LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly 12/2011

Bible Quotation for today
IsaiahChapter 56/1-12:"1 Thus says Yahweh, “Keep justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”  Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to Yahweh, speak, saying, “Yahweh will surely separate me from his people”; neither let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” For thus says Yahweh, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:  to them I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.  Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to him, and to love the name of Yahweh, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant; 7 even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”  The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own who are gathered.” All you animals of the field, come to devour, all you animals in the forest.  His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can’t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can’t understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.  “Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, great beyond measure.”

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Media and politics/By: Tariq Alhomayed/July 11/11
Of dialogue and other Syrian demons/By: Hanin Ghaddar/July 11/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 11/11
Iran Arms at Cyprus Naval Base Explode Killing 11/Naharnet
Israel Lays Hands on 1,500 sq km of Lebanese Waters as Cabinet Seeks to Confront it/Naharnet
Lebanese FM, Diplomatic Sources: International Drilling Companies Don’t Operate in Disputed Areas/Naharnet
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 11, 2011/Daily Star/Naharnet
Miqati Avoids Removing Sunnis from ‘Sensitive Posts’ as Packed Agenda Awaits Cabinet Meeting/Naharnet
Civil Defense Teams Struggle to Extinguish Massive Blaze at Plastic Factory/Naharnet
Gadhafi’s Son: Tripoli Negotiating with France, not Rebels/Naharnet
Hariri to Present Opposition Roadmap during Tuesday’s TV Appearance/Naharnet
Sources: Cooperation with International Community Hinges on Commitment to STL and 1701/Naharnet
Charbel: If No Arrests Were Made, this Doesn’t Mean Lebanon Didn’t Cooperate with STL/Naharnet
MP Ahmad Fatfat: National-dialogue sessions are meaningless/Now Lebanon
Syrian opposition groups boycott dialogue/The Daily Star
U.S. Denies Envoy Summoned by Syria, Says Meeting Prescheduled/Naharnet
US accuses Syria of orchestrating embassy demonstrations/Now Lebanon
Raad: The More You Use Indictment, The More We'll Push for Suing False Witnesses/Naharnet
Bassil Hits Back at Israel, Asks It to Sign U.N. Law of Sea Treaty/Naharnet
Indictment is not worth the ink it was written with: Hezbollah/The Daily Star
Lebanon to fight Israel at U.N./The Daily Star
Five years after Lebanon war, IDF reservists wonder if their protests made a difference/Haaretz
Rai calls on government to serve the people/The Daily Star
Yara Khoury-Mikhael crowned Miss Lebanon/The Daily Star

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 11, The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Monday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
An-Nahar: Israeli gnawing tops government priorities upon launch
Hariri responds tomorrow on 'compromises'
Feltman denies Beirut visit
The government, which is set to hold its first meeting Thursday, is likely to include the maritime borders issue [which has turned into a confrontation between Lebanon and Israel] on its agenda after this reality which was imposed by Israel prompted Lebanese mobilization at the ministerial and diplomatic levels.
Diplomatic sources told An-Nahar that that this issue would not be a reason for a split among the Lebanese given that the current government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati will carry the path of the previous Cabinet with lots of complaints to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Minister Adnan Mansour denied that Lebanon had received an Israeli warning via Washington on the issue of the maritime borders. Mansour told An-Nahar: "We are in the process of drawing up a fixed map and the adoption of a clear map to affirm Lebanon’s rights in the exclusive economic zone."
An-Nahar has learned that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri will define the course of negotiations that led to the fall of his Cabinet following March 8’s disapproval of the Qatar-Turkey agreement.
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, in a telephone call conducted from Washington, denied he had plans to visit Lebanon at this time.
As-Safir: A new conflict chapter opens ... Lebanon readies to face [Israeli] aggression
Israel violates border, Lebanese maritime rights
A new phase of the conflict on oil and gas wells between Lebanon and Israel began Sunday in the disputed areas within the maritime economic borders after the Jewish state approved in a meeting yesterday a map of its proposed maritime borders, in contravention of its rights.
This approval came in the context of the ongoing diplomatic battle with Lebanon on the maritime border, which extends from Ras Naqoura to the economic borders of Cyprus.
In light of this development, Energy and Water Minister Jibran Bassil is expected Monday to write a memo to the president and the prime minister requesting the inclusion of the issue of Lebanon’s maritime border on the Cabinet’s agenda for the next meeting of the government.
Al-Mustaqbal: Siniora meets Saud al-Faisal ... Hezbollah trade-off between indictment and so-called "false witnesses"
“Hezbollah’s regime” kick- starts its first working week after the return of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati from their European vacation with all eyes turned to Cabinet’s first session Thursday to find out the extent of Mikati’s verbal commitments in the absence of non-commitment by Hezbollah ministers and party members to the text of the government’s policy statement over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Future parliamentary bloc leader Fouad Siniora discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the region Sunday with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said that "the government will not interfere in the work of the office of the state prosecutor and therefore arresting the suspects is not a government matter."
Ad-Diyar: Gradual [public service] appointments as PSP warns against "malicious" [acts]
Opposition moves toward boycott of Sleiman’s call for dialogue
Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government assumes its functions Monday and readies for its first Cabinet meeting Thursday with 69 items on the agenda, most notably the extension of the mandate of Riad Salameh, Lebanon’s Central Bank governor, the appointment of Walid Salman as the Lebanese Army Chief of Staff and a new director general for the Presidential Palace. Energy Minister Jibran Bassil is working on including the oil dispute with Israel on the agenda.
Sources following up on the appointments said they would include 400 civil service posts, including 330 to be appointed on the boards of departments,.
However, the sources said the appointments would be made in batches.
In this respect, the Progressive Socialist Party, through its Minister Wael Abou Faour, took a remarkable position rejecting any malicious act in appointments.
Abu Faour spoke about a mechanism to be adopted in this regard that will take into account specific criteria.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Najib Mikati began preparing for an Arab tour that kicks off in Syria with the aim of ascertaining the government's position, which supports Arab unity.
On the other hand, senior March 14 sources affirmed the coalition's rejection to an attempt by President Michel Sleiman to resume national dialogue sessions, saying that nothing has changed and that recent experiences have proven that the president is totally biased toward the other team [March 8] and is a party in the conflict and therefore there is no need for dialogue because it will not produce anything.

Iran Arms at Cyprus Naval Base Explode Killing
 Naharnet/Huge blasts in a seized Iranian weapons cache at a Greek Cypriot naval base in the south of the Mediterranean island killed at least 11 people on Monday, state media said.
The force of the explosions blew out virtually every window in the nearby fishing village of Zygi, whose seafront restaurants are popular with the many tourists who frequent the resort island, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported. The island's largest power station at Vassiliko right next to the base was virtually leveled by the blast, causing widespread power cuts that are likely to last for months. Three of its four main buildings were virtually leveled along the generator's two main fuel tanks, the correspondent said.
The main motorway connecting the capital Nicosia with the island's second-largest city Limassol runs less than a kilometer from the plant and motorists passing at the time of the blasts reported debris flying through the air.
State television broadcast images of damaged vehicles, twisted road signs and debris strewn across the central reservation.
Five hours after the blasts, an AFP correspondent saw four fires still raging at the plant. Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis told the state CNA news agency that the village of Mari just east of the base was devastated by the explosion with virtually every home damaged. Police prevented journalists from approaching the village or the Evangelos Florakis naval base itself, named after a military commander who died in a helicopter crash exactly nine years to the day before the blasts.
But the speaker of parliament, Yiannakis Omirou, who is a former defense minister and visited the scene, said the explosion had been so massive that the entire arms cache had been destroyed without trace. President Demetris Christofias also visited the stricken base ahead of an emergency cabinet meeting.
According to public radio, the fire brigade was called to a wildfire near the base at 4:24 am (01:24 GMT) and that the explosions followed at 5:50 am (02:50 GMT) as the fire raged out of control. Five firefighters were among the 11 dead, who also included four members of the Greek Cypriot National Guard and two sailors, CNA said. State television said at least 12 people were killed. Wildfires are a frequent problem in Cyprus in the tinder-dry conditions created by the searing summer heat.
Health Minister Christos Patsalides said three people were undergoing emergency surgery after being seriously hurt by the blasts. Another 35 to 40 people had suffered more minor injuries, he said. National Guard chief Petros Tsaliklides told public radio that the blasts struck among containers of Iranian munitions seized from Cypriot-flagged vessel M/V Monchegorsk in 2009.
It was intercepted in the eastern Mediterranean en route to Syria in January that year and, after repeated searches, its cargo was eventually seized.
A U.N. Security Council panel concluded that March the shipment was in clear violation of an arms embargo against Iran adopted as part of U.N. sanctions imposed over Tehran's controversial nuclear program and the seized weapons were put into storage.
"There were 98 containers of gunpowder. Two of them (caught) fire and huge explosions occurred," a police spokesman told CNA news agency.
The Iranian ambassador visited the Cypriot presidential palace in Nicosia for a 20-minute meeting after the blast, public radio said.
Power was restored to the island's main international airport at Larnaca by mid-morning after extensive disruption to early flights but electricity remained out in the resort city and across much of the south of the island. The Cyprus Electricity Authority appealed to consumers to cut down on their power use, as demand for air conditioning in the summer heat far outstripped supply from the two power stations still working, threatening to crash the entire national grid. Cypriot authorities impounded the Iranian weapons under a 2007 sanctions resolution adopted by the Security Council. It requires that "Iran shall not supply, sell or transfer from its territory any arms and related materiel, and that all states shall prohibit the procurement of such items from Iran." Israeli media reported that the Monchegorsk was suspected of carrying Iranian arms destined for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and was detained by the Cypriot authorities in response to requests from both Israel and the United States. Israel has long accused Iran of arming Islamists in Gaza, a charge Tehran denies even though it says it offers moral support to Hamas. Iran reacted furiously to the interception of the cargo bound for Syria, its main Arab ally, and strongly denied accusations that the weapons were intended for either Hamas or Hizbullah. Source Agence France Presse

US accuses Syria of orchestrating embassy demonstrations
July 10, 2011 /A senior US official denied Sunday that the US envoy to Syria had been summoned by Syria's foreign office and accused Damascus of orchestrating violent protests over the weekend at the US embassy. The official described violent protests outside the US embassy in Damascus that only ended on Saturday after security staff reached out to the Syrian authorities and asked them to send extra personnel. "The Syrian government chose to protest Ambassador Ford's trip to Hama last week by organizing an angry protest outside the US embassy in Damascus," the official said. "The protest lasted 31 hours across Friday and Saturday with protesters calling for the ambassador to leave. Protesters eventually threw tomatoes, eggs, and later glass and rocks at the embassy. Two embassy employees were struck by food."
Tensions have been escalating for months between Damascus and Washington over the Syrian government's crackdown on months of opposition protests seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. US ambassador Robert Ford and French counterpart Eric Chevallier visited the flashpoint Syrian city of Hama on Thursday amid fears of a bloody protest crackdown by Assad's forces, with tanks encircling the city. Syrian state news agency SANA said both envoys had been summoned on Sunday to the Syrian foreign ministry to protest their trip, which it described as "flagrant interference in Syria's domestic affairs." But a senior US State Department official said ambassador Ford had actually gone to the foreign ministry on Sunday to attend a previously scheduled meeting requested by the Americans. "Ambassador Ford was not summoned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the official said, adding that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem did however file an official complaint about the Hama visit during their meeting.-AFP/NOW Lebanon

U.S. Denies Envoy Summoned by Syria, Says Meeting Prescheduled
Naharnet/A senior U.S. official denied Sunday that the U.S. envoy to Syria had been summoned by Syria's foreign office and accused Damascus of orchestrating violent protests over the weekend at the U.S. embassy. Tensions have been escalating for months between Damascus and Washington over the Syrian government's crackdown on months of opposition protests seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. ambassador Robert Ford and French counterpart Eric Chevallier visited the flashpoint Syrian city of Hama on Thursday amid fears of a bloody protest crackdown by Assad's forces, with tanks encircling the city. Syrian state news agency SANA said both envoys had been summoned on Sunday to the Syrian foreign ministry to protest their trip, which it described as "flagrant interference in Syria's domestic affairs." But a senior U.S. State Department official said ambassador Ford had actually gone to the foreign ministry on Sunday to attend a previously scheduled meeting requested by the Americans. "Ambassador Ford was not summoned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the official said, adding that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem did however file an official complaint about the Hama visit during their meeting.
"In the same meeting, Ambassador Ford made clear that Syrian government incitement of Syrians against the United States, including through aggressive protesters in front of the embassy, must stop," the official said. "And the Syrian government must not use his visit to Hama -- meant only to gather information and support freedom of expression -- as propaganda."
The official described violent protests outside the U.S. embassy in Damascus that only ended on Saturday after security staff reached out to the Syrian authorities and asked them to send extra personnel. "The Syrian government chose to protest Ambassador Ford's trip to Hama last week by organizing an angry protest outside the U.S. embassy in Damascus," the official said. "The protest lasted 31 hours across Friday and Saturday with protesters calling for the ambassador to leave. Protesters eventually threw tomatoes, eggs, and later glass and rocks at the embassy. Two embassy employees were struck by food." Assad opened a "national dialogue" on Sunday that his regime hailed as a step towards multi-party democracy after five decades of his Baath party rule, but its credibility was undermined by an opposition boycott.
"We and the Syrian people are looking for positive and genuine action from the Syrian government that leads to a transition," the senior State Department official said.
"This transition must meet the aspirations of the Syrian people. The Syrian government will be judged by its concrete actions, not its words."
SANA said Assad on Sunday named Anas Naim as the new governor of Hama after firing Ahmed Khaled Abdul Aziz on July 2, a day after huge anti-regime protests labeled the largest ever.Security forces killed at least 15 people on Friday and arrested more than 200 during the anti-dialogue protests, activists said.
Human rights groups say that since the anti-regime protests first broke out, the security forces have killed more than 1,300 civilians and arrested at least 12,000.
Source Agence France Presse

Rai calls on government to serve the people
July 11, 2011/ By Antoine Amrieh/The Daily Star
BSHARRI, Lebanon: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai urged the Lebanese over the weekend to work together to build the nation and called on government officials to serve the people, just days after the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati won the parliament’s vote of confidence.
“We pray for our nation, Lebanon, and ask God to urge the officials to adopt the role designated for them, which is liberating men and women, and serving the citizens,” said Rai.
“I pray with you today that politicians become aware of their duties to liberate citizens from slavery, oppression and tyranny … this is what a government is made for,” Rai added.
Speaking Sunday during his first Mass in his summer residence, the northern village of Diman, Rai called on the Lebanese to unite.
“With partnership and love, we enjoy our unity, which is based on cooperation and work in building our society and the nation,” said Rai, who was greeted by enthusiastic local residents and the former Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir when he arrived Friday in Bsharri.
The patriarch, who took office in March, also voiced hope that the current summer season would be successful.
“We hope that God will always help us to return to this land [Diman] with our faith and attached to our roots … and we also hope that this summer season be a blessed and a rich season,” Rai noted. Following the Mass, Rai received hundreds of guests, including local residents and officials, on his second day in the mountains of Bsharri.
With the influx of Lebanese expatriates into the country in the height of summer, Rai met a delegation of Brazilian Lebanese over the weekend that visited Diman as part of their camping program, which was coordinated by the Social Affairs Ministry.
In his remarks to the expatriates, Rai urged them to carry Lebanon’s message of coexistence wherever they go around the world. “Whether you go to the East or West, carry along with you this country’s message … and we call upon you today to return to your spiritual and national roots as a means to connect with Lebanon,” said Rai.
The patriarch highlighted Lebanon’s unique place in the region.
“While most countries in the Arab world are Islamic states and Israel a Jewish state, Lebanon enjoys a system that recognizes and respects all religions,” Rai explained.
Rai also met with the head of the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council Nasri Khoury and other town officials.

Media and politics
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
This week the British press described one of its most famous tabloid newspapers, "The News of the World", with one line which said: "the death of the newspaper of sex scandals", but the story here is much bigger than the closure of a 168 year old newspaper of course.
The death of the "newspaper of scandals" also marked the end, or redefinition, of the relationship between politics and the media in Britain, which had been initiated by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in order to ensure press support in political battles. A friend of mine, an expert in British political history, said to me that the story is bigger than the closure of one of the newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's media empire, which enabled him to play a significant political role; the story is actually the redefinition of the relationship between the media and politics. This view was endorsed by the British Prime Minister himself, the day before yesterday, when he said that party leaders in Britain overlooked the dangers of the media's relationship with politics, because they were competing in order to win the support of the newspapers.
Of course, there are many lessons to be learned from the scandal surrounding a newspaper famed for scandals, which proceeded to spy on some four thousand people in Britain, from members of the royal family, to victims of crime, celebrities, and families of British Army casualties. The British press today is due a reexamination with regards to many of its standards, and is under great social pressure. There are demands to enact additional strict laws on the press, on top of the existing legislation. Britain is one of the strictest states in terms of its laws against the press, despite all the freedoms available there. However, tabloid newspapers always managed to twist the arms of politicians, especially publications including "The News of the World", which always focused on sex scandals. This is contrary to the French press for example, which is committed to the principle that money is the real scandal, not sex.
With regards to the relationship between politics and the media, the lesson to be learned is that political control over the media may lead to a withholding of facts, but media control over politics may lead to corruption of all kinds. As my notable friend said to me, Britain today must redefine the relationship between politics and the media, so that the story of the newspaper of scandals doesn’t come to resemble Watergate in the United States. However it is clear today, as my friend told me, that the press is playing its role financially, while the politician seeks to convince public opinion by his interaction with the press, whether through dialogues, leaks and so on. This matter has been witnessed in American politics a lot; as the matter is more like an art form with conditions, than a system of checks and balances.
There are many lessons to be drawn from the story of the closure of the British newspaper of scandals, including of course, that it was a broadsheet British newspaper that exposed the News of the World. Thus it was interesting when "The Financial Times" wrote a report about the closure of "The News of the World". It claimed that for those involved in the journalism industry, the news was stunning, like an assassination. However, the event was closer to the assassination of Osama bin Laden than the assassination of John F. Kennedy! Therefore sincere newspapers still remain more influential than others.

Five years after Lebanon war, IDF reservists wonder if their protests made a difference
By Gili Cohen/Haaretz
Five years after the Second Lebanon War, the leaders of the reservists' protest are watching as those who ran the country in the summer of 2006 slowly make their way back into politics, and they feel that their main achievement is evaporating. Then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz is now running for the chairmanship of Labor, and then-Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has joined Kadima and launched a political career.
"What a story, huh?" said Yakir Segev, one of the leaders of the reservists' protest following the war.
Asaf Davidof, a soldier in the Alexandroni Brigade, termed it "the biggest absurdity in the country. People who failed are making a comeback in a big way."
Davidof, along with another colleague from the brigade, Roni Zweigenbaum, organized a march by reservists after they returned from the fighting in Lebanon in 2006. Later they set up a protest tent in the Knesset Rose Garden in Jerusalem and urged passersby to sign a petition headlined, "Olmert, Peretz, Halutz - Go Home!"
Later, they were joined by many more: reserve officers and soldiers, and also politicians who tried, some successfully and others less so, to ride the wave.
Segev, formerly a company commander in the Egoz Battalion and now a major in the reserves, thinks that despite the return of the failed leaders of 2006, the reservists' struggle succeeded.
"I made the protest because I thought you can't have such an incident, such a war, without the public saying anything," he said. "There was a terrible failure of the leadership: irresponsible, unserious, failed, mistaken behavior. And the public had things to say for itself. Even if it was from the gut, it was authentic."
But Dr. Baruch Eitam, a paratrooper who was also one of the leaders of the protest, thinks differently.
"My reason for engaging in this was mostly a matter of values, to hold a discussion on the gap between the values according to which the Israeli leadership operates and those of the citizenry," he said. "And I can say that in this, we failed entirely.
"My purpose was not to remove these people but to establish a norm. Today, leadership contests are like standing in line for the bus or at the supermarket: If you can screw the other guy, then great, wonderful."
Moral statement
Ever since the reservists' protest, it seems the Israeli public has been trying to stir up other protests, for almost any reason, even if only for a day or two. Once it was over the reform in public transportation, another time over the radical increase in the price of cottage cheese at the supermarket.
"It could be we overdid it, and it [protest] has moved into other realms," Segev said. He mocked the latest protest: "'The price of cottage cheese went up? We want the finance minister to resign!'
"But at the end of the day," he added, "the public had to make a moral statement, unequivocally and uncompromisingly, about the war: Go home. This correction had to be made, and sometimes it happens in a radical way. It's true that afterward, people may do it [protest] more easily."
Eitam, a research psychologist by profession, said that he sees what is happening in Israel as extraordinary. "We are being dragged into the abyss, but no one is wearing sackcloth and ashes or going up to Jerusalem," he said. "There is a great lack of agreement about values among the public, but it doesn't manifest itself in dramatic ways.
"During the war, there were large demonstrations, because people need a narrative," he added. "It can't be something abstract."
Half a decade later, Davidof's battalion will commemorate the day the war began by doing reserve duty.
"Our struggle? It's already over," he said. "Today we mainly recall memories of the war, memories of the guys."
Yet the protest's impact has been noticeable. No military or political leader wants a repeat of the Winograd Committee's scathing report on the war, and some say the result has been an overreaction bordering on paranoia when it comes to countering threats. One example is the authorities' handling of the recent attempt by pro-Palestinian activists to fly en masse into Israel.
"At this time, it's not possible to judge the hesitation and fear that took over during the war," Davidof said. "I assume that now, brigade commanders think about every move 10 times [before acting]. They do not want a monkey like [the Winograd report] on their back, which would prevent them from advancing in the army or getting a job when they retire."
Nonetheless, the protest leaders said, the IDF has changed for the better since 2006. In contrast to the confused orders, missing equipment and mistakes of that war, they are now more or less satisfied with the army's functioning.

Resistance is stronger, more popular: Hezbollah
July 10, 2011/The Daily Star
Qaouk also said that Hezbollah had successfully brought down the five-year international conspiracy that was aimed at targeting the “reputation, position and role” of the resistance.
BEIRUT: Hezbollah is now stronger and more popular thanks to its parliamentary majority and a Cabinet that supports the resistance, the deputy head of Hezbollah's Executive Council Sheikh Nabil Qaouk said Sunday.
“The resistance in Lebanon today is stronger politically and more popular with the existence of a parliamentary majority and popular base and a government that does not betray the resistance and listen to U.S. talks ... [the government] protects Lebanon's position and identity,” Qaouk said during a political gathering in south Lebanon.
The Hezbollah-backed March 8 alliance holds a majority in Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet, which replaced former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government following the resignation of March 8 ministers from Hariri’s Cabinet, forcing its collapse in January.
Last week, Mikati’s Cabinet and the ministerial statement received the parliamentary vote of confidence, after March 14 MPs walked out of Parliament before the vote took place.
Qaouk also said that Hezbollah had successfully brought down the five-year international conspiracy that was aimed at targeting the “reputation, position and role” of the resistance, and he accused Hariri and the March 14 coalition of conspiring with international forces against Hezbollah.
“We are today in a new stage able to save Lebanon from the sectarian project and the U.S.-Israeli conspiracy which comes at the expense of Lebanon's unity,” Qaouk said, adding that Hezbollah had been able to overcome the difficult phase of Hariri’s rule.
Qaouk also slammed the opposition for announcing that they would work to bring down Mikati’s Cabinet, saying: “The March 14 coalition do not hesitate to use any kind of weapon to bring down the government or receive foreign assistance and use sanctions against their government and state.”
On July 3, the March 14 coalition warned that it would work with the international and Arab community to bring down Mikati’s government.
“The March 14 parties will launch an Arab and international political campaign to bring the republic out of the captivity of [Hezbollah’s] arms and call on Arab governments and the international community not to cooperate with this government if it fails to implement the requirements of Resolution 1757,” a statement released after the March 14 gathering at Le Bristol said. Resolution 1757 established the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to investigate the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which has recently issued arrest warrants against four Hezbollah members. The STL has been one of the main dividing points between Lebanon’s main political factions, with the Hezbollah-led coalition describing it as corrupt and serving the interests of Israel and the U.S.

Lebanon to fight Israel at U.N.
July 11, 2011 /By Wassim Mroueh The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanon said Sunday it would file a complaint with the United Nations against Israel, after the Jewish state approved a map of its proposed maritime borders, which Lebanon is calling an aggression and an infringement on its right to an exclusive economic zone.
“For sure we will [file a complaint]. This is an aggression on our gas and oil rights and we will not remain silent,” Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told The Daily Star by telephone. “This is a de facto policy that will not bring peace for Israel. Israel is creating a new area of tension,” he added.
Israel will submit the map, which was approved by its Cabinet Sunday, to the U.N. for an opinion, as the neighboring states face off over offshore gas fields.
The Israeli map lays out maritime borders that conflict significantly with those proposed by Lebanon in its own submission to the U.N. last summer.
“The Cabinet today approved the draft of the northern maritime border of Israel,” said a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.“This line demarcates the area of the state’s economic rights, including the exploitation of natural resources.”
Mansour said that the borders drawn by Israel constituted an aggression against Lebanon’s economic borders.
“When there is an economic zone linked to a number of states, demarcating borders does not happen by one state unilaterally or by two states at the expense of the third,” he said.
At the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that “the outline that Lebanon submitted to the U.N. is significantly further south than the one we propos.”
“It [Lebanon’s map] also conflicts with the line that we have agreed upon with Cyprus and, what is more significant in my eyes, it conflicts with the line that Lebanon itself agreed upon with Cyprus in 2007.”
“Our goal is to determine Israel’s position regarding its maritime border, in keeping with the principles of international maritime law,” Netanyahu said.
Mansour said that Israel’s demarcation of its maritime borders with Cyprus had infringed on Lebanon’s right to its economic zone. “This contradicts international law.”
Israel has been moving to develop several large offshore natural gas fields in the Mediterranean that it hopes could help it to become an energy exporter.
But its development plans have stirred controversy with Lebanon, which argues the gas fields lie inside its territorial waters. Israel does not have officially demarcated maritime borders with Lebanon, and the two nations remain technically at war.
Lebanon’s Energy and Water Resources Minister Jibran Bassil assured the Lebanese that the country’s natural resources were “not in danger.”
“We are determined to defend them, especially since we are fully committed to the law of the sea. If Israel violates this law, it will pay the price,” he told The Daily Star.
Bassil said that Lebanon had given its maritime maps to the U.N. and the “UN should behave in line with law.”
The minister said that he would call for placing the issue first on the agenda of the Cabinet session scheduled for this week.
“We will take the suitable measures, like launching a diplomatic and political campaign [to defend our right],” he said.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel was convinced it would win support for its position at the U.N.
“We will soon be presenting the United Nations headquarters in New York with our position on our maritime borders,” Lieberman told Israeli public radio.
“We have already concluded an agreement on this issue with Cyprus. Lebanon, under pressure from Hezbollah, is looking for friction, but we will not give up any part of what is rightfully ours,” he added.
The two biggest known offshore fields, Tamar and Leviathan, lie off Israel’s northern city of Haifa.
International energy experts have said that Leviathan field might be straddling Lebanon’s maritime border with Israel.
Tamar is believed to hold at least 238 billion cubic meters, while Leviathan is believed to have reserves of 450 billion cubic meters.
In recent weeks, an Israeli company has also announced the discovery of two new natural gas fields, Sarah and Mira, they lie around 70 kilometers off the city of Hadera further south.

Of dialogue and other Syrian demons
Hanin Ghaddar, July 11, 2011
An image grab taken from footage uploaded on YouTube shows Syrian anti-government protesters flooding the streets of Hama on July 8, 2011. (AFP photo/YouTube)
As soon as the national dialogue in Damascus ended, the Syrian security forces raided the city of Homs, shooting, looting and arresting people. At the same time, they arrested more than 30 activists in Daraa, while planes flew over Jisr al-Shughur to intimidate whoever was left in the town.
This is how the Syrian regime dialogues with its people. Any talk of dialogue while the regime continues to oppress and murder its people is futile.
The Syrian regime has lost its legitimacy inside Syria, but it is still trying to prove otherwise to regional powers and the West through flimsy ploys such as the national dialogue session of last week. Meanwhile, neighboring Arab states are in a self-induced coma because, simply, their own legitimacy is on the line.
Let’s imagine that the Israeli army were bombing Lebanon and Syria, killing thousands of innocent civilians and torturing many more. Let’s imagine Israeli troops entering Lebanon and Syria and arresting unarmed young men and children, torturing them for days and killing most of them.
And then let’s imagine the Israeli government, in the middle of all this, calling on Lebanese and Syrian activists, civil society groups and communities for dialogue.
The Syrian regime and its allies in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah, have lectured us for ages about the ills of talking to the Israelis. Any dialogue with them is an act of treason, even if it involves casual conversation with Israeli citizens, even anti-Zionist Israelis. They call it “naturalization with the enemy.”
For the same reasons, the Syrian people cannot accept dialogue with the regime while its security forces are still on the streets killing and arresting people, and while its jails are still packed with political prisoners.
Of course, Israeli troops in Syria would be invaders and occupiers. But the Syrian people’s own president, rulers and army, who are supposed to protect them from outside forces, are treating them with brutality that cannot even be compared to that of their enemies.
The whole thing started with a call for reforms. Back then, dialogue might have been an option, before towns such as Hama, Daraa, Jisr al-Shughur or Tal Kalakh were destroyed, their young men captured and killed, their citizens forced to flee, their women raped, their children tortured and murdered.
Today, the people's only demand is the end of the regime. They want Assad to step down and will not accept anything else. That’s why Syrian protesters, opposition figures and members of the coordination committees were absent from the national dialogue session the regime called for on Sunday in Damascus.
The Syrian regime was aware that opposition figures refuse dialogue. The only purpose behind the session was to send a message to the West to show that it is trying to talk to the opposition.
The Syrian people have stated their demands. Everyone—the intellectuals of Damascus, the opposition in the diaspora, the young people in the streets, the local coordination committees, and, last but not least, the families of martyrs—wants Assad to go.
It is a shame that most Arab states are totally absent from the scene. There are even reports of under-the-table support for the Assad regime from many Gulf countries. They not only fear that their turn will be next, but that the status quo in Syria will change. These regimes prefer to deal with “the devil they know” rather than a new political class that might be more democratic than Assad.
Democracy is their worst nightmare, because with democracy spreading in the region, their power will decline considerably.
Luckily, they do not get to vote for the Syrian people. They can aid the regime as much as they want, but when the Syrian people decided four months ago that they wanted freedom, it was obvious that nothing would stop them and that eventually they would topple their regime, and ours.
**Hanin Ghaddar is managing editor of NOW Lebanon

MP Ahmad Fatfat: National-dialogue sessions are “meaningless,”
July 11, 2011
Lebanon First bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat said on Monday that pursuing national-dialogue sessions “is a meaningless [endeavor], because dialogue has not achieved and will not achieve anything.”
The dialogue sessions are meant to “deceive the Lebanese people [into] thinking their issues will be resolved,” Fatfat told New TV.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that he will not accept amending any matter related to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) without a Lebanese consensus, Fatfat said, asking “Why would I take the national-dialogue [route] if what was agreed upon is not being respected?”
The MP also said that March 14’s opposition will be democratic and peaceful, adding that the alliance will not obstruct the country.
He added that not financing the STL does not affect the tribunal itself but might lead to economic repercussions against Lebanon if certain sanctions are imposed.
Fatfat also said that President Michel Sleiman contradicts himself, and said that the latter “pledged” that he will not accept a one-sided cabinet in Lebanon.
“How is the cabinet not one-sided when it divides the MPs?”
He added, however, that he respects Sleiman and refuses to sever relations with him.
Regarding former PM Saad Hariri’s upcoming interview on Tuesday, Fatfat said that Hariri will respond to certain allegations made by Mikati.
The STL indicted four members of the Iranian-and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in connection to the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri, but the party’s secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, ruled out their arrest, and said that the Netherlands-based court was heading for a trial in absentia.
Mikati’s cabinet, which was formed in June, was granted parliament’s vote of confidence last week.
-NOW Lebanon