LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 02/09
Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Matthew 8:28-34. When he came to the other side, to the
territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met
him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. They cried out,
"What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us
before the appointed time?" Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding.
The demons pleaded with him, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of
swine." And he said to them, "Go then!" They came out and entered the swine, and
the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. The
swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything,
including what had happened to the demoniacs. Thereupon the whole town came out
to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Lebanon leader inherits mixed legacy-Financial
Times 01/07/09
Key players in Lebanon's future take their place-GlobalPost
01/07/09
Hezbollah and the protests in Iran.
By: Nicholas Lowry, NOW Staff 01/07/09
A tragic
symmetry/Now Lebanon
site 01/07/09
NOW We’re Talking: Divided we
fall.By: Maya Khourchid, NOW Staff 01/07/09
Petraeus' visit serves as a reminder of what needs to be done in Lebanon-
The Daily Star 01/07/09
Iran and the World: A War of Words and Images-By:
Tariq Alhomayed 01/07/09
An Important Milestone in the Iraq War.By: Peter
Wehner 01/07/09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July
01/09
Feltman: Despite its
Popular Support, Hizbullah is a Threat to Lebanon and the Region-Naharnet
Ban Encourages Dismantling
of Palestinian Bases, Says Hizbullah's Capabilities a Serious Challenge to
Sovereignty-Naharnet
Maronite Bishops Call for
Facilitating Cabinet Formation-Naharnet
Zoghbi: Hizbullah’s weapon covers
nationalization-Future
News
Aoun: Nobody Knows Who Is Forming
the Cabinet with the Flood of Diplomatic Visits; the Polls Were a 'Slave Market'-Naharnet
Gunfire Targets Hariri
Educational Complex in Sidon-Naharnet
March 14 Calls for a
Demilitarized Beirut-Naharnet
Suleiman: Return of
Palestinians is Essential for Comprehensive Mideast Settlement-Naharnet
Saudi-Syrian-Lebanese summit on
July 16-Future News
Openness prevails over
‘government’s birth-Future
News
Iran trades-off Lebanon’s security
with accepting its election results-Future
News
Cabinet
on Low Fire as Preparations for Lebanon-Syria-Saudi Summit Underway-Naharnet
Push
Toward Turning Beirut into Demilitarized City-Naharnet
First
PSP-Hizbullah Security Meeting in Dahiyeh to Bolster Confidence-Naharnet
Baroud Says Fires Appear
Intentional-Naharnet
Hariri Vows to Continue
'Positive' Negotiations to Shape a 'Capable' Cabinet-Naharnet
Is Lebanon's Security
Council Seat Under Threat?-Naharnet
Swine Flu Cases Rise to 47-Naharnet
Visiting U.S. Military
Commander Meets Top Lebanese Officials-Naharnet
Berri Calls for Serious,
Transparent Probe into Aisha Bakkar Shooting-Naharnet
Khoja in Beirut as Syria
Awaits Saudi Response-Naharnet
Jumblatt calls Sami Gemayel’s
rhetoric “harmful and wrong”. Now Lebanon
Source to LBC: Possible
Saudi-Syrian summit may include Sleiman, Hariri. Now Lebanon
Lebanon says French comedian is welcome-eTaiwan
News
Lebanon: Mufti condemns factional violence-AKI
Lebanon's president congratulates Ahmadinejad on
re-election-WashingtonTV
US military official stresses American support
to Lebanon-Xinhua
Hariri holding 'positive' talks with Parliament blocs on cabinet-Daily
Star
Petraeus commends Lebanon's improvement since last visit-Daily
Star
Makari wants 'realistic' approach to Hizbullah arms-Daily
Star
FPM
asks for seven ministers in next cabinet-Daily
Star
Resistance MP urges action on electricity shortage-Daily
Star
Sfeir
says 'nothing going well' in Lebanon-Daily
Star
Hizbullah, PSP officials meet for talks-Daily
Star
Activists plan March to break Gaza siege-Daily
Star
Beirut Exchange accessibility needs improvement-Daily
Star
NDU
students prepare for semester in Cyprus-Daily
Star
Number of local swine flu cases rises to 43, says Health Ministry-Daily
Star
MPs
urge Murr to make Beirut 'free of arms-Daily
Star
Lebanese engineer wins science competition in Qatar-Daily
Star
ISF
rounds up 41 people wanted for various crimes-Daily
Star
Wounded de-miner rejoins colleagues as PR worker-Daily
Star
Beiteddine Festival organizers voice 'serious regrets' over campaign against
Jewish comic-Daily
Star
Senior politicians join calls for 'citizen's state-Daily
Star
Q+A-How North Korea earns money from arms sales-Reuters
Lebanon Vote Draws Expatriates' Interest-Wall
Street Journal
Sfeir says 'nothing going well' in Lebanon
By Maroun Khoury /Daily Star correspondent
Wednesday, July 01, 2009/BKIRKI: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir was
pessimistic on Tuesday about the overall political situation in Lebanon. Sfeir
told a delegation of residents from the Chouf town of Brih, that the Lebanese
were "currently facing a difficult period." "Nothing is going well," he added.
On Tuesday, Sfeir also met with a media delegation and thanked them for the
"pioneer role" the media was playing in protecting the values that Lebanon
"holds dear." "Threats that aim to damage Lebanon's multicultural image would
incur significant damages on Lebanon's future" if such attempts continue.
Zoghbi: Hizbullah’s weapon
covers nationalization
Date: July 1st, 2009/Future News
Member of ‘March 14’ coalition Elias El Zoghbi said on Wednesday the weapon of
Hizbullah is a “cover for imposing armed nationalization” of Palestinians in
Lebanon.
Zoghbi explained that Palestinians in Syria “are building military bases in
Lebanon and imposing armed nationalization under the title of resisting Israel
and copying Hizbullah.”
He added that “the best way to fight nationalization is through enforcing the
state’s institutions, unifying its political and military decision and
disregarding the concept of obstruction.”
Zoghbi refused the statements of some leaders of ‘March 8’ alliance who consider
‘Hizbullah’s weapon necessary to fight nationalization’, and doubted “the
reliability of this slogan”.
“If Hizbullah’s weapon is intended to control Palestinian refugee camps and hold
them back from expanding, then why doesn’t it start with dealing with the
Palestinian military bases out of the camps? And if Hizbullah’s weapon aims at
pressuring Israel to adopt the right of Palestinians to return how will it
succeed in doing that when all the Arab and Muslim troops, including unyielding
states (Syria and Iran) have failed?”
Zoghbi warned that if the mission of Hizbullah’s weapon is to ensure the Right
to Return “then the party has a regional mission that surpasses the Lebanese
framework smacking its Lebanese identity and goal.”
Ban Encourages Dismantling of
Palestinian Bases, Says Hizbullah's Capabilities a Serious Challenge to
Sovereignty
Naharnet/U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Israel to withdraw from the Lebanese
side of the border village of Ghajar and reiterated that Hizbullah's armed
capabilities pose a serious challenge to the government's ability to exercise
its sovereignty. In his 10th report on implementation of Security Council
resolution 1701, Ban said the continued occupation by Israeli forces of the
northern part of Ghajar and the adjacent area north of the Blue Line must end.
Ban also urged Israel to end violations of Lebanese airspace. As indicated in
his previous reports, the secretary general said Hizbullah continues to maintain
a substantial military capacity distinct from that of the Lebanese state. This
capacity continues to pose a serious challenge to the ability of the Lebanese
state to exercise full sovereignty over its territory. The existence of military
bases belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General
Command and to Fatah al Intifada continues to pose a hindrance to Lebanese
sovereignty, according to the report carried by Beirut newspapers on Wednesday.
Ban hasn't yet handed over the report to the Security Council for discussion.
The U.N. chief called on the Lebanese government to dismantle the Palestinian
military bases and on Syria, which has influence on these groups, to support
efforts in this regard. Beirut, 01 Jul 09, 08:30
Feltman: Despite its Popular Support, Hizbullah is a Threat to Lebanon and the
Region
Naharnet/U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey
Feltman warned that Hizbullah's arms pose a threat to Lebanon and the region
although he admitted that the party has popular support and is represented in
parliament. "We cannot deny that Hizbullah enjoys popular support in Lebanon and
is a member of parliament … Our problem with Hizbullah is linked to its
possession of weapons that threaten Lebanon and the region," Feltman told
Kuwait's al-Qabas newspaper in an interview published Wednesday.
On the international tribunal that would try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's suspected
assassins, the top U.S. official said: "The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is a
professional tribunal that abides by international standards. We have put our
full trust in it."The court is neither part of the U.S.-Syrian dialogue, nor the
American-Lebanese dialogue, Feltman stressed. Asked about U.S. President Barack
Obama's latest decision to send an ambassador to Damascus, Feltman considered
the move important although he said the U.S. still has strong differences with
Syria. "Syria has a definition to Hizbullah different than ours," he said. The
former ambassador to Beirut said the U.S. has an interest in seeing a
comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace that includes Syria and Lebanon later on. Asked
about Syrian-Israeli talks, Feltman told his interviewer that rapprochement does
not come at the expense of another party. "A (possible) Lebanese-Israeli
rapprochement wouldn't also come at the expense of another side. Comprehensive
peace should be in everybody's interest in the region." Beirut, 01 Jul 09, 11:02
Maronite Bishops Call for Facilitating Cabinet Formation
Naharnet/The Maronite Church on Wednesday called for facilitating the formation
of a government that will "run the country firmly and wisely."It also hoped the
new government would be able to rescue Lebanon from "fragmentation."The church,
in a statement issued by the Council of Maronite Bishops after their monthly
meeting, thanked God that single-day parliamentary elections ended peacefully.
The Bishops hoped for a "promising summer season." Beirut, 01 Jul 09, 13:20
Is Lebanon's Security Council Seat Under Threat?
Naharnet/Lebanon is seriously considering relinquishing its non-permanent seat
in the U.N. Security Council for fears that internal bickering could reflect
negatively on the Lebanese ambassador in New York, Western diplomatic sources
told al-Akhbar daily. The General Assembly will reportedly elect Lebanon as a
non-permanent member in September and the country will serve a two-year term
starting Jan. 1, 2010. If Lebanon withdraws its candidacy for the seat, Saudi
Arabia will take over, al-Akhbar said.
The sources in New York said that Lebanese internal divide could reflect on
Lebanon's permanent representative, leading to the obstruction of urgent
resolutions in the Security Council, particularly presidential and media
statements which require unanimity. The Council currently has five permanent
members with veto power -- the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France
-- and 10 non-permanent members who serve two-year terms and have no power to
veto resolutions. The 10 elected members enjoy all other aspects of council
membership, including the right to propose resolutions, chair committees and
hold the rotating council presidency for one-month periods.Five countries are
elected every year by the General Assembly to replace five retiring ones.
Beirut, 01 Jul 09, 09:29
Push Toward Turning Beirut into Demilitarized City
Naharnet/Beirut lawmakers are exerting every effort in a bid to turn Beirut into
a demilitarized city following on-again-off-again bloody street fighting that
has taken many innocent lives away.
MPs Mohammed Qabbani, Atef Majdalani, Ammar Houry, Hani Qobeisi, Imad Hout, Jean
Oghassabian, Nuhad Mashnouq and Nayla Tueni launched their initiative on Tuesday
by visiting outgoing Defense Minister Elias Murr and Interior Minister Ziad
Baroud as well as Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani. A statement issued
following the talks said the visits are part of a series of meetings aimed at
"resolving the security breeches in the city that have been ongoing for over a
year, latest of which was the Aisha Bakkar crime on Sunday where citizen Zeina
Miri fell a victim." Six other people were wounded in the fighting with
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades on Sunday that pitted supporters
of Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal Movement and backers of Prime Minister-designate
Saad Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement in the Aisha Bakkar district of West Beirut.
The statement called for continued support of Lebanese troops in their effort to
deal with any security violation "without having to refer to any political
party, but, instead, follow their conscience and protect innocent Beirut
residents." Tension clearly emerged when the victim's family refused to accept
condolences over the death of Miri "until justice is served."
Miri, the 30-year-old mother of five, was killed by a stray bullet as she stood
on the balcony of her apartment building in Aisha Bakkar. Her family called on
Berri and his Amal Movement to turn the culprits in to justice.These accusations
sparked a media row between Amal and Mustaqbal movements that were reflected by
the vehement attack on Berri's NBN television which referred to Hariri's party
as the "Mustaqbal Movement mob-militia." NBN stressed that Mrs. Miri fell victim
to a bullet fired by a Mustaqbal member "who fired randomly wounding seven Amal
partisans still being treated at hospitals." Berri on Tuesday called for a
"serious and transparent" probe into the Aisha Bakkar clashes. "Amal Movement
was surprised at the shooting and the death of innocent Zeina Miri and the rest
of the wounded," Berri said. "It is unacceptable to say that this act was a
violation of Beirut and all its citizens. What is true is that others fire at
random in all directions and let their sectarianism destroy their country," he
added. Al Liwaa newspaper indicated that Berri's remarks could be directed at
Mufti Qabbani who stressed during Miri's funeral on Tuesday his refusal to
"desecrate Beirut or Lebanon." Qabbani said Dar el-Fatwa was moving toward
declaring Beirut a "free city." Al-Akhbar daily, however, accused the majority
of working to alleviate tension. It quoted well-informed sources as saying that
"some (sides) want to tie once again the political-security issue with that of
the Resistance arms." Beirut, 01 Jul 09, 08:21
First PSP-Hizbullah Security Meeting in Dahiyeh to Bolster Confidence
Naharnet/A security meeting that took place in Beirut's southern suburbs between
Hizbullah and Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party was aimed at
bolstering confidence between residents of Dahiyeh and the Chouf as well as
Lebanon's central mountains. MP Akram Shehayyeb said the meeting was the first
in a series of meetings on security. "This meeting aimed at maintaining social
ties among neighborhood residents," Shehayyeb said in remarks published
Wednesday by the daily Al-Akhbar. He pointed that "matter has reached an
advanced stage and is very positive." Shehayyeb said such meetings would pave
the way for similar moves at universities at the beginning of the next school
year. Beirut, 01 Jul 09, 10:15
Baroud Says Fires Appear Intentional
Naharnet/Outgoing Interior Minister Ziad Baroud said he believed fires that
broke out in different parts of Lebanon on Tuesday may have been intentionally
set.
"The huge number of fires Lebanon witnessed on Tuesday indicated they were on
purpose," Baroud said in an interview published by the daily An Nahar on
Wednesday.
He said police was investigating the fires which exceeded 50. Beirut, 01 Jul 09,
09:32
Hariri Vows to Continue 'Positive'
Negotiations to Shape a 'Capable' Cabinet
Naharnet/Premier-designate Saad Hariri on Tuesday held serious discussions with
President Michel Suleiman on the shape-up of the new Cabinet, a day after
marathon consultations with parliamentary blocs ended with an agreement for a
national unity government.
Emerging from the talks, Hariri said he briefed the president on the outcome of
Monday's negotiations which the premier-designate described as "positive."
"The next stage will address the distribution of portfolios and the appropriate
form of government that will serve the best interest of citizens and alleviate
their hardships," Hariri said.
He said that all the parliamentary blocs "adopted positive positions on the
cabinet's make-up."
"We will continue in this positive climate to reach a government shape-up
capable of rising up to the challenges," Hariri added.
He said the Baabda meeting mainly focused on the security situation in Lebanon
and the challenges the country was facing.
"I briefed (Suleiman) on the security situation in Beirut and called on security
forces to arrest the culprits," in Sunday's deadly street clashes, Hariri told
reporters.
The parliamentarians on Monday were united on the need for a "capable"
government, especially if Lebanon "suffers any kind of Israeli aggression,"
Hariri added.
An Nahar however had quoted parliamentary circles as saying the Hariri-Suleiman
talks would focus on two formulas: The first gives the majority March 14
coalition 15 ministers while the Opposition 10 and 5 for the President and the
second to be composed of 13 ministers for the majority, 10 for the Opposition
and 7 for the President.
As Safir newspaper, for its part, quoted March 14 parliamentary sources as
saying that Christian representation remains the "major knot."
They said that while the Lebanese Forces hoped to be represented by at least two
ministers, the Phalange Party demanded a "respectful" representation, let alone
other Christian MPs who also called for a share in the new Cabinet, particularly
those representing Beirut 1 constituency.
The sources said Walid Jumblat's Democratic Gathering bloc also asked for no
less than three posts in the new government -- two Druze ministers and a
Christian -- while Gen. Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement requested seven
ministers given that his bloc includes 27 MPs.
Among the seven ministers Aoun is hoping to get, are four Maronites, one Druze,
an Armenian and another either Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox.
Other media said Monday's daylong consultations showed semi-unanimity on
openness "on all sides" – be it demands or proposals – for Cabinet formation.
They said Hariri did not enter the "numbers game" during the talks.
The daily An Nahar had said Hariri was expected to discuss with Suleiman a
number of power-sharing formulas.
The consultations ended with an agreement on establishing a government of
national unity. The Opposition, however, held on to its demands for veto power
or proportional representation.
Pan-Arab daily Al Hayat quoted sources from Amal Movement and Hizbullah as
saying the two parties were committed to avoiding talk about veto power pending
the outcome of ongoing regional contacts. The majority parliamentary blocs, on
the other hand, stressed the need to take legislative election results into
account and insisted on rejecting veto power in the new government. Beirut, 30
Jun 09, 08:29
MPs urge Murr to make Beirut 'free of arms'
Berri: No political cover for Aisha Bakkar killers
Daily Star staff/Wednesday, July 01, 2009
BEIRUT: A delegation of Beirut lawmakers discussed with caretaker Defense
Minister Elias Murr means by which security in the capital could be "permanently
preserved." Murr received in his office at the Defense Ministry in Yarze MPs
Ammar Houri, Mohammad Qabbani, Imad al-Hout, Atef Majdalani, Nuhad al-Mashnouq,
Jean Ogassapian, Hani Qobeissy and Nayla Tueni. The MPs urges Murr to declare
Beirut as a "safe city free of arms."
On Sunday, armed clashes between Sunni Future Movement and Shiite Amal Movement
supporters killed a woman bystander in the west Beirut neighborhood of Aisha
Bakkar.
Automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the clashes, which
also wounded 11 people.
Sunday's incidents were a bitter reminder of similar fighting in May 2008, when
pro-government gunmen battled with armed supporters of the Hizbullah-led
opposition, which includes Amal. The clashes killed at least 65 people.
The clashes erupted after the government issued a decree to dismantle
Hizbullah's private telecommunications network and sack the head of security at
the Beirut airport.
The Central News Agency (CNA) described Tuesday's meeting at the Defense
Ministry as "excellent."
"It was agreed in the meeting to implement laws and regulations to prevent any
presence of arms in Beirut," the CNA report said.
Murr informed the MPs that he would meet with Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)
Commander Jean Kahwaji to discuss the issue.
In a statement issued late on Monday, the Lebanese Army urged civilians to
refrain from celebratory gunfire that could be considered provocative by groups
with different political affiliations and may lead to security incidents.
The Aisha Bakkar clashes broke out after celebratory gunfire that followed the
election of Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri for the post of speaker last week
and the designation of Future Movement leader Saad Hariri as premier on
Saturday.
According to the statement, the Lebanese Army was ordered to fire at individuals
who refused to lay down their weapons.
On Tuesday, Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud reminded all groups of a memorandum
issued by his ministry to remove all political posters and banners in Lebanon.
He also urged governors and mayors to ensure that "all political advertisements,
banners and pictures be immediately taken down."
Speaker Nabih Berri met with LAF commander Kahwaji to discuss clashes in Aisha
Bakkar. Berri told the army commander that "the political cover is lifted off
the aggressors," and asked him to "take control of the streets until the
formation of the cabinet."
Berri stressed the need for investigations to "find the rioters and identify
those who killed and injured civilians."
Meanwhile, the family of Zeina al-Meeri, the victim of Sunday's clashes in Aisha
Bakkar refused to receive condolences for the death of their daughter, "before
tracking down and detaining the armed men who shot her." In a statement issued
on Tuesday, Meeri's relatives asked Berri, to "hand over those who are
responsible for the crime."
They added that the security forces and the citizens of Aisha Bakkar "know the
assailants, because they were not masked." - The Daily Star
Hizbullah, PSP officials meet for talks
By Maher Zeineddine /Daily Star correspondent
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
BEIRUT: Officials from Hizbullah and the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) held
talks on Tuesday focusing on means to preserve contact and collaboration among
them. The meeting was held at a Hizbullah's office in Beirut's southern suburbs
and was headed by MP Akram Shehayeb on behalf of the PSP and politburo member
Wafiq Safa, representing Hizbullah.
"The meeting's agenda included the procedures to reinforce civic peace, to
strengthen reconciliation and to preserve the calm atmosphere," according to a
statement issued by the state-run National News Agency. Hizbullah leader Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah and PSP head Walid Jumblatt held talks in mid-June following an
almost four-year feud. Pro-opposition Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday
that Jumblatt said speeches made by Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel "take Lebanon
back to 1975," the year of the outbreak of Lebanon's Civil War.
"Gemayel is young yet such rhetoric is harmful," the daily quoted Jumblatt as
saying. On Monday Gemayel said the March 14 Forces refused to grant the
opposition veto power in the next Cabinet and refused any mention of Hizbullah's
arms or the Resistance in the cabinet's policy statement. According to Al-Akhbar,
Jumblatt said the Taif Accord made it clear that there was "a truce among all
Lebanese who all agreed on being in a permanent state of war with Israel." The
PSP leader also stressed that Palestinians inside Lebanon would return to their
homeland.
Tackling the issue of privatization, Jumblatt said "it was a global economic
trend at a certain point, and the Lebanese were excited about it."
"However, now things have changed, and the economic crisis proves the change,"
he said. "We have witnessed how savage capitalism is, and how the US was finally
turning into a semi-socialist state," he added.
Lebanon says French comedian is welcome
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB
Associated Press
2009-07-01
A Lebanese Cabinet minister said Tuesday a French comedian of Jewish descent is
welcome to perform in Lebanon and even offered to receive him at the airport,
defying a Hezbollah campaign claiming he served in the Israeli army.
The remarks by outgoing Tourism Minister Elie Marouni came three days after
comedian Gad Elmaleh canceled his participation in a festival in Lebanon next
month because he apparently feared for his safety after Hezbollah's claims,
which were denied by his agent.
Two other Lebanese ministers also criticized Hezbollah's campaign in a rare
challenge to the Iranian-backed militant group, which suffered a major setback
against the country's pro-Western coalition in June 7 parliamentary elections.
"In my name as the tourism minister, or as a Lebanese state, we tell Gad Elmaleh
he is welcome in Lebanon," Marouni said at a news conference.
Marouni said Lebanese authorities had granted Elmaleh permission to enter the
country, saying "we are ready to receive him at the airport in order to affirm
that Lebanon is a land of freedom and creativity."
Elmaleh, known for his one-man comic
acts, had been scheduled to give three performances July 13-15 at a festival in
the mountains outside Beirut.
Noura Jumblatt, head of the festival's organizing committee, said the group had
received threats against allowing Elmaleh to perform.
Marouni stressed that cultural and arts festivals are essential to attract Arab
and foreign tourists to Lebanon in summer.
"We have to keep arts, culture and tourism away from politics," he said.
Lebanon and Israel technically remain in a state of war, and it is illegal for
Lebanese to have contacts with the Jewish state.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said Elmaleh, who is of Moroccan-Jewish descent, was an
avid supporter of Israel and showed a purported picture of him wearing an
Israeli military uniform. The performer's agent denied the report's claims and
said the photo was a fake.
Lebanon's information and culture ministers, speaking at the news conference
with Marouni, also criticized the media campaign against Elmaleh.
"The way the campaign was launched has probably harmed Lebanon's image,"
outgoing Information Minister Tarek Mitri said.
Beiteddine Festival organizers voice 'serious regrets' over campaign against
Jewish comic
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
BEIRUT: The organizing committee of the Beiteddine Festival expressed "serious
regrets" for the decision of French stand-up comedian Gad Elmaleh to cancel his
performances in the festival following accusations by Hizbullah's Al-Manar
television that he supported Israel.
"We will fight to preserve freedom and diversity in Lebanon and we will not be
discouraged by baseless accusations," the organization's head Nora Jumblatt told
reporters.
"We hope that such an incident will never occur again so as to safeguard
Lebanon's reputation," she added.
Jumblatt said the 12,000 tickets for Elmaleh's three performances in Beiteddine
were sold out.
"We don't blame Elmaleh, we rather blame defamatory campaigns," she added.
The news conference, held at the premises of the Tourism Ministry, was attended
by Tourism Minister Elie Marouni, Information Minister Tarek Mitri and Culture
Minister Tammam Salam. Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud later joined the event.
Marouni said that arts and culture should be "driven away from politics," adding
that Elmaleh was "most welcome in Lebanon."
For his part, Mitri said Elmaleh's "career and shows do not show bias to any
side."
The French comedian has canceled his participation in a festival in Lebanon next
month because of concerns for his safety after Al-Manar TV claimed he had served
in the Israeli army.
Al-Manar TV said Gad Elmaleh, who is of Moroccan-Jewish descent, was an avid
supporter of Israel and showed a purported picture of him wearing an Israeli
military uniform. The performer's agent denied the report's claims and said the
photo was a fake.
Lebanon and Israel technically remain in a state of war, and it is illegal for
Lebanese to have contacts with Israelis. Israel and Hizbullah fought a monthlong
war in 2006 that killed around 1,200 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians,
and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers.
Elmaleh, known for his one-man comic acts, had been due to give three
performances on July 13-15 at the annual Beiteddine cultural festival in the
central Chouf mountains east of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
A statement from Elmaleh's agent, Gilbert Coullier, denounced the "false
information" in Al-Manar's report.
The statement, posted on the Beiteddine festival's website Monday, said Elmaleh
was canceling his participation in the festival because of the "aggressive"
nature of the report and out of concern for his safety.
The organizing committee of the Beiteddine Festival said on its website that it
regretted what it also called a false report.
"As for the artist being Jewish, we are not aware that this religion constitutes
a barrier for anyone to take part in activities like any other citizen," it
said.
"The campaign led by Hizbullah against [Elmaleh's] travel to Lebanon under the
pretext of supporting Israel is racist and an unacceptable mixing between
politics, culture and religion," Christian lawmaker Sami Gemayel said in a
statement published in Lebanese newspapers Monday.
A local human rights group said the campaign against Elmaleh "harms the image of
Lebanon and its cultural richness." - The Daily Star, with AP
On the Net:
http://www.beiteddine.org/2009/
Senior politicians join calls for 'citizen's state'
Report identifies ways to curb confessional rifts
By Patrick Galey /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
BEIRUT: Senior politicians joined leading economic and academic experts at the
launch ceremony of a landmark equality and citizenship report on Tuesday. The
National Human Development Report, entitled "Toward a Citizen's State," was
unveiled in downtown Beirut with speeches from contributing authors and Lebanese
MPs including Education Minister Bahia Hariri, Interior Minister Ziad Baroud and
Information Minister Tarek Mitri.
A collaboration between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the
Council for Development and Reconstruction, the report addresses the concept of
citizenship in Lebanon as well as making a number of recommendations regarding
the state of Lebanese confessionalism, socio-economic citizenship rights,
poverty and education.
Introducing the report, UNDP Lebanon's Resident Representative Marta Ruedas,
said: "The Human Development Report is a tool for analysis, a tool for
recommending human progress and for contributing action for changes.
"We hope the report can spur public debate and mobilize support for action and
for change. It looks at the cultural values that exist [in Lebanon] as well as
the cultural differences that may lead to a negative impact on national
identity," she added.
A series of striking data has been complied for the report, with many number
sets relating to Lebanon's performance on gender and wealth equality in
comparison with other OECD countries.
Ruedas said that the recommendations put forward in the report centered on a
number of key issues, including a downplaying of Lebanese confessional divides
and better universal access to social services, such as health and education.
"It's important, we believe ... to use national dialogue as a process and to go
beyond the confessionalism that exists in various aspects of society. We can do
this through a number of processes, activities of dialogue and peace-building at
a local level.
"The issues that divide our nation also affect access to social services and we
believe it is important to ensure that people have quality access to these
social services," she said.
"Lastly, one of the key tolls of this change could be the electoral law reform
and to promote participation in at all levels in decision making."
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud spoke of the need for continued electoral reform
and praised the report for the way it approached the issue of Lebanon's
confessionalism.
"The report didn't give a magic solution; it's trying instead to form a web of
all the Lebanese community," he said.
"In a country so divided, citizens are rarely at the core of Lebanese policies.
However, the NHDR raised many implicit questions. It asked the question: 'How
can we develop cultural politics and expand people's choices?'"
Baroud recently won praise for his handling of the Lebanese general elections on
7 June. The elections implemented a number of electoral reform policies
recommended by the Boutros Commission in 2005. However, other reforms, such as
the lowering of the voting age to 18 and the mandatory use of pre-printed ballot
papers, were not incorporated into law in time to take effect in the June vote.
Baroud reiterated the report's stance that the Lebanese people were deserving of
greater political representation, irrespective of confessional loyalties
"The Constitution has recently become a point of view and we need to reconsider
our consensus democracy. The government needs to see citizens as individuals and
not as members of a certain religious community. The greatest difficulty is for
us to shift toward a people's nation through constitutional, legislative and
coexistence reform," he said.
Education Minister Bahia Hariri said that the public and private sectors needed
to co-operate in order to continue to close the equity gap in education. The
current literacy rate in Lebanon shows gender inequality, with only 84 percent
of women over 15 years of age considered to be literate compared with 93 percent
of men.
Hariri also thanked other nations for their financial support in Lebanon's
regeneration in recent years.
"We have come out of a long war and have tried together to reconstruct and
improve our country. But today we are in need of NGOs ready to cooperate with
the government.
"We also thank all the international efforts that have helped Lebanon," she
said. Ibrahim Shamseddine, representing President Michel Sleiman, under whose
auspices the ceremony was held, called for government unity and greater
political representation throughout Lebanese society.
"In the past decades Lebanon was unable to defend itself but that changed after
[the] Taif [Accord]. The president's job is to guarantee the country's security.
The government also has to secure all freedoms. "Democracy ... is a must for
development and it's based on alternating power and the people's right to choose
their representatives. ... The government is for the people and not for
politicians," he said. - With additionnal reporting by Carol Rizk
Iran and the World: A War of Words and Images
30/06/2009/By Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Al-Awsat
In our region, Iran has television stations, newspapers, writers, analysts,
editors, and websites, all of which are used to serve Iran and to promote its
agenda. They seek to improve Iran’s image regardless of everything it has done
to the region.
They hold conferences and symposiums and deliver lectures on the media, freedom,
and citizenship, and they accuse their opponents of treason. Unfortunately, they
are located in the Arab world, or in Western countries, not in Tehran or some
other Iranian city.
This did not happen overnight; it has been happening for years. However, over
the last few years the issue has become clear for everyone to see; even news
agencies affiliated to Iran are trying to promote its followers in the Arab
world and give them new titles.
However, matters changed completely when divisions began to appear in Iran
following the elections, and fights broke out between protestors and the regime
on the streets where we witnessed the violence of the state against defenseless
citizens, and after it expelled the foreign media from Iran.
Before Iran, we saw a similar situation occur when Hezbollah carried out its
coup in Beirut. Hezbollah targeted media institutions that opposed it and
terrorized writers, reporters and journalists who criticized its actions.
Today we are seeing Iran, all of it, acting against the foreign media based on
the pretext of non-interference in Iran’s internal affairs. How strange! What
gave Iran the right to interfere with our affairs and our states?
Just look at Iran’s battle against BBC Persia, which follows the main
English-language channel and not the Arabic channel. But this is another story
for another time.
Iran – which never got used to respecting the sovereignty of others but rather
mastered interfering in the Arabian Gulf, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq where
Iranians do what they want without any supervision or accountability – is having
a taste of its own medicine today but only with regards to the media.
What if foreign ambassadors, regardless of their nationalities, were moving
around Tehran going from Karroubi’s house to Mousavi’s house, and visiting
victims wounded by the Basij and issuing statements from there in the same was
as the Iranian ambassadors to Lebanon and Iraq? What would Iran be like today?
The other issue that has emerged from this crisis is that the Iranian regime did
not estimate the reality of the anger of its people and could not grasp that the
new generation of Iranians are more up to date with technology and more in touch
with the world. The regime appeared to be very confused as it battled an unarmed
nation.
Despite Iran’s isolation from the world over the past few days and the expelling
of media figures, images are still coming out of that country that confirm that
the opposition is bigger and braver than we believed and that the issue is not
about foreign interference inasmuch as it is an internal Iranian issue par
excellence.
Who knows, after all the oppression and confrontation that we have seen against
all forms of medium, there might come a day when the internet will be free of
charge and will be provided from outside the borders just like satellite
channels. There’ll be no complications or control, especially as the world would
have realized that the internet has become the most successful tool facing
dictatorships.
An Important Milestone in the Iraq War
Peter Wehner
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/an-important-milestone-in-the-iraq-war-15206
Commentary
Today marks the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi urban areas, the
result of a deadline contained in the Status of Forces Agreement (SoFA) that the
Bush administration negotiated and the Obama administration embraced. It is a
milestone on the road to Iraqi sovereignty and a useful moment, I think, to
consider three widespread -- and to some extent inter-related -- arguments that
were made about Iraq in recent years.
The first is that the difficulties in Iraq proved that the underlying theory
behind President Bush's "Freedom Agenda" was wrong. It was said that the effort
to promote liberty in the Arab world was a fool's errand; the cultural soil was
too hard and forbidding. There is no existing undemocratic culture that will
allow liberty to succeed. Some peoples and cultures are destined for despotism
and unsuited for self-government. Tribal and sectarian allegiances are much
stronger than national identity, especially in an artificial state like Iraq.
Elections merely deepened sectarian ties and brought radicals to power. They are
worse than useless. The 2005 "Arab Spring" was a mirage. Et cetera. But then the
wheel of time turned again. As Michael Gerson has written:
Now spring is returning. January's local elections in Iraq favored secular
nationalists instead of clerical parties. In Lebanon, Hezbollah was defeated in
an open and vigorous vote. Kuwaiti women have been elected to parliament for the
first time. And in Iran, brave women and men have demonstrated that democracy,
not just nihilism, counts martyrs in the Muslim world... Taken together -- a
constitutional Iraqi democracy, a powerful reform movement in Iran, democratic
achievements from the Gulf sheikdoms to Lebanon -- this is the greatest period
of democratic progress in the history of the region. Given consistent outbreaks,
it seems clear that the broader Middle East is not immune to the democratic
infection.
The democratic uprising in Iran touched people in a particularly deep way.
Protest signs written in English, asking "Where Is My Vote?" started springing
up. Supporting democratic aspirations in oppressed lands, which was passé during
the last few years, is once again fashionable. Joan Baez posted a message on her
Web site, with a video of her "We Shall Overcome" dedicated to the people of
Iran. Jon Bon Jovi also did a duet in Farsi with exiled Iranian singer Andy
Madadian; they are singing a new version of "Stand By Me," the purpose of which
is to send "a musical message of worldwide solidarity" to the Iranian people.
People are rediscovering the virtues of liberty.
The second argument we heard ad nauseum was that the real winner from the war in
Iraq was Iran. "Iran has emerged as the dominant regional power in the Persian
Gulf once the U.S. removed its major rival from the scene and put its Shiite
clients into power in Baghdad," Francis Fukuyama wrote in an August 2008 Wall
Street Journal op-ed the conclusions of which, even at the time, were
dramatically out of sync with reality on the ground.
In fact, Iran was already back on its heels when Fukuyama wrote his piece.
Iraq's "Shiite client," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, gave the orders to go
after the Mahdi Army, which was overseen by Iran's real man in Iran, Moqtada al-Sadr.
The Mahdi Army was smashed by Iraqi security forces in Basra, Sadr City, and
Baghdad so definitely that al-Sadr announced plans to disarm and remake the
Mahdi Army into a social-services organization. Major Shiite parties assured the
passage of the strategic alliance Iraq signed with the United States, a
deveoplment Iran fought hard to undermine. And in Iraq's provincial elections
earlier this year, secular and moderately religious parties (like the Dawa
Party) did well; sectarian parties (like the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for
Islamic Revolution in Iraq) did not.
Things have not only gotten worse for Iran in Iraq; things have gotten worse for
Iran in Iran. In the aftermath of the democratic Iranian uprising earlier this
month, we find that "Unrest in Iran has opened a theological rift within the
Shiite sect of Islam, undermining the Iranian regime's founding dogma that is
shared by millions of fellow Shiites across the Middle East."
The third argument we heard repeatedly is that global jihadists in general, and
al Qaeda in particular, were massively aided by the Iraq war. It was the
greatest recruiting mechanism possible. The appeal of bin Ladenism was stronger
than ever. A typical proponent of this view was Peter Bergen, who, in October
2007, wrote a lead article for the New Republic, entitled "War of Error: How
Osama bin Laden Beat George W. Bush." In it Bergen wrote,
America's most formidable foe -- once practically dead -- is back. This is one
of the most historically significant legacies of President Bush. At nearly every
turn, he has made the wrong strategic choices in battling Al Qaeda. To
understand the terror network's resurgence -- and its continued ability to harm
us -- we need to reexamine all the ways in which the administration has failed
to crush it. . . . If, as the president explained in a speech [in 2006], the
United States is today engaged "in the decisive ideological struggle of the
twenty-first century," right now we are on the losing side of the battle of
ideas.
Bergen and most of the foreign policy establishment had things exactly wrong. A
study released last year by American intelligence agencies, "Global Trends 2025:
A Transformed World," concluded that:
Al-Qa'ida's weaknesses -- unachievable strategic objectives, inability to
attract broad-based support, and self-destructive actions -- might cause it to
decay sooner than many people think... Despite sympathy for some of its ideas
and the rise of affiliated groups in places like the Mahgreb, al-Qa'ida has not
achieved broad support in the Islamic World. Its harsh pan-Islamist ideology and
policies appeal only to a tiny minority of Muslims.
According to one study of public attitudes toward extremist violence, there is
little support for al Qaeida in any of the countries surveyed -- Algeria, Egypt,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
or Yemen. The report also found that majorities in all Arab countries oppose
jihadi violence, by any group, on their own soil.
We have also seen prominent voices within the jihadist movement turn against bin
Ladenism and Islamic extremism, a huge (if largely under-reported) development.
Among the events catalyzing such shift of attitude was the "Anbar Awakening," a
Sunni uprising against al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and the devastating military
pounding AQI was subjected to at the hands of both the Iraqi and the American
militaries. For a movement that believed it had the mandate of Allah and
depended on the perception of strength to win recruits and support, the
decimation al Qaeda experienced in the Iraq war -- which it declared to be the
central battleground in the war for jihad -- has been pivotal.
The ultimate wisdom in initiating the Iraq war is still to be validated by
contingent events still to unfold. What is happening today is a transition, not
a final triumph. And while Iraq is today a legitimate, representative, and
responsible democracy, it remains fragile. Hard-earned progress can still be
undone. The Iraqi military will have to prove it can provide security to its
citizens. Relations between the Iraqi government and the semi-autonomous
Kurdistan Regional Government in the north, particularly over the oil-rich
province of Kirkuk, are tense. None of us can foretell the future, and almost
all of us have been wrong about some aspect of the war or another.
Still, it is worth pointing out that those who wrote off the war as unwinnable
and a miserable failure, who made confident, sweeping arguments that have been
overturned by events, and who had grown so weary of the conflict that they were
willing to consign Iraqis to mass slaughters and America to a historically
consequential defeat -- they were thankfully, blessedly wrong. And the Land
between the Rivers, which has known too much tyranny and too many tears, may yet
bind up its wounds.
Petraeus' visit serves as a reminder of what needs to be done in Lebanon
By The Daily Star
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Editorial
During his visit to Beirut Tuesday, US General David Petraeus met with President
Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, the two men responsible
for leading the Lebanese state into the future. Petraeus, the widely respected
Commander of US Central Command, is no stranger to the political infighting that
can plague military and defense strategy talks, and his visit was yet another
reminder of how little progress Lebanon has made in ensuring its national
security.
For months, attempts to develop a national defense strategy have been stalled,
sidelined and undercut by partisan rhetoric. Sleiman and Hariri will soon stand
atop a new government and the burden of innovation and compromise on this issue
rests on their shoulders.
The chief question facing the party leaders tasked with forming a viable defense
strategy is what to do with Hizbullah's arms. Too often the root of this debate
has been willfully or unwittingly ignored - that is the violence and indignity
Israel has visited upon the citizens of south Lebanon for nearly four decades.
The institutions of the state, including the army, were never capable of
protecting the South, and other communities have been too busy fighting with
each other to provide substantive aid. This solitary experience of the men and
women of southern Lebanon was the impetus for Hizbullah's creation and remains
it modus vivendi.
No amount of foreign military aid or political rhetoric can change this history
or Hizbullah's local legitimacy. It is clear, however, that the group's weapons
are not a practical long-term solution to national security. The state, at some
point, must regain the sovereignty over its military capacity and the defense of
its population.
There is no military answer to the questions presented by Hizbullah's arms. Any
attempt at forceful disarmament would be catastrophic and logistically
impossible. What is needed instead is a genuine and forceful push by Sleiman and
Hariri to establish a diplomatic defense initiative. This initiative could take
a number of different forms, but it should start in Parliament with the creation
of a cross-party committee working in collaboration with the Defense and Foreign
ministries.
That committee should spearhead a campaign of awareness both in and outside of
the country, sponsoring conferences, funding papers, and educating the broader
public on the recent history and the on-the-ground realities of the south. The
initiative should highlight the ongoing occupation of northern Ghajar and the
Shebaa Farms, fields littered with cluster bombs and serial violations of
Lebanese sovereignty.
The only feasible way to build a constructive defense policy is to build the
state and empower the Lebanese citizenry. A diplomatic defense initiative will
allow us to take possession of our history and future security. Israel has shown
is eagerness to build cement walls; our goal should be to build a diplomatic
wall between their aggression and our instability.
A tragic symmetry
June 30, 2009
Now Lebanon
An army tank in Aisha Bakkar following weekend clashes. (NOW Lebanon)
This is apparently what happened on Sunday night: Zeina Miri, a mother of five
from Dahiyeh who was visiting her parents’ house in Aisha Bakkar, ventured out
onto the balcony when shooting erupted in the neighborhood – it’s a common
enough reflex for Beirutis frustrated by what has become a hooligan tradition of
celebratory gunfire by moronic supporters of every political stripe. Only this
time, the 30-year-old grocery store employee was cut down in a volley of rounds
sprayed at the building.
Miri’s death is proof, if ever any were needed, that to move forward in forming
a government when the specter of May 7 still looms over the lives of millions of
Lebanese aching for the right to a decent life, one free from the threat of the
masked gunman, is an utterly futile exercise. Whether we like it or not, the
militias are back, and the army, along with the rest of the security forces, and
with the blessing of Lebanon’s so-called ruling class, must fulfill its national
duty and disarm the gunmen who currently threaten to take over many of Beirut’s
streets.
This blessing will be the ultimate demonstration of commitment to a peaceful and
prosperous future. Without it, it will confirm what many Lebanese have suspected
for years: that their lives, many already “lost” to the civil war and its
aftermath, are worthless in the eyes of those who claim to represent them.
The government can draw up the most far-sighted ministerial statement Lebanon
has ever seen. It can promise to deliver a defense strategy and a blueprint for
economic reform; it can fill us with the anticipation of privatization (with or
without Walid Jumblatt’s approval) and it can allay our fears and tell us that
the government will take its environmental obligations seriously and halt the
widespread rape of our natural beauty. It can create jobs and update the
legislature. It can improve the health and education systems and mend our roads.
It can even give us a public transport system we can be proud of. It can do all
this, and much more, but it will all come to naught if the cancer that is the
gunman is not cut out from our society.
The seriousness of the situation is such that even the issue of Hezbollah and
its weapons of relative mass destruction can wait until this cancer is zapped.
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud has listed the Resistance among those groups
allowed to possess weapons. It is indeed a sign of the worrying times in which
we live that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant theocracy, one that is held
up as the biggest obstacle to national progress, is being lumped alongside the
state institutions. Baroud has so often been the voice of reason and the
personification of the new breed of technocrat that Lebanon so badly needs. But
even he risks falling into the easy routine of Lebanese high office when he says
with a straight face that Lebanon is “heading to a period of participation and
cooperation.” Tell that to the people of Aisha Bakkar or those wounded by
falling ordinance every day since last Thursday.
Zeina Miri, a daughter and mother, was killed by the senseless, blind, homicidal
and sectarian hatred that still permeates the streets of Beirut. She was, by all
accounts, killed by a bullet fired by an Amal Movement gunman. In this new dawn,
Lebanon’s new crop of supposedly enlightened MPs voted in the Amal party chief,
Nabih Berri, as the speaker of parliament for a fifth time. Three days after his
election, his gunmen kill an innocent mother of five. One motherless child for
each term in office. It’s a tragic symmetry.
NOW We’re Talking: Divided we fall
Lebanese in Aisha Bakkar give their opinions of celebratory gunfire
Maya Khourchid, NOW Staff , June 30, 2009
The Lebanese Armed Forces patrol the Aisha Bakkar area in west Beirut, a day
after clashes between supporters of Shiite parliament speaker Nabih Berri's Amal
movement and the Future Movement of prime minister-designate Saad Hariri left
one woman dead and six injured. (AFP/Ramzi Haidar)
The danger of celebratory gunfire, an all-too-common phenomenon in this country,
lies not just in the fact that the bullets inevitably come back to earth with
often fatal results, but also in the possibility that those celebrating will
stop firing into the air and instead shoot at each other, as was the case in the
Aisha Bakkar area of Beirut this weekend.
Resident of Aisha Bakkar, a small neighborhood that is divided between Sunni and
Shia and their respective parties, the Amal and Future movements, said that the
fighting began over competition between the two groups, as both celebrated the
assumption of their parties’ leaders to the nation’s highest offices.
It began on Thursday, when gunfire could be heard in much of Beirut as Amal
leader Nabih Berri was reelected Speaker of the House, the highest political
office reserved for Shia in Lebanon.
Two days later, shots rang out again, when Future Movement leader Saad Hariri
was appointed Prime Minister, and, on Sunday, in Aisha Bakkar, where supporters
of the two parties live in close proximity, the gunfire quickly turned from
celebratory to deadly, leaving one woman, Zeina al-Miri dead, and 11 more
people, including a Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) soldier, injured.
The mood on Hammoud street, where Miri was killed, was highly charged and
increasingly bitter one day after her death. Although LAF troops had deployed to
the street, a Future Movement stronghold, on Saturday night, residents told NOW
they felt abandoned when the army left after only a few hours.
But what do the neighborhood’s residents and others in Lebanon think of
celebratory gunfire, in general? NOW hit the streets to find out.
Maher Zayyen, 26, Barja
You saw what happened during the celebrations; somebody was killed… She has five
kids; she was standing on her balcony. Celebratory gunfire is not good; it’s not
good at all.
Karim*, 26, Aisha Bakkar
This is something that political leaders should take a stand on, not the people.
Nabih Berri should get his delinquent supporters in check and publically turn
them in; the same thing that Jumblatt did to his people…then I think there will
be no more delinquents. Berri is the only one that protects his reckless
supporters, especially in Beirut…this situation is never going to work.
Riad Ibrahim, 52, Beirut
These things, I’m against them, I object. The leaders are hiding in their
castles, but this or that supporter comes out [on the streets]… I hope your days
are better than ours. You guys should write about all of this and even about the
biggest political leaders; don’t be scared about hurting their feelings, whoever
it is, even if it’s Saad Hariri, Nasrallah or Berri.
Jamal, 40, Aisha Bakkar
As long as you don’t hurt the people there is absolutely nothing wrong with
fireworks. They appointed Saad Hariri as prime minister and when they elected
Nabih Berri everybody started shooting with Kalashnikovs. For us, they [the Amal
supporters] won’t allow fireworks. So what is the reason? Is it wrong for us to
celebrate in our area?
Jad*, 60, South Lebanon
They are brainless people. Everything is wrong with this generation of people.
Yes, they are all young, and their parents should teach him better. There are a
lot of these youths that do this
May, 42, Aisha Bakkar
For me, I am against shooting in celebration, for grownups or the youth. It’s
affecting people. Personally, it makes my heart sink. But now the situation has
become a competition, for example when Nabih Berri won they started shooting [in
celebration]. Well, then the next person wins; they [the supporters] start
shooting as well…This can’t keep happening. We are completely against it, and we
hope that they do something. The big political leaders should issue a statement
or law saying this is forbidden. Even when Nasrallah came up and issued a Fatwa
saying that under Sharia Law [celebratory] gunfire is forbidden, they still
didn’t listen. It’s the same thing with Saad Hariri; he said please don’t do it
and people did….it’s too much. We should not shoot [in celebration] and they
should come up with a law, and if someone breaks the law they should go to jail.
I think this would be the best solution.
*Name changed at interviewees request
Jumblatt calls Sami Gemayel’s
rhetoric “harmful and wrong”
June 30, 2009
Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday that Progressive Socialist Party leader
MP Walid Jumblatt said that the speeches of Kataeb party MP Sami Gemayel “take
Lebanon back to 1975.” Jumblatt considered Gemayel’s recent rhetoric to be the
result of “being young, yet such rhetoric is very harmful and wrong,” the daily
reported. Jumblatt told the paper that the Taif Accord confirmed that there was
“a truce among all Lebanese who agreed on being in a permanent state of war with
Israel,” stressing that the Palestinians inside Lebanon will return to their
homeland. Al-Akhbar also reported that Jumblatt responded to Lebanon First bloc
MP Ahmad Fatfat on the issue privatization and said that “it was a global
economic trend at a certain point, and the Lebanese were excited about it.
However, now things have changed, and the economic crisis proves the change. We
have witnessed how savage capitalism has depleted the world’s wealth, and the US
is finally turning into a semi-socialist state.”-NOW Staff
Hezbollah and the protests in Iran
Nicholas Lowry, NOW Staff , June 29, 2009
Supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave national flags and the
flag of Lebanon's Hezbollah during a rally held in Tehran's Vali Asr square on
June 16, 2009. (AFP PHOTO/ALIREZA SOTAKBAR)
As the Islamic Republic faces what many are calling its gravest internal crisis
since the Iranian Revolution, the republic’s most successful export,
Hezbollah—and the exception to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s otherwise
unfulfilled desire to spread the revolution beyond Iran’s borders—seemingly
finds itself in a far more uncertain situation than had appeared possible just a
month ago.
Indeed, in the space of little more than a week in June Hezbollah was forced to
grapple with two unexpected setbacks. While almost all observers agreed that
Lebanon’s June 7 elections would be close, conventional wisdom tilted toward a
narrow opposition victory.
That was not to be and though Hezbollah did prove its electoral support in
Lebanon’s Shia regions was as strong as ever, the Party of God and its allies
failed to take the reins of Lebanon’s government from March 14. Moreover,
Hezbollah, which for much of the last four years had asserted that the ruling
alliance was illegitimate and that March 14 only held a majority because of the
short-lived alliance it formed with Hezbollah in the 2005 vote, instead saw the
division of seats of the old parliament almost exactly replicated.
Five days later Iran held its presidential elections, and while many had praised
the vigorous debate that took place during the campaign, the government’s
declaration, hours after the polls closed that Ahmadinejad had won in a
landslide, sparked an explosion of civil unrest that has for the last three
weeks has dominated headlines around the world.
When Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave his first major
post election speech on June 17, three days of protests had already convulsed
Tehran and other Iranian cities, and captured the world’s attention. In that
speech Nasrallah advised March 14 to “leave aside the issue of Iranian
elections. They should not bother about an issue, which they do not
understand…Iran will overcome this ordeal easily, God willing.”
Still, Nasrallah did address, at length, charges made during the election
campaign, regarding Hezbollah’s relationship with Iran and Wilayat al-Faqih, or
Guardianship of the Jurist, the religious doctrine followed by the Party of God
and the Islamic Republic.
Reacting to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir’s comments, made on the
eve of the election, that an opposition victory could imperil Lebanon’s
identity, the Hezbollah chief surmised that the patriarch’s comment’s may have
been directed toward Iran, “despite the fact that there is nothing called
Persian or Persian civilization in Iran today. What exists in Iran is the
Islamic civilization.”
The Islamic Republic was founded and led by Arabs, Nasrallah said before turning
to the concept of Wilayat al-Faqih, which he called a religious belief and as
such protected under Lebanon’s constitution. “Insulting it is an insult to our
religious belief,” he continued, “Anyone who wants to hold a religious
discussion, we tell him we are ready, but this has nothing to do with the
elections, political campaigns, the government, and the deputies.”
While Hezbollah’s critics contend that the doctrine gives religion ultimate
authority over governance and thus constitutes a legitimate electoral issue,
Nasrallah’s efforts to distinguish Wilayat al-Faqih as religious and unrelated
to the trappings of democracy may reflect, in part, the views of Hezbollah’s
Lebanese supporters.
It is not necessarily the case that Hezbollah supporters are supporters of
Wilayat al-Faqih, said Mona Fayyad, a writer and professor at Lebanese
University. “Hezbollah supporters are concerned with ‘Lebanese [affairs] first
and foremost. They are nationalistic, pro-Palestinian, pro-Arab people who don’t
talk about the Wilayat al Faqih as anything more than a concept. [Whether or not
it is part and parcel with Hezbollah] is the last of their concerns, considering
the other elements of Hezbollah that they agree with.”
While Wilayat al Faqih may not figure prominently in the concerns of Lebanese
Shia, the relationship between the doctrine and democracy, the two pillars of
the Islamic republic is at the heart of the current crisis in Iran, said Wajih
Kawtharani, the director of the Center for Arab Unity Studies. “The problem in
Iran is that there is an upset in the balance of power between these two forces,
and so the struggle today is: Are you for the republic, which is represented by
Khatami, Rafsanjani and Mousavi, or are you for the Wali al Faqih?”
That struggle is worrisome for Hezbollah, as they are followers of Iran’s
supreme leader and are linked to “Wilayat Al Faqih theoretically, practically,
through their institutions, and ideologically,” Kawthrani said, adding that
support for Iran’s hardliner president, Mohammad Ahmadineja, stems from his “his
stance toward the US,” rather than his advocacy of the Wilayat.
“Hezbollah in the Lebanese context is popular among the Shia community because
it plays the local political game: representing the majority of the community,”
he said. “Shia see it as the sect’s party and not Iran’s party. Second, Lebanese
governments have marginalized the South and Shia rural areas and they have
failed to protect it from Israeli aggression. Hezbollah is able to cater to both
concerns: security and development.”
While Hezbollah members swear allegiance to Iran’s supreme leaders, it is often
noted how the party has adapted itself to the realities of the Lebanese
political landscape; long gone are the days when it publicly advocated for the
creation on an Islamic republic in Lebanon.
Indeed Rula Jurdi Abisaab, reviewing Shia Hawzas, or seminaries in Beirut,
observes, “In a conscious attempt to blend more easily into the secular and
Western sectors of society, Beirut’s male seminarians do not adopt a special
dress code...Hezbollah’s promotion of a general, undifferentiated image for the
jurist was a powerful indication of its need to find, first, a wider
nation-based language and, second, to maintain a ‘modern’ posture.”
(p. 24) The Islamic Republic and Hizballah: Distant relations: five centuries of
Lebanese-Iranian ties.
That modern posture, and Hezbollah’s success in securing the support of Lebanese
Shia,
is why few are willing to wager that the collapse of the Islamic Republic would
cause Hezbollah to follow suit.
If the regime changes in Iran, Hezbollah has prepared itself to assimilate
within the Lebanese system, which is based on “consociational” division of
power, Kawthrani, said. “Hezbollah, after a period of unrest, would become just
like any other sectarian society in Lebanon, representing the Shia community.”
Fayyad echoed the point. Noting that some figures in Iran have argued that the
country’s expensive support for Hezbollah has come at the expense of the home
front, Fayyad said that, nevertheless, Hezbollah is not going away no matter the
outcome.
Still, how exactly Hezbollah would operate without military support from Iran is
an open question