LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 22/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19,45-48. Then Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.'" And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

An Eastern liturgy/Prayer for the blessing of a church
May their interior temple be as beautiful as this temple of stone
When three are gathered in your name (Mt 18,20) they already form a church. Watch over the thousands assembled here: their hearts have prepared a sanctuary before ever our hands constructed this one for the glory of your name. May their interior temple be as beautiful as this temple of stone. Be pleased to dwell in one as in the other; our hearts, like these stones, are signed with your name. The mighty power of God might have raised up a habitation with as much ease as, at a gesture, it brought the world into being. But God has formed man so that man might form a habitation for him. Blessed be his mercy who has so loved us! He is infinite, we are limited. He builds the world for us; we build a house for him. How wonderful it is that man is able to build a dwelling for the All-Powerful, ever present One, from whom nothing can escape. He dwells tenderly in our midst; he draws us with bonds of love; he stays among us and calls us to take the way of heaven that we might live with him. He left his dwelling and chose the Church that we might forsake our dwelling and choose paradise. God dwelt in the midst of men so that men might encounter God.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Report of the UN secretary general on the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1701-Daily Star 21/11/08
Lebanese politicians rise above politics - for once-By Marc J. Sirois - Daily Star 21/11/08
Hezbollah Marshals the Young via Scout Troops. By: Robert Worth. The New York Times 21/11/08
Analysis: Duplicitous Assad is getting away with murder-By: Jonathan Spyer. Jerusalem Post 21/11/08
Abbas' advertising campaign for peace is more than worth the effort-By The Daily Star 21/11/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 21/08
Germany bans Hezbollah television station Al-Manar-The Associated Press
Geagea: Marada are Carrying out Patrols in Chekka Rather than Police-Naharnet
Hariri: France did not Change and U.S. Cannot Give up on Justice-Naharnet
Berri Presided over Youth Parliament Session with 128 Students Present-Naharnet
Fillon: We Await Opening of Embassies Between Beirut and Damascus Before End of 2008-Naharnet
One Killed, 9 Wounded in Attack on Lebanese Army Checkpoint in Tripoli-Naharnet
Shootout with army kills 1 in north Lebanon-International Herald Tribune
The Reason Behind a Cabinet Meeting in Baabda Next Sunday!-Naharnet
M60 Main Battle Tanks From U.S. to Lebanese Army-Naharnet
2 Arms Dealers Convicted of Plot to Aid Terrorists-New York Times
Killing of al-Qaida Smuggler in Syria was Joint Syrian, US Effort-Middle East Times
French PM lauds calm following Doha Accord-Daily Star
Lebanon seeks wanted Islamists from Palestinian camp-AFP
French PM says Lebanon on "promising path"-AFP
US convicts "Prince of Marbella" of arms deal-Reuters
Salameh predicts higher GDP, lower inflation, stable pound for Lebanon-Daily Star
Lebanon, Syria: Cutting Strands in a Militant Web-Stratfor
Lebanon still lags on copyright rules - Microsoft exec-Daily Star
Salameh predicts higher GDP, lower inflation, stable pound for Lebanon-Daily Star
Egyptian paper in trouble for having ignored gag order on Tamim case(AFP)
Water crisis drowning Souk al-Ghareb-Daily Star
Bus crash in Zalka leaves nine injured-Daily Star
Demining in the Chouf: all in a dog's day's work-Daily Star
Army leans on Ain al-Hilweh to give up fugitive militant(AFP)
Ban reports Israeli, Lebanese violations of 1701-Daily Star
French PM lauds calm following Doha Accord (AFP)
Trial begins for 68 LAF men accused in January deaths-Daily Star
Bush's Lebanon policy is 'successful example' for Obama - Jumblatt-Daily Star
Kahwaji urges loyalty among troops-Daily Star
Trial of 68 Suspects, Including 3 Officers, in Shiyah-Mar Mikhael Incidents Begins-Naharnet
Motakki: Tehran Expects Great Deal from Suleiman's Visit-Naharnet
Iran for Solving Lebanon's Problems Through Dialogue Not Arms-Naharnet
New Business Linkages Initiative Program-Naharnet
Global Financial Crisis Scuttles Restoration Efforts of Beirut Synagogue-Naharnet
Hizbullah Calls on Iraqi Parliament to Reject Security Pact with U.S-Naharnet
Gemayel: Batroun Incident Could Push Towards Christian Reconciliation-Naharnet

Analysis: Duplicitous Assad is getting away with murder
By JONATHAN SPYER - Jerusalem Post
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has just completed an official visit to Syria. This was the first visit of a senior British elected official to Damascus since 2001. Following the visit, the British media revealed that Miliband has agreed to the renewal of high-level intelligence links with Syria.
Slideshow: Pictures of the week Miliband's visit was clearly intended as a signal to the incoming US administration of London's support for the view of Syria as a potential guarantor of peace and stability in the region - if it can be tempted with the right inducements. This view is currently helping Damascus rebuild both its relations with the West, and its power in the neighborhood.
Syria is trying to market itself as a key ally in the struggle against al-Qaida style Islamist terrorism in the region. There is a certain irony to this, since Syria has itself been acting as a key facilitator for the Sunni jihadis in the last years. Maj.-Gen. John Kelly, head of Multinational Forces West in Iraq, said recently that al-Qaida fighters have been living "pretty openly" on the Syrian side of the border. Both Iraqi and Jordanian officials have confirmed that recent warnings and appeals to Damascus regarding the presence of senior al-Qaida figures in Syria have gone unheeded.
But a particular group of Sunni Islamists are now being presented by the Syrian regime as evidence of Damascus's status as a fellow sufferer from the al-Qaida scourge. A week ago, Syrian state television broadcast interviews with members of a cell of the Fatah al-Islam organization. The 10 members of the cell admitted carrying out a bombing in southern Damascus on September 27. They said they had carried out this act as part of an effort to bring down the Bashar Assad regime.
Fatah al-Islam is the mysterious Sunni Islamist organization that emerged last year in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon. The organization fought a bloody battle with the Lebanese army in the camp. At the time, many Lebanon-watchers noted the extensive links of the group's leader, a Palestinian called Shaker al-Abssi, with the Syrian authorities.
Abssi, who had previously belonged to a pro-Syrian group called Fatah Intifada, had been released early from a Syrian jail before reappearing as the Fatah al-Islam commander. A Lebanese citizen, Ahmed Merie, testified that he had acted as a liaison between Abssi and Gen. Assef Shawkat, head of Syrian Military Intelligence. According to Merie, Shawkat supplied a skilled bombmaker to the terrorist group.
The Syrians have also been touting the Sunni jihadi threat as the reason for increased Syrian-Lebanese security cooperation. Many see this as coded language for the rebuilding of effective Syrian security control of its neighbor.
Miliband, in Damascus, held up the establishing of formal diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon as an example of the encouraging transformation in Syrian attitudes. But a recent report in the pro-Syrian Al-Akhbar newspaper explained that the formalization of relations was made possible because of the effective domination of the Lebanese government by pro-Syrian elements since the Doha agreement of June 2008.
The international investigation into 2005's murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri had been the key threat hanging over the regime's head in the last three years. The possibility of senior Syrian officials being called before an international court to answer charges was a nightmare scenario from Damascus's point of view. The contempt in which the Syrians now hold the tribunal, as well as the regime's feline sense of humor, may be gauged by the fact that the ubiquitous Assef Shawkat, himself formerly a chief suspect in the investigation into the Hariri killing, is now in charge of the joint Syrian-Lebanese campaign against "terrorism." Shawkat also serves as liaison with Lebanon's intelligence chief on this issue.
The newly-minted Syrian victims of Islamist terror, meanwhile, were quite clear with their British guest that their alliance with Iran, and support for Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, would continue. Syrian officials, including President Assad, have stated since the indirect talks with Israel began that these links are not up for discussion.
So let's take a glance at the score sheet. Links with the Europeans are being steadily rebuilt, on the basis of Syria's declared opposition to Sunni Islamist forces - some of which Damascus itself appears to have created, others of which it has provided with a safe haven.
The Syrian security forces who left Lebanon by the front door in 2005 are reentering by the back door of cooperation with a government increasingly dominated by pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian forces. This cooperation is also taking place in the name of a joint struggle against "terrorism."
The regime is now preparing for the next goal - rapprochement with the US. All this is happening with a tacit understanding that Syria's strategic alliance with the West's main regional enemy remains off-limits for discussion. The process is also currently unaffected by growing evidence of a clandestine Syrian nuclear program in progress at least until the Israeli raid of September 2007.
So will Israel find itself in a few months chided for intransigence toward our fellow anti-terrorists in Damascus for conditioning a withdrawal from the Golan on other, "unrelated," issues? This will depend on whether President-elect Obama can be persuaded that Gen. Assef Shawkat - suspect in the Hariri murder, one time facilitator of Fatah al-Islam - is now a comrade in the battle against Islamist terror.
**Jonathan Spyer is a senior researcher at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, IDC, Herzliya.

One Killed, 9 Wounded in Attack on Lebanese Army Checkpoint in Tripoli
Naharnet/One person was killed and nine others, including 3 soldiers, were wounded Friday after a car refused to heed warnings to stop at a military checkpoint in the northern city of Tripoli. Lebanese troops opened fire as the Renault 18 failed to heed orders to stop, wounding one person, the state-run National News Agency said.
It said two other occupants of the car were arrested. They were drunk. Soon after the shootout, which took place around 6:30am in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabanneh neighborhood, angry protestors set the Renault on fire. They also blocked the main Tripoli-Akkar highway with burning tires, NNA said.
Another crowd, meanwhile, opened fire on the army checkpoint, prompting troops to return fire. A man identified as Ahmed al-Zoubi was killed in the shootout and several people were wounded, including a man by the name of Abu Da'aas. Lebanese troops and dignitaries from Bab al-Tebanneh worked together to contain the security breach. The Lebanese army command issued a communiqué explaining details of the incident. It vowed not to be lenient on security violators.The army statement denied earlier news reports that said clashes raged with militants as Lebanese troops launched a major raid in Bab al-Tabanneh. Beirut, 21 Nov 08, 08:32

Trial of 68 Suspects, Including 3 Officers, in Shiyah-Mar Mikhael Incidents Begins
Naharnet/The Lebanese military court has begun trying 68 people, including three army officers and 8 soldiers, accused in the Jan. 27 Shiyah-Mar Mikhael incidents which left nine people killed and several others wounded, among them an officer and two soldiers. The three officers appeared before the court presided over by Judge Brig. Gen. Nizar Khalil. The court president tasked judge Bilal Wazneh with interrogating the soldiers. Accordingly, they will be released after a 10-month-long detention. Beirut, 21 Nov 08, 11:14

The Reason Behind a Cabinet Meeting in Baabda Next Sunday!
Naharnet/Why were cabinet ministers suddenly called to Baabda for a meeting on Sunday at the request of the president to discuss new developments on the cellular network front? The Council of Ministers last week took a controversial decision to reject Minister of Telecom Jebran Bassil's recommendation to renew the management contract with Zain for MTC Touch and choosing France Telecom as the new manager of the Alfa network. It also asked Bassil to renew the MTC Touch contract for 2 months only and let the ministry manage the Alfa network itself, followed by a tender for both operations 2 months later.
The Zain Group apparently informed the ministry that it no longer wishes to extend the contract for 2 more months and it wants to quit by November 30. This would automatically mean that the ministry will have to run both networks in 10 days' time. Zain seems to be irritated by the fact that its negotiations with the ministry were successful and it had to pay the price of snags on the Alfa front. It is important to note that Zain had contributed more than $2 million to repair the damages caused by the July 2006 war and it would not seem right to be treated that way. Zain later changed its position and accepted to incur further losses by extending its management contract for 2 more months and it is not clear whether it would participate in the upcoming management tender. The mobile operations yet again are subjected to ongoing political maneuvering since 1998, when the BOT contracts were rescinded. For how long would the telecom sector be subjected to the whims of the politicians and their infighting? Beirut, 20 Nov 08, 22:01

M60 Main Battle Tanks From U.S. to Lebanese Army
Naharnet/The United States will provide Lebanon with dozens of M60 main battle tanks which are capable of defeating enemy forces, the daily An-Nahar said Friday.
The vehicle is suitable as an assault weapon in offensive operations and can also be employed at night and under conditions of limited visibility.
An-Nahar said the tanks would be shipped in batches, the first of which is expected to arrive in early 2009. Beirut, 21 Nov 08, 09:45

Qahwaji in Syria Next Month
Naharnet/Lebanese army commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji will visit Syria next month upon the invitation of his Syrian counterpart Gen. Ali Habib. The daily As-Safir, citing Lebanese sources, said Qahwaji will visit Damascus in the first week of December. Defense Minister Elias Murr is also expected to arrive in Damascus on a two-day official visit before Christmas. So is Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun who is likely to head to Damascus Dec. 1. As-Safir said in this regard that Syria "would not ask anything from Aoun during his visit, but rather it (Syria) is the one that will try to meet all his demands."
It quoted sources well acquainted with the Syrian leadership as saying officials in Damascus have become convinced that the Syrian regime "had tyrannized Aoun in its offensive against him in the late 1980s." Beirut, 21 Nov 08, 10:38

Motakki: Tehran Expects Great Deal from Suleiman's Visit
Naharnet/Iran's Foreign Minister Manuchehr Motakki said Tehran expects "a great deal" out of President Michel Suleiman's visit.
In remarks published by the daily As-Safir on Friday, Motakki stressed the need for full implementation of the Doha agreement, pointing that Tehran takes a great interest in upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections. Motakki also backed intra-Lebanese reconciliation efforts. Iran "has a belief that the Lebanese people can solve their own problems through sincere dialogue without resorting to arms which is a loss to everybody. Suleiman will head on an official visit to Tehran on Monday.
Beirut, 21 Nov 08, 09:55

Iran for Solving Lebanon's Problems Through Dialogue Not Arms
Naharnet/Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has stressed on dialogue to solve problems and said his country was "expecting a lot" from Lebanese President Michel Suleiman's visit to Tehran next Monday. "We are expecting a lot from this visit and from future relations with Lebanon," Mottaki told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday. He stressed the need to fully implement the Doha Accord, adding that the agreement's third clause which deals with the 2009 parliamentary elections in Lebanon interests his country. Tehran "believes that the Lebanese should solve their problems through sincere dialogue and without resorting to arms which will lead to the defeat of everyone," Mottaki told the newspaper. "That's why we urge the Lebanese to abide by the (Doha) Accord and we stress the importance of holding onto the political process to solve all problems," the foreign minister said. He said stability in Lebanon is a key to stability in the entire region.
Beirut, 21 Nov 08, 08:41

Suleiman to Attend Sfeir-Franjieh Meeting Next Week
Naharnet/The Maronite League has finally made headway in its efforts to bring together Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh, An Nahar daily reported Friday. It said a meeting will be held in Bkirki between Sfeir and Franjieh in the presence of President Michel Suleiman upon his return from Tehran early next week. The newspaper also said that the League has renewed efforts to implement an agreement to stop media campaigns and accusations between Marada and the Lebanese Forces. The "truce" has been shaken after the latest incident in Batroun. However, An Nahar said both sides expressed readiness to stop the campaigns. Beirut, 21 Nov 08, 09:00

New Business Linkages Initiative Program
Naharnet/USAID has launched a new program which supports the expansion of the agribusiness, tourism, and information and communication technology sectors, the U.S. embassy said in a statement. USAID/Lebanon Mission Director Denise Herbol attended the launching event of the new program, the Lebanon Business Linkages Initiative, at the Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure (BIEL) Center on Thursday. The program is a private sector initiative. It fosters new approaches to economic growth and the reduction of rural poverty. USAID's funding of $4.5 million is for two years, the statement said.
It said The Academy for Educational Development, and Agriculture Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance, and Action for Enterprise will implement the program with Ijmaa and BADER, the local partners. "The private sector will develop innovative strategies to increase exports of Lebanese products while generating more business for Lebanese firms," it said. "The program supports business collaboration and direct linkages between buyers and suppliers of Lebanese goods and services, addresses key constraints that have a negative impact on the competitiveness of Lebanese companies in the global marketplace, and it will create greater access to financing opportunities," the statement added. Beirut, 21 Nov 08, 08:16

Fillon: We Await Opening of Embassies Between Beirut and Damascus Before End of 2008
Naharnet/French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has stressed that France is awaiting the opening of embassies between Lebanon and Syria before 2009.
In a joint press conference with Saniora on Thursday at the Grand Serail, Fillon said France would present Lebanon with 125 million Euros in support of Lebanese small and medium enterprises that fell victim to the 2006 July war. He expressed satisfaction over progress made in Lebanese-Syrian relations.
"We await the opening of embassies in both countries prior to year's end," he said. "France is following with great interest Syrian implementation of its own resolutions, after which it would be time to discuss other issues such as the missing (Lebanese) and the borders," Fillon said.
"If Syria does not respect its resolutions then we shall say so," he stressed. He said that France calls for the full implementation of UNSCR 1701.
The French prime minister lauded President Michel Suleiman's determination to hold the national dialogue. Fillon will head to south Lebanon on Friday to visit French forces serving with UNIFIL. During the joint press conference, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora affirmed the implementation of the Taef agreement and continued extension of state authority in accordance with UNSCR 1701. He lauded France's role at the European Union and the Security Council in supporting Lebanon and Arab causes. "The agreements we signed attest our determination in strengthening our relations with France," Saniora said. Saniora and Fillon signed a number of political and economic agreements and protocols strengthening cooperation between both states, including a 2008-2012 framework partnership agreement and a deal between Lebanon's Ministry of Finance and France's Ministries of Economy, Industry and Labor. Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias Murr and his French counterpart Herve Morin signed a defense cooperation agreement, a deal on demining and a protocol between Lebanon's Institute of Judicial Studies and the National Institute for French Justice. President Suleiman earlier discussed with Fillon about bilateral relations and ways for strengthening them. The French PM expressed his country's support to Lebanon in all fields. Fillon is scheduled to meet Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday. Beirut, 20 Nov 08, 22:21

Ban reports Israeli, Lebanese violations of 1701
By Nicholas Kimbrell
Daily Star staff
Friday, November 21, 2008
BEIRUT: Violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 continue to take place and additional progress toward fulfilling obligations is overdue, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his eighth report on the resolution's implementation. "I am pleased to report that all parties continue to express their support for and commitment to Resolution 1701 [2006]," Ban said, according to a copy of the report obtained by The Daily Star. "However, further progress in the implementation of the resolution is increasingly overdue." The secretary general's report also expressed concern over the residual security threats facing Lebanon and the recent political uncertainty in Israel after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni failed to form a coalition government.
As in his prior reports, the UN chief thoroughly catalogued Lebanon's and Israel's compliance with obligations detailed in the resolution, which effectively ended the hostilities of the 2006 summer war. Noting few improvements, Ban cited a number of breaches, including Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty, the alleged rearmament of Hizbullah and the presence of armed factions in Lebanon. "The parties generally maintained respect for the Blue Line, apart from the area of Ghajar, where the [Israeli military] still occupies the part of the village and an adjacent area north of the Blue Line in violation of Resolution 1701," the report said. The Blue Line was established as a UN-mandated line of withdrawal during Israel's 2000 pullout from most of South Lebanon.
The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has presented a plan for Israeli withdrawal from the village, which is divided between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but Israel has repeatedly rejected an immediate pullout. Ban also criticized Israel for its serial violations of Lebanese airspace. "Intrusions into Lebanese airspace by Israeli aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles continued in high numbers in violation of Lebanese sovereignty and Resolution 1701," Ban said. The UN chief called on Israel to "cease immediately" all overflights. Additionally, the report voiced concern over an escalation of rhetoric between Israel and Hizbullah, including threats against civilian targets. "I am disturbed by the repeated exchange of threats between Israel and Hizbullah, in particular when apparently directed against the civilians," it said.
Ban, however, did highlight progress on the humanitarian front. Referring to the Hizbullah-Israel prisoner exchange in mid-July, he declared that "after 18 months of intense efforts, the humanitarian aspects of Resolution 1701 had been met." Concerning Hizbullah, the secretary general cited Israeli concerns that the group is rebuilding its military capacity on both sides of the Litani River. Ban noted that UNIFIL "has neither been provided with nor found any evidence that of new military infrastructure or the smuggling of arms into its area of operations." But he said that Hizbullah's extensive weapon's cache stood "in direct contravention of resolutions 1559 [2004] and 1701," adding that the group may have sought to build its military capabilities.
Ban also noted that the proliferation of weapons in Lebanon, in violation of an arms embargo, and the presence of other, autonomous armed factions, continued to present security dangers. "I reiterate the need for the immediate and unconditional respect of the arms embargo on Lebanon," Ban said. "It must be observed fully and without exception. Regional parties, particularly those that maintain ties with Hizbullah and other armed groups in Lebanon are obliged to abide fully."
He cited, specifically, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command and Fatah al-Intifada, both operating near the Lebanese-Syrian border.
As in his most recent report on Resolution 1559, Ban welcomed the establishment of diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria, but he warned, referring to the findings of the second Lebanese Independent Border Assessment Team, that the border remains porous, largely unpatrolled and open to weapons trafficking.
The secretary general also noted some improvement in cluster-bomb, mine and other unexploded ordnance removal in the South, adding that these munitions continue to kill and wound citizens and mine-clearers. Israel, he noted, has yet to release information on the "number, type and location" of cluster bombs dropped during the 2006 conflict. Regarding the Shebaa Farms and the delineation of parts of the southern and southeastern Lebanese border, Ban said that investigative work continues but little progress has been made. Overall, the report expressed satisfaction that hostilities has not been renewed, while noting that more progress in implementing the resolution should have been made since 2006. Israel rejects UNIFIL plan for Ghajar pullout
BEIRUT: The Israeli Cabinet rejected on Thursday a United Nations proposal that it withdraw from the northern part of the occupied village of Ghajar.
According to a statement, the Cabinet's council for political and security affairs rejected United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) commander Claudio Graziano's proposal, but added that cooperation with UNIFIL would continue until a solution is reached.
UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane responded Thursday with a statement saying the issue was of special importance to the UN.
"UNIFIL had submitted a proposal to the parties to facilitate [the Israeli military's] withdrawal from northern Ghajar and the adjacent area north of the Blue Line. We have since been engaged in discussions in this regard," she said, noting that "according to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 Israel is obliged to withdraw from the area." - The Daily Star

Hezbollah Marshals the Young via Scout Troops
Bryan Denton for The New York Timess >
By ROBERT F. WORTH
Published: November 20, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/world/middleeast/21lebanon.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
RIYAQ, Lebanon — On a Bekaa Valley playing field gilded by late-afternoon sun, hundreds of young men wearing Boy Scout-style uniforms and kerchiefs stand rigidly at attention as a military band plays, its marchers bearing aloft the distinctive yellow banner of Hezbollah, the militant Shiite movement.
They are adolescents — 17 or 18 years old — but they have the stern faces of adult men, lightly bearded, some of them with dark spots in the center of their foreheads from bowing down in prayer. Each of them wears a tiny picture of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Shiite cleric who led the Iranian revolution, on his chest.
“You are our leader!” the boys chant in unison, as a Hezbollah official walks to a podium and addresses them with a Koranic invocation. “We are your men!”
This is the vanguard of Hezbollah’s youth movement, the Mahdi Scouts. Some of the graduates gathered at this ceremony will go on to join Hezbollah’s guerrilla army, fighting Israel in the hills of southern Lebanon. Others will work in the party’s bureaucracy. The rest will likely join the fast-growing and passionately loyal base of support that has made Hezbollah the most powerful political, military and social force in Lebanon.
At a time of religious revival across the Islamic world, intense piety among the young is nothing unusual. But in Lebanon, Hezbollah — the name means the party of God — has marshaled these ambient energies for a highly political project: educating a younger generation to continue its military struggle against Israel. Hezbollah’s battlefield resilience has made it a model for other militant groups across the Middle East, including Hamas. And that success is due, in no small measure, to the party’s extraordinarily comprehensive array of religion-themed youth and recruitment programs.
There is a network of schools— some of them run by Hezbollah, others affiliated with or controlled by it — largely shielded from outsiders. There is a nationwide network of clerics who provide weekly religious lessons to young people on a neighborhood basis. There is a group for students at unaffiliated schools and colleges that presents Hezbollah to a wider audience. The party organizes non-Scout-related summer camps and field trips, and during Muslim religious holidays it arranges events to encourage young people to express their devotion in public and to perform charity work.
“It’s like a complete system, from primary school to university,” said Talal Atrissi, a political analyst at Lebanese University who has been studying Hezbollah for decades. “The goal is to prepare a generation that has deep religious faith and is also close to Hezbollah.”
Much of this activity is fueled by a broader Shiite religious resurgence in Lebanon that began after the Iranian revolution in 1979. But Hezbollah has gone further than any other organization in mobilizing this force, both to build its own support base and to immunize Shiite youth from the temptations of Lebanon’s diverse and mostly secular society.
Hezbollah’s influence on Lebanese youth is very difficult to quantify because of the party’s extreme secrecy and the general absence of reliable statistics in the country. It is clear that the Shiite religious schools, in which Hezbollah exercises a dominant influence, have grown over the past two decades from a mere handful into a major national network. Other, less visible avenues may be equally important, like the growing number of clerics associated with the movement.
Hezbollah and its allies have also adapted and expanded religious rituals involving children, starting at ever-earlier ages. Women, who play a more prominent role in Hezbollah than they do in most other radical Islamic groups, are especially important in creating what is often called “the jihad atmosphere” among children.
‘This Is Women’s Jihad’
As night fell in the southern Lebanese town of Jibchit, a lone woman in a black gown strode purposefully into the spotlight on a makeshift stage. Before her sat hundreds of Mahdi Scout parents, who had come to watch one of the central events of their young daughters’ lives.
“Welcome, welcome,” their host said. “We appreciate your presence here tonight. Your daughters are now putting on this angelic costume for the first time.”
Munira Halawi, a slim, 23-year-old Hezbollah member with the direct gaze and passionate manner of an evangelist, was the master of ceremonies at a ritual known as a Takleef Shara’ee, or the holy responsibility, in which some 300 female Scouts ages 8 or 9 formally donned the hijab, or Islamic headscarf.
For the girls, the ritual was a moment of tremendous symbolic significance, marking the start of a deeper religious commitment and the approach of adulthood. These ceremonies, once rare, have become common in recent years.
It was a milestone as well for Ms. Halawi, who had been practicing with the girls for weeks: she was now a qa’ida, a young female leader who helps supervise the education of younger girls.
Born in 1985, Ms. Halawi is in some ways typical of the younger generation of female Hezbollah members. She grew up after Hezbollah and its allies had begun establishing what they called the hala islamiyya, or Islamic atmosphere, in Shiite Lebanon. She quickly became far more devout than her parents, who had grown up during an era when secular ideologies like pan-Arabism and Communism were popular in Lebanon. She married early and had the first of her two children before turning 17.
As Ms. Halawi finished her introduction, the girls began walking up the aisle toward the stage, dressed in silky white gowns with furry hoods. Bubbles descended from the wings. White smoke drifted up from a fog machine. A sound system played Hezbollah anthems — deep male voices booming to a marching band’s rhythm. The parents applauded wildly, the mothers ululating.
The two-and-a-half hour ceremony that followed — in which the girls performed a play about the meaning of the hijab and a bearded Hezbollah cleric delivered a long political speech — was a concentrated dose of Hezbollah ideology, seamlessly blending millenarian Shiite doctrine with furious diatribes against Israel. Again and again, the girls were told that the hijab is an all-important emblem of Islamic virtue and that it was the secret power that allowed Hezbollah to liberate southern Lebanon. The struggle with Israel, they were told, was the same as the struggle of Shiite Islam’s founding figures, Ali and Hussein, against unjust rulers in their time.
Through it all, Ms. Halawi was the presiding figure on the stage, introducing each section of the evening and reciting Koranic verses and her own poetic homages to the veil.
“Our veil is a jewel-encrusted crown, dignified and lofty, that God made to make us blossom,” she said at one point, gazing out into the darkness with a look of passionate intensity. “He opened the door of obedience and contentment for us.”
A few days later, relaxing over tea at her sister’s house, Ms. Halawi expanded on the theme of the ceremony, still dressed in a black abaya, the Islamic gown. Religious education now begins much earlier than it did in her parents’ time, she explained. Islamic schools, some run by Hezbollah, begin Koranic lessons at the age of 4, and it is common for girls to start fasting and wearing a hijab at 8. In all this, the mother’s guidance is the key.
“This is women’s jihad,” Ms. Halawi said.
Camp, With a Moral Component
From a distance, it resembles any other Boy Scouts camp in the world. Two rows of canvas tents face each other on the banks of the Litani River, the powder-blue stream that runs across southern Lebanon not far from the Israeli border. A hand-built wooden jungle gym stands near the camp entrance, where pine trees sway in the breeze and dry, brown hills are visible in the distance.
Then two huge posters planted on sticks in the river come into view, bearing the faces of Ayatollah Khomeini and Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.
“Since 1985 we have managed to raise a good generation,” said Muhammad al-Akhdar, 25, a Scout leader, as he showed a visitor around the grounds. “We had 850 kids here this summer, ages 9 to 15.”
This camp is called Tyr fil Say, one of the sites in south Lebanon where the Mahdi Scouts train. Much of what they do is similar to the activities of Scouts the world over: learning to swim, to build campfires, to tie knots and to play sports. Mr. Akhdar described some of the games the young Scouts play, including one where they divide into two teams — Americans and the Resistance — and try to throw one another into the river.
The Mahdi Scouts also get visits from Hezbollah fighters, wearing camouflage and toting AK-47s, who talk about fighting Israel.
Mr. Akhdar led a visitor around the tents, where boys had been spelling out Koranic phrases using stones, like “the promise,” and “the owner of time.” There was also a meticulously arranged grave, complete with lettering and decoration. In place of the headstone was a small photograph of Imad Mugniyah, the Hezbollah commander who was killed in February and who was widely viewed in the West as the mastermind of decades of bombings, kidnappings and hijackings.
The Mahdi Scouts were founded in 1985, shortly after Hezbollah itself. Officially, the group is like any of the other 29 different scouts groups in Lebanon, many of which belong to political parties and serve as feeders for them.
But the Mahdi Scouts are different. They are much larger; with an estimated 60,000 children and scout leaders, they are six times the size of any other Lebanese scout group. Even their marching movements are more militaristic than the others, according to Mustafa Muhammad Abdel Rasoul, the head of the Lebanese Scouts’ Union . While the Scouts fall under the umbrella of the Lebanese union, they have no direct affiliation with the international Scouting body based in Switzerland. Because of the Scouts’ reputation as a feeder for Hezbollah’s armed militia, the party has become extremely protective of the Scouts and rarely grants outsiders access to them.
Still, Hezbollah officials often casually mention the link between the Scouts and the guerrilla force. .
“After age 16 the boys mostly go to resistance or military activities,” said Bilal Naim, who served as Hezbollah’s director for the Mahdi Scouts until last year.
Another difference from most scout groups lies in the program. Religious and moral instruction — rather than physical activity — occupy the vast bulk of the Mahdi Scouts’ curriculum, and the scout leaders adhere strictly to lessons outlined in books for each age group.
Those books, copies of which were provided to this reporter by a Hezbollah official, show an extraordinary focus on religious themes and a full-time preoccupation with Hezbollah’s military struggle against Israel. The chapter titles, for the 12- to 14-year-old age group, include “Love and Hate in God,” “Know Your Enemy,” “Loyalty to the Leader” and “Facts about Jews.” Jews are described as cruel, corrupt, cowardly and deceitful, and they are called the killers of prophets. The chapter states that “their Talmud says those outside the Jewish religion are animals.”
In every chapter, the children are required to write down or recite Koranic verses that illustrate the theme in question. They are taught to venerate the late Ayatollah Khomeini — Iran has been a longtime supporter of Hezbollah, providing it with money, weapons and training — and the leaders of Hezbollah. They are told to hate Israel and avoid people who are not devout. Questions at the ends of chapters encourage the children to “watch your heart” and “assess your heart” to check wrong impulses and encourage virtuous ones. One note to the instructors reminds them that young Scouts are in a sensitive phase of development that should be considered “a launching toward commitment.”
Secular Influences
In the West, the image of Hezbollah is often that of its bearded, young guerrilla fighters, dressed in military camouflage and clutching AK-47s. But Hezbollah’s inner core of fighters and employees — its full-time members — is a far smaller group than its supporters. This broader category, covering the better part of Lebanon’s roughly one million Shiites, includes reservists, who will fight if needed; doctors and engineers, who contribute their skills; and mere sympathizers.
In that sense, a more representative figure of the party’s young following might be someone like Ali al-Sayyed. A quiet, clean-cut 24-year-old, Mr. Sayyed grew up in south Lebanon and now works as an accountant in Beirut. Hezbollah has offered him jobs, but he prefers to maintain his independence.

But his entire life has been lived in the shadow of Hezbollah. He attended a Mustapha high school, one of a national network of schools affiliated with the party, where he spent at least five class hours every week studying religion and listening to his teachers pray for Hezbollah’s fighters and Ayatollah Khomeini. After school and during the summers, he was with the Mahdi Scouts. Later he became a scout leader.
He is extremely devout — he will not shake hands with women — and mentions his willingness to fight and die for Hezbollah as though it were a matter of course.
“They made us, so of course I would sacrifice my life for them,” he said, as he sat gazing through the glass wall of a Beirut cafe on an autumn evening. “Before, the Shiites were in a wretched condition.”
Yet Mr. Sayyed’s generation is also in many ways more exposed to the temptations of Lebanon’s secular and often decadent society than its predecessors.
That shift is apparent even in the Dahiya, or Suburb, the vast, crowded enclave on the southern edge of Beirut where most of Lebanon’s Shiites live, and where Hezbollah has its headquarters.
Once an austere ghetto where bearded men would chastise women who dared to appear in public without an Islamic headscarf, the Dahiya is now a far more open place. There are Internet cafes, music and DVD shops, Chinese restaurants and an amusement park called Fantasy World. There is no public consumption of alcohol, but the streets are thick with satellite dishes and open-air television sets. Lingerie shops display posters of scantily-clad models in their windows, and young women walk past in tight jeans, their hair uncovered.
The cafe where Mr. Sayyed was sitting, on the outskirts of Dahiya, was typical. Hezbollah banners were visible on the street outside, but on the inside young people sit at aluminum tables sipping cappuccinos, eating donuts and listening to their iPods.
“Hezbollah tries to keep the youth living in a religious atmosphere, but they can’t force them,” he said, gazing uneasily at the street outside.
Mr. Sayyed mentioned Rami Olaik, a former Hezbollah firebrand who left the party and earlier this year published a book about his indoctrination and gradual disenchantment. The book recounts Mr. Olaik’s struggle to reconcile his sexual yearnings with the party’s discipline, and his disgust at the way party members manipulated religious doctrine to justify their encounters with prostitutes. Some unmarried Hezbollah members engage in “temporary marriage” to have sexual relationships, an arrangement allowed by some Shiite religious authorities.
Hezbollah officials say they cannot coerce young people, because it would only create rebels like Mr. Olaik. Instead, they leave them largely free in Lebanon’s pluralistic maze, trusting in the power of their religious training.
But there is a limit to Hezbollah’s flexibility. All young members and supporters are encouraged to develop a hiss amni, or security sense, and are warned to beware of curious outsiders, who may be spies.
After Mr. Sayyed had been talking to a foreign journalist in the coffee shop for more than an hour, a hard-looking young man at a neighboring table began staring at him. Suddenly looking nervous, Mr. Sayyed agreed to continue the conversation on the cafe’s second floor. But he seemed agitated, and later he repeatedly postponed another meeting planned for the following week.
Finally, he sent an apologetic e-mail message explaining that he would not be able to meet again.
“As you know, we live in a war with Israel and America,” he wrote in stumbling English, “and they want to war us (destroy) in all the way.”