Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 23/12
Two hours for Syrian chemical weapons to reach Lebanon. Four armies prepared
Hezbollah having advanced arms intolerable: Israel's Barak
Hezbollah may get chemical arms if Assad falls: Netanyahu
Tears, Cheers at Vigil for Colorado Massacre Victims
Israel in tough warning over Syria weapons cache
March 14 Camp Informs Suleiman of its Boycott of National Dialogue
Video Shows Hussam Hussam in Custody of Syrian Rebels
Gunmen Attack Security Forces Destroying Cannabis Fields in Bekaa
Syrian rebels broadcast alleged detention of Hariri-killing false witness
Hamadeh: Apprehension of Hussam important for STL
Jumblat: Nasrallah Was Better Off Not Referring to Symbol of Syrian Oppression as Comrade-in-Arms
Suleiman Tasks Mansour to Hand Syrian Ambassador Letter of Complaint over Violations
EDL Contract Workers Refuse to Budge on Demands
Syria Says Will Use Chemical Weapons Only Against Foreign Attack
EU Tightens Arms Embargo on Syria
Lebanon to appeal for Syrian refugee funding
Syrian Refugees Clash with Police in Turkey Border Camps
EU Hails Lebanese Efforts to Support Syrian Refugees
Arab League Backs Palestinian Plan to Upgrade U.N. Status
Cyprus Court Extends Detention of Lebanese Terror Suspect
Turkey Sends Ground-to-Air Missiles to Syria Border
U.N. Agency Fears for Palestinian Refugees in Syria
At Least 23 'Summarily Executed' in Damascus
Iraq rejects Arab League call for Assad to go
Turkey recalls its envoy from Aleppo
Iraq allows in Syrian refugees in change of heart
Syria troops raid Damascus neighborhoods, reports say
Fighting rages in Damascus, Aleppo, activists say
Ninety-one killed in Iraq's deadliest day in two years
Iraq attacks kill 106 in deadliest day in 2 years

Tears, Cheers at Vigil for Colorado Massacre Victims
Naharnet /23 July 2012, 05:56
There were tears for the victims, and cheers for those who prevented even more lives being lost, as the Colorado town of Aurora stood silent Sunday to grieve the Batman theater massacre.
Some 3,000 mourners gathered three blocks from the multiplex where James Holmes allegedly opened fire on those attending a packed midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" on Friday, killing 12 and injuring 58."While our hearts are broken, our community is not," Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan told the crowds, many with small children or clutching flowers, as heart-shaped balloons floated into the sky.
The vigil was preceded by an address by President Barack Obama, who said he had "shed some tears" with the families of the dead, but also shared some laughter at warm memories of their loved ones' lives.Obama did not mention Holmes' name -- an emerging theme since Friday's massacre. Even before he spoke a relative of one of the victims, Jordan Ghawi -- whose sister Jessica Ghawi had blogged about surviving a shooting in Toronto only days before she died in Aurora -- had pressed Obama to focus on the victims."Sat down with President Obama. He has been incredible. He too has agreed not to mention the shooter's name," he said on his Twitter account. And so it was with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who drew applause when he refused to mention Holmes by name, referring to him only as "suspect A" and insisting that the priority should be to remember the 12 victims. "July 20th should never be about remembering the killer, it should be to about remembering those individuals, remembering those victims. So I ask you to help me here.
He then read out their names, after each of which the crowd chanted, "We will remember."
Then, addressing the deceased victims, Hickenlooper vowed: "We will remember you, we will honor you by celebrating life, by living our lives a little better."
Grandmother Genie Hartley, crying, acknowledged that the Second Amendment of the U.S. constitution enshrines the right to bear arms, but said that what happened in Aurora was not about constitutional rights."I respect the fact that people have to protect themselves, it's about the second amendment. But what happened in this theater was not about the second amendment, it's about a massacre," she told Agence France Presse.One big banner read: "Thank you Aurora police, fire and EMS."A few blocks away, a makeshift memorial has sprung up in front of the theater, with hundreds of candles, floral bouquets, crosses, American flags, and signs in memory of the victims.On a small slope, 12 white crosses are lined up, with the names of the victims, flowers and candles around them. Some have baseball hats, black laces and teddy bears attached to them. People came to leave flowers and kneel and pray in front of each cross. Heather Lebedoff, 24, carried 12 red roses and sobbed as she paid tribute to those who died. "I'm very sad that something like this is happening. I'm glad to see how some people are showing their loving support. We have to be strong as a community," she said.
She then left one rose in front of each cross and prayed for each of the victims.SourceAgence France Presse.

Two hours for Syrian chemical weapons to reach Lebanon. Four armies prepared
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 22, 2012/The IDF, the Turkish and Jordanian armies and US Middle East forces have switched to preparedness mode in the last few hours in case the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal starts moving west toward Lebanon, debkafile’s military sources report. Acting in unison, those armies are on the ready for instantaneous action because it would take no more than two hours to cover the distance from Syria to the Hizballah-controlled Bakaa Valley of east Lebanon. Their arrival there, unless thwarted, would mean a war on Hizballah.
Therefore Israeli and US military chiefs prefer to stop the arsenal in its tracks before it moves across the border. This would call for surgically precise, rapid action against a target going to extreme lengths to stay concealed.
In the view of a senior US military source quoted by debkafile, the risk is solid but it comes from a different direction. He stressed that “President Assad has not decided to hand over his chemical weapons to Hizballah, nor has Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah decided to accept them.”
The chemical stockpile is kept at the al-Safira base northwest of Damascus in the care of the president’s personal guard unit which takes orders from Bashar Assad and no one else. If the heads of that guard saw the regime suddenly collapse – as it was expected to do last Wednesday when assassins murdered the men closest to the president - the American official says, “It is impossible to predict how they will act or what use they will make of the weapons systems under their guard.”
“They may decide to sneak out of Syria to Lebanon and take with them the entire arsenal as insurance for their safety and future,” he suggested.
According to our military sources, the arsenal which could be spirited across to Lebanon contains a lot more than chemical weapons. It also includes Scud C and Scud D surface missles capable of delivering chemical warheads and also the Russian-made advanced Pantsyr-S1 (NATO codenamed SA-22 Greyhound) anti-air missiles, which have been guarding the chemical stocks.
This background accounts for the words used by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak Sunday, July 22, to make their intentions clear:
“Israel would have to act if the Syrian regime collapsed without changing and if there’s a risk Syria’s chemical weapons and missiles could fall into the hands of military groups,” such as Hizballah or al Qaeda, Netanyahu said.
Asked if Israel would act alone, he said that Syria’s stockpile was a “common concern” – hinting at the coordination in place between the Israeli, Turkish and Jordanian armies and US regional forces.
Barak was more specific: “I’ve ordered the Israeli military to prepare for a situation where we would have to weigh the possibility of carrying out an attack against Syrian weapons arsenals.” He told reporters.
”The state of Israel cannot accept a situation where advanced weapons systems are transferred form Syria to Lebanon.”


Jumblat: Nasrallah Was Better Off Not Referring to Symbol of Syrian Oppression as Comrade-in-Arms
Naharnet/ 23 July 2012/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Monday Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s position on the Syrian crisis, saying that he should have taken a stance towards the Syrian people that is “more in line with the liberation role he played in the South.”He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “He was better off not referring to one of the symbols of oppression against the Syrian people as a comrade-in-arms.”He made his remark in reference to Nasrallah’s statement that Assef Shawkat, slain brother-in-law of the Syrian president, is a “comrade-in-arms who backed the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and backed us in the July war.”Shawkat was killed last week in an explosion that targeted the Syrian National Security building. Jumblat continued: “Those who defend the Palestinian people and their legitimate demands for freedom cannot stand against the Syrian people and their rightful demands.”
Moreover, the MP said: “At the height of the political division in Lebanon at the time of the political assassinations, we recognized the resistance’s victory in confronting Israeli aggression during the July 2006 war.”“We asked Nasrallah to whom he would like to dedicate the victory, which can only be granted to the state through a national defense strategy,” he noted. Addressing the national dialogue, the PSP leader said: “The PSP’s position is clear in that it supports the dialogue as the only way to resolve political disputes.”He noted that President Michel Suleiman had said that the talks will focus on ways to employ the resistance’s arms within a defense strategy, as well as the Palestinian possession of arms and the spread of weapons in Lebanon.The PSP demands however that the case of the telecommunications data be resolved because it concerns the safety of the Lebanese people, regardless of their political affiliations, said Jumblat.He stressed the importance of coordination between the security agencies in order to thwart assassinations given “the transformation of Israeli collaborators into heroes instead of criminals who should be sentences to death.”In addition, he noted that the discovery of Israeli espionage devices only highlights the need to for coordination between the security forces to confront the threat of assassinations.
SourceNaharnet.

Gunmen Attack Security Forces Destroying Cannabis Fields in Bekaa
Naharnet/ 23 July 2012, 06:57/..A police vehicle was damaged and an officer was slightly injured on Monday when security forces came under gun and mortar fire while destroying cannabis crops in a town near the city of Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley, the National News Agency reported. An Internal Security Forces Nissan was hit with bullets and the officer, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, was bruised after a bullet struck him in the back. The ISF personnel came under fire although they were backed by the special panthers unit and army troops in their operation to destroy the crops in the town of Buday.Police later briefly fired back at the source of intermittent gunfire.Angry residents also blocked the Tal al-Abyad road in Baalbek to protest the move. But the army reopened it.
A similar operation to destroy cannabis was underway in Talia and Hermel. By midday, 60 dunums of cannabis fields were destroyed, NNA said. It added that the destruction of the cannabis fields will continue despite the attack against the security forces. The Bekaa for long has been reputed as a fertile ground for drugs. During the civil war, the drug trade thrived into a multi-billion dollar business.

Suleiman Tasks Mansour to Hand Syrian Ambassador Letter of Complaint over Violations
Naharnet / 23 July 2012, 11:02/President Michel Suleiman condemned on Monday the Syrian troops’ infiltration into Lebanon’s eastern border region of al-Qaa and the shelling of several border towns, particularly in the north.He tasked Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to hand Syrian ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali a letter of complaint over his country’s endeavors along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Suleiman ordered the military command and the competent security agencies to prevent the recurrence of the Syrian violations permanently.
On Sunday, a Syrian force formed of 30 troops infiltrated 500 meters into Lebanon’s eastern border region of Masharii al-Qaa and opened sporadic fire among the residents of the area.
Concerning the Syndicate Coordination Committee’s demands to implement the new wage scale for public workers, Suleiman considered that the protests are being held in the time that the new wage scale is being studied to provide the public workers with their demands.He called on the public sector workers to suspend their scheduled strike on Tuesday and to give the cabinet the opportunity to resolve the issue.The SCC, which is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, warned during the weekend that it will escalate its action on Tuesday through sit-ins in front of ministries.They will also kick off a demonstration on Wednesday from Beirut’s Barbir region and head to the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut.
The committee recently boycotted the correction of official exams over the government’s failure to include the new wage scale in the state budget.

March 14 Camp Informs Suleiman of its Boycott of National Dialogue
Naharnet/ 23 July 2012, 14:11/The March 14 camp announced on Monday that it will boycott the national dialogue, reported MTV. The head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora informed President Michel Suleiman’s envoy of the decision, it said.  On Thursday, the camp had said that it will not attend Tuesday’s session over the dialogue’s failure to address Hizbullah’s arms possession, provide the telecom data to the security forces, and lift political cover over wanted suspects. Saniora informed the president’s envoy that the camp is committed to its conditions linked to its resumption of the all-party talks, stated MTV.His press office said in a statement: “Given the information that he received from the president’s envoy, Saniora got the impression that the manner in which the telecom data will be handed over to the security forces is unclear.”“He then demanded that the complete data be handed over to the security agencies without any complications in order for them to perform their duties in protecting the country and confronting terrorism,” added the statement.Given the vague position on the telecom data and Hizbullah and Palestinian arms, Saniora informed the presidential envoy that the March 14 camp will not change its position on boycotting the national dialogue.The March 14 meeting on Thursday had not taken an official position to boycott the talks, leaving the room for last-ditch efforts made by Suleiman to salvage the national dialogue.Sources close to the president told As Safir newspaper that Suleiman is exerting last-ditch efforts to overcome the latest obstacles that are threatening the fate of the national dialogue on the country’s defense strategy. The March 14 alliance has tied its participation in the national dialogue to the government’s approval to hand over the so-called telecom data, including International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), to security agencies investigating the attempted assassinations of MP Butros Harb and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea.
Reports said that during a meeting held on Saturday by Suleiman and attended by Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui and Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, along with the judges of a three-member committee and security chiefs, an agreement was reached on a mechanism to deliver telecoms data to the security apparatuses.

Syria Says Will Use Chemical Weapons Only Against Foreign Attack
Naharnet /23 July 2012, 10:37/Syria will not use chemical or other unconventional weapons except in the case of a foreign attack, foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said on Monday.
"Syria will not use any chemical or other unconventional weapons against its civilians, and will only use them in case of external aggression," Makdissi told a media conference in Damascus.
"Any stocks of chemical weapons that may exist, will never, ever be used against the Syrian people," he said, adding that in the event of foreign attack, "the generals will be deciding when and how we use them." Fears have been rising that President Bashar Assad's regime might be prepared to use the country's arsenal of chemical weapons in the repression of a 16-month insurgency after reports his stocks were being moved around the country. Makdissi also said Syria rejects a call by the Arab League for Assad to give up power.
"We are sorry that the Arab League has descended to this level concerning a member state of this institution," he said. "This decision only concerns the Syrian people, who are the sole masters of fate of their governments." "If the Arab nations who met in Doha were honest about wanting to stop the bloodshed they would have stopped supplying arms... they would stop their instigation and propaganda," he said. "All their statements are hypocritical." The Arab League on Monday called on Assad to swiftly step aside in order to end the fighting that has swept across the country.
"There is agreement on the need for the rapid resignation of President Bashar Assad," Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told journalists at the end of the ministerial meeting in Doha.
The Arab League also urged the rebel Free Syrian Army to form a transitional government of national unity. "We call on the opposition and the Free Syrian Army to form a government of national unity," Sheikh Hamad said as he delivered the results of the Arab League meeting. He urged Assad to take the "courageous" decision in order to save his country where fierce fighting continued to rage between government troops and rebels. Syria also vowed to regain control of several border posts that rebel forces seized along the frontier with Iraq and Turkey within days.
The rebels "will not hold onto them and they will be gone in a few days," Makdissi told the news conference. SourceAgence France Presse.

EU Tightens Arms Embargo on Syria
Naharnet / 23 July 2012, 10:28
The European Union on Monday tightened sanctions on Syria and required member nations to board ships and airplanes carrying suspicious cargo to the country. The 27 EU ministers added 29 names to an existing list of over 170 Syrian individuals and companies believed to be associated with the repression, or benefiting from President Bashar Assad's regime. They also endorsed a plan to enforce the bloc's existing arms embargo, requiring inspections on the territory or in the territorial waters of EU states. "Our decisions will strengthen sanctions against the Assad regime and also help neighboring countries, mainly Jordan and Lebanon, who will have to take in many of the refugees. We're doing both things," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. The EU banned weapons exports to Syria in May, 2011. But until now, the 28 member nations had the right to decide whether or not to inspect cargos believed to be in breach of the embargo. Syria's military arsenal is mainly of Soviet and Russian origin. Very little of its weaponry originates from Western nations, which makes it unlikely that the EU arms embargo will have a significant effect on the situation on the ground. In January, a Russian ship that made an unscheduled stop in EU-member Cyprus while carrying tons of arms to Syria was allowed to continue its journey after changing its destination. And last month, another Russian-operated ship heading to Syria with a load of weapons turned back after its British insurer decided to remove the vessel's coverage."Sanctions are part of this whole way of trying to put pressure on regime," said Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief. "They will prevent any arms from reaching Syria."SourceAgence France Presse.

Israel in tough warning over Syria weapons cache
July 23, 2012/Now Lebanon
With the Bashar al-Assad regime looking closer than ever to collapse, Israel has stepped up the rhetoric against Syria, warning it could take military action if any of its advanced weapons end up in the hands of Hezbollah. Following a deadly bombing in Damascus on July 18 which killed four top security officials in what Israeli officials described as a "severe blow" to the regime, Israel has been closely watching developments in Syria, readying itself for the possible collapse of the Assad regime. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the fate of Syria's weapons stockpiles was of greater concern to him than who or what would replace the Assad regime. "I’m more concerned with what could happen to those stocks of chemical weapons and those deadly rockets and missiles when there is no government in Syria," he said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday. "Can you imagine Hezbollah—the people who are conducting, with Iran, all these terror attacks around the world—can you imagine that they would have chemical weapons? It’s like Al-Qaeda having chemical weapons," he said. "It is something that is not acceptable to us."
Israel said Syria has the biggest chemical weapons stockpile in the world and the Jewish state has repeatedly warned about the dangers of such materials, and other advanced weaponry such as anti-aircraft systems and surface-to-surface missiles, falling into Hezbollah's hands. In recent days, both Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak have raised the possibility of military action to prevent such a scenario from becoming a reality. "We are following these things and preparing. I've ordered the army to prepare in such a way that if situations arise that will force us to consider action, we will be able to consider it," Barak told Israel's Channel 2 television on Friday. "This is something we will have to act to stop, if the need arises," Netanyahu said in the interview with Fox. "We'll have to consider our action. But do I seek action? No. Do I preclude it? No."A long-time ally of the Assad regime, the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah has firmly backed Damascus and its brutal efforts to crush the uprising which broke out in March 2011, which has so far left more than 19,000 people dead, mostly civilians. Israel sees Hezbollah, with whom it fought a devastating but inconclusive war in Lebanon in 2006, as one of its principal foes. But on Monday, a spokesperson for Syria's foreign ministry said Damascus would only use chemical or unconventional weapons in case of a foreign attack.
Beyond fears about the security of Damascus's weapons stockpile, Israel was also concerned that a collapse of the Assad regime could bring about a dangerous security vacuum on the Syrian Golan Heights which could be exploited by radical groups like Al-Qaeda.
The fear is that the strategic plateau, half of which is occupied and annexed by Israel, could slide into a situation similar to that in Sinai, where a wave of lawlessness has left the Egyptian army struggling powerless to rein in militants.News that some 500 Syrian soldiers and 50 vehicles had crossed into the demilitarized zone on the Golan Heights on Sunday prompted Israel to lodge a complaint with the United Nations, saying it was a "blunt violation" of a 1974 agreement signed between the two countries with "potentially far-reaching implications for the security and stability of the region."But Syria specialist Eyal Zisser said it was highly unlikely that Assad would willingly hand over his arsenal to Hezbollah, even if he was backed into a corner.
"It is still too early to bury the regime of Bashar al-Assad who still holds the major cities," said Zisser, a professor at Tel Aviv University, dismissing the idea that the Syrian strongman would give Hezbollah free access to his weapons stockpile, even if his regime was on the verge of collapse.
The strong statements expressed by Netanyahu were a display of "considerable nervousness" which in his view was "not necessarily justified."
Shlomo Brom, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies also accused Netanyahu of "reacting in an emotional and hysterical fashion" over the issue of Syria's chemical weapons.
Such weapons, he said, "are difficult to handle."
"Hezbollah would need aircraft to be able to deploy chemically-armed weapons, which they do not have," he told AFP.
"Barak, who understands these things a bit better, is putting the emphasis on Syria's stockpile of sophisticated conventional weapons," he added.-AFP


When we fail to treat the wounded
Hazem Saghiyeh/Now Lebanon/, July 23, 2012 Lebanon’s decision not to treat wounded Syrian nationals is a nervy and courageous decision that embodies its estrangement from all that’s “humanitarian.”
This explains the use of the adjective “courageous,” albeit in the negative sense of the word, even if courage usually enlists positive connotations. Indeed, there is courage to saying loud and clear: I am not providing treatment to the wounded. It is a well-known fact that a doctor is ethically and professionally bound to treat his wounded foes, even in the midst of a battlefield.
Politics is most probably not enough to explain this courageous nerviness and – one may even say – monstrosity. We are called upon to look for other deeper reasons to explain this decision.
This behavior brings the Lebanese people back to a pre-human behavior, i.e. one that precedes the discovery by human beings that they share this humanity with everyone else. Reaching this conviction, which is entrenched in Western culture, actually hinged on two major transformations that went along the rise of modernism:
- Man replaced God as the leader of development, thus acquiring sainthood, albeit in a lay form.
- Man, as per his identity, replaced the son of a given community, tribe or nation, thus acquiring a universal character.
Accordingly, abstaining from treating those wounded is a form of admitting that “man” is not among us or that we are relinquishing the humanity we had once reached and retreating to some previous form of monstrosity. Indeed, were a monster to come across someone who’s wounded, it would finish it off and eat it.
All Lebanese should see their own mirror image in this decision, especially in the midst of a tourist season during which international bands are invited to perform in Lebanon and “civilized” Lebanese are flocking to enjoy their performances. Yes, we are doing this out of some pretended universalism much like we are abstaining from treating the wounded out of a genuine and deep-reaching decadence based on which our sectarianism and tribalism are definitely prevailing over our humanity. The Syrian refugees, especially those whose bodies bear the marks of Assad’s aggression, gave the Lebanese a chance to prove that they have enough nobility to make life decent and beautiful. However, our monstrosity was keen to squander this chance. This article is a translation of the original, which first appeared on the NOW Arabic site on Monday July 23, 2012

What will the Shia do?
Hanin Ghaddar/Daily Star/ July 23, 2012
A vigil for Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon after fleeing the Assad regime. Lebanese Shia must decide how they as a community will react to the influx of refugees who once helped them. (AFP photo)
“Hezbollah; I don’t know what they are anymore,” says Soha, a 50-year-old Shia woman who’s lived her whole life in South Lebanon. She survived the Lebanese civil war, every Israeli invasion, and has never ever complained about Hezbollah, despite her disagreement with the party’s ideology. “I saw them grow and develop into the most reliable party in the South. They took the notion of resistance beyond clichés and speeches. They have actually resisted Israel and liberated the South. That’s when their only concern was liberation. Today, they seem distracted with other concerns; they’ve become weak,” she says. Many other Shia share Soha’s concerns today. They see Hezbollah stuck in a corner and acting defensively, and they don’t like what its leadership is doing on many levels. But they are also scared because they cannot abandon the Party of God, their only political reference. Hezbollah has embittered its supporters for three main reasons. First, Hezbollah still supports the Syrian regime, which is getting weaker and weaker every day. Some of the party’s supporters, especially the Leftists and ex-Communists, cannot tolerate this stance. For them, the Syrians have the right to revolt against their dictator without being called terrorists or thugs. Others are just afraid of Hezbollah’s fate when the Syrian regime falls and think the party should be more pragmatic. Second, the increasing corruption throughout Hezbollah’s ranks cannot be ignored anymore, especially considering the deteriorating economic situation in Lebanon. While many are losing their jobs or at least struggling with everyday expenses, Hezbollah’s members and their families seem to be flourishing financially without hiding it. This has created grudges among non-Hezbollah members who have to beg for aid, contrary to the many Hezbollah members who seem to have gained considerably from reparations following the 2006 July war. Third, for the first time, Hezbollah and its allies are in control of the worst government in decades in the opinion of many Lebanese. State services are nonexistent, there’s never been less electricity, unemployment is on the rise, and Syrian forces have been violating the Lebanese borders weekly while the government sticks to its “disassociation policy” regarding the Syrian uprising. Also, crime is on the rise. No one in Lebanon is happy. But the Shia are both unhappy and afraid. Today, Hezbollah is a beast bleeding from many wounds. Israel said on Friday it would consider military action if needed to ensure Syrian missiles or chemical weapons did not reach Bashar al-Assad’s allies in Lebanon, i.e., Hezbollah. And who’s going to pay the price for such action—again? The Shia. At the same time, countries across the world are pointing the finger at Hezbollah and Iran for involvement the suicide bombing that killed Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last week. Meanwhile, the Lebanese government, led by Hezbollah, still turns a blind eye to the increasing number of Syrian refugees coming to Lebanon and refuses to offer them the help and aid the Shia were offered when they took refuge in Syria during the 2006 war. While Hezbollah is hiding behind the rhetoric of resistance and willfully forgetting the hospitality of the Syrian people, many of their followers feel guilty and cannot hide it. “When the war started in 2006, I left with my family to Damascus, where we stayed with another family whom we did not know,” says Imad from Bint Jbeil. “We had common friends who took us in. They were so welcoming and shared their food and house with us. We stayed in touch, and today they contacted me to see if they can come over for a few days until the clashes in Damascus subside. They are Sunnis, and I am not sure if they are going to be safe here in the South, so I told them the truth and put them in touch with my friends in Beirut. I don’t know if they will go, but I feel so bad and ungrateful. Why does it have to be that way?” This is not about the Resistance anymore. It doesn’t matter whether the Syrian regime actually supports the Resistance or not. The question today for the Shia is: When (not if) the Syrian regime is toppled, what are you going to do? Are the Shia ready to pay the price of another war? Are they ready to remain the human shield behind which Hezbollah hides? In his last speech, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah called slain Syrian Defense Chief Assef Shawkat “a comrade in arms and resistance.” No Lebanese can deny his crimes in Lebanon or how many Lebanese suffered because of him and his regime. Are the Shia willing to suffer the consequences of the war Hezbollah declared against the Syrian people?
The Shia are already on the edge, and their discontent with Hezbollah is on the rise. How long will it take for them to look behind them and say, “Enough!” A small dose of human interaction can be louder than any political words. They can start by helping the Syrian refugees. They can also ask Nasrallah to speak for himself, but that will probably take some time.
Hanin Ghaddar is the managing editor of NOW Lebanon. She tweets @haningdr

Iraq rejects Arab League call for Assad to go
July 23, 2012/Iraq on Monday rejected an Arab League call for embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to swiftly give up power, describing it as interfering in Damascus's sovereignty.
"This call is not appropriate at this time because it is interfering in the sovereignty of another country," Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abbawi told AFP. "There are other means to secure a peaceful transition of authority." In a joint statement issued early Monday after their meeting in Doha, Arab League foreign ministers called on Assad to "renounce power," promising that he and his family would be offered "a safe exit.” "There is agreement on the need for the rapid resignation of President Bashar al-Assad," Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani told journalists after the Arab League meeting wound up in the small hours Monday.The Arab League called on the Free Syrian Army rebels and the opposition to form a transitional government of national unity along with the "de facto national authority", without detailing who that authority might be.-AFP