LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 12/09
Bible Reading of the day
James Letter 5:13 Is any
among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. 5:14
Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, 5:15 and the
prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he
has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 5:16 Confess your offenses to one
another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer
of a righteous person is powerfully effective. 5:17 Elijah was a man with a
nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t
rain on the earth for three years and six months. 5:18 He prayed again, and the
sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. 5:19 Brothers, if any
among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 5:20 let him know
that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from
death, and will cover a multitude of sins.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
9/11/09: Who's Winning? by Walid
Phares/September
11/09
Hariri ups the ante/By:
Lucy Fielder/Al-Ahram Weekly/September
11/09
Are the Shebaa Farms key to Lebanon's security?
By IRIN News.org/September
11/09
International Christian Concern (ICC)/Arab Christians face new wave of
Violence/September 11/09
International Christian Concern (ICC)/ Non-Muslims, Christians Arrested in Egypt
for Eating During Ramadan/The Arrest is Another Indication of Growing
Islamization in Egypt/September 11/09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for September 11/09
2 Rockets Fired from Southern
Lebanon Land in Nahariya, Israel Hits Back-Naharnet
Fattoush Sacks Marouni
from Zahle Bloc/Naharnet
Cabinet Crisis Back to Square One,
Intense Consultations Expected to Gather Pace to Name a PM-designate-Naharnet
IAEA
Transports Dangerous Radioactive Sources from Lebanon to Russia-Naharnet
Parant:
Syria Key to Solving Problems, Local-External Factors Hampered Cabinet Formation-Naharnet
Jumblat
Rejects Joining New Cabinet Unless it is a National Unity Government-Naharnet
Report: Riyadh Asked
Hariri Via Aridi Not to Rush in Decision to Step Down-Naharnet
Qatar Ready to Help
Lebanon Form a Cabinet-Naharnet
U.N. Urges Lebanese
Leaders to Break Impasse-Naharnet
U.S.: 'No Immediate'
Concern over Beirut Cabinet Delay-Naharnet
Saniora to Rename Hariri-Naharnet
Geagea Says LF will Rename
Hariri, Opposition Against Cabinet for Regional Considerations-Naharnet
Salloukh Urges Arabs to
Elect Lebanon as Security Council Member-Naharnet
MP Mikati: Obstruction the
Cabinet Lineup Targets the Whole Ministerial Institution-Naharnet
Israel
PM, Egypt President to Discuss Peace in Cairo-Naharnet
Hariri gives up bid to form unity
cabinet, vows to reveal who blocked his efforts-Daily Star
Sfeir to visit Vatican for meeting
with pope-Daily Star
Arabs urged to back Lebanon
Security Council bid-Daily Star
Lebanese GDP may reach 7 percent
during 2009-Daily Star
Christians of the Orient discuss
future of community in Levant-Daily
Star
Army busts terror cell plotting attacks on UNIFIL - report-Daily Star
Funding crisis theatens synagogue
renovation-Daily Star
Arab Non-Violence University fights
for peace-Daily Star
Soaps take center stage during holy
month-Daily Star
PA cleric against Hezbollah TV's 'Joseph the
Righteous'-Ynetnews
Hamas chief says group produces and smuggles
weapons-WashingtonTV
Former US IAEA envoy: Syria may have several
nuclear sites-Jerusalem
Post
U.N. Urges Lebanese Leaders to Break Impasse
Naharnet/U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed regret Thursday that three
months after elections Lebanon's political parties are still unable to find
agreement on a unity government. "The Secretary-General regrets that at the
moment it has proven impossible to form a new government in Lebanon," U.N.
spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. "He hopes that the consultations that President
Michel Suleiman will hold with all parties will be successful and that the
Lebanese continue working towards the goal of a unity government." Prime
minister-designate Saad Hariri announced Thursday that he was giving up trying
to form a national unity government, accusing the opposition of blocking his
efforts.(AFP) Beirut, 11 Sep 09, 05:53
U.S.: 'No Immediate' Concern over Beirut Cabinet Delay
Naharnet/The United States voiced hope Thursday that a new government could be
decided soon in Lebanon but said it had "no immediate" concern about the delay
in forming one. Saad Hariri announced he was stepping down as Lebanon's prime
minister-designate, accusing the Hizbullah-led opposition of blocking weeks of
efforts to unlock a political stalemate. "We hope that both sides will resolve
the impasse quickly and respect the process that's outlined in the Lebanese
constitution to put together a government," the State Department's Philip J.
Crowley said. "We would like to see a government put in place sooner rather than
later," the assistant secretary of state for public affairs said. "I don't think
we have an immediate concern, but we certainly hope all the parties in Lebanon
will engage peacefully and appropriately because it's important that they put a
government in place."(AFP) Beirut, 11 Sep 09, 05:58
Cabinet Crisis Back to Square One, Intense Consultations Expected to Gather Pace
to Name a PM-designate
Naharnet/Intense meetings among majority politicians from one side and
opposition members on the other are expected to precede consultations that
President Michel Suleiman will launch with parliamentary blocs to name a
premier-designate following Saad Hariri's decision to step down. Beirut media
agreed Friday that the cabinet crisis went to square one after Hariri decided to
bow out, citing opposition obstacles. Majority circles have hinted that if
Hariri was named premier again, he would change the rules of the game and even
the 15-10-5 formula that all politicians had previously agreed on. Suleiman,
meanwhile, is expected to return from Beiteddine to Baabda palace over the
weekend and set a date for two days of consultations which could start early
next week. Sources close to Hariri told An Nahar that the MP is now assessing
the next stage and has launched consultations with his bloc and will hold a
series of talks with his allies in the March 14 forces to see whether to accept
a new nomination or not. Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc is also expected to
hold a meeting soon to announce its stance from a possible Hariri reappointment.
Such talks would most probably be followed by a meeting of majority forces. On
the opposition front, Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun returned
to Beirut Thursday night and As Safir said that a tripartite meeting could be
held between Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. MP Suleiman
Franjieh could also join the three opposition leaders if he decides to cut his
trip short and return to Beirut. Meanwhile, al-Liwaa daily ruled out a new
cabinet formation before end of October. It quoted political circles as
expecting the crisis to continue until a solution is reached on the regional
level. Beirut, 11 Sep 09, 09:21
IAEA Transports Dangerous Radioactive Sources from Lebanon to Russia
Naharnet/The International Atomic Energy Agency has transported powerful
radioactive sources, which could have been "vulnerable to malicious acts," from
Lebanon to Russia end of last month, the IAEA announced Thursday. "An IAEA
mission to get powerful radioactive sources out of Lebanon was completed August
30, 2009, after a plane carrying the high-activity cargo safely touched down in
Russia, where the sources are now securely and safely stored," it said.
The sources comprised 36 Cobalt-60 sources, with a combined activity of 3.500
curies. A single source is powerful enough to kill a person within minutes, if
directly exposed, it added.
IAEA radioactive source specialist, Robin Heard, who oversaw the mission, said:
"Given the political situation in the Middle East and particularly in Lebanon we
saw this source as vulnerable to malicious acts. If it was stolen it could cause
a lot of damage to people." The Cobalt-60 sources were from an irradiator that
was once used for an agricultural project 10 years ago. The project stopped and
the staff that had the knowledge to properly look after the irradiation had left
the organization, the IAEA statement said.
However, the director of Lebanon's Scientific Research Department, Mueen Hamza,
told As Safir that the irradiator, which was never used, was intended at
castrating male insects.
"The challenges to this project were all security related," Heard said. "Just
after we went on our first fact finding mission to Lebanon in 2006, the Israelis
bombed the airport, so there was no way we could fly the sources out at that
time. So there was a long delay while we waited for things to normalize in
Lebanon," Heard said.
The team worked closely with the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission. "Having some
Cobalt-60 sources for the research irradiator in the agriculture center not
secure and not used, posed some threat, actually a lot of threat on the public,
on Lebanon. So the IAEA experts, with the acceptance of the Lebanese authorities
agreed that they be removed," Muzna Assi, Section Head, Radioactive Waste
Management and Safe Transport of Radioactive Sources at the Commission said. The
job involved extracting the sources from the irradiator and moving them to
special transport containers. They were then flown to Russia on an airplane
hired from the United Arab Emirates specifically for the mission. Beirut, 11 Sep
09, 09:43
Parant: Syria Key to Solving Problems, Local-External Factors Hampered Cabinet
Formation
Naharnet/French Ambassador Andre Parant has said that Syria is a key to
resolving may problems in the region, including Lebanon, adding that
local-external factors are hindering the government formation process. Parent
said in an interview with three Beirut dailies that France is keen on honoring
its commitments to Lebanon, despite French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision
to maintain dialogue with Syria, which he described as a "key to solving a lot
of problems in the region, particularly Lebanon." "I don't want to blame anyone.
But, it is difficult for external (powers) to understand why there hasn't been
agreement on the lineup that has respected the agreed-upon principles," he told
An Nahar, As Safir and L'Orient le Jour.
He said that the cabinet lineup presented by MP Saad Hariri met the demands of
all parties, adding that "it was almost a solid basis for dialogue." The
ambassador believed that delay in cabinet formation resulted from a "mix of
domestic and regional factors," adding some demands were difficult to be
accepted by the other side.
He hoped the cabinet crisis would be resolved without foreign meddling. Beirut,
11 Sep 09, 13:36
Jumblat Rejects Joining New Cabinet Unless it is a National Unity Government
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat stressed that he would
not join a new government if it was not a national unity cabinet and said
external forces have an interest in keeping the political crisis in the country.
Jumblat told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday that he will not be part
of a government unless it has the slogan of "national unity" and said that the
majority will rename Hariri as premier. He also stressed on the previously
agreed cabinet formula of 15-10-5. "Some external forces have an interest in
what happened and they don't want a meeting between Syria and Saudi Arabia to
protect the Taef" accord, Jumblat told Hizbullah's al-Manar TV. "We should now
resort to constitutional norms by speeding up the parliamentary consultations,"
he added. Jumblat said the opposition should have been less "harsh" in its
demands and wished Hariri had taken his time before deciding to bow out.
In other remarks to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, the Druze leader called for
"calm political rhetoric to avoid tension," and said: "Let the rational language
of dialogue (be used) rather than engaging in accusations."The Druze leader
accused some American and Arab circles of rejecting an understanding between
Riyadh and Damascus. He told As Safir that Saudi-Syrian ties are important for
safeguarding the Taef accord and civil peace in Lebanon. He reiterated that he
doesn't want "S-S" relations to be at the expense of Iran. The MP also told
Asharq al-Awsat that Saudi-Syrian-Egyptian contact was necessary to ward off
attempts by major powers to hit at "what remains from Arab solidarity." "The
Americans were able to create chaos … They want to liquidate the Palestinian
cause the same way there are those who want sectarian strife to shred Lebanon
apart," Jumblat told As Safir. Beirut, 11 Sep 09, 10:54
Report: Riyadh Asked Hariri Via Aridi Not to Rush in Decision to Step Down
Naharnet/Saudi officials have reportedly told Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi
to inform MP Saad Hariri not to rush in his decision to step down as prime
minister-designate. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat sent Aridi
to Saudi Arabia earlier in the week. Aridi met with Saudi Intelligence director
Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja, As Safir
daily reported. According to the newspaper, Aridi got the impression that Saudi
Arabia is aware of the dangers of a vacuum in Lebanon and wants Hariri to
succeed in his mission to form a government that would be able to protect
Lebanon from regional developments. As Safir said that the Saudis asked Hariri
through Aridi not to rush in his decision to bow out. It said Hizbullah and Amal
had succeeded in convincing the Free Patriotic Movement to make some
concessions. But Hariri went ahead with his decision.
Beirut, 11 Sep 09, 12:21
Qatar Ready to Help Lebanon Form a Cabinet
Naharnet/Qatar on Thursday offered to host further inter-Lebanese talks after
prime minister-designate Saad Hariri gave up on forming a government. Qatari
Prime and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Ben Jassem Ben Jabr al-Thani made the
offer after Hariri stepped down as prime minister designate having spent two
months trying to agree a cabinet acceptable to the opposition. "We hope that the
Lebanese will find a solution but we are ready to help them if that becomes
necessary," Sheikh Hamad said after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"We expect current talks reach a positive result with the opposition and end up
with consensus. In Lebanon, everything must be done by consensus," he said.
Talks in Doha led to a deal in May 2008 between Lebanon's rival political
factions, paving the way for new elections and a new national unity government.
The Doha agreement put an end to an 18-month political crisis, and came after
deadly factional fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.(AFP)
Beirut, 11 Sep 09, 06:07
Saniora to Rename Hariri
Naharnet/Caretaker PM Fouad Saniora confirmed on Thursday that he would rename
Saad Hariri as PM-designate during the upcoming consultations between President
Michel Suleiman and parliamentary blocs. Following a visit to Suleiman in
Beiteddine, Saniora said that Hariri held "intensive talks with all Lebanese
parties," and has always sought to "reduce tension.
Saniora added that the premier-designate had to step down due "to obstacles" put
in his way. The caretaker premier also voiced hope that nomination of the prime
minister would be "kept away from external factors." Furthermore, Saniora
underlined that the activities of state institutions will continue despite the
cabinet formation delay, stressing on the importance of "electing Lebanon as a
non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council" and expressing his
satisfaction that Suleiman "is the best person to represent Lebanon" at the
General Assembly meeting in New York later this month. Beirut, 10 Sep 09, 20:25
Geagea Says LF will Rename Hariri, Opposition Against Cabinet for Regional
Considerations
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Thursday that the LF will
name MP Saad Hariri as its choice for prime minister when the president launches
a new round of consultations with parliamentary blocs. Following Hariri's
decision to bow out as premier-designate on Thursday, President Michel Suleiman
will have to start consultations from scratch with lawmakers on naming a new
premier. Geagea also said during a chat with reporters in Maarab that Hariri was
"generous" with the opposition in his proposed 30-member cabinet lineup on
Monday. But, he added that some March 8 coalition members do not want a
government to be formed for regional considerations, including Iran, strained
Syrian-Iraqi ties, stagnant relations between Damascus and Riyadh and the issue
of the international tribunal. The LF leader met with Italian ambassador
Gabriele Checchia who said that the Lebanese are hoping for the formation of a
new cabinet as soon as possible. Checchia told reporters in Maarab that neither
his country nor the European Union interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs.
Beirut, 10 Sep 09, 18:58
Hariri gives up bid to form unity cabinet, vows to reveal
who blocked his efforts
Jumblatt: Opposition should have been less rough with its demands’
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Friday, September 11, 2009
BEIRUT: Future Movement leader Saad Hariri stepped down as prime
minister-designate on Thursday, accusing the opposition of hampering his efforts
to form a government. Hariri also stressed later during an iftar that he “would
reveal matters in a manner that leaves no room for doubt” ahead of the upcoming
binding parliamentary consultations to nominate a new premier.
“Given that my commitment to forming a government of national unity faced
difficulties that everyone knows about, I announce that I have informed the
president of the Republic that I have abandoned trying to form a government,”
Hariri said following a meeting with President Michel Sleiman at the latter’s
residence in Beiteddine.
Hariri said he had resigned from his post because the formation process had been
hampered by a set of “impossible” conditions aimed at revoking the outcome of
the June 7 elections
“I worked for 73 days to achieve this objective but each time the rounds of
negotiations were hampered one way or another,” Hariri added.
During the talks in Beiteddine, Sleiman attempted to convince Hariri not to step
down but did not succeed.
Hariri criticized what he said were efforts to undermine the role of the
president and premier-designate in forming a cabinet, saying that the two
leaders were being “turned into a mail box which receives decrees issued by
political parties naming their ministers for the government.” According to the
Constitution, the cabinet’s formation decree is signed by the president and the
premier-designate.
The Future Movement leader said he had taken an initiative in accordance with
his constitutional powers so as to break the political deadlock when he
submitted a full government line-up proposal to Sleiman, adding that a true
opportunity for partnership among Lebanese had been lost. “I hope that this
decision will be in the interests of Lebanon and will permit a resumption of
dialogue,” he added. Hariri stressed that the majority had relinquished many of
its rights and reached out to the opposition by giving up on its demand for a
two-thirds share or absolute majority in cabinet, despite winning the June 7
polls. He added that the gesture was not met with constructive steps by the
opposition.
During an iftar attended by March 14 figures later Thursday night, Hariri
stressed that “the parliamentary majority was still a majority and accordingly
nominates the premier-designate.”
He reiterated that the premier-designate has the constitutional prerogative to
form a government in cooperation with the president.
“The majority made sacrifices but had to stop surrendering its rights at some
point thus my decision to step down,” Hariri said, adding that political
developments should not influence the security situation. Commenting on Hariri’s
resignation, Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt stressed
that “some foreign powers benefit from such step” and “did not wish for a
Syrian-Saudi rapprochement.” “The opposition should have been less rough with
its demands but I had wished that Hariri delayed its resignation,” he said.
Jumblatt urged politicians to resort to constitutional norms to quickly name a
premier. Hariri had reiterated on several occasions his alliance’s opposition to
the nomination of candidates who lost in the elections and insisted on the
principle of rotating ministerial portfolios among political parties.
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun insists that Caretaker Minister
Jebran Bassil, his son-in-law, be reappointed for a second term at the
Telecommunications Ministry. Bassil, who ran for one of two seats in his
hometown of Batroun, lost to March 14 MPs. On Monday, Hariri had submitted to
Sleiman a government proposal which excluded Bassil from the line-up and granted
the Progressive Socialist Party the Telecommunications Ministry. The proposal
was quickly rejected by a united opposition.
For his part, Sleiman’s press office issued a statement after meeting with
caretaker Premier Fouad Siniora saying that Hariri’s resignation from his post
was in accordance with democratic principles. The statement, which praised
Hariri’s efforts, added that Sleiman would call for parliamentary deliberations
to nominate a new premier.
Hariri is expected to be reappointed, renewing his mandate. Both Siniora and
Lebanese Forces (LF) boss Samir Geagea voiced support on Thursday for Hariri’s
reappointment. But doubt was cast on whether Hariri would maintain the 15-10-5
formula that had been agreed by both the majority and opposition during previous
rounds of negotiations. The formula grants the majority 15 ministers, the
opposition 10 and the president five seats.
After his meeting with Sleiman, Siniora told reporters he would nominate Hariri
to form a government during binding parliamentary consultations with the
president.
The caretaker premier urged political leaders to distance the issue of the
cabinet’s formation from foreign influence and to refrain from stoking tensions
with provocative political rhetoric.
Geagea also said on Thursday that his party would nominate the Future Movement
leader again, and stressed the LF’s full support for the president and the
premier-designate.
Geagea accused the opposition of obstructing the government formation to serve
foreign interests by “taking into consideration Iranian and Syrian relations
with Saudi Arabia and the West.”
“Despite being granted key service portfolios like the Labor, Health, Higher
Education and Foreign ministries, March 8 rejected Hariri’s proposal and held on
to impossible demands,” he said. Tackling the timing of the cabinet’s formation,
Geagea said “he did not expect the government to be formed anytime soon.”
Political analysts have expressed fears that delaying the formation of a
government could lead to instability in the country.
Geagea also emphasized that new consultations by the president to nominate a
premier-designate necessitated the formation of the next cabinet based on new
norms.
Meanwhile, Future Movement MP Amar Houri told The Daily Star on Thursday that
his party would hold a meeting to decide upon its upcoming steps. “We would
nominate Hariri again if he wished so but no decision has been made yet,” Houri
said.
When asked about the 15-10-5 cabinet formula, Houri said that Hariri’s
resignation reshuffled all cards as deliberations on the structure and power
balance in the next government would resume from scratch. Separately, Bassil
slammed Hariri on Thursday, saying the Future Movement leader had concealed his
incapacity to form a national-unity cabinet with misleading facts.
Bassil added that the previous cabinet structure was no longer valid and that
negotiations on the cabinet issue should be resumed from scratch. “Hariri
attempted to impose on us conditions to make us submissive, while we believed in
a partnership and national-unity cabinet,” Bassil said. Also on Thursday, Qatari
Prime and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Ben Jassem Bin Jabr al-Thani offered to
host a new round of inter-Lebanese talks after Hariri’s resignation. Talks in
Doha led to a deal in May 2008 between Lebanon’s rival factions.
PA cleric against Hezbollah
TV's 'Joseph the Righteous'
Hezbollah TV station airs program on Josef prompting strong objection from PA's
chief Islamic judge, who says displaying images of prophets, angels harms Muslin
religion
Ali Waked Published: 09.10.09, 19:43 / Israel News
Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, chief Islamic judge in the Palestinian Authority, slammed
Hezbollah television station Al-Manar for broadcasting a program on Joseph, the
son of Jacob. Tamimi called for a ban on the program, titled "Joseph the
Righteous."
The Islamic judge said that it is prohibited to show characters of prophets or
angels since it constitutes a major compromise of the Muslim religion and faith.
He referred to characters from the program on Joseph, his father Jacob and the
angel Gabriel.
According to Tamimi, God chose his prophets and wrapped them in a shell meant to
prevent any harm done to them by the devil or by humans. "I believe their images
must be removed from any endeavor which may harm them," he said. Tamimi further
added that images of angels are foreign to humans. "Their sight is limited only
to Allah and he did not describe them to us in the Koran. "The sanctity of the
prophets requires us to respect them because faith in them is at the core of any
religion, and therefore displaying their images hurts their status and harms
their idyllic form," he explained. "Any display of their images would not stay
true to reality and any attempt to embody them is to cause them injustice and is
a lie, and that is prohibited and will lead to a compromise of our saints and
holy places," the Islamic judge said.
Are the Shebaa Farms key to Lebanon's security?
By IRIN News.org
Friday, September 11, 2009
BEIRUT: The politics of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, a rugged sliver of
mountainside wedged between Lebanon, Israel and Syria, have long overshadowed
what some Lebanese environmentalists call “the real issue” of the disputed area:
its water resources. Now activists are calling for hydro-diplomacy to take
precedence over political maneuvering as the most effective solution to one of
the key stumbling blocks to Middle East peace.
“Rising Temperatures Rising Tensions,” a report published in June by the
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), funded by the Danish
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, considers water to be a major trigger for conflict
in the Middle East, the world’s most water scarce region.
Lebanon and Syria say the Shebaa Farms, measuring just 22 square kilometers, is
Lebanese territory, though the UN has ruled it part of the Syrian Golan Heights,
which lie just to the east, across water-rich Mount Hermon.
Israelis say disengagement from Shebaa can only come under a peace deal with
Syria and withdrawal from the Golan.
However, Fadi Comair, director-general of Hydraulic and Electric Resources at
the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water, argues there is more to Israel’s
occupation of Shebaa than military-strategic concerns: “Israel’s occupation of
the Shebaa Farms has to do with control of its water.”
Hizbullah, the Lebanese armed group that fought Israel to a bloody stalemate in
2006, has the liberation of Shebaa as one of its strategic objectives.
Meeting the water needs of their rapidly growing populations has long been an
existential challenge for the governments of the arid Middle East. Climate
change is making that challenge more urgent and acute.
Israel, Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) all fall well
below the internationally accepted threshold of 1,000 cubic meters of water per
person per year (cmwpy). According to the IISD, Israel has natural renewable
water resources of 265 cmwpy, Jordan 169, and OPT just 90. Only Lebanon and
Syria have water surpluses, with Lebanon having a potential of 1,220 cmwpy and
Syria 1,541.
Yet supply is dwindling rapidly. By 2025 water use in Israel is estimated to
fall to 310 cmwpy, while the country’s own Environment Ministry has warned that
water supply may fall by 60 percent of 2000 levels by 2100.
The IISD report goes even further, warning that the River Jordan, which is the
key supplier of water to Israel, Jordan and OPT, could shrink as much as 80
percent by the end of the century.
Such drastic scarcity makes securing water supplies vital. The River Jordan
rises in Mount Hermon, fed by tributaries in the Golan Heights and Shebaa Farms,
and flows into the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberius, before
continuing south where it forms the boundary between Jordan, to the east, and
the West Bank. After 320km it empties into the Dead Sea.
Major tributaries of the river include the Hasbani, which flows into Israel from
Lebanon, and the Banias, which flows from Syria. The River Dan, which also
supplies the River Jordan, is the only river originating in Israel.
The absence of hydro-diplomacy reflects conflict in the region. In 1965, Syria
and Lebanon began the construction of channels to divert the Banias and Hasbani,
preventing the rivers flowing into Israel. The Israelis attacked the diversion
works, the first in a series of moves that led to a regional war two years
later.
In 2002, when the Lebanese constructed a pipeline on the River Wazzani intended
to supply households in southern Lebanon with water, Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon declared the action a causus belli. In the July War of 2006,
Israeli warplanes targeted southern Lebanon’s water network.
Bassam Jaber, a water expert at Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water, argues
the Shebaa is critical to Israel’s water needs, “especially because fresh water
is critical when all sources within Israel are salty. The flows from the area
help to regulate the saltiness of Lake Tiberius.”
And it is not just the direct overland flow that the Shebaa provides Israel.
According to the Lebanese Water Ministry’s Comair, 30-40 percent of the River
Dan’s water flows into it through underground supplies originating in the Shebaa.
“Israel is worried that if Lebanon gains control of the Shebaa, it can then
control the flow to the Dan river,” said Comair.
As one of only eight states to have ratified the 1997 UN Convention on the Law
of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, Lebanon is calling on
Israel to do the same.
“Israel is not a signatory to the relevant conventions on water, which is a big
problem since they are at the center of the issue of equitable use of water and
reasonable sharing,” said Comair.
Israel has already shown that water can play a role in peacemaking. Its 1994
peace agreement with Jordan included a commitment to transfer 75 million cubic
metres of water per year to Jordan in return for secure borders to the east.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water is now calling for a regional water basin
authority for the River Jordan, which would include Lebanon, Syria, Jordan,
Israel and OPT. “How can you reach any agreements on the equitable sharing of
international watercourses if there is no cooperation?” asked Comair.
Not all are convinced Israel’s occupation of Shebaa is primarily about securing
water.
“Water is no doubt one aspect of the socio-political conflict, but it is not the
main driver,” said Mutasem al-Fadel, director of the Water Resources Center at
the American University of Beirut (AUB).
He points to several projects currently being studied that could solve Israel’s
water needs, without requiring continued occupation of the Shebaa, such as the
Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal Project, the Mini-Peace pipeline from Turkey, wastewater
reclamation plans and desalination projects.
“All combined, they can be the water solution for all five countries in the
area,” said AUB’s Fadel.
But in the absence of hydro-diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon, the continued
Israeli occupation of the Shebaa Farms will remain a key trigger to renewed
conflict between the two countries.
“There will not be enough water for our generation or the next,” said Comair.
“We will see social, economic, political and military conflicts – and in that
order – within the next 20 years.” – IRIN
Arabs urged to back Lebanon Security Council bid
Friday, September 11, 2009
BEIRUT: Caretaker Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said on Thursday he has urged
Arab countries to back Lebanon in its bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN
Security Council. “I asked them to back and support Lebanon in its nomination
for the seat, “ Salloukh said at the Rafik Hariri airport upon his return from
Cairo where he took part in the Arab foreign ministers meeting. “The elections
will be held next month and all Arabs will vote for Lebanon. But we hope that
the biggest number of member countries vote for Lebanon,” Salloukh added. 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 ten 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. – Naharnet
Ainsi
soit-il
10/09/2009
Dr Joseph MANTOURA
Quitte à remuer, encore et encore, le couteau dans la plaie, une des grandes
fatalités qui maudit notre pays est l'héritage politique. Notre culture
politique est entachée d'une monotonie de patronymes génération après génération.
Aussi loin que l'on puisse remonter dans le temps, les Gemayel, Joumblatt,
Chamoun, Karamé, Eddé et autre Frangié faisaient la une des journaux.
Ainsi raisonnons-nous. Une tare pour certains, un don de Dieu pour une majorité,
la chefferie se transmet comme bijoux de famille. Cet exécrable choix de nos
représentants n'a jamais dérogé aux règles ancestrales, et si, par malheur, la
descendance directe venait à manquer, on s'affairait à décortiquer l'arbre
généalogique pour débusquer le plus proche parent, fût-ce aux confins du Nouveau
Monde. Sporadiquement, notre panorama politique s'enrichissait d'un « outsider »
qui inaugurait à son tour une nouvelle lignée dirigeante, adhérant stricto sensu
aux clauses susmentionnées. Toutefois, hormis cet épiphénomène, qui pimentait
nos conversations pour assouvir une curiosité attisée par le nouveau venu, notre
univers politique évoluait sans anicroches.
Évidemment, nombreuses furent les promesses d'une démocratie platonicienne. Si
nous y avions donné crédit alors que nous étions jeunes et idéalistes, il n'en
demeure pas moins qu'avec l'âge et l'expérience, nous ne prêtions plus aucune
attention. Il y eut plus de fils, petit-fils, frères et cousins chez les
dirigeants qui reprirent le flambeau que de volontés rénovatrices chez le peuple.
Même que dernièrement, un messie du changement et de la réforme, qui nous gavait
de maximes pompeuses et fringantes, qui prônait l'État de droit à celui de la
basse-cour, nous a imposé en fin de compte, et faute de mâles dans sa
progéniture, un filleul, un cousin ou un gendre. Pas de quoi pavoiser sur tous
les toits, pourtant il nous promet sa « smala » ou le chaos. Le monde a connu la
monarchie, l'oligarchie, l'anarchie, voire la « mollarchie » et le Liban
d'innover avec sa « smalarchie ».
Nous craignions, à juste titre, l'effet dévastateur du tiers bloqueur qui avait
fait couler beaucoup d'encre et de sang, mais il reste un vulgaire épouvantail
comparé à l'arme de destruction massive du général, le gendre bloqueur.
Subséquemment, à défaut d'espérer une solution définitive à notre triste sort,
peut-être qu'un pater pour le salut de notre patrie ferait l'affaire, alors
ensemble prions :
Au nom du Père, du Gendre et du Filleul,
Ainsi soit-il.
Dr Joseph MANTOURA
International Christian Concern
Non-Muslims, Christians Arrested in Egypt for Eating During Ramadan
The Arrest is Another Indication of Growing Islamization in Egypt
Washington, D.C. (September 10, 2009) – International Christian Concern (ICC)
has learned that Egyptian authorities arrested more than 150 people for eating
during Ramadan.
The arrests were made in the southern governate of Aswan, in addition to many
more in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada. According to Al-Arabia, the
authorities are cracking down on anyone, including foreigners and non-Muslims,
who are found drinking, eating or smoking during the fasting hours.
This is the first time that Egyptian officials are taking such drastic action.
And it is another indication of further Islamization in the country’s public
life. Egypt now seems to be following the practices of the conservative Gulf
States, where eating, drinking or smoking during Ramadan results in imprisonment
for a month or a fine of $350.
“This is against basic human rights of citizens. We (the Christians) are not
Muslims and don’t believe in Islamic fasting. We have our faith and our own
fasting. Even for Muslims, the decision to fast or not to fast is a personal
issue,” said Magdhi Kalil in interview with ICC. Mr. Kalil is the director of
the Middle East Freedom Forum.
Jonathan Racho, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and the Middle East, said,
“Punishing non-Muslims for eating or drinking during Ramadan is both outrageous
and a clear violation of the freedom of religion. We condemn in strongest terms
the measure by Egypt to force Muslims and non-Muslims alike to fast during
Ramadan. We call upon the international community to hold Egypt accountable for
its illegal and unconscionable actions.”
Please call the Embassy of Egypt in your country and politely ask Egyptian
officials to release all the individuals they arrested for eating during Ramadan
and to desist from making further arrests. -Daily Star
Egyptian Embassies
Country Phone Fax Email
USA 202-895-5400 202-244-4319 Embassy@egyptembassy.net
Canada 613-234-4931 613-234-4398 egyptemb@sympatico.ca
egypt4931@rogers.com
UK 020-7499-2401 / 499 3304 020-7491-1542 info@egpressoffice.com
Australia 612-9281-4844 612-9281-4344 info@egypt.org.au
Germany 030-477-5470 030-477-1049 Embassy@egyptian-embassy.de
Italy +39-6-8440192/ 0191 +39-6-8554424 amb.egi@pronet.it
# # #
ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help
persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and
Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for
an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.
Hariri ups the
ante
By: Lucy Fielder from Beirut
Al-Ahram Weekly
Tired of drawn-out haggling over cabinet positions, the prime minister-designate
put the ball in the opposition's court this week, reports
By: Lucy Fielder from Beirut
Lebanon's nearly three-month government crisis escalated this week, when Saad
Al-Hariri named a cabinet line-up that was promptly rejected by the opposition.
In so doing, Al-Hariri threw down the gauntlet to his opponents, particularly to
popular Christian leader Michel Aoun, whom he and his allies accuse of blocking
protracted negotiations over cabinet portfolios with impossible demands.
Usually, each cabinet position is agreed beforehand. Although Al-Hariri
reaffirmed his parliamentary majority with a slim win for his Future Movement
and its allies in the 9 June election, the prime minister-designate has agreed
to form a national unity government to keep the peace. All sides agreed on 15
seats for the Saudi and Western-backed majority, 10 seats for the opposition,
spearheaded by Hizbullah, and five for President Michel Suleiman.
This formula is widely seen as giving a "hidden blocking third" to the
opposition, which demands a veto on strategic decisions, with an eye to stopping
any attempt to seize Hizbullah's weapons. One minister from the president's
share would be favourable to the opposition, in effect giving it the third it
demands.
Al-Hariri's decision to present a line-up to Suleiman for signing without
opposition agreement was seen as an attempt to force the opposition's hand and
an expression of exasperation with the drawn-out haggling. "This is an
invigorating step by Al-Hariri," said Paul Salem, head of the Carnegie
Endowment's Middle East centre in Beirut. "This focuses people's attention and
will move the patrons abroad along a bit." Salem expected Suleiman to plunge
into behind-the- scenes negotiations, but it is unclear that he would be more
able than Al-Hariri to bring the wrangling sides to an agreement.
The opposition saw Al-Hariri's move as provocative and rejected the notion that
he could name the ministers in their share as well as his. Opposition members
believe he is trying to undermine Aoun, who did not gain as much as he had hoped
in the election but remains by far the most popular Christian leader. Aoun, whom
the majority accuses of blocking a deal with impossible demands, has been
demanding higher representation and one of the strategic ministries. He wants
his son-in-law Gebran Bassil to retain the Telecommunications Ministry, which is
rejected by the majority on the grounds that he was not re-elected as an MP,
although there is nothing in the constitution that stipulates this. Aoun also
wants to name the interior minister, but Al-Hariri's proposal kept the popular
Ziad Baroud in his post.
All now expect the crisis to drag on in the manner of the presidential
nomination, which took six months due to similar power struggles.
Karim Makdisi, a professor of political studies and international relations at
the American University of Beirut, likened the atmosphere after Al-Hariri's step
to the build-up to the events of May last year, when Hizbullah and its allies
took over western Beirut and other areas after two government decisions that
clamped down on its intelligence and communications networks. Those events have
been referred to as the real election in Lebanon, establishing the powerful
Hizbullah as a necessary partner in government and showing how far the group
will go to retain its arms to resist Israel.
"I think this will escalate, this is how things start in Lebanon," he said. "The
majority are going to start to create the impression that the opposition are
making things worse. There's nothing really stopping this government formation
but I now don't think it will happen soon." Makdisi believed the majority wanted
to drive a wedge between Hizbullah, Aoun and the other major opposition party,
the Shia Amal Party led by Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri. "They want Aoun to
blow up and start saying erratic things," he said. Aoun has a reputation for
outspokenness.
Makdisi also believed this was an attempt by the majority to get the
international community involved again in Lebanon. Western backing for the
anti-Syrian movement was strong when it emerged after the assassination of
Al-Hariri's father, former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri, in February 2005. But
the international gaze has shifted away from Lebanon since the Doha agreement
brought the May crisis to an end last year and brought Suleiman to Baabda Palace
with a somewhat toothless role as consensus president.
The big question in the coming weeks will be whether Al-Hariri decides to resign
with the hope of being re-nominated and starting cabinet consultations again
with an invigorated mandate. He has little political experience and has been
accused, including privately by members of his own alliance, of being incapable
of bringing pressure to bear during talks with Lebanon's wily politicians, many
of whom have been around for decades.
The latest turn of events casts further doubt on the success of a dialogue
between Syria and Saudi Arabia, former Arab political foes and rivals for
regional influence. Over the past few months they have been engaged in dialogue
and the warming ties were seen as one reason that Lebanon's election passed
calmly and that the political wrangling has so far stayed off the streets.
"This doesn't bode well, it signifies a total breakdown regionally and
domestically," Makdisi said. "Everyone's now in a holding pattern." With an
expected push by US President Barack Obama in the next few months for renewed
peace negotiations in Israel-Palestine and increased pressure on Iran, Makdisi
saw the potential for renewed regional tension that could play out in Lebanon
once again.
Salem, however, said Al-Hariri's push might boost government consultations.
"There are no major issues on the table, this is a simple tussle for power," he
said.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
9/11/09: Who's Winning?
by Walid Phares
09/11/2009
Every commemoration of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 reveals our
confusion. Eight years after 9-11, we are still asking ourselves too many
questions, and in those questions are embedded the reasons the war has gone on
so long.
Who is this enemy and why do they want to harm us, many ask. If you can’t define
the enemy, you cannot defeat him.
Where are we this year in the confrontation with the forces that caused us harm
and want to defeat us? Are we making progress in the war against the “terror
forces;” are we far from victory; how much more sacrifice will it cost us to get
to the other side?
Rarely over the past eight years have we received good clear answers. Our debate
was hopelessly disabled by large segments of our own political establishment,
which advocated exaggerated apology; our public perception was outmaneuvered by
the Jihadist propaganda worldwide. For years any clear identification of the
enemy, its ideology, its strategies and how to counter them has been lacking.
In no conflict throughout history were people still confused about the threat
eight years after hostilities began. For America, neither WWI nor WWII had
lasted half that long. And in those wars we not only achieved victory in that
time, but we knew long before that -- with crystalline precision -- who our foes
were and what we had to do to defeat them.
Unfortunately, in the years after the 9/11 war began, most academic and some
media elite and, most recently and stunningly, top advisors on national security
continued to affirm that Jihad is just some Islamic equivalent of yoga. Despite
the mobilizing Presidential speeches of earlier years in this conflict, the
bureaucratic machine didn’t fight this war; in fact it pushed it to fail and
eventually crumble.
And with the change of administrations, though policy and execution levels are
at last united, their goal is to cease the combat, not win the war. In short, it
is bleak, but it is not yet over and this is why:
If we analyze how the United States responded to the attacks of 2001, evolved in
its campaigns overseas, debated its own perceptions of the conflict domestically
and managed its own homeland security over the last eight years, we are forced
to conclude that what has taken place in the very big picture was this: Since
9/11, the US dislodged two tyrannies in Afghanistan and Iraq. Historians will
judge the validity of toppling Saddam’s regime at that time, or also the
strategy of not resuming the pressure against Assad and the Ayatollahs all the
way once we began the Iraq campaign. This was the history of the two first years
of the “war.”
Since then, American efforts and sacrifices entered the stage of stalemate:
fighting al Qaeda in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle and the Taliban in the peripheries of
Afghanistan; gaming Iran and Syria’s regimes in Iraq and Lebanon; widening the
hunt for Jihadists in several countries; chasing after “homegrown” cells inside
the homeland; and Presidential escalation of the rhetoric against Islamist
ideologies.
Between 2003 and 2008, the War on Terror was more of an “in-the-trenches”
conflict: pushes here and there, from one side and the other. Lebanon was freed
from Syrian forces in 2005 without bullets or dollars, but Hizballah counter
attacked with both and took back most of its lost terrain by 2008. Somalia’s
successive Jihadists uprisings split the country and now no one is winning. In
the vast African Sahel, al Qaeda’s clones seized positions, retreated and came
back: the jury is still out. In Sudan, US efforts identified Darfur as genocide
-- a humanitarian victory of sorts -- but Khartoum is solidly backed by
influential petrodollars regimes: no salvation was accomplished.
In Iraq, the successful surge weakened al Qaeda, but since 2007 Iran’s role
wasn’t contained any more by Washington. In Pakistan, the Taliban went on the
offensive and, as of last year, the new government went on the counter
offensive: neither side is winning.
The risks though are near catastrophic: A Jihadist victory in Islamabad would
create the first al Qaeda nuclear state. In Afghanistan, a similar scenario is
pinning NATO down, but not offering strategic victories to the Taliban. In the
homeland, unprecedented spending aimed at securing the infrastructure but cells
continued to mushroom, the age of homegrown Jihadists falling to younger and
younger generations dramatically. Luckily the country was not hit for eight
years, but mutant Jihad is spreading.
So, under the Bush Administration we had two years of U.S. thrusts overseas and
five years of trenches warfare on a global scale. Was it a success? Bringing
down the Taliban was a move of necessity; removing Saddam was militarily
successful but its regional follow ups regarding the Baath and the Khomeinists
failed.
The dichotomy within the U.S. government regarding the so-called War on Terror
had caused strategic shortcomings. Later, we understood that the American
offensive was slowed and halted by the combined forces of appeasers and oil
lobbies and by the sheer fear of wider war.
In short, winning an ideological war over the Jihadists was the only clear path
to reach success anywhere worldwide, including in Afghanistan and Iraq and also
at home. But that is precisely where the Bush Administration failed to fight and
was thus paralyzed, causing a five years long “trenches war” where we spent
endlessly and got nowhere beyond the targets reached by 2003.
Historians will most likely discover that the regional forces fearing the
expansion of democracy in their midst, were pushing back against U.S. efforts
perhaps more so than the fighting Jihadists on the battlefields. We were
defeated in a war of ideas they have launched and were crumbled from the inside
by the interests groups feeding from Petro Jihadism. It would be useful to
analyze the pitfalls of the Bush led War before beginning to address the Obama
led disengagement.
After less than a year, the Obama administration is sounding retreat in Iraq. We
will withdraw regardless of Iran and Syria’s counter moves, or at least that is
the plan.
There will be no “meddling” in Iran’s democracy struggle and Washington will
"hope" the Ayatollahs won’t set off the nuclear mushroom: Less likely other
plans are envisaged.
In Lebanon, bureaucrats will eventually talk with Hizballah. In Gaza, the U.S.
will sometimes engage Hamas.
There will be no Darfur campaign, and we will seek the Taliban, while we will
call them “the good ones” for a dialogue in Afghanistan-Pakistan. In short, the
U.S. War on Terror is over, but the Jihadists war on democracies will go on.
Inside this country, we will be increasingly calling Jihad “Yoga” and there will
be more and more “Yogists” rising among us.
This is no prediction of doom, but a rational, mathematically grounded
projection of where we will be going from where we are now. I am not prescribing
how the changing directions from offensive, stalemate and retreat will affect
the nation’s future. That is a matter American citizens will have to decide on
in the next benchmarks of choices they will have to make.
On this 9/11, it is important for the public to realize where history stands,
from a very high altitude. More important is transparency. The American people
needs to be informed accurately as to what are the options if it wants to pursue
the struggle or if it wants to ignore it at their peril. The rest is details.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Phares is the author of The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future
Jihad and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. For
more, visit www.walidphares.com .