Owner: Bob's Blog URL:http://ibosblog.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:47:44 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: This blog is a snapshot of Lebanon, its politics, lifestyles and history. And it will also include some book and movies reviews, and a bit about my life... Site statistics:Click here
Another botched job! 2006-12-23 10:55:00 The General Secretary of the Arab League's initiative is as good as dead. From the start it looked barren, and knowing the past records of Amro Moussa that perspective was reinforced. Meanwhile, a large stash of weapons was found in the premises of one of the opposition's parties. I will start with the weapon stash. The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) a pro-Syrian group, that does not believe in the finality of Lebanon as a free country, was caught red handed stashing a large cash of arms, explosive material and detonators. They claimed that these weapons were remnants from the civil war, but the latest reports indiquated that the explosives are relatively new. I wonder what they have been doing with these explosives. Maybe killing March 14 leaders? I will let justice decide, but what I do not understand is how people are still defending this party, which all along Lebanon's history, has been involved in many assassinations (President Bahsir Gemayel for example) Concerning th
No way out! 2006-12-28 14:47:00 Hezbollah and its allies are in a quandary. There is no way out of the dead-end, they lead Lebanon into. Nassrallah made the same mistake Israel did during the last war. He embarked on a war, promising unachievable goals and undermining his opposition! I say war, because Nassrallah himself promised his supporters a victory, similar to the summer's (sic) in their struggle with the government.Nassrallah embarked on his power-grabbing crusade, after the UNIFIL and the Lebanese army pushed Hezbollah out of the south. The party of God turned on its fellow Lebanese and invested Down Town Beirut with its fighters.Today, the same men who fought Israel during the summer are now deployed in the squares of Down Town Beirut, organizing, leading and policing the sit-ins (check out my previous blog on how Hezbollah impose its own order in Down Town)However, they are stuck, rendered immobile and impotent, because invading the Saray (the government's palace) proved to be impossible, and massive de
Parallel fates? 2006-12-29 17:00:00
Since the late 60's it seems that the fates of the Lebanese and Palestinian people have been intertwined, for good or for ill. Recently political developments between the two states have been strikingly similar…
Currently, in Palestine there are two main political factions, Fateh and Hamas. Fateh is a moderate, secular party that is calling for a peace settlement of the Palestinian problem and western like democratic development. On the other hand, Hamas is a religious, extremist faction that preaches a never-ending war with Israel. The West supports the first, while Iran and Syria are backing the second.
In Lebanon there is a similar division, between March 14, a moderate, democratic and peaceful coalition supported by most Arab states and the west; and Hezbollah, an extremist, religious and militant party supported by Iran and Syria, with a declared aim to continue its armed struggle against Israel.
Additionally, during this last summer, Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldiers and Read more:Parallel
Happy New Year 2006-12-31 16:17:00 Happy New Year to all!
May Peace, freedom and democracy reign supreme… Read more:Happy
, Happy New Year
Dangerous overconfidence 2007-01-04 15:17:00 The situation is alarming; there is little doubt about that. But every time I have a conversation with supporter of Hezbollah or its allies they have the same confident reaction: There will be no civil war.
I usual ask why, and I receive different replies, most of them unconvincing, like "the situation is not that dire, no one wants a civil war", or the usual who against whom. If I insist on
Futile charge! 2007-01-09 12:24:00
In WW1 large armies used to dig up trenches confronting each others, and spend countless days waiting and hiding in their holes, firing a few shots now and then. Meanwhile the tension rose and rose, until it became unbearable. Then the "great" generals would order a charge
and thousands upon thousands will surge as one from their trenches… and get mowed down by countless machine guns.
I always wondered why these general ordered such useless and futile charges, and why didn't they even try to find an alternate tactic, to achieve their objective.
Yesterday, Nassrallah and his allies, decided to launch a new series of demonstrations that will target several Ministries and could reach public facilities. And I think that today's "generals" -referring to all the heads of the opposition, not only Aoun- should be asked the same questions: why continue this futile escalation, why order a new "charge", knowing that it will not achieve anything, except maybe an economic melt
Copy cat with a twist! 2007-01-12 12:42:00
In the wake of the latest war, 14 march came out with a new slogan that evolved into a full fledge campaign. It is simply "I love life". It was a sort of response to Hezbollah's violent and death adulating creed. In other words, we want to live in peace, no more wars, no more death…
The "I Love life" campaign grew (you can check the website here), and frankly it was very successful. It consisted of several radio and TV commercials and open air events (like the big new years eve party) and most of all billboards, in three languages, all over Lebanon.
Below you can see two example of March 14 campaigne:
"We want to live"
However A few days ago the opposition came up with their own response to the "I Love Life" campaign. They opted to add, under the same slogan used by March 14, a word that expressed the opposition's inclinations.
For example:
The billboards to the right says: "We want to live, IN PEACE"
Read more:twist
Crying wolf 2007-01-19 16:17:00 Since HA started its protest movement they have been using a "surprise surprise" method. In other words, they have been keeping the nature, date and target of their demonstration secret until the very last moment. And even sometimes announcing a demonstration, then cancelling or postponing it…
In the first weeks, this strategy proved very effective in scaring people and suffocating an already dying economy. However, since the beginning of the New Year, people have slowly gotten over their fear and dread of these ambulant demonstrations and life (outside down Town) have slowly returned to a semblance of normality, while the economic situation did not improve much…
Faced with an enormous deadlock and a steadfast 14 March, Hezbollah found no other way but to increase the intensity of their demonstrations, and announced that they will support and participate in a series of sit-ins and demonstrations that will target several Ministries, decided earlier by the General Worker Unio
Showdown in the streets 2007-01-21 19:38:00 According to Nassrallah Tuesday shall be THE DAY! The start of the second phase, in which the opposition will continue its campaign to topple the government. He called for a general strike and several opposition leaders' explicitly spoke of roads closing and civil disobedience, while Frangieh in another verbal attack, similar to when he insulted the Christian Patriarch, threatened anyone even thinking of going to work!
However, 14 March are standing firm, they ordered the army to keep roads open and asked its supporters to consider Tuesday as a normal working day.
In other words, it will be a showdown in the streets
, between those who want to work, study and live normally against those who want to close roads and business by force and paralyze the country. In a futile effort to up the pressure on the government and pushed to offer its resignation.
The consequences of these escalations are, of course, trivial to the opposition. They will even blame 14 March for them. In the end everyt Read more:Showdown
A day from Hell 2007-01-23 09:37:00 Update 1:A dark cloud hangs over most cities, fights are breaking sporadically and most roads are closed. On the TV I hear the army is firing in the air to break up opposing factions, while NOT opening roads.Anyways, I'm off to work, from Saida to Beirut. I am not going to let some burning tires stop from going to work, for it has become, as everything else in this country, a political statement!Wish me luck!Update 2:Finally I arrived at Beirut! two quick notes:Nassrallah should learn the same lesson that Olmert did in the war. No bombs, no destruction, no protestors, no burning tires, no concrete blocks and sand mounds will close ALL the roads. We will always, always find a way out to go out, to go to work, to study, TO LIVE!!!And today I realized that Nassrallah is just like Olmert, filling Beirut sky line with black smoke, destroying properties, terrorizing people, cutting roads… I am so sad! What have they done to our country...What a shame!
Beirut burning 2007-01-23 21:43:00
Dark clouds above Beirut
No, this is not smok from Isreal's bombing...
War zone!
A country boiling! 2007-01-25 15:06:00
I fear the day when Nassrallah will go on TV and say that "if I knew that this will happen, I would not have acted this way!" just like what he said after the summer Israeli war.
A small scuffle in the Arab University of Beirut has exploded into a full fledged riot, which is spreading to several neighboring roads. Black smoke is once again filling Beirut sky. Phones are down, roads are closed and people are panicking…
Wish us luck and let's hope that this is not the start of our worst nightmare.
I will keep you posted! Read more:boiling
Is your blood redder than mine? 2007-01-26 23:22:00 Can we just agree that there are casualties on both sides, that people from 14 March died by gunfire as well as people from the opposition? And that People were injured, also by gunfire from both sides!! Is these people's blood redder than those?
It is becoming ridiculous, as if we live in two separate universes. Al Manar Tv shows only the dead and injured of the opposition and Future TV shows only the casualties of 14 March!!Both camps express their peacefulness and blaming the other for all the attacks, accusing them of trying to lead the country back into civil war.
Meanwhile, more blood is flowing in the streets and hate fills the hearts of ordinary people from both camps.
Even sensible people are being drawn in this blind violence and hatred. From here to a full fledge civil war there is only a step, half a step, no step at all...
My daily commute is becoming a Russian roulette. Will I be able to come back, will I see my parents again, will I die by a stray bullet. And
Past lessons 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I would like to ask all my readers to take this opportunity of a few calm days, to read some vivid account of our last civil war. In an effort to remind all those who forgot what these two words really means. However I recommend reading a personal account of the war, not a politician pseudo memoir.I am currently reading Beirut Fragments , a very interesting book, that recounts the story of a mother and her family amidst all the tragic events that befell our country from 1975 to 1990. When I finish it I will try to post a small review.I have posted a few links to several interesting personal accounts of the Lebanese civil war on the left side of my blog. Among them, Robert Fisk' "Pity the nation" is worthwhile. The rest are more historical in nature.Let us hope that today hot heads will learn some of the lessons of last war…
Silver lining 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It seems that there is hope for a peaceful settlement to Lebanon's crisis, or so it seems…After last week brief glimpses of hell, Lebanese politicians got a little scared. Nassrallah announced that this is a political disagreement and could only be solved in political means, a big shift from his previous claims of forcing change through demonstrations, road blocking and paralyzing the country.Additionally, as I stated in a previous post , it is possible to get an idea of future events in Lebanon by decrypting current events in Palestine. For example when I wrote Parallel fates, the situation in Palestine was enflamed while in Lebanon it was pretty calm, a few weeks later hell almost brook loose in Beirut.So at the moment the situation in Palestine is mixed, Fateh and Hamas are still fighting each other and the intensity of their confrontations changes by the hours. But the main event was the agreement of both parties to hold "peace" talks in Mekka, in response to King Abdalla Read more:Silver
New front 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Hezbollah running out of options in their futile and bloody campaign against a steadfast 14 March, have turned to the only front that can still offer them a semblance, and I stress a semblance, of a victory. After five long months of pseudo-military operations in the streets of Beirut, Hezbollah just turned its attention south.Their drive is focused on two fronts, they've picked up their provocation against Israel, with the alarming reports about explosive planting along the border, and the planning of new operations and soldiers kidnapping, which will be soon followed by Hassan Nassralh's apologies and confession of his total ignorance of the consequences of such attacks. Meanwhile, Hezbollah have been raising their yellow flags all over the border, to show their profound patriotism (sic)The second front of their attack targeted the UNIFIL forces. Several weeks ago, they started a vicious campaign against the UN forces accusing them of helping the Israeli and even harboring Jews â
It just got personal! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Saturday February 10, 2007 in the lobby of Faray Mazar Intercontinental Hotel, a group of eight couples are sitting around a table chatting about everything and nothing, and of course about the political situation.Meanwhile, MP Ibrahim Kanan, a follower of General Aoun, the ally of Hezbollah, with three of his bodyguards, passes by. Unfortunately, one of the men sitting in the table utters the three deadly words "We want to live!" made famous by the "I love Life" campaign of March 14.MP Kanan stops and glares at that unfortunate person and then moves on…Ten minutes later the MP comes back and stand in front of the table, shouting "what do you mean by you want to live" The unfortunate man stands up and politely introduces himself saying, "I want live, means I want to come to Faray and have fun, means that I want to send my children to school!" -"The people you have been following for the past year and a half will lead you to your own destruction" vehemently answer
Thank you Aoun! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 First let me apologize for the graphic picture.Notice how the wound is closer to the back than to the front of his head, which proves he was hit from the back.And notice the date on the right bottom side (11-2-2007) this proves that the incident happened close to 12 pm and not at 10:30 as Kanaan claimed! Read more:Thank
Till tomorrw 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The country is under attack, bringing the horrors of Iraq to our lovely Lebanon, intimidation of the most despicable kind. But no matter tomorrow I will go Down Town and celebrate life that Rafik Hariri died to bestow it upon us!Tomorrow I will go and celebrate life, condemning all those of prefer death, destruction and endless war.Till tomorrow, may that day starts and end bloodless, vibrant with life and peaceful!
14 February 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Once more the Lebanese people show courage and resilience beyond measure. Whether you are with or against 14 March, you have to admire these Lebanese citizens who came, from all over the country with their families and friends, to mourn the death of a great man.Explosions did not deter them; they took buses that could have exploded, like yesterday, and marched on to Rafik Hariri's last resting place, to freedom square which is divided in two, a side for March 14 and another for March 8, just like our country.Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day, and the crowd was very diverse, young and old, families and individuals, rich and poor, from all over Lebanon…By now all parties should understand that each enjoys a large base of support, no one can forcefully change the delicate political balance, without plunging the country into an endless nightmare of violence.No one can topple the government by coercion, and no one can confiscate Hezbollah weapons by force. The only way is out is thro Read more:February
How low has the mighty fallen 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Nassrallah just reiterated his believe that the summer war is still going on against Hezbollah, repeating his promise that god's party will be once again victorious, clearly implying that 14 March and their supporters are his enemies and he will defeat them...Nassrallah also explained that there is no use for any multiparty dialogue, declaring beforehand that these negotiations will fail. He also explained that he does not want to meet Saad Hariri, reverting to "we still have many new "divine" surprises up our sleeves that will ensure our victory"All in all Nassrallah speech brought nothing new, and stopped short of declaring war on 14 March. But I was pretty amazed by his assertion that every leader in the opposition represents all of them. So in this case, congratulations to all opposition members, you are now represented by none other than the great, eloquent and amazing Wiaam Wahab.How low has the mighty fallen. I hope you are all proud, especially the Aounists among youâ
Back to square one! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Hezbollah and the rest of the opposition reverted to their old rhetoric: "we still have surprises up our sleeves; we will keep on increasing tension and creating new crisis, until you agree to our terms" A classic hostage situation.Hezbollah either failed or choose not to learn from the events of those two days, in which Lebanon almost slide into civil war. They choose to turn a blind eye and continue with their escalation, threatening civil disobedience, refusing to understand that if putting Beirut under siege and paralyzing the country did not work, then civil disobedience will surly fail!!!These tactics will not be successful; they will not accomplish any of the opposition's goals, unless their objectives consists of bankrupting the country and pushing what is left of Lebanon's youth to immigrate.If Hezbollah really wanted a solution then it should agree on the international tribunal and then it will be possible to engage in a constructive dialogue and reach sensible soluti Read more:square one
With hindsight 1970-01-01 00:59:59 On the 23rd of January 2007 and then two days after that Lebanon almost slid into civil war. What initiated these dangerous events was the opposition’s general strike. Many voiced their bafflement on why a “simple protest and road closure” that got a bit out of hand had such disastrous consequences.The answer is very simple if one looks at those events with hindsight, taking in the whole picture. On that fateful day the opposition tried to rob the Lebanese of their most sacred right: their free will in expressing and acting upon their political views and believes!Let me elaborate, a couple of days before Tuesday 23 of January the general strike was announced and –this is crucial in understanding those events- it was portrayed as a measure of the popular support that the opposition can muster. The 14 March coalition responded by a general call to consider Tuesday a normal working day and encouraged all its supporters to make an extra effort to show that Lebanon was a country for
Lies without end... 2007-03-05 14:59:00 Two days ago the last episode of the opposition’s arms trafficking has been uncovered. A car loaded with brand new Kalashnikov machine guns has been seized. The owners are the infamous SSNP, a party known for its bloody past in assassinations, for its total subservience to Syria and even for its refusal to acknowledge the existence of Lebanon, calling for total unity with Syria!This comes after several SSNP arm cashes have been uncovered in Mount Lebanon, and a truck loaded with small caliber weapons has been seized. The SSNP claimed that the arms caches were remnants from the civil war (evidence shows the contrary) and Hezbollah claimed that the arms in the truck are destined to fight Israel (but the presence of several light arms pointed to a different potential use)Ironically the opposition’s media outlets –Al Manar TV and Al Ahkbar newspaper- have been waging a fierce campaign accusing the 14 March coalition of rearming themselves! Even though not one instance, and I repeat n
Improvements! 2007-03-07 13:03:00 I finally switched to the new blogger template. This allowed me to implement several improvements such as the Labels menu on the right, which will allow you to find articles and posts by tags.Additionally, I will try to include more pictures and links in my posts in the future and start on my “Back to Basics” series of article (more details on that later). If you have any suggestion for possible improvements please do not hesitate.As always thank you for reading! And all your comments, impressions, praises and criticisms are more than welcome.
Two years ago 2007-03-08 15:20:00 Two years ago on March 8 2005, 22 days after MP Rafik Hariri was assassinated, thousands of Hezbollah followers marched on Riyad Solh Square in Down Town Beirut to thank Syria.A date that will become the "pro-Syrian" political camp's brand, the infamous 8 March against the 14 March (the brand of the political faction who refused Syrian hegemony).Maybe as a reminder, that Square is unfortunately occupied by hundreds of Hezbollah tents nowadays. For what exactly I still do not know, maybe for 30 years of occupation, or for the thousands and thousands of Lebanese citizens killed by the Syrian Army, or maybe for the hundreds of Lebanese still in its prisons. That rally was followed a week later, on 14 March 2005, by a huge demonstration of Lebanese, who demand an international investigation in the assassination of PM Rafik Hariri and an immediate withdrawal of all Syrian troops from Lebanon. Two years since that day, Hezbollah and its allies are still thanking Syria, its Presiden
Spin! 2007-03-09 15:31:00 It is incredible how easily can Hezbollah’s and its media mouthpiece twist logic and common sense to turn any situation to their benefit. In PR jargon this is called spin, and I have to admit that Hezbollah’s media arm is a “spin master” of the highest order!When Ha’aretz printed an article about Olmert testimony to the commission investigating the war, in which Israel’s PM declared that he discussed and reviewed plans to attack Lebanon almost four months before the summer’s war. Immediatly, Hezbollah’s media outlets pounced on the article, circulating it widely, claiming that Olemrt’s testimony vindicated their own verison of events and discredited all those who accused Hezbollah of being the one responsible for the war and its tragedies.For Hezbollah has been claiming, since the end of the war, that Israel was planning the attack on Lebanon months before July, and the war would have happened whether Hezbollah abducted the two soldiers for not! In an effort to placat
Finally!!! 2007-03-13 16:35:00 All those of you who kept defending and covering Syria’s constant meddling and murderous actions in Lebanon I think it is time to offer a public apology!Seven Syrians, from the Fateh aL Islam group that follows the order of Syria and are part of the Syrians military intelligence, have been caught and confessed that they committed the terrorist attacks that targeted Ain Aleq in Mount Lebanon a few weeks ago. The suspects also had with them a list of 36 personalities which they planned to assassinate, in addition to future plans to attack the UNIFIL, in addition to an important cash of explosives and ammunitions.The truth will come out, slowly maybe but it will come out eventually! Read more:Finally
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