LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 02/2010
Bible Of the
Day
Metthew
5/1-12: "Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto
the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 5:2 He opened his
mouth and taught them, saying, 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the Kingdom of Heaven. 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted. 5:5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be
filled. 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 5:8 Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God. 5:10 Blessed are those who have been
persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 5:11
“Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of
evil against you falsely, for my sake. 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets
who were before you".
Today in
History
In 1958, the United Arab Republic, a union of Egypt and Syria, was established.
(Syria withdrew from the union in 1961.)
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Hezbollah’s crisis/By:Nadim
Koteich/Now Lebanon/February 1,10
The price of change/Now
Lebanon/February 1,10
Terror Alert: Let us protect UNIFIL, and fast
By Bilal Y. Saab and Magnus Ranstorp/February
01/10
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for February 01/10
Information
Minister Mitri briefs the press on cabinet session/Now
Lebanon
Efforts
to Recover More Plane Victims Underway/Naharnet
Efforts
to Recover More Plane Victims Underway
/Naharnet
Foreign
Ministry to Feltman: Address Your Questions on Violations of 1701 to Israel
/Naharnet
Jumblat:
Where's 'Transition to Statehood' in Presence of Sectarian Privileges?
/Naharnet
Public
Prosecutor Hands Over Sheikh Majzoub and Accomplice to Bekaa's Prosecutor
/Naharnet
Gorbachev Meets Suleiman,
Berri, Lauds Steps Taken to Stabilize Lebanon
/Naharnet
March 14 Calls for Massive Turnout
to Mark Hariri's Murder, Stresses Commitment to Principles/Naharnet
Sayyed
Urges Cassese to Restore Public Trust in Lebanese Court/Naharnet
Williams Discusses with Shami Implementation of 1701/Naharnet
FPM Denies Aoun Visiting
Mukhtara This Week/Naharnet
Kidnapped Lebanese
Civilian Released/Naharnet
Salma Sader Blames Government for Not Finding her Husband/Naharnet
Israel: Lebanese
Government Responsible in Case of Eruption of Violence/Naharnet
Cassese in Beirut, Ashouri
Says No Timetable Yet for Tribunal Hearings/Naharnet
Hariri: I Won't Abandon
Any March 14 Member/Naharnet
Geagea Lauds Hariri and Saniora, Calls for Serious Work to Safeguard Lebanon/Naharnet
Hamadeh Calls March 14 Statement 'Moderate and Clear'/Naharnet
Washington: Iran May Lash
Out at Israel Via Hizbullah, Hamas/Naharnet
Berri Ready to Attend Feb. 14 Rally Based on March 11 Logic/Naharnet
Report: Slain Hamas
Commander Middleman for Smuggling Weapons to Gaza, Hizbullah/Naharnet
Ship Rescued after Running
Aground off Tripoli/Naharnet
Mubarak Mediates Between Israel And Lebanon/Philadelphia
Bulletin
Berri visits Hariri at downtown
residence/Daily Star
US to name veteran diplomat as
Syria envoy: report/Daily
Star
Israeli soldiers abduct Lebanese
teen shepherd from south/Daily
Star
Private US ship to help hunt for
crashed airline recorders/AFP
March 14 calls for massive rally/Daily
Star
US sees little progress on
Resolution 1701/Daily
Star
Hizbullah 'ready' for another war
with Israel/Daily
Star
Electoral reforms still on Cabinet
agenda/Daily Star
Still looking for Lebanon's
knowledge economy/By
Fadi Abboud/Daily Star
Lebanon's progress stunted by poor
broadband/Daily Star
Lebanese seek compensation for
Fatah al-Islam war/Daily
Star
Army defuses bomb in Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen/Daily
Star
Ethiopians in Sidon mourn loss of
family and friends in airline crash/Daily
Star
Judiciary calls for release of
three refugees/Daily
Star
Ski resorts in full swing after
winter storms/Daily
Star
Khalifeh: investigation into
counterfeit drugs widened/Daily
Star
Efforts
to Recover More Plane Victims Underway
Naharnet/Recovering all the bodies from the deadly Ethiopian
passenger plane crash with 90 people on board may take days.
Transport and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi vowed, however, to continue
search and rescue operations "at any price and no matter how long it takes."
The Iraqi embassy on Monday took delivery of an Iraqi body that had been
retrieved from the Ethiopian plane crash site off the coast of Naameh. An
embassy official said Akram Jassem Mohammed will be buried in Beirut's Rawdet
al-Shahidain cemetery.
Mohammed was among 14 bodies recovered following the Jan. 25 plane crash.
Officials are especially keen on knowing why the plane veered off course after
takeoff, but have ruled out sabotage
Ethiopian Airlines spokesperson Wogayehu Tefere said the pilot was experienced
and had been with the company for 20 years.
The probe into the disaster includes French and U.S. experts, among them a
technical advisor from Boeing.
Civilian vessel Ocean Alert on Sunday lowered to the seabed a device that
locates the area from which it received signals from the Ethiopian plane's black
boxes.
The device would film the ocean floor to find the plane's body and human
remains.
Ocean Alert located a spot 10 kilometers off Manara at a depth of 1400 meters
where geometrical items were detected. Beirut, 01 Feb 10, 11:34
Gorbachev Meets Suleiman, Berri, Lauds Steps Taken to Stabilize Lebanon
Naharnet/Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev met Monday with President
Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri, lauding the current state of stability
prevailing in Lebanon which he described as a "complicated country."After
meeting with Suleiman, Gorbachev praised the steps taken to stabilize Lebanon.
Gorbachev stressed "the importance of the role played by Russia in the new world
order," adding that small nations "can also play a role and participate majorly
in international politics." He added that a press conference will be held
Tuesday at Mzar Hotel to "discuss some suggestions related to the world's
situations." Beirut, 01 Feb 10, 17:20
March 14 Calls for Massive Turnout to Mark Hariri's Murder, Stresses Commitment
to Principles
Naharnet/The majority March 14 coalition on Sunday called on its supporters to
take part in a mass rally on Feb. 14 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of
former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination. A statement at the end of
its meeting at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut called on all Lebanese to gather
outside Martyr's Square in downtown Beirut to "ensure continuance on the path of
independence."The statement read by March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator
Fares Soaid also stressed that "change in circumstances won't change our
commitment to our principles.""We want to turn the black pages and open a new
page of hope," March 14 said. "We want a state where we can combine both
accomplishments -- liberation and second independence," the alliance
added.Conferees agreed to form a committee to redraft the final communiqué that
was previously prepared by the March 14 general secretariat.
The committee includes Samir al-Jisr, Antoine Zahra, Salim al-Sayegh and Nassir
al-Asaad. Prime Minister Saad Hariri attended the Bristol meeting which dealt
with preparations for the upcoming Hariri assassination anniversary. Druze
leader Walid Jumblat, however, failed to attend. A statement issued Sunday after
a meeting of the Democratic Gathering under Jumblat said the group will not take
part in the Bristol meeting. The statement, though, stressed the Gathering's
eagerness to take part in the Feb. 14 rally. Beirut, 31 Jan 10, 19:41
Foreign Ministry to Feltman: Address Your Questions on
Violations of 1701 to Israel
Naharnet/Lebanese Foreign Ministry's Press Office on Monday snapped back at U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman over his
latest comments regarding violations of U.N. Security Council Resolution
1701."The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants stresses that the biggest
threat against UNSCR 1701 comes from Israel itself whose violations of UNSCR
1701 have exceeded 6,000 since the year 2006, as the abduction of the citizen
Mohammed Zahra from inside the Lebanese territory on Sunday, January 31, 2010
represents its most recent violation," said a communique issued by the press
office of the foreign ministry. "Why doesn't Mr. Feltman address his questions
to Israel to know why it hasn't implemented UNSCR 1701 and halted its
unrelenting violations against it?" added the communique. The communique
criticized "the statements made by Feltman and other officials which, on the one
hand, expressed satisfaction over the formation of a national unity government
with a ministerial Policy Statement reflecting its agenda and general policy,
and on the other, voiced opinions that criticized that policy and contradicted
it -- overlooking the fact that the ministerial Policy Statement dedicated its
sixth article to the issue of Lebanon's right to defend itself against any
aggression and its right to liberate its land through all legitimate means."
Beirut, 01 Feb 10, 19:57
Public Prosecutor Hands Over Sheikh Majzoub and Accomplice
to Bekaa's Prosecutor
Naharnet/Public Prosecutor Said Mirza on Monday transferred Majdel Anjar Imam
Sheikh Mohammed Abdel Fatah al-Majzoub and his accomplice Kamal Ali Handouss to
the Bekaa's Prosecutor's office.Both were taken into custody on charges of false
abduction and the provocation of sectarian tension. Al-Majzoub's shaving machine
and laptop computer in addition to other items were logged as evidence. On
the other hand, ex-Premier Fouad Saniora said that the afore-mentioned case is
now in the hands of the Judiciary stressing "that what happened could have had
severe repercussions on civil peace and we should deal with perpetrators justly
no matter their identity." Beirut, 01 Feb 10, 18:55
Hizbullah 'ready' for another war with Israel
/Daily Star staff/Monday, February 01, 2010
BEIRUT: Celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Revolution on Sunday,
Hizbullah said it was “ready” for a war with Israel. Festivities in Baalbek were
attended by several political figures and included a speech by Hizbullah’s Shura
member in the Bekaa, Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek. He asked the international
community why it has ignored Israel’s violations of Lebanese sovereignty and
threats of belligerence and only focused on Hizbullah’s weapons. “They want us
to give up our [military] capacities but we will not,” Yazbek said. “If they
want to declare war, we are ready to face the enemy.” Yazbek also condemned last
week’s assassination of Hamas leader Mohammad al-Mabhouh in the United Arab
Emirates, which has been blamed on Israel. – The Daily Star
March 14 calls for massive rally
Jumblatt skips alliance’s meeting, but will attend Hariri commemoration
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff/Monday, February 01, 2010
BEIRUT: The March 14 alliance called Sunday on the Lebanese to participate in
the fifth anniversary commemorating the assassination of former Premier Rafik
Hariri on February 14, 2005 as March 14 parties highlighted the alliance’s
achievements and commitment to its principles. “Your participation in the rally
at the Martyrs Square will strengthen Lebanon, the March 14 alliance and Prime
Minister Saad Hariri’s position,” a statement read by March 14 Secretariat
General member Fares Souaid said.
Sunday’s meeting at Bristol hotel in Beirut was attended by the alliance’s major
political leaders, including Prime Minister Saad Hariri, former Premier Fouad
Siniora, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Phalange Party head Amin
Gemayel while Progressive Socialist Party head MP Walid Jumblatt refrained from
participating.
Jumblatt said he would participate in the rally commemorating the assassination
of the former premier but not as a member of the March 14 alliance.
The statement issued following a three-hour meeting, the alliance stressed its
commitment to the state’s sovereignty over all its territories and its exclusive
responsibility in defending the country while avoiding any overt mention of
Hizbullah’s arms.
“The Lebanese achieved true national reconciliation as they turned the page on
the Civil War, abolished an authoritarian security regime, pushed for the
withdrawal of Syrian forces, established diplomatic ties with Damascus and
established the STL,” the statement said.
“National unity is not achieved based on conditions by one faction but rather
through national consensus and based on the state’s sovereignty over all its
territories and its exclusive responsibility to defend the country,” it added.
Souaid said that a change in circumstances would not lead to a change in the
alliance’s commitment to its principles.
The statement also underscored the alliance’s commitment to parity between
Christians and Muslims, national coexistence and Lebanon’s Arabic identity,
while stressing its rejection of the naturalization of Palestinians refugees.
Hariri’s murder led to the formation of the March 14 alliance, which called for
the withdrawal of Syrian military forces from Lebanon and the establishment of
the Special Tribunal for Lebanon tasked with prosecuting the murder.
Parliamentary majority officials have accused Syria of being involved in
plotting the assassination and voiced support for UN Security Council Resolution
1559 which called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon.
Jumblatt, once a leading figure in the alliance, announced following the June,
2009 parliamentary elections his withdrawal from the coalition saying it was
driven by necessity.
On Sunday, the Democratic Gathering Bloc, following a meeting headed by Jumblatt,
stressed in a statement its leader’s centrist position away from previous
political coalitions and divisions. “The bloc underscores its leader’s firm
position against taking sides with previous political coalitions and divisions
and it applies to whether he will participate or not in any meeting conveying
such an image,” the statement said. But the statement underscored “Jumblatt’s
keenness to participate in the occasion commemorating the former premier’s
assassination.”
Commenting on Jumblatt’s absence, Geagea said that “the Democratic Gathering
Bloc might have its reasons for not attending but it would not prevent its
participation on February 14.”
Geagea added that the meeting conveyed a very important message after all the
turmoil the March 14 alliance had experienced. “The most important point is that
on February 14 we will express the same goals upon which the alliance was
founded,” he added.
Judiciary calls for release of three refugees
Daily Star staff/Monday, February 01, 2010
BEIRUT: The Lebanese judiciary on Friday called for the immediate release of
three arbitrarily detained refugees. The Jdeideh Metn Court of Urgent Matters,
presided over by Judge Mirielle Haddad, issued three verdicts requesting the
release of Wissam al-Youssef, Riyad Hashem and Maytham al-Rabih. The
nationalities of the men, who have been in prison for over 11 months, were not
released. The men had each received one month sentences and were ordered to pay
fines for entering Lebanon illegally. One was also sentenced to be deported.
The court said the men had served more time than their sentences stipulated,
adding that their continued imprisonment constituted “a dangerous violation of
legal decisions” that had no legal justification. Haddad said she based her
decision on Article 8 of the Lebanese Constitution, international treaties such
as the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, and other international
agreements that are supposed to have been incorporated into the Constitution.
The decision follows a similar verdict issued by the Zahle Court for Urgent
Matters in December 2009, when Judge Cynthia Qatherji ordered the immediate
release of Iraqi refugee Yusra al-Amiri. The decision was questioned by General
Security, sparking a public outcry which resulted in Amiri being transferred to
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees earlier this month. On Friday, Frontiers
Ruwad Association said the verdicts highlighted the important role of the
judiciary in protecting personal freedoms and ensuring respect for the
Constitution. – The Daily Star
Terror Alert: Let us protect UNIFIL, and fast
By Bilal Y. Saab and Magnus Ranstorp
Monday, February 01, 2010
Perspective By Bilal Y. Saab and Magnus Ranstorp
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is at serious risk of
another terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda and it needs immediate protection. This
time, the potential harm that Al-Qaeda in Lebanon could inflict on the
multinational peacekeeping force could be significant as the terrorist
organization has recently been able to adjust, reorganize, and plan for a deadly
operation. If Al-Qaeda succeeds in bleeding UNIFIL, this will undoubtedly push
some of its member states to withdraw their troops, which by default would
undermine the mission of the Force altogether and ultimately cause its
dissolution.
While the global counter-terrorism community seems understandably focused on the
terror problems in Yemen and Somalia, it cannot afford to brush aside Al-Qaeda’s
reach in another strategically vital part of the world: Israel-Lebanon. Make no
mistake about it, if UNIFIL suffers another terrorist hit and starts crumbling
as a result, the task of averting another devastating war between Israel and
Hizbullah (which this time could be much more destructive and could involve
other foreign powers) becomes nearly impossible. Middle East stability, not just
calm on the Israeli-Lebanese borders, is at stake here.
The terrorist threat to UNIFIL (and Lebanon) has drastically changed since the
events of Nahr al-Bared in 2007, and here is why we believe it has become much
more dangerous and imminent. Since its deployment in southern Lebanon following
the 34-day war between Israel and Hizbullah in summer 2006, the expanded
multinational force (now has 12,133 uniformed personnel) has had to deal with an
emerging threat posed by Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda’s second in command Ayman al-Zawahri
has had his eyes on the multinational troops the day they set foot in the
southern part of the country. His three messages (so far) have been clear, and
his directions even clearer: wage armed jihad against the “crusader” troops in
the South and force them to withdraw from “Muslim lands.”
Zawahri’s calls did not fall on deaf ears. One June 24, 2007, three Spanish and
three Columbian UN soldiers were killed when a bomb destroyed their armored
troop carrier. A month later, another bomb exploded near a UNIFIL position,
luckily causing no casualties. Then on January 8, 2008, two members of the Irish
contingent were wounded when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb near
Rmaileh village, 35 kilometers south of Beirut. In addition to these direct hits
(and many others that were not reported), Al-Qaeda’s fighters have regularly
launched rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel (so far on seven
separate occasions, the most recent of which attempt to ignite another war
between Hezbollah and Israel with UNIFIL in between, killing in what Al-Qaeda’s
calculations would be three birds with one stone: “the infidel Shiite party,”
the “Zionist entity,” and the “crusader army.” Fortunately, Hizbullah and Israel
did not fall into Al-Qaeda’s trap, exercising wise judgment and restraint at
every incident.
However, with rumors of renewed conflict widely circulating in the media these
days, cooler heads may no longer prevail next time another mysterious rocket
lands in a northern Israeli town.
The numbers of foiled Al-Qaeda plots against UNIFIL and arrests of terrorist
cells by the Lebanese military intelligence services have also been staggering.
Ever since the Lebanese Army crushed Fatah al-Islam (the Al-Qaeda-inspired
group) in summer 2007 and the Lebanese military intelligence services have been
working day and night on combating the terror threat. Having conducted extensive
field research on the subject of Al-Qaeda in Lebanon over the past six years, we
found no evidence that Al-Qaeda’s senior leadership in Pakistan-Afghanistan has
a franchise in the country like in Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and other places around
the world. Also, we found no sizable support for the terrorist group’s militant
agenda among the Sunni Islamist community (including the doctrinally rigid but
nonviolent salafis). Al-Qaeda’s extremist ideology is also shunned by the
majority of Lebanese Sunni Muslims. All these factors and others explain why
Al-Qaeda’s attempts to create an overt insurgent group in the country on New
Year’s Eve in 1999-2000 and in summer 2007 failed miserably. Realizing that
Lebanon is not a fertile ground for establishing a solid insurgent base,
Al-Qaeda adjusted and opted to go underground. Instead of helping form insurgent
groups, Al-Qaeda in Pakistan-Afghanistan is now working, with the help of its
franchises in Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula, on creating sleeper cells in
Lebanon that would be in charge of recruiting, training, and planning operations
against Western and Israeli targets, in addition to attacking UNIFIL. These
terrorist cells, some of which are remnants of Fatah al-Islam while others
continue to arrive from several regional battlefronts, are scattered across the
country but with heavy concentration in its northern region, specifically in
places like Tripoli, Akkar, Qaroun, Majdar Anjar, and al Koura (there are also
some pockets in the Bekaa Valley and around the Palestinian camps in the
southern suburbs of Beirut). Today, there exists a dangerous terrorist axis that
links, by land and sea, these northern areas to the Palestinian refugee camp of
Ein al-Hilweh in the southern city of Sidon, where arguably most major terrorist
planning and coordination takes place.
Under-funded, poorly equipped, and largely inexperienced in the
counter-terrorism business, the Lebanese military intelligence services have
surprisingly done a superb job in making life difficult for Al-Qaeda in the
country. However, despite their commendable effort, the threat is now too big
for a tiny country like Lebanon to handle on its own. The Lebanese government
has a legal responsibility to protect UNIFIL but it cannot do this crucial job
alone. What is needed is a concerted effort by nations that are contributing
troops to UNIFIL and by those countries that have a vested interest in
preserving the fragile calm along the Lebanese-Israeli borders to provide
immediate technical and financial assistance to the Lebanese security and
counter-terrorism apparatus, specifically to the military intelligence services.
Washington has a strong interest in leading this effort for three important
reasons: one, uphold Lebanese stability and help the country in its campaign
against salafi jihadism; two, safeguard UNIFIL so that it can do its critical
job of keeping the Israeli-Lebanese peace, and three, protect its close ally
Israel from further attacks by Al-Qaeda elements in southern Lebanon.
There is no question that Al-Qaeda in Lebanon is a real danger to the country in
general and to UNIFIL in particular. The safety of the Force is of utmost
importance to the security of Lebanon and the entire region. While Israeli and
Hizbullah officials often complain about UNIFIL, in private, they do appreciate
its important deterrent role.
Indeed, the truth of the matter is that UNIFIL is the only thing standing in the
way of another large-scale military conflict in the Middle East. Let us help
Lebanon better protect it from Al-Qaeda before it is too late.
**Bilal Y. Saab is a PhD student and Teaching Assistant at the University of
Maryland, College Park and Magnus Ranstorp is Research Director at the Swedish
National Defence College.
Hezbollah’s crisis
Nadim Koteich,
February 1, 2010 /Now Lebanon/Hezbollah members parade on the streets of the
southern suburbs of Beirut. (AFP/ Ramzi Haidar)
For a resistance movement, bravado is not a substitute for actually fighting.
Hezbollah is no exception to this rule, and this is at the heart of the crisis
within the party.
More than three years after the 2006 war with Israel and two years after the
assassination of its top commander, Imad Mugniyah, in a heavily secured zone in
Damascus, Hezbollah hasn’t launched one resistance operation. On the contrary,
South Lebanon is enjoying the calmest period it’s had since 1978, according to
UNIFIL’s recent assessment.
Even on the five or so occasions when Katyusha rockets were fired into Israel
from South Lebanon since the July War, Hezbollah was always among the first
parties to deny any involvement and has sometimes gone as far as to condemn the
attacks.
Hezbollah’s leadership can't miss the signs their community sends during such
incidents. Images of southern villagers fleeing in packed cars with their
possessions strapped on top flutter across Lebanese TV screens every time
attacks are launched from the Hezbollah-dominated South into northern Israel.
It is a normal reaction, given that the memory of the 2006 war is still fresh in
southerners’ minds, something Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah has noted in his speeches.
Yet in a recent address he called upon his audience "to withstand and fight" as
Shia Imam Hussein and his followers did in the battle of Karbala back in the 7th
century, should Israel impose the fight "upon us."
It is hardly an appealing invitation. The "Husseinis", as Nasrallah may recall,
perished in the battle of Karbala, and their school of fighting, which Nasrallah
is promising to imitate, ended with a crushing military defeat in which
humiliated prisoners of war were forced to walk from the battlefield in Iraq to
Damascus. It is a fight that goes down in military history as an example of how
not to go to war.
Imam Hussein himself desperately tried to avoid the confrontation to save his
people from such a fate.
Hence, the Shia community, which annually commemorates the slain Imam, aspires
for a different future, and when they flee their homes it is not because they
are gutlessly trying to avoid battle but because they fear for their safety.
Deterrence or delusion?
The Party of God is under attack from Israeli – and possibly other –
intelligence apparatuses, which have struck the party in its most secure areas.
Its operatives have been uncovered in Azerbaijan and Egypt, and arms shipments
to the organization, like the weapons found onboard the Francop last fall, have
been intercepted. In mid-October wire tapping devices exploded on phone lines
that were part of Hezbollah’s private telecommunications network. The explosion
in Hezbollah-controlled Haret-Hreik in December is believed to be an Israeli
attempt on the life of top Hamas official in Lebanon Oussama Hamdan.
So Hezbollah is being attacked, and it hasn’t retaliated to any of the
abovementioned offenses. Yet the party is under the delusion that it is a
deterrence force against Israel.
The party’s updated political manifesto, which Hassan Nasrallah debuted on
November 30, stated that the Resistance has gone from playing the role of the
liberator to playing a “confrontation and deterrence role, in addition to its
political and internal role as an influence in building a just and capable
state."
However, the party is not playing its self-assigned deterrence role very well,
as Israel, with its constant aggressions on Lebanon, is far from being deterred.
The UN Security Council listed 388 Israeli airspace violations against Lebanon
in its report last June. The figure has grown since then.
Israel admits that it is conducting surveillance on Hezbollah's military
activities and has threatened to take action against Lebanon as a whole should
Hezbollah acquire advanced anti-aircraft missiles or any other large-scale
weaponry.
So let's get this right: Hezbollah's deterrence force is so powerful that it is,
ironically, becoming a pretext for permanent Israeli violations against Lebanon
and possibly an inducement for a devastating war.
Nevertheless, with characteristic condescension, Hezbollah contemptuously
dismisses the looming catastrophic conflict. "Resistance forces will ultimately
triumph," Nasrallah said, addressing a conference of Arab and international
Resistance organizations in Beirut a couple of weeks ago. He added that his
party will “change the face of the region.”
Since Hezbollah considers Israel an "absolute evil" and its very existence a
permanent aggression against the imaginary "Muslim nation", the party believes
it has the legitimacy to take up the mantle of liberating Palestine and wiping
Israel off the map. So why the delay in accomplishing this "divine" mission?
Because it is undoable and Hezbollah knows it. This leaves the party with few
options. Hezbollah could either seek shelter in bravado while simultaneously
concentrating on its sweeping domestic plans, as outlined in its manifesto, or
it could involved in a serious national dialogue over how to give up its arsenal
in parallel with an internal dialogue over how to turn itself into more of a
political party that could excel through a democratic political process. The
Hezbollah leadership has never shown any interest in this second option.
Rather, Hezbollah has, against all odds, planted its long-range rockets deep
into northern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, as Washington Post reported last
month, and the party’s leader seems to have no problem luring Israel into a
major war fought on Lebanese soil. While Imam Hussein tried to avoid conflict,
Hezbollah isn’t, and it should think of its supporters in the ever-vulnerable
Shia community before picking a fight.
The price of change
February 1, 2010
Now Lebanon
Last Thursday saw the hanging in Tehran of two men, Mohammadreza Alizamani, aged
37, and Arash Rahmanpour, aged 19. The pair were convicted of being involved in
the 2009 post-election protests in Iran. The executions were the first related
to the show of defiance against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s allegedly rigged
victory. Eleven more have been condemned to death on similar charges.
Their crimes? Well, according to the state-run news agency ISNA, the pair were
guilty of “disruption of order” and “Moharebeh” (literally “at war with God”)
through their membership in the Monarchist Association, a pro-Shah grouping.
In the spring of 2005, in the aftermath of the assassination of former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri, pro-independence Lebanese also showed they could
transform a country. They mobilized for what they wanted, not what they were
told to want.
The outcome of the March 2005 protests set Lebanon on a path, albeit rocky and
often bloody, to consolidating its sovereign aspirations and developing its
democratic principles. The blast in front of the St. Georges Hotel had woken
Lebanon from a 30-year state of lethargy. The people said an emphatic “no” to
Syrian domination of their country. The world took up our cause and Damascus
folded.
But without the world’s support it could have been very different. We forget
that the order had allegedly been given for the Lebanese army, in extremis, to
fire on Lebanese demonstrators (and it would not have been the first time such
an order would have been carried out).
We would like to believe that the sheer force of people power during that
four-week period would have dissuaded even the most loyal soldier from
shouldering his weapon. But had the world not been on our side, had the regimes
of the region not been twitchy at the fall of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist
dictatorship two years earlier and the presence of over 100,000 American troops
in Iraq, our bluff might have been called and the list of martyrs might be much
longer.
With the fifth anniversary of the outrage over Hariri’s killing only two weeks
away, it is within the memory of that spontaneous eruption of people power, not
unlike that seen in Tehran last year, that we honor the memory of Mohammadreza
Alizamani and Arash Rahmanpour and join the international community and human
rights groups in strongly condemning these executions.
In the meantime, opposition to the ruling establishment in Iran will surely
continue its struggle via the web and the mobile phone networks. This generation
of Iranian “revolutionaries” wants to be part of the modern world, enjoy its
benefits and be integrated into the global economic community.
They don’t just represent the bourgeoisie, an idea that many, not just western
commentators, have latched onto. There is a developed Iran outside the milieu of
Tehran urbanites. The world forgets just how socially progressive – in terms of
education, women’s rights and marriage - Iran has been in the last 30 years.
Iranians are proud. They want to be a nuclear power, but they want to be one
that cooperates with the IAEA, and while they are opposed to the activities of
the Israeli government, the chances that are that they don’t want to see funds
that could be spent developing their country channeled to Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, last week, the Students Committee of Iran said that it intended to
hold 1-million strong demonstrations on February 5 and 11, days that mark the
end of Ashura and the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, respectively.
The hangings were not just a human rights violation and an offense to the
decency of civilized societies; the shadow of the scaffold has fallen across all
the nations across the region who have ties to the Islamic Republic and who
remain silent.