LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 24/09

Bible Reading of the day
Ecclesiastes 7/19-25: "Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 7:20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good and doesn’t sin. 7:21 Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you; 7:22 for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others. 7:23 All this have I proved in wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; but it was far from me. 7:24 That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out? 7:25 I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Nasrallah's call to psychological war/The Daily Star/December 23/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 23/09
Sfeir Praises Calm Atmosphere, Urges Lebanese to Be Loyal to Nation/Naharnet
Hariri to Escalate Tone if Attacks Persist Against Religious Symbols/lNaharnet
Aoun: I Defend Resistance Arms Because They Benefit Lebanon/lNaharnet
Geagea to Sison: Official Stance on International Resolutions Taken by Government Exclusively/lNaharnet
Berri to Graziano: We Wish for International Willpower Ability to Implement Resolution 1701/lNaharnet
March 14: Hariri's Damascus Visit an Opportunity to Solve Pending Issues/lNaharnet
NYT: Hariri's Damascus Visit a 'Measure of Renewed Influence over Lebanon'/Naharnet
Could Joseph Sader Become his Family's Christmas Gift?/Naharnet
Sfeir Praises Calm Atmosphere, Urges Lebanese to Be Loyal to Nation/Naharnet
Hariri Gets Sfeir's Blessing for Damascus Visit, Says Border Demarcation Key to Opening Economic Relations with Syria/Naharnet
Suspected Syrian Bus Shooter Arrested, Says he Had 'Personal Motive'/Naharnet
Border Demarcation, Economic Cooperation with Syria to Start in the Next Few Weeks/Naharnet
Kouchner: 1559 Should Remain Valid, Hizbullah's Arms are a Serious Problem/Naharnet
U.S. Embassy Official: Lebanon Didn't Officially Inform the U.S. that 1559 is 'Dead'/Naharnet
Suleiman's Tour of Southern Lebanon Postponed without Explanation/Naharnet
25 Police Officers to Be Promoted to Higher Ranks/Naharnet
Iran Foreign Ministry: Nasrallah Likely to Visit Tehran/Naharnet
Al-Mustaqbal Bloc Reiterates Faith in March 14 Principles/Naharnet
Soueid, Franjieh comment on Iranian invitation to Sfeir/Now Lebanon
Saad: Jumblatt will not meet with Assad if visit is conditional/Now Lebanon
Gemayel: Phalange MPs Will Challenge Ministerial Statement's 6th Article before Constitutional Council/Naharnet
Murr, Qahwaji Visit UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura/Naharnet
Baroud: Traffic Jam Crisis Caused by Inadequate Roads Not Police Performance/Naharnet
Geagea: Border Demarcation Starting from the North Not Encouraging Sign by Syria/Naharnet
Phalange will enter Constitutional Court plea to contest Resistance arms/Daily Star
US official: We're not taking sides in Lebanon/Daily Star
Nasrallah calls for 'psychological warfare' against Israel/Daily Star
Middle East bazaar, revived/Globe and Mail
Turkey to mediate Israel-Syria talks?/Jerusalem Post
Bin Laden's Son: Our Relatives Are Being Held In Iran; Sister Fled To Saudi/MEMRI (blog)
Conservatives Wooing Traditionally Liberal Canadian Jews/Forward
Iran says Hezbollah chief may pay a visit/WashingtonTV
'Two million tourists' to visit Lebanon by end-2009/Daily Star
Abu-Ghazaleh says global financial crisis is far from over /Daily Star
Baroud: Probe into Tripoli attacks 'serious /Daily Star
Murr and Kahwaji visit south, vow to uphold Resolution 1701/Daily Star
Campaign fights poor prison health care provisions/Daily Star
Local communist leader meets French counterpart/Daily Star

Geagea to Sison: Official Stance on International Resolutions Taken by Government Exclusively
lNaharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday met with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison in Maarab.
LF press office said that Sison informed Geagea of her administration's firm support for the implementation of international resolutions 1559, 1680, and 1701.
Sison also reiterated her country's unconditional support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and for all what it takes to fortify Lebanon's independence, restoring its sovereignty over all territories, and preserving the freedom of its people, according to LF's press office.
The U.S. ambassador stressed upon the U.S. efforts for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state despite all of the current difficulties and obstacles.
On his part, Geagea stressed to Sison that Lebanon's official stance regarding the international resolutions is taken by the government and not by any other political side. He added that Resolution 1559 was not raised for discussion by the government, and that in case it was raised, then LF would voice support for international resolutions related to Lebanon.
Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 17:03

Berri to Graziano: We Wish for International Willpower Ability to Implement Resolution 1701
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday sent a farewell letter to UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano on the occasion of the latter's mission coming soon to its end. "In my personal name, and in the name of the Lebanese Parliament. In the name of Lebanese citizens, especially in UNIFIL's operations zone under Resolution 1701, I thank you for your wise and courageous leadership to UNIFIL forces and for your humane, ethical, and noble behavior with Lebanese citizens, official institutions, local authorities, and civil society organizations," said Berri in his letter. "In all of the coming stages, our wish will be for international willpower to be able to impose the implementation of international resolution 1701, and to stop dealing with Israel as an exception unconcerned with the compliances of those resolutions, the thing that encourages it to pursue the violations of international resolutions," added Berri.
Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 16:18

Aoun: I Defend Resistance Arms Because They Benefit Lebanon
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Wednesday said that he defends the resistance arms because he believes that those arms benefit Lebanon.
"Why does Geagea always imagine that the resistance is coming to Maarab after him? No one will come to Maarab after him," added Aoun.
At a press conference after the weekly meeting of Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun said that PM Saad Hariri's visit to Syria restores positive relations and serves the real interests of the Lebanese and Syrian peoples.Aoun considered the challenge -- that will be filed by Phalange MPs before the Constitutional Council over article 6 of the ministerial statement -- as "against the law."He added that the Constitutional Council revises electoral challenges and does not revise the ministerial Policy Statement, and labeled the challenge as "family disputes among the ministers."Aoun revealed that his parliamentary bloc is working on a joint plan with Progressive Socialist Party to facilitate the return of the displaced to Mount Lebanon, calling for development plans to encourage people to return to the mountains.FPM leader called for amending some practices by the Development and Reconstruction Council. He also urged the High Relief Commission for immediate mobilization to solve the issue of rain floods.Aoun said that international resolutions are not always immediately implemented, "since Resolution 520 remained for long years without implementation."He added that the International Bill for Human Rights, signed by Lebanon, gives legitimacy to the resistance. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 18:40

Hariri to Escalate Tone if Attacks Persist Against Religious Symbols
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri warned -- after meeting with Grand Sunni Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani -- that he will escalate his tone in case attacks persisted against the religious symbols of Lebanon, adding that there are many things to be corrected in the country especially that it is being run by a national unity government.
He added that the Judiciary is an essential cornerstone for the rise of the state and that attacking it over a dispute with one judge was not accepted.
Earlier Wednesday, Hariri met with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir "to discuss latest developments, including trip to Syria," as he told reporters.
He said he was seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open "good" economic and trade relations between Beirut and Damascus.
"We are seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open good economic and trade relations between the two countries," Hariri told reporters after meeting.
"Why do we need border demarcation with Syria? We need border demarcation to open up economically to each other," he said in reply to a reporter's question.
While he reiterated that Sfeir is "Lebanon's conscience," Hariri said he got the patriarch's blessing for his Damascus trip "where I found full openness" from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"We need to look at things positively for the sake of the peoples of the two countries," Hariri urged, stressing that his visit to Syria, which he described as "historic," was in his capacity as prime minister. He said his visit to Bkirki was also designed to wish Sfeir merry Christmas and happy holidays. Hariri later visited the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Patriarchates to extend his Christmas greetings. The premier also paid a visit to Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 19:31

March 14: Hariri's Damascus Visit an Opportunity to Solve Pending Issues
Naharnet/The March 14 general secretariat said Wednesday that Premier Saad Hariri's visit to Syria was an opportunity to end the struggle between the two countries and solve pending issues.Hariri's trip to Damascus "wasn't easy. It required courage from every Lebanese and particularly from Prime Minister Hariri himself," the general-secretariat said in a statement following its weekly meeting. "This visit is a true test and opportunity ... to end the struggle" with Syria, the statement said.The conferees added that it was now the responsibility of the Assad regime to find a solution to pending issues such as missing or jailed Lebanese in Syria, demarcation of the border and Palestinian bases outside refugee camps in Lebanon.The March 14 general secretariat also criticized Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami for "seeking unilaterally" to annul U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 "in violation of his authorities."
Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 14:59

Could Joseph Sader Become his Family's Christmas Gift?
Naharnet/The abduction of Middle East Airlines engineer Joseph Sader came back to the spotlight after Orange TV reported that two Lebanese officials expected the man's release soon.
OTV wondered during its evening newscast on Tuesday whether Sader would become his family's Christmas gift. The TV station quoted one official as saying that Hizbullah was behind Sader's kidnapping on the airport road on February 12, 2009. The official said that the engineer had most probably "divulged some information" but was not an Israeli spy. The other official, however, denied that "Hizbullah had any info about the kidnapping." Following lengthy talks, the two officials confirmed that Sader was doing fine and his kidnappers could release him anytime soon. The officials added that security forces could find the man at an isolated house without arresting his abductors. Minister Boutros Harb said last week that Sader was still alive and information made available for security forces confirms that the man was not dead. However, army and police sources had denied they had any new info on the engineer's kidnapping. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 09:36

Phares in a Christmas and New Year Message
Lebanon's Politicians made mistakes but UNSCR 1559 stays
Washington DC, Cedars Revolution News, Mideast Newswire
Dec 20th, 2009
In a message to Lebanese communities inside Lebanon and in the Diaspora, Dr Walid Phares said civil society in Lebanon needs to equip itself with "Strategic Patience" for a while because of the mistakes made by their politicians since the Cedars Revolution. Phares, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, was one of the architects of the introduction of UNSCR 1559 which called for the withdrawal of the Syrian occupation forces and the disarming of militias, including of Hezbollah.
Phares "Christmas and New Year message" was aired by the Cedars Revolution Radio, an online service managed by the NGO, World Council from Washington. In it he addressed whom he called "the March 14 politicians," Hezbollah and Syria's allies and Lebanon's civil society.
"Lebanon's politicians, particularly those known as the March 14 Coalition who obtained a majority in Parliament during the last legislative elections and had the power to form a cabinet, made tremendous strategic mistakes, and unfortunately they continue to make these mistakes. They were granted a clear mandate by the voters to form a Government, and try to implement the UN relevant resolutions particularly UNSCR 1559. They told their constituencies that they tried but that the international conditions didn't permit such a move. I disagree with these statements for these politicians didn't take a decision to fight for this goal. They tried to convince civil society that the United States decided over everything and every details and that Washington didn't want to implement UNSCR 1559. Obviously this is not correct for foreign powers cannot and should not impose liberation programs if the oppressed people are not calling for it. These politicians often told their supporters that they haven't seen the F 16s and military forces from America and Europe showing up on Lebanon's shores and in its skies. Please give us a break, world powers and foreign countries aren't fighting this if you don't want to fight it yourselves."
Phares added that the Lebanese public needs to know what hasn't been conveyed to them. "This narrative by Lebanon's politicians is not accurate. The international society, the United States, France, the moderate Arab countries wanted to help within what is allowed internationally, but they weren't invited to do so. We were in disbelief in 2004 when the Security Council of the United Nations actually voted the resolution 1559. For the first time in 30 years a resolution accusing Syria of occupying Lebanon and asking to disarm militias and Hezbollah was finally voted. And you have some politicians and voices criticizing the United States and the Lebanese pressure groups in America that produced the resolution for not doing enough! Well the Lebanese activists in America and the Diaspora tell them this: Give us this Government for six months and will tell you how to implement the international resolutions."
To these politicians we say, you have committed strategic mistakes and continue to do so. Is it logical that March 14 politicians in Parliament and in Government recognizes Hezbollah as a 'resistance movement?' Is it logical to call it resistance after it invaded Beirut and the mountain? After it has been part of an axis responsible for violence against Lebanon's civil society including politicians, legislators, military officers, students and others. And to these voices who are rushing to the world and to Washington to state that the weapons of Hezbollah are a matter of internal debate among Lebanese. How can Iranian weapons that are used against Lebanese an internal matter? These politicians must stop making mistake after mistake. The rhetoric of the 1980s and the 1990s doesn't work anymore, the past glories on Youtube aren't going to be enough for an intelligent public opinion. Citizens need results not rhetoric."
The second message was addressed to Hezbollah and the allies of Syria's regime in Lebanon. Phares said: "We see them shuttling between Damascus and Beirut and hear them saying they are going to cancel UNSCR 1559, that this resolution is dead and that they will bury it. Well I have news for you: Neither the regime in Syria or the Government in Lebanon or even the United States can cancel a resolution from the UN Security Council. A UN Security Council can only be abrogated by the Security Council. So to those lionizing politicians and in charge of the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs we say: why don't you bring the entire ministry to the UN building in New York and try to create the coalition needed to cancel UNSCR 1559. If you can do it, we'll applaud you. Obviously this resolution is here to be implemented and will be implemented whatever the regimes in the region wants otherwise."
The third message was to Lebanon's civil society. Dr Phares said: "we know the times are tough but do not lose hope. This is going to be a long stage before we can all together redress the situation. You should be armed with what I call strategic patience and work hard on helping the friends of Lebanon around the world making sure that all resolutions are implemented as they should have been had politicians not committed all these mistakes. What is needed today in Lebanon is for civil society not to lose hope and to manage selecting the kind of leaders and representatives who can deliver. Unfortunately the elite selected in the past didn't do a good job. We know that there are leaders and activists inside Lebanon's civil society who know what is going on and should be done. All is not lost. But with patience and determination, this phase will be pass and the full liberation of Lebanon will occur, no doubt about it."
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

End.
Sfeir Praises Calm Atmosphere, Urges Lebanese to Be Loyal to Nation
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Wednesday praised the "calm atmosphere" among the various sects in Lebanon, urging Lebanese citizens to be loyal to their nation.
"Lebanon today is in greater need of this atmosphere of calm between the sects," Sfeir said in his annual Christmas message. "People seem to be avoiding violence. This is a good thing and something we had hoped would happen for a long time," he said from Bkirki. "Loyalty to the nation requires every citizen to work for his homeland," Sfeir added. He pointed to "improved social conditions" and the "decline" in political assassinations. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 09:12

Hariri Gets Sfeir's Blessing for Damascus Visit, Says Border Demarcation Key to Opening Economic Relations with Syria
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday he was seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open "good" economic and trade relations between Beirut and Damascus."We are seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open good economic and trade relations between the two countries," Hariri told reporters after meeting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. "Why do we need border demarcation with Syria? We need border demarcation to open up economically to each other," he said in reply to a reporter's question. He said his visit to Bkirki was meant to discuss latest developments, including his trip to Syria. Hariri said he got Sfeir's blessing for his Damascus trip "where I found full openness" from Syrian President Bashar Assad. He said his visit to Bkirki was also designed to wish Sfeir merry Christmas and happy holidays. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 11:24

Suspected Syrian Bus Shooter Arrested, Says he Had 'Personal Motive'
Naharnet/The Lebanese army has arrested the man suspected of opening fire on a Syrian bus in northern Lebanon this week and killing a 17-year-old laborer. The man had "confessed under interrogation that he had personal motivations" for Monday's attack, an army spokesman said. A high level security source told An Nahar daily that the man is called Shawqi al-Nazer and investigators were looking into his nationality and background. The suspect opened fire on the bus carrying Syrian laborers as it traveled near an army checkpoint in Deir Emar on the Tripoli-Akkar highway at dawn Monday. The attack came a day after Prime Minister Saad Hariri ended a fence-mending visit to Damascus, his first trip to Syria since the 2005 assassination of his father, ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Al-Mustaqbal daily quoted a security source as saying that the suspect had a financial dispute with the bus driver and both men were involved in trafficking goods across the Lebanese-Syrian border. The source said al-Nazer told investigators that he shot at the bus to take revenge from the driver who owed him money.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 08:05

Border Demarcation, Economic Cooperation with Syria to Start in the Next Few Weeks
Naharnet/The early implementation of agreements reached between Premier Saad Hariri and Syrian President Bashar Assad over the weekend is expected to kick off in the next few weeks.
An Nahar daily said Wednesday that demarcation of the border from northern Lebanon all the way to the south would start in the next 10 days. The two sides would also discuss Palestinian armed bases outside refugee camps and the issue of Lebanese missing or jailed in Syria. Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat said, in its turn, that several cabinet ministers would exchange visits starting early 2010 to discuss economic issues and implement several of the agreements reached between Hariri and Assad in this regard. The two sides would also review economic agreements that have been signed between Lebanon and Syria since the 1990s. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 11:39

Kouchner: 1559 Should Remain Valid,
Hizbullah's Arms are a Serious Problem
Naharnet/French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has said that Paris rejects canceling U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 because it hasn't been fully implemented.
"The resolution's clauses haven't been fully implemented," Kouchner told a press conference in Paris on Tuesday. He also said that France rejects ending the mission of U.N. secretary-general's special envoy on the implementation of 1559, Terje Roed-Larsen. "The issue was discussed when Ban Ki-moon was appointed U.N. secretary-general. At the time, we rejected" demands to end Roed-Larsen's mandate, Kouchner stressed. He added that Paris hasn't received an official request to cross out resolution 1559. Diplomatic sources told An Nahar daily that 1559 can only be cancelled by another Security Council resolution. Asked about the possible resumption of Turkish-brokered indirect talks between Israel and Syria, Kouchner said: "Hizbullah and not Turkey is the problem for Israel … Hizbullah's weapons are a serious problem." Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 08:25

U.S. Embassy Official: Lebanon Didn't Officially Inform the U.S. that 1559 is 'Dead'
Naharnet/The United States wasn't officially informed by Lebanese authorities that U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 is "dead," a U.S. embassy official said, adding that "support for all relevant resolutions was underscored" during the Lebanese president's visit to Washington last week.
"Support for all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions was underscored" during U.S. President Barack Obama's meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman, the diplomat told a media roundtable on Suleiman's visit to the U.S.
When asked by Naharnet if Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami has informed foreign missions, including the U.S. embassy, that 1559 no longer exists, the official said: "We haven't received" a note verbale on the matter. Media reports had said that al-Shami informed foreign ambassadors in Beirut that 1559 is "dead and has become obsolete."
The official reiterated that support for the Lebanese Armed Forces continues and is designed to enhance LAF capabilities and Lebanon's sovereignty.
"There is ongoing dialogue between the U.S. military and LAF" so that the Lebanese army could secure the country's territories, the diplomat added.
The official stressed that U.S. assistance for Lebanese Armed Forces since 2006 has reached $484 million.
Asked about reports that the Obama administration has linked "heavy weaponry" aid to the Lebanese army with the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, the official said that the U.S. president has emphasized his concern to Suleiman "about extensive arms smuggling" into Lebanon.
Obama told reporters following talks with Suleiman that the smuggling of weapons "potentially serve as a threat to Israel."
Arms smuggling "threatens not only Israel's but also Lebanon's security," the embassy official said. "The smuggling of arms is in contravention of U.N. Security Council resolutions."
"Bearing arms undermines Lebanon's sovereignty" too, the diplomat added.
The official stressed that U.S. policy is aimed at supporting Lebanon's sovereignty and independence in addition to backing state institutions by carrying out educational and judicial projects. The U.S. is also carrying out microfinance projects and funding waste water treatment plants.
There is a "robust" relationship between Lebanon and the U.S., the official said.
The diplomat said that Obama stressed to reporters following talks with Suleiman that assistance to Lebanon should not only be seen from a security lens.
"To the extent that we can help provide support around issues like education that promote opportunity within Lebanon, we want to do so," Obama said.
Asked if Washington would remove Hizbullah from the terror list if the Shiite party disarmed, the diplomat said: "The international community has made it very clear do disarm all non-state actors and non-state militias in Lebanon." Removing Hizbullah from the list is a matter of U.S. law, the official noted.
When asked about Premier Saad Hariri's visit to Damascus over the weekend, the official said the Lebanese PM told reporters that he wants to build a better future between the two countries. Washington has always said that Lebanese-Syrian relations should "be mutually respectful and mutually beneficial," the diplomat added.
The official also called for resolving "outstanding issues" between the two countries such as border demarcation and the issue of Lebanese missing or jailed in Syria.
When asked what was blocking normalization of U.S. ties with Syria, the official said there has been engagement with Damascus through the visits of several U.S. officials to the country.
U.S. engagement in the region "will not come at Lebanon's expense," the diplomat said. About Lebanon's status as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and if there would be U.S.-Lebanese cooperation on implementation of resolutions on Shabaa farms and Kfarshouba hills, the diplomat said: "We want to work with Lebanon on a full range of issues."
On the border village of Ghajar, the official said: "We certainly hope to see progress on Ghajar." There was speculation that Israeli forces had a timetable for pulling out from the northern part of the village and the last stage would be in January 2010. Asked about the international tribunal that would try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins, the diplomat said: "We remain fully committed to the STL." Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 00:03

Soueid, Franjieh comment on Iranian invitation to Sfeir
December 23, 2009
In an interview with Al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Wednesday, General Coordinator of the March 14 alliance Fares Soueid said he is “surprised” by Iran’s invitation to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir to Tehran given that Hezbollah accuses “all those who raise the issue of the party’s arsenal of being mercenary.” Soueid called for “coordination” between Hezbollah and Iran with regard to the invitation. Member of the March 14 General Secretariat Samir Franjieh told the daily that Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki’s invitation to Sfeir is an attempt to “patch things up” in light of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’ s accusation. Franjieh added that Iran is aware of the “gravity” of Nasrallah’s rhetoric on “one of the most prominent Christian figures in the Arab Orient.” -NOW Lebanon

Saad: Jumblatt will not meet with Assad if visit is conditional
December 23, 2009 /In an interview with As-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Wednesday, Democratic Gathering bloc MP Antoine Saad said that his bloc leader, MP Walid Jumblatt, is not eager to visit Damascus and will not go to Syria “with conditions set on his visit or without an official invitation.” “Jumblatt said that it is easier for him to visit Damascus than to meet with former President Emile Lahoud,” said Saad, a reference to earlier reports that the bloc leader’s visit to Syria hinges on Jumblatt meeting with Lahoud. Saad also said that Jumblatt believes in the need to visit Syria due to regional changes. However, he added that the visit has not been scheduled yet.

Al-Anbaa: Syria will only host Jumblatt if he makes public apology
December 12, 2009 /Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa quoted on Saturday a source as saying that Syria would not host Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt unless he makes a public apology on February 14—the commemoration of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination. The source added that Jumblatt’s apology should be followed by a visit to former President Emil Lahoud, whom the former often criticized. “The list of demands from Jumblatt is long,” the source said, but added that most of them have been implemented. -NOW Lebanon

Deir Aamar shooter arrested
December 23, 2009
The LAF arrested a man, Chawki al-Nazer, suspected of opening fire on Monday at a bus transporting Syrians in Deir Aamar. (AFP)
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) arrested on Wednesday Chawki al-Nazer, who is suspected of having opened fire on a bus transporting Syrian nationals in Deir Aamar in North Lebanon on Monday. The attack resulted in the death of a 17-year-old boy. Investigators are still looking into the suspect’s nationality, added the statement.
A Lebanese army spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Nazer "confessed under interrogation that he had personal motivations" for Monday's attack.
This is following reports that the attack had a political motive and aimed at destabilizing the “positive” atmosphere in Lebanon following Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s first visit to Syria since the 2005 assassination of his father, former PM Rafik Hariri. Meanwhile, a UNIFIL source issued a statement late Tuesday that President Michel Sleiman and Lebanese army Commander Jean Kahwaji cancelled their scheduled visit to inspect UNIFIL and army military posts in South Lebanon, but did not elaborate any further.However, Defense Minister Elias al-Murr and Kahwaji did make a trip to the South, where they inspected the Blue Line and met with UNIFIL Commander General Claudio Graziano. Following the meeting, Murr held a press conference and reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and to cooperation between the LAF and UNIFIL. Also, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters on Tuesday that “Paris does not want to end the mission of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Special Envoy on the Implementation of UN Resolution 1559, Terje-Roed Larsen.” This comes in response to Syria’s call on Lebanon to convince the UN Security Council to withdraw Resolution 1559. The resolution has not been fully implemented, he said, adding, “Paris has not yet received any new request [to withdraw the resolution], and the issue is out of question at the time being.”-NOW Lebanon

Al-Mustaqbal Bloc Reiterates Faith in March 14 Principles
Naharnet/l-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday reiterated its "faith in March 14 principles" after its weekly meeting held in Qureitem under ex-PM Fouad Saniora.
The bloc considered the visit of its leader PM Saad Hariri to Damascus as part of restoring inter-Arab rapprochement "in a manner that serves Arab interests" in the face of regional threats, "especially with the rise of extremist Israeli stances."The statement of Al-Mustaqbal bloc added that Arab rapprochement was a top priority, because heading toward Arab solidarity affects Lebanon positively. "The bloc expressed hope that PM Hariri's visit to Damascus will represent an introduction to establishing Lebanese-Syrian relation on solid and stable basis," added the statement. The conferees hoped for a state-to-state relation with Syria which benefits the interests of the two neighbors and their independence. They also hoped for improving economic and trade ties given the vitality of those aspects. "The bloc discussed the condemned incident of shooting at a bus in Deir Ammar area -- which led to the death of a Syrian citizen -- and it calls for a prompt investigation in order to unveil the truth in this regard," added the statement of Al-Mustaqbal bloc. Beirut, 22 Dec 09, 20:07

Phalange will enter Constitutional Court plea to contest Resistance arms
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BEIRUT: The debate over the weapons of the Resistance, as well as Lebanese-Syrian relations re-emerged Tuesday as the Phalange Party said it would contest the legitimacy of article six of the Cabinet policy before the Constitutional Council. Hizbullah meanwhile said the Resistance’s legitimacy necessitated no party’s approval.
Separately, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed that Syria needed to take concrete steps to resolve pending issues with Lebanon after Premier Saad Hariri made the first painful step toward Damascus. Article six of the ministerial statement backs Lebanon’s right to liberate its territories by means of its army, people and the Resistance.
Gemayel said his party’s decision to contest Article Six was intended to encourage the resolution of political disputes through the state’s institutions, which would serve to strengthen their power. But Hizbullah MP Nawaf Moussawi said: “The legitimacy of the Resistance is part of the national charter; thus we do not need approval from this side or another.” He was addressing a rally in Tyre marking Ashura. Moussawi said the Resistance took its legality from its religious and political ideology, based on Islamic teaching which did not bow to Israeli oppression. Pivotal relations between Lebanon and Syria should not only revolve around social and economic issues but military cooperation as well, he added.
Moussawi said Lebanon should learn from Syria how to build a strong defensive infrastructure, while questioning some parties’ demands from the US to provide the Army with military aid.
“I wonder why some Lebanese officials bother to go to the US to seek arms from this country when they know that Washington is only interested in the security of Israel,” Moussawi said, asking: “Is it not better to go to Syria and ask them?”
Moussawi hailed Hariri’s visit to Syria saying it was step in the right direction, adding that Lebanese-Syrian ties should not be linked to the improvement of relations between Syria and other Arab states. Meanwhile, Geagea said Hariri’s visit to Damascus was a “difficult” decision, adding that Lebanon had benefited since “Hariri decided to make the trip to Damascus after overcoming his personal pains.” “Despite a warm and friendly welcome, this is not enough to turn the chapter of turbulent relations between Lebanon and Syria,” Geagea said, adding: “there are still many … matters that needed to be resolved between the two states.”
“The ball now is in the Syrian court after Hariri made the first step, showing major flexibility,” Geagea said.
Thorny issues between both countries include the missing Lebanese in Syria and the disarmament of Palestinian military groups affiliated with Syria outside of refugee camps.
Geagea added that Syria should also speed up the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border, starting from the southern border in the occupied Shebaa farms – rejecting the Syrian proposal to start the demarcation from the north.
“Syria should provide the UN with an official document that clearly stipulates that Shebaa is part of Lebanese territories since the UN would not settle with verbal statements from Syrian officials,” Geagea said. Geagea said that despite the talk of positive inter-Arab relation, no real progress has been made in relations between Syrian on one hand and Saudi Arabia and Egypt on the other.

Hariri backs judiciary’s independence
BEIRUT: Premier Saad Hariri stressed Tuesday the Higher Judicial Council’s role as an independent institution concerned with preserving the citizens’ rights. Hariri praised Lebanese judges, as well as the council, for their efforts in resolving flaws in the judicial system.
He voiced support for the judiciary against any slur campaigns. Hariri comments came during a meeting with the Higher Judicial Council members headed by Judge Ghaleb Ghanem, who congratulated the premier on the Cabinet formation. – The Daily Star

Sfeir warns Lebanese still leaving country for jobs
By Maroun Khoury /Daily Star correspondent
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BKIRKI: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir warned Tuesday that the Lebanese were still seeking jobs abroad. “We have been passing through difficult times since the 1970s,” Sfeir told a visiting delegation from Caritas. Sfeir has long warned against “brain-drain” in Lebanon and urged the youth to stay in their country.

Nasrallah calls for 'psychological warfare' against Israel
Daily Star staff/Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called on Lebanese on Monday to stand firm against Israel’s psychological warfare and adopt similar strategies to promote fear and confusion among the enemy’s security and military institutions, as well as its society. “Against psychological warfare, the first goal is to strengthen the will and determination of our people … and on the other hand we need to strike the enemy and its security and military institutions with a psychological warfare as well,” Nasrallah said.
Speaking on the fifth eve of Ashura, Nasrallah said the US and the Israelis attempted all forms of psychological warfare but failed to achieve their goals during the summer 2006 war against Lebanon given “the Lebanese’s trust in God.” “Everything the US and Israel can do through a psychological war to nail your determination they already did and failed in the summer 2006 war. Did we see fighters fleeing the battle field? No,” Nasrallah said. He added that the recent Israeli maneuvers aimed to assure Israelis that their army had regained its strength after their failure in the July 2006 war as well as in Gaza in 2008. The summer left nearly 1,200 in Lebanon dead and 4,400 wounded, mostly civilians. The death count included about 270 Hizbullah fighters and 50 Lebanese soldiers and police, as well as five UN peacekeepers. – The Daily Star

US official: We're not taking sides in Lebanon
By Mirella Hodeib /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BEIRUT: A United States official told Lebanese journalists in Beirut on Tuesday that supporting “Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty” was at the gist of US policy toward Lebanon. The official added that the US did not support any Lebanese political groups or politicians, but was rather keen on preserving the country’s independence and sovereignty.
The official, who briefed representatives of media outlets on the visit of President Michel Sleiman to Washington earlier in December, said the US was most concerned about the ongoing smuggling of arms into Lebanon. The official also ruled out the possibility of any dialogue starting between the US administration and Hizbullah, adding that Hizbullah still figures on the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organizations list. “Our policy remains unchanged: the smuggling of arms remains of great concern to us,” the official said.
The official said the US, along with the international community, supported all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions that strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.
The official also stressed that Lebanese have the exclusive authority to maintain peace and sovereignty in their country The official described as “robust” the assistance provided by the United States to the Lebanese Armed Forces. The official stressed that US assistance to Lebanon was not only limited to supply the military and the Internal Security Forces with equipment and training. According to the official, over the last three years, the US has allotted more than $1 billion in aid not only to the military but also to support microfinance projects reforms of the judiciary, the water sector and others.

'Two million tourists' to visit Lebanon by end-2009
Daily Star staff/Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Faddi Abboud on Tuesday said he expected the number of tourists to Lebanon to reach two million at the end of 2009. In a statement to the press, Abboud said this number could even rise further in the future if a sustainable tourism plan is adopted by the government. Lebanon saw a record number of Lebanese, Arab and European visitors this summer, despite the biting global recession which hit the EU and several oil-rich Gulf states. Tourism represents a big chunk of the country’s GDP. Abboud, an industrialist by practice, believes that tourists could be enticed to visit the country 365 days a year in 2010 if a proper and full-proof plan to promote tourism is adopted. “Arab tourists represent now 50 percent of the total visitors to Lebanon and they have become the main driving force for the tourism industry here,” Abboud said. He added that many tourists have arrived in the month of December and intend to spend Christmas and New Year eve in Beirut and the mountains.
He added that the Europeans now represent 21 percent of the total number of visitors to Lebanon and this is a significant figure. Abboud also pointed to a considerable rise in the number of tourists from the Far East, most notably from China. The minister said that many middle class tourists from Europe and Asia have attended musical concerts in Lebanon during the summer season. – The Daily Star

Murr and Kahwaji visit south, vow to uphold Resolution 1701
Defense miniser: ‘Every Lebanese house has the right to defend itself’
By Mohammed Zaatari /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
SIDON: Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr renewed Lebanon’s commitment to Security Council Resolution 1701 and to every article it includes. The minister said that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) role was to collaborate with UNIFIL in order to implement the resolution. He added that the Defense Ministry’s role was to defend Lebanon through all means possible.
Murr paid tribute to the martyrs of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon on Tuesday during a visit to UNIFIL’s head office in Naqoura.
Murr was accompanied by the commander of the LAF General Jean Kahwaji and met with UNIFIL commander Major General Claudio Graziano, UNIFIL deputy commander General Kumar Bardalai and an array of military figures. After placing flowers on a memorial for UNIFIL’s martyrs, Murr and Kahwaji held a meeting with Graziano.
Murr said Israeli threats to attack Lebanon have been ongoing for 30 years, during which the Lebanese and the LAF had made many sacrifices. “Our people have suffered for 30 years; they have witnessed hardships and made great sacrifices, but Israel is still threatening us and we will continue to resist,” he said.
The minister praised the work of the LAF, especially their achievements in fighting terrorism during Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon.
However, he warned that instability and rising tensions in south Lebanon only served the interest of Israel and, even more, harmed the south’s society and economy. “We have an interest in implementing Resolution 1701, strengthening the LAF in the south and reinforcing our collaboration with UNIFIL,” he said.
As for the possibility of future conflict with Israel, Murr said that it was the responsibility of the Defense Ministry and the LAF to respond to any Israeli attack.
He said that each person viewed the resistance according to his own interests – some using it in politics others in the military. He added that the right place for resistance was in every Lebanese home. “When Israel threatens Lebanese homes, every house has the right to defend itself, its people, its land and its honor,” he said, noting that the policy statement described the Resistance as a people, a fighting power and an army at the same time.
Murr also commented on the policy statement and said he was fully committed to it and to every article it contains.
He added that he voted for the statement without hesitation and he had no doubt about any of its articles.
The minister then praised the achievements of Graziano and said he was the one to lay the foundations of UNIFIL with the collaboration of the LAF. Murr added that Graziano had succeeded in forming a bond between UNIFIL and the villages in the south, consequently creating an ambiance of security and stability in the region.
UNIFIL’s commandment is to be transferred from Graziano to Spanish Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas on January 28, 2010.
UNIFIL was established in Lebanon in March 1978 after tensions along the Lebanese Israeli border increased. It had three main purposes: confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territories, restoring international peace and security, and assisting the Government of Lebanon in regaining authority in the area.
After Israel’s July 2006 war on Lebanon, the UN Security Council decided to add to UNIFIL’s original mandate. The force would monitor the cessation of hostilities, accompany and support the LAF as they deploy throughout the south of Lebanon, and help provide humanitarian aid to the locals.

Nasrallah's call to psychological war
By The Daily Star
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Editorial
The 10-day period of Ashura, in this modern age, is one in which leaders of the Shiite community have ample opportunities and means to address the general public, whether about the past, present or future. The leader of Hizbullah has used this year’s Ashura season to advocate a “psychological war” against Israel. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the effort should counter recent Israeli maneuvers aimed at convincing everyone in the region that the country’s army is invincible.
Nasrallah’s proposal reflects the best of intentions; a psychological war against Israel requires patience and planning, which Hizbullah has exhibited in its military operations over the last few decades. Hizbullah cadres have been busy training, learning and doing, and become skilled at such tasks.
However, Nasrallah’s call to psychological arms appeared to be directed at Lebanon, and not just the supporters of the resistance – if Hizbullah were about to engage in a new psy-ops initiative, odds are that Nasrallah wouldn’t be announcing it in public.
Advocating a psychological war, by Lebanon, brings us back to the issue of the country’s diplomatic-defensive initiative, and the search for tools in this national psychological war. The most important tool here is Lebanon’s Christians, and to get them on board, we must enlist their help in building the Lebanese state, and especially its political-diplomatic presence. We’ve repeatedly called for upcoming sessions of National Dialogue to focus on a diplomatic-defensive initiative, which we need if a psychological war is to have any chance of success.
The trust that exists between Nasrallah and his warriors is one key reason for Hizbullah’s military success. This same level of trust must exist between the Lebanese state and its citizens; the public must see a coherent message by the state, and trust this message.
We’re a long way from this, but a diplomatic-defense initiative is the first step. It requires a “multilateral” approach, via Parliament, to create a mechanism and authorize a budget. Our media, and our advertising industry are also potential tools. A serious psychological war would see the state work with our media, and the region’s best advertisers, to promote our message and change the field of play, by taking a proactive approach instead of reacting to Israeli propaganda.
For now, this remains impossible because we lack the requisite trust, and like all Lebanese, we await the actual work on the diplomatic-defense initiative. But we must find common ground about how to confront our troubling neighbor to the south: Ignore it? Fight back? Take our case to the UN? Boost our defensive capabilities? And if we settle this issue, we’ll be contributing to defining the role of our state, one of the most obvious and glaring deficiencies of our current system.

Conservatives Wooing Traditionally Liberal Canadian Jews
http://www.forward.com/articles/121602/
A Swing Vote In The Making?
By Sheldon Gordon
Published December 22, 2009.
Toronto — Leaflets mailed to homes in heavily Jewish districts of Canada’s major cities last November struck with uncharacteristic ferocity at the political party that Canadian Jews have long favored.
Canada’s Liberal Party, the Conservative Party broadsides charged, had “opposed defunding Hamas and asked that Hezbollah be delisted as a terrorist organization.” The Liberals had “willingly participated” in the 2001 “overtly antisemitic” Durban international conference on racism. And Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff had “accused Israel of committing war crimes,” the leaflets charged.
Only the last charge was incontestably accurate and free of distortion. But the mass mailing reflected a new facet of Canadian politics. With elections expected this spring for a closely divided parliament, the Jewish vote is in play, seen as a swing vote in several key districts that could help tip the balance of national power.
“This is a game of inches in a minority [government] situation,” explained Paul Adams, a spokesman for EKOS Research Associates, an Ottawa-based polling firm. “The Jewish community is not a large demographic, but it tends to be concentrated in a small number of seats… It looks like an ethnic group that could be separated from the Liberals.” At stake are five or six closely contested seats in a parliament the Conservatives currently hold by only 10 votes. Conservative success among Jewish voters, long regarded as a pillar of the rival Liberal Party, would mark a major realignment by Canadian Jewry.
“There’s a bit of a trend these days towards the Conservative Party,” said Mark Waldman, executive director of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, a nonpartisan group that promotes Jewish involvement in federal politics. He believes, however, that a “majority” of Jewish voters still back the Liberals.
Even before his election in January 2006, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper considered Canada’s 350,000-member Jewish community “in play,” and tried to rupture its Liberal ties. He has staked out a strongly pro-Israel position, in contrast with the Liberals’ uneven support.
Shortly after the 2006 Lebanon War, for example, Harper blocked a one-sided anti-Israel resolution at the Francophonie, a summit of French-speaking nations. At the same time, Ignatieff, a former professor of human rights then vying for leadership of the Liberal Party, accused Israel of having committed a “war crime” in Qana, the South Lebanon village where Israeli air strikes hit an apartment building, killing at least 28 civilians, including 16 children. Speaking to a Jewish audience two years later, Ignatieff did not retract his view that Israel “may have failed to comply with the Geneva Convention of the laws of war.” But he expressed regret at his incendiary choice of words, terming the episode “the most painful experience of my short political career” and “an error.”
The Jewish community also lauded Harper for being the first Western leader to boycott last April’s U.N. Durban Review Conference in Geneva, known informally as Durban II, in Geneva, vowing that Canada would “not be party to an antisemitic and anti-Western hate-fest dressed up as an anti-racism conference.”
“The Conservatives have connected with some Jewish voters, especially those for whom Israel is of prime importance,” McGill University political scientist Harold Waller said. “With Israel under unprecedented international pressure, voters who are sensitive to this issue may well choose to reward the Conservatives.”
Already, the Conservative overtures have gained some high-profile converts within the Jewish elite. Heather Reisman, a veteran Liberal powerbroker, and Ariella Cotler, wife of prominent Liberal parliamentarian and Jewish communal activist Irwin Cotler, both have swung over to Harper.
The Jews who shift to the Conservatives are not necessarily buying into the party’s neoconservative domestic agenda. For one thing, having only a minority in parliament, Harper has had to govern from the center rather than the right. And most Jews remain liberal on such social issues as abortion and the publicly run health care system.
A typical case is Toronto’s Dan Ronen, a lawyer who was the Jewish community liaison to a former Liberal Cabinet minister. He plans to vote for Harper. “It doesn’t make me a Conservative,” he said. “I’m not a party activist. I’m supporting Harper because of his positions on antisemitism, on Iran and isolating [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, and for his unequivocal support for the State of Israel.”
There are no polls on Jewish-voter intentions. But the Conservatives do appear to be gaining strength in suburban Toronto ridings with large Jewish minorities. Rochelle Wilner, a former president of B’nai Brith Canada, ran for the Conservatives in 2008 in the Toronto seat of York Centre, a traditionally Liberal, preserve with a significant Jewish minority. She lost, but trimmed the Liberals’ victory margin to a mere 2,000 votes from 12,000. “There’s been a huge shift” toward Harper among Jews, Wilner said. “I think the Conservative brand is stronger right across the country.” Thornhill, the most Jewish riding in Ontario, ousted its Jewish Liberal incumbent in 2008. “There’s no question that the Jewish community, especially the Orthodox, felt the Conservatives had been very vocal in support of Israel and deserved to be given a boost,” said James Morton, leader of the Liberals’ political operation in that district.
The Conservatives, currently 10 seats shy of a parliamentary majority, targeted six heavily Jewish ridings with their controversial leaflets: three in Montreal, two in Toronto and one in Winnipeg. The Liberals — and the smaller opposition parties — accused the Conservatives of playing ethnic politics. “There’s the risk of a backlash against the Conservatives,” Waller said. “The circular was so misleading in some respects; people were offended.”
Cotler, who was justice minister in the last Liberal government, lambasted the leaflet’s claim that Harper’s government “led the world” in halting funding to the Hamas-led Palestinian government in Gaza. It was, in fact, a Liberal government that first banned financial support to Hamas and Hezbollah in 2002, he noted in an interview with The Toronto Star.
As for the charge that Liberals had betrayed Jewish interests by sending representatives to the first Durban Conference against racism, held in 2001, Cotler noted that he was one of those Liberals. The Israeli government of the day specifically asked Canada to remain at the conference “and make its voice felt and bear witness to what was happening,” he said.
Prominent Conservative legislators, such as Hugh Segal, Linda Frum and Judith Seidman, declined requests for interviews.
Neither the Canadian Jewish Congress nor B’nai Brith Canada, the two major Jewish advocacy groups, overtly endorses a political party. But B’nai Brith is clearly delighted with Harper. When the anti-Liberal fliers landed, a B’nai Brith news release defended the Conservative missive.
Historically, it’s the Liberal Party that has appealed to ethnic groups. For one, this was the governing party when most of those groups first were admitted into Canada in large numbers. Also, said Jonathan Goldbloom, a prominent Liberal organizer in Montreal, “the Liberals have been a slightly left-of-center party, the Democratic Party equivalent in Canada that argued for the role of government. They addressed issues of importance to the community beyond Israel.”
Goldbloom said that his party’s challenge now is to make its stand against antisemitism and for Israel “more apparent, especially when faced with an opponent that distorts the Liberal record.” He added, “We want all parties to support Israel; it shouldn’t be a wedge issue.”
Contact Sheldon Gordon at feedback@forward.com.
 

MESI Issue of the Week
Has Hizbullah Changed? The 7th Hizbullah General Conference and Its Continued Ideology of Resistance
17/12/2009
Shimon Shapira | Hizbollah
http://mesi.org.uk/ViewBlog.aspx?ArticleId=77
Hizbullah wound up its clandestine 7th General Conference at the end of November 2009 that took place and lasted about four months. Hassan Nasrallah was again chosen to be Hizbullah's general secretary and, as with previous conferences, the movement published a political manifesto. Some Western analysts believe the manifesto represented a fundamental change in Hizbullah policy. Indeed, a few days after it was proclaimed, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the Beirut Daily Star, "carefully considered contact with Hizbullah's politicians, including its MPs, will best advance our objective of the group rejecting violence to play a constructive role in Lebanese politics."1 Later, British spokesmen denied they had changed their policy toward Hizbullah.
Hizbullah's 6th General Conference was convened in 2004 and, according to the movement's bylaws, the 7th General Conference was to have convened in 2007. However, due to the Second Lebanon War and the debates and internal struggles that erupted in its wake within Hizbullah, together with the death of Hizbullah military commander Imad Mughniyeh in a car bombing in Damascus in February 2008, the conference was postponed twice and was finally convened in 2009.2
Hizbullah's Leadership
Anyone proposing that Hizbullah has fundamentally changed should carefully examine the organization's leaders elected by the 7th General Conference. The newly elected Shura Council is comprised of:
•Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah - Secretary-General
•Sheikh Naim Qassem - Deputy Secretary-General
•Sayyed Hashem Safi al-Din - Head of the "Shura Council Executive"
•Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek - Head of the Spiritual Body
•Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed - Head of the Political Council
•MP Haj Mohammed Raad - Head of the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc (the Hizbullah faction in the Lebanese Parliament)
•Hussein Khalil - Political Assistant to the Secretary-General
•The name of the member of the leadership who replaced Imad Mughniyeh, who headed the Jihad Council - the supreme military body - and represented it in the Hizbullah leadership, was not publicized for security reasons.
Aside from the members of the Shura Council, Hizbullah has not published the names of other officeholders in the movement and close associates have made it clear that no substantial change has occurred in the movement's structure and leadership.3 It would seem that whatever changes occurred involved primarily second and third echelon officeholders in the party hierarchy as well as in the intra-party administrative frameworks at the unit and subunit levels. These changes were intended to incorporate new people into the leadership of the militia in order to infuse the ranks of Hizbullah with new blood.
It is plausible to assume that Nasrallah viewed changes in Hizbullah's military framework following the Second Lebanon War and the death of Imad Mughniyeh to be among the 7th Conference's top priorities, in order to rehabilitate and strengthen Hizbullah's military power and to prepare for the next conflict with Israel. Concomitantly, Nasrallah sought to contend with the penetration of Hizbullah ranks by Israeli intelligence, whose footprints are periodically discovered.
The Political Manifesto
On November 30, 2009, Hizbullah's new political manifesto4 was read by Hassan Nasrallah from a hiding place and was projected on giant screens at a press conference in Beirut.
As with previous political manifestos,5 the new manifesto - 32 pages long and published in a sky blue binding - reflected the changing political reality in which Hizbullah operated and the process of Hizbullah's integration into the Lebanese state and its institutions. While the theoretical-ideological foundation focusing on the link to Iran as the source of authority (wali al-fakih) was not mentioned in any of these manifestos, this link - that is part of Hizbullah's essence - appeared in the "Open Letter" (Resala Maftuha) of 1985, which bore the portraits of Imam Khomeini and Sheikh Raghib Harb.6 The Open Letter of 1985 remains, at least formally, the founding manifesto of Hizbullah and continues to serve as the movement's ideological basis.
The preface to the latest manifesto emphasizes that it was intended to present Hizbullah's political position within the framework of the international and Lebanese reality in which Hizbullah was operating. This reality includes historical changes presaging the decline of the United States as the sole superpower, the collapse of financial markets in the United States and worldwide, and the confusion and impotence of the American economy. All this, claimed the manifesto, presages the retreat of American power throughout the world and the beginning of the accelerated decline of Israel. In reflection of these global changes, Hizbullah offers its resistance to Israel and the United States as the perfect solution. In its view, resistance has become an international value that constitutes a source of inspiration and a model for emulation to all those who aspire to freedom and independence throughout the world.
The first chapter of the manifesto surveys American aspirations for global hegemony since World War II and concludes:
There is no doubt that the American Terrorism is the origin of all terrorism in this world. The Bush administration has turned the United States into a threat menacing the whole world on all levels and dimensions, and if an international survey was to be made, the U.S. would turn out to be the most hated in the world.
The second chapter deals with Hizbullah's status in Lebanon, and here we observe a significant change in Hizbullah's position toward the Lebanese state:
Lebanon is our homeland and the homeland of our fathers and ancestors. It is also the homeland of our children, grandchildren, and future generations. It is the country to which we have given our most precious sacrifices for its independence and pride, dignity and freedom.
We want a unified Lebanon for all Lebanese alike. We oppose any kind of partition or federalism.
With regard to the resistance (muqawama), it emphasized that:
It derives from the eternal threat of Israel to Lebanon and the difficult circumstances arising from the absence of a Lebanese authority. These required a campaign to obtain a homeland via armed resistance. The crowning achievements are the liberation in 2000 and the historic victory in July 2006.

The manifesto does not deal with the issue of the continued existence of the Hizbullah militia. This is a fundamental issue that is not open to discussion from Hizbullah's standpoint. Thus, Nasrallah makes clear that it was impossible for Hizbullah to disarm.7 Instead, the Hizbullah leader emphasized that the main effort is now invested in:
creating a defense strategy that will be based on the integration of the resistance that will assist in the defense of the homeland, strengthen its security and stability, [and]...liberate what remains under "Israeli" occupation in the Shaba farms and Kfar Shouba hills and the Lebanese village of Ghajar, as well as liberating the detainees and missing people and martyrs' bodies.
With reference to the political regime in Lebanon, Hizbullah calls for the abolition of the political sectarianism on which the Lebanese state is predicated. Nasrallah explained at a press conference:
Let's be realistic, the abolition of political sectarianism in Lebanon is one of the most difficult issues....Unfortunately, many of those who call for and advocate the abolition of political sectarianism are not serious about the issue.
This committee may continue its dialogue for five, ten, twenty or even thirty years because, ultimately, no one can just simply describe a method of how to abolish political sectarianism....Possibly, after a long debate...we may reach the conclusion that realism necessitates that we accept sectarianism and that any efforts to the contrary would be a complete waste of time; that abolishing political sectarianism in this country is impossible.
The manifesto praises the excellent relations between Lebanon and Syria and views them as a mutual political, military, and economic necessity. It views Islamic Iran as a primary and important country and a chief supporter of the Palestinians. However, it includes no reference to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei as being Hizbullah's source of authority, and does not mention Hizbullah's loyalty to the Iranian leadership.
Nasrallah was asked at the press conference about the 1985 Open Letter that spoke of a single leadership for Iran and Hizbullah. He responded:
We have provided [in the new manifesto] a political document, but have not dealt with aspects of belief, ideology, or intellectual culture....Our position on the question of the source of authority (wali al-fakih) is an intellectual, ideological and religious one, and not a political position subject to review.
In other words, according to Nasrallah, Hizbullah remains ideologically the same party it was back in 1985. Indeed, one analyst with a deep understanding of the Shiite group called the new Hizbullah political manifesto "a point-by-point expansion" of the principles laid out in its founding document in 1985.8
The third chapter of the manifesto deals with Palestine in the peace agreement process, the status of Jerusalem, and the Palestinian resistance. After determining that Zionism is a racist movement, Hizbullah makes it clear that the liberation of Palestinian lands including Jerusalem is a mission that is imposed upon the Arab and Islamic world. Hence it is clear that in its own self-appraisal, Hizbullah enjoys no special advantage or preferred status in leading the Palestinian struggle against Israel. At the same time, Hizbullah rejects any agreement with Israel that will be predicated on recognition of the legitimacy of its existence or any concessions on Palestinian lands. It was emphasized that this position is consistent, fixed and final, and there can be no retreat from it even if the entire world were to recognize Israel.
While the 7th Conference was taking place in Lebanon, its original architect, Ali-Akbar Mohtashemi-Pur, was staying in Damascus. Mohtashemi, who crossed the lines and joined the reformist camp, participated in a conclave of support for Palestine that took place at the shrine of Sayyida Zaynab, where he was attacked by Iranian representatives who were supporters of Ahmedinejad.9
Summary
As reflected in its political manifestos, Hizbullah has been focusing on consolidating its status within the internal Lebanese arena since 1992 when Hizbullah received the authorization of Iranian supreme leader Khamenei, its source of authority, and sent its representatives to Parliament, and in 2005 when it sent its representatives into the Lebanese government in the wake of the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon, in order to guarantee the continued existence of its independent military force.
The Lebanese flag, which was brutally trampled by Hizbullah during the 1980s, now occupies a place of honor alongside the yellow banner of Hizbullah. The impression is that Hizbullah has adopted the Lebanese state and in its self-appraisal has become an authentic representative of Lebanese national identity. There is a perpetual gap between the pragmatic spirit coming from the Hizbullah political manifesto and Lebanon's political reality. Hizbullah's vigorous position insisting that it retain an army of its own that does not heed the authority of the state but rather the representative of Iran's leader in Lebanon makes a mockery of the clauses in the political manifesto about Lebanon being the eternal homeland. Furthermore, by building a state-like system parallel to that of the Lebanese state, and one that relies on aid and funding from Iran and Syria, Hizbullah does not contribute to the strengthening and health of the Lebanese homeland that Nasrallah says he wants to preserve and nurture. Finally, the subversive conduct of Hizbullah, which acts against the interests of the Lebanese state and sends forth subversive and violent elements into nearby countries such as Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan, makes the concept of loyalty to the Lebanese homeland void of any content.
It would seem, therefore, that the decision of the Lebanese government headed by Saad Hariri to recognize the continued legitimate existence of Hizbullah's armed militia demonstrates less a case that Hizbullah underwent a process of "Lebanonization," but rather that the Lebanese state has undergone a process of "Hizbullazation." Parallel to adopting the Lebanese identity, Hizbullah preserves its essential link to Iran: its commitment to the Iranian leader as the source of authority surpasses any other commitment including on the political level. Hizbullah adopts decisions on war and peace taken by Iran, the sole recognized source of authority, and not only on theoretical and religious issues, as Nasrallah may wish to claim.
Hizbullah's alleged move toward pragmatism is based to a large extent on an Iranian decision to create a new atmosphere in Lebanon that will allow it to work unmolested. After the Second Lebanon War that erupted at Israel's initiative and caught Hizbullah by surprise, Iran ordered Hizbullah to restrain activities against Israel and intensify its integration into the political life of the Lebanese state. Iran is looking for strict silence in the Lebanese arena in order to enable Hizbullah to reconstruct its strategic capabilities (including long-range rockets and missiles) in Lebanon in order to deter Israel, and to make use of these capabilities at a time to be determined by Tehran in the event that deterrence fails. This is the main reason for the quiet prevailing in South Lebanon, and it seems that Israeli deterrence of Hizbullah plays only a minor role.
* * *
Notes
1. Josie Ensor, "Britain Open to Contacts with Hizbullah," Daily Star (Beirut), December 1, 2009.
2. As-Safir, November 24, 2009.
3. Ibid.
4. Al-Manar, November 30, 2009.
5. This manifesto joins a series of previous political manifestos that were published at the end of the general conferences that Hizbullah conducted in May 1993 (the 3rd Conference), summer 1995 (the 4th), summer 1998 (the 5th), in 2004 (the 6th), as well as the election manifestos for the parliamentary elections in which Hizbullah participated in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2005. For an analysis of Hizbullah's political and election manifestos, see Shimon Shapira, Hezbollah between Iran and Lebanon (Tel Aviv: HaKibbutz Hameuhad, 2000), pp. 186-192.
6. For an analysis of the "Open Letter," see Shapira, pp. 126-8.
7. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, "Nasrallah: Prime Minister of Lebanon," Asharq Alawsat, December 7, 2009.
8. Tony Badran, "For Hezbollah, Lebanon Is an Afterthought," NowLebanon.com, December 8, 2009, http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=131055.
9. www.mowjcamp.com/article/id/64087.
* * *
Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira is a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
The Jerusalem Issue Brief series is published by the Institute for Contemporary Affairs, founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation.


The Holy Virgin Mary appears in Egypt‏
http://nacopts1.blogspot.com/2009/12/holy-virgin-mary-appears-in-egypt.html
The Holy Virgin Mary has been appearing at St Mary’s Orthodox church in Al-Warraq, Cairo since October 12, attracting thousands and thousands of Christians and Muslims.
The Bishop of Giza, Anba Theodosius, announces that the Holy Virgin has appeared in a transfiguration at the Church named after her in Warraq al-Hadar, Giza, in the early hours of Friday, December 11, 2009, at 1:00 am. The Holy Virgin appeared in her full height in luminous robes, above the middle dome of the church, in a pure white dress and a royal blue belt. She had a crown on her head, above which appeared the cross on top of the dome. The crosses on top of the church’s domes and towers glowed brightly with light. The Holy Virgin moved between the domes and on to the top of the church gate between its two twin towers. The local residents all saw her.
The apparition lasted from 1:00 am until 4:00 am on Friday, and was registered by cameras and cell phones. Some 3,000 people from the neighborhood, surrounding areas, and passers-by gathered in the street in front of the church to see the apparition.
Since Friday, the huge crowds gathered in the vicinity of the church have been seeing luminous white pigeons soaring above the church during various times of the night, as well as a star, which emerges suddenly in the heavens, travels some 200 meters across the sky, then disappears. The huge crowds gathered around the church do not cease singing hymns and praises for the Holy Virgin.
I personally find no reason to be skeptical about the idea of the Holy Virgin Mary appearing on the domes of her church during the blessed Nativity Fast, especially at this time. Her appearance as such has been confirmed by the Church in the past (e.g. her appearance at Zeitoun, Shoubra and Assiut).
The video footage, coming as it does from a camera phone, isn’t the best of quality, but it is clear enough in my opinion–and in the opinion of the commentators, who, by the way, are not Christian, and who do in fact briefly note and proceed to reply to some obvious typical objections to the footage. The display at 4:50-4:54 shows that the illumined figure is, contrary to the illumined crosses, not attached to the church’s structure. As is clearer to the eye witnesses, the light of the illumined figure differs remarkably from the dull yellow light of the crosses–it is a mixture of a bright blue and white light (the blue light presumably corresponding to her blue attire); eye-witnesses have furthermore noted that it does not retain a fixed position.
The Mother of Jesus was appearing for tens of thousands to see in the land of the pyramids at a Coptic church constructed to commemorate the area in Egypt where she had come with Joseph and Jesus when they all fled from Herod. Starting in April, 1968, her apparitions of light changed the lives of thousands. Her appearances in Zeitun were astounding. She was seen by more than a million people. The apparitions were broadcast by Egyptian TV, photographed by hundreds of professional photographers and personally witnessed by Egyptian President Abdul Nasser.
Her first visit was on the night of April 2, 1968. Two Muslim watchmen at a garage saw a woman walking the roof of the church across the street. Afraid she was going to jump, they ran out shouting at her not to take her life, summoning a crowd below. The priest of the chapel was the first to believe it was an apparition. The longest single appearance was on April 30, 1968, when the vision remained from 2:45 am until 5 am. The nightly apparition attracted vast crowds of both Copts and Muslims, and was declared a genuine miracle by the Coptic Church.
On the eve of Tuesday, March 25, 1986 (Baramhat 16, 1702 am), the Holy Virgin Mary started Her apparitions in the church of Saint Demiana, the martyr in Papadouplo, in the Shoubra quarter of Cairo. The church of Saint Demiana in Papadouplo is a very small and poor Coptic Orthodox church and the surrounding “streets” are very narrow (about 4 meters wide). On this day, our Lady appeared beside the two towers of the church of Saint Demiana and was first seen by people living in the houses overlooking the church’s towers; Her light shone in their houses and they saw Her in Her full body surrounded by a halo of light over the left (western) dome of the church. This apparition was repeated several times, then the news spread and people from all sects and religions came to see the apparitions. The very narrow streets surrounding the church became overcrowded with thousands of night vigils praying and singing doxologies, liturgies and hymns to the Mother of True Light for whole nights.
Also, in 2000, an apparition of the Virgin Mary had been spotted in the small Egyptian town of Assiut. Outside the church, hopeful pilgrims each night chanted “Come Mary, Come,” or “Your Light is on the Cross,” hoping to beseech the Virgin Mary to appear between the two towers of the church, as she had done the previous nights, they say.
It is believed by Christians in Egypt, that the Virgin Mary appears in times of crisis and unrest in order to support them at the time of adversity. She appeared at the Zeitun Church in 1968, the year after a setback of 67 , and these days, when Copts face Islamic persecution from the Egyptian regime and their follow Muslims, she has appeared again.

Articles on the Web
Watani - 20 December 2009: Holy Virgin appears at Warraq, Giza [cached copy]
Thousands gather in frenzied crowds as Mary said to appear again in Cairo, Egypt (SPIRITDAILY - 17 December 2009)
Egypt: exorcism and Virgin Mary apparitions, mystery in Cairo (ANSAmed - 16 December 2009) [cached copy]
EGYPT: Is it the Virgin Mary or just a curious flash of light? Los Angeles Times (blog) - 15 December 2009 [cached copy]
Crowds flock to Giza as news spreads of an apparition of the Virgin Mary
Reports Sherine Nasr - Al-Ahram Weekly Online 17 - 23 December 2009 - Issue No. 977: Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/977/fr2.htm
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"If I could only see Her tonight, it will be the happiest day of my life," said 25-year-old sales representative Fadi Amir. He had been standing all night, his eyes fixed on the church's towers in hope of catching a glimpse of the Virgin Mary.
"Whether I see Her or not, I know She's there," said a young lady, shivering with the cold as she stood on the opposite side of the road to get a better view of the church.
Whether waiting for a miracle to happen or just watching for something unusual, the crowds that gather daily in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael in Warraq, Giza, could not be more positive about what they are doing. And when solving the simplest daily problem all too often involves insurmountable obstacles, who can blame people for seeking the miraculous. It is not unusual to hear reports of the Virgin Mary's appearance every now and then, particularly among Copts. And as on this occasion, the news spreads like wildfire.
According to Father Dawoud of the Church of the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael neighbours, worried by crowds gathering outside, called at midnight on 10 December to ask if something was wrong.
"The phone calls poured in and many people said they had just seen an apparition of Virgin Mary on the right dome of the church," said Father Dawoud, who added that Muslim neighbours were among the callers, including "Haj Rashad, a neighbour and a dear friend who told me, 'what are you doing here, father? I have just seen Our Lady Mariam with my own eyes, go and see for yourself'."
"At first we thought that a little kid was playing with a flash light, but then the light intensified and moved from the tree in front of the church entrance up to the right dome and an embodiment of Virgin Mary could be easily recognised. It stayed there for a while. I have captured the scene with my mobile phone," says Hassan, the neighbourhood distributor of gas cylinders.
On Monday the Coptic Orthodox Bishopric in Giza issued a statement: "On 11 Friday, at 1am, a full apparition of the Virgin Mary on the right dome of the church was reported by at least 3,000 people. She appeared in her usual heavenly blue costume. She was crowned and the concrete cross on the dome was placed on top of her crown. Those present captured photos and videos of the Holy scene," read the statement. The scene, as described, was broadcast on Amr Adib's talk show "Cairo Today" on 13 December.
According to Bishop Theodosios of Giza, it was important to investigate the event in detail.
"I stayed up all night on Sunday. I saw doves appear suddenly in the sky. They flew in circles in front of the church before they vanished into thin air. They were floating rather than hovering with their wings," said Bishop Theodosios, adding that it is uncommon for doves to fly at night.
What makes the claims credible for many Copts is the fact that reports of the apparition coincided with the beginning of the Coptic month of Kiahk, better known as "Mary's month", dedicated to praising the Virgin's conception of Christ and ending with the Coptic Orthodox Church's Christmas celebrations of 7 January.
For security forces the event has a different dimension. Selim, a policeman, pointed out he had been on duty at the site for seven hours already and did not expect to be relieved for another five.
"The police are exerting a tremendous effort and they have been very cooperative," says Father Dawoud, who also praised church neighbours, many of whom allowed visitors to view the church from the roofs of their buildings.
The coffee shops -- there is one on each side of the church -- also find cause for celebration. Profits have spiralled.
"We've never had so many customers and they are there all night long," says Hassan, a tea boy. "We even rent chairs for LE3 per night."
Apparitions of the Virgin Mary are present in the minds of a majority of Copts. The longest and best documented occurred in the church named after her in Zeitoun in April 1968. Sightings continued for almost two years. The event was witnessed by millions, including President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, and was associated with miraculous cures. In 1986 a similar event took place in Saint Demiana the Martyr's Church in Papadouplo, Shubra. In 1997, a small church in Shentena Al-Hagger in Menoufiya hosted thousands of Copts following news of an apparition. In 2000, St Mark's Church in Assiut, 300km south of Cairo, was the scene of similar sightings.
"If the sightings continue a fact finding committee will be formed to investigate the matter and they will submit their report to Pope Shenouda III, on which basis he may issue a papal declaration," said Bishop Theodosios. © Above article is Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly.
 

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 24/09

Bible Reading of the day
Ecclesiastes 7/19-25: "Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 7:20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good and doesn’t sin. 7:21 Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you; 7:22 for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others. 7:23 All this have I proved in wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; but it was far from me. 7:24 That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out? 7:25 I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Nasrallah's call to psychological war/The Daily Star/December 23/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 23/09
Sfeir Praises Calm Atmosphere, Urges Lebanese to Be Loyal to Nation/Naharnet
Hariri to Escalate Tone if Attacks Persist Against Religious Symbols/lNaharnet
Aoun: I Defend Resistance Arms Because They Benefit Lebanon/lNaharnet
Geagea to Sison: Official Stance on International Resolutions Taken by Government Exclusively/lNaharnet
Berri to Graziano: We Wish for International Willpower Ability to Implement Resolution 1701/lNaharnet
March 14: Hariri's Damascus Visit an Opportunity to Solve Pending Issues/lNaharnet
NYT: Hariri's Damascus Visit a 'Measure of Renewed Influence over Lebanon'/Naharnet
Could Joseph Sader Become his Family's Christmas Gift?/Naharnet
Sfeir Praises Calm Atmosphere, Urges Lebanese to Be Loyal to Nation/Naharnet
Hariri Gets Sfeir's Blessing for Damascus Visit, Says Border Demarcation Key to Opening Economic Relations with Syria/Naharnet
Suspected Syrian Bus Shooter Arrested, Says he Had 'Personal Motive'/Naharnet
Border Demarcation, Economic Cooperation with Syria to Start in the Next Few Weeks/Naharnet
Kouchner: 1559 Should Remain Valid, Hizbullah's Arms are a Serious Problem/Naharnet
U.S. Embassy Official: Lebanon Didn't Officially Inform the U.S. that 1559 is 'Dead'/Naharnet
Suleiman's Tour of Southern Lebanon Postponed without Explanation/Naharnet
25 Police Officers to Be Promoted to Higher Ranks/Naharnet
Iran Foreign Ministry: Nasrallah Likely to Visit Tehran/Naharnet
Al-Mustaqbal Bloc Reiterates Faith in March 14 Principles/Naharnet
Soueid, Franjieh comment on Iranian invitation to Sfeir/Now Lebanon
Saad: Jumblatt will not meet with Assad if visit is conditional/Now Lebanon
Gemayel: Phalange MPs Will Challenge Ministerial Statement's 6th Article before Constitutional Council/Naharnet
Murr, Qahwaji Visit UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura/Naharnet
Baroud: Traffic Jam Crisis Caused by Inadequate Roads Not Police Performance/Naharnet
Geagea: Border Demarcation Starting from the North Not Encouraging Sign by Syria/Naharnet
Phalange will enter Constitutional Court plea to contest Resistance arms/Daily Star
US official: We're not taking sides in Lebanon/Daily Star
Nasrallah calls for 'psychological warfare' against Israel/Daily Star
Middle East bazaar, revived/Globe and Mail
Turkey to mediate Israel-Syria talks?/Jerusalem Post
Bin Laden's Son: Our Relatives Are Being Held In Iran; Sister Fled To Saudi/MEMRI (blog)
Conservatives Wooing Traditionally Liberal Canadian Jews/Forward
Iran says Hezbollah chief may pay a visit/WashingtonTV
'Two million tourists' to visit Lebanon by end-2009/Daily Star
Abu-Ghazaleh says global financial crisis is far from over /Daily Star
Baroud: Probe into Tripoli attacks 'serious /Daily Star
Murr and Kahwaji visit south, vow to uphold Resolution 1701/Daily Star
Campaign fights poor prison health care provisions/Daily Star
Local communist leader meets French counterpart/Daily Star

Geagea to Sison: Official Stance on International Resolutions Taken by Government Exclusively
lNaharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday met with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison in Maarab.
LF press office said that Sison informed Geagea of her administration's firm support for the implementation of international resolutions 1559, 1680, and 1701.
Sison also reiterated her country's unconditional support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and for all what it takes to fortify Lebanon's independence, restoring its sovereignty over all territories, and preserving the freedom of its people, according to LF's press office.
The U.S. ambassador stressed upon the U.S. efforts for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state despite all of the current difficulties and obstacles.
On his part, Geagea stressed to Sison that Lebanon's official stance regarding the international resolutions is taken by the government and not by any other political side. He added that Resolution 1559 was not raised for discussion by the government, and that in case it was raised, then LF would voice support for international resolutions related to Lebanon.
Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 17:03

Berri to Graziano: We Wish for International Willpower Ability to Implement Resolution 1701
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday sent a farewell letter to UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano on the occasion of the latter's mission coming soon to its end. "In my personal name, and in the name of the Lebanese Parliament. In the name of Lebanese citizens, especially in UNIFIL's operations zone under Resolution 1701, I thank you for your wise and courageous leadership to UNIFIL forces and for your humane, ethical, and noble behavior with Lebanese citizens, official institutions, local authorities, and civil society organizations," said Berri in his letter. "In all of the coming stages, our wish will be for international willpower to be able to impose the implementation of international resolution 1701, and to stop dealing with Israel as an exception unconcerned with the compliances of those resolutions, the thing that encourages it to pursue the violations of international resolutions," added Berri.
Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 16:18

Aoun: I Defend Resistance Arms Because They Benefit Lebanon
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Wednesday said that he defends the resistance arms because he believes that those arms benefit Lebanon.
"Why does Geagea always imagine that the resistance is coming to Maarab after him? No one will come to Maarab after him," added Aoun.
At a press conference after the weekly meeting of Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun said that PM Saad Hariri's visit to Syria restores positive relations and serves the real interests of the Lebanese and Syrian peoples.Aoun considered the challenge -- that will be filed by Phalange MPs before the Constitutional Council over article 6 of the ministerial statement -- as "against the law."He added that the Constitutional Council revises electoral challenges and does not revise the ministerial Policy Statement, and labeled the challenge as "family disputes among the ministers."Aoun revealed that his parliamentary bloc is working on a joint plan with Progressive Socialist Party to facilitate the return of the displaced to Mount Lebanon, calling for development plans to encourage people to return to the mountains.FPM leader called for amending some practices by the Development and Reconstruction Council. He also urged the High Relief Commission for immediate mobilization to solve the issue of rain floods.Aoun said that international resolutions are not always immediately implemented, "since Resolution 520 remained for long years without implementation."He added that the International Bill for Human Rights, signed by Lebanon, gives legitimacy to the resistance. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 18:40

Hariri to Escalate Tone if Attacks Persist Against Religious Symbols
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri warned -- after meeting with Grand Sunni Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani -- that he will escalate his tone in case attacks persisted against the religious symbols of Lebanon, adding that there are many things to be corrected in the country especially that it is being run by a national unity government.
He added that the Judiciary is an essential cornerstone for the rise of the state and that attacking it over a dispute with one judge was not accepted.
Earlier Wednesday, Hariri met with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir "to discuss latest developments, including trip to Syria," as he told reporters.
He said he was seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open "good" economic and trade relations between Beirut and Damascus.
"We are seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open good economic and trade relations between the two countries," Hariri told reporters after meeting.
"Why do we need border demarcation with Syria? We need border demarcation to open up economically to each other," he said in reply to a reporter's question.
While he reiterated that Sfeir is "Lebanon's conscience," Hariri said he got the patriarch's blessing for his Damascus trip "where I found full openness" from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"We need to look at things positively for the sake of the peoples of the two countries," Hariri urged, stressing that his visit to Syria, which he described as "historic," was in his capacity as prime minister. He said his visit to Bkirki was also designed to wish Sfeir merry Christmas and happy holidays. Hariri later visited the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Patriarchates to extend his Christmas greetings. The premier also paid a visit to Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 19:31

March 14: Hariri's Damascus Visit an Opportunity to Solve Pending Issues
Naharnet/The March 14 general secretariat said Wednesday that Premier Saad Hariri's visit to Syria was an opportunity to end the struggle between the two countries and solve pending issues.Hariri's trip to Damascus "wasn't easy. It required courage from every Lebanese and particularly from Prime Minister Hariri himself," the general-secretariat said in a statement following its weekly meeting. "This visit is a true test and opportunity ... to end the struggle" with Syria, the statement said.The conferees added that it was now the responsibility of the Assad regime to find a solution to pending issues such as missing or jailed Lebanese in Syria, demarcation of the border and Palestinian bases outside refugee camps in Lebanon.The March 14 general secretariat also criticized Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami for "seeking unilaterally" to annul U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 "in violation of his authorities."
Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 14:59

Could Joseph Sader Become his Family's Christmas Gift?
Naharnet/The abduction of Middle East Airlines engineer Joseph Sader came back to the spotlight after Orange TV reported that two Lebanese officials expected the man's release soon.
OTV wondered during its evening newscast on Tuesday whether Sader would become his family's Christmas gift. The TV station quoted one official as saying that Hizbullah was behind Sader's kidnapping on the airport road on February 12, 2009. The official said that the engineer had most probably "divulged some information" but was not an Israeli spy. The other official, however, denied that "Hizbullah had any info about the kidnapping." Following lengthy talks, the two officials confirmed that Sader was doing fine and his kidnappers could release him anytime soon. The officials added that security forces could find the man at an isolated house without arresting his abductors. Minister Boutros Harb said last week that Sader was still alive and information made available for security forces confirms that the man was not dead. However, army and police sources had denied they had any new info on the engineer's kidnapping. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 09:36

Phares in a Christmas and New Year Message
Lebanon's Politicians made mistakes but UNSCR 1559 stays
Washington DC, Cedars Revolution News, Mideast Newswire
Dec 20th, 2009
In a message to Lebanese communities inside Lebanon and in the Diaspora, Dr Walid Phares said civil society in Lebanon needs to equip itself with "Strategic Patience" for a while because of the mistakes made by their politicians since the Cedars Revolution. Phares, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, was one of the architects of the introduction of UNSCR 1559 which called for the withdrawal of the Syrian occupation forces and the disarming of militias, including of Hezbollah.
Phares "Christmas and New Year message" was aired by the Cedars Revolution Radio, an online service managed by the NGO, World Council from Washington. In it he addressed whom he called "the March 14 politicians," Hezbollah and Syria's allies and Lebanon's civil society.
"Lebanon's politicians, particularly those known as the March 14 Coalition who obtained a majority in Parliament during the last legislative elections and had the power to form a cabinet, made tremendous strategic mistakes, and unfortunately they continue to make these mistakes. They were granted a clear mandate by the voters to form a Government, and try to implement the UN relevant resolutions particularly UNSCR 1559. They told their constituencies that they tried but that the international conditions didn't permit such a move. I disagree with these statements for these politicians didn't take a decision to fight for this goal. They tried to convince civil society that the United States decided over everything and every details and that Washington didn't want to implement UNSCR 1559. Obviously this is not correct for foreign powers cannot and should not impose liberation programs if the oppressed people are not calling for it. These politicians often told their supporters that they haven't seen the F 16s and military forces from America and Europe showing up on Lebanon's shores and in its skies. Please give us a break, world powers and foreign countries aren't fighting this if you don't want to fight it yourselves."
Phares added that the Lebanese public needs to know what hasn't been conveyed to them. "This narrative by Lebanon's politicians is not accurate. The international society, the United States, France, the moderate Arab countries wanted to help within what is allowed internationally, but they weren't invited to do so. We were in disbelief in 2004 when the Security Council of the United Nations actually voted the resolution 1559. For the first time in 30 years a resolution accusing Syria of occupying Lebanon and asking to disarm militias and Hezbollah was finally voted. And you have some politicians and voices criticizing the United States and the Lebanese pressure groups in America that produced the resolution for not doing enough! Well the Lebanese activists in America and the Diaspora tell them this: Give us this Government for six months and will tell you how to implement the international resolutions."
To these politicians we say, you have committed strategic mistakes and continue to do so. Is it logical that March 14 politicians in Parliament and in Government recognizes Hezbollah as a 'resistance movement?' Is it logical to call it resistance after it invaded Beirut and the mountain? After it has been part of an axis responsible for violence against Lebanon's civil society including politicians, legislators, military officers, students and others. And to these voices who are rushing to the world and to Washington to state that the weapons of Hezbollah are a matter of internal debate among Lebanese. How can Iranian weapons that are used against Lebanese an internal matter? These politicians must stop making mistake after mistake. The rhetoric of the 1980s and the 1990s doesn't work anymore, the past glories on Youtube aren't going to be enough for an intelligent public opinion. Citizens need results not rhetoric."
The second message was addressed to Hezbollah and the allies of Syria's regime in Lebanon. Phares said: "We see them shuttling between Damascus and Beirut and hear them saying they are going to cancel UNSCR 1559, that this resolution is dead and that they will bury it. Well I have news for you: Neither the regime in Syria or the Government in Lebanon or even the United States can cancel a resolution from the UN Security Council. A UN Security Council can only be abrogated by the Security Council. So to those lionizing politicians and in charge of the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs we say: why don't you bring the entire ministry to the UN building in New York and try to create the coalition needed to cancel UNSCR 1559. If you can do it, we'll applaud you. Obviously this resolution is here to be implemented and will be implemented whatever the regimes in the region wants otherwise."
The third message was to Lebanon's civil society. Dr Phares said: "we know the times are tough but do not lose hope. This is going to be a long stage before we can all together redress the situation. You should be armed with what I call strategic patience and work hard on helping the friends of Lebanon around the world making sure that all resolutions are implemented as they should have been had politicians not committed all these mistakes. What is needed today in Lebanon is for civil society not to lose hope and to manage selecting the kind of leaders and representatives who can deliver. Unfortunately the elite selected in the past didn't do a good job. We know that there are leaders and activists inside Lebanon's civil society who know what is going on and should be done. All is not lost. But with patience and determination, this phase will be pass and the full liberation of Lebanon will occur, no doubt about it."
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

End.
Sfeir Praises Calm Atmosphere, Urges Lebanese to Be Loyal to Nation
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Wednesday praised the "calm atmosphere" among the various sects in Lebanon, urging Lebanese citizens to be loyal to their nation.
"Lebanon today is in greater need of this atmosphere of calm between the sects," Sfeir said in his annual Christmas message. "People seem to be avoiding violence. This is a good thing and something we had hoped would happen for a long time," he said from Bkirki. "Loyalty to the nation requires every citizen to work for his homeland," Sfeir added. He pointed to "improved social conditions" and the "decline" in political assassinations. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 09:12

Hariri Gets Sfeir's Blessing for Damascus Visit, Says Border Demarcation Key to Opening Economic Relations with Syria
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday he was seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open "good" economic and trade relations between Beirut and Damascus."We are seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open good economic and trade relations between the two countries," Hariri told reporters after meeting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. "Why do we need border demarcation with Syria? We need border demarcation to open up economically to each other," he said in reply to a reporter's question. He said his visit to Bkirki was meant to discuss latest developments, including his trip to Syria. Hariri said he got Sfeir's blessing for his Damascus trip "where I found full openness" from Syrian President Bashar Assad. He said his visit to Bkirki was also designed to wish Sfeir merry Christmas and happy holidays. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 11:24

Suspected Syrian Bus Shooter Arrested, Says he Had 'Personal Motive'
Naharnet/The Lebanese army has arrested the man suspected of opening fire on a Syrian bus in northern Lebanon this week and killing a 17-year-old laborer. The man had "confessed under interrogation that he had personal motivations" for Monday's attack, an army spokesman said. A high level security source told An Nahar daily that the man is called Shawqi al-Nazer and investigators were looking into his nationality and background. The suspect opened fire on the bus carrying Syrian laborers as it traveled near an army checkpoint in Deir Emar on the Tripoli-Akkar highway at dawn Monday. The attack came a day after Prime Minister Saad Hariri ended a fence-mending visit to Damascus, his first trip to Syria since the 2005 assassination of his father, ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Al-Mustaqbal daily quoted a security source as saying that the suspect had a financial dispute with the bus driver and both men were involved in trafficking goods across the Lebanese-Syrian border. The source said al-Nazer told investigators that he shot at the bus to take revenge from the driver who owed him money.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 08:05

Border Demarcation, Economic Cooperation with Syria to Start in the Next Few Weeks
Naharnet/The early implementation of agreements reached between Premier Saad Hariri and Syrian President Bashar Assad over the weekend is expected to kick off in the next few weeks.
An Nahar daily said Wednesday that demarcation of the border from northern Lebanon all the way to the south would start in the next 10 days. The two sides would also discuss Palestinian armed bases outside refugee camps and the issue of Lebanese missing or jailed in Syria. Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat said, in its turn, that several cabinet ministers would exchange visits starting early 2010 to discuss economic issues and implement several of the agreements reached between Hariri and Assad in this regard. The two sides would also review economic agreements that have been signed between Lebanon and Syria since the 1990s. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 11:39

Kouchner: 1559 Should Remain Valid,
Hizbullah's Arms are a Serious Problem
Naharnet/French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has said that Paris rejects canceling U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 because it hasn't been fully implemented.
"The resolution's clauses haven't been fully implemented," Kouchner told a press conference in Paris on Tuesday. He also said that France rejects ending the mission of U.N. secretary-general's special envoy on the implementation of 1559, Terje Roed-Larsen. "The issue was discussed when Ban Ki-moon was appointed U.N. secretary-general. At the time, we rejected" demands to end Roed-Larsen's mandate, Kouchner stressed. He added that Paris hasn't received an official request to cross out resolution 1559. Diplomatic sources told An Nahar daily that 1559 can only be cancelled by another Security Council resolution. Asked about the possible resumption of Turkish-brokered indirect talks between Israel and Syria, Kouchner said: "Hizbullah and not Turkey is the problem for Israel … Hizbullah's weapons are a serious problem." Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 08:25

U.S. Embassy Official: Lebanon Didn't Officially Inform the U.S. that 1559 is 'Dead'
Naharnet/The United States wasn't officially informed by Lebanese authorities that U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 is "dead," a U.S. embassy official said, adding that "support for all relevant resolutions was underscored" during the Lebanese president's visit to Washington last week.
"Support for all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions was underscored" during U.S. President Barack Obama's meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman, the diplomat told a media roundtable on Suleiman's visit to the U.S.
When asked by Naharnet if Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami has informed foreign missions, including the U.S. embassy, that 1559 no longer exists, the official said: "We haven't received" a note verbale on the matter. Media reports had said that al-Shami informed foreign ambassadors in Beirut that 1559 is "dead and has become obsolete."
The official reiterated that support for the Lebanese Armed Forces continues and is designed to enhance LAF capabilities and Lebanon's sovereignty.
"There is ongoing dialogue between the U.S. military and LAF" so that the Lebanese army could secure the country's territories, the diplomat added.
The official stressed that U.S. assistance for Lebanese Armed Forces since 2006 has reached $484 million.
Asked about reports that the Obama administration has linked "heavy weaponry" aid to the Lebanese army with the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, the official said that the U.S. president has emphasized his concern to Suleiman "about extensive arms smuggling" into Lebanon.
Obama told reporters following talks with Suleiman that the smuggling of weapons "potentially serve as a threat to Israel."
Arms smuggling "threatens not only Israel's but also Lebanon's security," the embassy official said. "The smuggling of arms is in contravention of U.N. Security Council resolutions."
"Bearing arms undermines Lebanon's sovereignty" too, the diplomat added.
The official stressed that U.S. policy is aimed at supporting Lebanon's sovereignty and independence in addition to backing state institutions by carrying out educational and judicial projects. The U.S. is also carrying out microfinance projects and funding waste water treatment plants.
There is a "robust" relationship between Lebanon and the U.S., the official said.
The diplomat said that Obama stressed to reporters following talks with Suleiman that assistance to Lebanon should not only be seen from a security lens.
"To the extent that we can help provide support around issues like education that promote opportunity within Lebanon, we want to do so," Obama said.
Asked if Washington would remove Hizbullah from the terror list if the Shiite party disarmed, the diplomat said: "The international community has made it very clear do disarm all non-state actors and non-state militias in Lebanon." Removing Hizbullah from the list is a matter of U.S. law, the official noted.
When asked about Premier Saad Hariri's visit to Damascus over the weekend, the official said the Lebanese PM told reporters that he wants to build a better future between the two countries. Washington has always said that Lebanese-Syrian relations should "be mutually respectful and mutually beneficial," the diplomat added.
The official also called for resolving "outstanding issues" between the two countries such as border demarcation and the issue of Lebanese missing or jailed in Syria.
When asked what was blocking normalization of U.S. ties with Syria, the official said there has been engagement with Damascus through the visits of several U.S. officials to the country.
U.S. engagement in the region "will not come at Lebanon's expense," the diplomat said. About Lebanon's status as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and if there would be U.S.-Lebanese cooperation on implementation of resolutions on Shabaa farms and Kfarshouba hills, the diplomat said: "We want to work with Lebanon on a full range of issues."
On the border village of Ghajar, the official said: "We certainly hope to see progress on Ghajar." There was speculation that Israeli forces had a timetable for pulling out from the northern part of the village and the last stage would be in January 2010. Asked about the international tribunal that would try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins, the diplomat said: "We remain fully committed to the STL." Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 00:03

Soueid, Franjieh comment on Iranian invitation to Sfeir
December 23, 2009
In an interview with Al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Wednesday, General Coordinator of the March 14 alliance Fares Soueid said he is “surprised” by Iran’s invitation to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir to Tehran given that Hezbollah accuses “all those who raise the issue of the party’s arsenal of being mercenary.” Soueid called for “coordination” between Hezbollah and Iran with regard to the invitation. Member of the March 14 General Secretariat Samir Franjieh told the daily that Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki’s invitation to Sfeir is an attempt to “patch things up” in light of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’ s accusation. Franjieh added that Iran is aware of the “gravity” of Nasrallah’s rhetoric on “one of the most prominent Christian figures in the Arab Orient.” -NOW Lebanon

Saad: Jumblatt will not meet with Assad if visit is conditional
December 23, 2009 /In an interview with As-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Wednesday, Democratic Gathering bloc MP Antoine Saad said that his bloc leader, MP Walid Jumblatt, is not eager to visit Damascus and will not go to Syria “with conditions set on his visit or without an official invitation.” “Jumblatt said that it is easier for him to visit Damascus than to meet with former President Emile Lahoud,” said Saad, a reference to earlier reports that the bloc leader’s visit to Syria hinges on Jumblatt meeting with Lahoud. Saad also said that Jumblatt believes in the need to visit Syria due to regional changes. However, he added that the visit has not been scheduled yet.

Al-Anbaa: Syria will only host Jumblatt if he makes public apology
December 12, 2009 /Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa quoted on Saturday a source as saying that Syria would not host Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt unless he makes a public apology on February 14—the commemoration of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination. The source added that Jumblatt’s apology should be followed by a visit to former President Emil Lahoud, whom the former often criticized. “The list of demands from Jumblatt is long,” the source said, but added that most of them have been implemented. -NOW Lebanon

Deir Aamar shooter arrested
December 23, 2009
The LAF arrested a man, Chawki al-Nazer, suspected of opening fire on Monday at a bus transporting Syrians in Deir Aamar. (AFP)
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) arrested on Wednesday Chawki al-Nazer, who is suspected of having opened fire on a bus transporting Syrian nationals in Deir Aamar in North Lebanon on Monday. The attack resulted in the death of a 17-year-old boy. Investigators are still looking into the suspect’s nationality, added the statement.
A Lebanese army spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Nazer "confessed under interrogation that he had personal motivations" for Monday's attack.
This is following reports that the attack had a political motive and aimed at destabilizing the “positive” atmosphere in Lebanon following Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s first visit to Syria since the 2005 assassination of his father, former PM Rafik Hariri. Meanwhile, a UNIFIL source issued a statement late Tuesday that President Michel Sleiman and Lebanese army Commander Jean Kahwaji cancelled their scheduled visit to inspect UNIFIL and army military posts in South Lebanon, but did not elaborate any further.However, Defense Minister Elias al-Murr and Kahwaji did make a trip to the South, where they inspected the Blue Line and met with UNIFIL Commander General Claudio Graziano. Following the meeting, Murr held a press conference and reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and to cooperation between the LAF and UNIFIL. Also, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters on Tuesday that “Paris does not want to end the mission of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Special Envoy on the Implementation of UN Resolution 1559, Terje-Roed Larsen.” This comes in response to Syria’s call on Lebanon to convince the UN Security Council to withdraw Resolution 1559. The resolution has not been fully implemented, he said, adding, “Paris has not yet received any new request [to withdraw the resolution], and the issue is out of question at the time being.”-NOW Lebanon

Al-Mustaqbal Bloc Reiterates Faith in March 14 Principles
Naharnet/l-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday reiterated its "faith in March 14 principles" after its weekly meeting held in Qureitem under ex-PM Fouad Saniora.
The bloc considered the visit of its leader PM Saad Hariri to Damascus as part of restoring inter-Arab rapprochement "in a manner that serves Arab interests" in the face of regional threats, "especially with the rise of extremist Israeli stances."The statement of Al-Mustaqbal bloc added that Arab rapprochement was a top priority, because heading toward Arab solidarity affects Lebanon positively. "The bloc expressed hope that PM Hariri's visit to Damascus will represent an introduction to establishing Lebanese-Syrian relation on solid and stable basis," added the statement. The conferees hoped for a state-to-state relation with Syria which benefits the interests of the two neighbors and their independence. They also hoped for improving economic and trade ties given the vitality of those aspects. "The bloc discussed the condemned incident of shooting at a bus in Deir Ammar area -- which led to the death of a Syrian citizen -- and it calls for a prompt investigation in order to unveil the truth in this regard," added the statement of Al-Mustaqbal bloc. Beirut, 22 Dec 09, 20:07

Phalange will enter Constitutional Court plea to contest Resistance arms
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BEIRUT: The debate over the weapons of the Resistance, as well as Lebanese-Syrian relations re-emerged Tuesday as the Phalange Party said it would contest the legitimacy of article six of the Cabinet policy before the Constitutional Council. Hizbullah meanwhile said the Resistance’s legitimacy necessitated no party’s approval.
Separately, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed that Syria needed to take concrete steps to resolve pending issues with Lebanon after Premier Saad Hariri made the first painful step toward Damascus. Article six of the ministerial statement backs Lebanon’s right to liberate its territories by means of its army, people and the Resistance.
Gemayel said his party’s decision to contest Article Six was intended to encourage the resolution of political disputes through the state’s institutions, which would serve to strengthen their power. But Hizbullah MP Nawaf Moussawi said: “The legitimacy of the Resistance is part of the national charter; thus we do not need approval from this side or another.” He was addressing a rally in Tyre marking Ashura. Moussawi said the Resistance took its legality from its religious and political ideology, based on Islamic teaching which did not bow to Israeli oppression. Pivotal relations between Lebanon and Syria should not only revolve around social and economic issues but military cooperation as well, he added.
Moussawi said Lebanon should learn from Syria how to build a strong defensive infrastructure, while questioning some parties’ demands from the US to provide the Army with military aid.
“I wonder why some Lebanese officials bother to go to the US to seek arms from this country when they know that Washington is only interested in the security of Israel,” Moussawi said, asking: “Is it not better to go to Syria and ask them?”
Moussawi hailed Hariri’s visit to Syria saying it was step in the right direction, adding that Lebanese-Syrian ties should not be linked to the improvement of relations between Syria and other Arab states. Meanwhile, Geagea said Hariri’s visit to Damascus was a “difficult” decision, adding that Lebanon had benefited since “Hariri decided to make the trip to Damascus after overcoming his personal pains.” “Despite a warm and friendly welcome, this is not enough to turn the chapter of turbulent relations between Lebanon and Syria,” Geagea said, adding: “there are still many … matters that needed to be resolved between the two states.”
“The ball now is in the Syrian court after Hariri made the first step, showing major flexibility,” Geagea said.
Thorny issues between both countries include the missing Lebanese in Syria and the disarmament of Palestinian military groups affiliated with Syria outside of refugee camps.
Geagea added that Syria should also speed up the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border, starting from the southern border in the occupied Shebaa farms – rejecting the Syrian proposal to start the demarcation from the north.
“Syria should provide the UN with an official document that clearly stipulates that Shebaa is part of Lebanese territories since the UN would not settle with verbal statements from Syrian officials,” Geagea said. Geagea said that despite the talk of positive inter-Arab relation, no real progress has been made in relations between Syrian on one hand and Saudi Arabia and Egypt on the other.

Hariri backs judiciary’s independence
BEIRUT: Premier Saad Hariri stressed Tuesday the Higher Judicial Council’s role as an independent institution concerned with preserving the citizens’ rights. Hariri praised Lebanese judges, as well as the council, for their efforts in resolving flaws in the judicial system.
He voiced support for the judiciary against any slur campaigns. Hariri comments came during a meeting with the Higher Judicial Council members headed by Judge Ghaleb Ghanem, who congratulated the premier on the Cabinet formation. – The Daily Star

Sfeir warns Lebanese still leaving country for jobs
By Maroun Khoury /Daily Star correspondent
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BKIRKI: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir warned Tuesday that the Lebanese were still seeking jobs abroad. “We have been passing through difficult times since the 1970s,” Sfeir told a visiting delegation from Caritas. Sfeir has long warned against “brain-drain” in Lebanon and urged the youth to stay in their country.

Nasrallah calls for 'psychological warfare' against Israel
Daily Star staff/Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called on Lebanese on Monday to stand firm against Israel’s psychological warfare and adopt similar strategies to promote fear and confusion among the enemy’s security and military institutions, as well as its society. “Against psychological warfare, the first goal is to strengthen the will and determination of our people … and on the other hand we need to strike the enemy and its security and military institutions with a psychological warfare as well,” Nasrallah said.
Speaking on the fifth eve of Ashura, Nasrallah said the US and the Israelis attempted all forms of psychological warfare but failed to achieve their goals during the summer 2006 war against Lebanon given “the Lebanese’s trust in God.” “Everything the US and Israel can do through a psychological war to nail your determination they already did and failed in the summer 2006 war. Did we see fighters fleeing the battle field? No,” Nasrallah said. He added that the recent Israeli maneuvers aimed to assure Israelis that their army had regained its strength after their failure in the July 2006 war as well as in Gaza in 2008. The summer left nearly 1,200 in Lebanon dead and 4,400 wounded, mostly civilians. The death count included about 270 Hizbullah fighters and 50 Lebanese soldiers and police, as well as five UN peacekeepers. – The Daily Star

US official: We're not taking sides in Lebanon
By Mirella Hodeib /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BEIRUT: A United States official told Lebanese journalists in Beirut on Tuesday that supporting “Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty” was at the gist of US policy toward Lebanon. The official added that the US did not support any Lebanese political groups or politicians, but was rather keen on preserving the country’s independence and sovereignty.
The official, who briefed representatives of media outlets on the visit of President Michel Sleiman to Washington earlier in December, said the US was most concerned about the ongoing smuggling of arms into Lebanon. The official also ruled out the possibility of any dialogue starting between the US administration and Hizbullah, adding that Hizbullah still figures on the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organizations list. “Our policy remains unchanged: the smuggling of arms remains of great concern to us,” the official said.
The official said the US, along with the international community, supported all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions that strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.
The official also stressed that Lebanese have the exclusive authority to maintain peace and sovereignty in their country The official described as “robust” the assistance provided by the United States to the Lebanese Armed Forces. The official stressed that US assistance to Lebanon was not only limited to supply the military and the Internal Security Forces with equipment and training. According to the official, over the last three years, the US has allotted more than $1 billion in aid not only to the military but also to support microfinance projects reforms of the judiciary, the water sector and others.

'Two million tourists' to visit Lebanon by end-2009
Daily Star staff/Wednesday, December 23, 2009
BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Faddi Abboud on Tuesday said he expected the number of tourists to Lebanon to reach two million at the end of 2009. In a statement to the press, Abboud said this number could even rise further in the future if a sustainable tourism plan is adopted by the government. Lebanon saw a record number of Lebanese, Arab and European visitors this summer, despite the biting global recession which hit the EU and several oil-rich Gulf states. Tourism represents a big chunk of the country’s GDP. Abboud, an industrialist by practice, believes that tourists could be enticed to visit the country 365 days a year in 2010 if a proper and full-proof plan to promote tourism is adopted. “Arab tourists represent now 50 percent of the total visitors to Lebanon and they have become the main driving force for the tourism industry here,” Abboud said. He added that many tourists have arrived in the month of December and intend to spend Christmas and New Year eve in Beirut and the mountains.
He added that the Europeans now represent 21 percent of the total number of visitors to Lebanon and this is a significant figure. Abboud also pointed to a considerable rise in the number of tourists from the Far East, most notably from China. The minister said that many middle class tourists from Europe and Asia have attended musical concerts in Lebanon during the summer season. – The Daily Star

Murr and Kahwaji visit south, vow to uphold Resolution 1701
Defense miniser: ‘Every Lebanese house has the right to defend itself’
By Mohammed Zaatari /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
SIDON: Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr renewed Lebanon’s commitment to Security Council Resolution 1701 and to every article it includes. The minister said that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) role was to collaborate with UNIFIL in order to implement the resolution. He added that the Defense Ministry’s role was to defend Lebanon through all means possible.
Murr paid tribute to the martyrs of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon on Tuesday during a visit to UNIFIL’s head office in Naqoura.
Murr was accompanied by the commander of the LAF General Jean Kahwaji and met with UNIFIL commander Major General Claudio Graziano, UNIFIL deputy commander General Kumar Bardalai and an array of military figures. After placing flowers on a memorial for UNIFIL’s martyrs, Murr and Kahwaji held a meeting with Graziano.
Murr said Israeli threats to attack Lebanon have been ongoing for 30 years, during which the Lebanese and the LAF had made many sacrifices. “Our people have suffered for 30 years; they have witnessed hardships and made great sacrifices, but Israel is still threatening us and we will continue to resist,” he said.
The minister praised the work of the LAF, especially their achievements in fighting terrorism during Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon.
However, he warned that instability and rising tensions in south Lebanon only served the interest of Israel and, even more, harmed the south’s society and economy. “We have an interest in implementing Resolution 1701, strengthening the LAF in the south and reinforcing our collaboration with UNIFIL,” he said.
As for the possibility of future conflict with Israel, Murr said that it was the responsibility of the Defense Ministry and the LAF to respond to any Israeli attack.
He said that each person viewed the resistance according to his own interests – some using it in politics others in the military. He added that the right place for resistance was in every Lebanese home. “When Israel threatens Lebanese homes, every house has the right to defend itself, its people, its land and its honor,” he said, noting that the policy statement described the Resistance as a people, a fighting power and an army at the same time.
Murr also commented on the policy statement and said he was fully committed to it and to every article it contains.
He added that he voted for the statement without hesitation and he had no doubt about any of its articles.
The minister then praised the achievements of Graziano and said he was the one to lay the foundations of UNIFIL with the collaboration of the LAF. Murr added that Graziano had succeeded in forming a bond between UNIFIL and the villages in the south, consequently creating an ambiance of security and stability in the region.
UNIFIL’s commandment is to be transferred from Graziano to Spanish Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas on January 28, 2010.
UNIFIL was established in Lebanon in March 1978 after tensions along the Lebanese Israeli border increased. It had three main purposes: confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territories, restoring international peace and security, and assisting the Government of Lebanon in regaining authority in the area.
After Israel’s July 2006 war on Lebanon, the UN Security Council decided to add to UNIFIL’s original mandate. The force would monitor the cessation of hostilities, accompany and support the LAF as they deploy throughout the south of Lebanon, and help provide humanitarian aid to the locals.

Nasrallah's call to psychological war
By The Daily Star
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Editorial
The 10-day period of Ashura, in this modern age, is one in which leaders of the Shiite community have ample opportunities and means to address the general public, whether about the past, present or future. The leader of Hizbullah has used this year’s Ashura season to advocate a “psychological war” against Israel. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the effort should counter recent Israeli maneuvers aimed at convincing everyone in the region that the country’s army is invincible.
Nasrallah’s proposal reflects the best of intentions; a psychological war against Israel requires patience and planning, which Hizbullah has exhibited in its military operations over the last few decades. Hizbullah cadres have been busy training, learning and doing, and become skilled at such tasks.
However, Nasrallah’s call to psychological arms appeared to be directed at Lebanon, and not just the supporters of the resistance – if Hizbullah were about to engage in a new psy-ops initiative, odds are that Nasrallah wouldn’t be announcing it in public.
Advocating a psychological war, by Lebanon, brings us back to the issue of the country’s diplomatic-defensive initiative, and the search for tools in this national psychological war. The most important tool here is Lebanon’s Christians, and to get them on board, we must enlist their help in building the Lebanese state, and especially its political-diplomatic presence. We’ve repeatedly called for upcoming sessions of National Dialogue to focus on a diplomatic-defensive initiative, which we need if a psychological war is to have any chance of success.
The trust that exists between Nasrallah and his warriors is one key reason for Hizbullah’s military success. This same level of trust must exist between the Lebanese state and its citizens; the public must see a coherent message by the state, and trust this message.
We’re a long way from this, but a diplomatic-defense initiative is the first step. It requires a “multilateral” approach, via Parliament, to create a mechanism and authorize a budget. Our media, and our advertising industry are also potential tools. A serious psychological war would see the state work with our media, and the region’s best advertisers, to promote our message and change the field of play, by taking a proactive approach instead of reacting to Israeli propaganda.
For now, this remains impossible because we lack the requisite trust, and like all Lebanese, we await the actual work on the diplomatic-defense initiative. But we must find common ground about how to confront our troubling neighbor to the south: Ignore it? Fight back? Take our case to the UN? Boost our defensive capabilities? And if we settle this issue, we’ll be contributing to defining the role of our state, one of the most obvious and glaring deficiencies of our current system.

Conservatives Wooing Traditionally Liberal Canadian Jews
http://www.forward.com/articles/121602/
A Swing Vote In The Making?
By Sheldon Gordon
Published December 22, 2009.
Toronto — Leaflets mailed to homes in heavily Jewish districts of Canada’s major cities last November struck with uncharacteristic ferocity at the political party that Canadian Jews have long favored.
Canada’s Liberal Party, the Conservative Party broadsides charged, had “opposed defunding Hamas and asked that Hezbollah be delisted as a terrorist organization.” The Liberals had “willingly participated” in the 2001 “overtly antisemitic” Durban international conference on racism. And Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff had “accused Israel of committing war crimes,” the leaflets charged.
Only the last charge was incontestably accurate and free of distortion. But the mass mailing reflected a new facet of Canadian politics. With elections expected this spring for a closely divided parliament, the Jewish vote is in play, seen as a swing vote in several key districts that could help tip the balance of national power.
“This is a game of inches in a minority [government] situation,” explained Paul Adams, a spokesman for EKOS Research Associates, an Ottawa-based polling firm. “The Jewish community is not a large demographic, but it tends to be concentrated in a small number of seats… It looks like an ethnic group that could be separated from the Liberals.” At stake are five or six closely contested seats in a parliament the Conservatives currently hold by only 10 votes. Conservative success among Jewish voters, long regarded as a pillar of the rival Liberal Party, would mark a major realignment by Canadian Jewry.
“There’s a bit of a trend these days towards the Conservative Party,” said Mark Waldman, executive director of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, a nonpartisan group that promotes Jewish involvement in federal politics. He believes, however, that a “majority” of Jewish voters still back the Liberals.
Even before his election in January 2006, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper considered Canada’s 350,000-member Jewish community “in play,” and tried to rupture its Liberal ties. He has staked out a strongly pro-Israel position, in contrast with the Liberals’ uneven support.
Shortly after the 2006 Lebanon War, for example, Harper blocked a one-sided anti-Israel resolution at the Francophonie, a summit of French-speaking nations. At the same time, Ignatieff, a former professor of human rights then vying for leadership of the Liberal Party, accused Israel of having committed a “war crime” in Qana, the South Lebanon village where Israeli air strikes hit an apartment building, killing at least 28 civilians, including 16 children. Speaking to a Jewish audience two years later, Ignatieff did not retract his view that Israel “may have failed to comply with the Geneva Convention of the laws of war.” But he expressed regret at his incendiary choice of words, terming the episode “the most painful experience of my short political career” and “an error.”
The Jewish community also lauded Harper for being the first Western leader to boycott last April’s U.N. Durban Review Conference in Geneva, known informally as Durban II, in Geneva, vowing that Canada would “not be party to an antisemitic and anti-Western hate-fest dressed up as an anti-racism conference.”
“The Conservatives have connected with some Jewish voters, especially those for whom Israel is of prime importance,” McGill University political scientist Harold Waller said. “With Israel under unprecedented international pressure, voters who are sensitive to this issue may well choose to reward the Conservatives.”
Already, the Conservative overtures have gained some high-profile converts within the Jewish elite. Heather Reisman, a veteran Liberal powerbroker, and Ariella Cotler, wife of prominent Liberal parliamentarian and Jewish communal activist Irwin Cotler, both have swung over to Harper.
The Jews who shift to the Conservatives are not necessarily buying into the party’s neoconservative domestic agenda. For one thing, having only a minority in parliament, Harper has had to govern from the center rather than the right. And most Jews remain liberal on such social issues as abortion and the publicly run health care system.
A typical case is Toronto’s Dan Ronen, a lawyer who was the Jewish community liaison to a former Liberal Cabinet minister. He plans to vote for Harper. “It doesn’t make me a Conservative,” he said. “I’m not a party activist. I’m supporting Harper because of his positions on antisemitism, on Iran and isolating [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, and for his unequivocal support for the State of Israel.”
There are no polls on Jewish-voter intentions. But the Conservatives do appear to be gaining strength in suburban Toronto ridings with large Jewish minorities. Rochelle Wilner, a former president of B’nai Brith Canada, ran for the Conservatives in 2008 in the Toronto seat of York Centre, a traditionally Liberal, preserve with a significant Jewish minority. She lost, but trimmed the Liberals’ victory margin to a mere 2,000 votes from 12,000. “There’s been a huge shift” toward Harper among Jews, Wilner said. “I think the Conservative brand is stronger right across the country.” Thornhill, the most Jewish riding in Ontario, ousted its Jewish Liberal incumbent in 2008. “There’s no question that the Jewish community, especially the Orthodox, felt the Conservatives had been very vocal in support of Israel and deserved to be given a boost,” said James Morton, leader of the Liberals’ political operation in that district.
The Conservatives, currently 10 seats shy of a parliamentary majority, targeted six heavily Jewish ridings with their controversial leaflets: three in Montreal, two in Toronto and one in Winnipeg. The Liberals — and the smaller opposition parties — accused the Conservatives of playing ethnic politics. “There’s the risk of a backlash against the Conservatives,” Waller said. “The circular was so misleading in some respects; people were offended.”
Cotler, who was justice minister in the last Liberal government, lambasted the leaflet’s claim that Harper’s government “led the world” in halting funding to the Hamas-led Palestinian government in Gaza. It was, in fact, a Liberal government that first banned financial support to Hamas and Hezbollah in 2002, he noted in an interview with The Toronto Star.
As for the charge that Liberals had betrayed Jewish interests by sending representatives to the first Durban Conference against racism, held in 2001, Cotler noted that he was one of those Liberals. The Israeli government of the day specifically asked Canada to remain at the conference “and make its voice felt and bear witness to what was happening,” he said.
Prominent Conservative legislators, such as Hugh Segal, Linda Frum and Judith Seidman, declined requests for interviews.
Neither the Canadian Jewish Congress nor B’nai Brith Canada, the two major Jewish advocacy groups, overtly endorses a political party. But B’nai Brith is clearly delighted with Harper. When the anti-Liberal fliers landed, a B’nai Brith news release defended the Conservative missive.
Historically, it’s the Liberal Party that has appealed to ethnic groups. For one, this was the governing party when most of those groups first were admitted into Canada in large numbers. Also, said Jonathan Goldbloom, a prominent Liberal organizer in Montreal, “the Liberals have been a slightly left-of-center party, the Democratic Party equivalent in Canada that argued for the role of government. They addressed issues of importance to the community beyond Israel.”
Goldbloom said that his party’s challenge now is to make its stand against antisemitism and for Israel “more apparent, especially when faced with an opponent that distorts the Liberal record.” He added, “We want all parties to support Israel; it shouldn’t be a wedge issue.”
Contact Sheldon Gordon at feedback@forward.com.
 

MESI Issue of the Week
Has Hizbullah Changed? The 7th Hizbullah General Conference and Its Continued Ideology of Resistance
17/12/2009
Shimon Shapira | Hizbollah
http://mesi.org.uk/ViewBlog.aspx?ArticleId=77
Hizbullah wound up its clandestine 7th General Conference at the end of November 2009 that took place and lasted about four months. Hassan Nasrallah was again chosen to be Hizbullah's general secretary and, as with previous conferences, the movement published a political manifesto. Some Western analysts believe the manifesto represented a fundamental change in Hizbullah policy. Indeed, a few days after it was proclaimed, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the Beirut Daily Star, "carefully considered contact with Hizbullah's politicians, including its MPs, will best advance our objective of the group rejecting violence to play a constructive role in Lebanese politics."1 Later, British spokesmen denied they had changed their policy toward Hizbullah.
Hizbullah's 6th General Conference was convened in 2004 and, according to the movement's bylaws, the 7th General Conference was to have convened in 2007. However, due to the Second Lebanon War and the debates and internal struggles that erupted in its wake within Hizbullah, together with the death of Hizbullah military commander Imad Mughniyeh in a car bombing in Damascus in February 2008, the conference was postponed twice and was finally convened in 2009.2
Hizbullah's Leadership
Anyone proposing that Hizbullah has fundamentally changed should carefully examine the organization's leaders elected by the 7th General Conference. The newly elected Shura Council is comprised of:
•Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah - Secretary-General
•Sheikh Naim Qassem - Deputy Secretary-General
•Sayyed Hashem Safi al-Din - Head of the "Shura Council Executive"
•Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek - Head of the Spiritual Body
•Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed - Head of the Political Council
•MP Haj Mohammed Raad - Head of the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc (the Hizbullah faction in the Lebanese Parliament)
•Hussein Khalil - Political Assistant to the Secretary-General
•The name of the member of the leadership who replaced Imad Mughniyeh, who headed the Jihad Council - the supreme military body - and represented it in the Hizbullah leadership, was not publicized for security reasons.
Aside from the members of the Shura Council, Hizbullah has not published the names of other officeholders in the movement and close associates have made it clear that no substantial change has occurred in the movement's structure and leadership.3 It would seem that whatever changes occurred involved primarily second and third echelon officeholders in the party hierarchy as well as in the intra-party administrative frameworks at the unit and subunit levels. These changes were intended to incorporate new people into the leadership of the militia in order to infuse the ranks of Hizbullah with new blood.
It is plausible to assume that Nasrallah viewed changes in Hizbullah's military framework following the Second Lebanon War and the death of Imad Mughniyeh to be among the 7th Conference's top priorities, in order to rehabilitate and strengthen Hizbullah's military power and to prepare for the next conflict with Israel. Concomitantly, Nasrallah sought to contend with the penetration of Hizbullah ranks by Israeli intelligence, whose footprints are periodically discovered.
The Political Manifesto
On November 30, 2009, Hizbullah's new political manifesto4 was read by Hassan Nasrallah from a hiding place and was projected on giant screens at a press conference in Beirut.
As with previous political manifestos,5 the new manifesto - 32 pages long and published in a sky blue binding - reflected the changing political reality in which Hizbullah operated and the process of Hizbullah's integration into the Lebanese state and its institutions. While the theoretical-ideological foundation focusing on the link to Iran as the source of authority (wali al-fakih) was not mentioned in any of these manifestos, this link - that is part of Hizbullah's essence - appeared in the "Open Letter" (Resala Maftuha) of 1985, which bore the portraits of Imam Khomeini and Sheikh Raghib Harb.6 The Open Letter of 1985 remains, at least formally, the founding manifesto of Hizbullah and continues to serve as the movement's ideological basis.
The preface to the latest manifesto emphasizes that it was intended to present Hizbullah's political position within the framework of the international and Lebanese reality in which Hizbullah was operating. This reality includes historical changes presaging the decline of the United States as the sole superpower, the collapse of financial markets in the United States and worldwide, and the confusion and impotence of the American economy. All this, claimed the manifesto, presages the retreat of American power throughout the world and the beginning of the accelerated decline of Israel. In reflection of these global changes, Hizbullah offers its resistance to Israel and the United States as the perfect solution. In its view, resistance has become an international value that constitutes a source of inspiration and a model for emulation to all those who aspire to freedom and independence throughout the world.
The first chapter of the manifesto surveys American aspirations for global hegemony since World War II and concludes:
There is no doubt that the American Terrorism is the origin of all terrorism in this world. The Bush administration has turned the United States into a threat menacing the whole world on all levels and dimensions, and if an international survey was to be made, the U.S. would turn out to be the most hated in the world.
The second chapter deals with Hizbullah's status in Lebanon, and here we observe a significant change in Hizbullah's position toward the Lebanese state:
Lebanon is our homeland and the homeland of our fathers and ancestors. It is also the homeland of our children, grandchildren, and future generations. It is the country to which we have given our most precious sacrifices for its independence and pride, dignity and freedom.
We want a unified Lebanon for all Lebanese alike. We oppose any kind of partition or federalism.
With regard to the resistance (muqawama), it emphasized that:
It derives from the eternal threat of Israel to Lebanon and the difficult circumstances arising from the absence of a Lebanese authority. These required a campaign to obtain a homeland via armed resistance. The crowning achievements are the liberation in 2000 and the historic victory in July 2006.

The manifesto does not deal with the issue of the continued existence of the Hizbullah militia. This is a fundamental issue that is not open to discussion from Hizbullah's standpoint. Thus, Nasrallah makes clear that it was impossible for Hizbullah to disarm.7 Instead, the Hizbullah leader emphasized that the main effort is now invested in:
creating a defense strategy that will be based on the integration of the resistance that will assist in the defense of the homeland, strengthen its security and stability, [and]...liberate what remains under "Israeli" occupation in the Shaba farms and Kfar Shouba hills and the Lebanese village of Ghajar, as well as liberating the detainees and missing people and martyrs' bodies.
With reference to the political regime in Lebanon, Hizbullah calls for the abolition of the political sectarianism on which the Lebanese state is predicated. Nasrallah explained at a press conference:
Let's be realistic, the abolition of political sectarianism in Lebanon is one of the most difficult issues....Unfortunately, many of those who call for and advocate the abolition of political sectarianism are not serious about the issue.
This committee may continue its dialogue for five, ten, twenty or even thirty years because, ultimately, no one can just simply describe a method of how to abolish political sectarianism....Possibly, after a long debate...we may reach the conclusion that realism necessitates that we accept sectarianism and that any efforts to the contrary would be a complete waste of time; that abolishing political sectarianism in this country is impossible.
The manifesto praises the excellent relations between Lebanon and Syria and views them as a mutual political, military, and economic necessity. It views Islamic Iran as a primary and important country and a chief supporter of the Palestinians. However, it includes no reference to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei as being Hizbullah's source of authority, and does not mention Hizbullah's loyalty to the Iranian leadership.
Nasrallah was asked at the press conference about the 1985 Open Letter that spoke of a single leadership for Iran and Hizbullah. He responded:
We have provided [in the new manifesto] a political document, but have not dealt with aspects of belief, ideology, or intellectual culture....Our position on the question of the source of authority (wali al-fakih) is an intellectual, ideological and religious one, and not a political position subject to review.
In other words, according to Nasrallah, Hizbullah remains ideologically the same party it was back in 1985. Indeed, one analyst with a deep understanding of the Shiite group called the new Hizbullah political manifesto "a point-by-point expansion" of the principles laid out in its founding document in 1985.8
The third chapter of the manifesto deals with Palestine in the peace agreement process, the status of Jerusalem, and the Palestinian resistance. After determining that Zionism is a racist movement, Hizbullah makes it clear that the liberation of Palestinian lands including Jerusalem is a mission that is imposed upon the Arab and Islamic world. Hence it is clear that in its own self-appraisal, Hizbullah enjoys no special advantage or preferred status in leading the Palestinian struggle against Israel. At the same time, Hizbullah rejects any agreement with Israel that will be predicated on recognition of the legitimacy of its existence or any concessions on Palestinian lands. It was emphasized that this position is consistent, fixed and final, and there can be no retreat from it even if the entire world were to recognize Israel.
While the 7th Conference was taking place in Lebanon, its original architect, Ali-Akbar Mohtashemi-Pur, was staying in Damascus. Mohtashemi, who crossed the lines and joined the reformist camp, participated in a conclave of support for Palestine that took place at the shrine of Sayyida Zaynab, where he was attacked by Iranian representatives who were supporters of Ahmedinejad.9
Summary
As reflected in its political manifestos, Hizbullah has been focusing on consolidating its status within the internal Lebanese arena since 1992 when Hizbullah received the authorization of Iranian supreme leader Khamenei, its source of authority, and sent its representatives to Parliament, and in 2005 when it sent its representatives into the Lebanese government in the wake of the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon, in order to guarantee the continued existence of its independent military force.
The Lebanese flag, which was brutally trampled by Hizbullah during the 1980s, now occupies a place of honor alongside the yellow banner of Hizbullah. The impression is that Hizbullah has adopted the Lebanese state and in its self-appraisal has become an authentic representative of Lebanese national identity. There is a perpetual gap between the pragmatic spirit coming from the Hizbullah political manifesto and Lebanon's political reality. Hizbullah's vigorous position insisting that it retain an army of its own that does not heed the authority of the state but rather the representative of Iran's leader in Lebanon makes a mockery of the clauses in the political manifesto about Lebanon being the eternal homeland. Furthermore, by building a state-like system parallel to that of the Lebanese state, and one that relies on aid and funding from Iran and Syria, Hizbullah does not contribute to the strengthening and health of the Lebanese homeland that Nasrallah says he wants to preserve and nurture. Finally, the subversive conduct of Hizbullah, which acts against the interests of the Lebanese state and sends forth subversive and violent elements into nearby countries such as Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan, makes the concept of loyalty to the Lebanese homeland void of any content.
It would seem, therefore, that the decision of the Lebanese government headed by Saad Hariri to recognize the continued legitimate existence of Hizbullah's armed militia demonstrates less a case that Hizbullah underwent a process of "Lebanonization," but rather that the Lebanese state has undergone a process of "Hizbullazation." Parallel to adopting the Lebanese identity, Hizbullah preserves its essential link to Iran: its commitment to the Iranian leader as the source of authority surpasses any other commitment including on the political level. Hizbullah adopts decisions on war and peace taken by Iran, the sole recognized source of authority, and not only on theoretical and religious issues, as Nasrallah may wish to claim.
Hizbullah's alleged move toward pragmatism is based to a large extent on an Iranian decision to create a new atmosphere in Lebanon that will allow it to work unmolested. After the Second Lebanon War that erupted at Israel's initiative and caught Hizbullah by surprise, Iran ordered Hizbullah to restrain activities against Israel and intensify its integration into the political life of the Lebanese state. Iran is looking for strict silence in the Lebanese arena in order to enable Hizbullah to reconstruct its strategic capabilities (including long-range rockets and missiles) in Lebanon in order to deter Israel, and to make use of these capabilities at a time to be determined by Tehran in the event that deterrence fails. This is the main reason for the quiet prevailing in South Lebanon, and it seems that Israeli deterrence of Hizbullah plays only a minor role.
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Notes
1. Josie Ensor, "Britain Open to Contacts with Hizbullah," Daily Star (Beirut), December 1, 2009.
2. As-Safir, November 24, 2009.
3. Ibid.
4. Al-Manar, November 30, 2009.
5. This manifesto joins a series of previous political manifestos that were published at the end of the general conferences that Hizbullah conducted in May 1993 (the 3rd Conference), summer 1995 (the 4th), summer 1998 (the 5th), in 2004 (the 6th), as well as the election manifestos for the parliamentary elections in which Hizbullah participated in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2005. For an analysis of Hizbullah's political and election manifestos, see Shimon Shapira, Hezbollah between Iran and Lebanon (Tel Aviv: HaKibbutz Hameuhad, 2000), pp. 186-192.
6. For an analysis of the "Open Letter," see Shapira, pp. 126-8.
7. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, "Nasrallah: Prime Minister of Lebanon," Asharq Alawsat, December 7, 2009.
8. Tony Badran, "For Hezbollah, Lebanon Is an Afterthought," NowLebanon.com, December 8, 2009, http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=131055.
9. www.mowjcamp.com/article/id/64087.
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Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira is a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
The Jerusalem Issue Brief series is published by the Institute for Contemporary Affairs, founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation.


The Holy Virgin Mary appears in Egypt‏
http://nacopts1.blogspot.com/2009/12/holy-virgin-mary-appears-in-egypt.html
The Holy Virgin Mary has been appearing at St Mary’s Orthodox church in Al-Warraq, Cairo since October 12, attracting thousands and thousands of Christians and Muslims.
The Bishop of Giza, Anba Theodosius, announces that the Holy Virgin has appeared in a transfiguration at the Church named after her in Warraq al-Hadar, Giza, in the early hours of Friday, December 11, 2009, at 1:00 am. The Holy Virgin appeared in her full height in luminous robes, above the middle dome of the church, in a pure white dress and a royal blue belt. She had a crown on her head, above which appeared the cross on top of the dome. The crosses on top of the church’s domes and towers glowed brightly with light. The Holy Virgin moved between the domes and on to the top of the church gate between its two twin towers. The local residents all saw her.
The apparition lasted from 1:00 am until 4:00 am on Friday, and was registered by cameras and cell phones. Some 3,000 people from the neighborhood, surrounding areas, and passers-by gathered in the street in front of the church to see the apparition.
Since Friday, the huge crowds gathered in the vicinity of the church have been seeing luminous white pigeons soaring above the church during various times of the night, as well as a star, which emerges suddenly in the heavens, travels some 200 meters across the sky, then disappears. The huge crowds gathered around the church do not cease singing hymns and praises for the Holy Virgin.
I personally find no reason to be skeptical about the idea of the Holy Virgin Mary appearing on the domes of her church during the blessed Nativity Fast, especially at this time. Her appearance as such has been confirmed by the Church in the past (e.g. her appearance at Zeitoun, Shoubra and Assiut).
The video footage, coming as it does from a camera phone, isn’t the best of quality, but it is clear enough in my opinion–and in the opinion of the commentators, who, by the way, are not Christian, and who do in fact briefly note and proceed to reply to some obvious typical objections to the footage. The display at 4:50-4:54 shows that the illumined figure is, contrary to the illumined crosses, not attached to the church’s structure. As is clearer to the eye witnesses, the light of the illumined figure differs remarkably from the dull yellow light of the crosses–it is a mixture of a bright blue and white light (the blue light presumably corresponding to her blue attire); eye-witnesses have furthermore noted that it does not retain a fixed position.
The Mother of Jesus was appearing for tens of thousands to see in the land of the pyramids at a Coptic church constructed to commemorate the area in Egypt where she had come with Joseph and Jesus when they all fled from Herod. Starting in April, 1968, her apparitions of light changed the lives of thousands. Her appearances in Zeitun were astounding. She was seen by more than a million people. The apparitions were broadcast by Egyptian TV, photographed by hundreds of professional photographers and personally witnessed by Egyptian President Abdul Nasser.
Her first visit was on the night of April 2, 1968. Two Muslim watchmen at a garage saw a woman walking the roof of the church across the street. Afraid she was going to jump, they ran out shouting at her not to take her life, summoning a crowd below. The priest of the chapel was the first to believe it was an apparition. The longest single appearance was on April 30, 1968, when the vision remained from 2:45 am until 5 am. The nightly apparition attracted vast crowds of both Copts and Muslims, and was declared a genuine miracle by the Coptic Church.
On the eve of Tuesday, March 25, 1986 (Baramhat 16, 1702 am), the Holy Virgin Mary started Her apparitions in the church of Saint Demiana, the martyr in Papadouplo, in the Shoubra quarter of Cairo. The church of Saint Demiana in Papadouplo is a very small and poor Coptic Orthodox church and the surrounding “streets” are very narrow (about 4 meters wide). On this day, our Lady appeared beside the two towers of the church of Saint Demiana and was first seen by people living in the houses overlooking the church’s towers; Her light shone in their houses and they saw Her in Her full body surrounded by a halo of light over the left (western) dome of the church. This apparition was repeated several times, then the news spread and people from all sects and religions came to see the apparitions. The very narrow streets surrounding the church became overcrowded with thousands of night vigils praying and singing doxologies, liturgies and hymns to the Mother of True Light for whole nights.
Also, in 2000, an apparition of the Virgin Mary had been spotted in the small Egyptian town of Assiut. Outside the church, hopeful pilgrims each night chanted “Come Mary, Come,” or “Your Light is on the Cross,” hoping to beseech the Virgin Mary to appear between the two towers of the church, as she had done the previous nights, they say.
It is believed by Christians in Egypt, that the Virgin Mary appears in times of crisis and unrest in order to support them at the time of adversity. She appeared at the Zeitun Church in 1968, the year after a setback of 67 , and these days, when Copts face Islamic persecution from the Egyptian regime and their follow Muslims, she has appeared again.

Articles on the Web
Watani - 20 December 2009: Holy Virgin appears at Warraq, Giza [cached copy]
Thousands gather in frenzied crowds as Mary said to appear again in Cairo, Egypt (SPIRITDAILY - 17 December 2009)
Egypt: exorcism and Virgin Mary apparitions, mystery in Cairo (ANSAmed - 16 December 2009) [cached copy]
EGYPT: Is it the Virgin Mary or just a curious flash of light? Los Angeles Times (blog) - 15 December 2009 [cached copy]
Crowds flock to Giza as news spreads of an apparition of the Virgin Mary
Reports Sherine Nasr - Al-Ahram Weekly Online 17 - 23 December 2009 - Issue No. 977: Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/977/fr2.htm
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"If I could only see Her tonight, it will be the happiest day of my life," said 25-year-old sales representative Fadi Amir. He had been standing all night, his eyes fixed on the church's towers in hope of catching a glimpse of the Virgin Mary.
"Whether I see Her or not, I know She's there," said a young lady, shivering with the cold as she stood on the opposite side of the road to get a better view of the church.
Whether waiting for a miracle to happen or just watching for something unusual, the crowds that gather daily in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael in Warraq, Giza, could not be more positive about what they are doing. And when solving the simplest daily problem all too often involves insurmountable obstacles, who can blame people for seeking the miraculous. It is not unusual to hear reports of the Virgin Mary's appearance every now and then, particularly among Copts. And as on this occasion, the news spreads like wildfire.
According to Father Dawoud of the Church of the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael neighbours, worried by crowds gathering outside, called at midnight on 10 December to ask if something was wrong.
"The phone calls poured in and many people said they had just seen an apparition of Virgin Mary on the right dome of the church," said Father Dawoud, who added that Muslim neighbours were among the callers, including "Haj Rashad, a neighbour and a dear friend who told me, 'what are you doing here, father? I have just seen Our Lady Mariam with my own eyes, go and see for yourself'."
"At first we thought that a little kid was playing with a flash light, but then the light intensified and moved from the tree in front of the church entrance up to the right dome and an embodiment of Virgin Mary could be easily recognised. It stayed there for a while. I have captured the scene with my mobile phone," says Hassan, the neighbourhood distributor of gas cylinders.
On Monday the Coptic Orthodox Bishopric in Giza issued a statement: "On 11 Friday, at 1am, a full apparition of the Virgin Mary on the right dome of the church was reported by at least 3,000 people. She appeared in her usual heavenly blue costume. She was crowned and the concrete cross on the dome was placed on top of her crown. Those present captured photos and videos of the Holy scene," read the statement. The scene, as described, was broadcast on Amr Adib's talk show "Cairo Today" on 13 December.
According to Bishop Theodosios of Giza, it was important to investigate the event in detail.
"I stayed up all night on Sunday. I saw doves appear suddenly in the sky. They flew in circles in front of the church before they vanished into thin air. They were floating rather than hovering with their wings," said Bishop Theodosios, adding that it is uncommon for doves to fly at night.
What makes the claims credible for many Copts is the fact that reports of the apparition coincided with the beginning of the Coptic month of Kiahk, better known as "Mary's month", dedicated to praising the Virgin's conception of Christ and ending with the Coptic Orthodox Church's Christmas celebrations of 7 January.
For security forces the event has a different dimension. Selim, a policeman, pointed out he had been on duty at the site for seven hours already and did not expect to be relieved for another five.
"The police are exerting a tremendous effort and they have been very cooperative," says Father Dawoud, who also praised church neighbours, many of whom allowed visitors to view the church from the roofs of their buildings.
The coffee shops -- there is one on each side of the church -- also find cause for celebration. Profits have spiralled.
"We've never had so many customers and they are there all night long," says Hassan, a tea boy. "We even rent chairs for LE3 per night."
Apparitions of the Virgin Mary are present in the minds of a majority of Copts. The longest and best documented occurred in the church named after her in Zeitoun in April 1968. Sightings continued for almost two years. The event was witnessed by millions, including President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, and was associated with miraculous cures. In 1986 a similar event took place in Saint Demiana the Martyr's Church in Papadouplo, Shubra. In 1997, a small church in Shentena Al-Hagger in Menoufiya hosted thousands of Copts following news of an apparition. In 2000, St Mark's Church in Assiut, 300km south of Cairo, was the scene of similar sightings.
"If the sightings continue a fact finding committee will be formed to investigate the matter and they will submit their report to Pope Shenouda III, on which basis he may issue a papal declaration," said Bishop Theodosios. © Above article is Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly.