LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 10/09

Bible Reading of the day
John10/1-18 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.  Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.” Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.  All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.  I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture. The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd.* The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them. The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;  even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.  I have other sheep, which are not of this fold.* I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life,* that I may take it again.  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Nidal Hassan and Barack Obama/Elias Harfoush/November 09/09
U.N. fails to act after Iran caught 'red-handed'/By: Aaron Klein/© 2009 WorldNetDaily/ November 09/09
Coalition agreement not withstanding, Hizbullah will continue to hold sway in Lebanon/By: JONATHAN SPYER/Jerusalem Post/09/11/09
It won't end in six days/By: Amos/Ha'aretz/November 09/09
The Cost of Indecisiveness/By Ghassan Karam/Ya Libnan/November 09/09
It's time for 'new' ministers to step up/The Daily Star/November 09/09
The Israeli perversion/By Akiva Eldar/Ha'aretz/November 09/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 09/09
Majority leaders putting “final touches” on cabinet lineup/Now Lebanon
Cabinet Deal Awaits Clearance from Phalange, Lebanese Forces /Naharnet
Al-Jarida: Egypt suspects Islamist “extremists” linked to Francop ship/Now Lebanon
Jumblat Believes there Won't be a Crisis over Policy Statement /Naharnet
Report: Hizbullah Reinforcing Fixed Defense Positions as it Gears up for New War /Naharnet
Suleiman: Cabinet Line-up Will be Announced 'Very Soon' /Naharnet
Alain Aoun: FPM Names will be Ready in 24 Hours /Naharnet
Fneish: Previous Cabinet Policy Statement is Still Valid /Naharnet
Sakr: Zahle to be represented by one minister/Now Lebanon
MP Sami Gemayel Demand Education Ministry /Naharnet
Hizbullah Appeased by Ministerial Policy Statement /Naharnet
One Cluster Bomb Exploded in South Lebanon, Another was Found /Naharnet
Hezbollah gears up for new war/guardian.co.uk
March 14 Christians to still agree on seat distribution/Daily Star
Dar al-Fatwa instigates administrative reforms after media questions integrity/Daily Star
Dispute persists over Israel's weapons-shipment claims/Daily Star
March 14-backed lawyers win Tripoli Bar Association vote/Daily Star
MP Qabbani urges state of emergency over poisoned produce/Daily Star
Fadlallah: US intent on weakening Christians/Daily Star
Lebanon slips ranks in World Bank knowledge economy/Daily Star
Bahia Hariri urges calm amid H1N1 fears/Daily Star
Baroud, Najjar urge adoption of ombudsman/Daily Star
Sarafand mourns villager stabbed to death in Belgium/Daily Star
ISF to crack down on traffic violations/Daily Star
Army to detonate Israeli seaborne mine found in Jbei/Daily Star
Nearly half of Lebanon's land mines cleared/Daily Star

Encouraging signs in Lebanon
The present opportunity to build a bridge of reconciliation should not be wasted
Gulf News Editorial /Naharnet/Published: 00:00 November 9, 2009
Reuters: The recent developments on the Lebanese political scene are encouraging and welcome as they bring an end to a serious political impasse that has engulfed the country for a very long time. Now that all parties have finally come together on a common ground, it is crucial that proactive steps are taken immediately so that the government is able to carry out its responsibilities and duties towards the people. Last week, Hezbollah announced that the opposition alliance it leads has agreed to join a unity government under Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri and with this, a bitter deadlock between the two sides ended. Yet, what is more important here is the fact that Lebanon has remained without a new cabinet for five consecutive months. The disagreement between the opposition and the government has crippled the latter to the maximum. If such a situation continues, it brings risks to the stability and prosperity of the country.
Lebanon has been on a long and fragile road to heal its political disagreements. The current chance to build a bridge of reconciliation should not be thwarted — neither by the government nor by the opposition

Sfeir Calls for Rescuing the Nation and 'Ourselves'
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Monday said a "nation is like a ship: everybody on board will drown if it sinks." Sfeir stressed the need to "make an effort to rescue the ship and save our country and ourselves at the same time." He criticized Lebanese "who flock to fill government positions and public posts." Sfeir's remarks came during the opening session of the sixth ordinary session of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon held in Bkirki. Beirut, 09 Nov 09, 11:19

Cabinet Deal Awaits Clearance from Phalange, Lebanese Forces
Naharnet/Cabinet is almost a done deal but still faces a small delay as it awaits final approval from the Lebanese Forces and the Phalange Party on seat distribution – justice and education.
An-Nahar daily said the new government is likely to be announced Tuesday. Hizbullah had said the Opposition agreed to a proposed Cabinet lineup, paving the way to sign a Cabinet deal following five months of strenuous negotiations. Press reports on Monday said a final Cabinet makeup was not yet concluded due to the continued wrangling over the education and justice ministries. While the Lebanese Forces and MP Boutros Harb fought over "Justice," the Phalange party and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri clashed over "Education." The Lebanese Forces reportedly insists on holding onto the justice ministry, but said it was willing to give up its Maronite seat for Harb. Harb, however, refuses to take any portfolio other than "Justice," An-Nahar said. The Phalange party, in turn, is adamant about getting the education ministry, a seat Hariri would not relinquish. Hariri, whose desire is to keep "Education" for his al-Mustaqbal movement, offered "Labor" to Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel. Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun held a series of meetings on Sunday to discuss the issue of Cabinet portfolios allocated for the FPM. FPM MP Alain Aoun said FPM names will be ready on Monday. He did not wish to uncover the names of the candidates for ministerial seats. Aoun, however, stressed that names for key portfolios have been finalized. Local media said a meeting is likely to take place Monday between Hariri and Aoun during which the FPM leader will provide the PM-designate with the names of his candidates. Beirut, 09 Nov 09, 08:31

Harb: I seek no portfolio other than justice
Date: November 9th, 2009/Source: Annahar/Assafir
Deputy Boutros Harb has said he was not offered the information portfolio in exchange for that of the justice and that he “is not interested in any other ministerial post,” the An-Nahar newspaper reported Monday. “If I have the inclination to be a minister, I am only interested in the justice portfolio because I have a reformative project for it; and I am not seeking any other ministerial post,” he told the paper. On his standpoint if he was not allotted the justice portfolio, Harb said “I will have a stance that I will declare on time.”Harb, a key figure in the March 14 majority alliance told the As-Safir in an interview published Monday “I have not requested any portfolio from the beginning of cabinet deliberations and I informed the Lebanese Forces party and all those concerned with my stance.”“Assigning me to the justice ministry was not my decision and contacts are being held to resolve the issue,” he said.

Jumblat Believes there Won't be a Crisis over Policy Statement
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said he believed there would not be any disagreement among different Lebanese factions over the cabinet policy statement.
"Let's take things one step at a time. Let's first get over with the government formation and then we talk about the policy statement," Jumblat told As Safir newspaper following a meeting with PM-designate Saad Hariri at Center House on Sunday night. "Anyways, I don't think there would be a crisis over it (the policy statement)," the Druze leader said. Jumblat was among other majority leaders who met with Hariri on Sunday. "Hariri is now dealing with the rest of the (cabinet) details with patience," the MP told As Safir. eirut, 09 Nov 09, 09:02

Report: Hizbullah Reinforcing Fixed Defense Positions as it Gears up for New War
Naharnet/Hizbullah is rapidly rearming in preparation for a new conflict with Israel and is reinforcing fixed defense positions north of the Litani river, the British Observer newspaper reported. "Having lost many of its bunkers in the south, Hizbullah is preparing a new strategy to defend villages there," it said. "Sure, we are rearming, we have even said that we have far more rockets and missiles than we did in 2006," a Hizbullah commander told the Observer. "We had to blow up or leave some of our bunkers and fighting positions, but we still have plenty of capabilities in the south. We expect the Israelis to come soon, if not this winter, then they will wait until spring, when the ground isn't too soft for their tanks," he added.
A military expert on Hizbullah at the Center for New American Security told the newspaper that the Shiite group no longer controls the border due to the presence of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in the area. "They appear to be hardening the villages for this next round of fighting, while pushing their fixed positions north away from UNIFIL to protect the approaches to Beirut and the Bekaa Valley," said Andrew Exum. "Israel and the United States have long assumed that any military action against Iran's nuclear program would draw a muscular response from its close allies in Hizbullah," the Observer said. It added that Israeli military and intelligence analysts believe that any move against Tehran would require a move first against Hizbullah's capability to disrupt life in northern Israel with its rockets.
"Tel Aviv seems unlikely to commit the same mistakes it did in 2006, when the plan was for air strikes to disrupt and confuse Hizbullah's military command, while minimizing the use of ground troops. Israeli military sources have said that they are preparing for a potential new conflict," the Observer reported. "We knocked out three of their tanks on the first day, as they tried to enter," explained the Hizbullah commander at a turn-off by the village of al-Qantara. "But after they entered the wadi, we knew they were going for the river and had to be stopped. So we called out to all the special forces anti-tank teams in the area. And they all swarmed the wadi. Boys would set up and wait for the tanks, fire off their rounds and then pull back. Then they would pull back a kilometer or so down the wadi and wait for them again." According to Israeli military reports, after the first and last tanks were hit by rocket fire or mines, killing the company commander, the 24 tanks were essentially trapped inside a valley, surrounded on all sides and pinned down by mortars, rockets and mines. Eleven tanks were destroyed and the rest partially damaged and Israel lost at least 12 soldiers. "As unlikely as the Israelis might be to repeat these mistakes, they must figure out how to get their heavy armor past the Hizbullah teams that still lurk in the hills and valleys in the next round of fighting, if and when it comes," the Observer said. Beirut, 09 Nov 09, 08:17

Suleiman: Cabinet Line-up Will be Announced "Very Soon"
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman said at the Faculty of Sciences of the Lebanese University in Amchit on Sunday that the government formation will take place very soon. Following the Cabinet line-up announcement, a national dialogue will follow at Baabda Palace. President Suleiman said that topping the list of the Cabinet's agenda is the administrative decentralization emphasized as important within the society. All countries are forced to face political crises that can be dealt with democratically. "Her [in Lebanon] things are going very well" in spite of the absence of a government for four months now. Stressing on the importance of education and the role of universities in our country, President Suleiman praised the "Lebanese people and the dynamism of the youth which contributed to the country's wellbeing," he said. President Suleiman concluded that a government is needed to build state institutions and launch the process of reform. Beirut, 08 Nov 09, 21:38

Fneish: Previous Cabinet Policy Statement is Still Valid
Naharnet/Labor Minister Mohammed Fneish warned Sunday that the previous Cabinet policy statement was still valid. "I don't need to talk about the ministerial policy statement as we do not give a lot of attention to the clause concerning the resistance and its weapons since ministerial statements have already been agreed upon," Fneish said in the southern port city of Tyre. "We will not accept anything less than what has been mentioned in the previous ministerial statements," he warned. "Resistance is more of a necessity and more of a need," he stresses. Fneish said a Cabinet lineup "is a victory for all," adding that the government will be formed sooner or later. "If not within the coming few hours, then within the coming day or two," he said. Beirut, 08 Nov 09, 11:54

Al-Jarida: Egypt suspects Islamist “extremists” linked to Francop ship
November 9, 2009
Now Lebanon/A high-ranking Egyptian security source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida on Monday that the Egyptian security services are interrogating 17 “extremists” suspected of being connected with the Francop ship, which was seized Wednesday by Israel for allegedly carrying Iranian weapons destined for Hezbollah and released the following day. The ship’s stop at the Egyptian port of Damietta before being raided by the Israeli navy prompted the source to question “the unjustified docking” of the ship, saying it may indicate that a local party is involved with the vessel that may in turn uncover new Egyptian cells linked to Iran and Hezbollah. “The Egyptian authorities are looking for loopholes in the security procedures taken at Damietta port, especially since the crew were allowed to unload the cargo and store it for a whole week on the docket before reloading it again,” the source said. However, the suspects’ lawyer, Mohammad Shabbaneh, said that his clients were arrested “at least” 10 days prior to the ship’s raid, saying they were carrying Islamic books and laptops, not weapons. An Egyptian source, in turn, denied reports that Cairo received a request from the Lebanese government to clarify the circumstances pertaining to the Francop ship’s docking at Damietta. He also stressed the Lebanese-Egyptian cooperation with regard to the case and denied the existence of any crisis between the two countries, “as hinted by an Israeli radio station.” -NOW Lebanon

Majority leaders putting “final touches” on cabinet lineup
November 9, 2009
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s cabinet will reportedly soon be finalized as soon as majority leaders wrap up their deliberations on the government formation. (NOW Lebanon)
Lebanon’s cabinet will reportedly soon be finalized as soon as majority leaders wrap up their deliberations on the government formation.
An-Nahar newspaper reported on Monday that the cabinet will most probably be formed by Tuesday, stressing more time is needed to finalize the distribution of the ministerial shares of the Christian parties within the March 14 alliance, and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has not yet been informed of Change and Reform bloc’s ministerial candidates for the new government. According to the daily, the Lebanese Forces bloc is reportedly adamant about maintaining the Justice portfolio and, in return, conceding its Maronite ministerial seat – which would head the Ministry of State – to MP Boutros Harb. However, LF bloc MP George Adwan told As-Safir newspaper on Monday that the LF cannot give up both the Maronite seat and the Justice portfolio in the new cabinet, “which is why I suggested that MP Boutros Harb be granted a state ministry, while the LF retains the Justice Ministry – to be headed by a Maronite minister – and receives the Social Affairs Ministry.”“The LF is mostly a Maronite party and cannot but have a Maronite minister heading its key ministry,” Adwan added, pointing out that the parties within the majority are currently holding talks to reach an agreement over the distribution of portfolios. In an interview with An-Nahar, Harb denied reports that he might be appointed as Information Minister, saying, he only wants the Justice portfolio. “I am not seeking any other ministerial seat,” said Harb, adding that he already has a reform plan for the ministry. He also said that he would later announce his position if the Justice Ministry is not allocated to him. As for the Kataeb bloc, it insists on being granted the Education portfolio even though PM-designate Saad Hariri told Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel during their meeting yesterday in downtown Beirut that the Future Movement wishes to maintain the portfolio, An-Nahar reported. However, an LF source told An-Nahar that there are no internal disputes between majority members over the distribution of the ministerial seats.
Hariri had also met with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and with former Premier MP Najib Mikati on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the cabinet formation. Following the meeting, Jumblatt told As-Safir that Hariri is “patiently and in his own way” resolving the remaining issues pertaining to the cabinet formation. When asked about the Ministerial Statement, Jumblatt called for taking matters “step by step.” “Let us first conclude the cabinet formation, and then we shall discuss the Ministerial Statement. But in all cases, I do not think there would be a crisis,” he said. According to As-Safir newspaper, President Michel Sleiman called PM-designate Hariri yesterday to urge him to conclude the cabinet lineup by Monday. Hariri told the president that he could not set a deadline, but is trying his best to finalize the government lineup as soon as possible.
Sleiman had stated on Sunday at a university in Amchit that the new cabinet lineup would be announced “very, very soon and within a few days.” He added that upon the government’s finalization, a national dialogue at Baabda Palace will follow.Sleiman said that administrative decentralization will be first on the new cabinet’s agenda, highlighting its importance within the society. He also added that a government is needed to build state institutions and launch the process of reform. -NOW Lebanon

U.N. fails to act after Iran caught 'red-handed'
Massive weapons shipment in full violation of multiple binding resolutions
November 08, 2009
By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
It's been five days since Israel seized a cargo ship reportedly carrying enough weapons and munitions for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group to fight Israel for at least one month. And for the past five days, the United Nations has failed to take any action even though Iran was caught red-handed arming a terrorist group in full violation of binding U.N. resolutions.
The cargo ship originated in Iran and was headed for Syria. The Israeli army announced it found documentation showing Iran was the point of origin for some containers on the ship, with Syria as the intended destination.
Iran regularly attempts to send weapons to Syria, and from there the shipments are smuggled to Hezbollah bases in Lebanon, Israeli security officials said.
Israel last week put on full display its find of hundreds of tons of Iranian-supplied arms, including rockets – the largest-ever weapons cache captured by Israeli forces. Israel Radio reported that advanced anti-aircraft platforms were also on board, with Rani Ben-Yehuda, the deputy commander of Israel's navy, confirming the presence of "very advanced weaponry."
The Iranian arms shipment set sail in violation of U.N. Resolution 1701, a binding resolution which ended the Second Lebanon War of 2006 and prohibits the delivery of weapons to any entity in Lebanon but the Lebanese government. The shipment also breaks multiple international laws against funding and supporting terrorist organizations.
Israel's U.N. ambassador last week complained to the international body about Iran's blatant disregard for international law, but no response has been forthcoming from U.N. officials.
Coincidentally, on the very day that Israel captured the cargo vessel, the U.N. was debating a so-called investigation authored by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, which claims both Hamas and Israel were guilty of war crimes during the Jewish state's defensive war in Gaza this past December and January.
The report, affirmed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, claimed Israel deliberately targeted civilians during the Gaza conflict, which started after Hamas refused to extend a cease fire, instead launching a rocket offensive against Israeli population centers.
That U.N. report has been slammed here as anti-Israel, with some officials calling it a blood libel. The report equates Israel, which worked to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza, to Hamas, a terrorist organization that utilized civilians as human shields and fired rockets at Jewish cities from Palestinian hospitals and apartment buildings.
During the Gaza war, Israel sent hundreds of thousands of text messages and placed tens of thousands of calls warning local Palestinians of incoming attacks against Hamas' military infrastructure in Gaza.
Israeli officials warned Goldstone's standards can be used against U.S. and British anti-terror operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
WND previously reported on charges that Goldstone's report seemed to rely on discredited witnesses and Palestinian misinformation.
Perhaps even more disturbing is that two days before Israel's capture of the cargo ship, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released a report to the U.N. Security Council that explained the international body lacked the ability to independently verify whether weapons were being smuggled to Hezbollah.
In the report, Ban wrote that the Lebanese government had not informed the U.N. of a single incident of weapons smuggling to its territory, whether by land, sea or air.
Ban, however, failed to acknowledge that Hezbollah had until recently held veto power over the Lebanese government. Just yesterday, it was announced Hezbollah would likely reenter the new Lebanese government led by prime-minister-designate Saad Hariri.
Since the Second Lebanon War, Israel has been carrying out regular flights over Lebanon that the defense establishment here deems necessary for intelligence purposes. The flights provide Israel with important data on Hezbollah's continued armament and strategic information, such as the locations of missile storage bunkers and the rebuilding of Hezbollah bases in southern Lebanon. Israel has multiple times passed this kind of information, including aerial photographs, to the U.N., and yet the international body has largely failed to take action.
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the "sole objective" of the seized Iranian weapons shipment "was to attack and kill as many civilians – women, children and the elderly – as possible. This is a war crime."
"The U.N. General Assembly should investigate, discuss and condemn [the Iranian shipment]," said Netanyahu. "This is a war crime that should prompt the U.N. Security Council to convene in special session, especially since it was in gross violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions."
Netanyahu added: "This is what the international community should concentrate on at all times – but especially today. But instead, they have chosen to assemble and condemn the IDF and the State of Israel, and to try and undermine our legitimate right to defend ourselves."

Dar al-Fatwa instigates administrative reforms after media questions integrity
Daily Star staff/Monday, November 09, 2009
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s highest Sunni authority Dar al-Fatwa, has condemned media campaigns questioning the body’s financial integrity and transparency, as leading Sunni political figures voiced support for the mufti of the Republic and the council’s national role. Following a meeting of the Higher Islamic Sunni Council on Saturday, a statement from Dar al-Fatwa warned against campaigns designed to distort the reputation of the Council and its mufti, while underscoring Sunni Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani’s leading role on the national level.
The meeting at the body’s headquarters in Beirut, headed by Qabbani, was also attended by caretaker Premier Fouad Siniora, former premiers Najib Mikati and Salim Hoss.
The council called on the Dar al-Fatwa affiliated institutions to exert transparency and integrity with regard to its financial and administrative activities in order to reveal “the true picture” to the public.
“The council will implement administrative reforms in order to modernize its institutions and raise their level of productivity,” the statement said. The statement also stressed the council’s rights regarding the management of Sunni assets and real-estate projects in Beirut. The Council called on Siniora to investigate media reports regarding the council’s financial activities and assign a specialized institution to undertake an audit of Dar al-Fatwa financial statements. The attendants also urged the public to ignore campaigns targeting their leaders and religious figures.
“The council calls on the Lebanese, and particularly Muslims, to unite and face the campaigns against their leaders and figures, as well as stand firm against political and national assassination attempts, in order to preserve their unity,” the statement said. – The Daily Star

Fadlallah: US intent on weakening Christians
Daily Star staff/Monday, November 09, 2009
BEIRUT: The United States is intent on weakening the region’s Christians, according to Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. The senior Shiite figure said he had observed “international movement, headed by the United States, at work, in one way or another, to see the exit of Christians from [domestic political formulas], or at least weaken them.” Fadlallah, who was speaking on Sunday to a group of Norwegian delegates, also addressed the general situation in the Middle East, and commented that “everyone in the region is preparing for war, while the language of political salons is one of peace.” He added that “the US administration is looking forward to more violence in the region, and it doesn’t differ from the previous administration, except in the method by which it deals with things.” – The Daily Star

Dispute persists over Israel's weapons-shipment claims
Release of vessel and crew casts doubt on validity of claims
Daily Star staff/Monday, November 09, 2009
BEIRUT: The dispute over Israel’s claimed haul of “hundreds of tons” of rockets it said was aboard a ship bound for Hizbullah showed no sign of abating over the weekend as the Antiguan-owned vessel docked in Beirut. Israel claims that it seized cargo from a ship after naval commandoes stormed the vessel in the Mediterranean in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a bounty which consisted of more than 3,000 rockets, according to reports from the Israeli media. Israeli Army sources claimed to have obtained papers proving that the ship was destined for the port of Latakia in Syria and weapons aboard it were sent from Iran, eventually destined for Hizbullah. Both Syrian and Iranian foreign ministers denied that such a cargo existed and accused Israel of attempting to hamper legitimate trade routes between the two nations. For its part, Hizbullah was swift to brush aside Israeli claims, at the same time condemning what it termed “Israeli piracy in international waters.” A Lebanese Army statement over the weekend confirmed that the ship in question was being held in Beirut while checks on its cargo and crew were being carried out.
“The Francop ship entered Lebanese territorial waters at noon [Friday] and, upon its arrival off Beirut Port, the navy in cooperation with UN naval forces searched the vessel,” the statement said. “Military intelligence began interrogating the crew on the motives for the seizure of the vessel while the concerned authorities will take all the necessary measures to ensure that it does not carry banned goods,” it added.Security sources told The Daily Star that Lebanese Army military intelligence was conducting a thorough investigation of the ship and its crew, who remain in Lebanon.
The investigations confirmed that the vessel had docked at Damietta in Egypt and had been en route to Syria before being seized, the sources said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of seeking to execute “war crimes” in transporting weapons he insisted were designed to injure large numbers of Israeli civilians.
But Speaker Nabih Berri suggested on Friday that Israeli claims regarding the seizure of weapons had been fabricated in order to deflect international attention away from the Goldstone report on Israeli war crimes during the Gaza war. Berri added that Hizbullah had the right to obtain arms from “anywhere in the world,” but questioned why the Israelis had failed to detain the crew, if the ship was supposedly carrying the dangerous cargo. Press reports citing Lebanese security sources also asked why the ship hadn’t been detained in Egypt, and called upon the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to issue a clarifying statement. When questioned, the ship’s crew denied carrying weapons, explaining that had weapons been found on board, they would have been arrested under international law, press reports said. – The Daily Star

Lebanon slips ranks in World Bank knowledge economy
Daily Star staff/Monday, November 09, 2009
BEIRUT: Lebanon has placed 76th of 146 countries worldwide and ninth among 18 countries in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region on the Knowledge Economy Index. This is a drop from the first such World Bank survey, compiled in 1995; then Lebanon ranked 65th place globally and seventh place regionally. The findings, recently reported by Lebanon This Week – the economic publication of the Byblos Bank – showed Lebanon ranked 24th among 25 upper middle-income countries (UMICs) included in the survey, down from 21st place in the base survey.
The index represents the overall level of development of a country toward the “knowledge environment is conducive for knowledge to be used effectively for economic development.
The index is based on 83 structural and qualitative variables grouped into four categories that constitute “the pillars of the knowledge economy.”
The four pillars are: economic incentive and institutional regime; education and human resources; the innovation system; and information and communication technology (ICT).
The survey calculated the scores of individual countries on a population-weighted basis, with scores ranging from zero to 10 (10 being the best score an economy can receive).
Globally, Lebanon ranked ahead of Peru, Mongolia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but came behind Belarus, Jamaica and Colombia. It came ahead of Venezuela and ranked behind Panama among UMICs. Lebanon received a score of 4.81 points, below the global average of 5.95 points, and the UMICs’ average of 5.66 points, but above the MENA average of 4.55 points. On the “economic incentives” sub-index, Lebanon ranked 75th globally, down from 62nd place in the base survey. This category represents the ability to provide incentives for the efficient use of existing and new knowledge, and the flourishing of entrepreneurship.
Globally, Lebanon ranked ahead of Moldova and came behind Madagascar. It ranked ahead of Argentina and behind Mexico among UMICs, and came ahead of Morocco and behind Saudi Arabia in the MENA region. On the “innovation” sub-index, Lebanon ranked 77th worldwide, up from 85th place in 1995.
This category reflects whether a country has an efficient innovation system of companies, research centers, universities, consultants and other organizations, to tap into the growing stock of global knowledge, assimilate and adapt it to local needs, and create new technology. Here, Lebanon globally ranked ahead of Colombia but came behind Macedonia. It ranked ahead of Dominica and behind Panama among UMICs, while it came ahead of Egypt and behind Iran in the MENA. On the “education and human resources” sub-index, Lebanon ranked 77th, down from 59th place in 1995. This category reflects the level of an educated and skilled population to create, share, and use knowledge effectively. Globally, Lebanon ranked ahead of Bolivia but came behind Albania. It ranked ahead of Panama and behind Costa Rica among UMICs, and it came ahead of the UAE and behind Kuwait in the MENA region. On the ICT sub-index, Lebanon ranked in 68th place globally, the same place as the 1995 survey. – The Daily Star

Sarafand mourns villager stabbed to death in Belgium
/Daily Star staff/Monday, November 09, 2009
SIDON: The village of Sarafand laid to rest on Saturday a 40-year-old native of the village who was murdered last week at his restaurant in Belgium. Mohammad Younes, the sound of the village’s mukhtar, Kazem Younes, was remembered as an upstanding man who had left Lebanon 17 years earlier. Younes was stabbed to death by a Palestinian-Syrian man who he had befriended and regularly given free meals to at his restaurant, village residents said. A number of relatives of the deceased speculated that the murder resulted from a sudden verbal altercation. – The Daily Star

It won't end in six days
By Amos Harel/Haaretz
These are, more or less, the ground rules that have been laid down for us by U.S. President Barack Obama: The Israel Navy is permitted to intercept weapons shipments from Iran to Hezbollah and Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence may disclose details of the latest long-range rockets tested by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But, at least in the short term, as long as the international community is engaging in dialogue with Tehran in an attempt to formulate an agreement that could perhaps stop its nuclear program, it would be best if Israel did not make too much mischief and get in the way of the responsible adults.
The seizure in the Mediterranean Sea of an arms-laden ship from Iran is not very different from the operations undertaken twice this year by the American fleet, despite the fact that the volume of arms captured this time by the IDF is much larger. Evidently, the IDF monitored the shipment for an extended period of time, identified the right vessel and planned an interception that went off without a hitch.
Both the ship's seizure and the revelations about Hamas' latest rockets occurred just prior to the United Nations General Assembly vote on the Goldstone report. At a time when the IDF is being accused of war crimes in the Gaza Strip, it doesn't hurt to shine a spotlight on Iran's continuing efforts to arm terror organizations in the region with rockets whose only purpose is to hurt Israeli civilians.
The Obama administration has a completely different order of priorities. In addition to the critical decision on the future of the war in Afghanistan, the president is preoccupied by domestic concerns and his fall in popularity at home. After these, in a high but not the highest position on Obama's list of international priorities, comes Iran. It appears that we can expect a few more weeks of dialogue, followed, in the event of their failure, by a U.S. initiative to impose sanctions against Iran. Only in March 2010 or thereabout will it be possible to assess the likelihood of halting Iran's progress toward nuclear weapons capability through nonmilitary means.
A figure who until recently was a key player in the decision-making process in Israel, and who continues to advise many of the country's leaders, said this week that the idea of sending Iran's enriched uranium to Russia is not necessarily a bad one, noting that a similar proposal was raised in Israel as far back as five years ago. The key, he said, is in the supervisory provisions in the agreement. If Iran does confound observers and accept an agreement similar to the draft it avoided signing onto last week, then there will be something to discuss.
The IDF must prepare itself for the possibility of an attack against Iran's nuclear facilities because that's its job. But the important question is how willing the U.S. is to protect Israel in the event of a counter attack. The message Israel is getting from Obama's administration at this time is that it is out of the question - and thus the likelihood of an Israeli attack on Iran diminishes drastically.
But how will an Israel-Iran war look if it breaks out eventually? This question is at the center of a new study compiled by Defense Ministry researcher Dr. Moshe Vered. He suggests that Iran's willingness to sacrifice many victims over of a long period of time in a conflict against Israel means that such a war "will be measured in years, not weeks or months."
Vered, a physicist and performance analyst, is publishing his findings this week in the context of his sabbatical at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. The Shi'ite-Khomeinist outlook, he writes, "sees Israel's existence as a wrong that must be corrected for the sake of world redemption. The achievement of this goal will only be possible once Israel is annihilated. The Iranians will continue fighting this war, as much as it is up to them, until they achieve their objective, despite the heavy toll that will be exacted in battle," Vered writes. Vered argues further that only the fear of the Iranian regime being toppled could bring such a war to an end. But it seems unlikely that Israel will be able to pose a real threat to the Iranian regime, and "in the absence of a way out, acceptable to both sides, the war could continue for a very long time."
He notes that the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s lasted eight years. Iran paid an inconceivable price in that war - half a million dead and economic damage higher than the country's entire oil income in the 20th century - before it agreed to a cease-fire. The cease-fire came only when there was a real danger that the Iranian regime would not survive.
The assumption that the war will become prolonged should affect the way Israel prepares for it, as well it should affect the decision whether or not to attack Iranian facilities in the future. Vered rejects the assumption that in the absence of a shared border an Israel-Iran war would be fought only with surface-to-surface missiles. Such warfare shouldn't last a long time because Iran's supply of long-range missiles isn't large. However, he writes, it is more plausible to assume that Iran will want to continue the fighting against Israel via its proxies Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. He plays down the likelihood of a short confrontation (an Israeli assault on Iran's nuclear facilities followed by a punishing counterassault and then an immediate cease-fire under international pressure while both sides realize that the war has played out).

Analysis: Coalition agreement not withstanding, Hizbullah will continue to hold sway in Lebanon
By JONATHAN SPYER/Jerusalem
Following statements from both government and opposition sides in Lebanon over the weekend, it now looks likely that Prime Minister-elect Saad Hariri will announce the formation of a new governing coalition in the next few days. Lebanese majority leader lawmaker Sa'ad Hariri, right, sits next to the Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, left, during a session for the election of the house speaker at the Lebanese Parliament building, in Beirut.. The details of the deal have not yet been made clear, but it appears that the main stumbling blocks have been overcome. The formation of a new government will bring to an end four months of political paralysis in Lebanon, following the victory of the pro-western March 14 coalition in general elections in June. However, the new government will have no bearing on the key political fact looming over Lebanon today: namely, the existence of a parallel state maintained by Hizbullah, which makes its decisions without consulting the nominal rulers of the country.
The deadlock regarding the formation of the government was itself related to the agenda of the Hizbullah parallel state. It is worth remembering that agreement for the formula of cabinet appointments was reached in July. But this agreement solved little. Hariri was determined to prevent the opposition from obtaining veto power in the new government. To exercise a veto over cabinet decisions, the opposition needed to control at least 11 portfolios in the 30-member cabinet - that is, one-third plus one of the cabinet seats.
In July, both sides accepted a formula of 15 portfolios for the March 14 coalition, 10 for the opposition, and five to be appointed by President Michel Suleiman.
The key issue then became the identity of the ministers to be appointed by the president. If only one of them were to be inclined toward the opposition, this would mean that Hizbullah would effectively have kept the veto it exercised before June. Since the final names have not yet been announced, it is too soon to draw any firm conclusions in this regard.
It looks likely, however, that Hariri has compromised in another key area.
Hariri announced after the election that he was determined to keep the Telecommunications Ministry for his party. The Hizbullah-led opposition was equally determined to obtain this portfolio for themselves. Hizbullah maintains a large-scale independent communications network which is an essential part of its military stance vis a vis Israel. Its determination to keep this network away from government scrutiny was one of the factors that triggered the fighting in Beirut in May 2008.
Hizbullah at that time acted decisively to prevent any government interference with its independent communications. Possessing the telecommunications ministry is a way to ensure no further possible unwanted scrutiny. Reports suggest that Hariri has conceded this portfolio to the opposition. The prime minister-elect has apparently prevailed in his demand that Jebran Bassil, son-in-law of former Gen. Michel Aoun, not occupy this post. But the portfolio looks set to go instead to another member of Aoun's party, which is aligned with Hizbullah.
Hizbullah itself, it appears, will have two posts in the new cabinet. Hariri, in a recent statement to the media, sought to display his Arab nationalist colors, asserting that Hizbullah would be in the cabinet, whether Israel liked it or not. It is also the case that Hizbullah will continue to do what it wants in Lebanon - whether Saad Hariri likes it or not.
In the May 2008 fighting, Hizbullah reconfirmed that its parallel structures are off limits to the government of Lebanon. It did this by demonstrating its effective monopoly of the means of violence. Such a monopoly remains the ultimate source of political power. This was the case before the June elections, remained the case after them, and will remain so regardless of the precise coalition arithmetic.
As the seizure of the Francop arms ship last week showed, Hizbullah and its backers are busily engaged in preparing for the next round of fighting with Israel. The precise timing and nature of the conflict to come will be determined without reference to the wishes of the new Lebanese cabinet, whatever its eventual makeup.
A report in a British newspaper on Sunday quoted Hizbullah fighters as openly admitting the extent of their rearmament efforts. In a statement which says much more about who makes the key decisions in Lebanon than any details regarding the coalition, a Hizbullah gunman was quoted as saying "Sure, we are rearming, we have even said that we have far more rockets and missiles than we did in 2006." This statement confirms Israeli assessments. By making it, the unnamed Hizbullah man cheerfully shows his contempt for Security Council Resolution 1701, the UN forces deployed to enforce it, and those Lebanese who might want their country to be something other than a springboard for war.
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, as a famous Chinese leader once said. In Lebanon, the guns are in the hands of Hizbullah.
This is the salient point. All else is detail.
**The writer is senior researcher at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, IDC, Herzliya.

The Cost of Indecisiveness
Published: Sunday, 8 November, 2009
By Ghassan Karam/Special to Ya Libnan
Many have often sung the praises of "going with the flow" and "putting off until tomorrow what can be done today".
No doubt the great pull of such exhortations is very tempting. Why bother and take a stand or do a task when one can postpone the pain until another day? This is what utilitarianism is all about isn't it? Humans are supposed to be pleasure seekers and thus humans are acting rationally when they postpone the acquisition of a disutility as long as possible. No rational person will volunteer to pay say $10,000.00 one year before its due if for nothing else but to avoid the substantial opportunity coast that would be attached to such an irrational act.
Unfortunately there are circumstances when the above "logic" should be avoided at any cost. I am not suggesting that one should never postpone any task but I am simply saying that whether to postpone or not to postpone must ultimately be determined on the basis of a cost benefit analysis. Decisions may be profitably put off whenever the benefits derived from the delay are greater than the possible associated costs. Obviously if the reverse is true and the benefits derived from the equivocation are less than the potential cost of the indecision then a delay will be too costly.
The majority of the parliamentary bloc in Lebanon ; March 14; has had to deal with such a situation. They could not resist the appeal of compromise ; which was in reality appeasement in disguise; guided by the principle that no tough decisions need to be made today since time is on their side. That attitude was best exemplified on November 6, 2009 by Marwan Hamadeh who explained that "dialogue is preferable to arms". No one doubts this but Mr. Hamadeh and March 14 used a faulty logic to justify their inability to lead and take decisive action. Their seminal mistake was not in favouring dialogue over arms and destruction but in presenting the use of arms as being the only alternative to civilized dialogue. To them inaction was appropriate because it avoids the debilitating cost and sufferings associated with civil strife. But what if civil strife was to be avoided? Then all their calculations would turn out to be faulty.
It is crucially important to understand the dynamics of what transpired in Lebanon over the past five months in order to learn from this sad experience. An in depth analysis would make it abundantly clear that the plan of the opposition; led by Hezbollah and put into action by the FPM; was not to gain a specific portfolio or even a specific minister. The aim all along, since the occupation of downtown Beirut, the walk out of the opposition ministers from the cabinet and the demand for a veto power has been the transformation of the tradition that has been in use during the process of cabinet formation. The dye has been cast, thanks to the inability of March 14 in general and Sa'ad Hariri in particular to understand the real implications of this indecisiveness. From here on the Lebanese cabinets are to be formed according to the newly established principle; each parliamentary bloc will be represented in the executive branch of government according to its share of parliamentary seats. Goodbye democracy and welcome to the unworkable hybrid where many will be and not be at the same time. They will function as opposition and yet change their fedoras , whenever it suits them to become part of the government that they oppose. Thank you March 14, for driving in the final nail into the coffin of the Cedar revolution and the aspirations that it gave rise to.
APodcast of the above can be heard at: ramblings11.mypodcast.com
**Comments: wp.karam@gmail.com
 

Nidal Hassan and Barack Obama
08 November 2009
Elias Harfoush/Al Hayat
What would drive an officer in the US Army, in charge of supervising the psychological condition of his fellow officers and soldiers returning from war, to commit what officer Nidal Malik Hassan committed at the Fort Hood base in Texas?
It would be easy, as some racist parties in the United States have, to level accusations directly at the religious background of the officer of Palestinian origin. Such parties do not usually need justifications for their racist tendencies, as they also accuse President Barack Hussein Obama of not being American, and of “using Christianity as a disguise” in order to do away with the bases upon which rests the political institution in the United States from within!
Nevertheless, far from such a racist stance, one must also say that what this officer committed against his fellow soldiers, whether it was the result of a nervous impulse or whether its background and motives were suicidal, as preliminary reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have begun to indicate, will lead to negative reactions which Muslims enlisted in the US Army, who number nearly twenty thousand officers and soldiers, will pay the price for, whether in terms of promotions or of the way they are dealt with by their colleagues. It is only natural for the reaction of any American soldiers to what happened to be that of not believing that a colleague, one responsible for their health care, could fire a gun at them. This is exactly what one of these soldiers said yesterday: I cannot believe that one of us could commit such an act!
It is not unlikely for us to hear today, in the streets of our Arab and Muslim cities, those who would praise the “heroism” of Nidal Hassan, as we have heard in the past those who have praised the “heroism” of Mohamed Atta and his comrades, who carried out the “invasion” of New York and Washington, the “heroism” of those who committed the crimes of July 2005 in the subways of the British capital, or of the two “doctors” who attempted to bomb a nightclub in London and to break into Glasgow Airport in Scotland. All because these people were able to storm the cities and strongholds of “aggression”, to strike a blow against the security protection that surrounds them, and to do away, or attempt to do away, with the largest possible number of those who live in them.
Nevertheless, facing such voices, which are unfortunately not scarce, are more reasonable voices, from the American side as from the side of the Muslim community in the United States, that see things in a different way. On the American side, there are those who pointed out that this officer’s crime was not a unique occurrence in the US Army, despite being the worst and most atrocious. Last May, a soldier in one US Army base in Baghdad killed five of his comrades; and last year, a pilot from the US Air Force killed his two children after returning home from Iraq, following a dispute with his ex-wife. In this sense, it becomes necessary to look into the psychological reasons behind the crime committed by Nidal Hassan, whom it had been decided to send to Afghanistan against his wishes, and not just into his religious background.
On the side of the Muslim community, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a statement in which it condemned without reservation the crime committed by this officer, saying that “no political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence”.
Far from both this and that, doubtless Nidal Hassan’s crime provides additional fuel for the supporters of scare campaigns against Muslims in Western countries and for those who oppose allowing them to assume responsibilities in various fields, including the fields of security. One might say that these people do not need justifications for their racist stances. Yet… do such acts, repeatedly committed year after year, not conceal a latent tendency in some of us to take advantage of the opportunities provided by Western systems and laws to attack them from within, under the pretext that the policies of these countries do not agree with our convictions and principles? And what can be said about the ethical motives behind such behavior, and about our ability to deal with others and blend with other cultures? Is it not paradoxical that, at a time when the United States is celebrating the first anniversary of the election of the first president of Muslim origin, officer Nidal Hassan finds no qualms in killing 13 of his fellow American soldiers in cold blood?

The Israeli perversion
By Akiva Eldar
Haaretz/What does Mahmoud Abbas want from us? He should stop crying and start talking. Even Benjamin Netanyahu, born in the rightist camp, has promised him a state; and Shaul Mofaz, the horror of Palestinians, is willing to hand over, on credit, 20 percent of the West Bank. Abbas may be able to fool the Americans, but the Israelis are no suckers. We are not impressed by all of these resignation tricks. We know that no one throws out the keys to his office because of a few thousand settlers. Every child in Ramallah knows that, in the end, the settlements located outside of the "settlement blocs" will be part of Palestine.
The attitude of the average Israeli on the issue of the settlements is one of the effects of a chronic illness threatening the existence of the Jewish State: an inability to walk in the shoes, even for a minute, of their neighbor. What would we say if Abbas were to ask that we agree to the return of refugees to their home in Jaffa? Not much, just a few hundred, temporarily. In any case, we will eventually have to reach an agreed upon solution to the refugee problem. How would we respond if Syria, during the Yom Kippur War, had managed to conquer the Galilee - and years later refused to stop building its own settlements in the territory of "Greater Syria," despite continuing peace talks with Israel? Because it is not that bad, it's only lands that are part of the "settlement blocs" in Area C that are under Syrian military and civilian control? (Sixty percent of the West Bank is described as Area C, and no Palestinian building is allowed there.) After all, it is only a matter of a few kindergartens and day care centers. And we must give consideration to their natural growth.
If the Syrians had decided to disengage unilaterally from Nahariya, would the Israeli freedom fighters in the broader area of Tiberias have put down their arms? How many Baruch Goldsteins would blow themselves up in mosques if Syrian soldiers were searching the vehicles of Jews at road blocks, or were imposing a curfew on them on Muslim holidays? And what would happen to an Israeli leader who promised that in September 1993 Syrian occupation would end by the end of the decade - only the end of the decade would come and he would be caught up in empty maneuvering on temporarily freezing construction in part of the Galilee? How many days would a government of the Israeli Authority - set up as a temporary entity, an intermediate arrangement on the way to political independence, only to become a subcontractor in the management of the occupation - actually last? What terms would be used to describe the Israeli Abbas and Salam Fayyad?
In his book "The Social Order of the Multiple Selfs," Prof. Shlomo Mendlovic, who heads the psychotherapy program at Tel Aviv University, takes on the characterization of perversion. The similarity between what defines perversion and the characteristics of the collective Israeli behavior makes one nauseous: an attack of forces that can assist a person (or society) to survive; collapse of the distinction between what is useful and damaging, between life and death; confronting fear and suffering by retaining the status quo and the struggle against ideas that suggest change; and undermining necessary, painful processes in order to achieve change. This is how we missed out on the Jordanian option, this is how we are ignoring the Arab Peace Initiative, and this is how we will lose the Palestinian partner for a two-state solution.
There is no Arab identified with insistence on this solution more than Abbas, through his courageous opposition to violence and patience in the face of the acrobatics of Israeli politics. But no leader is capable of carrying out negotiations on loaded issues, such as borders, Jerusalem, and the refugees, without public backing from his people. No public will grant him the legitimacy to carry out negotiations concerning the fate of its country and avert its gaze while the other side bites into chunks of it.
Now we are being assuaged and told that nothing will affect the good-old status quo. We are promised that Abbas will cancel elections and will continue serving the occupation until his final days. At the same time, we rally our perversion against the Fayyad initiative to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state. The option has been and remains one of the following: two states for two peoples along the 1967 borders; or one state, in which two peoples continue to make each other miserable. Israel is galloping toward this latter disaster with eyes wide shut.