LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 16/09
Bible Reading of the day
saiah 1/14-20: My soul hates your New
Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to me. I am weary of bearing
them. When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes,
when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings
from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek justice.
Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow.” “Come
now, and let us reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be
as wool.
If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth
of Yahweh has spoken it.”
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Syria turns to France to defuse tensions/National/November 15/09
Walid Phares: Obama
Administration Ignores Domestic Terrorism/November 15/09
A history lesson for Lebanon,If
history is forgotten it will repeat itself/By:Maya Khourchid/November 15, 09
Sayyed Hussein: Parties may agree
through dialogue to integrate Hezbollah’s arms/Now Lebanon/November 15, 2009
The history of Lebanon between
anti-Semitism and crimes against humanity/By: Mohammed Ali al-Atassi/Now
Lebanon/November 15/09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 15/09
Aoun, on the way to Syria
soon/Future News
Janjanian: Lebanese Forces ready to
hold talks with Damascus/Future News
March 14 alliance wins Dental
Association elections/Now Lebanon
Beirut Bar Association
election results: Amal Haddad named president/Now
Lebanon
Abi Lamaa: LF to restrain support
if Ministerial Statement is replica/Almustaqbal
Zoom in: relations with Syria, the
ministerial statement/Future News
Feltman Says Differences with
Syria are Profound, Warns against Arms Export to Lebanon/Naharner
Gemayel: We Share the Same Principles and Objectives as March 14/Naharner
Fneish: No Sane Person Would Squander Resistance Role/Naharner
Phalange Denies Damascus
Visit, Says it's against Exclusivity of Arms Possession/Naharner
Cabinet Ministers Receive
Draft Policy Statement ahead of Monday's Debate/Naharner
Franjieh: Political
Dispute with Jumblat is Over/Naharner
Suleiman Hopes Ministerial
Policy Statement Will be Achieved before Independence Day Eve/Naharner
Council of Catholic
Patriarchs and Bishops Expresses Trust in Suleiman's Political Path/Naharner
Cabinet Policy Statement
to be Concise/Naharner
Jumblat: We Should Take
Lebanon Out of March 8, 14 Trenches/Naharner
Kouchner Expresses
Readiness to Help in Sadr's Disappearance Case/Naharner
Nasrallah, Arslan Assess
New Stage/Naharner
Comment / Only precondition for peace is that
Netanyahu be a statesman/Ha'aretz
A partner in the north/Ha'aretz
Report: 7 killed in Syria weapons training
explosion/Ynetnews
Sayegh: Kataeb supports securing stability in South Lebanon based on 1701/iloubnan.info
Phares: Obama Administration Ignores Domestic
Terrorism
By Online: Dan Weil Saturday, November 14, 2009
By: Dan Weil
The White House isn’t facing up to the fact that the U.S. faces domestic
terrorism, as evidenced by the Fort Hood attack last week, says Walid Phares, a
senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Interview Saturday, November 14, 2009
“There is an offensive, an attack against U.S. military sites and organizations
in the U.S.,” he told Newsmax.TV.
Top administration experts have declared that there’s no domestic jihadism,
Phares says. Without an understanding of that issue, it’s impossible to act
against the domestic terrorists, he says.
“That’s what I think is the major problem. The second problem is that the advice
we are getting that this isn’t terrorism, but that this is frustration, reaction
to foreign policy, that analytical advice basically seems to be compromised.”
Two investigations are necessary, Phares says. First, a criminal investigation,
“which is going to tell us details such as where did he (Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan)
get the weapon, who are his contacts and all sorts of other material issues
related to this specific act.”
See Video: “Jihadists Have Infiltrated Military,” Phares Says -
Click Here Now
http://video.newsmax.com/?bcpid=20972460001&bclid=22770166001&bctid=50127246001
Second, a national security investigation is needed
to look at the big picture, Phares says. “Who produced this jihadist? Is he in
fact with other cells? And most important for all of us: are there other cases
like Maj. Hasan in the U.S.?”
He may have ties with al-Qaida, Phares says. And there may be other individuals
and cells targeting the U.S. military at home.
He hopes for an investigation similar to the 9/11 commission, “which brought
about the concept that America was under attack and didn’t know about it,”
Phares says.
“And I’m sure today . . . we’re going to look at the situation whereby America
is under attack by home grown jihadists and didn’t want to admit it.”
Syria turns to France to defuse tensions
Phil Sands, Foreign Correspondent
November 14. 2009
National/With the election of Barack Obama and his pledge to revive the Middle
East peace process, Syria had hoped the White House would put greater political
pressure on Tel Aviv than in the past. Those hopes all but evaporated this month
when the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said it was not necessary that
Israel stop construction of illegal settlements before peace talks start.
The Obama administration had previously insisted on a total halt to settlement
construction before negotiations. That demand was viewed as a litmus test of the
president’s willingness and ability to stand up to Israel, a test he is widely
seen in Syria as having failed.
“There is now a stalemate in various important regional issues,” said Hamidi
Abdullah, a Syrian political analyst with a pro-government think-tank. “There is
a freeze between Israel and Syria, no progress between the Palestinians and
Israel and no progress between Lebanon and Israel.
“That all combines to push up tension in the region. France wants to try to ease
the pressure and to put the peace process back on track.”
Bashar Assad, the Syrian president, was in Paris on Friday for talks with his
French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, who earlier in the week met the Israeli
prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader said he was ready to start direct negotiations with Syria,
providing no preconditions were set. Syria insists talks can only take place if
Israel accepts it must return the Golan Heights. Israel occupied the territory
in 1967, then in breach of international law annexed it in 1981, a move
condemned by the United Nations in Security Council Resolution 497.
“Syria does not have any conditions,” Mr Assad said after his meeting with Mr
Sarkozy. “Syria has rights and Syria will never give up these rights.”
He dismissed Mr Netanyahu’s offer of a face-to-face meeting as a stalling tactic
and publicity stunt, instead saying that Turkey could mediate between Syrian and
Israeli technical committees to establish if there really was common ground for
any talks.
That counter offer came with a warning. “All this word play from the Israelis is
meant to do away [with] demands and rights,” Mr Assad said. “This can only
accentuate instability in the region.”
The last set of talks between Syria and Israel collapsed in 2000 and recent
Turkish mediation, the first cause for optimism in years, came to an end in
December when Israel launched a devastating military offensive in the Gaza
Strip. There has been no progress on Syrian-Israel peace since.
In addition, the Palestinians are in a state of de facto civil war and the
Palestinian Authority is now on the brink of collapse. Mahmoud Abbas, the
authority president and the favoured negotiating partner for Israel and the
West, is apparently about to resign out of disillusionment over the lack of any
real peace process.
On top of that comes international concern that Iran is designing a nuclear
weapons programme, a further storm cloud over the region that could yet result
in conflict. “France is looking for stability and security in the Middle East,”
said Khalid Aboud, secretary of the Syrian parliament. “At the moment that
corresponds with Syria’s strategic vision.”
One perennial cause for concern, unrest in Lebanon, was at least partially
addressed this week when it overcame a five-month impasse over forming a new
government. Syria, a powerful player in Lebanese politics often accused of
exercising malign influence, was widely credited as playing a constructive role.
Paris plays particular attention to Lebanon, a former French colony, and the
developments there were welcomed by the Élysée Palace.
“President Sarkozy knows that Syria is the key to unlocking the Middle East,” Mr
Aboud said. “Now the French have seen Syria help push the factions in Lebanon to
form a government so they are sure that Syria does want to achieve stability.
Syria has also helped in negotiations with the Palestinians.”
In comments during his trip to Paris, Mr Assad made clear his opinion that
Barack Obama, the US president, had fallen short of expectations. “The weak
point is the American sponsor” of peace talks, he was quoted as saying in an
interview with Le Figaro newspaper. “What Obama said about peace was a good
thing. We agree with him on the principles, but as I said, what’s the action
plan? The sponsor has to draw up an action plan.” He also called on France to
increase its regional role, saying “France must act”.
Whether or not improved ties between Damascus and Paris can have any real effect
on long-running Middle East unrest remains to be seen, however.
“The French and the Europeans have the desire to move for peace, but they do not
have the influence over Israel,” Mr Abdullah, the Syrian political analyst,
said. “The Americans are the only side that can put pressure on Israel and the
Obama administration has shown it is not prepared to do that.”psands@thenational.ae
Feltman Says Differences with Syria are Profound, Warns
against Arms Export to Lebanon
Naharnet/U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Jeffrey Feltman said Washington was eager to cooperate with the Hariri Cabinet,
but warned that arms export from Iran to Hizbullah "puts Lebanon at great
risk.""The United States is looking forward to cooperating with the new Lebanon
government in a spirit of partnership in various fields after it obtains
confidence," Feltman said in an interview published Sunday by the daily An-Nahar.
His remarks were translated into English by Naharnet. Feltman said he
congratulated Prime Minister Saad Hariri on his new post and denied accusations
by some Lebanese political leaders who charges that the U.S. administration had
intervened in the government formation process. He accused Iran of continuing to
export arms to Hizbullah and hoped that the Lebanese government would realize
the "risk" of Israeli attacks in response to firing of rockets from Lebanon into
the Jewish state. Feltman said delay in the appointment of a new U.S. ambassador
to Damascus was due to "political and bureaucratic reasons."While acknowledging
that a visit to Washington by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad was
"positive and constructive," he described the differences between the U.S. and
Syria as "profound." Feltman said peace efforts have so far not led to find the
"key to open the door to negotiations in order to reach constructive talks
between Syria and Israel.""But we are committed to achieve peace," he said,
adding that there was a "high degree of cooperation" between the U.S. and France
on peace in the Middle East. Beirut, 15 Nov 09, 07:11
Two Minority-backed Candidates, Two Majority-backed
Candidates in Bar Association Elections
Naharnet/Minority-backed candidates Amal Haddad and George Baroud and
majority-backed candidates Toufic Noueiri and George Jriej won the Bar
Association elections.
Opposition candidate Amal Haddad received 2390 votes. Coming second is
majority-backed candidate Toufic Noueiri with 1827 votes. Third in the list is
March 14 candidate George Jreij with 1825 votes and the fourth winner in the Bar
Association elections is the minority-backed candidate George Baroud with 1713
votes. Beirut, 15 Nov 09, 13:24
Gemayel: We Share the Same Principles and Objectives as
March 14
Naharnet/Phalange Party Leader Amin Gemayel said that "the Beirut Bar
Association elections is proof of Lebanon's democracy especially in times of the
adversities challenging democracy, freedom and the syndical course of action as
well". Gemayel, after casting his vote in the elections on Sunday, said that the
"candidate for the elections backed by March 14 offers a comprehensive reform
program for the association. We congratulate the winners, whoever they might be,
in advance because they all are fully capable and qualified," added Gemayel.
"Phalange party and March 14 share the same objectives and principles. We are
sure that the existing cooperation between us on the level of association
elections or other objectives will not be altered by the concurrent events,"
Gemayel concluded. Beirut, 15 Nov 09, 15:38
Phalange Denies Damascus Visit, Says it's against
Exclusivity of Arms Possession
Naharnet/Social Affairs Minister Salim al-Sayegh reiterated the Phalange Party
position which stems from the "priority of securing stability in southern
Lebanon in line with Resolution 1701 despite the gaps in implementation."In an
interview published Sunday by the daily An-Nahar, Sayegh said the Phalange party
is against both Hizbullah exclusivity of weapons possession and the decision to
use them "in order to avoid exposing Lebanon regionally and internationally in
light of the Israeli threats."Sayegh stressed on "adopting a method for
consensus and understanding to find common ground."Meanwhile, a Phalange party
official denied a report by Hizbullah's al-Manar TV late Saturday which said
Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel has dispatched his political aide Sejaan Azzi
on a mission to Damascus. Beirut, 15 Nov 09, 08:36
Cabinet Ministers Receive Draft Policy Statement ahead of
Monday's Debate
Naharnet/The Committee tasked with drafting the ministerial policy statement
will hold its second meeting on Monday to discuss their visions of the policy
statement and where the country needs to go in the future. An-Nahar daily said
all 12 members of the committee have received the 12-page draft ministerial
policy statement as drawn out by Information Minister Tareq Mitri. It said the
draft refers to issues "already known." Beirut, 15 Nov 09, 08:00
Franjieh: Political Dispute with Jumblat is Over
Naharnet/Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh said Saturday that he
disagreed with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat in the past
"over a certain political point of view" but he added that they meet on the same
political point of view again.Franjieh was speaking after a meeting with Public
Works Minister Ghazi Aridi who visited the Marada Movement leader's house in
Bnachei. The meeting was also attended by State Minister Youssef Saade and MPs
Istfan Dwaihi and Salim Karam. "We are with Minister Ghazi Aridi, and we approve
what he decides regarding the ministerial Policy Statement," answered Franjieh
to a question on whether the meeting tackled the cabinet's Policy Statement. On
his part, Aridi praised the role played by Franjieh for a "normal and speedy
birth of the government". "Good intentions are what define the course of things
in their right and appropriate time, and this meeting was necessary at this
point, but I'm not here to discuss this matter," answered Aridi to a question on
whether he visited Franjieh to convey a certain message from MP Jumblat. Beirut,
14 Nov 09, 21:24
Suleiman Hopes Ministerial Policy Statement Will be Achieved before Independence
Day Eve
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman hoped, during a foundation stone-laying
ceremony for al-Yammouneh water dam project, to "accomplish the cabinet's Policy
Statement on the eve of Independence Day", adding that "this Policy Statement
portrays the policy of the state in the coming stage and elevates its impact
internationally."The president added that the ministerial Policy Statement would
lower the curtain on the past's lean years so that the country would become
prosperous, hale, and terror-defiant like a "fortress".
Suleiman stressed that Lebanon should be keen on benefiting from its water,
whether in the South or Beqaa. The president avowed that "Lebanon was seeking
through all of its capabilities to claim compensations for the losses during the
Israeli occupation days that had witnessed the stealing of its (Lebanon's)
water." Earlier, reports said that Suleiman would invite political leaders to
the national dialogue table based on "new standards" after the cabinet gets
parliament's vote of confidence. Sources told An Nahar daily that Suleiman began
seriously thinking about the names of political leaders and representatives who
would meet at Baabda palace. The sources warned that the expansion of the
all-party talks' authorities could clash with the government's constitutional
powers. Al-Liwaa newspaper, in its turn, quoted informed sources as saying the
national dialogue will not be held for the time being because its agenda
requires consensus. The sources said the agenda will not only include the
defense strategy. The leaders will discuss in addition to Hizbullah's arms,
Suleiman's suggestion to amend the presidency's authorities and economic
reforms. Beirut, 14 Nov 09, 19:02
Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops Expresses Trust in Suleiman's
Political Path
Naharnet/The Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon congratulated
the Lebanese people on the formation of the new government, and expressed trust
in the efforts of President Michel Suleiman who is working with other officials
and security apparatuses to consolidate security and stability as well as
boosting Lebanon's status in the world.
In its final statement of the forty third ordinary session held in Bkirki, the
council wished PM Saad Hariri and the ministers "success in the vital missions
awaiting them."
"In the last period, we witnessed a horrible deterioration in civilized dialogue
level. All of that happened under the banner of demanding for the rights of this
or that sect, or improving their positions in the Lebanese formula, or shares
and gains distribution among the leaders," added the statement. The council
stressed that the political leaders should stick to a moral political language
before anything else. "Today's priority in Lebanon is to build the competent and
just state," added the final statement of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and
Bishops in Lebanon. Beirut, 14 Nov 09, 20:25
Cabinet Policy Statement to be Concise
Naharnet/The cabinet policy statement will be concise and focus on political,
economic and social issues, a member of the committee tasked with writing the
ministerial statement told An Nahar newspaper. He said the statement won't be
similar to its predecessors; it will have short headlines and be based on a work
plan that could be implemented.
An Nahar said the statement will be between 12-15 pages and its political part
will not be more than seven pages long. Despite a consensus atmosphere, sources
told al-Liwaa that there is disagreement between Telecommunications Minister
Charbel Nahhas and several ministers over the economic vision. The sources were
perplexed by Nahhas' suggestion to "change the economic order" in Lebanon
because the current system is no longer compatible with the economic, social and
political situation in the country. An Nahar reiterated that some are
calling for keeping the article on Hizbullah's arms the same as in the previous
policy statement while others believe the weapons issue shouldn't be mentioned
at all because it is a subject of discussion at the national dialogue table.
Premier Saad Hariri has reportedly told the committee to prepare the statement
soon so that the cabinet gets the confidence vote before independence day. The
committee will meet on Monday.
Jumblat: We Should Take Lebanon Out of March 8, 14 Trenches
Naharner/In his first appearance on Hizbullah's al-Manar TV since 2000,
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has called for taking Lebanon
"out of the March 8 and 14 trenches." "We formed a unity cabinet and with this
government we should take Lebanon out of the March 8 and 14 trenches," Jumblat
said Friday night asking for Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's help in
that mission. He reiterated that he was still part of the majority but he would
have his own stance on certain issues in the new cabinet.
About his possible visit to Syria, Jumblat said: "I will announce from here (al-Manar)
my visit when there are signs and following Premier Saad Hariri's visit to
Damascus and when there is readiness in Damascus to welcome me."The Druze leader
told al-Manar the Syrian people have the right to object to his visit. "It is
not easy (for me) to shake hands with someone whom I have insulted," he said
about Syrian President Bashar Assad. The MP said that geopolitics and history
cannot be ignored. "When I launched my campaign on Syria, the issue was
personal. It was for the sake of (former PM) Rafik Hariri. But we can't rely on
personal ties in politics."Turning to Israel, Jumblat warned that the Jewish
state could launch an offensive on Lebanon anytime "even if there was no such
thing as Hizbullah." Beirut, 14 Nov 09, 08:17
Kouchner Expresses Readiness to Help in Sadr's Disappearance Case
Naharnet/French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has expressed his country's
readiness to follow up on the disappearance case of Shiite cleric Imam Moussa
Sadr, the Moussa Sadr Center for Research and Studies announced on Saturday. The
center said Kouchner's statement came during a meeting with Sadr's sister Rabab
in Paris. It said the two sides discussed the latest political developments in
Lebanon and Sadr's efforts to end the civil war. Sadr, who founded the Amal
movement now led by Speaker Nabih Berri, disappeared while in Libya with two
companions Mohammed Yaqoub and Abbas Badreddine in 1978. There has been no trace
of the three men since. Libya maintains that the trio left for Italy on August
31, 1978 after their stay in Tripoli and that it has no idea what happened to
them afterwards. The center said in its statement that Rabab Sadr informed
Kouchner about arrest warrants issued against Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi and
17 other Libyan leaders for their direct involvement in Sadr's alleged
abduction. Kouchner, in his turn, lauded Sadr's role on unity and peace in
Lebanon. He tasked one of his advisors to follow up on the case and stay in
contact with Sadr's family, according to the center. Beirut, 14 Nov 09, 14:04
Nasrallah, Arslan Assess New Stage
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan /Naharnet/Nasrallah and MP Talal Arslan discussed latest developments in the
country and assessed the aftermath of the elections.
The National News Agency said Saturday that Nasrallah and Arslan also talked
about the formation of the cabinet and the upcoming stage.
They stressed the strong relations between the two sides and continued
cooperation on all national issues, according to NNA. Beirut, 14 Nov 09, 11:52
Aoun, on the way to Syria soon
Date: November 15th, 2009/Source: Al Watan
The Syrian Newspaper Al-Watan reported Sunday that the Change and Reform Bloc
leader MP Michel Aoun would visit Syria soon. Future News/The paper said that
this visit could take place before Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s visit to
Damascus who observers describe it as historic, adding it opens a new page
concerning the bilateral relations between the two countries, away from the
burdens of the past stage. It added the summit between the Presidents Bashar
al-Assad and Michel Suleiman paved the way for such regional developments,
especially that Lebanon and Syria share many common interests.
Janjanian: Lebanese Forces ready to hold talks with Damascus
Date: November 15th, 2009/Source: Future News /Zahle in the Heart bloc member,
MP Shant Janjanian hailed on Sunday Syrian-Lebanese rapprochement expected to
progress during Premier Saad Hariri’s future visit to Syria, expressing Lebanese
Forces’ readiness to hold talks with Damascus. Zahle MP Janjanian told Future
News that March 14 made all possible concessions to facilitate cabinet
formation, hoping that the cabinet would rule throughout its four-year mandate
and make more efforts in security and economic issues. Janjanian pointed that
the formation of the Ministerial Statement will not take long, stressing the
positive phase Lebanon is embarking on. Assuring firm ties, the LF lawmaker
added that there are attempts to divide March 14, especially Lebanese Forces and
Kataeb. “Kataeb and Lebanese Forces are almost one team,” added Janjanian,
hoping that the incumbent cabinet is a developmental government and not a crisis
management administration.
Beirut Bar Association election results: Amal Haddad named president
November 15, 2009 /Now Lebanon/The members of the Beirut Bar Association were
elected on Sunday, with Amal Haddad named president after running unopposed.
Elected members include: Amal Haddad (2390 vote), George Jreije (1825 vote),
Toufic Noueiry (1827 vote), George Baroud (1713 vote) and Hussein Zbib (1669
vote). -NOW Lebanon
March 14 alliance wins Dental Association elections
November 15, 2009 /Now Lebanon/The Dental Association elections ended on Sunday
with Dr. Ghassan Yared, who is supported by the March 14 alliance and by the
doctors of the Universite Saint Joseph, winning the seat of president of the
association. The elected members of the association are: Dr. Jean Moussa, Dr.
Mona Nahhas, Dr. Christian Makari, Dr. Wassim Mbadder, Dr. Samer al-Jout, who
are all supported by March 14. -NOW Lebanon
Sayyed Hussein: Parties may agree through dialogue to integrate Hezbollah’s arms
November 15, 2009 /Now Lebanon/State Minister Adnan As-Sayyed Hussein was quoted
in the Sunday edition of Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper as saying that it is
“possible” for Lebanese parties to reach an agreement through dialogue to
integrate Hezbollah’s arms within the state’s authority, adding that such a step
is the main objective of the national defense strategy. He called for military
experts to decide on the issue of Hezbollah’s arms behind closed doors, despite
the “divergent points of view on the matter.”
Sayyed Hussein added that the defense strategy will not only tackle the issue of
Hezbollah’s arms, but also the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces,
inter-service relations and the role of the Lebanese people in confronting
Israeli aggressions. He emphasized the importance of the National Dialogue
sessions, saying they will honor the results of the parliamentary elections and
added that they are capable of lessening the severity of political crises that
negatively influence state institution. According to him, the National Dialogue
body could be converted into a national body dedicated to eliminating political
sectarianism composed of leading political, social and intellectual figures.
Sayyed Hussein denied that President Michel Sleiman is trying to form his own
“force” in the National Dialogue, similar to that of the political parties,
explaining that the president is simply fulfilling his constitutional role as
the head of the body. “The missing link in the country is a political and
constitutional figure who can resolve domestic and constitutional conflicts
regardless of their type,” Sayyed Hussein added.
He also said that National Dialogue is “not enough,” adding that some
constitutional powers should be reconsidered in order for the president to play
his proper role in defending Lebanon’s safety and unity. -NOW Lebanon
A history lesson for Lebanon
If history is forgotten it will repeat itself
Maya Khourchid , November 15, 2009
Now Lebanon/The poster of the film A History Lesson, courtesy of Hadi Zaccak
Who are Lebanon’s enemies? Who are its historical allies? And what is the most
important date in the country’s history?
In Hadi Zaccak’s new documentary A History Lesson, five ninth-grade students
studying in schools throughout the country are all taught the same standardized
history text, yet they seldom provide the same answers to these important
questions. Spliced interviews intertwined with footage of the students in their
homes combine to make the director’s case—that the underlying problem is how
history is taught in the country, or perhaps more accurately, how it is not
taught.
A History Lesson premiered at the Beirut Film Festival in August and was later
screened at the Metropolis Empire Sofil theatre in early October, before airing
on Al-Jazeera’s documentary channel with a possible theatrical release planned
for 2010.
Zaccak interviewed students from different private schools, as he said he was
banned from including public schools. Together these students represented a wide
spectrum of Lebanon’s private education sector: Sunni, Shia, Catholic,
Evangelical and secular high schools. With their contradicting answers to the
same questions they also represent the exact issue Zaccak addresses: lack of
unified national identity. “They all believe in Lebanon, but the concept of
Lebanon differs,” Zaccak said. “It becomes more, for example, a Muslim or a
Christian Lebanon first, and then ‘the Lebanon.’” For students taught the
national curriculum, Lebanese history ends at 1948, just after the country’s
independence from France. In this post-colonial world, usually a country’s
history begins with independence, mused Zaccak at a recent rendezvous in Beirut.
Not so in Lebanon, where “it stops with independence,” as he put it.
Due to deep sectarian divisions and continued disagreements between political
factions over the often violent series of events that characterize Lebanon’s
post-independence history, a unified historical narrative that goes past this
date has never materialized and thus, cannot be taught.
Moreover, such sectarian divisions are reinforced outside the classroom when
students learn Lebanon’s history at home. “The problem is what they learn from
out of school, from their environment,” Zaccak said. “Mainly the environment is
the first factor—their family, their community—and this is what you discover
through the contradictions. What I have discovered is that no one from [each of
the] communities really knows the other.”
While several local movements have, over the years, pushed to rectify the
academic black hole and produce several aborted attempts at writing an
up-to-date history textbook, a mutually agreed-upon narrative never emerged. The
abrupt ending at Lebanon’s independence from France is widely considered the
last point at which the country’s various and invariably warring political
parties agree on the sequence of events. Debating the events beyond this point,
as Lebanese urban legend has it, is an invitation to stir old animosities and
reignite civil strife, which Hezbollah’s recent contention over the Diary of
Anne Frank demonstrates. But for Zaccak, the complete opposite is true. Through
researching and producing the film, a process that began at the end of 2008 and
culminated this August, he came to realize that without learning from the
country’s history, the same mistakes are repeated.
“Amnesia leaves us making a civil war every 15 to 20 years. This is our
history,” he said. “So mainly we are not learning anything, and this is
irresponsibility when you see that in 1958 you had a civil war, in 1975 a civil
war, last year [with the May 7 events] you had a civil war… so we’re not really
building anything.”
Not only is Lebanon’s history literally repetitive, but for Zaccak, it is also
revolves around the same unresolved themes. During the hundreds of interviews he
conducted with students before selecting the five protagonists of A History
Lesson, he heard ideologies that precede these students’ lives. “If I want to
base myself on the answers, mainly you have the same old questions which were
the same themes of the civil war; the questions on identity… it’s still the
same. So with the [civil] war we haven’t changed anything… Usually, when
something ends you start a new phase, but when you examine [this] we haven’t
created any new model. So practically, maybe militarily speaking, [the civil
war] ended but the themes are still present,” he said. The Lebanese art world is
increasingly divided into two camps—those who feel that the civil war must be
constantly examined and those who feel it is an unnecessary cliché. Zaccak is
steadfastly a member of the former. “They say ‘we are fed up with the civil war
and we have to tackle new issues,’ but it’s strange that no matter what you want
to talk about, you finally [reach] something coming from the war, and this is
already what we have been living [politically] for the past three or four
years,” Zaccak said. “Every time there is something working, there is somehow
the phantom of the civil war… we have not finished this phenomenon at all.”
While Zaccak strongly believes the country’s history should be taught in full
and that national identity will only be achieved through secularism, he also
understands the magnitude of his proposals. “This is maybe a dream,” he said.
“But I make films… this is the medium that I work through.”
The history of Lebanon between anti-Semitism and crimes against humanity
Mohammed Ali al-Atassi , November 14, 2009
Now Lebanon/ Generally speaking, many extremists who fanatically defend just
causes are the worst enemies of those causes. This principle applies directly to
the whole hubbub started by Al-Manar when it accused certain groups of being
compliant in exposing “the educational sector in Lebanon to the Zionist cultural
invasion.” This charge was due to the fact that an English-language textbook
being used in several schools in Beirut contained passages from the memoirs of
Anne Frank, the thirteen-year-old German girl who wrote her journal entries in
hiding during the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands before she was captured,
later dying along with most of the members of her family in Nazi concentration
camps.
The television report, which caused this whole stir when it aired on the evening
of October 30 on Al-Manar news, was no more than a three-minute segment put
together by an overly zealous journalist and featuring a Hezbollah MP and
lawyer. But it was enough to cause the book to be taken out of circulation after
an unfortunate and unjust decision on the part of then-Minister of Education
Bahia Hariri. It was also enough for some authorities at Al-Manar to think they
scored an additional point in Lebanon’s continuing political disputes, when
actually they handed over – on a silver platter – a priceless gift to extremist
Zionist propaganda, which for years has sought to link currents of anti-Semitism
in Europe to the resistance movements against the Zionist occupation in our
region.
A short television report prepared by an impetuous journalist, after it had been
transcribed on the front page of Al-Manar’s website, was enough to be picked up
by AFP in Beirut and rereleased in a number of languages. From there it was
seized upon by world media outlets and published by the international press on
their front pages under the headline that Hezbollah censored Anne Frank in
Lebanon. Indeed, it is enough for a report like this to create a firestorm over
Lebanon, its Resistance, its media and even its educational institutions.
The most terrible and peculiar part is that Al-Manar’s website, in transcribing
the content of the broadcast, neglected the egregious error committed by the
journalist who prepared the report. When boasting about his discovery, the
journalist held the book in his hands, displayed its pages to the viewing public
and said: “This is the book which is studied in Beirut schools and talks about
the memoirs of a young Israeli girl during the Second World War.” Perhaps this
journalist was unaware that during the period when Anne Frank wrote her journal
entries – between 1942 and 1944 – there was still no state in the world called
Israel. Such a blunder is appalling. Or perhaps he indeed was aware but in his
haste to prepare the report committed this gaffe. That would be an even greater
mistake. What is important is that this report, and all other similar matters,
is being used by all who want to erroneously and shamelessly make the link
between anti-Semitism and the crimes in Europe with the Resistance in Lebanon.
Otherwise, how could we justify this journalist’s protest against the Star of
David appearing in the book – the star that Jews were forced to wear on their
chests by the Nazis as a scarlet letter. This was the only manner in which it
appeared in the textbook!
It was not lost upon this broadcast report to take on a semi-official stamp as
it hosted Hezbollah MP Hussein al-Hajj Hassan. The MP would not acknowledge that
Anne Frank’s story was really a tragedy when he said, “No one studies a book in
Lebanese schools without examining the content. So instead, these long-endured
and respected schools teach what the so-called, quote-unquote tragedy of this
young girl, being ashamed to teach the tragedy of the Palestinian people, the
tragedy of the Lebanese people, the history of the Resistance, the history of
Lebanon’s resistance, and the suffering of the people of the South and the
people of Lebanon by the Zionist occupation.”
The truth is MP Hussein al-Hajj Hassan would not have so begrudgingly described
the story of Anne Frank as a “tragedy” if he had been afforded the opportunity
during the various stages of his education to examine the truth of the
misfortune that befell the young German Jew; if he had read her diary and come
to know how she hid away with her family in a house attic in Amsterdam for 25
months during which she compiled her entries before her family was discovered by
Nazi police; or if he had studied how she and her sister were separated from
their father and all moved to Nazi concentration camps where no one in her
family was spared, except the father.
Moreover, MP Hajj Hassan would not have stuck to this comparison which so
negatively differentiated between the tragedy of Anne Frank and the tragedies of
the Palestinians and Lebanese if he had understood that it is not only how the
diary accounts became, for such a large portion of the world, the voice and
conscience for all of those who perished in Nazi concentration camps; but
rather, also how Zionist propaganda has attempted to monopolize her diary for
its own interests and use them to justify the establishment of the state of
Israel as a national homeland for the Jews as the victims of the Holocaust.
The truth is, had MP Hajj Hassan reviewed recent history even a little, he would
have recalled that, amid all the protests of Zionist organizations from The
Netherlands and around the world, former PLO head Yasser Arafat visited the Anne
Frank Museum in Amsterdam in 1996, acknowledging the tragedy that befell the
Jews in World War II. On the same token, he refuted any notion that
anti-Semitism and the just battle of the Palestinians were interrelated.
Indeed, had MP Hajj Hassan looked even a little bit into the truth about the
Nazi concentration camps and the place that this great crime against humanity
occupies in the European collective conscience; had he looked even a little bit
into the difficult task being undertaken by several progressive groups in Europe
to prevent Israel from becoming the sole spokesman for the victims of the
Holocaust; had he only stressed that the Palestinians, in the end, are the
victims of the victims, he would have been able to make a comparison between the
tragedy of Anne Frank and the victims of the Holocaust and the tragedies of the
Palestinian and Lebanese peoples in a way that is integrative, not
differentiating.
Wouldn’t it have been nice if he, prior to making this unfortunate comparison,
had heard of the controversy in the Netherlands last year when Boomerang
Publishing produced postcards depicting Anne Frank, considered by many in Europe
to be the symbol of Jewish suffering at the hands of the Nazis, wearing the red
Palestinian Kuffiyah, the symbol of the Palestinian struggle, which were
distributed for free in universities, theaters and coffee shops. This postcard
created a major stir in the Netherlands and it drew intense opposition from
numerous Jewish organizations who demanded, in vain, that the publishing house
take the cards out of circulation.
Even Harry Kney-Tal, the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands, got involved in
the issue. He displayed his deep anger over the subject, saying: “Anne Frank was
an icon in [The Netherlands’] history and was killed because she was Jewish. The
artist was wrong to use this icon to interpret a political crisis which is
completely different from that of the Palestinians and the Israelis. This is a
disgraceful matter and I cannot use any other words to describe the image.”
Such disgrace, as it were, was also undertaken by UNESCO, an organization
deserving of great praise here, when this year it added UNRWA’s photo and film
archives of Palestinian refugees alongside Anne Frank’s diaries in Paris to its
Memory of the World Programme. Such disgrace, as viewed by the Israeli
ambassador, should have been explored further by MP Hajj Hassan. Not only could
he, after delving further, have made an integrative comparison between Anne
Frank’s suffering and that of the children of Qana, Janin and Gaza, but he could
also begin to encourage our children, via school curricula, to take after Anne
Frank and record in their daily notebooks with candor and clarity the suffering
that they have had to endure. At that point it would be difficult for the
so-called Israeli Defense Forces to turn the children’s bodies into the
nameless, voiceless, bloody corpses displayed on our satellite channels.
What makes matters worse is that this sort of back-and-forth bickering, which
has taken on wide-reaching international dimensions, was not lost on the
Lebanese interior. On LBC’s program “Your Day Is Happy”, MP Sami Gemayel did not
let the Al-Manar report go by without not only coming out in defense of the
freedom of expression and education and the right to teach the Anne Frank
Diaries in Lebanese schools; but he also said, in the name of decentralization,
that every region in Lebanon should be able to teach its own particular history
alongside Lebanon’s common history. The logic of equality between Lebanon’s
sects, according to Gemayel, should be as follows: “I’m coming from the logic of
equality. If Hezbollah wants to control the curriculum of [the International
College], we should also examine the curricula that it teaches in its schools.”
However, the young Gemayel was not satisfied with that. He went on to demand
that his party receive the Ministry of Education because “the history book is
among the priorities of the [Kataeb] party, [a party that] believes it necessary
to submit this issue to a major workshop based on [the idea that] the writing of
Lebanese history [should be] shared by everyone and with respect to all of their
sacrifices made for the sake of Lebanon.” The upstart Gemayel went on to say
that “we recognize [Hezbollah’s] martyrs and we demand that they recognize our
martyrs as well. We only demand equality between us as afforded by the Lebanese
constitution.” However, if the other side does not respect the Kataeb’s martyrs,
then Gemayel threatened to review the entire configuration of the country,
saying: “We have offered sacrifices for this country and we deserve respect from
the other side, whoever that might be. And if the other side does not
acknowledge us, then we should take a look at this country’s configuration.”
In light of this dispute we can only imagine how the history of this country
would be written by both those who believe that the presence of the diary of
Anne Frank in history textbooks will lead to the normalization and continuation
of “the educational sector in Lebanon legitimizing the Zionist cultural
invasion,” and those who want to obtain the Ministry of Education in order to
rewrite Lebanese history.
Did not Sami Gemayel declare upon his election to parliament that “I shall enter
[parliament] with all of our martyrs; with our martyrs from Tal al-Zaatar and
the Hundred-Day War. I will not leave them outside parliament; rather I shall
bring them in with us. And we will tell the truth, and we will not be quiet. I
will be your conscience, your identity and your history inside parliament.”
Today he is not only trying to do what he said he would in parliament, but also
in the Ministry of Education!
Indeed, this is a matter of Lebanese history being rewritten by those who want
to cram it full of anti-Semitism on the one hand and on the other those who have
not learned a single thing from the past and still are proud of the massacre of
Tel al-Zaatar - viewed under international law as a crime against humanity – and
who consider it, as they have said, “a golden page” in the history of the
Lebanese resistance. **This article is an abridged translation of the original
Arabic, which was published in An-Nahar on Wednesday, November 11
Abi Lamaa: LF to restrain support if Ministerial Statement is replica
Date: November 15th, 2009/Source: Almustaqbal /Lebanese Forces member, Eddie Abi
Lamaa, asserted that the party would restrain its support to the Ministerial
Statement if it were a replica of the former cabinet, reported al-Mustaqbal
daily in its Sunday edition. Abi Lamaa, voicing the party’s stand, indicated
that Lebanese Forces does not want a mini-state within the State or illegitimate
arms. He assured that the party insists on commitment to international
resolutions and basic principles of the State’s establishment and continued that
it encourages the cabinet’s commencement of work as soon as possible. “Lebanon
has passed through a state of stability after government formation and we expect
the cabinet to affirm stability and resolve people’s day-to-day problems among
other duties, chiefly improving the economy,” added Abi Lamaa.
Zoom in: relations with Syria, the ministerial statement
Date: November 14th, 2009/Source: Future News
The file on the Lebanese-Syrian relations has become a priority for Lebanese
politicians amid the positive and encouraging atmospheres that began since the
formation of a consensual cabinet Monday followed by President Michel Sleiman’s
visit to Damascus. All of that initiated talks that Premier Saad Hariri might
pay Syria a visit. The “anticipated visit” which Hariri said, several times,
would be a “state visit where the premier would represent the Lebanese,” was
described by MP Moustafa Allouch as “part of an Arab and international tour
where Syria would be one major destination.”Allouch also said that the “visit is
based on national constants, and that the decision of visiting Syria is up to
the cabinet.”
Meanwhile, the committee designated to draft the ministerial committee is
scheduled to resume it meetings Sunday in light of the positive atmospheres that
concluded the first meeting.
In that regard, President Michel Sleiman voiced hopes for finalizing the
ministerial statement on the eve of Independence Day, which would “highlight the
country’s policy in the next phase and enhance Lebanon’s position in
international forums. Minister of State Wael Abu Faour, told the Almustaqbal.org
“efforts are ongoing to finalize the ministerial statement,” he also linked the
success of the government to coherent and united decisions taken by political
factions representing the government.” A source of the Lebanese Forces exclaimed
rejection to include any item legitimizing arms outside the state’s authority.
Deputy Walid Khoury said “the opposition and the majority have agreed on the
issue of Hizbullah’s arms in the ministerial statement.”
Furthermore, Deputy Elie Marouni told the website: “The Kataeb party is
committed to support Premier Hariri. They had the right to exclaim objection to
a certain procedure but that is over now and they have agreed to participate in
the cabinet.” On the other hand, the Patriarchs council and Catholic bishops
congratulated the Lebanese on the new cabinet, renewing confidence to President
Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri