to him. But in the end, what does
the public do with this information? Does it change the relationship of the
citizen to the state? No. Does it change the way politics is practiced in
Lebanon? No.
In this, Hizbullah has unfortunately proven itself to be pre-eminently Lebanese
Al-Rahi:
Country Needs Unified Defense Authority, Aoun Gave Logical Explanations to
Bishops
Naharnet/aronite Archbishop of Jbeil Beshara al-Rahi said Friday there should be
a single authority in defense of the country adding that Hizbullah should not be
an entity separate from the state. On Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel
Aoun's visit to Bkirki on Wednesday, al-Rahi told Voice of al-Mada station that
the patriarchate had "waited for the MP's visit for a long time." Al-Rahi also
hoped that other top Lebanese leaders would take such initiatives in order to
improve ties.
The Archbishop said that 95% of reports on Aoun's talks with Maronite Patriarch
Nasrallah Sfeir and the Council of Maronite bishops were not true. Media reports
said Thursday that Aoun and Sfeir have clashed over the issue of Hizbullah's
arms. Al-Rahi told al-Mada that Aoun gave an overview of regional and
international issues and his summary was logical and analytical. The Archbishop
also said that the FPM leader expressed his point of view on the country's
defense strategy. Furthermore, Aoun spoke about the importance of preserving
Christian existence in Lebanon and the issue of return of the displaced to the
mountains, al-Rahi said. Beirut, 04 Dec 09, 10:56
Discussions to precede vote of confidence
New cabinet faces cluttered agenda of thorny issues
By Elias Sakr
Daily Star staff
Friday, December 04, 2009
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri will oversee at least three days of debate at
Parliament next week to discuss the new national unity Cabinet’s policy
statement, before Premier Saad Hariri’s government can receive a vote of
confidence. The Cabinet is expected to receive a record number of votes, as it
comprises the country’s major political parties under the umbrella of consensus
and partnership.
While the debate could extend until Saturday, if needed, it’s expected to be
wrapped up quickly. President Michel Sleiman is scheduled to hold talks with US
President Barack Obama on December 14, a date officially announced by the White
House on Thursday, while Hariri is expected to travel to the Copenhagen climate
summit on the same day.
However, the reigning positive atmosphere of consensus hasn’t prevented
continued, heated debate over several issues facing the Cabinet in the future,
as some observers believe the new government will remain in office until the
next round of parliamentary polls, in 2013. The thorny issues range from the
policy statement’s endorsement of the right of the resistance to liberate
occupied territories, to the emerging debate over the issue of abolishing
political sectarianism, leading to a cluttered agenda for the Cabinet.
For his part, Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea said the country’s
stability remained under threat, given that Hizbullah’s political and
ideological ties with Iran dictate the party’s political decisions. Geagea added
that Iran could enter a military confrontation with the international community,
dragging Lebanon into the “eye of the storm.”
“The survival of Islamic rule in Iran is linked to its capability to acquire
nuclear capabilities, whether for peaceful or military reasons, and Hizbullah’s
adoption of [clerical rule] grants [Tehran] power over the party’s political
decisions,” Geagea said in remarks to be published by the daily Al-Akhbar on
Friday. The LF leader stressed that safeguarding Lebanon requires distancing the
country from conflicts, and the full implementation of UN Security Council
Resolution 1701. As for abolishing political sectarianism, Geagea said the
circumstances were unfavorable to discuss the issue.
Information Minister Tarek Mitri called on Hizbullah to prove, through its
practices and actions, that it acknowledged the state as the country’s exclusive
political authority, while dismissing the possibility of abolishing political
sectarianism in the foreseeable future. “The ministerial statement includes an
article highlighting the state’s unity and monopoly [on authority], which
reflects the Cabinet’s decisions and commitments; thus, Hizbullah as a political
major force concerned with many issues, has to prove that its acknowledgement of
the state’s authority is practical, and not theoretical,” Mitri said. Western
Bekaa MP Ziad Qadri, a member of the Future Movement, said he expected the
government to receive a “record” number of votes, which would boost its efforts
to meet the public’s needs. Qadri said the issue of Hizbullah’s weapons, the
abolishment of political sectarianism and any proposed constitutional amendments
should be subject to dialogue and consensus, to prevent the rise of further
complications. “The defense strategy … should be discussed calmly during
national dialogue sessions among other topics, which would lead to reforming the
political regime and the implementation of the rest of the provisions of Taif,”
Qadri Similarly, Chouf MP Neameh Tohmeh, a member of Druze leader Walid
Jumblatt’s bloc, stressed the need to fully implement Taif. He noted that while
eliminating political sectarianism is part of the 1989 accord, the current
political climate indicated that the timing still wasn’t right. Tohmeh said that
Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party had moved to a centrist position between
March 8 and March 14, since regional and domestic circumstances changed from
that of 2005. “Most of the goals set down in 2005 were accomplished, and the
country shouldn’t be divided like it was before,” Tohmeh said.
However, Tohmeh emphasized that the Democratic Gathering remained part of the
parliamentary majority and said it fully supported Hariri.
Marjayoun-Hasbaya MP Ali Hassan Khalil, the political aide to Berri, said
Thursday that the speaker’s call to form a committee tasked with abolishing
political sectarianism was in accordance with constitutional and consensual
norms, and should lead to positive discussions. Khalil praised Interior Minister
Ziyad Baroud’s stance on the issue, stressed the need to implement
administrative decentralization based on the Taif Accord.
Golden Era for
Sects
Thu, 03 December 2009
By: Zuheir Kseibati
When General Michel Aoun continued the series of reconciliations in Lebanon when
he attended the meeting of the Maronite Bishops' Council and his statement about
a new chapter, one between Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and who is considered the
"patriarch of politics" for Christian sides, then this is a good sign that the
wave of accusations and "undermining of the high-ranking positions" will stop.
It is perhaps no less important to envisage a role for General Aoun in bringing
together the Bishops' Council and the visions of many sides that were in the
opposition camp before the formation of the government under Saad Hariri, with
these sides representing now half the opposition, only if the conflict within
the cabinet and outside it renews, after the government obtains the confidence
of the parliament.
Is it a mere pessimistic possibility? The problem lies in the Lebanese memory.
Otherwise, how can we justify the blessed "attack" on political sectarianism
which is about to become a chronic disease, whereas the Taef Accord provided the
solution but was ignored for many years.
The doctor has changed, but preempting the government's receipt of confidence
with a surprising awakening to this sectarianism and its diseases, does not
alleviate the concerns or deprives "Hezbollah" of a national justification for
more momentum in the pursuit of "the powerful and just state." While some sides
believe there is a distinction between the proposals of the party's political
document and the rush of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to cancel political
sectarianism "so that Lebanon survives", this does not cancel other fears
pertaining to the fact that provoking the issue (just as it was provoked at the
outset of the civil war) will push political sides for a Christian polarization
and others for Sunni polarization. The fear is – according to the leader of the
"Democratic Gathering" Deputy Walid Jumblatt – "to prevent some sects from
monopolizing some posts"… while one power continues to monopolize the arms.
The weapons will continue [to remain in Hezbollah's possession] as long as the
Israeli threat continues, according to the political document of Hezbollah. If
we put Birri's surprising momentum in relation to looking for the source of the
problem – before the government gains confidence – to Jumblatt's excessive
enthusiasm about receiving the document and supporting the majority of its
clauses and his attack on the "sectarian monopoly," then we can explain the
emerging polarization in the street with the following equation: Shiites with
the Druzes, and Sunnis with some Christians.
Is it an arbitrary polarization? The question is still the same about the secret
of the surprising concern about Lebanon, after all of its leaders overlooked the
constitution of the Taef Accord throughout the era of the Syrian presence in
Lebanon. Most important is that since the Doha Agreement, a large part of the
Lebanese people have not been arguing about the legitimacy of defending the
land, but are waiting for a "miracle" of the settlement, one that puts the
legitimacy of the state in one scale at least with the legitimacy of a
resistance. This resistance does not contest the state over its duties and
rights and eliminates its fears over its weapons…until the cancellation of
political sectarianism is cancelled.
It is true that the document presented by Hezbollah's Secretary General Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah carried a calm tone, but preempting the table of dialogue [with
this document] does not encourage the concerned sides about the growing power of
the party to express optimism that the party will be completely "Lebanonized."
The evidence is that the party blamed the Arabs for dealing with Iran. Since the
party views this as negative, it is unlikely that it will break its ties with
Tehran, while the second sign toward Syria seems vague, i.e. the divergence with
Damascus over the negotiation with Israel. Negotiation in itself is out of the
question according to the party's vision of an everlasting conflict, as long as
the Hebrew State is on the [world's] map.
Neither the party nor Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is wrong when insisting on the
reality of the Israeli enemy. But the fact that Lebanon remains at a risk of a
war, until Israel ceases to exist, is the other facet of the "everlasting"
quality of the weapons of the resistance.
The same applies to the "everlasting" quality of the disease of sectarianism.
Everyone in Lebanon openly detests it, while some sides hide behind it today in
the face of the strongest weapon and in light of the "weakest" state. The other
side however recognizes the disease and considers the solution a priority before
the historical settlement.
One of the positive aspects of the document is its recognition of the only and
united Lebanon. But talking about "genuine democracy" and the condition to
achieve it, i.e. canceling political sectarianism, is recognition that the
periodical consensual democracy is not a genuine one. So will there be politics
and a state is the national dialogue lasts for many years…which Hezbollah does
not deem unlikely?
There is an everlasting conflict with the enemy, and a national dialogue that
has been everlasting since Lebanon's independence. Between the document and
Berri's "momentum" and Junblatt's enthusiasm to end "the sectarian monopoly,"
and the confusion of the majority of the loyalist group and the apprehension of
the Druzes and the concerns of the Shiites, the era of sects returns to the
golden cage.