LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِNovember 27/2010

Bible Of The Day
Ecclesiastes 12/13–14: "This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. 12:14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil".

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Hezbollah MP Walid Succariyeh: So what if we did kill him?/Now Lebanon/November 26/10
“A Privilege to Die”/Talking to author Thanassis Cambanis/By: Sarah Lynch/November 26/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 26/10
Indictment in Hariri Assassination Dec. 2/Naharnet
Intel sources implicate Syria in Hariri assassination/Haaretz
Haaretz: Assad, Hizbullah Killed Hariri/Naharnet
Israel Penetrated Hizbullah Phones, Using Austrian Numbers, Report/Naharnet
Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghadanfar Roken Abadi: Hariri’s Tehran visit will bring positive outcomes/Now Lebanon
Mouallem warns that failed Mideast peace process could lead to war/Now Lebanon
Qassem Slams U.S. Tribunal Campaign, Says Time Not Ripe for Success of Syrian-Saudi Initiative/Naharnet
Hariri on Eve of Tehran Visit: Iran Involved in Efforts to Ensure Lebanon Stability/Naharnet
Moussa: Lebanon Could be Destroyed by 'Regional Implications' Not Tribunal/Naharnet
ٍLebanon: Handcuffed Prisoner Escapes from Hospital's WC Window/Naharnet
Abul Gheit Warns Iran Over Meddling in Lebanese Affairs/Naharnet
Opposition Announces Readiness to Face Repercussions of Indictment/Naharnet
Gemayel: Erdogan Keen on Pushing Lebanese to Dialogue  /Naharnet
Hariri at Opening of Burn Hospital in Sidon: Lebanon's Stability an Integral Part of Regional Stability/Naharnet
Geagea Visits Tashnag HQ: LF-Tashnag Communication Not Something New, Any Dispute Must Remain Political/Naharnet
Damascus' Visitors: Opposition Seeks to Peacefully Control Situation on the Ground before Christmas/Naharnet
Franjieh Discusses with Qatari Emir Ways to Consolidate Ties/Naharnet
Erdogan: We Won't Remain Silent to Any Israeli Attack against Lebanon  /Naharnet
Sukarriyeh: Erdogan is Ready to Help, But He Doesn't Have an Initiative to End Crisis/Naharnet
Zahraman Welcoming Erdogan: We Count on Turkey to Bridge Gap between Lebanese Powers/Naharnet
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar: Justice Ministry did not receive notification of STL indictment/Now Lebanon
Rabin's son presents his Israeli Peace Initiative/Haaretz

Haaretz: Assad, Hizbullah Killed Hariri
The 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was a "joint venture between Syria and Hizbullah," the Israeli daily Haaretz said Friday, citing Western intelligence sources.
They said Syria played a major role in Hariri's murder and believed that the U.N. probe into the killing is "wrongly absolving it of guilt."
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is reportedly set to implicate Hizbullah members in the assassination. But the Western sources said the murder "had in fact been a joint venture between Syria and Hizbullah that served both their interests." "There's no doubt Syrian President Bashar Assad was involved in the assassination," Haaretz quoted one source as saying.
"Hariri had launched a process aimed at kicking the Syrians out of Lebanon, he was running for reelection as prime minister and was thought to have a good chance of winning. Above all, he recruited American, French and Saudi support for the moderate axis in Lebanon. Assad had every reason to get rid of him," the source explained.
Haaretz went on to say that Abdel Halim Khaddam, who had served as Assad's deputy, related that Assad had openly made a threat against Hariri during their last meeting before the murder, saying, "If anyone tries to throw us out of Lebanon, we'll smash Lebanon over his head." It said that in October 2005, Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan was found dead in his office. Kanaan had presided over Syrian intelligence in Lebanon for two decades and was considered Syria's strong man in Beirut, Haaretz went on to say. It said Damascus claimed he had committed suicide, but Western intelligence agencies believe he was killed by the Syrian regime because he knew too much about Hariri's murder. It is hard to believe, Western sources said, that anyone could have committed suicide by shooting himself three times in the back. Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 10:37

Egyptian Civil Rights: 156 Christians Arrested Over Church
by Maayana Miskin/Arutz Sheva
Egyptian officials arrested 156 Christians Thursday in connection with a protest one day earlier over an unfinished church. One Christian protester was killed by police during the Wednesday demonstration. The detainees are charged with several crimes, including attempting to murder the assistant head of security in Giza. They were not allowed legal representation during questioning. The just recently publicized Executive Summary of the U.S. State Department's annual International Religious Freedom Report for 2010 listed Egypt in the category of countries who have "noteworthy" violations of religious freedom,, a placing protested strongly by Egypt;'s government. The Christian community in Giza had planned to use a partially-complete building as a church once construction is finished. However, the community was denied a permit for a church and told the building can be used as a community center, but not as a house of worship. Government officials have accused the community of violating building law, while many Christians have accused the government of discrimination against non-Muslims.
Earlier in November a Muslim mob burned down several Christian homes in southern Egypt over rumors that a Christian man had been seen walking with a Muslim woman. United States officials have expressed concern over the timing of recent Muslim-Christian clashes. Tensions between Egypt's Muslim majority and Coptic Christian minority have risen shortly before the parliamentary elections scheduled for December. “We've seen a clear uptick in recent weeks of incitement coming from media outlets and clerics espousing sectarian hatred and violence.This kind of rhetoric goes too far and stokes the fire of extremists looking for ammunition to justify violent acts against religious minorities,” said Leonard Leo of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Egyptian Foreign Affairs Committee head Mustafa El-Feki laid the blame elsewhere, accusing Israel of causing Muslim-Christian fighting. The Mossad was behind recent clashes, he claimed. Persecution of religious minorities in Egypt dates back generations, and led to the expulsion of nearly all of Egypt's Jews. Despite this, Egyptian Jews have a long history, as attested to by the 280,000 documents in the Cairo Geniza, found in a synagogue storeroom in 1996, taken to Cambridge University by the British and still being catalogued to date. Members of the Jewish minority, which in the 1940s numbered approximately 80,000, were usually denied citizenship. In 1948 bombs were set off in the Jewish quarter in Cairo, murdering 70 and wounding hundreds more.
In 1956, the Egyptian government expelled 25,000 Jews and confiscated their property. A second round of expulsions and confiscation took place in 1967. It is estimated that less than 100 Jews now live in Egypt. Anti-Semitism,however, remains a problem, as media outlets often incite against Jews and Israel. The government has announced plans to honor Jewish structures as part of Egyptian history, and in March 2010 completed a restoration of the historic Maimonides synagogue in Cairo. However, no government officials attended the opening of the synagogue, and the government announced shortly after the opening that Jews would not be allowed to pray in the building.

Egyptian Police Kill Christian in Protest against Ban on Church
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu/Arutz Sheva
Egyptian police shot and killed one Christian and wounded dozens of others Wednesday morning in a new escalation of violence with Coptics trying to build a church near the pyramids. A senior police officer and 12 soldiers also were wounded. Police fired tear gas and arrested more than two dozen protesters after they hurled stones and firebombs in a demonstration of 200 Christians against the government’s ban on the Coptics’ attempt to complete the building of a church.Egyptian authorities have maintained that the church is being built without a permit, but the Coptics, a minority of 10 percent in the country, have complained of discrimination in favor of Muslims.The building now serves as a community center, and Egyptian police Wednesday morning arrested construction workers on their way to the site, where work has began.Non-Muslims need special presidential approval to build religious edifices, while getting a permit for Muslims is relatively easy. Tensions between Muslims and Christians are likely to rise next month, when a court hearing will be heard in the case of three Muslims suspected of killing six Coptic Christians and a Muslim earlier this year.Religious discrimination in Egypt was highlighted this month by the U.S. State Department in its annual report on religious freedom. It included Egypt in a list of 27 nations where “violations of religious freedom have been noteworthy.” Egypt responded by saying that no other country should act as a monitor over other nations. “Each country can understand its own problems and challenges and work on them efficiently,” a foreign ministry spokesman said. (IsraelNationalNews.com)

Egyptian Muslims Attack Christians over Romance Rumors
by Maayana Miskin/Arutz Sheva
Muslim-Christian tensions broke out on Monday in southern Egypt, where a Muslim mob stormed a Christian neighborhood in the mixed city of Abu Tesht and set fire to several homes. The arson attack followed rumors that a Christian man was romantically involved with a young Muslim woman. None of the town's Christian residents were hurt in the mob attack. Police were sent to the area to restore calm. The Christian man and Muslim woman who became the subject of rumors after being seen walking together have been arrested. Police say they will investigate. Last year a Christian man was accused of raping a Muslim girl. The alleged assault led to Muslim demonstrations and ultimately to violence, when six Christians and one Muslim guard were murdered at a church. This year, Muslim anger was sparked by rumors that a bishop's wife was being held captive by the church after converting to Islam. Some Muslim leaders also accused Egyptian Christians of stockpiling weapons and receiving bombs from Israel. Egyptian human rights groups have warned that violence against the country's Christian minority is on the rise. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak tried to discourage violence in a speech in October, in which he stressed national unity and warned that incitement would be punished.

Indictment in Hariri Assassination Dec. 2
Naharnet/An indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will reportedly be issued Dec. 2. Ad-Diyar newspaper on Friday quoted knowledgeable sources as saying that the Lebanese foreign ministry had received word through its embassy in the Netherlands that the indictment will be issued on Thursday, December 2. Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 12:39

Hezbollah MP Walid Succariyeh: So what if we did kill him?
November 25, 2010
Now Lebanon/In an interview on Wednesday with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), Hezbollah MP Walid Succariyeh said that the recent CBC report, which claimed to have evidence implicating his party in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, will only lead to internal discord.
Succariyeh might be forgiven, indeed he may even have a point, if he were simply one of those who believe that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), the court created to try Hariri’s alleged killers, will bring nothing but trouble to Lebanon’s already fragile political scene, but it was his subsequent statement that defied belief. “Even if Hezbollah killed Rafik Hariri,” he said. “There is nothing to be gained in destroying Lebanon.”
So that is it then is it? If Hezbollah members are found guilty of the bomb blast, which also claimed the lives of 21 other innocent people, including the MP and former Economy Minister Basil Fleihan, we should just let it go for the sake of internal stability. Was it an admission of guilt? Probably not, but what it was, was a reflection of the arrogance currently peddled by a party with its back to the wall and which is running out of options.
We have put up with Hezbollah’s blunders for too long. The party that claims to be honest and clean and which sells itself as the only entity that has stopped us living under the Zionist yolk, has in fact been the source of all our internal problems since 2005.
In 2006, we endured a month of all-out war because of the party’s reckless adventurism. Instead of putting up its hand and apologizing for the lives lost and the destruction caused, it claimed a Divine Victory and reveled in our suffering.
Months later, we then had to put up with an 18-month sit-in by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies when they set up shop in the Beirut Central District, forcing businesses to close and staining Lebanon’s already fragile international reputation. It ended in May 2008, but only after we had to suffer one of the most shameful episodes in recent history, when the party that claimed it would never turn its guns on its fellow Lebanese, overran West Beirut, killing innocent civilians in the process and all because of a dispute with the government over its private phone network and its political appointees at Beirut airport.
Now Succariyeh wants to convince us that, should it ever be proved, we should turn a blind eye to another Hezbollah clanger. Of course we would never agree to such a monstrous request. There would be no point in the idea of Lebanon, a country cursed by the result of decades of compromise, if it were to compromise on arguably the biggest concession of all.
To forget about a murder would be an insult to the dignity of the million-plus Lebanese who took to the streets on March 14, 2005, because, for once, they saw a chance to have a say in the future of a country that until that point had been a failed state and was bounced from pillar to post by its neighbors. But more importantly, we cannot just ignore the white elephant in the room. If Hezbollah members were involved in the crime, then the wheels of justice must be allowed to turn smoothly.
Nasrallah knows that the aura of invincibility and purity that the Resistance has so skilled fully nurtured is in danger of being permanently tarnished. It could not last, hence the strenuous and, at times, laughable campaign to spread the blame upon the default scapegoat that is Israel.
Succariyeh’s logic is bizarre and frightening. If Hezbollah did it, do not come after us because all hell will break loose and do not say we did not warn you. At the end of the day, the only party that is threatening to take down the country is his own. Surely finding a good lawyer is a more appropriate course of action.

Abul Gheit Warns Iran Over Meddling in Lebanese Affairs
Naharnet/Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Friday warned from Iran's alleged meddling in the internal affairs of Gulf countries, Iraq and Lebanon.
"Iranian meddling in the internal affairs of Gulf countries should not be allowed," the minister told the Qatari al-Sharq newspaper. "The security of Gulf countries is a priority for Egypt," he said, adding "Iraq and Lebanon should be left alone." "Arab societies should grow and develop away from any attempt to use these states and Arab countries as competition cards between Iran and Western powers," Abul Gheit said. Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 10:20

Israel Penetrated Hizbullah Phones, Using Austrian Numbers, Report
Naharnet/Naharnet/Israel has reportedly penetrated Hizbullah cell phones, using Austrian numbers. As-Safir newspaper on Friday uncovered what it dubbed "serious chapters" on Israel's ability to control Lebanon's telecoms sector by creating phone numbers that coincide with each other on a single phone line without the knowledge of its owner, "thus fabricating fake calls at different locations at different times."
It said that the Lebanese army intelligence bureau along with a number of employees at the telecoms ministry as well as members of the Resistance's security service have formed a teamwork that was able to cope with Israel's techniques and advanced software through several tests and tryouts.
These tryouts have shown Israel's penetration to telephone lines belonging to cadres of the Resistance, the report said.
It said the discovery came in April 2009, when police intelligence chief Col. Wissam al-Hasan presented the case file of "Israel spy" Adib al-Alam to head of Hizbullah's coordination and liaison committee Wafiq Safa. Hasan, at the time, pointed out that a Hizbullah member was involved in spying for Israel. After examining the data submitted to Hizbullah by the army's intelligence bureau, the Resistance with the help of technical experts, concluded that Israel has programmed "alternate phone lines" to Resistance members via SMSes using Austrian numbers, As-Safir reported.
It said using this process, Israel was able to eavesdrop on Hizbullah phone activity "via silent SMSes under the number 03-764 313." The report said an investigation conducted by Hizbullah, in cooperation with the Lebanese army intelligence bureau and the telecoms ministry, showed that the suspicious phone numbers existed during long periods of time and that they coincided with the presence of intensive SMS activity between the targeted numbers and foreign numbers located inside the border with Israel. Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 07:25

Handcuffed Prisoner Escapes from Hospital's WC Window
Naharnet/A handcuffed prisoner escaped from the restroom window of the intensive care unit of a hospital in Zghorta at dawn Friday. Walid Issam al-Lababidi, 30, escaped at 3:30 am despite tight security at the Rahban hospital. Internal Security Forces are now looking for the inmate. He was imprisoned on charges of vehicle theft.
Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 11:24

Qassem Slams U.S. Tribunal Campaign, Says Time Not Ripe for Success of Syrian-Saudi Initiative
Naharnet/Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem urged the Lebanese to prevent Washington from deciding the fate of their country and making attempts to speed up the indictment of Hizbullah members by the international tribunal. "The U.S. should be prevented from playing with the fate of Lebanon," Qassem told An Nahar newspaper in an interview published Friday.
The Lebanese should not "surrender to the steps that it (the U.S.) is planning to take," the Hizbullah secretary-general said. "Will the parties that are keen on Lebanon and its stability be responsible enough to face politicization and U.S. pressure?" On an initiative launched by Damascus and Riyadh to solve the Lebanese crisis, Qassem said: "The Syrian-Saudi initiative is serious and being followed up although its details are … awaiting final agreement on issues that would help find a solution accepted by all Lebanese sides."While hoping to achieve "the expected results soon," the Hizbullah official said "the time was not ripe yet." Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 07:47

National Liberal Party: Those Obstructing STL are Involved in the Crime
Naharnet/The National Liberal Party noted on Friday that those obstructing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are taking part or are accomplices in the crime, stressing the need to uncover the terrorist network behind all the assassinations. It said in a statement: "Justice is a cornerstone for not only stability, but rectifying the affairs of the state."It condemned attempts to paralyze Cabinet through obstructing the national dialogue and efforts to "influence the public through press conferences and statements that tackle complex technical matters, which are aimed at implicating Israel in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri." The statement said that such attempts will fail and praised Arab and international interest in Lebanon and their agreement to maintain support for the Lebanese state and the country's stability and security. Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 15:43

Hariri on Eve of Tehran Visit: Iran Involved in Efforts to Ensure Lebanon Stability
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on the eve of his Tehran trip Friday that Iran is involved in efforts to ensure stability in Lebanon. "Attempts to destabilize any country of the region is a threat to both the interests of Arabs and Iran at the same time," Hariri told Iran's news agency, IRNA. He said Iran was "involved in efforts to ensure stability in all countries of the region, including Lebanon, which looks positively toward Syrian and Saudi efforts to strengthen Lebanon stability." Hariri described as "historic" ties between Iran and Lebanon. On political ties, however, Hariri said Lebanon looks forward to a "relationship between two countries that respect each other's sovereignty and interests." In response to a question about his father's assassination, Hariri said he never accused Hizbullah of involvement. Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 13:49

Mouallem warns that failed Mideast peace process could lead to war
November 26, 2010 /Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem on Friday warned that the failure of the Middle East peace process could lead to a regional war, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. He also said that the Jewish State is “evading peace,” adding that “the window of opportunity for a peace deal is slowly closing.”
The daily also cited Mouallem—who was speaking to Russian newspaper Moscow News—that the next Middle Eastern war would not “result in a winner and a loser” because advanced weaponry would cause great damage.Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which began in early September, quickly ran aground when an Israeli moratorium on West Bank settlement construction expired in September, prompting the Palestinians to freeze ties until Israel reimposes the ban. The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday rejected a new Israeli law mandating a referendum ahead of any pullout from the Golan, saying the status of the territory seized from Syria was not negotiable.-NOW Lebanon

Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghadanfar Roken Abadi : Hariri’s Tehran visit will bring positive outcomes
November 26, 2010 /Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghadanfar Roken Abadi said on Friday that the Lebanese people will sense positive repercussions in their country following Saturday’s visit of Prime Minister Saad Hariri to Tehran. According to NOW Lebanon’s correspondent, Abadi told reporters while he was heading to Tehran that Hariri’s visit to Iran is significant. He also said that Iran is not sided with one Lebanese party against another, adding that Tehran is with uncovering the truth behind the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri “without any politicization.”Hariri will visit Tehran on Saturday amid tension in Lebanon after unconfirmed reports said the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will soon issue its indictment in the Rafik Hariri murder. It is rumored that the indictment will name Hezbollah members. In a speech on November 11, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that Hezbollah will "cut off the hand" of anyone who tries to arrest any of its members in the case. -NOW Lebanon

Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar: Justice Ministry did not receive notification of STL indictment
November 26, 2010 /Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said that his ministry has not been informed by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) about any matter pertaining to the court’s pending indictment. He also told LBCI television that matters related to Lebanese prisons are the responsibility of the Interior Ministry, not the Justice Ministry. This comes after an inmate, identified as Walid Issam Lababidy, escaped on Friday morning from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a Zgharta hospital in North Lebanon. Tension is also high in Lebanon amid unconfirmed reports that the STL will soon issue its indictment in former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination. It is rumored that the indictment will name Hezbollah members.
-NOW Lebanon

“A Privilege to Die”
Talking to author Thanassis Cambanis
Sarah Lynch, November 26, 2010
Author and journalist Thanassis Cambanis speaks to NOW Lebanon about his new book, “A Privilege to Die.” (Photo courtesy of Cambanis)
In his recently-published book “A Privilege to Die,” Middle East correspondent Thanassis Cambanis provides a detailed look inside Hezbollah through conversations with the party’s members and supporters.
Cambanis is a regular contributor to The New York Times and The Boston Globe, and was based in the Middle East from 2003 to 2007 covering the Iraq War and Hezbollah’s 2006 July War with Israel.
He discusses with NOW Lebanon why he thinks Hezbollah is the region’s most threatening force to Israel and the West.
Why did you decide to write a book about Hezbollah? Was there something new about the organization that you wanted to bring to the table that hasn’t been told before?
Thanassis Cambanis: First of all, I’ve always been interested in the rank and file, the average members that make up mass movements. So, that is what I’ve focused on in my reporting about Hezbollah. When I started conceiving of the book, I felt like there was a bit of a hole in the literature about why regular people support the movement. I wasn’t interested in telling a military history of Hezbollah, or exposing the details of its military relationship with Iran, or a writing biography of Hassan Nasrallah. I was interested in the hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of people who support the movement to one degree or another.
Secondly, Hezbollah was actually at a different and new phase in its trajectory by the time that I was focusing on it in the second half of this decade. The Israeli occupation of South Lebanon was over, and Hezbollah resistance missions had been questioned by other Lebanese in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal. During the time period that I cover in the book, they went from being almost cornered and substantially threatened by their rivals to their current position of being quite powerfully at the center of Lebanese politics, and in control, for the time being, of their destiny.
You argue that Hezbollah is the premier force in the Middle East, and even more dangerous to Israel and the West than Hamas and al-Qaeda. Why do you think this is true, and what makes the group such a threat?
Cambanis: Hezbollah has effectively created, packaged and sold an idea. And this idea has proven to have mass appeal and has proven popular in varied contexts. They’ve managed to appeal to not just Lebanese Shia but also Lebanese Christians and secular Lebanese. They’ve managed to appeal to Sunnis and Shia outside of the Lebanese context. It’s debatable how influential their idea of Islamic resistance will be in the wider Islamic world, but I believe it has become the trend-setting idea in the wider region. And that has the ability to inspire a lot more ideological indoctrination, a lot more militant activity and a lot more fighting than anything else.
One of Hezbollah’s central ideas is that Israel really can be defeated by force, not just symbolically, not simply fighting back in order to restore dignity. Hezbollah is fighting Israel in order to win. It’s an old idea that was discarded after ’67 and they brought it back into circulation.
Frankly, of all the movements I’ve really focused on, Hezbollah’s the only one that’s come up with a sustainable recipe for fighting and engaging in politics, and has come up with a really simple and appealing idea at its core. And that, in my view, makes it much more likely to grow, much more influential and much more dangerous.
How important is Hezbollah currently in the regional landscape?
Cambanis: I think that very clearly Hamas is trying to emulate Hezbollah in its tactics, in its military strategy, in its community building, in its attempted international diplomacy. So, Hamas is very obviously drawing on the Hezbollah model. The movement of Moqtada al-Sadr in Iraq, which has become a king maker there, has quite openly and ostentatiously copied Hezbollah’s tactics in terms of organizing on the streets, political participation, and trying to integrate an independent militia with a political movement that takes part in the government. So, those are the two biggest examples.
But I think the conversation in Islamist circles, much more widely, has been rejuvenated and animated by what’s perceived as the success of Hezbollah. I don’t want to overstate this, but concerns in Egypt about the Muslim Brotherhood in many ways reflect anxiety caused by the success of Hezbollah. So long as there was no exemplar of a really effective and powerful Islamist movement, I think governments could either dismiss the Islamist movements or worry about them less. So when they see what Hezbollah has managed to accomplish, they realize that they can’t count on behavior to marginalize these movements forever.
You discuss this in length in your book, but can you briefly describe some of the main tactics Hezbollah uses to gain and encourage supporters? How are they different from tactics used by other organizations?
Cambanis: At its most basic, Hezbollah does two things simultaneously. They preach holistic Islamic gospels and they trumpet a call to perpetual war. One of these acts is essentially constructive, the other is essentially destructive. I often compare this in talks to a two stroke engine with two pistons, and that’s a very stable kind of engine that almost never breaks down. If you think about it that way, you have one piston being holistic Islam, the other being perpetual war…
And it also, of course, adds that final element of energy to their support base that turns them from nearly committed into very fervent.
And that’s the difference between Hezbollah and most other movements. Most other movements at some point feel they have to choose between politics and fighting, or between religious community building and fighting. Hezbollah has figured out a recipe to do both at the same time, and actually reinforce each mission with the other.
Do you think Hezbollah would exist without its ties to Iran?
Cambanis: At this point, yes. The history is quite clear that Hezbollah would not have been founded without Iran. At this stage, given the society they’ve constructed, they would certainly exist without Iran’s help. However, it’s unclear whether they would be that important without Iran.
I personally suspect that they would maintain a lot of their support and membership, but would find it hard to maintain the level of militancy that they have, and maybe find it even impossible to sustain the perpetual war part of their identify without Iran’s weapons and Iran’s money to rebuild after conflict. My guess is that if you can press a magic button, and sever the links between Iran and Hezbollah, Hezbollah would very likely become less of a threat inside Lebanon, less of a threat regionally, because they wouldn’t have resources.
What do you see as Hezbollah’s future role in Lebanon in the coming years, in terms of their long terms goals?
Cambanis: I think Hezbollah is in a bit of a bind. That is a central question because Hezbollah has basically always been the underdog in its ideology, but it’s now the single most powerful movement in Lebanese politics. So, it’s hard to be the underdog and top dog at the same time. Inside Lebanon, Hezbollah is going to have to decide whether it wants to be in control of the country, or whether it wants to dominate its own constituency but maintain the general Lebanese consensus model. They clearly have not made up their mind about it.
The current tensions over the tribunal are just another chapter. Either Hezbollah accepts that it’s one of Lebanon’s communities and no matter how ‘first among equals’ or dominant it is in its own community, it can’t tell the other communities what to do. Or it tries, as it seems to be doing now, and as it did in May 2008, to try to tell the other communities what to do.
Either Hezbollah will dominate Lebanon or, more likely, it will continue with some version of Lebanon’s messy recipe to date, which is an uneasy coexistence and coalition of a few dominant movements… One other thing about this, which relates to the tribunal, is that in my view, Lebanon is more polarized than it’s been at any time since I’ve been following Hezbollah’s rise. And the fervor of its supporters is at its height, and so is the anger of its detractors. That’s a dangerous position for Lebanon, and it’s also not historically where Hezbollah’s wanted to be. It has always thrived when its critics have been forced to support the Islamic resistance because of some external threat.

Obama's Grandmother Prays for Conversion to Islam
by Maayana Miskin/Arutz Sheva
The Kenyan grandmother of United States President Barack Obama has told a Saudi daily paper that she prays for her grandson to convert to Islam. Sarah Omar, 88, told Al-Watan that she prayed for Obama to become Muslim during her recent pilgrimage to Mecca. Omar was in Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage along with her son Saeed Hussein Obama, Obama's uncle, and four grandchildren. While Omar is not Obama's biological grandmother, she raised his father after the father's mother left the family, and so is considered his grandmother according to Kenyan culture. Obama has battled rumors that he is Muslim for years. Polls conducted in August show that approximately 20% of Americans believe him to be Muslim.
Obama says he is a “committed Christian” who has attended church regularly for decades. The rumors regarding his alleged Muslim status circle around his father Barack Obama senior, who was raised as a Muslim. According to Islamic law, a child's status follows the father, making the children of a Muslim man Muslim as well. Obama's parents divorced when he was young, and he lived for several years with his mother and stepfather in Indonesia, then in Hawaii with his mother and maternal grandparents. His stepfather, Lolo Soeoro, was an Indonesian Muslim. Rumors have also been fueled in part by Obama's attempts to reach out to the Muslim world. In June 2009 he gave a speech in Cairo in which he called for "a new beginning" in U.S. ties with Muslim states, and mentioned his own Muslim ties. He bowed to the Saudi Arabian ruler when they met, hosted Muslim business leaders in April and told NASA to "reach out to Muslims", sparking a new set of rumors about his religious affiliation.

Canada to Boycott Durban Conference, Says it ‘Scapegoats’ Israel
by Elad Benari//Arutz Sheva
Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced Thursday that his country will not be taking part in the Durban III conference next year.
Speaking at a press conference and quoted in AFP, Kenney said: “Our government has lost faith in the Durban process. We will not be part of this event, which commemorates an agenda that promotes racism rather than combats it.” Kenney called the conference a “charade” and a “hatefest”, and said that it is essentially all about criticizing Israel. “The government of Canada will not lend Canada's good name to the organized exercise in scapegoating (Israel) that is the Durban process.” While Canada will not participate in the conference nor will it provide funding to any NGOs that are planning to participate, Kenney was quoted by Canadian newspaper The National Post as saying: “We obviously continue to believe in the United Nations as an important multilateral forum. But we are able to make basic distinctions between good and bad.”
The UN resolution on Durban III passed by a 121-19 vote, with 35 abstentions. The conference will commemorate the 9th anniversary of the first such conference, held in Durban, South Africa just 10 days before the 9/11 World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. That conference was described by the ICEJ as a “concerted effort by nearly all the Muslims of the world to denounce and de-legitimize the Jewish state of Israel; an awful verbal forerunner much as the one the Nazis sent before launching the Holocaust of the expunging of Israel as sovereign Jewish state from their Arab Muslim midst.” The upcoming conference is to be held in New York City just ten days after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, in September 2011.
The Canadian Jewish Congress praised the decision by the Canadian government on Thursday. CJC President Mark Freiman was quoted in The National Post as saying: “Both Durban I and II, ostensibly aimed at fighting racism, turned out to be little more than concerted anti-Semitic charades that set back the real fight against racism and discrimination by decades. This UN process is fundamentally flawed and by now beyond repair.” The Canadian delegation walked out of the first Durban conference to protest a “festival hate” directed at Israel, as then federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler called it. Canada was also one of nine governments (along with countries such as the United States, Australia, Israel, Germany, and Britain) to boycott last year’s Durban II due to fears of anti-Semitism, which Kenney said came true when Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the conference as a means to launch an attack on Israel. He expressed his hope that other countries will follow Canada and recognize that Durban is nothing but a “dangerous” platform for racism and anti-Semitism.

Hizbullah Claims: Israel Bugged Our Phones
by Elad Benari/Arutz Sheva
A senior Hizbullah MP accused Israel on Tuesday of bugging the mobile phones of members of the terror group, allowing them to send false text messages and by this to track the phones' movements. AFP quoted Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah during at a press conference with Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas as saying: “The enemy (Israel) has succeeded in planting secret lines ... in the mobile phones of some members of the resistance. After a lengthy, complex investigation ... it was revealed that three resistance members were using local mobile phones which had been deliberately sold to them after being implanted with secret Israeli lines.”
Fadlallah , who chairs the Lebanese parliament's media and telecommunications committee claimed that the phones had been sold to Hizbullah operatives by a Lebanese spying for Israel. He said that Hizbullah cracked the case in coordination with military intelligence after police zeroed in three Hizbullah members believed to be Israeli agents, but who instead turned out to be victims of the Israeli bugging. A ministry expert who also took part in the news conference confirmed that the infiltration meant that Israel could send out text messages and other information from the phones, and could also track their movements and listen in on any conversations they want.
Hizbullah’s accusations against Israel are nothing new: more than 100 people in Lebanon have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel since April 2009. Last July, a Lebanese man suspected of spying for Israel was sentenced to death after being convicted of transferring classified information to Israel that was used during the 2006 Second Lebanon War against Hizbullah. Last month, more than 30 Lebanese citizens were convicted in Beirut on charges of collaborating with Israel. All were sentenced in absentia and received 15-year prison terms. All of the defendants had fled the country for Israel in 2000 when then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak withdrew IDF troops from southern Lebanon.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Gemayel: Erdogan Keen on Pushing Lebanese to Dialogue
Naharnet/Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel said Turkey was willing to contribute to Arab and international efforts to resolve the crisis gripping Lebanon. "There is willingness (by Turkey) to play a certain role and contribute to Arab and international efforts to bring Lebanon out of its crisis," Gemayel told An Nahar newspaper following a meeting with Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday night. Erdogan "asked precise questions about possible solutions to controversial issues and initiatives that could push the Lebanese towards dialogue," the former president said. Gemayel was among several Lebanese officials who met Erdogan at the Phoenicia hotel in Beirut on Thursday night. Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, al-Mustaqbal bloc head Fouad Saniora, former premier Najib Miqati, Druze leader Walid Jumblat and Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea held talks with the Turkish premier.
Erdogan also met with a delegation from the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc headed by MP Mohammed Raad. Beirut, 26 Nov 10, 08:51

Geagea Visits Tashnag HQ: LF-Tashnag Communication Not Something New, Any Dispute Must Remain Political
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday paid an unprecedented visit to the headquarters of the Tashnag Party in Burj Hammoud for talks with the officials of the largest Armenian party in Lebanon. Geagea was accompanied by senior LF officials – Culture Minister Salim Warde, MP Farid Habib, member of the Executive Committee of the Lebanese Forces Eddy Abi al-Lamaa and LF Beirut Area Coordinator Imad Wakim.
"Communication between the LF and Tashnag is not something new, contrary to what many believe, and it has been going on since tens of years," Geagea said after the visit.
"We are determined to maintain this communication, and so is Tashnag's general-secretariat, that's why there have been mutual visits with the aim of discussing the general situations. Today we discussed the general situations and condemned the clashes that took place at the Martyrs Square and the incident that involved MP Hagop Pakradounian," Geagea added.
Around 5,000 members of Lebanon's Armenian community gathered Thursday in downtown Beirut to protest a two-day official visit by Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Police clashed with protesters when they tried to tear up a billboard welcoming the Turkish guest at the rally's site.
Lebanon is home to a 140,000-strong Armenian community, mostly made up of the descendants of those who survived the genocide in eastern Anatolia under Ottoman rule almost a century ago. Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
"We agreed that any dispute must remain political. We enjoy a real democratic regime in this region and we can use all forms of democratic expression and it's not acceptable to use any other means," Geagea said.
Asked about LF's stance on Erdogan's visit, Geagea added: "This is an official visit regardless of our stances and some parties' stances, which we sympathize with and understand; however, it can't be dealt with except as a visit by a prime minister to another state."
In the same context, Geagea hoped "all foreign leaders would deal with Lebanon as an independent, sovereign nation."
"This was our principle (in our dispute) with the Syrians and the core of our disagreement and this policy applies to all other countries," the LF leader added.
On Wednesday, Geagea noted that the ongoing Saudi-Syrian efforts to contain tensions in Lebanon over a U.N.-backed probe into the murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri "have not achieved any progress since two weeks."
In an interview with Agence France Presse, Geagea added: "Almost everything is deadlocked because the stances are at odds."Geagea went on to say that "the Saudi suggestion wants us to prepare for containing STL's indictment and its repercussions, and the Syrians are insisting on halting or postponing the issuance of the indictment."
The LF leader revealed that he will this week ask President Michel Suleiman and Premier Saad Hariri to convene the Cabinet "in order to tackle people's living conditions."
"If the Hizbullah-led camp wants to boycott the session, let it bear the responsibility for crippling the country," Geagea added.
Beirut, 25 Nov 10, 19:50

From the Archive

Egyptian Muslims Attack Christians over Romance Rumors
by Maayana Miskin/Arutz Sheva
Muslim-Christian tensions broke out on Monday in southern Egypt, where a Muslim mob stormed a Christian neighborhood in the mixed city of Abu Tesht and set fire to several homes. The arson attack followed rumors that a Christian man was romantically involved with a young Muslim woman. None of the town's Christian residents were hurt in the mob attack. Police were sent to the area to restore calm.The Christian man and Muslim woman who became the subject of rumors after being seen walking together have been arrested. Police say they will investigate. Last year a Christian man was accused of raping a Muslim girl. The alleged assault led to Muslim demonstrations and ultimately to violence, when six Christians and one Muslim guard were murdered at a church. This year, Muslim anger was sparked by rumors that a bishop's wife was being held captive by the church after converting to Islam. Some Muslim leaders also accused Egyptian Christians of stockpiling weapons and receiving bombs from Israel. Egyptian human rights groups have warned that violence against the country's Christian minority is on the rise. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak tried to discourage violence in a speech in October, in which he stressed national unity and warned that incitement would be punished.