Lessons from Al-Qobayat Municipal election

Over the weekend Al-Qobayat village in Akkar region said no to the list that was backed by Future MP Hadi Hobeish, families and the Lebanese Forces Party (LF). The list, headed by Abdo Makhoul Abdo, the former mayor of Qobeiyat, backed by former MP Mikhail Daher, the Kataeb Party, the Free Patriotic Movement, LF members (who didn’t abide by their leadership decision) and [...]

qobayat qobayat

Mixed emotions on Patriarch Rahi visit to Syria

Many have asked me about my opinion concerning Maronite Patriarch al-Rahi visit to Syria. I told them I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I support any Patriarch to visit his people when they are in need and suffering. On the other hand, as a Lebanese who lived under Syrian occupation of Lebanon, [...]

Lebanon's Christian Maronite Patriarch B Lebanon's Christian Maronite Patriarch B

Dictateur” ‘s owner assaults clients for protesting breach of smoking ban

I received the following and would like to share with you. On February 14, what began as a fun Valentine’s night for Dalal Mawad at Dictateur in Gemmayze took a turn for the worse. Dalal was doing her job as a responsible citizen by complaining about indoor smoking at the pub, but the manager was [...]

nosmoking nosmoking

Aarsal ambush isn’t an isolated incident

On February 1st, 2013 a Lebanese Army intelligence unit was ambushed in Aarsal. Two Lebanese soldiers and a wanted man were killed Friday when an Army patrol trying to apprehend the man was ambushed in the eastern town of Aarsal near the border with Syria. The Army identified the victims as Captain Pierre Bashalani, 31, and Sergeant [...]

Lebanese Army Lebanese Army

Can anyone answer?

هل مَن يجيب؟ يرفض بعضهم أن تنتخب كلّ طائفة، وحدها، نوّابها إلى المجلس النيابي، بذريعةٍ ملخّصُها أنّه يشرذم الشعبَ اللبنانيّ إلى وحدات تتباعد بانتظار أن تتحارب. وهم أنفسهم يعتبرون أنّ مثل هذا الانتخاب يصلح لمجلس الشيوخ. السؤال الأوّل: هل التوتّر بين اللبنانيّين وتحاربهم، بين آن وآخر، كانا نتيجة انتخاب كلّ طائفة نوّابها؟ السؤال الثاني: هل [...]

Antoine Najem Antoine Najem

Art censorship

Posted by Michel on May 16th, 2013

According to Beirut.con article, On May 8, Fransabank launched the 9th edition of its JABAL exhibition at Hotel Le Gray to great success, with 18 of the 25 artists having sold their artwork during the launching event alone.
But one artist’s work – which appears in JABAL’s official catalogue – never made it to the actual exhibit. Mhammad Saad’s Farewell Beirut depicts Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (in addition to various other Lebanese politicians, including former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea among others) as a character in one of Michelangelo’s most renowned works, The Creation of Adam.

Saad, winner of the Jury’s Prize last year at the 31st Salon D’Automne for his paintingAlleluia often conveys notions of politics in sarcastic or puppet-like environments in his work.
The artist told Beirut.com that his Farewell Beirut painting was removed from the exhibit just two days before the show opened because members of the Le Gray administration asked for it to be taken down.
The artist maintains that this particular work “isn’t disrespectful in any way to any leader,” explaining that “the image is a contemporary [take] on many internationally renowned paintings in the history of art… [and expresses] the ongoing conflict between the different Lebanese parties and its impact on society with a sarcastic twist. This is my newest creation and I was looking for a decent, respectful and established place to exhibit it.”
Meanwhile, Ms. Zeina Antonios, the spokesperson for JABAL, told Beirut.com the reason Mhamad’s piece was pulled from the exhibit was that it was “too expensive for the show,” and that they had to replace him with someone else at the last minute.

Lessons from Al-Qobayat Municipal election

Posted by Michel on March 6th, 2013
qobayat

Over the weekend Al-Qobayat village in Akkar region said no to the list that was backed by Future MP Hadi Hobeish, families and the Lebanese Forces Party (LF). The list, headed by Abdo Makhoul Abdo, the former mayor of Qobeiyat, backed by former MP Mikhail Daher, the Kataeb Party, the Free Patriotic Movement, LF members (who didn’t abide by their leadership decision) and families won all 18 seats of the town’s municipal council.
During his campaign, MP Hobeish, sensing the defeat of his list, started throwing accusations left in right in hope to distract the people of al-Qobayat and confuse them. Hobeish said votes are being bought, Hizballah building a communication network in the village, Lebanese immigrants were brought from abroad to vote …. and yesterday he blamed the LF members who didn’t abide by their leadership decision to cost him the election. Hobeish failed to understand that the people of al-Qobayat made up their decision to drop his list for the following reasons:

  • He covered the sale of their land
  • He insulted the Lebanese Army over the Khouweikhat incident
  • He created problems on several occasions with LF members in the village
  • He pushed new recruits in the LF to break down the old guard
  • The events in Akkar and Tripoli and refusal of al-Qobayat people to support no one but the Lebanese Army

First lesson to Future Movement: The Christians will not accept anymore MPs who are forced upon them in the name of March 14 coexistence.
Second lesson to Future Movement: Supporting Salafist Jihadist to face Hizbullah is not something the Christians will accept.
Third Lesson to Future Movement: Creating false news and spreading false propaganda will not help their candidates anymore.

The major lesson was to the Lebanese Forces leadership. The LF base had enough of blind support to the Future Movement over the rights of the Christians. The LF base send a loud message to its leadership to shape up and stop accepting MPs dropped by parachutes by the Future Movement.

The people of al-Qobayat proved that there is still a chance in this country for those who hold their principles close to their hearts and cast a vote that represent these principles.

Congratulation to the people of al-Qobayat, may the rest learn from you.

Mixed emotions on Patriarch Rahi visit to Syria

Posted by Michel on February 15th, 2013
Lebanon's Christian Maronite Patriarch B

Many have asked me about my opinion concerning Maronite Patriarch al-Rahi visit to Syria. I told them I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I support any Patriarch to visit his people when they are in need and suffering. On the other hand, as a Lebanese who lived under Syrian occupation of Lebanon, part of my brain and heart reject such visit. In order to discuss his trip, we must be rational and try to look at the bigger picture. Some harsh reactions, insulting the Christian liturgy and the Patriarch, didn’t help at all in trying to have a solid feeling about this trip.

During his visit to Lebanon in September 2012, Pope Benedict XVI urged Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims to forge a harmonious, pluralistic society in which the dignity of each person is respected and the right to worship in peace is guaranteed. At the same time, the civil war in Syria was raging and reports of Christians being persecuted by groups belonging to Jabhat al-Nusra and other factions started to surface.

Al-Rahi’s visit to Syria was apostolic and aimed, upon the invitation of the Vatican, to attend the Damascus enthronement of a new Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the Levant and Antioch Youhanna al-Yaziji. It was a gesture of hope from the Vatican towards the Christians of Syria. The message delivered: You are not alone. Patriarch al-Rahi delivered a short speech in which he said that reform in Syria should be reached through internal efforts and dialogue, explaining that it cannot be imposed by any foreign interference. He expressed that his visit aims at expressing “sympathy with all those affected by the Syrian crisis, especially with Christians”. What else could he say? If he takes sides with the regime, the persecution of the Christians will increase on the hands of the Salafist Jihadists. If he clearly stands with the Syrian opposition, the regime will start persecuting the Christians. The Patriarch prayed for all Syrian citizens and for the return of the refugees to their country. He added that the reason to visit Damascus was to work on halting the innocent bloodshed and preserve Christian presence in Syria and the other regional countries. This was the message of the Pope in his last visit to Lebanon and the Patriarch visit to Syria and later on to Iraq is to continue the work that the Pope started it. Part of me supported this visit under these guidelines.

The other part of me wasn’t comfortable at all. We lived under the Syrian occupation in Lebanon; we witnessed the Syrian regime crimes and barbaric tactics. We are still witnessing their influence in Lebanese politics and their role in destabilizing the country through assassinations and political unrest.  Even though the Patriarch visit to Syria wasn’t political and albeit his stand against ending the suffering of innocent Syrians, as Lebanese I felt betrayed by such visit. I did want to happen, but not like this. I would love to see the Patriarch visiting Syria after the Syrian regime acknowledges his crimes in Lebanon and show his remorse to what it did in the country. I wanted to see the Patriarch returning with some news about the Lebanese who vanished in Syrian jails. I would have loved seeing him returning with all the prisoners. Some will say this is a selfish feeling and you must look at the bigger picture: “Freedom of Christianity in the Middle East in the future”. They might be right, but we, as Lebanese, deserve also some respect to those who died fighting the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, an apology for the crimes committed during their hegemony over my country and the return of those who were arbitrary arrested and kidnapped without any due process and thrown in Syrian jails. Such historical visit deserved such demands.

The malicious and sectarian insults on his visit made smile. Maybe because I knew deep inside what these insults are all about? I saw them in Egypt, I saw them in Iraq, I saw them in Libya and been seeing them in Syria. Some came from people who proclaim they are moderate Sunnite Muslims and other came from a Saudi newspaper.
Saleh El Machnouk, the son of Nouhad El Machnouk (an MP in Saad al-Hariri’s Future Bloc) and served in the past as a leader of Future Movement Youth attacked the patriarch in a Facebook post saying he lead a ‘Satanic Mass’ in Damascus. This is supposed to be a moderate Sunnite Muslim.

saleh tweet

Few days after, the Saudi al-Watan newspaper published a caricature, in which it made the Patriarch looks like a demon, wearing a rocket on his head and calling him “Bashar” al-Rahi (instead of Beshara al-Rahi).

watan caricature

We all recall what happened when a Danish newspaper published a caricature making fun of Prophet Mohammed. We all witnessed the “Ghazwat” al-Ashrafieh and setting on fire the Danish Consulate in Lebanon. The Christians of Lebanon, felt sorry for such attacks. What is interesting is the silence of March 14 Christians for such attacks. I understand their anger over the Patriarch visit to Syria but insulting a Mass and the icon of the Maronite Patriarch required a noble stand from their part.

Dictateur” ‘s owner assaults clients for protesting breach of smoking ban

Posted by Michel on February 15th, 2013
nosmoking

I received the following and would like to share with you.

On February 14, what began as a fun Valentine’s night for Dalal Mawad at Dictateur in Gemmayze took a turn for the worse. Dalal was doing her job as a responsible citizen by complaining about indoor smoking at the pub, but the manager was “sick of stupid people like her” and assaulted her in front of everybody else. Read the story at http://dalalmawad.com/blog/

Who protects responsible citizens like Dalal, who are trying to protect the law? Maybe HE Fady Abboud and HE Marwan Charbel can answer us. PLEASE SHARE!

Aarsal ambush isn’t an isolated incident

Posted by Michel on February 9th, 2013
Lebanese Army

On February 1st, 2013 a Lebanese Army intelligence unit was ambushed in Aarsal. Two Lebanese soldiers and a wanted man were killed Friday when an Army patrol trying to apprehend the man was ambushed in the eastern town of Aarsal near the border with Syria. The Army identified the victims as Captain Pierre Bashalani, 31, and Sergeant Ibrahim Zahraman, 32. The incident was triggered by a Lebanese Army Intelligence attempt to arrest Khaled Hmayyed, a resident of Aarsal. Hmayyed was killed during clashes with Army Intelligence agents. In retaliation, gunmen in the area ambushed the Army patrol.

According to Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel, head of Lebanese Army Intelligence, Khaled Hmayyed was a member of Jabhat al-Nusra, a militant Islamist group with ties to Al-Qaeda. The group was created in January 2012 in Syria. Jabhat al-Nusra was designated by the United States as a terrorist organisation in December 2012. “The wanted man was very dangerous: a professional with experience in criminal activities. He was a unique target for authorities given his potential to affect Lebanon’s stability and prestige,” Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel said during a chat with reporters.

Lebanese intelligence sources revealed that Hamayyed is a suspect of kidnapping seven Estonian citizens in the Bekaa on March 23, 2011, as they were riding from Syria to Lebanon on bicycles. He is also suspected of being involved in the shooting incident against the Lebanese army in Aarsal on Nov. 22, 2011, to prevent an army patrol from arresting a Syrian jihadist named Hamza al-Qarqour.

LBC TV published on Thursday two arrest warrants by the military court against Khaled Hmayyed. It pointed out that “the first warrant was issued in October 2012 against the named Khalid Ahmed Hmayyed, nicknamed Abu Qatada and Abu Mustafa Ali and Abu Azzam al-Shami, and required his arrest for belonging to an armed organization in order to carry out terrorist acts”. The warrant stated that any security apparatus can arrest him and transport him without delay to prison. The second arrest was issued on November 14, 2011 requesting the arrest of Hmayyed for his role in an attempt to kill.

As usual, this incident was used and abused politically and many stories were introduced in order to use the death of a wanted man and two army personnel in order to gain politically and to sweep under the carpet the attack against a Lebanese army unit and the assassination of its soldiers. Several people from Aarsal and many politicians outside Aarsal who support the Salafist and their jihad in Syria and Lebanon said that those who went to arrest Hmayyed were in civilian cloth and unmarked vehicle.  They thought they were Hezbollah members. They followed the car and ambushed them. The pictures from the Ambush scene and later on from Aarsal village show that all those who were killed, wounded and kidnapped were wearing Lebanese army uniforms. The vehicles used are army vehicles with army license plate on them. Ironically, the video released on YouTube were posted by those who attacked the Lebanese Army Intelligence unit. If you see the video, you will think that you are in Kandahar (Afghanistan) or Falluja (Iraq).  The dead army officer and the wounded were all thrown over each other inside an army vehicle when they were brought back to Aarsal village. The family of martyr Sergeant Ibrahim Zahraman stated that their son was alive when he reached Aarsal (as the video shows). The family said that he was wounded in his foot but a local sheikh issued a fatwa to kill him. His death was a result of blunt force injury to the head by a sharp object (a picture of his body also circulated online).

Aarsal ambush is similar to other attacks on Lebanese army in who did it, why they did it, the atrocities and the celebration over dead army soldiers. Dinniyeh ambush, on Dec. 31, 1999, and the attack on army checkpoint at the entrance of Nahr al-bared camp on may 21, 2007. In both incidents, army soldiers were slaughtered.

Aarsal ambush isn’t an isolated incident. Many local and regional factors been inciting division in Lebanon and trying to light the fire that has been dormant for some time. The political division in Lebanon between March 14 and March 8 camps, the Syrian revolution, the Zawahiri call to join the jihad in Syria and Lebanon, Gulf states using Lebanon to fight Syria, Iran role, Hezbollah weapons,  …. All these factors are pushing Lebanon to the point of no return.

Arming Salafist Jihadist to face Hezbollah is a mistake done by many Lebanese politicians and regional powers. Hezbollah didn’t learn that its weapons can’t protect what it gained politically. 2013 is not 1999 and 2007. The Lebanese didn’t realize that many things have changed and Aarsal incident or any future skirmish will drag Lebanon to an ugly civil and religious war. Today, the Salafist groups have a strategic depth that stretches from the Bekaa and North Lebanon to Damascus and Homs countryside. This link will lead to religious war in the Bekaa if the situation isn’t fixed. Hezbollah support to Assad regime and the Sunnite support to the Syrian revolution might show its ugly face in inter sects fighting in the Baalback and Hermel region. Such clash will bring Lebanon to its knees and will destroy all the efforts made in the past two decades to pull Lebanon out of a civil war.

The name Aarsal means “God’s throne” in Aramaic. On February 1st 2013, Aarsal become the “thorn in God’s eye”.

Can anyone answer?

Posted by Michel on February 6th, 2013
Antoine Najem

هل مَن يجيب؟

يرفض بعضهم أن تنتخب كلّ طائفة، وحدها، نوّابها إلى المجلس النيابي، بذريعةٍ ملخّصُها أنّه يشرذم الشعبَ اللبنانيّ إلى وحدات تتباعد بانتظار أن تتحارب. وهم أنفسهم يعتبرون أنّ مثل هذا الانتخاب يصلح لمجلس الشيوخ.

السؤال الأوّل: هل التوتّر بين اللبنانيّين وتحاربهم، بين آن وآخر، كانا نتيجة انتخاب كلّ طائفة نوّابها؟

السؤال الثاني: هل الشعب الذي سينتخب أعضاء مجلس الشيوخ هو غيره الذي سينتخب أعضاء مجلس النوّاب؟

السؤال الثالث: هل يكون المبدأ نفسه هناك مؤذيًا ومدمّرًا، وهنا خيِّرًا وبنأءً؟

السؤال الرابع: هل في النيّة تقزيم صلاحيّات مجلس الشيوخ المنصوص عليها في المادة 22 من الدستور، بحيث تُـجرّد من الجوهر ويُبقى على الشكل؟

السؤال الأخير: وهل يخفى على الناس النهارُ؟

 انطوان نجم

Translation:

Some refuse that each religious sect elects its own deputies to the parliament. Their pretext is that such a thing will divide the Lebanese community into diverging units waiting to be at war with each others. The same people believe that such system is fit for the Senate election.

The first question: Is the tension and fighting between the Lebanese, every now and then, were the result of such election proposal?
Second question: Are the people who will elect the members of the Senate different than the one who will elect members of the House of Representatives?
Third question: Is the same principle harmful and destructive in one place, and constructive and good in the other?
Fourth question: Is their an intention to shrink the powers of the Senate provided in Article 22 of the Constitution, so it will be stripped of its substance and just keep its shape?
Last question: Can we hide the day from the people?

Antoine Najem

Sacred name and Logo to make few bucks

Posted by Michel on January 29th, 2013
lf-cig

A friend of mine notified me of this Facebook page.

This is a lighter version (goes with the ad) of my reply to him. The page states: “This is a commercial page and doesn’t represent the Lebanese Forces party”. How are you allowed to use a party name and its logo to put on a cigarette box?  Is this really an independent business that has nothing to do with the Lebanese Forces? Or is it a tool to generate money for the party? How these people are allowed to use a noble name and logo that many died under to promote a commercial product. How they are allowed to promote cigarettes ?!?!?! The marketing genius behind this product came out with a marvelous slogan: “Don’t advertise the tobacco companies names, advertise your party instead.”

If the Lebanese Forces has nothing to due with it, they should sue those behind this product. Let’s wait and see.

Lebanese Mufti issues a fatwa against civil marriage

Posted by Michel on January 29th, 2013

lmaLebanon’s top Sunni Muslim authority, Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani issued the fatwa branding as an apostate any Muslim politician who approves civil marriage legislation. “Any Muslim with legal or executive authority in Lebanon who supports the legalisation of civil marriage is an apostate and outside the religion of Islam,” he said on the website of Dar al-Fatwa, the official institution for fatwas. “There are predators lurking among us, trying to sow the bacteria of civil marriage in Lebanon, but they should know that the religious scholars will not hesitate to do their duty” and prevent the passage of such a bill. “[Such officials] would not be washed, would not be wrapped in a [burial] shroud, would not have prayers for their soul in line with Islamic rules, and would not be buried in a Muslim cemetery,” Qabbani added.

The issue of civil marriage gained momentum these past two days after President Michel Sleiman tweeted in support of a draft law to legalize civil marriage. Maronite Patriarch Rahi had already declared in 20112 that he endorses and the government should make it compulsory.

The first one to shoot down such law was our beloved Sunni Prime Minister who opposed such proposal because we “don’t need such controversial issues at the time being.”

So according to Sunni Grand Mufti and Prime Minister atheists in Lebanon have no right at all. Both of them are standing against the Lebanese constitution which states: “Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic based on respect for public liberties, especially the freedom of opinion and belief, and respect for social justice and equality of rights and duties among all citizens without discrimination.”

What Mufti Qabbani failed to understand or grasp is that we do not live in an Islamic state run by Shari’a law. In addition, Muslim deputies are elected not only by Muslims but also by Christians and atheists. He raised the sword of apostate against any Sunni Muslim legislator if he vote for legalizing civil marriage in Lebanon. The verdict according to Muslim Shariaa against the apostate is death.

For the past few years, I heard many Christian Lebanese repeating like parrots what they leaders told them: “They (Sunnite Muslims) came to us”. Meaning they follow us now. How many times, I repeated that this is a false statement and Muslims will only follow their Muslim Shari’a. It is their religion, this is what they believe in and it is their right to do so. But a Mufti can’t send Lebanese Muslim lawmakers to death because these lawmakers work for their constituencies and not for Muslims only. In addition, you can’t label a Muslim lawmaker as an apostate because he is abiding by the Lebanese constitution which asks him to respect the social justice and equality of rights and duties of all citizens without discrimination.

Few week ago, when Christian political leaders and lawmakers supported a law which allow Christians to vote for their lawmakers and same for the Muslims, they were accused of driving Lebanon backwards and against the evolution and coexistence.

When many Lebanese realize that this country is based on religion and sects and ask for implementing a decentralized system or a federal system, they are accused of separation and division in the country. But these Lebanese totally understand that to be a Muslim, you have to follow your religion. A religion that controls the spiritual and social life of its followers. At least these Lebanese are not labeling others as apostate and not infringing on Lebanese rights to live equally in the country. On the contrary, it allows all Lebanese to live the way they desire to do so.

What Mufti Qabbani missed is that for around $1500, a couple can fly to Cyprus (24 minutes), get a civil marriage, return to Lebanon and their marriage is recognized in Lebanon. The proposed law states that civil marriage is optional. No one is forcing Muslims to have a civil marriage. So how the hell the Mufti saw this “optional” marriage an attack on Islam?

Lebanon in Danger! ACT before it is too late

Posted by Michel on January 27th, 2013

 

Syrian Orthodox and Catholics appeal for aid in Hassake

Posted by Michel on January 17th, 2013

Source: Fides

brken-crossHassake (Agenzia Fides) – Hassake, the capital of Mesopotamia (Eastern Syria), is a ghost town, isolated from the rest of the world. The population is suffering from the cold weather, there is no fuel, water is scarce, there is only one hour of electricity a day. Over 25 thousand Christians (Syrian Orthodoxs, Syrian Catholics, Chaldeans, Armenians) are crowded in the city, many of whom have sought refuge from the surrounding areas, have launched an alarm for survival through some of the messages sent to Fides Agency.

After the appeal issued two months ago by the three Bishops of the region, who “launched an SOS to avoid catastrophe” (see Fides 23/11/2012), “nothing has been done: no one cares for the exhausted population of Hassake, who urgently need humanitarian aid,” the Bishops affirm. The Bishops, such as the Syrian Catholic Mgr. Jacques Behnan Hindo and the Syrian Orthodox Mgr. Matta Roham, are intensifying contacts with other Christian Syrian leaders and with humanitarian organizations, but the response they receive leaves no loopholes, “It is impossible to bring aid to Hassake because it is too dangerous and lacks minimal security conditions.”

After the town of Tall Tamr, the region is infested with Islamist groups and terrorists that impose several checkpoints on the roads. These are the militants “Jubhat el Nosra,” Salafist faction that even the United States has recently added to the black list of “terrorist groups”. They are added to common criminals who commit robbery, kidnapping, looting, even in the city. The population “is slowly dying, left to itself,” stresses to Fides Fr. Ibrahim, a Christian priest resident in Hassake.

“The people are hungry and living in fear,” he says. “Every day, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, there is a sort of curfew, because armed groups roam the streets. This is followed by kidnappings, sometimes with ransom demands, not always. In recent days, two brothers of the Bashr family and two young members of the Fram family were killed at point blank range on the street. Young Christians are threatened and terrified, 90% have fled the city. If young people leave, what will our churches be needed for? ” He says sadly.

According to what Georgius tells Fides, a Christian university student whose family is in Hassake and has taken refuge in Lebanon, “the militia with black flags of the Jubhat el Nosra group have targeted all young people who were born between 1990 and 1992. They look for them, accuse them of being soldiers for the national service and kill them cold-bloodedly. They want to terrorize young people to prevent them from enlisting.” The population of Hassaké, weary and tired, reports Georgius, “fears the final assault on the city that could cause the definitive exodus of Christians from Hassake.” (PA) (Agenzia Fides 17/01/2013)

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