LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly 23/2011

Bible Quotation for today
Luke 12/16-22: " He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. 17 He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’ 18 He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”’20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’ 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
 

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Mexican-Lebanese cultural reconnection/The Daily Star/July 22/11
Lyrical Message for Syrian Leader: ‘Come on Bashar, Leave’/By ANTHONY SHADID/July 22/11
Lasa’s land disputes/By: Matt Nash and Nadine Elali/July 22/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 22/11
Monsignor Youssef Toq Passes Away/Naharnet
Feltman: I Have Been Told that Search is Underway to Find Hariri Murder Suspects/Naharnet
U.S. Transfer of Hizbullah Fighter to Iraqi Authorities on Hold/Naharnet
Syria Clamps Down on Damascus Ahead of Anti-Assad Protests/Naharnet
Jumblat Telephones Hariri, Stresses Importance of Dialogue to Preserve Coexistence/Naharnet
Lebanese Parliament, Cabinet Prioritize Maritime Border Demarcation by Preparing Draft Laws/Naharnet
China Tells U.S. to Respect its Territorial Claims Over Tension on South China Sea/Naharnet
Lebanon's ISF Attacked while Removing Construction at Airport Road/Naharnet
Canada Welcomes Arrest of Goran Hadzić/Canada's Foreign Ministry
Syria protests worry Lebanon, Williams says/The Daily Star
Decades of conflicting property claims unresolved in Jbeil/The Daily Star
'Israeli commandos enter south Lebanon/PressTV
French embassy official denies decision on missiles to Lebanon/Daily Star
Lebanese bankers unfazed as Moody’s downgrades top 4 banks/The Daily Star
Rai lambasts politicians over disputes, wants new covenant/The Daily Star
Maronite patriarchate says Lassa incident solved/The Daily Star
Lebanese Worry About Confrontation Over Hariri Tribunal/VOA
Cabinet tackles appointments on piecemeal basis/The Daily Star
Hizbullah Says Dialogue Must Be on Defense Strategy, Not Arms/Naharnet
Nasrallah Meets Iran Deputy Speaker, Hails Support for Lebanon, Palestinian Cause/Naharnet
Kairouz Questions Govt. on Abduction, Release of Estonians/Naharnet
Mikati makes tourism national priority/The Daily Star

Monsignor Youssef Toq Passes Away
Naharnet/The Maronite patriarchate’s secretary, Monsignor Youssef Toq passed away and will be buried at his hometown of Besharri in northern Lebanon on Saturday, media reports said.
Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3) said Toq seems to have died from a heart attack. His body was found in his bed on Friday morning after he failed to appear for breakfast.
Toq accompanied his brother to the airport on Thursday night and then returned to his residence at the seat of the patriarchate in Bkirki, it said. The monsignor was scheduled to take his summer vacation on Friday and spend it in Besharri. Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will lead the funeral procession at the Saint Saba church at 4:00 pm Saturday.

Feltman: I Have Been Told that Search is Underway to Find Hariri Murder Suspects
Naharnet/U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that he had been informed that a search is underway for the four suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case. In an interview with al-Hurra TV, Feltman said that the search for the four Hizbullah members against whom arrest warrants were issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was “the responsibility of the Lebanese government.” The behavior of Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet is the best test on whether Lebanon will support the tribunal or not, he said. Feltman announced that Washington could continue to support the Lebanese Armed Forces if they remain committed to preserving the sovereignty of all Lebanese territories.
On the recent conflict between Israel and Lebanon on oil and natural gas fields, the diplomat told al-Hurra that the dispute and counter accusations over aggression on each other’s economic zones is not worrying. “This has always been the situation,” he said, hoping that the two countries’ reliance on the U.N. to demarcate their maritime borders would allow both Lebanon and Israel to export their resources without fears of the eruption of a new conflict.

Jumblat Telephones Hariri, Stresses Importance of Dialogue to Preserve Coexistence
Naharnet /Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has unveiled that he held a telephone conversation with former Premier Saad Hariri thanking him for his latest stance on Jumblat.
The Druze leader told An Nahar daily published Friday that he heard “moving words” from Hariri but refused to give further details.Jumblat, who returned along with Minister Ghazi Aridi from Moscow on Wednesday night, said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has welcomed Hariri’s statements and decision not to close the dialogue door with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Breaking a nearly four-month silence, Hariri told MTV last week that he was ready to meet Nasrallah but in the presence of witnesses.
“I have never been against dialogue. I am ready for dialogue for the interest of Lebanon. But with complete frankness, if I talk to Sayyed Hassan I want to have witnesses,” he said.
“Lavrov advises the Lebanese not to take their country to the lines of tension,” the PSP chief told An Nahar. “This behavior does not serve Lebanon.”
Jumblat unveiled that Russian military assistance to Lebanon has made a major leap forward. “It is even ready to help in the railway sector.”
On the local situation and differences between the March 8 and 14 forces, the Druze leader said: “The new political alignment should not prevent contacts between the different parties.”
He stressed on the importance of respecting the point of view of others and insisting on dialogue. Hariri and Nasrallah should hold talks because “we are compelled to coexist and no one could abolish the other.” Jumblat backed President Michel Suleiman’s invitation for all-party talks at the Baabda palace, saying dialogue should be aimed at agreeing on the defense strategy on condition that arms are not used locally. He also stressed that Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet should “not adopt reprisal policies” against March 14 officials.

Nasrallah Meets Iran Deputy Speaker, Hails Support for Lebanon, Palestinian Cause
Naharnet/Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met Thursday with Mohammad Reza Bahonar, Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran (parliament), who was accompanied by a parliamentary delegation, Hizbullah’s press office said. The meeting, which was also attended by Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi, tackled the latest developments in Lebanon and the region and the means of possible cooperation between Lebanon and Iran, the press office added.
The Iranian delegation “lauded the Resistance’s achievements, especially in the July War.” Nasrallah, for his part, extended his gratitude to the Islamic Republic for “everything it has offered to Lebanon and the Palestinian cause since the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran until today.”

Williams Warns Syria Unrest May Spark Sectarian Clashes in Lebanon
Naharnet /Political upheaval in Syria, hit by months of opposition protests, is weighing heavily on neighboring Lebanon where it risks sparking inter-religious clashes, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams warned Thursday. "There is a great worry in Lebanon about this," said Williams, who raised the potential for "confessional clashes in Lebanon."
"What comes after (in Syria) worries in Lebanon," he told a news conference. Activists say the Syrian government's crackdown against opposition protests has left more than 1,400 civilians dead since mid-March. Thousands more have been jailed. Ties between Syria and Lebanon are complicated by a lengthy and bloody history. Syria only withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2005 after three decades of military and political domination. Williams stressed, however, that the situation remained calm along the U.N.-drawn Blue Line separating southern Lebanon from Israel. "Remarkably, despite tensions and despite some incidents, that resolution has held very well," he said, referring to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended hostilities between Hizbullah and Israel after the devastating 2006 war. "While the cessation of hostilities has held well, there is no movement towards a ceasefire."
Williams said the time was right for "a dialogue, a process to discuss the questions of arms, not only Hizbullah."There have been frequent accusations from Western powers that Syria has been arming Hizbullah despite U.N. resolutions banning such traffic.Source Agence France Presse

Lyrical Message for Syrian Leader: ‘Come on Bashar, Leave’
By ANTHONY SHADID/The New York Times
HAMA, Syria — As anthems go, this one is fittingly blunt. “Come on Bashar, leave,” it declares to President Bashar al-Assad. And in the weeks since it was heard in protests in this city, the song has become a symbol of the power of the protesters’ message, the confusion in their ranks and the violence of the government in stopping their dissent Although no one in Hama seems to agree on who wrote the song, there is near consensus on one point: A young cement layer who sang it in protests was dragged from the Orontes River this month with his throat cut and, according to residents, his vocal cords ripped out. Since his death, boys as young as 6 have offered their rendition in his place. Rippling through the virtual communities that the Internet and revolt have inspired, the song has spread to other cities in Syria, where protesters chant it as their own.
“We’ve all memorized it,” said Ahmed, a 40-year-old trader in Hama who regularly attends protests. “What else can you do if you keep repeating it at demonstrations day after day?”
Tunisia can claim the slogan of the Arab revolts: “The people want to topple the regime.” Egyptians made famous street poetry that reflected their incomparable wit. “Come on Bashar, Leave,” is Syria’s contribution to the pop culture of sedition, the raw street humor that mingles with the furor of revolt and the ferocity of crackdown.
When the government derided them as infiltrators, protesters appropriated the term with pride. After Mr. Assad warned of germs in the body politic, echoing Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s dismissal of Libya’s rebels as rats, protesters came up with a new slogan: “Syrian germs salute Libyan rats.” Protesters in Hama fashioned a toy tank from trash containers in the streets. On the birth date of Mr. Assad’s father, Hafez, who ruled for 30 years, youths in Homs set their chants to the tune of “Happy Birthday.”
“Come on Bashar, Leave” is more festive than funny, with an infectious refrain, chanted with the intoxication of doing something forbidden for so long:
“Hey Bashar, hey liar. Damn you and your speech, freedom is right at the door. So come on, Bashar, leave.”
“It’s started to spread all over the country,” said a former Republican Guard officer who has joined the protests in Homs, an hour or so from Hama. “It keeps getting more popular.”
The man pulled from the river was named Ibrahim Qashoush, and he was from the neighborhood of Hadir. He was relatively unknown before July 4, when his body was found, then buried in the city’s Safa cemetery, near the highway.
Video on YouTube, impossible to verify, shows a man purported to be Mr. Qashoush with his head lolling from a deep gash in his throat. Residents say security forces shot him, too. But people in Hama dwelled on the detail that stands as a metaphor for the essence of decades of dictatorship: That the simple act of speaking is subversive. “They really cut out his vocal cords!” exclaimed a 30-year-old pharmacist in Hama who gave his name as Wael. “Is there a greater symbol of the power of the word?”
In a rebellion whose leaders remain largely nameless and faceless, Mr. Qashoush has become somewhat celebrated in death. “The nightingale of the revolution,” one activist called him.
But the revolt remains largely atomized, with protesters in cities connected first and foremost by the Internet, and rumors have proliferated about Mr. Qashoush himself. Even in Hama, where protest leaders in one neighborhood often do not know their colleagues in another, some residents have suggested that Mr. Qashoush was not the real singer, that two men had the same name, that he was really a government informer killed by residents, that he is still alive.
One resident insisted the man killed was a second-rate wedding singer.
“Every day in the street, just while you’re sitting somewhere, you can hear five or six rumors, and they turn out to be wrong,” said an engineer who gave his name as Adnan.
Many here see the government’s hand in everything. Lists of informers have circulated, but some believe security forces compiled them, hoping to discredit protesters or smear the reputations of businessmen helping them. When residents hanged an informer last month, some people in Hama suggested that government agents did it to make them look bad.
“We’ve heard this,” said a 23-year-old activist who gave his name as Obada. Obada and others insisted that the song was actually written by a 23-year-old part-time electrician and student named Abdel-Rahman, also known as Rahmani. Sitting in a basement room, Rahmani celebrated what he called “days of creativity.”
As the protests in Hama grew bolder and bigger last month, he said crowds grew bored with the old chants — “Peaceful, peaceful, Christians and Muslims,” “There is no fear after today” and “God, Syria, freedom, and nothing else.” Speeches were not much better. Activists soon managed to bring sound equipment, powered by generators tucked in the trunk of a car, he said, and he wrote his first song, “Syria Wants Freedom.”
“Come on Bashar, Leave,” followed, though he and his brother Mohammed argued for a week over whether he should keep a marginally derogatory line, “Hey Bashar, to hell with you.” It stayed, and now draws the biggest applause, cheers and laughter.
“What I say, everyone feels in their hearts, but can’t find words to express,” he said, dragging on a cigarette. “We were brought up afraid to even talk about politics.”
Like seemingly everyone here, he suffered a loss in 1982, when the army stormed Hama to quell an Islamist revolt, killing at least 10,000. He said his grandfather Naasan Miqawi was shot in front of his mother. His uncle Mostafa remains missing 30 years later. He admits he is a better writer than singer, but the very act of occasionally performing his song for the crowds seemed an act of revenge, rendered small. He consented to photographs, with a defiant shrug.
Asked if he was afraid, Rahmani answered, “Of what?”
Just off Al Alamein Street, Saleh, a boy of 11 named for his grandfather, killed in 1982, performed “Come on Bashar, Leave” for men many times his age, who grinned at him in admiration. Without missing a beat, he denounced Mr. Assad’s brother, Maher, who leads the elite Republican Guard; his cousin Rami Makhlouf, a businessman considered the family’s banker; and the Shaleesh family, relatives of the president who are notorious for corruption. “Hey Maher, you coward,” the young boy sang. “You are an American agent. Nobody can insult the people of Syria. So come on Bashar, leave.”
The men offered the refrain, their faces softly illuminated by sparse streetlights. “Come on Bashar, leave,” they chanted back. None of them looked over his shoulder, and none whispered. No one was afraid. “We get new thieves regularly; Shaleesh and Maher and Rami, they ripped off my brothers and uncles,” the boy’s voice went on. “So come on Bashar, leave.”
And the men’s refrain began again, in voices that felt just a little louder.

U.S. Transfer of Hizbullah Fighter to Iraqi Authorities on Hold
Naharnet/Iraq's Justice Ministry said Friday that plans to transfer a top Hizbullah commander who's being held in Baghdad from U.S. to Iraqi custody have been put on hold.
The turnabout comes as 20 U.S. senators ask the Pentagon to take "whatever steps you can" to prevent the transfer out of fear that the militant, Ali Mussa Daqduq, will escape or be released by Iraq's government. Just two days ago, Justice Ministry spokesman Haidar al-Saadi said the U.S. would transfer custody of Daqduq by the end of this week.
U.S. forces have held Daqduq since his 2007 capture for allegedly cooperating with Iranian agents to train Shiite militias to target American soldiers.He is one of about 10 detainees whom the U.S. must either prosecute or hand over to Iraq by the end of the year.In a letter dated Thursday, 20 U.S. senators asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta "to take whatever steps you can to block Daqduq's transfer to the Iraqi government and out of U.S. custody." "If he is released from United States custody, there is little doubt that Daqduq will return to the battlefield and resume his terrorist activities against the United States and our interests," the senators wrote in the letter signed by 19 Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. John McCain of Arizona, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman Joe Lieberman, an independent senator from Connecticut, also signed the letter.

'Israeli commandos enter south Lebanon'
Thu Jul 21, /The Press TV
Israeli commandos have reportedly advanced into Tel Aviv-occupied territory in southern Lebanon, conducting sweeping operations there.
On Thursday, 20 of the crack forces changed positions from the Ruweisat Alam village to the Shebaa Farms, a Press TV correspondent reported. Tel Aviv retains a state of hostility with Beirut by refusing to return farms, which it occupied alongside vast expanses of other Arab territories in 1967. The forces carried out military operations over great swathes of land for an hour. The military did not cross the United Nations-drawn Blue Line. However, Israel's unmanned reconnaissance aircraft flew for more than two hours over the occupied area and the Lebanese territory. The spy planes frequently violate Lebanon's airspace. Tel Aviv has launched several wars on Lebanon, killing around 1,200 Lebanese -- mostly civilians -- in the most recent round of offensives in 2006. In the deadliest of Israeli violations to follow the 2006 war, an Israeli patrol unit breached a border fence in August 2010. The move prompted an exchange of fire with the Lebanese military, in which three Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer were killed. The Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah, which defended the country during Israeli wars, has vowed to respond to any new Israeli incursions.

Lebanese Worry About Confrontation Over Hariri Tribunal
Margaret Besheer | Beirut /VOA
In Lebanon, the quest to find out who killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has split the country into two political factions. One camp, known as March 14th, is headed by Hariri's son Saad, and supports a U.N.-appointed tribunal, set up to probe the killing. The other, known as March 8th, is a Hezbollah-led coalition that heads the new government and opposes the court.
Indictments, four arrest warrants
Four sealed warrants were issued on June 30. The court did not publicly name the suspects, but Lebanese and other Arab media have reported their names. If the identifications are correct, all are members of Hezbollah, the Shi'ite political group backed by its own powerful militia, which forced the collapse of the pro-Western government of Saad Hariri in January.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has been clear in his rejection of the Special Tribunal, saying it is an “American-Israeli court.” Two days after the warrants were issued, he said Lebanese authorities would not be able to arrest the suspects “even in 300 years.”
But Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a billionaire Sunni businessman who was backed by Hezbollah for the post, has been more ambiguous. He says his government will “respect” international resolutions as long as they do not threaten the country's peace and stability.
From the other side of the political divide, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his allies are calling for justice. In a recent televised interview, Hariri said if he was still in power, he would work to arrest and hand over the four suspects to the court.
This political jockeying has caused some Lebanese to worry the country could fall back into a civil war like the one that split it apart from 1975 to 1990.
Along West Beirut’s seafront, not far from where Rafik Hariri was killed, Beirutis from a variety of backgrounds are out enjoying a summer evening.
Jamal, 52, a businessman in West Africa, says if the four suspects are innocent they should go to The Hague and clear their names. He worries what will happen if the trials do not go forward. “If not, I think it's going to be more and more political and there is going to be more explosions and more instability in the country, because of this. Because we have a group here, Hezbollah, it is very strong in the region right now," Jamal said. "Many things can happen with this kind of group.”
Ihab, 31, a website developer, thinks the U.N.-backed court is politicized and not independent and cannot arrive at justice in the Hariri case, and this could lead to violence. “I believe it is more into political. It is unjust. Because so many things happened to accuse Hezbollah only, it is nonsense,” Ihab stated.
Political divide
Fatima and Rabab, both 25-year-old accountants, also worry the court is political. Fatima fidgets with her headscarf as she denounces the Tribunal as a tool of the Americans, British and Israelis. Her girlfriend nods in agreement. Fatima says the issue is only driving Lebanese apart from each other.
“The problem is that Lebanon is divided for two reasons: there are the people who want this decision and the people who do not want this decision, and it will reach us, I think, for a war,” Fatima noted.
But American University in Beirut political science professor Hilal Khashan does not think the country is in danger of falling back into an armed conflict.
“I don't think the issue of the Tribunal will lead to further political instability in Lebanon. It certainly will never certainly lead to a Sunni-Shi'ite civil war. I think the situation in Lebanon is well under control. I don't believe the culprits associated with the assassination of Rafik Hariri will ever stand trial in person,” he stated.
The court, which was established by a mandate from the U.N. Security Council, has given Lebanon's government 30 days to find and turn over the four suspects. If they are not handed over, the Tribunal could go ahead and hold trials in absentia. The matter could also be referred back to the Security Council. This would be awkward for Lebanon, which currently holds a non-permanent seat on the council.
Professor Khashan says he doubts the accused will ever stand trial at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, also known as the STL. He offers a prediction of what Prime Minister Mikati will do.
“At the end of the 30-day period he is going to say, 'We did our best, they are unaccounted for.' And Lebanon can tell the STL that we did our part and look what we did," Khashan said.
But on the streets, Beirut residents do not think it will be so simple. Many say justice may happen eventually, but it may take years as in the case of the former Yugoslavia. They worry though, that in the meantime, the price could be very high.

Canada Welcomes Arrest of Goran Hadzić
(No. 208 – Modification - July 21, 2011 - 10:50 a.m. ET) John Baird, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, today issued the following statement on the arrest by Serbian security forces of Goran Hadzić, the last remaining fugitive under indictment by the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY):
“We congratulate the Serbian government on this arrest, which comes on the heels of the arrest of Ratko Mladić. Like Mladić, Goran Hadzić stands accused of heinous crimes. Canada is pleased that he, too, will now be brought to justice.
“We hope that his transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for trial will happen at the earliest opportunity.
“We also hope this will help to bring some comfort and closure to those who suffered so deeply during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. This arrest promotes respect for international law and demonstrates Serbia’s commitment to its international responsibilities.”
Goran Hadzić is under ICTY indictment for war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in the forcible removal of thousands and the murder of hundreds of Croatians while political leader of the Croatian Serbs between 1991 and 1993.
The armed conflict in the Balkans in the 1990s was a major engagement for Canada. Over the years, more than 40,000 Canadian troops served in the Western Balkans to support Canada’s commitment to human rights, democracy and stability in the region. Minister Baird welcomed Hadzić’s arrest as an important contribution to these enduring goals.
Canada continues its own hunt for people who have committed war crimes and cooperates in international efforts to bring them to justice.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
Follow us on Twitter: @DFAIT_MAECI

Mexican-Lebanese cultural reconnection
July 22, 2011 03:00 AM By Jessica Sarhan, Joseph Khoury The Daily Star
BEIRUT: They’ve been here less than a week but already some are planning their next trip to Lebanon. Others are thinking even further ahead, imagining what it would be like to live in the homeland of their ancestors.
A group of Lebanese-Mexicans are taking part in a three-week summer program that kicked off Saturday, organized by RJ Liban, an association that promotes Lebanese heritage and works to provide opportunities for Lebanese communities worldwide to meet and learn about their culture.
The participants, many of whom have never visited Lebanon before, journeyed over 12,000 kilometers with the hope, they say, of gaining a greater understanding of Lebanese culture.
“I really wanted to feel closer to my ancestors and discover my grandparents’ land and how they came to Mexico. I really want to get to know their culture,” said Yamil Tueme, 29, one of 25 students in the program.
Another participant, Jacqueline Hernandez, said that her great grandfather was the first Lebanese man in the city of Puebla, Mexico, and she was committed to discovering more about his homeland.
The program, which is based in the Metn town of Dhour Choueir, is open to students of all ages, and this group ranges in age from pre-teens to those over the age of 70.
“There is a 71-year-old woman with us on this tour, who has no connection to Lebanon other than the fact that her late husband was Lebanese, who felt the need to connect to this country,” said Naji Farah, the head of RJ Liban and program coordinator.
With learning about culture comes learning Arabic and the students are spending four hours a day on language instruction.
“It is really important for them to learn the language of their ancestors. It is also very important, because they are of Lebanese origin, to learn at least the greetings in their language,” said Samira Haddad, an Arabic instructor.
But, she said, “This course is not just about language. It is about culture, we will teach the students folk traditions, dancing and some cooking as well. We have organized trips around the country to the south, to the north, to Baalbek, and we will teach them about the demographic evolution of Lebanon.”
There are several hundred thousand Mexicans of Lebanese descent, making it one of the largest groups of the Lebanese diaspora in the world.
“There are so many Lebanese people there and they have come from all over Lebanon, not just from Beirut,” explained 21-year-old Nayibe Jacobo, who is taking part in the program with her four cousins.
Tueme agreed, saying, “The huge Lebanese community exists all over Mexico, not just in Mexico city, even in the really rural areas.”
Like Lebanon, the diaspora community in Mexico is religiously diverse, according to Jacobo.
“There are lots of Muslim and Christian Lebanese living in Mexico,” she said.
Tueme, however, noted that many second and third generation emigrants chose to convert.
“The older generations were Muslims, but the younger generation is not really. We are mainly Catholics, like most people in Mexico.”
This is the first year that RJ Liban, in association with the World Lebanese Cultural Union, is running the program for Lebanese-Mexicans but the initial idea for the organization came 25 years ago in Paris.
At the height of the Civil War in Lebanon, Farah says he and his friends wanted to counter the negative images of Lebanon in the media and provide a way for Lebanese emigrants to maintain a connection with the country.
“There was a lot of false press in the international news about Lebanon during the civil war, and so we wanted to give Lebanon another image, its true image,” he said.
Most of the participants in the program were first introduced to Lebanese culture in Mexico.
When asked if she felt isolated from her Lebanese heritage, Jacobo responded, “Not at all! There are plenty of clubs that unite Lebanese people from all over South America, not just Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela as well.”
Tueme also emphasized the ease in which the new generation of Lebanese diaspora stays in touch with their roots.
“There are conventions at least once a year. The events are always about five days long and are made up of about 300 to 400 people.”
Willie Aboumrad, 15, said, “My grandmother speaks Arabic and she cooks us Lebanese food on some special occasions.”
Still, there are some things that can only be experienced first-hand.
Jacobo said she wants to unite herself with the traditions that she feels have been lost over time.
“I want to learn Arabic, my grandmother does try to teach me a little bit, but it is not the same thing,” she said.
“I want to discover my roots because over time our traditions have changed a lot. My grandmother, after moving to Mexico became very Mexican, and my mother, who grew up there, was even more Mexican. I want to get closer to my Arab roots.”

Maronite patriarchate says Lassa incident solved
July 22, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: An agreement on land disputes between the Maronite Patriarchate and residents of a predominantly Shiite village in north Lebanon was reached during a meeting held under Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, according to a statement by the patriarchate’s media office Thursday.
The statement said that following an incident in the village of Lassa, Jbeil, last week, the concerned parties met in Bkirki Wednesday night. Attending the meeting were Rai, Bishop Antoine Nabil Andari, who was heading a delegation from Jounieh’s Maronite Archdiocese, Jbeil lawmakers Walid Khoury, Abbas Hashem and Simon Abi Ramia along with Baalbek-Hermel MP Emile Rahmeh and all members of the Free Patriotic Movement bloc.
Other top security officials and a Hezbollah delegation headed by Ghaleb Abu Zeinab were on hand as well.
“The participants discussed the issue of disputed real estate in the area. They unanimously stressed that the political tinge be removed from it [the dispute] and [discussions] be restricted to the negotiation and a legal course, without any tension,” the statement said.
Last week, locals from Lassa accosted a delegation from the Maronite Patriarchate, accompanied by topographical professionals, who were surveying lands belonging to Jounieh’s Maronite archdiocese, in line with a judicial order. The delegation’s visit came following news that illegal structures were being built on archdiocese property, and the residents prevented the delegation from carrying out its work.
Members of a news crew from MTV, who were reporting from Lassa, were assaulted Tuesday by locals who smashed a camera belonging to the crew, forcing them to end their work.
“The dispute is not between parties or political movements, but revolves around real estate affairs. What the spiritual and parliamentary authorities, along with political parties, did in their meeting was make a positive and responsible contribution toward creating a climate to accompany this purely legal proceeding,” the statement said.
It added that the participants have drawn up “a mechanism to carry out the decisions taken within a timetable to end this issue, which has been going on for years, in a [definitive] manner by a committee that has been assigned for this job [resolving the dispute].”
Lebanese security forces will oversee the implementation of the agreement’s articles to ensure that no one will be attacked, the statement said. The participants also decided to remove the issue from the media spotlight.
But Fares Soueid, the general coordinator of the March 14 coalition, slammed what he called the “compromises” taking place in Lassa and the state submitting to the “logic of force.”
“The state appeared to be letting down its duty to implement law and submit to the logic of force. This was clearly expressed by Interior Minister [Marwan Charbel], who said that some Lebanese avoid passing through certain areas in Lebanon,” he said.
Soueid said the people of upper Jbeil and Jibbet al-Mnaitra stress their attachment to their land, adhering to the state and the law, and urged the Maronite Church not “to abandon its right to land in upper Jbeil under the threat of force.”
Soueid said the participation of Abu Zeinab in the Bkirki meeting “highlights the political nature of this issue, contrary to remarks made by the Free Patriotic Movement MPs.”
“It also confirms Hezbollah provides anyone who breaches the law and violates the property of others with moral, political and security protection.”
Soueid urged the quick completion of the land survey in the area, removing unauthorized structures on church land and holding their builders accountable, along with those providing protection for the phenomenon.
Soueid also urged the authorities to arrest those who assaulted the MTV crew and survey team.
Separately, the National Bloc called for “strictly” executing “the judiciary’s order to survey the Maronite Patriarchate’s property and for holding violators accountable.”
The National Bloc voiced surprise that the Jbeil incident occurred when Rai was touring the district from which Sleiman and Charbel hailed.
“This indicates that Hezbollah respects neither Lebanese law nor the Maronite Patriarchate, and that the state is unable to carry out its duties,” said the committee said in a statement after its meeting. The Catholic Media Center condemned the attack on journalists in Lassa, saying it jeopardized coexistence.

Rai lambasts politicians over disputes, wants new covenant
July 22, 2011/By Antoine Amrieh/The Daily Star
DIMAN, Lebanon: Citing chronic political disputes, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai called Thursday on rival leaders to agree on a new national charter to replace the 1943 National Covenant which has regulated the relationship and coexistence between Christians and Muslims since Lebanon gained independence from France.
In his first harsh criticism of rival factions since he was elected the head of the powerful Maronite Catholic Church in March, Rai decried the leaders’ political conflicts which he blamed for paralyzing the work of state institutions.
Rai said the Lebanese people were paying the price for political divisions between the rival leaders. He also blamed the political schism for the emigration of the Lebanese.
“Emigration has broken our back. The people and also the state institutions are paying the price for divisions. Where there is no political stability, there will be no economic stability,” Rai told a delegation of Kataeb (Phalange) Party members from the diaspora who visited the patriarch at his summer residence in Diman to brief him on the results of the party’s emigrant conference held in Lebanon.
“We do not accept politicians to continue their differences at the expense of the Lebanese. The country is our country and it does not belong to someone more than the other. All of us have sacrificed throughout history. Let’s shoulder responsibility and support the institutions. We will not accept the work of institutions to be crippled by political differences,” the patriarch said.
Referring to the closure of Parliament for more than a year and the failure to elect a new president on time as a result of a fierce power struggle between March 8 and March 14 parties in 2007-08, Rai said: “When we disagree politically, we close Parliament or we do not elect a president, or we do not form a Cabinet. The question is: Where are we taking the country to and who has the right to turn the country upside down?”
He called on the feuding parties to engage in “a partnership” to build the country and put Lebanon’s affairs above any individual and partisan considerations and external allegiances.
“The partnership [means] to live together according to the rules of law and duties and to work to finalize an election law that befits us and gives the resident and emigrant Lebanese his rights,” Rai said.
Recalling Lebanese Muslim and Christian leaders who, following Lebanon’s independence from France in 1943, established the National Covenant that regulated sectarian coexistence, Rai said: “Come on to build our common lives as did the men who established the National Covenant and wanted to live together saying ‘No to the East and no to the West.’”
“It is high time to sit with each other, propose new ideas about our national issues and conclude a new national contract to develop the National Covenant and keep pace with today’s developments. Let there be a new covenant because we have reached a stage where no one trusts the other, but rather accuses the other of treason,” the patriarch added.
Recalling the heydays before the Civil War broke out in 1975 when Lebanon was dubbed the “Switzerland of the East,” Rai said: “What happened to Lebanon which was considered the Switzerland of the East? The question is: Do we care to live together or not? Do we care for Lebanon or not?”

Decades of conflicting property claims unresolved in Jbeil
 July 22, 2011/By Van Meguerditchian/The Daily Star
LASSA, Lebanon: Despite the ongoing talks between the Maronite Patriarchate and Lebanese politicians to defuse a dispute over land ownership in the Jbeil village of Lassa, tension was high Thursday as residents of the town remained wary of the media visiting the area.
But the town has historically been a place of coexistence between Christians and the majority of its Shiite population since the early 19th century – and a local official blamed outdated maps for the recent flare-up.
Last week, a delegation from the Maronite Patriarchate arrived in the village to survey land it says belongs to the church, in line with a judicial order. Residents who were not informed of the visit beforehand reacted angrily, and a brief physical confrontation forced the delegation to abandon its mission.
Politicians and church officials have met this week in a bid to solve the impasse – even though a solution has been reached, according to the Maronite patriarch, the tension has remained.
“We cannot allow you to take photos of this area because there was a confrontation here last week,” a group of men on motorcycles told the Daily Star Thursday.
Lebanese Army troops and security personnel have heavily deployed in some areas of the village as the residents of the town keep a sharp eye out for visitors to Lassa, where Hezbollah flags are prominently displayed.
The men also asked The Daily Star not to remain in the area, in order to avert a possible overreaction by village residents, who several days ago clashed with a television crew from MTV.
The village has traditionally been a stronghold of the Amal Movement, but in recent years Hezbollah has markedly gained in popularity, a development that residents attribute to the party’s record when it comes to resisting Israel.
The mukhtar of Lassa, Mahmoud Miqdad, said properties in the village had changed hands frequently and without any problems since the 1800s.
“In the years after 1940, many people were selling and buying land in Lassa but after 1975 the Patriarchate banned the selling of land and it took full control over all its properties,” he said.
Speaking to The Daily Star at his residence in Jbeil, Miqdad said the Patriarchate had erred by seeking to “unilaterally” conduct land surveys, urging the government to set up an office in the village to handle any disputes.
Miqdad said a number of land surveys dating back decades have failed to achieve results, while his predecessors were unable to sort out disputes over property.
“This does not mean that people should unilaterally take action on the ground,” said Miqdad, adding that the process of surveying should be conducted properly to settle a host of land-related inconsistencies.
Miqdad acknowledged that prior to the Civil War, a number of homes were built in the village on public property, but that didn’t mean the entire village should be considered illegal, since many people had purchased their land legally.
In its efforts to gauge the status of church-owned land, the Maronite Patriarchate, Miqdad said, has been using maps that detail its land ownership from more than a century ago.
The mukhtar said the Maronite Patriarchate lacked all the documents needed to conduct the surveying. “Many of the houses that some officials have mentioned in the media, describing them as illegal, are owned by the residents and most of them have the legal documents for their property,” he said.
The mukhtar said only a compromise solution could sort out the contradictory accounts of who exactly owns what in the village, and urged representatives of the various sides to conduct a joint land survey.
According to Miqdad, the Hamadeh clan, one of the largest families in Lassa in the 19th century, sold most of its land to Jounieh’s Maronite Archdiocese and today, the area’s only Maronite Church stands on the former site of Hamadeh family mansion.
Miqdad also argued that many senior clergymen were unaware of what their predecessors had sold decades ago.
Following a meeting chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Bkirki Wednesday, church officials, lawmakers and a delegation from Hezbollah agreed to follow up on last week’s incident through a mutually agreed mechanism that would be supervised by the Internal Security Forces.
Lassa, which has a population of less than 10,000 people, was once part of the neighboring district of Kesrouan-Ftouh, but a round of electoral re-districting in 1960 moved the village to the qada of Jbeil, producing enough voters for Jbeil to have a Shiite MP.

Lasa’s land disputes
By: Matt Nash and Nadine Elali,
Now Lebanon/July 22, 2011
The recent “assaults” on both a delegation from the Maronite Church and an MTV crew in the small mountain town of Lasa involved no actual physical abuse, several sources familiar with the incidents told NOW Lebanon. And, while the events are becoming highly politicized, Lasa’s residents are keen to keep a low profile. As usual, on a visit to the town, NOW Lebanon heard divergent versions of what happened on July 14, when a group from the Maronite Church surveyed land in Lasa, and on July 19, when MTV went to do some reporting there. But some common points on crucial details emerged.
Tucked into the mountains of the Jbeil district, Lasa is a town surrounded by natural beauty (and illegal quarries) whose few thousand residents are either Shia or Christian. Residents told NOW Lebanon that disputes over land ownership have been going on since 1937, both within and between the two communities. Further, some of the Lasa’s land is property of the Maronite Church.
As has happened several times previously, on July 14 a delegation from the Church was surveying land to map out precisely what it owned. A group of Shia residents from the town (who are supporters of Hezbollah) approached them to demand that they stop. Several of those residents told NOW Lebanon that their problem with the surveying was that the Church did not contact Lasa’s mukthar (a local elected official somewhat similar to a mayor) nor did it reach out to residents who might dispute the boundaries of the Church’s land.
Church officials did not respond to requests for an interview, but after numerous interviews in Lasa, NOW Lebanon was repeatedly told that while there was plenty of yelling, no one was slapped, pushed or punched during the argument. Indeed, the army, which has been stationed in the town, quickly intervened to prevent any violence.
Tensions were running high immediately after the argument, but things have calmed down considerably since a July 20 meeting in Bkirki, home to the Maronite Patriarch, involving representatives from the town, the Church and Hezbollah.
The day before the meeting, a three-person crew from MTV visited Lasa to do some reporting on the land disputes. MTV reporter Joelle Akiki told NOW Lebanon that residents, who she indicated were affiliated with Hezbollah, approached the crew, yelled at them for filming, tried to take their camera and eventually took the film from in the camera and destroyed it. (The crew did, somehow, manage to keep some of the footage, including of a shouting match between the crew and residents.)
Residents who told NOW Lebanon they stopped MTV that day were equally adamant that the crew had a sectarian agenda and came to stir up trouble. They said they took the footage because MTV did not have permission from the mukthar to film there. Akiki said that as a Lebanese journalist, she finds it ludicrous that she should need permission to film parts of her own country.
She insisted that there were no sectarian undertones to their reporting. Akiki wanted to expose violations of the law and said she was not interested in the issue only because those accused of breaking the law are Shia.
Once again, however, both sides agreed that there was never any physical violence.
Members of Lasa’s Shia community told NOW Lebanon that they are willing to negotiate land disputes and are hopeful that a follow-up committee formed in the wake of the July 20 meeting will produce some results. However, Father Chamoun Aoun said on July 15 that 50 homes are built on Church land, so it seems a solution to this decades-old problem could be difficult to reach.