My friend sent me this picture he found on a blog. It was taken during the celebrations Phalangists held as they won the Holiday Inn during the civil war.

11:36am The Lebanese army said the Ethiopian plane’s black box has been retrieved and taken to Beirut Naval Base.

Now that it was confirmed officially by an official army statement, the black box was found and retrieved by Lebanese army divers and taken to Beirut’s naval base.

Latest Update at 11:55
قيادة الجيش تعلن وصول الصندوق الأسود إلى القاعدة البحرية

I am not surprised at all to see Army intelligence officers treat young LFers that way. For years during the Syrian hegemony, my LF friends and comrads were beaten, interrogated, humiliated and even assassinated by the pro-Syrian Lebanese intelligence officers. Nowadays, Syria is out but its leftovers are here, not to forget the Aoun nostalgic officers who wouldn’t miss a chance in the world to humiliate an LFer.

What’s the story ?
A 14 year old LF sympathizer accused of beating non-Maronite students in December was supposed to be warned by intelligence officers, but instead was beaten and humiliated.

the LF said “Chaaya was first taken to an intelligence office in Baabda after having his hands tied and his head covered with a black bag,” after which he was transferred to another location, where he was beaten.
The statement added that even if the General Prosecutor summons a minor to take his testimony, the minor’s father must be present.
“[In fact] even the judge cannot interrogate the minor in court, except with the presence of a delegate of the juvenile court,” the LF added.

You can read more about this issue here.

The Lebanese Forces filed an official lawsuit against those intelligence officers and urged Defense minister Elias el Murr to handle the issue properly.

Lol ! Hilarious song ..

(Picture from nowlebanon.com)

For the 5th year in a row, March 14 forces calls on Lebanese to massively participate in commemorating Hariri’s assassination in Martyrs Square, Beirut.

To be honest, i think those massive demonstrations should be stopped once and for all and turned into an exclusive event similar to what is being done for Gebran Tueni.

The past few years have proven that only elections can judge who’s the majority and who’s not. March14 parties won the 2009 elections and have nothing to prove. Added to that, Jumblatt’s latest positions will only influence negatively on the event, whether he attends or not.

On a final note, February 14 is a sad event while March 14 is the day that marked the birth of the Cedars Revolution. This is the one we should be celebrating massively while the other should be mourned discretly.

This has been brought up jokingly by a friend as the possible cause of Syrian hate towards Lebanon.

Joseph Sader was kidnapped on the airport highway on his way to work almost a YEAR ago, and still no news about him.
The region is known to be controlled by Hezbollah security, yet no statements were issued by the party about Joseph and the ISF did absolutely nothing.

In an article addressed to fellow citizens, Salma, wrote: “Don’t believe what they say. We are living in an illusionary state.”

Lebanese “officials are good at congratulating each other whenever authorities arrest a gang. How come they had not put their hands on the ring that kidnapped Joseph?” she wrote in the article published Monday by the daily An-Nahar.

FROM NAHARNET

Qabalan Calls for Boycotting Libya’s Arab Summit

Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan stressed that Lebanon should boycott the forthcoming Arab Summit that will be held in Libya.
In an interview with An Nahar daily, Qabalan described Libya as “a hostile and tyrant state.”

Qabalan accused Libya of kidnapping AMAL’s founder Imam Moussa Sadr and his companions in 1978.

“Is that how we respect Imam Sadr and his Lebanese, Arab, and Islamic position?” added Qabalan, admonishing Lebanon’s decision to participate in Libya’s summit.

As Qabalan hailed the inter-Arab reconciliations, he voiced refusal for them to happen “on expense of Imam Sadr’s cause,” adding that participation becomes legitimate if the case was solved before the occurrence of the summit and if the Lebanese officials put prior conditions on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to reveal the truth in Sadr’s case.

“I call on everyone not to line up with our enemy and to respect the feelings of our people … because we have suffered a series of failed experiences with Gadhafi whom we have always called to send back the Imam and his companions to their country in order to establish the best relations between the Lebanese and Libyan peoples, and now he bears the responsibility.”

MY TAKE

It is ok to boycott an arab state because we suspect that the Imam Moussa Sadr was kidnapped and killed by the Lybians, but it is not ok to boycott Syria where thousands of political prisoners have disappeared including priests.

It is ok to curse the Lybians and Moammar el Khaddafi but watch out if you even say one word about Bachar. This is the Shiite Leaders hypocrisy that we live in every day. I want to just stick to this point without going further into other huge double standards that the Shiite Leaders have today, be they religious or otherwise.

I mean how can we still be making an issue out of Moussa Sadr and we dont make issues of Rene Mouawwad or Bachir Gemayel who were “PRESIDENTS” . With all due respect to Sadr , he was a leader and a religious figurehead but he was certainly not as important as the PRESIDENT OF YOUR COUNTRY.

If the Shiites are so nationalistic, they should be voicing concern about all their fellow countrymen who are imprisoned or kidnapped or killed.

It is nauseating that we have to listen to all the mumbo jumbo about national resistance and kicking the Israelis out especially when their DOUBLE STANDARDS are so glaringly unpatriotic.

Of course some dimwit supporter of the Hizboshitallah/ FPM will say that we have no proof that Syria did anything and that it was all evil Zionist agents like Amin Gemayel who killed his son on purpose, BUT MY QUESTION IS WHERE IS YOUR PROOF THAT LYBIA DID ANYTHING TO SADR?

No proof, just accusations and boycotting and a whole lot of hypocrisy.

What is really sad is that all Independent minded Lebanese agree that the Sadr dissapearance should be tackled. I totally agree that all Lebanese political prisoners or martyrs should be accounted for and justice should be done in their cases.

I would like to have one poltician call for the boycotting of the Assad Dictatorship untill we get an explanation of where our countrymen are and who killed all our leaders. Better yet I would love to hear it from one Shiite Leader or blog member.

I am not holding my breath

[Naharnet]

Yesterday, the municipality of Batroun ordered all pubs and restaurants to close because of that incident.
I can’t imagine how he felt like to lose his son. I hope i won’t have to experience that ever.

May the father and the son R.I.P.

Lebanon’s present nationality law allows men to pass on their nationality to non-Lebanese wives and children one year after their marriage is registered, but prohibits Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese from doing the same.

Those who oppose granting women nationality rights often argue that the law is aimed at resettling Palestinian refugees and that the naturalization of thousands of Palestinian men and children would tip Lebanon’s delicate sectarian balance in favor of Sunni Muslims, the religion of the majority of the country’s 400,000 Palestinian refugees. [Original Article from the Daily Star]

A study conducted by the National Committee for the Follow up on Women’s Issues (CFUWI) showed that only 2% of Lebanese women are married to Palestinians, and that there is no real threat of naturalizing a large number of Palestinians by changing the law.

However, i beg to differ as no credible statistics are available about the number of Palestinians in Lebanon to begin with, not to mention the Lebanese who live in isolated and far away villages and that do not register their weddings.

Changing the law nowadays is unhealthy unless Palestinians are excluded from it, but i can already see people inventing ways around the law considering how corrupt this country is.

Therefore, even though i am 100% with giving this right to Lebanese women, but i think this is a bad timing to do it and it is the wrong start. This is like asking to remove political sectarianism without decentralizing the country and secularising the people. You can’t start a building with a window. You need strong bases to begin with.

From Naharnet,

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority has reportedly received a list of instructions from Washington, saying travelers may be subjected to random manual inspection that includes sensitive body parts like the buttocks.
The decision applies not only to Saudi Arabia, but also to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Cuba.

The instructions also include denying passengers access to toilet facilities an hour before the flight’s arrival to any U.S. airport.

They give security guards the right to monitor any individuals using toilets more than once during the flight and the right to use x-ray vision at airport security checkpoints to give a naked image of passengers.

Travelers are also banned, under the new order, from covering themselves with blankets throughout the trip.

Peshhh..Shi b Tammin…I think Naharnet used the word buttocks here as a cover for something far more sick and painful…
Again, Thank You HA.

Update: Aridi stated today that the box was not yet found. I honestly don’t know who to believe anymore.
We will just wait for an official reliable statement.

Now we wait and see.

4:03pm MTV: The black box of the Ethiopian crashed plane was pulled from the sea.

Here we go again.
[Full Article]

DNA databases that will be used to identify mangled corpses are only being compiled from Lebanese blood samples. No Ethiopian has been asked to participate, even if relatives were on board.

An Ethiopian, wracked with grief, unwittingly wondered into shot only to be literally hauled out of view by the Lebanese crew. Had she been Lebanese, it is unthinkable she would have been treated like this.

Much has been written on the plight of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. The relatives of one Ethiopian victim said that their daughter was on the way home to Addis Ababa for good after years of being beaten by employers.

I may not be a fan of the Egyptian regime, but i think they made the right call here. That will be a lesson Hezbollah & Hamas will not forget soon.

The prosecution in a trial of 26 alleged Hizbullah members charged with planning attacks in Egypt demanded the death sentence on Tuesday, a judicial source said.

The men are accused of plotting attacks against ships in the Suez Canal and tourist sites, and of spying, along with other charges.

I’ve been following up the investigation related to the plane crash and i don’t understand why a terrorist plot was not considered by the Lebanese authorities. In fact, they ruled it out since the first minute, starting with the Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.

But looking at the facts, i don’t see why it wouldn’t be a terrorist attack !
- The plane was a new one and last checkup was made recently in December.
- Ethiopian airlines are very reliable and never had a crash ever, except for the one time when the plane was hijacked by terrorists and ran out of fuel and crashed.
- The plane crashed only 2 minutes after it took off. It can’t be thunder as the plane is equipped for such things. It can’t be a mechanical problem as i’ve never heard of a plane exploding in mid-air cause of a mechanical problem.

I googled “plane explodes in mid-air” and most of the cases i found were very old incidents, dating back to 1959, 1981 etc …

The most recent similar incidents were one in Ukraine, but it was said the plane was shot down, and the famous AirFrance to Brazil which disappeared in the Ocean.

Interestingly enough, they mention the reasons why a plane would disintegrate in mid-air or explode. Depressurisation can do that, and is caused by failure of the pressure control system, reduced cabin air inflow or structural failure such as an open door, a cracked window or a hole caused by a bomb. The structure can also disintegrate if the G-forces during a dive are more than the plane can cope with.

Professor Philippe Juvin, of Beaujon Hospital, west of Paris, said: “It would have been as quick as the moment when one falls asleep.”

One unnamed Air France pilot suggested a bomb could “very well” have been the cause of the crash.

“One can very well imagine that a bomb caused the aircraft’s depressurisation and that the plane took time to break up,” he said. “It could just as well have been a big bomb that blew up the entire plane, which would explain why the aircraft didn’t have time to send an alert signal.”

So let’s not rule out any scenario here, because the plane was barely off the ground when the tragedy occured. I guess the black box will tell us everything in few days or more. I am worried though that the true results be hidden if it turns out to be a terrorist attack indeed.

Until Black Box is Found, Ethiopian Pilot Blamed for Ignoring Control Tower Warning!

21 bodies recovered so far and 41 DNA tests completed

Bad weather likely brought down Ethiopia jet – official

Murr says weather apparent cause of plane crash

This has been a very tragic day for all of us here in Lebanon, but also for families in Ethiopia.

I have a question to all the Lebanese authorities and Lebanese news portals:

Why was a list including all the Lebanese on board of that plane put all over the internet and none listing all the passengers, including the 24 ethiopians ?

I looked all over the internet for a full list and couldn’t find one.

The famous bomb detector that most Lebanese go through in all malls, shopping centers, government buildings etc … apparently does not work !

a BBC Newsnight investigation reported that a computer laboratory said the card it examined contained only a tag used by shops to prevent theft. [More]

The man behind the ADE-651 was arrested and accused of fraud.

This is an immoral and unacceptable act. I hope Mr.Jim McCormick, director of the company behind those useless bomb detectors, doesn’t get away with it !

They are in use everywhere from Thailand to Pakistan and Lebanon

[BBC Report]

Update1: LAF reportedly finds seven survivors at sea, search and rescue efforts are underway

Update2: 4 bodies were found and retrieved so far.

Update7: 28 bodies recovered until now.

Ethiopian Airlines History

An Ethiopian airliner with 90 people aboard crashed into the Mediterranean Sea minutes after takeoff from Lebanon early Monday, authorities said.

The Ethiopian Airlines flight left Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut at 2:27 a.m. and was headed to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The Boeing 737-800 had 83 passengers: 54 Lebanese nationals, 22 Ethiopians, two British-Lebanese, an Iraqi, a Syrian, a Lebanese-Canadian, a Russian-Lebanese and a person from France, the minister said.

Among them was the wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon, said Anne Charlotte of the French embassy.

The plane crashed about 3.5 km (2.1 miles) west of the town of Na’ameh. Naa’meh is 15 km (9 miles) south of Beirut.

Now that this topic is arising once again prior to the municipal elections, i find myself obliged to point out the dangers of lowering the voting age to 18 in Lebanon.

I posted about this topic almost a year ago and it still stands.

I find absolutely no advantages to such a measure except for our rotten class of politicians who now have easier targets to control and brainwash. Our youth in its large majority lacks political awareness and knowledge, not to mention historical information, and this is manifested in the universities and the incidents that occur there as well as on online forums and blogs where you find 16 and 17 year old supporters fighting blindly and stupidly.

Based on that, any rational and conscious government should promote awareness among the youth and enlighten them on the past and guide them towards striving excellence in education and professional levels. But this is Lebanon and i am dreaming of course that such measures be adopted !

Instead, “minzeed el teen balle” as the Lebanese proverb says, and inject the political fights further into the schools and universities by lowering the voting age to 18.

Some people are saying this law is favorable to Hezbollah and the Shiite community, but numbers show that it doesnt really change anything, except the fact that now political parties are more willing to invest in schools and universities and mess up young people’s lifes to get their votes.

I consider myself as a person who matured early and got involved in politics at a very young age relatively, however i realized with every additional year how unexperienced and unaware i was when i was 18 and until 20 or 21 … University years are crucial for every young Lebanese to forge his character, to enhance his knowledge and to dream of a prosperous future. Instead, now we will have more students failing their classes and beating up each others kermel Nasrallah wou Hariri wou Geagea wou Aoun.

This is a truly sad story, and this country is proving more and more to be a complete joke.