LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
JULY 12/2006

Below News From the Daily Star for 12/07/06
Lebanese won't bow to assassination and other forms of terror
Iran sends Solana to Paris without a deal in hand
Israel strikes Gaza from the air, prepares to broaden invasion
Chidiac returns to Lebanon with sharp words for leaders
Army commander Suleiman rules out candidacy for presidency
Palestinians march for right to work in all professions
Lebanon becomes 'Point of Peace on Earth' on Byblos' 7,000th birthday
Siniora urges united stand as politicians trade insults
Prosecutor re-submits request for Qoleilat's extradition from Brazil
Hariri kicks off China trip with thanks for 'support'
Parliament to start interviewing Constitutional Council applicants
Taqla's career included 7 turns as foreign minister
Help on the way for vulnerable Lebanese consumers?
Lebanon gets ready to go green
Unemployment crisis takes center stage on World Population Day
Old before their time: Child workers may number 100,000
Sex, flats and things that roll: Craiglist site adds Beirut to searchable cities
Mubarak stays away from schism in Coptic Church
Rights group blasts Egypt's new press law
Kuwait's new Cabinet approves electoral reform demanded by opposition

Below News From miscellaneous sources for 12/07/06
Lebanon, Australia Seeking to Exchange Terror Suspects-Naharnet
Syria Still has Military Positions Inside Lebanon, Newspaper-Naharnet
Cabinet Asks Energy Minister For Plan to Avoid Water Crisis-Naharnet
Maps and Bombing Plans Found with Qaida Suspect who Visited U.S. in 2000-Naharnet
Lebanese Papers: France Paid High Price for Zidane Headbutt-Naharnet
Syrian Still has Military Positions Inside Lebanon, Newspaper-Naharnet
Syria's one true friend - Iran-Asia Times Online
Grand Mufti of Syria suspects some international forces of plans-Interfax-Religion
Syria rights group HQ is attacked-Gulf Times
USAID Official Visits to the Middle East-Lebanese Lobby
Hamas terrorist camp moves to Iran from Syria?Persian Journal 
Between cease-fire and flame-fanning-Ha'aretz
LTTE perfects suicide bombing-Hindustan Times


Lebanon becomes 'Point of Peace on Earth' on Byblos' 7,000th birthday
Daily Star staff-Wednesday, July 12, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon became the seventh Point of Peace on Earth and one of 198 other participants in a Worldwide Peace Marker Project on the occasion of Byblos' 7,000th anniversary. To mark the event, Culture Minister Tarek Mitri and the mayor of Jbeil (as Byblos and its surroundings are now known), Gino Kallab, unveiled a Peace Marker Lebanon sculpture in the garden of the International Center for Human Sciences - UNESCO, Jbeil.
Mitri said the center had been constructed by the Lebanese government with UNESCO cooperation before it became a joint center.
"We are re-examining the cooperation equation between us and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, but this cooperation will stay even if it takes a different form," he added. "The center's program was reviewed and it is currently specialized in making comparative studies about democracy and the diversity of cultures," the minister said. Painter Salwa Zeidan, who was chosen as "Peace Ambassador to Lebanon," said that the event aimed to promote a "sense of loving and striving to establish peace" among young generations in the country. "Lebanon is in dire need to establish peace, end war, start development and build human beings," Zeidan added. Musical composer Elias Rahbani performed a song dedicated to "peace and love" before stressing the importance of respecting the values of tolerance, forgiveness and love. Poet Henry Zogheib praised Byblos as the "oldest inhabited city in history."
"The first house was built with polished stones on seven pillars that represented the seven pillars of wisdom; the first temple and the first wall against invasion were built in Byblos," Zogheib said. The city was also "the first Phoenician capital, which Qadmos visited to take the blessing of its priests before sailing across the world to spread the alphabet," he added. - The Daily Star

Chidiac returns to Lebanon with sharp words for leaders
By Raed El Rafei -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanese TV personality May Chidiac, who survived an assassination attempt in September 2005, returned to Lebanon from France on Tuesday to level harsh criticism at the political class for failing to arrest the perpetrators of last year's string of assassinations and move the country forward.
"The critical decisions have not been made ... Murderers are still wandering freely," said Chidiac, surrounded by politicians, journalists, friends and family members who gathered at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport to welcome the former news anchor home.
Chidiac, who underwent seven months of medical treatment in Paris after having an arm and leg replaced with prosthetic limbs, also criticized the sluggishness of the continuing national dialogue. "My hope is that these talks do not lead to [stalling solutions for the country's pending problems]," she said.
Voicing her disappointment that her country had failed to benefit from Arab and international support, she said Lebanon has not moved forward.
Chidiac's announcement that she would soon resume hosting the "Nharkon Said," or "Good Day," talk show on LBC was received with boisterous applause from those gathered in the airport's reception hall. Chidiac is well-known for her criticism of Syria's policies in Lebanon.
The prominent anchorwoman compared herself to "the Phoenix reemerging from the ashes." "[My] body is wounded but [my] tongue is in its best shape and [my] heart loves you," Chidiac said, stressing that she would continue to defend press freedoms and democracy. "I will be a voice for the desperate and scream against criminals."Meanwhile, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi vowed, on behalf of himself and the country's journalists, to learn from Chidiac's "experience and suffering and be faithful to her sacrifices." The minister also praised Chidiac's personal stamina and enduring fight for Lebanon's freedom and democracy.
"I only have a promise to offer in my name and that of my colleagues ... we will stay free," Aridi said. LBCI's executive director, Pierre Daher, stressed the importance of freedom of expression and reporting. "Freedom is above the law," Daher said.
Numerous members of the March 14 Forces, including Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, acting Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat, Defense Minister Elias Murr, former Minister Leila Solh, MPs Georges Adwan, Strida Geagea, Boutros Harb, Solange Gemayel and Elias Atallah, were on hand for the reception at the airport. MPs Michel Moussa and Ali Bazzi were also on hand to represent Speaker Nabih Berri. MP Salim Aoun attended the ceremony on behalf of the Free Patriotic Movement. No members from Hizbullah were present. Immediately after the reception, Chidiac headed to St. Charbel's Church in Kesrouan to pray. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea was present at the church to personally welcome the anchorwoman home.

Army commander Suleiman rules out candidacy for presidency
Daily Star staff-Wednesday, July 12, 2006
BEIRUT: Army General Michel Suleiman insisted that he is not a candidate for the presidency and that the Constitution prevents him from being one. "If I were to try and occupy the top post [in the country], it would mean that I was violating the Constitution," Suleiman said in an interview published in this month's Al-Amn, (Security,) magazine.Suleiman said national unity is the only thing that can rescue the country, adding: "Eve- ry decision we make is based on preserving national unity."The general described the army as "a mirror of the country.""If the army fulfills people's ambitions, it means that it has gained their confidence, and if people have no confidence in their army then they will not cooperate with it," he said. "Confidence is stronger than weapons," he added."Israel is our main enemy. It nourished civil war in Lebanon and will do so whenever it can. It aims at hampering Lebanon's role in drawing all countries since it is the Middle East's shining spot," the general said. Regarding armed Palestinian groups outside of the country's designated refugee camps, Suleiman said the solution lies in holding talks with the concerned Palestinian parties. Regarding the use of satellites to monitor Lebanese territory, Suleiman said: "If satellites need enormous sums of money to provide us with information, I can give 5 or 10 percent of those sums to people and get the best information." - The Daily Star

Lebanese won't bow to assassination and other forms of terror
Wednesday, July 12, 2006-Editorial-Daily Star
All Lebanese can take justifiable pride in May Chidiac's return to her homeland on Tuesday. Horribly maimed by a September 25, 2005, assassination attempt, the outspoken television anchorwoman serves as a fitting symbol of Lebanon's uncanny ability to survive catastrophes that would cripple other countries. Lebanese journalists have a long and proud history of being singled out for having dared to challenge the status quo - and of refusing to be intimidated. Chidiac's return constitutes the latest evidence that the national well will not run dry of brave and determined people who insist on standing up for what they believe to be right and don't care what sort of feathers get ruffled in the process.
When Beirut was bullied diplomatically by Cairo in the 1960s and 1970s, Lebanese journalists spoke out against the cynics who initiated the mismatch and the cowards who acquiesced in it. When most Arab leaders stared at their shoes during Israel's brutal 1982 onslaught, Lebanese journalists took aim at the power brokers - local, regional and global - who made the bloodletting possible. When Syria refused to accept the fact that its military and intelligence presence in Lebanon had ceased to carry benefits for either side, Lebanese journalists did their best to convey the facts of the case. All along, when Lebanon's own rich and powerful have abused their positions by fair means or foul, Lebanese journalists have steadily chipped away at their impunity.
This is the nature of Lebanon. It is older than the anachronistic sectarian structures designed to maintain the state as a distributor of spoils rather than a pooler of resources. It is more permanent than the bouts of internal strife that periodically threaten to finish off hopes of establishing inter-communal trust. It is more functional than defeatist - and illusory - notions of finding stability in meek surrender to the interests of one's neighbors. In short, Lebanon's nature is to survive in spite of its own built-in weaknesses, to prosper despite the mercurial tendencies of its politics, to prevail by outlasting bigger and stronger foes.
None of this would be possible without a vibrant tradition of journalistic defiance, and that tradition can only be maintained by a society that accords appropriate value to its own existence. Lebanese of various political and religious stripes may have widely diverging visions of what their country is and absolutely incompatible ones of what it should be, but the vast majority of them agree that it is, in fact, their country. No other collective temperament could have allowed Lebanon to emerge intact after a 15-year Civil War that, by some accounts, killed 10 percent of the population.
It should come as no surprise, then, that someone like May Chidiac would not stay away. She literally gave an arm and a leg for the dignity of her country and the integrity of her profession. She represents a Lebanese spirit that laughs in the face of despair and reaches across boundaries - real or imagined - to ensure that whatever happens in, to, or because of Lebanon, no one forgets the unique nature of its people. Individuals like Chidiac make Lebanon what it is: a tiny land that stands tall in an unforgiving neighborhood because its inhabitants are too tenacious to accept any other outcome. She refused to lose, refused to be defeated. Her persistence is an inspiration for all Lebanese, and she richly deserves the thunderous welcome she received in Beirut on Tuesday.

Iran sends Solana to Paris without a deal in hand
Compiled by Daily Star staff -Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Iran on Tuesday rejected Western pressure for an immediate response to an international offer of incentives to suspend uranium enrichment, telling the European Union the proposal lacked proper legal guarantees. A meeting between chief Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana ended with no sign of progress, although they agreed to keep in touch after Solana reports to major power foreign ministers in a Paris meeting on Wednesday.
"During these negotiations certain important points came up. Mr. Solana must consult his friends and then we will have to define together how we will proceed because we have a long road to travel," Larijani said afterward.
"We must be patient and try to negotiate ... We must allow more time for negotiations to work," he said, rebuffing calls for a quick answer to the offer.
While the Brussels talks were under way, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad breathed defiance back home, saying his country would defend its right to produce nuclear fuel. "The Iranian nation will not retreat one iota on its way to realizing all of its rights, including complete nuclear rights and employing the capacities to produce nuclear fuel," student news agency ISNA quoted him as saying in northwest Iran.
Solana said he would report to the ministers from the six powers which drew up the offer and "we will make an analysis ... to see how we proceed."
Larijani responded to Western talk of sanctions if Iran played for time with a veiled warning of consequences for European energy supplies.
"Energy security for Europe is not a small thing, so we have to take into account all the dimensions," he said.
Talking to reporters later at the Iranian Embassy, Larijani was more upbeat, saying that the offer was broadly "suitable" but that the issue of suspending enrichment remained the central problem. "There are different ambiguities but the offer has a central core that is suitable, acceptable," he said.
"We think that the Iranian dossier can be resolved very easily through negotiations," he said. A senior Iranian nuclear official said differences persisted and Solana had been unable to answer all Larijani's questions. "One of the main problems of this proposal is that there is no clear legal guarantees," he told Iranian reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "For example, they offer us a reactor, but it's not clear which country is giving it, which company, and can the government oblige those companies to give Iran those reactors if pressured by the United States," the official added. Senior officials from Britain, France, Germany and Russia participated in the talks alongside Solana. In Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said "It is really time to get an authoritative answer."
"We hope the Iranians choose the path before them for cooperation but, of course, we can always return to the other path should we need to ... the path to the Security Council," Rice said. - Reuters, AFP

Israel strikes Gaza from the air, prepares to broaden invasion
Pair of toddlers among latest victims of siege
Compiled by Daily Star staff -Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Israel battered the Gaza Strip with new air strikes Tuesday as troops stood poised to launch further incursions as part of an offensive Palestinian Premier Ismail Haniyya said would only ensure Israelis had no peace. On the ground, two Palestinians, including a toddler, died on Tuesday while stranded in oppressive summer heat on the closed Egypt-Gaza border and another baby died of wounds sustained in an Israeli air strike last month.
In an opinion piece in The Washington Post entitled: "Aggression Under False Pretenses," Haniyya said: "We present this clear message: If Israel will not allow Palestinians to live in peace, dignity and national integrity, Israelis themselves will not be able to enjoy those same rights."
In remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, Haniyya repeated a call he made several days ago for a cease-fire. Israel has rejected a truce, saying militants must first release an abducted soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, and halt rocket attacks. But Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has been trying to serve as a mediator, hinted Tuesday that Hamas had missed an opportunity by capturing the soldier. Mubarak told the state-run newspaper Al-Massa Premier Ehud Olmert was about to release a large number of Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture before the crisis erupted.
Mubarak did not blame Hamas for the escalation, but privately Egyptian officials have said the group did not respond favorably to Egypt's mediation.
In the latest civilian casualties, 18-month-old Palestinian baby Hamza Taleb, died after suffering heat stroke after being stranded for hours at the Gaza-Egypt border and a 19-year-old woman, returning home after undergoing abdominal surgery in Egypt, also died. On the ground, an Israeli military drone late Tuesday attacked a group of armed Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip without causing any casualties, Palestinian security sources said.
The sources said the attack took place near Beit Lahiya. Earlier, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at militants suspected of transporting and setting up rockets near the northern town of Beit Hanoun, the Israeli army said. Local residents said a militant was killed and two other gunmen critically wounded.
Despite the mounting death toll, defense sources said the Israeli government had given the military authority to continue, and if necessary, intensify the offensive, with infantry and armor poised to carry out "in-depth" incursions.
Approval was granted during consultations late on Monday between Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz. Israeli troops are massed on the eastern and northern borders of the densely populated Gaza Strip, as well as stationed east of Gaza City and in the south near an airport destroyed by the military several years ago.Haniyya accused Israel and its US ally of trying to topple his government. He said that freeing Shalit "is only a pretext for a job scheduled months ago."
"Surely the American people grow weary of this folly, after 50 years and $160 billion in taxpayer support for Israel's war-making capacity," he wrote, urging Americans to end their government's support for Israel. "The stated intention of that strategy was to force the average Palestinian to 'reconsider' his vote when faced with deepening hardship; its failure was predictable, and the new overt military aggression and collective punishment are its logical fulfillment," Haniyya wrote.
The Palestinian prime minister warned against a "humanitarian tragedy" developing in Gaza as a result of Israel's continuing "blockade" of the impoverished territory.
In a meeting in Amman with President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II pledged to use his country's close ties with Israel to press for a halt to the Gaza offensive, Jordanian officials said. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi arrived in Tel Aviv Tuesday at the start of a tour of Israel, the Occupied Territories and Jordan. On the first visit to the Middle East by a Japanese leader for more than a decade, the premier was expected to urge a return to Israeli-Palestinian dialogue amid the worst crisis in the region in months.
In Jeddah, Saudi King Abdullah and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh held talks that focused on the Palestinian-Israeli, the official Saudi Press Agency reported late Monday. - Agencies

Palestinians march for right to work in all professions

By Mohammed Zaatari -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
SIDON: More than 500 Palestinians demonstrated Tuesday at the Ain-al Hilweh refugee camp, calling on the Lebanese government and international community to allow refugees the right to work in any profession they choose. While praising Labor Minister Tarrad Hamade's partial lifting of a ban on some 70 specific professions for Palestinians born in Lebanon, protesters urged the minister to allow Palestinians to work in all fields, specifically pharmacy, engineering, law and medicine. The government prohibits Palestinians from working in dozens of professions, most of which are in traditionally well-paying fields such as medicine, law, engineering, academia, etc. "The right to work does not mean settlement. The right to work is supported by international conventions. The Palestinian has the right to work like any other citizen," read one of numerous banners raised.
Lawyers, workers and recent graduates all took part in the "Right to Work" protest that was organized by Palestinian civil institutions.
"The Lebanese laws pertaining to Palestinian refugees have done nothing but increase our social, economic and human suffering," Intisar Abu Salem said.
"We believe that the Lebanese labor law is unjust," she added, on behalf of the demonstration's organizers.
"How can we benefit from our education if we are banned from working?" asked Abdel-Karim Saleh, 13. "My dad has worked hard to get his certificates and he is now working as a painter.""One day we eat, another we don't," he added. The Democratic Youth Gathering in Lebanon called on the government to organize the labor sector and recognize Palestinians' political rights. Omar al-Nadafk urged the government to exclude Palestinians from a law pertaining to foreigners working in Lebanon, saying refugees should be treated as if they were Lebanese. Nadaf also called for an end to Palestinians having to obtain a work permit, complaining about the document's cost and its expiration after one year or change of employer.

Prosecutor re-submits request for Qoleilat's extradition from Brazil
Daily Star staff-Wednesday, July 12, 2006
BEIRUT: State Prosecutor Said Mirza has submitted a memo to Brazilian authorities reiterating Lebanon's request that Rana Qoleilat, former executive secretary of Al-Madina Bank, be extradited to Lebanon, reports said Tuesday.
Mirza was said to have conveyed Beirut Investigating Magistrate Elias Eid's desire to interrogate Qoleilat concerning her alleged involvement in the financing of former Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination. Lebanon, which does not have a relevant bilateral agreement with Brazil, sent an initial extradition request in March.
Brazilian legal experts have said that the extradition might take some time, since Qoleilat is "accused of attempting to bribe police officers in Sao Paolo, offering them up to $200,000 for her freedom and ignoring her entering the country with a falsified passport."
Qoleilat is accused of numerous crimes related to her former position at Al-Madina Bank, including funneling illegal funds to Rustom Ghazaleh, the former head of Syria's military intelligence operations in Lebanon. - The Daily Star

Parliament to start interviewing Constitutional Council applicants
Opposition Mps promise to boycott hearing
By Therese Sfeir -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
BEIRUT: A parliamentary subcommittee is expected to begin interviewing 72 applicants to the Constitutional Council on Thursday, despite the refusal of two sub-committee members to participate in the process. The sub-committee, chosen last week by the Administration and Justice Committee, includes seven MPs from various political blocs. It also includes members of Berri's parliamentary office. The sub-committee will select five new members for the 10-member council. The other five members of the council are appointed by the Cabinet. The non-participation of sub-committee members Nawwar Sahili of Hizbullah and Ibrahim Kenaan of the Reform and Change bloc is related to an ongoing controversy over the the status of the current Constitutional Council and the process for establishing a new council. One problem is that a May law, which has itself been challenged as unconstitutional, set that month as the deadline for Parliament to approve new council appointments. However, Parliament is not due to reconvene after its summer recess until November.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he would call President Emile Lahoud to discuss the possibility of convening an extraordinary parliamentary session to elect the five new council members. In an interview Tuesday with Voice of Lebanon radio, Siniora said he hoped an agreement would be reached between Speaker Nabih Berri and Lahoud on the matter. "Otherwise, Parliament would have the right to sign a petition calling for an extraordinary session," Siniora said.
In separate comments to Voice of Lebanon on Tuesday, Sahili said his party's position supported MP Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement.
The current council "has no choice but to convene as long as a new law is not yet formed," he said. Meanwhile, sources told The Daily Star that even if an extraordinary session were to be held and new council members appointed, Lahoud would block them from being sworn in. The May law requested that the council's current members be changed, since they were appointed before Syria's withdrawal and under its influence.
After initially being passed by Parliament, the bill was blocked by Lahoud for "legal and constitutional" reasons.
But the bill became law after a majority of MPs in the House voted to pass the draft for a second time.
The Reform and Change bloc challenged the new law and demanded that the former council convene and look into its constitutionality.
The council was expected to convene Monday but only four members attended the meeting called for by Amin Nassar, the council's head.
Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra emphasized the need to hold an extraordinary parliamentary session to appoint five new members to the Constitutional Council.
In an interview Tuesday with Voice of Lebanon, Zahra said that if Lahoud and Berri failed to agree on holding a session, "we and our allies will sign a petition, which would force Parliament to convene."

Working for Lebanon's Second Independence Is a Task for the Lebanese
Center for Democracy & the Rule of Law" <info@cdrl.org
by Muhamad Mugraby
US President George Bush and his aides close and far do not miss an opportunity to declare their government's strong support for Lebanon's independence. For example, on June 21, during press availability at the 2006 US-EU Summit, Bush called on Syria "to leave Lebanon alone… let them be a free democracy".
Unquestionably, all statements of support for Lebanon's freedom and democracy are welcome, especially from big powers. Nevertheless, the task of insuring and safeguarding Lebanon's independence, freedom and democracy is not up to big powers such as the USA or to close neighbors such as Syria. Such support is helpful, and, arguably, necessary, but is clearly insufficient. For it is up to the Lebanese themselves, and only to the Lebanese, to achieve and sustain their own, true independence.
Although the people of Lebanon are said to have substantially secured their independence from the French in November, 1943, from Nasser's United Arab Republic in September 1958, from Israel in May 2000, and from Syria in April 2005, yet none of these events was a fully accomplished achievement. Multi national armies under a large number of flags, French, British, American, Israeli, Palestinian, Syrian, and other, came and left. Depending on one's political perception, some came as invaders, others as friends and allies. Invariably, many Lebanese look at the contemporary military interventions and occupation inflicted on them as evidence of strong external interest in their country. They see themselves and their country as the innocent prey and victim of foreigners. They see the foreign interest in Lebanon as strongly continuing and stubbornly un-relented.
The truth is that many, if not all, of the foreign flagged armies entered Lebanon with the acquiescence, connivance, invitation or open welcome of the mainstream Lebanese political establishment, as friends, allies or even liberators and were forced to leave after the same establishment labeled them as trespassers and aggressors. It is also true that the Lebanese political establishment allowed itself to be patronized and manipulated by the external powers, the "external colonialists", in return for iron-clad guarantees for its privilege of unaccountable corruption and its franchise to colonize the Lebanese people and harvest Lebanon's national resources to their own private gain. Hence, while "external colonialists" may come and go from time to time, "internal colonialism" continues in earnest.
It is tragic in deed that many nations of the Third World achieved their political independence by paying a bloody high price only to realize that they did not really become independent and that they badly needed a second independence. For it has been frequently demonstrated that independence from foreign oppression, handicapped by international attention, leaves the newly "liberated" people as easy prey to internal colonialists who yield greater oppression with full impunity and little concern for global public opinion. When independence from foreign military control does not bring about the rule of law to replace the rule of fear, freedom of speech to replace official propaganda through an obedient media, respect for human rights to replace disregard for human dignity, economic development and free quality education to provide employment opportunities and eradicate poverty, and the right to participate in national decision making through a system of democratic representation arising from free general elections, then a second independence becomes urgently needed.
The Lebanese and the better-informed friends of Lebanon know full well that the process of liberating Lebanon from internal colonization is a pre-requisite to achieving the country's second independence and has not taken off yet. The Lebanese and the better-informed friends of Lebanon need no lesson in contemporary Lebanese history to agree that the only way to start this process is for the Lebanese people, and not their various foreign friends and self-styled sponsors, to resolve to become a nation under their republican and democratic constitution, and not to remain subjects and hostages or prisoners of communal colonies absolutely ruled by the Lebanese political establishment. To achieve their second and lasting independence, the people of Lebanon must directly wrestle away their destiny from their own internal colonizers and oppressors who have thrived as the brokers and arbiters of perverted and oppressive communal power in old and contemporary times.
Can the friends of Lebanon be of help in this historic process and how?
Foreign governments that are seriously and sincerely interested in helping Lebanon achieve its second independence can, for a start, firmly resist manipulation by the Lebanese political establishment and refuse to become the new adoptive parents of the same old monster with a baby face who took many other foster parents in the past only to exploit them to its own selfish advantage. For a start, the European governments should insist on the strictest application and observance of Article Two of the Lebanese-European Association Agreement which carries a potent human rights clause. European and American statements re-affirming support for Lebanon's independence should publicly acknowledge that no meaningful independence could be achieved if the country remains victim to its own internal colonialists and adamantly demand that absolute priority be given to structural reforms that swiftly establish the basic conditions for the rule of law and justice with full respect for the constitution and the Universal Declaration.
It is common ground among the Lebanese that the country's political establishment constitutes a formidable impediment to the country's progress towards good governance and progress in all fields. Hence most Lebanese aspire for the retirement or phasing out of the entire political establishment without undue delay. The lesson from not-too-distant European history is compelling. When Europe was liberated from Nazi occupation, none of the politicians who collaborated with the occupiers survived and it was unthinkable that, even former national heroes such as French President Field Marshal Petan, would be spared because he was "compelled to cooperate" under various excuses. In Lebanon, the collaborators, and most of their ancestors, were intimately involved with every occupation of Lebanon since the early part of the Twentieth Century and many since the Nineteenth Century, and yet they now try to wear the mantle of national liberation leaders. This transparent ploy must be equally unacceptable to Lebanese and the better-informed friends of Lebanon alike.
Obviously, the task of phasing out or retiring the entire political establishment is not an easy one and is definitely up to the Lebanese people alone to accomplish. The empowerment of the people on a national non-sectarian basis and the rise of a Lebanese national consciousness are two prerequisites for the success of such a task.
The above appeared as an editorial on July 11, 2006.
For further information: E-mail info@cdrl.org and visit http://www.cdrl.org/.