LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJune 05/2010

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Trial and error in Leidschendam/By: Michael Young/June 04/10
A Maronite Israeli Arab lets business do the talking/By Karin Kloosterman/June 04/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for June 04/10
Sfeir stresses need for 'single recognized army/Daily Star
Nasrallah urges Lebanese to join flotilla rally/Daily Star
Israel Twice Spotted Nasrallah, But Didn't Kill Him, Report/Naharnet
Lebanese Couple Arrested in Ohio on Charges of Supporting Hizbullah/Naharnet
Future endorses new candidate to fill vacant Minieh-Diniyeh seat/Daily Star
Bassil accuses elections watchdog LADE of bias/Daily Star
Geagea: If Franjieh assaults us, we will assault him more/Daily Star
Sleiman, Abbas discuss flotilla fiasco/Daily Star & (AFP)
Hariri calls for filling vacant state posts/Daily Star
Lego, Denmark donate toys to daycare centers/Daily Star
Qabbani meets with Iran's new ambassador/Daily Star
Police confiscate hyena shot near southern village/Daily Star
Firefighters battle blazes in Mount Lebanon, South/Daily Star
Lebanon: Where the hijab, bikini live side by side/By Inter Press Service
What does the future hold for Syria-Lebanon ties?/Daily Star
AUB promotes technology in the classroom/Daily Star
UN torture committee urges full compliance/Daily Star
Obama Intends to Nominate Connelly as Next U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon/Naharnet
Political Bickering Likely to Torpedo 2010 State Budget/Naharnet
Jumblat: We Mustn't Give Israel Alibi to Attack Lebanon, Erdogan's Rhetoric Much Stronger than Ahmadinejad's/Naharnet
Turkey to reduce economic, military ties with Israel/Now Lebanon
Jumblatt: UN sanctions on Iran are forthcoming/Now Lebanon

Israel Twice Spotted Nasrallah, But Didn't Kill Him, Report
/Naharnet/Israel had reportedly twice pinpointed the activities of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and almost "liquidated" him had there been no children around.
The Kuwaiti daily al-Jarida, citing high-ranking Israeli sources, said Friday an Israeli drone type 'Shoval' flying at high altitude has recently pinpointed Nasrallah by tracking his movements near a Hizbullah security base in Beirut's southern suburbs. The sources said Israeli Mossad secret services were instructed to carry out a swift operation to "liquidate" him, but added that the presence of a large number of children in the building on that day prevented such an attack. The second time, the sources added, was when Nasrallah made a quick visit to Damascus in February for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They said Mossad at the time, pinpointed Nasrallah's activity but he managed to get away with murder after crossing into Syrian territory. Beirut, 04 Jun 10, 10:27

Obama Intends to Nominate Connelly as Next U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon
/Naharnet/President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate Maura Connelly as U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon to replace Michele Sison. Connelly is currently a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Prior to that, she was the Charge d'Affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. Connelly previously served as the Political Minister-Counselor for the U.S. Embassy in London and was the Deputy Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem. She was also the Deputy Counselor for Political Affairs for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York. Other overseas posts include Jordan, Algeria and South Africa. Connelly received a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Masters in National Security Studies from the U.S. Naval War College. The White House made its announcement about Obama's intention to nominate Connelly in a statement that also included news of the president's intention to nominate Subra Suresh as Director of the National Science Foundation and Daniel Smith as Ambassador to Greece. "I am proud that such experienced and committed individuals have agreed to take on these important roles in my administration. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years," Obama said. Beirut, 04 Jun 10, 08:01

Lebanese Couple Arrested in Ohio on Charges of Supporting Hizbullah
/Naharnet/A Lebanese-American couple was arrested Thursday and charged with providing material support to Hizbullah and other crimes. The Justice Department said Hor Akl, and his wife Amera Akl, both 37, were arrested in Ohio without incident and were to appear in federal court later in the day. The Toledo residents, who are dual citizens of the United States and Lebanon, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, money laundering charges and arson relating to an insurance fraud scheme. Hor Akl is also charged with two counts of bankruptcy fraud and one count of perjury, U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said. According to the complaint, the Akls agreed to send money to Hizbullah after they were approached in 2009 by a confidential informant for the FBI who claimed he worked for an anonymous donor eager to support the group which has been on the U.S. terror list since 1997. "The couple researched and proposed at least 10 different ways in which the money could be shipped" to the group, the complaint said. Officials said the Akls agreed to conceal some 500,000 dollars in the hollow sections of a vehicle and to ship the vehicle to Lebanon, where they would remove the cash and give it to Hizbullah. In March 2010, Hor Akl traveled to Lebanon to make arrangements for the delivery of the funds. The complaint also alleges that the Akls discussed multiple criminal violations in the past, including smuggling of large amounts of currency to Lebanon, wire fraud, mail fraud and other crimes. "This case demonstrates our continued commitment to prosecuting those who seek to aid terrorists and terrorist organizations, whether they do so from our backyards, or abroad," Dettlebach said. The charges of supporting a terrorist organization carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, and money laundering charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years.(AFP) Beirut, 04 Jun 10, 06:38

Jumblat: We Mustn't Give Israel Alibi to Attack Lebanon, Erdogan's Rhetoric Much Stronger than Ahmadinejad's
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Thursday said he was afraid "Israel would use part of the Druze community, because it survives through taking advantage of minorities."Israel "took advantage of part of the Maronites and led them to suicide," Jumblat added in an interview on LBC TV. Jumblat stressed the importance of a good relation with Syria at the security and political levels."We must not give Israel an alibi to attack Lebanon, and (Turkish PM Recep Tayyip) Erdogan's rhetoric nowadays is much stronger than (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad's rhetoric," Jumblat told his interviewer. "Egypt plays a key role in the region at the political level, but Arabs must support it financially," he added. The Druze leader said he was worried about "a possible segregation of Iraq, the thing that would affect Iran, Turkey and Syria." Addressing the Lebanese-Syrian relations, Jumblat said: "We respect the basic Syrian interests in Lebanon, but we have our sovereignty and independence." He noted that the return to warmer U.S.-Syrian relations "helps Lebanon." As to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the possible repercussions of issuing indictments that would connect Hizbullah to the assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, Jumblat said: "We want justice coupled with stability." Beirut, 03 Jun 10, 23:34

What does the future hold for Syria-Lebanon ties?
By The Daily Star
Friday, June 04, 2010
BEIRUT: Lebanese-Syrian relations were once again the center of attention at a talk held on Wednesday.
At a discussion organized by the Issam Fares Center for Lebanon, entitled: “What does Syria want from Lebanon? – a Lebanese Perspective,” former minister Karim Pakradoni and March 14 coalition general coordinator Fares Soueid gave different opinions on the issue.
Pakradoni argued that Lebanon’s position with respect to any regional conflict, whether it be an Israeli-Arab conflict or an Arab-Arab conflict, should be aligned with that of Syria. It is in Lebanon’s best interests to be allied with and not against Syria, he said.
The former president of the Christian Phalange Party underlined the need to enhance Syrian-Lebanese partnerships in order to strengthen ties and clarify outstanding matters, such as border delineation and territory occupied by Israel. He called on Lebanon to play a leading role in guiding a future Arab project and in attempting to build constructive coalitions with Syria and the Levant, in the footsteps of European Economic Integration.
Pakradoni noted that three lessons can be drawn from the history of Lebanese-Syrian relations. First, “any rift in the relations between the two countries, or any alliance between Lebanon and other countries against Syria will lead to serious instability and conflict within Lebanon.” He said that the best foreign policy to be adopted by Lebanon is one that does not cause domestic problems, and the worst policy is that which may lead to internal strife.
Second, Syrian fears that Lebanon is used as a gateway to foreign influence and intervention to target the Syrian regime. In order to abolish this fear, Pakradoni said Lebanon needs to provide guarantees to Syria that no conspiracy will be plotted against it through Lebanon.
Third, Pakradoni said it was essential that Israel and Syria are not seen as equally bad in the eyes of the Lebanese people, adding Beirut should not resort to Israel in order to stand against Syria.
Soueid meanwhile argued that the Lebanese are trying to revive and reform Lebanese-Syrian relations. Speaking about the current status of bilateral relations, he noted that it has reached a “remarkable” turning point that can be characterized by coordination and cooperation on regional issues. Such a shift in relations, Soueid added, is seen as a major opportunity to initiate new relations in light of the current regional changes.
He said domestic, regional, and international factors call for building a Taif-based relation with Syria, in reference to the 1989 accord which ended the 1975-1990 Lebanese Civil War. Such factors are the Arab-Syrian and Turkish-Syrian reconciliations, in addition to the international call for Syria to participate in solving the Arab -Israeli conflict.
As for Lebanese Christian- Syrian relations, Soueid noted these relations have long been governed by a misunderstanding dating from the beginning of Lebanon’s independence.
In 1943, Lebanese Christians hailed Lebanon’s declaration of independence as a victory of popular will over French mandate, whereas Syrians saw the new independent state as an artificial entity emerging from the mandating power after it has been “stripped off” from Syria.
Soueid agreed with Pakradoni on the need to partner with Syria in building a model of bilateral relations among Levant countries, concluding that what is needed is an equation which protects interest of both countries. – The Daily Star

Sfeir stresses need for 'single recognized army'
By The Daily Star /Friday, June 04, 2010
BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said on Wednesday Lebanon could no longer withstand anymore divisions and reiterated the need for “a single recognized army.”
Sfeir spoke to reporters at the Rafik Hariri International Airport before flying to Cyprus to welcome, along with Catholic and Maronite religious figures, Pope Benedict XVI who arrives in Nicosia on Thursday.
In Nicosia, Benedict XVI will meet with leaders from Catholic churches in the region to draw up proposals for a major meeting of Middle Eastern bishops at the Vatican in October.
At the airport, Sfeir ruled out the possibility of discussing Lebanese domestic issues with the prelate. “I don’t think we will get a chance to discuss Lebanese issues with the pope,” he said. The prelate described Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound Freedom fleet on Monday as a “huge crime against innocent people.”
Asked whether he endorsed the lifting of Israel’s blockade over Gaza, Sfeir said: “What we want is that the situation in the Middle East returns back to normal, where peace and security would prevail instead of wars.” Sfeir was vague when asked whether he changed his stance concerning Hizbullah’s arms in light of Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla,
He was also asked whether he endorsed President Michel Sleiman’s statement that the efforts of the Lebanese Army, the Resistance and the Lebanese people should be united to confront Israel. He said he believed that Lebanon should have “a single recognized army,” even if the army lacked the capabilities to fight Israel.
“This is the business of the big states. They have to draw the limits for Israel,” Sfeir said. He added the National Dialogue sessions to discuss a defense strategy for the country, “should not be cancelled but must become more productive.” Concerning inter-Christian reconciliation, Sfeir hoped it would take place as well as inter-Lebanese reconciliation.
“Lebanon is a small country that could no longer withstand anymore divisions,” he said. – The Daily Star

Nasrallah urges Lebanese to join flotilla rally
By The Daily Star /Friday, June 04, 2010
BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Thursday urged large participation in Friday’s rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Freedom flotilla.
The Sayyed made his statements at the Ressalat Hall in Beirut during a ceremony to mark the 21st anniversary of the passing away of Imam Ruhollah Moussawi Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nasrallah is to deliver a speech in Friday’s rally at the Raya Stadium on the Israeli attack on the Freedom flotilla.
“We call on all the Lebanese, Palestinians and Arab communities in Lebanon to take part Friday in the ceremony of solidarity, pride and support to the besieged Palestinian people in Gaza and the heroes of the Freedom Flotilla, the Turkish martyrs and those on board who returned home alive,” he said.
On Sunday night, Israel’s navy stopped six ships dubbed “The Freedom Fleet” ferrying 700 people and 10,000 tons of supplies toward the Gaza Strip. A Turkish vessel was attacked by Israeli commandos, killing at least nine activists. The captured vessels were escorted into Israel’s port of Ashdod and the passengers who came from different states were being deported by Israeli authorities on Thursday. “The Freedom Flotilla scene reflected the inherent courage, sincerity, and sacrifice of the activists who were on their way to break the inhumane siege of Gaza. It is our duty to pay tribute to all of them for their courage and their readiness to face death,” Nasrallah added. Among the passengers on board of the aid fleet, six Lebanese were freed by Israeli authorities Wednesday with four returning to Lebanon and two others of a Lebanese-Belgian and Lebanese-Irish dual nationality, leaving respectively for Brussels and Dublin. “Thirty-five countries, united, faced the challenges, Israeli aggression, criminal nature, and piracy,” Nasrallah said. – The Daily Star

Geagea: If Franjieh assaults us, we will assault him more
By The Daily Star /Friday, June 04, 2010
BEIRUT: The past relations with Marada Movement leader Sleiman Franjieh has come to an end, Lebanese Forces (LF) Chief Samir Geagea said in response to Franjieh’s stances following the killing of two Marada Movement members last week. Last Friday, ahead of the last round of May’s municipal polls in Lebanon’s northern governorate, a long-standing inter-family dispute led to clashes between LF supporters from the Bersawi family and Marada Movement followers from the Saleh family in the Koura village of Dahr al-Ain. The dispute escalated into a shooting by a member of the Bersawi family, killing the two Saleh brothers. “The incident took place between two families that had different political affiliations,” Geagea said in a televised interview Wednesday, adding that “no political motives were behind the murder.” On Monday, Franjieh held the LF responsible for the murder and lashed out at Geagea, accusing him of provoking inter-Christian conflicts. “For the past four years, I have been easy on him and I will not comment on his statements,” Geagea said in response to the accusations.
Attempts to reconcile Geagea and Franjieh via mediation by the Maronite Church prior to the June 2009 parliamentary polls hit a dead end, with tensions continuing to govern the relations between both politicians. Franjieh blames Geagea for the murder of his father, Tony Franjieh, in an assault by an LF squad ordered by the Phalange Party in 1978 at Franjieh’s residence in Ehden. Geagea denies committing the murder, stressing that he was injured before making it to Franjieh’s residence. Franjieh’s mother and sister were also killed in the attack.
“The way we have dealt with him has come to an end and if he continues to attack us in person, we will do the same; and if he assaults us, we will assault him more,” Geagea told Future News television. On Wednesday, a delegation of the Maronite Church headed by Bishop George Abu Jaoudeh paid condolences to Franjieh at his residence in the northern town of Bnashii on behalf of Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir for the killing of the Saleh brothers. Meanwhile, the four suspects in the murder were transferred to the State Prosecutor, Said Mirza, who will follow up on the investigations. According to the As-Safir daily, the visit, during which the delegation agreed with Franjieh to distance the incident from politics, aimed to reduce inter-Christian tensions. The paper added that the visit could also pave the way for reconciliation between Franjieh and Sfeir to end tensions that have governed their relations for almost two years.
Franjieh has repeatedly accused Sfeir of taking sides with March 14 Christian parties rather than remaining neutral to all parties. – The Daily Star

Future endorses new candidate to fill vacant Minieh-Diniyeh seat
By The Daily Star /Friday, June 04, 2010
BEIRUT: The Future Movement has endorsed the candidacy Kazem Saleh al-Kheir for by-elections in the northern district of Minieh-Diniyeh to fill the vacant Sunni seat following the passing away of MP Hashem Alameddine in May. The Arabic newspaper As-Safir quoted Future Movement sources, in an article published Thursday, as saying “a decision has been taken to endorse the candidacy of Kheir for the empty parliamentary seat at the district of Minieh-Diniyeh in North Lebanon.” If Kheir wins, he would replace the late Future Movement MP Alameddine, who passed away last week at the age of 70 after a battle with illness. The decision reached other Future Movement candidates who consequently unofficially withdrew their candidacies, the article added. Keir also obtained the support of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, after the two held a meeting on Wednesday. Kheir’s father Saleh was a former MP of the district. – The Daily Star

Those troublesome Jews
Charles Krauthammer
Friday, June 4, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304287.html
The world is outraged at Israel's blockade of Gaza. Turkey denounces its illegality, inhumanity, barbarity, etc. The usual U.N. suspects, Third World and European, join in. The Obama administration dithers.
But as Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes, the blockade is not just perfectly rational, it is perfectly legal. Gaza under Hamas is a self-declared enemy of Israel -- a declaration backed up by more than 4,000 rockets fired at Israeli civilian territory. Yet having pledged itself to unceasing belligerency, Hamas claims victimhood when Israel imposes a blockade to prevent Hamas from arming itself with still more rockets.
In World War II, with full international legality, the United States blockaded Germany and Japan. And during the October 1962 missile crisis, we blockaded ("quarantined") Cuba. Arms-bearing Russian ships headed to Cuba turned back because the Soviets knew that the U.S. Navy would either board them or sink them. Yet Israel is accused of international criminality for doing precisely what John Kennedy did: impose a naval blockade to prevent a hostile state from acquiring lethal weaponry.
Oh, but weren't the Gaza-bound ships on a mission of humanitarian relief? No. Otherwise they would have accepted Israel's offer to bring their supplies to an Israeli port, be inspected for military materiel and have the rest trucked by Israel into Gaza -- as every week 10,000 tons of food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies are sent by Israel to Gaza.
Why was the offer refused? Because, as organizer Greta Berlin admitted, the flotilla was not about humanitarian relief but about breaking the blockade, i.e., ending Israel's inspection regime, which would mean unlimited shipping into Gaza and thus the unlimited arming of Hamas.

Israel has already twice intercepted ships laden with Iranian arms destined for Hezbollah and Gaza. What country would allow that?
But even more important, why did Israel even have to resort to blockade? Because, blockade is Israel's fallback as the world systematically de-legitimizes its traditional ways of defending itself -- forward and active defense.
(1) Forward defense: As a small, densely populated country surrounded by hostile states, Israel had, for its first half-century, adopted forward defense -- fighting wars on enemy territory (such as the Sinai and Golan Heights) rather than its own.
Where possible (Sinai, for example) Israel has traded territory for peace. But where peace offers were refused, Israel retained the territory as a protective buffer zone. Thus Israel retained a small strip of southern Lebanon to protect the villages of northern Israel. And it took many losses in Gaza, rather than expose Israeli border towns to Palestinian terror attacks. It is for the same reason America wages a grinding war in Afghanistan: You fight them there, so you don't have to fight them here.
But under overwhelming outside pressure, Israel gave it up. The Israelis were told the occupations were not just illegal but at the root of the anti-Israel insurgencies -- and therefore withdrawal, by removing the cause, would bring peace.
Land for peace. Remember? Well, during the past decade, Israel gave the land -- evacuating South Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. What did it get? An intensification of belligerency, heavy militarization of the enemy side, multiple kidnappings, cross-border attacks and, from Gaza, years of unrelenting rocket attack.
(2) Active defense: Israel then had to switch to active defense -- military action to disrupt, dismantle and defeat (to borrow President Obama's description of our campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda) the newly armed terrorist mini-states established in southern Lebanon and Gaza after Israel withdrew.
The result? The Lebanon war of 2006 and Gaza operation of 2008-09. They were met with yet another avalanche of opprobrium and calumny by the same international community that had demanded the land-for-peace Israeli withdrawals in the first place. Worse, the U.N. Goldstone report, which essentially criminalized Israel's defensive operation in Gaza while whitewashing the casus belli -- the preceding and unprovoked Hamas rocket war -- effectively de-legitimized any active Israeli defense against its self-declared terror enemies.
(3) Passive defense: Without forward or active defense, Israel is left with but the most passive and benign of all defenses -- a blockade to simply prevent enemy rearmament. Yet, as we speak, this too is headed for international de-legitimation. Even the United States is now moving toward having it abolished.
But, if none of these is permissible, what's left?
Ah, but that's the point. It's the point understood by the blockade-busting flotilla of useful idiots and terror sympathizers, by the Turkish front organization that funded it, by the automatic anti-Israel Third World chorus at the United Nations, and by the supine Europeans who've had quite enough of the Jewish problem.
What's left? Nothing. The whole point of this relentless international campaign is to deprive Israel of any legitimate form of self-defense. Why, just last week, the Obama administration joined the jackals, and reversed four decades of U.S. practice, by signing onto a consensus document that singles out Israel's possession of nuclear weapons -- thus de-legitimizing Israel's very last line of defense: deterrence.
The world is tired of these troublesome Jews, 6 million -- that number again -- hard by the Mediterranean, refusing every invitation to national suicide. For which they are relentlessly demonized, ghettoized and constrained from defending themselves, even as the more committed anti-Zionists -- Iranian in particular -- openly prepare a more final solution.

Israel Tells Lebanon How It Will Be Destroyed
June 2, 2010:
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htiw/articles/20100602.aspx
Israel has revealed its plans for a future war with Hezbollah. Israel doesn't want another war with the Lebanese terror organization, Hezbollah. In 2006, the Iran backed Islamic radicals dragged Lebanon into a war with Israel, that left Lebanon a mess. Hezbollah, in typical Arab fashion, proclaimed defeat as a victory. The 2006 fighting crippled Hezbollah military power, destroyed billions of dollars of its assets, and actually improved Israeli combat power. Thousands of Israeli troops gained combat experience in southern Lebanon, and Israeli casualties had no effect on overall Israeli military strength. But Hezbollah is still there, and Iran financed the rebuilding their military strength.
Thus if there's another war, Israel plans to use a larger force (4-5 combat divisions, versus three in 2006, and more than twice as many aircraft and many more commandos.) The next war would involve doing a lot more damage to Hezbollah, in a shorter period of time. The earlier war lasted 34 days. Since 2006, Hezbollah has acquired more power (via its control of about a third of the voters) in the Lebanese government. Thus the new plan involves doing a lot more damage to the rest of Lebanon, and the Lebanese armed forces. Israel wants all Lebanese to know that they are partly responsible for Hezbollah continuing to exist.
Keep in mind exactly what Hezbollah is. It is a radical Islamic organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel, and the eventual establishment of a world-wide Islamic dictatorship (in cooperation with its patron, Iran). Hezbollah has taken control of about a third of Lebanon, and runs it as a religious dictatorship, a branch office of the similar Iranian tyranny. Hezbollah's power base is the 1.3 million Lebanese who are Shia Moslem (like most Iranians are). The Shia comprise about 35 percent of the Lebanese population, and have long been the least prosperous third of the population.
Hezbollah not only helped defend Shia interests during the 1975-90 civil war, but gave out tens of billions of dollars in Iranian money over the years. In return for all these favors, Hezbollah asks only for obedience, and volunteers for its trained terrorist force of several thousand fighters. Pro-Hezbollah Shia also dominate in the Lebanese army, a force put together since 1990 with the assistance of the Syrians. The Syrians are also allies of Iran, and consider most of Lebanon as part of Syria. France assembled Lebanon in the 1920s, after World War I, from bits of the recently disbanded Turkish empire. Historically, "Lebanon" was a string of coastal cities in what is now Lebanon. The French added some more territory inland, territory that had traditionally been considered part of Syria. The Syrians have not forgotten, neither have the Lebanese.
Hezbollah remains a close ally of Syria, which makes most Lebanese nervous. But most Lebanese are hostile to Israel, that hatred being the only thing that unites Lebanese (who are otherwise divided by religion and politics). Yet most Lebanese also fear Israel. It's taken for granted that the Israelis could conquer the country if they wanted, and certainly demonstrated, in 2006, that they could destroy much of the country from the air. But despite the threat, Israel pleas for Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah have been brushed away. That is largely because most Lebanese are eager to avoid another civil war. Damage from the 1975-90 conflict is still being repaired. But Israelis make it clear that, if Hezbollah attacks again, all of Lebanon will suffer, and quickly.

Lebanon: Where the hijab, bikini live side by side
By Inter Press Service
Friday, June 04, 2010
Mona Alami
Inter Press Service
BEIRUT: Hijab or bikini? That is a question that Lebanon seems to be forever balancing.
Both extremes make up the social fabric of the country, and the recent Miss USA pageant, which saw the election of Rima Fakih, a Muslim Shiite of Lebanese origin, has once again spotlighted the diversity and often paradoxical image of women in Lebanon.
First-time tourists to Lebanon are often struck by the contrast of women tanning in skimpy bathing suits alongside veiled women sipping frappuccinos at the country’s beaches, or scantily clad females walking along the streets with others wearing the hijab.
Their surprise is, for the most part, a result of misinformation regarding the country and the cultural mix of its people.
“Rima Fakih’s win shows that the stereotype of Lebanese women, especially Muslims who, incidentally, constitute only a part of our society as being completely veiled from head-to-toe is inaccurate,” says Anissa Rafeh, Lebanese-American author of “Miss Guided: How to Step into the Lebanese Glam Lane”, a book on contemporary Lebanese women.
When Fakih, 24, competed in the Miss USA pageant, her hometown in Lebanon, Srifa – located in the south, a territory traditionally controlled by the Shiite Islamic group Hizbullah – watched as she won the crown after appearing in an evening gown … and a swimsuit.
Such displays of skin may not be common in the traditionally conservative town, but overall its residents have supported her, another indication of the country’s diversity.
“Rima is Srifa’s daughter. She defended Lebanon’s colors at the Miss USA pageant and won! She’s our ambassador and shows that we are an open and mixed society,” proudly remarks Ali Eid, Srifa’s mayor.
Ghinwa Fakih, Rima’s second cousin, argues that people should not be judged based on the way they dress, but on their conduct and values.
“I wear the hijab, but in my family, some members, like Rima, have chosen a Westernized look instead. Each decision results from a personal conviction, but what matters in the end is if we are good people or not,” she emphasizes.
The 39-year-old mother of four admits, however, that some in the village did not approve of Rima’s TV appearance and attire. “But only a small number of residents share this opinion,” she adds.
In an interview last week with a Lebanese television station, Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah was asked his opinion on Fakih’s win. He evaded the question by replying: “The criteria on which we evaluate women are different from those of the West.”
However, Vice President of the Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, referring to the selection of Fakih, adopted a harsher stance. He warned Lebanese women to preserve “their physical integrity and not be impressed by seductive ceremonies that injure their chastity and integrity.”
Although recently placed under the microscope, the hijab-bikini oxymoron has in fact always been part of the Lebanese landscape. The nation is home to 17 different religious communities and has the largest Middle Eastern Christian presence, which may account for Lebanon’s relative openness.
“Residents of cities where there is interaction among different religious sects are traditionally more tolerant than those who live tucked away in their villages in near isolation,” explains American University of Beirut (AUB) sociology professor Sari Hanafi.
Rafeh, meanwhile, believes the crowning of Fakih as Miss USA also highlights the adaptability of the Lebanese people. “Lebanese living abroad have, for the most part, always managed to adapt to the societies they live in and often assimilate to Western cultures,” she said.
It is an opinion shared by the AUB professor.
“Migration within Lebanese families has allowed the empowerment and freedom of individuals, which stems from their resulting financial independence. This trend greatly varies, however, from one area to another depending on whether or not it has been exposed to such migration,” says Hanafi.
Hanafi also establishes a difference between the different nations where Lebanese migrate.
“Over the course of my research on migration in Palestine, for example, I noticed that Palestinians who reside in the Gulf countries overall adopt a more conservative lifestyle than Palestinians who remained in their homeland. The same can be said of Lebanon,” he adds.
According to the sociology professor, tolerance to others is always an extremely healthy sign in any society.
But in Lebanon prejudice against people because of the way they dress still occurs, and is sometimes focused on women who dress conservatively.
Last summer, for example, Rania Ghaddar was rejected from one of the posh Beirut beaches because she was wearing the hijab.
“Tolerance toward the other resides in accepting their choice of clothing. Wearing the hijab or dressing in a bathing suit is a matter of personal freedom,” says Hanafi.
Lebanon’s culture, the sociologist remarks, has been graced by a certain level of liberalism, which has triumphed over time.
“It is difficult to determine whether or not the coexistence between people from different backgrounds will eventually lead to a clash,” he says. “As long as more radical factions fail to dominate the public and are kept in check by society and not by the state, tolerance will prevail.”

UN torture committee urges full compliance
Human rights groups say Islamists, spies for Israel beaten in custody
By The Daily Star
Friday, June 04, 2010
BEIRUT: The UN’s Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) concluded a 10-day visit to Lebanon on Wednesday.
The visit – STP’s ninth to Lebanon – was aimed at issuing recommendations to the Lebanese government on best practices regarding the establishment of effective safeguards against the risk of torture and ill-treatment, officials said.
The delegation, headed by Hans Draminsky Petersen, was supported by three staff members from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and a UN security officer. It also received support from the UN system in Lebanon, in particular the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
During the visit the SPT delegation held meetings with the Lebanese authorities, including Foreign Minister Ali Shami, Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar, and top representatives from the security and army forces.
It also met with State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and members of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, headed by MP Ghassan Moukheiber, as well as representatives of NGOs.
The SPT has a mandate to visit and make recommendations to the authorities to establish effective safeguards against the risk of torture and ill-treatment. The delegation visited a number of civil and military prisons, police stations and detention centers. It also visited the notorious underground retention center in Beirut’s Adlieh district, where a number of migrants and refugees are held arbitrarily.
The SPT also reviewed the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in Lebanon and the safeguards for their protection against torture and ill-treatment. It conducted private interviews with detainees in various police establishments and inmates in civil and military prisons.
The SPT also visited and conducted interviews in other places where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty.
At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its confidential preliminary observations to the authorities of Lebanon.
Article 401 of the Lebanese Penal Code prohibits torture, stipulating that anyone who “severely beats someone with the desire to obtain a confession about a crime or information regarding it will be imprisoned from three months to three years.”
Nevertheless, human rights groups say many detainees, including suspected Islamists, drug-dealers and suspected collaborators with Israel, have accused their interrogators of beatings and torture. Accountability for torture and ill-treatment in detention remains hard to pin down, however.
In August 2008, Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud launched a probe into allegations of torture and abuse in Lebanese prisons. Results of that investigation have not been made public, however.
Lebanon ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in 2000 but has not yet complied with a number of its provisions, notably the submission of a report about steps taken to implement the convention. That report is now almost eight years overdue.
In 2008, Lebanon signed the OPCAT’s Optional Protocol, which obliges the government to set up a mechanism within one year to prevent torture, which among other things, involves regular visits to detention centers. But in December 2009, Beirut missed the deadline for setting up such an institution. During the visit, the SPT met with various interlocutors to discuss the necessity of creating a torture-prevention mechanism.
The SPT was established according to the OPCAT, which entered in force on 22 June 2006. The treaty is the first universal instrument which seeks to prevent torture and other forms of ill-treatment through a system of regular visits to places of deprivation of liberty carried out by independent national and international bodies.
The SPT has two guiding principles – cooperation and confidentiality. As provided for under the OPCAT, the SPT will later communicate its recommendations and observations confidentially to Lebanon. – The Daily Star

A Maronite Israeli Arab lets business do the talking
By Karin Kloosterman
Commentary by
Friday, June 04, 2010
He rolls with some of Israel’s most illustrious millionaires, businesspeople and entrepreneurs, making Imad Telhami – the CEO of Babcom IT outsourcing and call centers in Israel’s Galilee – not your average Israeli Arab businessman.
Telhami’s raison d’être, in fact, is working to give Israel’s Arab minorities and other disadvantaged groups equal opportunities in a country that they feel discriminates against them. Part of this is through his work to build up Babcom; Telhami has agreements in place to give jobs to Israeli Arabs through major American companies including Texas Instruments and the chip producer DSPG.
Four Fortune 500 companies from the United States are about to sign on to the Babcom outsourcing and service package. This will give more than 100 jobs to Arab Israeli engineers who lack the same opportunities as their Jewish counterparts. Despite getting the same education at top Israeli schools, Arab engineers are not adept in finding work in the Israeli high-tech culture. Some say it’s because they were never part of the Israeli armed forces, where relationships for future jobs are built.
Outsourcing is not a new idea to Israel; major companies like IBM have set up R&D centers in the country. But Babcom, working with Israeli Arabs, is different says Telhami, and it’s mainly because of their hiring and training approach and their impressive goals. He founded Babcom after the company Delta, which traditionally gave thousands of jobs to Israeli Arabs in the Galilee, moved factories to Egypt and the East where labor is cheaper, leaving many Arabs unemployed.
Telhami lives with his wife Reem and four kids in the Druze village of Isfiya on Mount Carmel, near Haifa. He is on the board of more than 13 non-governmental organizations including the University of Haifa and other prominent social ventures.
He says his success as one of Israel’s most influential social entrepreneurs is to a large part thanks to the village where he was born and lives today. “This Druze village is my power. I live [in] a minority, within a minority,” he tells Common Ground News Service. As a Christian Maronite with roots in Lebanon, Telhami’s family moved to Isfiya from Bethlehem 200 years ago. Today the family enjoys a unique status among the Druze community, itself a minority in the Arab Israeli population. This helps him understand how to work with all kinds of people from Israeli society, especially with the sensitivities of traditional Muslim and Druze women.
And in fact Babcom currently employs almost 300 people, most of whom come from minorities including traditional Israeli Arab Muslim women. They also hire Jewish people from the peripheries who are socio-economically disadvantaged. Telhami knows how to work with the diverse cultural and religious rifts that sometimes exist: “We are trying to create the right environment for them [so] as to not make conflicts between their ability to work and their culture. Babcom is a modern place but, considering culture and traditions, we try and match both worlds,” he says.
The company provides special language training seminars, takes measures to pick-up women employees from their homes every day, and integrates Arab managers into the mixed staff.
Telhami knows how to deal with the sensitivities in the Arab world, an approach that could be copied in other Arab countries where traditional values clash with women’s need to find gainful employment. He knows, for example, how to separate sexes so that there is no conflict between their work and their religious values.
Telhami sees great potential in the role his company can fulfill in the region: “We can see Babcom centers to be the door to connect businesses between Israel and the Arab world.”
While it might be impossible for Hebrew speaking Israelis to initiate business with Saudi Arabia for example, Telhami’s company, he believes, can offer a good and competitive service in Arabic for the Arab world, which would be second to none: Israeli Arabs are skilled in, and pride themselves in being, multilingual.
An economically stable situation in the north of Israel is what Telhami is most concerned about. But he knows that gainfully employed communities can create a knock-on effect throughout the region, reducing radicalism and creating a positive attitude towards coexistence. For him what is most important is to see that peace first starts at home, in Israel.
**Karin Kloosterman is a journalist and blogger based in Jaffa, and founder of www.greenprophet.com, a Middle East environment news website. THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with the Common Ground News Service (www.commongroundnews.org).

Turkish-Iranian Competition
Thu, 03 June 2010
Hassan Haidar''
Al Hayat
http://www.daralhayat.com/portalarticlendah/148540
Turkey, just like Iran, is acting as though the American withdrawal from Iraq will mean the end of the United States' role in the region. Therefore, both of them believe that the time is right to fill the vacuum and set up the inheritance, while the only main obstacle facing them is Israel, if we were to disregard the slight Arab opposition with which they may be confronted. Consequently, they are trying to "subjugate" the Hebrew state, but each in its own way.
In reality, the "attack" the Turkish way has entailed better results so far. This is due to the fact that - despite the fiery aspect prevailing over the rhetoric of the Turkish leaders nowadays - Turkey is relying on diplomacy, international relations, the economic role, political and religious moderation, the containment of emotions, the tickling of Europe's slogans on human rights and the humoring of the Americans' wish to "take a break" through a truce in the region. Hence, the Turks are closing up on Israel from all sides, are blockading it peacefully, and embarrassing it internationally. By doing so, they are hoping it will recognize the Turkish "command" which is offering guarantees to see its acceptance in the region through promises to turn the Middle East into a "heaven" based on mutual recognition and wide economic exchange – provided that it responds to their demands and commits to the limits of the role they are drawing for it, which would call for the retreat of the basic principle on which it was founded, i.e. that of military power.
As for the Iranians, they are relying on a different approach based on gradual "ironing" through the sponsorship of violence fronts around Israel, whether in Lebanon, Palestine, or maybe even in other locations prone to follow in their footsteps. Through these fronts, it is waging limited confrontations. But each time, it is taking these confrontations to the next level in terms of armament and threats to "convince" Israel of the seriousness of its ongoing rejection of the leading Iranian role in the region. So far, the Iranian style has suited the mentality and doctrine of the Israelis who are responding by raising the level of violence and threats and using this as a pretext to earn the support of the world, which is already disconcerted by the Iranian rebellion against its standards.
Turkey and Iran are competing over influence in the countries surrounding Israel. Indeed, they are both weaving exceptional relations with Syria while in Lebanon, the first is offering political sponsorship to the Sunnis and the second perceives the Shiites in it as being part of its security. In that same context, they are both attempting to infiltrate the social and political fabric in Egypt through the opposition in general and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, while at the same time trying to enhance their influence in Iraq, even if in a different way. Nonetheless, the most heated arena of the competition for the time being is Gaza, with Iran providing rockets, funding and training to the "Jihadist" movements and instigating the continuation of the military confrontations and with Ankara sending aid and political support and seeking to lift the blockade to move Hamas to the political square.
However, between the Turkish and Iranian momentums in the region, most of the Arabs seem to be in a state of defeat and settling for the role of bystanders, while some are cheering in favor of this or that camp without truly being able to affect the situation. In this context, the "battle" waged by Tehran to consecrate the name of "Persian Gulf" and Erdogan's statement during his last speech regarding the fact that Turkey "is not like the other states in the region and is not a tribal state" probably summarize the way the Arabs and their role are perceived by the two latter countries.
In the end, although its new national security strategy is calling for "the drafting of a new world order that would reflect reality in the 21st century" and for the "opening of channels and working with new rising powers" - which was understood as being an American relinquishing of foreign interference - the United States has not yet reached the level of giving up on Israel or leaving it alone in the face of the ambitions of Ankara and Tehran.

Samir Geagea
June 4, 2010
On June 4, An-Nahar newspaper carried the following report: Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri received the head of the Lebanese Forces Executive Committee, Samir Geagea, at the Grand Serail yesterday afternoon, and went over the latest developments. Following the meeting, Geagea stated: Talks with the Prime Minister tackled the general situation and the results of his latest visits to Syria, Washington and to Arab and international capitals. I am personally reassured by the visits of the president, and also by what he is doing in Syria. The only thing I can say in this regard is that we hope God will endow upon us what is good based on the Prime Minister’s intentions. Still, the efforts are valuable and the results we could reach will give Lebanon more momentum and stability. We also tackled domestic issues including the budget. Unfortunately, some are introducing politics to issues related to people’s daily lives.
I do not understand how those wishing to work in politics are not addressing issues directly. If they want to target the Prime Minster or the government why do they shoot at the budget? Why not directly target the desired person or topic? Why head toward marginal issues? Political parties and teams should distance social and economic issues from politics and let people live. This would be very good, positive and logical. Let the debates around infrastructure, the economy and developmental projects be based on data and not on the targeting of the Prime Minister or a specific minister or team. Whenever we want something from the Prime Minister or the President of the republic, we do not address them directly but start opposing and targeting developmental programs.
Do you confirm your non-participation in the dialogue table on 17th of June?
I do not need an invitation to head to the dialogue table but I have a clear and obvious reason preventing me from attending the session on 17th of June and you will learn about that in due time. What is the position of Prime Minister Al-Hariri toward the attack that targeted him due to his relationship with you?
This question ought to be addressed to Prime Minister Al-Hariri. There is no reason to tackle this topic since these are obvious things which do not require discussion.
I would like to salute all the activists of the Freedom Flotilla once again, and to extend my condolences to all the families of the martyrs. I say in this context that this is how Israel should be confronted, not with traditional songs and dances. It is not with threats that things are accomplished. Evidence for this is the fact that a limited but well-studied step which claimed the lives of about ten martyrs has now put Israel in an unenvied position. I hope that this step will be an archetype to be followed in the confrontation with Israel to reach the required outcome, not just through shows of power and the launch of operations that result in countless losses just to say we did something. This is unacceptable.

Gaza has nine lives. It should use them all
June 3, 2010 /Now Lebanon
Mourners attend a funeral service for the victims of Israel's deadly raid on aid ships bound for Gaza in Istanbul on June 3 and chant anti-Israel slogans. (AFP photo/Mustafa Ozer)
The level of international condemnation at Israel’s murderous act of piracy on Monday has emphatically demonstrated that non-violent protest is the way forward for the Palestinian people. It is more powerful than any statement made by the gunman or the suicide bomber. Through it, the Free Gaza Flotilla, whose operations appear unlikely to be deterred by the tragedy, has undermined Israel’s moral rectitude in the most spectacular fashion. The tide, if you will allow a maritime metaphor, has turned against oppression.
The flotilla has made the world wake up to the plight of the Palestinians in a way that has never been done before. This was more Ghandi than Arafat, for there was none of the revolutionary fervor that has characterized the conflict that has plunged the Middle East into tragedy and bloodshed for over half a century.
Despite the tragic loss of life, the incident shows that further acts of solidarity can bring about change. It offers hope to the Palestinian people. It reminds them that they are entitled to respect and dignity, that they can be empowered as citizens in their own land, and that they can make real choices. A policy of non-violent protest will also marginalize the militancy of Hamas and the ineptitude of Fatah and show the people of Gaza that bloodshed and conflict is not the only path.
While international opinion has over the decades been divided over the polices of Fatah, the PFLP, Hamas, Hezbollah and even the moderate PA, the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as in Jordan and Lebanon, deserve a better lot in life. They deserve the chance to breathe the rarefied air that their fellow Arabs breathe and to lives in which they can make a genuine contribution to the region and beyond.
They have not been allowed to do this because decades of Israeli oppression, surely one of the most blatant hypocrisies of the 20th century, has subdued them, while their humanity has been further eroded by the violent polices of their so-called leaders, who, through the broad spectrum of terror – hijackings, massacres and the wicked and incomprehensible suicide bombings – have lost the world’s sympathy.
Israel feeds on the notion that it is under attack and that all violence it delivers is a regrettable but necessary means to defend its very existence. It has told the world that its people live in a rough neighborhood, and it has tried to convince the world that its battle for survival is admirable, even though it has seen the brutal subjugation of a people. Today, at the cost of nine precious lives, the people of Gaza have a choice. They can catch the tide of public attention and discard their guns and explosives; they can reject the ambition of Iran and the blind hatred of Hamas and commit to non-violent means of raising awareness for their plight.
The Arab-Israeli conflict has never been black and white; indeed it has been as divisive among the Arabs as it has created solidarity. One thing is clear, however: Those who have taken on Israel – Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Hezbollah and the Palestinians themselves – have paid with the loss of thousands of lives. But what happened 60 miles out into the Mediterranean on Monday reminded us what can be done to bring the Arab-Israeli conflict back into the international debate and in a way that might actually yield concrete results.
We should sail to Gaza. It has nine lives. It should use them all before it’s too late.

Trial and error in Leidschendam
Michael Young, June 4, 2010
Italian Judge Antonio Casesse is trying to convince the public that everything is going well with the Special Tribunal. (AFP photo/Anoek De Groot)
When another senior employee of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon resigns, I develop warm feelings for Antonio Cassese. In his annual report earlier this year, the tribunal’s president reassured us that these departures were quite normal. Yet his increasingly strained assertions that the investigative process is going well suggest that what he’s really trying to do is avert a complete breakdown.
Radhia Achouri’s resignation last week as spokesperson for the prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, was odd. Unlike the tribunal’s first registrar, Robin Vincent, and chief investigator Neguib “Nick” Kaldas, Achouri seemed to have a good relationship with Bellemare, and was part of his inner circle. I tried contacting Achouri to ask why she had left, but all I received was an out-of-office emailed response informing me that she would not return to work before February 2013.
It’s useless to speculate why Achouri walked, but there are two similarities between her exit and those of Vincent and Kaldas, as well as of the second registrar, David Tolbert, who departed earlier this year. The first is that in all cases there was no transition period; the resignations were relatively sudden, so that there was a lag between the time the individuals left and replacements found. If nothing else, this implied there was minimal coordination over the resignations.
The worst message an institution can send, particularly one dealing with a sensitive political assassination, is that it is prone to vacuums. And yet that is precisely the impression the Special Tribunal has created on four separate occasions, all in less than a year!
The second similarity between the resignations is that they intimated that leading tribunal officials found no compelling reason to stay on at their post. That may have been because they had received better job offers (as in the cases of Tolbert and Kaldas), or because they didn’t feel that indictments were forthcoming. Or it could have meant that they did not feel the tribunal would advance their career.
Whatever the reason, recall that the Special Tribunal is a revolutionary institution, the outgrowth of the first investigation of a political assassination ever by the United Nations. That so many of its members have jumped ship before indictments are issued hardly conveys that they view the body in such an exalted light.
Which brings us back to Cassese. The president, though a man of experience, has repeatedly blundered in recent months. A few weeks ago he told the Daily Star newspaper that he expected indictments to be issued later this year. Soon thereafter Cassese backtracked, issuing a less affirmative clarification: “What I in fact intended to say was that there are indications the prosecutor might submit an indictment by December 2010. I am sorry that I unwillingly caused this misunderstanding. Let me also add that of course the issuance of an indictment will depend on when the prosecutor determines there is enough evidence to support the submission of an indictment.”
Of course. But that statement of the obvious did not explain why Cassese committed an earlier mistake. In his report on the tribunal’s work, the president went into details of the Hariri assassination, discrediting himself as an objective arbiter over those details. Cassese later retreated, underlining that the information had been supplied by Bellemare, and therefore that he had reached no conclusions himself. However, the report was under his name, and the defense can argue that Cassese thus substantiated his lack of objectivity.
The real problem, however, and perhaps a reason why Achouri decided to call it a day, is that Cassese has too often spoken in the name of the prosecution. His ill-advised comments to the Daily Star, his repeated promises that indictments would be coming – and coming soon – and his transparent efforts to lend momentum to Bellemare’s sluggish work all hint strongly that the tribunal president is anxious.
And anxious he should be. This past Wednesday was the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Samir Kassir. That killing, like the many others that followed in the period 2005 to 2008, is also part of the mandate of the Special Tribunal. United Nations investigators never gave those ancillary killings the time and effort that they did the killing of the former prime minister, but in absolute terms they are just as important. Yet we are evidently no closer today to discovering who was behind all the crimes than we were five years ago.
Cassese knows this. If his surfeit of energy comes from a conviction that Bellemare needs a push, then we must ask what Bellemare needs to be pushed on. Does the prosecutor have enough material to indict, but fears presenting it to the tribunal? Does he not have enough to indict, but is telling Cassese otherwise? And where on earth is the trial process today? Now, we don’t even have Radhia Achouri to feed us the pitiful line that all goes well in the best of all worlds.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut. His book, The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle (Simon & Schuster), has just been published.