LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 25/09
Bible Reading of the day
Merry Christmas from Elias Bejjani
Luke 2/11/Today in the town of David a Savior has
been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2/14 “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Dear family members, beloved ones, friends
and supporters
May God Bless you all and shower upon you, your families, friends, and beloved
ones all graces of joy, health, love, forgiveness, meekness and hope.
From my heart and soul I wish you all a Merry Christmas that is filled with
abundance of peace, self awareness, self respect, open mind and
tranquility with yourselves and with others.
I call on you all to pray for the salvation of our beloved country, Lebanon and
ask almighty God to lead and bless the steps and peace endeavors of our
righteous politicians and leaders.
Pray that Jesus Christ, God of love, justice and mercy shall on the Christmas
eve come to dwell in your hearts, minds, souls and conscience.
Be prepared and ready for welcoming this distinguishable humble holy guest.
Cleanse yourselves from all sins, mistakes and ungodly conducts.
Invite him with a prayer, tell him openly what are your needs, difficulties,
hardships, what is bothering you, and what did you do wrong.
Kneel on your knees with reverence, raise your hand, repent and ask for
forgiveness.
Wait for his arrival with open hands and a pure soul. Be sure he will respond to
your invitation and come to be with you if you are honest in calling on him.
On the Christmas Day I ask you all to genuinely pray and pray for those of us
who are hurt, lonely, deserted by their beloved ones, feel betrayed, are
enduring silently pain, anguish, and are deprived from their right in happiness,
warmth and joy on this holy and adorned day.
Definitely Jesus
will come to comfort those ousted brothers and sisters of ours. He will enforce
and ignite their faith, and strengthen their hope in a better tomorrow.
Let us all the time be fully aware that we are human and that as the bible tells
we are all vulnerable and not made of stones, but of flesh that came from ash
and into ash it will end.
Ecclesiastes 7/20: "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good
and doesn’t sin"
Let us continuously remind our selves that when our day comes. that could be at
any moment, we shall not be able to take any thing with us for the Day of
judgment except our work and acts, be righteous or evil.
Let us love all others as God loves us, especially
those that hate and hurt us. Let us remember that whoever believes in Jesus
should not perish, but have eternal life (John 314)
Mean while let us understand what an actual love means: John 15/12-13) “This is
my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his
friends"
God bless you all
Elias Bejjani
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Canadian soldier killed by IED in
south Afghanistan/The Canadian Press/December
24/09
Christmas is Not Negotiable/By
Dr. Walid Phares/December
24/09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 24/09
Sfeir Expresses Fear Over
Return to Domineering Syria-Lebanon Relationship/Naharnet
Suleiman Attends Christmas Mass in Bkirki/Naharnet
Assad Ready to Visit Beirut at the
Appropriate Time but Awaits an Invitation/Naharnet
Syrian PM in Beirut after
Holidays/Naharnet
Zoaiter
Urges Suleiman, Hariri to Dismiss Phalange's Minister/Naharnet
Report: Constitutional
Council Has No Jurisdiction Over Phalange Request to Change Policy Statement/Naharnet
Raad: Our Right to
Resistance is Beyond Discussion/Naharnet
Moawad: New Christian
Initiative from Within March 14 to be Launched Soon/Naharnet
Sami Gemayel: The Issue of
Lebanese Jailed in Syria will be Solved Soon/Naharnet
Hariri vows to defend religious leaders as Sfeir backs Syria visit/Daily
Star
Lebanon bid to mark Syria borders puts fate of
Shaba Farms on table/Ha'aretz
Sleiman awards UNIFIL's Graziano Medal of the Cedar/Daily
Star
Ziyad Baroud named Man of the Year
2010/Daily
Star
Israel not interested in peace: Syria's Assad/Reuters
Syrian President ready to visit Lebanon/GulfNews
Bin Laden Daughter in Iran Seeks Refuge/New
York Times
IDF chief: Hezbollah will find us ready/Ynetnews
Syria's Assad blames Israel for deadlocked peace
talks/AFP
Hassan claims French loan to
Lebanon is not conditional//Naharnet
Lebanon misses deadline to help
prevent torture/Daily
Star
Death toll from ship sinking could
hit 43/Daily
Star
Suspect arrested over shooting of
bus carrying Syrian laborers/Daily
Star
Iran builds bridge over deadly
southern highway/Daily
Star
Baroud reduces red tape for women
married to foreigners/Daily
Star
Aridi, Makari inspect projects in
Koura/Daily
Star
NLP leader says parties not working
for Lebanon/Daily
Star
Lawsuit filed against suspected Qarantina bridge killer/Daily
Star
Police arrest four drug dealers in Jbeil/Daily
Star
NGOs appeal to ministries to curb
'toxic games/Daily
Star
Rifi orders personnel to devote
full effort to traffic/Daily
Star
Renewed local drug trade hikes
Middle East tensions/Daily
Star
Lebanese experts lambast climate
washout/Daily
Star
Canadian soldier killed by IED in south Afghanistan; Afghan soldier also dies
Thu Dec 24,
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A period of relative post-fighting season calm was
shattered Wednesday when a Canadian soldier on foot patrol in the volatile
Panjwaii district of southern Afghanistan was killed.
Lt. Andrew Nuttall, along with an Afghan soldier, died when an improvised
explosive device detonated in the town of Nakhoney, the military said early
Thursday - Christmas Eve.
An interpreter was seriously injured. Nuttall, 30, of Prince Rupert, B.C.,
belonged to the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based
in Edmonton.
"Andrew came to Afghanistan because he honestly thought he could make a
difference to the people of Afghanistan," said Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard,
commander of coalition forces in Kandahar province. "He wanted to lead from the
front and set the example, attributes he passionately displayed every time he
was in front of his platoon."
Menard described Nuttall as generous, someone who always had a smile on his face
and "greeted everyone he met with enthusiasm and goodwill."
Nuttall is survived by his mother Jane and father Richard. In a statement,
Nuttall's family said he always put others ahead of himself and they were proud
of his decision to join the military. The statement added that he believed his
service in Afghanistan was making a difference. "We have lost a bright light in
our lives," the family said.
The death was the first of a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan in almost two
months, when Sapper Steven Marshall was killed, and the first since Menard took
over as top commander in Kandahar province. Marshall died Oct. 30 in a similar
incident - in what has been a record year for IED attacks in Afghanistan. Since
April 2007, 66 of the 89 Canadian deaths in Afghanistan have been the result of
the homemade bombs. In all, 134 Canadian soldiers have now been killed on the
Afghan mission since it began in 2002.
With the relative quiet of the post-summer ebb in violence, Canadian soldiers,
reinforced by hundreds of fresh American troops, have been attempting to
establish secure areas in and around Kandahar city. The aim, according to
Menard, is to establish a "ring of stability" around the bustling city before
the uptick in fighting traditionally begins in the spring - the phenomenon known
as "fighting season." Nakhoney, about 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City,
one part of what was dubbed the Panjwaii triangle, has been an area in which
Canadian forces have frequently encountered problems. In July, for example,
Canadian and Afghan soldiers uncovered four factories used by the Taliban to
make improvised explosive devices. They also seized suicide-bomber vests, large
quantities of explosive materials as well as weapons. One soldier, Pte.
Sebastien Courcy was killed during the operation when he stepped on an
explosive.
Menard recently cited Nakhoney as an example where the reinforced Canadian
forces were having an impact in providing security for local Afghans.
At the time of his death, Nuttall was searching for Taliban transit routes,
Menard said. "His patrol was part of our efforts to protect the people of the
village from insurgents."
Under Menard's new strategy, soldiers are moving out of their relatively safe
operating bases to move into platoon houses in the community.
Nuttall used to work and train at a Vancouver fitness school. On Thursday,
friends posted their condolences and wrote of their memories.
"You will be missed," said one. "I remember all our conversations about being in
the military and what going to AF would be like. I remember how proud you were
when you first enrolled."
Another recalled how Nuttall told him that the infantry "is my home and until I
lead men into combat and see what I am made of I won't truly know who I am as a
man." In Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Nuttall's "sacrifice will
not be forgotten." "Canadians are proud of our military men and women," Harper
said in a statement early Thursday. "We support their families, and all those
who serve and sacrifice to protect the interests and values of Canadians. We
will not waiver in our goal of helping Afghans rebuild their country as a
stable, democratic and self-sufficient society. Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean said
she was "deeply saddened." "This death comes at the end of a particularly
difficult year and as we begin the holiday season, an important time for
families," Jean said. "It is a harsh reminder of the enormous sacrifices our
soldiers and their loved ones have agreed to make so that stability and security
can be re-established in a dangerous region of the world and to help people who
have been deprived of their most fundamental rights, distressed by years of
violence and oppression."
Why the Lebanese feel so switched off
By Michael Young
Daily Star staff
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Below the Future Television offices in Kantari, there is a digital counter to
record the number of days that have passed since the assassination of Rafik
Hariri. The idea is to mark how long it takes for the truth to come out in the
case, and presumably for justice to be rendered. However, the last time I
looked, two weeks ago, the counter had been switched off.
It was a deeply reluctant Saad Hariri who made his way to Damascus this past
weekend. As he made clear during and after his one-night stay in the
presidential palace that Rafik Hariri had built for the Syrian regime, he was
doing it all because political reality demanded such “reconciliation.” As prime
minister, he had no choice but to open a new page with what he pointedly
remarked was Lebanon’s only Arab neighbor, in the context of inter-Arab concord
sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah.
Hariri has not forgotten his father, but like the counter that has been turned
off he had to bend to the aftereffects of the Saudi-Syrian rapprochement. It was
never Riyadh’s priority to obtain justice after the former prime minister was
killed. At the memorable meeting between then-Crown Prince Abdullah and Bashar
Assad in the Saudi capital in early March 2005, there were two facets to the
conversation. The Saudis told Assad it was time to remove his soldiers from
Lebanon; but they also made it clear that the kingdom would repay Assad by
helping to reintegrate Syria into the Arab fold and let bygones be bygones.
Abdullah’s subsequent comments to senior Lebanese March 14 politicians confirmed
his hardnosed reading of Arab realities. The regimes of the region generally
don’t like to make things personal, and only when Assad did make things
personal, by allying himself with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Iran and calling the
Saudi leadership “half-men” during the Lebanon war of 2006, did the
Riyadh-Damascus relationship collapse.
Yet the period was not a good one for the Saudis. Their allies in Lebanon were
set upon by Syria and Hizbullah and pushed onto the defensive. The effective
Saudi and Egyptian boycott of the Arab League summit in Damascus in March 2008
backfired (both countries sent only low-level representatives), as most Arab
heads of states attended, quite a few from the Gulf. And Hizbullah’s subsequent
onslaught against western Beirut and Aley in May 2008 brought on a conference
hosted by the Saudis’ bitter rival, Qatar, from which Riyadh was largely
excluded and where the March 14 coalition had to accept a disadvantageous
settlement.
Rather than Syria being isolated, it was Saudi Arabia and Egypt who were, a
matter further reinforced during the war in Gaza almost one year ago. Both
regimes were ambiguous enough about the conflict and the possibility of Hamas
emerging stronger from it, that they found themselves working against the grain
of angry Arab public opinion. This may have been defensible from the perspective
of their self-interest, but it placed King Abdullah in such an uncomfortable
position that he decided it was time to extend a hand to Bashar Assad, against
what the Saudi monarch saw as the real problem in the region: Iran. After all,
it was the Assad regime and the Iranians who had encouraged Hamas to scuttle the
Gaza truce, which prompted the Saudis to try dividing the two.
The Saudi gamble has yet to show results. While Syria and Iran may be going in
different directions, we’re nowhere near a rift. Too much is at stake for both
sides to allow such a thing. Syria still needs Hizbullah to complete its
counterattack in Lebanon, which the Saudis have closed their eyes to in the hope
that what Syria regains in Beirut, it will surrender with regard to Tehran. The
Syrians see no reason to break with the Iranian regime over the Palestinian
track either. Iran helps finance Hamas, while Syria has used the movement to
great effect as leverage in its own bargaining with Israel and the United
States; but also in gaining more control over Palestinian decision-making
against other Arab states.
In Iraq, Syria and Iran have contradictory aims, as the Syrians and Saudis
appear to be colluding, each for reasons of their own, against the emergence of
a stable order in Baghdad. The Obama administration, because of its impatience
to withdraw its soldiers from the country, is leaving behind a vacuum that
Iraq’s neighbors are trying to fill. But even there Syria and Iran have time and
again overlooked their differences, while Saudi dependency on Syrian cooperation
has only increased.
Those utterly ignored in the game of nations that led Saad Hariri to Damascus
were the Lebanese. Almost five years after Rafik Hariri’s murder, only six
months after voters gave March 14 a new majority in Parliament, Lebanon has
fallen back into Syria’s hands. People cannot understand why, and do not want
to. Being pawned off by one Arab state to another is not what those who
participated in the Independence Intifada troubled themselves for, particularly
those civilians humiliated in May 2008 by a militia that had turned its guns
against its own countrymen. For many people the images from Damascus were,
justifiably, nauseating, a veneer of bogus unity plastered over a series of
unpunished murders, their perpetrators grinning with satisfaction. Many give
Saad Hariri credit for going through a genuinely taxing undertaking. But many
more of those who sided with the majority remain unsympathetic. They sense that
despite their endurance during the hard times, their political leaders have been
too willing to abandon principle, to abandon the victims, and to disregard an
uneasy population that they once manipulated with alacrity. We’re in for a
period of prolonged political discontent among the Lebanese, not to say outright
disgust, because the country is afflicted with politicians and parties on both
sides of the political divide who offer no vision for sovereign Lebanese
statehood. The Syrian perspective toward Lebanon has changed not one iota since
2005. If Assad could drive his tanks into Beirut once again, he would not
hesitate to do so. But for now he doesn’t need to. Lebanon is the prize in a
sordid regional transaction that its own leaders have legitimized. We can’t be
sure what the consequences will be, but don’t expect the Lebanese to care much
about their state in the future, its independence, or the rule of law. Those
heady words were emptied of their meaning last Saturday. **Michael Young is
opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.
Sfeir Expresses Fear Over Return to Domineering Syria-Lebanon Relationship
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir has expressed fear to Prime Minister
Saad Hariri about a return to Syria's domineering relationship with Lebanon,
well-informed sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. The sources said Sfeir
hinted to Hariri during their talks in Bkirki on Wednesday that the most
important thing in the new relations with Syria was for Damascus not to go back
to the "old-fashioned way" in dealing with Beirut. However, the patriarch
reportedly expressed relief at the results of Hariri's visit to Damascus. "Sfeir
expressed hope that the new promises would be interpreted into good deeds," the
sources said. Al-Hayat also said that Sfeir announced his backing for Hariri's
efforts to take Lebanon out of the instable situation. Beirut, 24 Dec 09, 08:17
Assad Ready to Visit Beirut at the Appropriate Time but Awaits an Invitation
Naharnet/Syrian President Bashar Assad has said he was ready to visit Beirut at
the appropriate time but after receiving an official invitation from Lebanese
authorities.
"I visited Lebanon in 2002 when I was president. It is natural for another visit
to Lebanon to take place. This is not unusual," Assad said at a joint press
conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Wednesday. "I am interested in visiting Lebanon at the appropriate time," the
Syrian president said in response to a question. "I haven't received an
invitation and (additional) steps should be taken by both countries." However,
the Kuwaiti al-Rai daily said Assad could possibly visit Beirut in February
after an official invitation sent by President Michel Suleiman on August 8,
2008. "The Lebanese government is new and most probably has internal priorities
before thinking about its foreign relations," Assad told reporters.
He described Prime Minister Saad Hariri's visit to Damascus as "successful."
Assad also accused Israel of being responsible for the deadlocked peace talks
and called for renewed Turkish mediation between his country and Israel."Israel
is the main cause for the deadlock in peace. The Israelis want negotiations
devoid of principles, that is to say endless talks," he said.
He said Turkish mediation between Syria and Israel last year had been "honest,
fair and objective," adding: "We now want this mediation more than ever."Erdogan,
meanwhile, hailed Turkey's fast expanding relations with Syria as model for its
ties with other Arab countries. "We are in the process of building with Syria a
sound structure for the Middle East -- we need to create a foundation for peace
in the region," Erdogan said in a speech to the two countries' businessmen
broadcast by Syrian state television. Erdogan said Turkey was working on
expanding its relations with other Arab states, including Iraq, Jordan and
Lebanon. He said he hoped bilateral trade between Turkey and Syria would rise
from two billion dollars a year now to five billion dollars over the next three
to four years.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 24 Dec 09, 07:39
Raad: Our Right to Resistance is Beyond Discussion
Naharnet/Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc leader MP Mohammed
Raad on Thursday said that "the resistance is practicing its defensive duty for
the sake of Lebanon, its people, and its security against any possible Israeli
aggression or threat," and added that "our right to resistance is beyond
discussion, but those who want to discuss the resistance's role and its position
in the defensive strategy can do that at the national dialogue table."Raad, who
was delivering a speech in Sidon, added that the right to resistance cannot be
subject to questioning neither on the moral level nor on the international and
human level. On the other hand, Raad hailed President Michel Suleiman's stances
during his last official visit to the United States, saying the president
"stressed upon all the Lebanese national constants that preserve the strength of
Lebanon and its ability of defiance." "We look with great positivity at the
national consensus atmospheres that have started to dominate, especially after
the last visit of Lebanon's premier (Saad Hariri) to Syria," added Raad. Raad
hoped for Lebanon to seize the local, regional, and international opportunities
to reestablish the State's scheme and to start implementing it upon the basis of
national agreement. Beirut, 24 Dec 09, 15:30
Zoaiter Urges Suleiman, Hariri to Dismiss Phalange's Minister
Naharnet/Development and Liberation bloc's MP Ghazi Zoaiter urged President
Michel Suleiman and PM Saad Hariri to dismiss Minister Phalange Party's minister
Salim al-Sayegh following the Phalange's intention to challenge article six of
the ministerial Policy Statement -- related to Hizbullah's arms -- before the
Constitutional Council.
Zoaiter said that "from a constitutional standpoint, neither the statement nor
any of its articles can be revised (before the Constitutional Council)."
He added: "We have the right to resist Israel, and the party, which intends to
file the challenge, should either withdraw from the National Unity government,
or adopt that article."
Zoaiter stressed on the importance of the Lebanese people's unity in support of
the Lebanese army and the resistance in order to liberate their land.
"Humans' right to liberate their lands is higher than any constitution," added
Zoaiter. Beirut, 24 Dec 09, 15:56
Moawad: New Christian Initiative from Within March 14 to be Launched Soon
Naharnet/Independent Movement leader Michel Moawad confirmed a media report on
Thursday that a new Christian initiative from within the March 14 alliance would
be launched in the next few weeks. The initiative will be based on the Maronite
church's historic stances, Moawad told Voice of Lebanon radio, insisting however
that it will not be a gathering similar to the now defunct Qornet Shahwan
coalition. An Nahar daily said Thursday that arrangements are being made by
forces, parties and Christian personalities from within the March 14 forces to
launch the initiative between Christmas and New Year. Sources told the newspaper
that a document that will be unveiled as part of the initiative will shed light
on the Arab-Israeli conflict's dangers on Lebanon. The document also mentions
the dangerous internal situation as a result of the different confessions'
dominance on the state. The Christian parties, according to the sources, will
have a stance on the issue of abolishing sectarianism in politics and
Hizbullah's arms. Beirut, 24 Dec 09, 08:34
Sami Gemayel: The Issue of Lebanese Jailed in Syria will be Solved Soon
Naharnet/The issue of Lebanese citizens jailed in Syria would be solved soon and
the detainees will return to Lebanon, MP Sami Gemayel reassured their families.
The lawmaker also said that the Phalange is working on bringing back the
Lebanese who have escaped to Israel so that they could spend Christmas with
their loved ones. Gemayel made the comments during a Christmas celebration
organized by the Phalange at the Michel Murr stadium. Beirut, 24 Dec 09, 12:14
Authorities Thwart Attempt to Smuggle Foreigners in Wadi Anjar
Naharnet/Lebanese customs officers have thwarted an operation to smuggle 12
people from different nationalities across the border with Syria in the area of
Wadi Anjar, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday. The newspaper said the
Lebanese driver of the van A.M. was arrested along with the nine Sudanese, two
Egyptians and one Pakistani. Authorities are now readying them for deportation,
according to al-Akhbar. Beirut, 24 Dec 09, 11:15
Syrian PM in Beirut after Holidays
Naharnet/Preparations are underway to set the stage for Syrian Prime Minister
Mohammed Naji Otari's visit to Beirut after the holidays, media reports said.
High-level ministerial sources told As Safir daily that Otari will visit Beirut
on the head of an official delegation to "officially lay the cornerstone" for
the new cooperation and coordination stage between the two countries. Beirut, 24
Dec 09, 09:01
Aoun: I Defend Resistance Arms Because They Benefit Lebanon
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Wednesday said that he
defends the resistance arms because he believes that those arms benefit Lebanon.
"Why does Geagea always imagine that the resistance is coming to Maarab after
him? No one will come to Maarab after him," added Aoun. At a press conference
after the weekly meeting of Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun said that
PM Saad Hariri's visit to Syria restores positive relations and serves the real
interests of the Lebanese and Syrian peoples. Aoun considered the challenge --
that will be filed by Phalange MPs before the Constitutional Council over
article 6 of the ministerial statement -- as "against the law." He added that
the Constitutional Council revises electoral challenges and does not revise the
ministerial Policy Statement, and labeled the challenge as "family disputes
among the ministers." Aoun revealed that his parliamentary bloc is working on a
joint plan with Progressive Socialist Party to facilitate the return of the
displaced to Mount Lebanon, calling for development plans to encourage people to
return to the mountains. FPM leader called for amending some practices by the
Development and Reconstruction Council. He also urged the High Relief Commission
for immediate mobilization to solve the issue of rain floods. Aoun said that
international resolutions are not always immediately implemented, "since
Resolution 520 remained for long years without implementation." He added that
the International Bill for Human Rights, signed by Lebanon, gives legitimacy to
the resistance. Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 18:40
Geagea to Sison: Official Stance on International Resolutions Taken by
Government Exclusively
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday met with U.S.
Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison in Maarab. LF press office said that Sison
informed Geagea of her administration's firm support for the implementation of
international resolutions 1559, 1680, and 1701. Sison also reiterated her
country's unconditional support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and for all
what it takes to fortify Lebanon's independence, restoring its sovereignty over
all territories, and preserving the freedom of its people, according to LF's
press office. The U.S. ambassador stressed upon the U.S. efforts for the
establishment of an independent Palestinian state despite all of the current
difficulties and obstacles. On his part, Geagea stressed to Sison that Lebanon's
official stance regarding the international resolutions is taken by the
government and not by any other political side. He added that Resolution 1559
was not raised for discussion by the government, and that in case it was raised,
then LF would voice support for international resolutions related to Lebanon.
Beirut, 23 Dec 09, 17:03
Hariri to Escalate Tone if Attacks Persist Against Religious Symbols
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri warned -- after meeting with Grand Sunni
Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani -- that he will escalate his tone in case
attacks persisted against the religious symbols of Lebanon, adding that there
are many things to be corrected in the country especially that it is being run
by a national unity government.
He added that the Judiciary is an essential cornerstone for the rise of the
state and that attacking it over a dispute with one judge was not accepted.
Earlier Wednesday, Hariri met with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir "to
discuss latest developments, including trip to Syria," as he told reporters. He
said he was seeking a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open
"good" economic and trade relations between Beirut and Damascus. "We are seeking
a solution to border demarcation with Syria in order to open good economic and
trade relations between the two countries," Hariri told reporters after meeting.
"Why do we need border demarcation with Syria? We need border demarcation to
open up economically to each other," he said in reply to a reporter's
question.While he reiterated that Sfeir is "Lebanon's conscience," Hariri said
he got the patriarch's blessing for his Damascus trip "where I found full
openness" from Syrian President Bashar Assad. "We need to look at things
positively for the sake of the peoples of the two countries," Hariri urged,
stressing that his visit to Syria, which he described as "historic," was in his
capacity as prime minister. He said his visit to Bkirki was also designed to
wish Sfeir merry Christmas and happy holidays.
Hariri later visited the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Patriarchates to
extend his Christmas greetings. The premier also paid a visit to Deputy Head of
the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan. Beirut, 23 Dec 09,
19:31
A
Lebanese Christmas Carol
By The Daily Star /Thursday, December 24, 2009
Editorial
When Charles Dickens penned “A Christmas Carol” in 1843, he almost certainly
didn’t suspect that his book would hold significance for the people of Lebanon
as they begin to celebrate the holiday in 2009. But over 150 years after the
publication of Dickens’ tale, one of its enduring morals gives us hope: That
something about the spirit of Christmas can inspire even the most hardened
misanthrope to learn the errors of his ways and embrace his or her hitherto
repressed sense of humanity. In our own local, modern version of the classic
story, there is more than just one Scrooge. They are the dozens of men and women
who serve as our elected representatives, but who have been so miserly in their
performance that Lebanese citizens are left mostly empty-handed as Christmas
begins. Like Scrooge, our politicians tend to regard the poor working folk
around them as “idiots” and “fools.” Although Lebanese citizens went in their
droves to the polls this summer to elect them into office, our parliamentarians
have done very little to respond to their most pressing needs.
From massive traffic jams to incessant electricity outages, water shortages and
bureaucratic snarls, every Lebanese is paying a daily price for the laxity of
the politicians. Our elected leaders have ignored the country’s multiple crises,
including accelerating emigration, a faltering economy and the threat of
instability and violence.
Even their most basic first task – the act of forming a government after the
elections – was achieved not by their own doing, but rather through a
rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Syria. In fact, their only contribution
to the process was to attempt to break their own impasse by raising the threat
of another civil war.
Under the terms of the unwritten social contract that governs the rights and
responsibilities of rulers and the ruled, our politicians have relinquished
their claim to leadership. Instead of looking after those affairs of state that
make the lives of citizens easier, they have concentrated so much on attacking
and belittling one another that the general and specific consequences of their
“work” have been to frighten and inconvenience everyone else.
The concerns of the Lebanese are emphatically not about the distribution of
Cabinet seats, arcane discussions of constitutional clauses, or which of the
government and the opposition is more to blame for the state of affairs in the
country. The Lebanese have far more important issues to ponder, like the
availability of economic opportunities, the safety of their loved ones, and the
very survival of their country. Will it take a visit from three ghosts to remind
our politicians of their past promises, their current inaction and the bleak
future that they’re creating for each and every Lebanese? Or will they, in the
spirit of Christmas, give us the simple gift of representation?
NLP leader says parties not working for Lebanon
Daily Star staff/Thursday, December 24, 2009
BEIRUT: National Liberal Party leader MP Dory Chamoun accused certain Lebanese
factions on Tuesday of working against the county’s interest, in a speech he
gave at a gathering for the commemoration of Ashura. Chamoun spoke during a
gathering held to commemorate Ashura at the office of Head of the Lebanese
Option Group Ahmad al-Asaad in Hazmieh. The gathering was attended by an array
of political and social figures. Chamoun said that a certain Lebanese party was
ignoring the government and wanted to form its own state under its own rules. He
added that this situation of divide inside the country was due to the constant
instability witnessed since 1975, when the Lebanese civil war broke out. Chamoun
then called on all Lebanese to assume their patriotic responsibility and work on
forming a united Lebanon where the law and the Constitution reign. – The Daily
Star
Police arrest four drug dealers in Jbeil
Daily Star staff/Thursday, December 24, 2009/BEIRUT: The judicial police
arrested four drug dealers on Tuesday in the northern city of Jbeil while the
drug combating department arrested four others on the Mdeirej Bridge near Aley.
Tareq Miguel H. who possessed 600 grams of hashish, Mohammad Saleh who possessed
hashish and large amounts of cocaine, Egyptian national Khaled Mohammad Gh. who
possessed 1,090 grams of hashish, and Egyptian national Rida Ali Sh. who
possessed large amounts of hashish and cocaine. The suspects were arrested after
the judicial police had observed them for three days, and they were later
transferred to the drug combating department. The department itself also
arrested four drug dealers on the Mdeirej Bridge during one of its patrols. –
The Daily Star
Lebanon misses deadline to help prevent torture
Daily Star staff/Thursday, December 24, 2009
BEIRUT: Lebanon has missed a December 22 deadline for setting up a national
institution to prevent torture, a group of Lebanese and international human
rights organizations said Wednesday. The government should move quickly to
consider a proposal commissioned by the Justice Ministry that would address the
issue, the groups said.
A year ago, Lebanon signed the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against
Torture (OPCAT). The protocol requires the government to set up a mechanism
within a year to prevent torture through regular visits to the country’s
detention centers. Former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar set up a committee on
June 20, including some members of nongovernmental organizations, to draft a
proposal to set up the program, and the committee submitted its proposal to the
Justice Ministry on September 30. But the government has taken no further steps
since then. “The Justice Ministry took an important step when it created the
committee, but now it has to finish what it started. The next step is to send
the proposal to the Cabinet,” the human rights groups said. The groups that
issued the press release are Human Rights Watch, Frontiers Ruwad Association,
Al-Karama for Human Rights, Association Libanaise pour l’Education et la
Formation (ALEF), Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), Restart Center for
Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture, Middle East Council of
Churches (MECC), and Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center. The optional protocol is
the first international human rights instrument that seeks to prevent torture
and other forms of ill-treatment by establishing a system of regular visits to
places of detention carried out by independent international and national
bodies. While Lebanese law prohibits torture, a number of detainees, including
suspected Islamists and suspected spies for Israel, have told human rights
groups that their interrogators beat and tortured them. – Reuters
Death toll from ship sinking could hit 43
Thursday, December 24, 2009
DAMASCUS: The death toll from last week’s sinking of a ship off the coast of
Lebanon would likely reach 43, Syrian and Lebanese port officials said
Wednesday. Twenty-six people were still missing and presumed dead, while 17
bodies have been found so far, they said. The Panamanian-flagged cargo ship
carrying 83 crew members and thousands of sheep and other livestock capsized on
Thursday in stormy waters some 17 kilometers from the Lebanese port city of
Tripoli. Rescuers found 40 survivors in the first hours after the ship sank.
Several of the bodies washed ashore in Syria – some 80 kilometers from where the
ship went down, the port officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity
because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The ship, identified as
the Danny F II, was believed to have been sailing from Uruguay to Syria. The
crew members were from Britain, Australia, Russia, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, the
Philippines and Uruguay, Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported. One
British crew member has been confirmed dead; the other Briton’s fate is unknown,
said Nicola Dazies, a political officer at the British Embassy in Beirut. She
did not identify them. In Lebanon, five army navy ships left Tripoli port Monday
to continue the search. UN peacekeeping troops have stopped search and rescue
operations, spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. – AP
Suspect arrested over shooting of bus carrying Syrian laborers
Man identified as Shawki al-Nazer had previously argued with driver
Daily Star staff
Thursday, December 24, 2009
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army arrested a man suspected of shooting Monday at a bus
heading from northern Lebanon to neighboring Syria. Monday’s shooting left one
Syrian passenger dead and raised concerns about the timing coming just days
after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s highly charged visit to Syria.
Media reports on Wednesday said the results of discussions between the two
officials including border demarcation, Palestinian weapons outside of camps,
and the issue of the detained and missing Lebanese in Syrian prisons, will bear
fruit in the next two weeks.
The officials said the suspect, identified as Shawki al-Nazer, had argued in the
past with the bus driver.
He opened fire on the bus from a nearby rooftop.
“The directorate of the Lebanese Army intelligence managed to arrest Shawki
Nazer which Lebanese nationality was under study and who confessed of shooting
at the bus riders as investigations are undergoing to uncover the details of the
crime,” a statement by the Defense Minister press office said Tuesday overnight.
The officials said the motives behind the incident were related to smuggling
fuel rather than political; however, adding that they awaited the conclusion of
the investigations.
The bus was transporting 25 Syrian laborers when fire opened near an army
checkpoint on the main highway between Syria and northern Lebanon at about 3:00
a.m. local time.
The victim was reported to be a 17-year-old laborer.
However, commenting on the incident, Lebanese political figures said Tuesday the
shooting aimed to reverse the results achieved during Hariri’s visit to Syria
and derail countries’ ties.
As-Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday that the Lebanese Army military
intelligence captured Monday 12 suspects and released 10 after concluding
intensive investigations.
One of the two remaining detainees, Nazer confessed to be responsible for the
shooting as he is expected to be transferred to Beirut on Wednesday.
The Lebanese Cabinet condemned Monday the attack as Defense Minister Elias Murr
and Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud briefed ministers on the ongoing
investigations.
Analysts believe an improvement of ties with Damascus would bridge a political
divide in Beirut, easing sectarian tensions and providing Hariri with the
necessary clout to push through long-delayed economic and other reforms.
Hariri has blamed Damascus for the 2005 assassination of his father. Syria
denies involvement.
In a separate incident, the National News Agency reported Wednesday that Y. Atar
stabbed his uncle Khaled Atar with a knife before fleeing to unknown location.
The NNA added that Khaled died as he arrived to a local hospital while security
forces instigated investigations at the crime scene.
In other security-related news, the Lebanese Defense Ministry issued a decree
number 13-15 Wednesday restricting the carrying of weapons to diplomatic and
political escorts starting December 22 and ending December 31 midnight. – The
Daily Star
Iran builds bridge over deadly southern highway
By Mohammed Zaatari/Daily Star staff
Thursday, December 24, 2009
SIDON: After more than 120 people died and over 300 others were injured because
of car accidents while crossing the Deir al-Zahrani highway, the first
pedestrian bridge to go over the highway is to be inaugurated in two weeks. The
dangerous highway cuts through the Deir al-Zahrani village near Nabatieh in
south Lebanon and links the village’s north to its south.
However the locals, many of whom find it necessary to cross the highway each
day, are constantly threatened by the passing cars since no pedestrian bridge
had been built when the highway was constructed. The Iranian Committee was the
one to volunteer to build the first pedestrian bridge at a cost of $50,000
Construction started over a month ago. But the project faced some obstacles from
real-estate owners who complained the bridge passed right in front of their
properties.
Despite these complications, the project has opened the door to similar plans as
a one person volunteered to build a second pedestrian bridge over the highway.
Hassan Hussein sells electricity generators and he decided to pursue the project
after his son caused the death of 16-year-old Ahmad Mohammad Makki in a car
accident on the highway.
Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi has also vowed to build a third bridge on the
Harouf road while locals are hoping for a fourth pedestrian bridge to be built,
in order to permanently solve the problem. This problem is especially grave
because the highway is on the path taken by many children on their way to school
in the neighborhood of Khalit al-Zaytoune. About 250 children from the school’s
750 students need to cross the highway each day. Furthermore, the highway that
links Nabatieh to Sidon splits through the village of Deir al-Zahrani,
separating families and homes. This makes crossing even more essential for the
locals who wish to visit friends or simply buy food from the store.
Baroud reduces red tape for women married to foreigners
Daily Star staff/Thursday, December 24, 2009
BEIRUT: Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud asked the General Security office on
Wednesday to facilitate the transactions of children and husbands of Lebanese
women married to foreigners. Baroud sent a letter to the General Security office
requesting that the transactions and applications of foreigners married to
Lebanese women, as well as their children be made simpler. The measures
requested by Baroud are to be implemented in one week. The letter said that the
ministry saw a need to contribute to the solution of this social problem while
waiting for the nationality law to be amended. It requested that certain
measures be taken such as giving the foreign husbands of Lebanese women a free
residency valid for up to five years.
The husband however should fulfill certain conditions to obtain this residency,
including being employed, possessing any other identification documents and
being married for a certain duration. The letter added that the children of a
Lebanese woman married to a foreign husband are also to be given a free
residency valid for a limit of five years. This residency would be given without
any conditions to children under the age of 18 but would be subject to the above
mentioned requirements if the children are adults. Baroud also requested that a
special department handle these cases inside the General Security office,
especially concerning applications. The minister’s letter said that these women
had to follow complex procedures and that their families suffered from
inequality seeing how a Lebanese man could give his foreign wife the Lebanese
nationality after one year of marriage whereas a Lebanese woman could not do the
same. Over 18,000 Lebanese women are married to non-Lebanese living in Lebanon
and do not have the right to pass their families their nationality. – The Daily
Star
Aridi, Makari inspect projects in Koura
Daily Star staff
Thursday, December 24, 2009/BEIRUT: Public Works and Transportat Minister Ghazi
Aridi and Deputy Speaker Farid Makari visited the northern province of Koura to
inspect the ongoing developmental projects in presence of MPs Nicholas Ghosn and
Farid Habib as well as other figures from the region. Aridi was informed by the
three Koura MPs of the pressing demands of the region. – The Daily Star
We will defend it as a cultural right and
we’re not making a concession on our Identity
Christmas is Not Negotiable
By Dr. Walid Phares
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
On the eve of this Christmas 2008, I shifted from my ongoing field of research
and commentary in Terrorism, international and ethnic conflict and global
strategies to address a subject dear to the heart of many among us, and dream
maker to most of us, i.e., the children: Christmas. On the eve of the 2009
celebration I will reiterate this assertion: Christmas as a celebration is not
negotiable.
As someone who lived on two continents and evolved in many cultures, I feel I
have couple points to make about this 2,000-year-old annual event, especially
since celebrating this overwhelming feast is under attack by Noelophobia (I term
I have coined). I must disclose, however, that my relationship with Christmas is
also personal: I was born on its eve and thus had to deal with the reality that
all Christmas babies know all too well: you only get one present, you are
forgotten that night, and you also forget about your own birthday. So, had I
been egocentric, I would joined the camp fighting Santa’s day. On top of that,
my parents called me “Walid,” Arabic for “the new born.” There was little
resistance I could offer. Christmas marginalized my own anniversary yet became
somewhat a higher birthday with which I was associated.
Until I was 12, I thought that no one would mess with Christmas. Why would
anyone do such a thing? Jesus was just a tiny baby who couldn’t threaten anyone
then. He had no home, he was a refugee, and at birth he was only surrounded by
his poor dad and mom, a donkey and an ox. Later came few shepherds and their
sheep. I couldn’t imagine why Christmas would be in trouble: by itself it’s an
enchanted story, generating immense feelings of happiness in the hearts of
celebrants around the world. Besides, this holiday has reached planetary
dimensions, exceeding at times its original simplicity. But back in the Eastern
Mediterranean I hadn’t experienced yet the commercialization of la fete de Noel.
Through books, newspapers and TVs we only knew that almost all cultures enjoyed
Christmas, even though not all societies shared its theological meaning. In the
old days of multiethnic Beirut, not only Christians but also many Muslims and
Druze erected Christmas Trees, and kids across the sectarian divide were visited
by Santa. So far, everything was good.
But then I learned that “Christmas” was persecuted in many countries of that
region, including in the land of its genesis. Indeed, the oldest Christian
communities of the World, stretching from Egypt to Iran, were among the most
suppressed. Christmas in Syria and Iraq was tightly regulated by the ruling
regimes: Santa had to be a Baathist. In Iran, the Khomeinists banned decorations
in the streets: Christians had to whisper carols inside their homes. In Saudi
Arabia Christmas was forbidden by law and in Sudan, African celebrations of the
event were decimated by the militias of Khartoum. Years later, a morphing Jihadi
regime brutally eliminated the “Kuffar” Christmassy traditions as the Taliban
blew up Buddha’s statues. The Holy Land got its share as Gaza’s Jihadists chased
out the enclave’s Christians. The War against this holiday in the Greater Middle
East was the other face of the greater Jihad against the Infidels.
But I also learned about the resilience of Christmas against all regimes and in
spite of Terror during my life in the Middle East. From Tehran to Baghdad, from
Khartoum to Damascus, trees were set up and decorations installed inside homes.
Santa would visit apartments discreetly, dodging the Iranian Pasdaran patrols
and the Baathist secret police. Even in Saudi Arabia and under the Taliban,
where the eid al milaad (Christmas) is illegal, underground Papa Noels would
slip presents under kids’ beds. In these lands of extreme intolerance to infidel
holidays, a Christmas resistance movement would enlist not only Christians but
also Muslims, agnostics and sometimes Atheists. Strange feast, I always thought,
it doesn’t matter which theology it serves for at the end of the day in these
southern regions – it has become a celebration of hope for humanity, in the
center of which was a baby.
But when I relocated to these shores of the Atlantic, I received a cultural
shock. My encounter with Christmas in America was two dimensional: elation with
how this country celebrates the event on the one hand, and surprise as to how
some relentlessly fight its symbols. Since the 1990s, when I emigrated to the
U.S., I enjoyed tremendously the fullness of the joy during the weeks and days
leading to Christmas Eve. As everywhere else in the world, there is indeed
something magic to this time of the year, something that academia cannot explain
thoroughly. But in this country the massiveness of expression only reflects the
size of everything else American: large and generous. Christmas is so big in
this nation that it gets out of hands and rapidly gets commercialized. Soon
enough, mall after mall, ad after ad one forgets the initial story of Christmas.
Ironically, Christmas becomes so opulent in our American culture that we forget
that the baby in the manger was very poor, poorer than the poorest in Africa.
But at least one is free to celebrate the Christmas they want: bourgeois, at the
mall, on TV, at home, on the streets, at church, with the dispossessed, or
anywhere else the way one wishes to spend these magical moments: in
spirituality, in deep theology or listening to rock ‘n roll. Christmas is free
for all – not only for faithful Christians, but less practicing ones,
non-practicing ones, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, and even believers in no
religion. Unlike in Wahhabi and Khomeinist lands, No one will argue with you if
you celebrate Christmas in America – or so I thought.
What I discovered was that, outside the lands of intolerance in the East,
anti-Christmas forces exist –even here in America. That was my second encounter
with the American Christmas: I met Noelophobia. For about five years I was just
amused that freedoms in this great country ensure that even those who criticize
the general happiness triggered by Christmas have their voice uttered and heard.
In America, you can hate Christmas or call for its banning – while under Jihadi
regimes you can’t even mention that it exists. But as years passed I noted the
rise of” Christmasophobia.” Not in the sense of being unnerved by it – which is
legitimate – but in the sense of persecuting it. Case after case, over the past
half a dozen years, attacks against displaying Christmas trees, mangers and
other decorations in public or on public property, the (what we call now) war
against Christmas is widening. The anti-Christmas forces claim since it is a
“religious event,” and since the United States is a secular country, traces of
Christmas celebrations must be eradicated from the public sphere. I take
contention with this.
First, let those in charge of the religious and theological dimensions of
Christmas defend their rights where they feel they can. To me, Christmas is not
just a religious holiday but a tradition: read, a civil right. Indeed, the
Christmas celebration – even the stories it tells us – have become part of a
cultural context defining our very identity. And there is no concession we want
to make on the essence of our sociological identity. If the academic elite in
this country cannot grasp the meaning of an historic identity – even if it has
been built around an initial religious narrative – they can take all the time
they need to understand it. Let the die-hard primitive anticlerical elite fight
their senseless battles with the religious zealots on all things philosophical
and theological. That is their business – not ours, the overwhelming majority of
people who enjoy and celebrate these moments of peace. And no, we’re not
interested in changing its name or its date. This battle against Christmas is
now aimed –and will be fought – against the people in the land of reality, not
in the realm of textbooks.
Bad news for the anti-Christmas hordes: Christmas has become integral part of
our culture and will be defended as such. Yes, it is part of the Republic of the
People by the People and is as secular as all other values and rights. Taking
away any of Christmas’ components, including Santa, the tree, the baby, the
star, the three kings and even the donkey and ox is the equivalent of ending the
rights of people to vote, own, have a fair trial, or expressing dissent.
Christmas is not about politics and exclusion but defending it will be fierce.
It is simple: crushing Christmas is crushing a cultural identity and that will
generate a national resistance.
The anti-Christmas forces do not realize that the society they sprung is time
centered on this benchmark. Without Christmas, how will they begin a new year
and where will they start it? They haven’t realized that the end and beginning
of our calendar year is calculated initially based on this celebration? And how
will they count the years? How can they explain 2009 and the 21st century? Will
they create a new calendar as did the French Revolution? And how can they get a
consensus on the new time? Unless they wish to replace this calendar with
another, even more religiously explicit one such as the Sharia Hijra calendar,
they have no answer.
“Winter holidays?” It doesn’t work, because the southern hemisphere begins its
summer over Christmas. You can’t force the Australians, the Zulus and the
Brazilians to celebrate winter holidays during their hot season. Feats of when
some planets line up with other planets? Nah. For Planets line up with other
cosmic objects every fraction of a second of human time. We can’t be celebrating
all year long. There is nothing that replaces Christmas, nada. It is embedded in
our genome and was imposed on us by who we are and what we are. The story of a
baby who owns nothing between his poor parents is our beginning as humanity. The
animals in the manger symbolizes Peace as it should be, the multi racial Kings
represents pluralism, the star reminds us of the Universe waiting for us, and
the angel means hope that something better is out there. So what can the
Noelophobes give us as better symbols: Lawyers rushing to sue happiness in
courts?
Hence, until they do create another Planet and get us better answers, we’re
staying with Christmas, we will defend it as a cultural right and we’re not
making a concession on our Identity, even if we’re open to new ideas all the
time.
Merry Christmas to all!
Dr. Walid Phares, Walidphares.com, is the author of the “War of Ideas: Jihadism
against Democracy” and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies. Dr. Phares can be reached at: Phares@walidphares.com