A year later from the «Divine Victory», maybe we should face the «Divine Difference».

First, there’s the difference between two societies. Even though one seems more homogeneous than the other, both of them are pluralistic. The Israeli society is, to a certain extent, as fragmented as the Lebanese one but it when it comes to politics, the rules are different.

At least fifteen different political parties are represented in the Knesset. The Israeli Jews who constitute around 80% of the Israeli population are divided into at least four ethnic groups. But when it comes to electing a Prime Minister, the Israeli citizens vote according to the candidate’s platform regardless of his political and ethnical affiliation. This being said, the Israelis remain loyal to their parties when it comes to legislative elections.

Then, there’s the difference in democracy. Every decision that is taken by every Israeli politician is subject to scrutiny and accountability. And this doesn’t end here: even when the disaster befalls on non-Israeli citizens, whoever is in charge is liable. Two great examples that the Lebanese could remember are the «Kahan» and «Winograd» commissions that were established after, respectively, the Sabra and Chatilla Massacres in 1982 and the Lebanon Summer War in 2006.

Last but not least, there’s the difference in global activism. Israel the state acts as a nation in the world. Every Israeli citizen in the world defends Israel, struggles for Israel, lobbies for Israel and, mostly, optimizes the support of the International Community for Israel.

In Lebanon, everyone’s divided, everyone wants to be the leader and everyone wants to be the President and the Prime Minister. And if your – tribal, feudal, confessional, party, whatever – leader is not the President or the Prime Minister, you’re willing to destroy the country to have him or her rule.

In Lebanon, if someone screws up, a shift of alliance will allow you to forgive and forget. Oh wait! Forgive? That’s not sure, you just keep his errors in the archives to use it against him once another shift of alliance will occur. Accountability? What does that mean? Oh yes! This could be used for selective criticism or selective justice.

In Lebanon, if someone tries to rally the support of the International Community to build a better country, what do you do? You do better. You rally the support of the rogue states to counter this attempt of having a better country…

Back to this «Divine Victory», Michael Young does a very good job demystifying it.

It was a quiet summer day, a summer that was expected to be the best in years ..
Syria was finally out, Tourists were coming from all over the world, Lebanese abroad were all here, Lebanon was breathing again …

On the other hand, A certain terrorist Lebanese group by the name of Hezbollah had other plans in mind …

Is it possible for the Lebanese to enjoy a quiet summer ?
Is it possible for Lebanon to stand back on its feet after tens of years of Syrian hegemony ?

Apparently not ..

Indeed, It seems Hezbollah didnt wanna break its tradition of spoiling every summer for the Lebanese, and since its master was forced out of Lebanon, it had to retaliate using the big guns .. and indeed it did after being given the green light from Iran by kidnapping 2 Israeli soldiers and killing few others ..

The result was as expected Israel responding the hard way, Lebanon getting destroyed and Hezbollah fighters and their “brave” leader hiding in holes while their own people were dying.

I posted tons of posts on this war, on Hezbollah’s acts, yet nothing can describe the disgust i felt while seeing our country being destroyed cause of some lunatic “divine” leader ..

One year has passed since the war started, the feeling is still the same and i am still convinced we are wasting our time dialoguing with HA terrorists, this party doesnt understand democracy, freedom of speech, it has one plan in mind and will kill us all if thats what it takes to achieve it ..

I said it once and i will repeat it, F**** off Nasrallah and leave us alone ..

PS: Apologies for the bad word, but i think it suits perfectly the person i was addressing.

Seems everytime they are getting worse at lying ..

Fire Crackers Found Near FPM Office on 2007/7/10 15:02:48

Police said Tuesday they found a parcel of fire crackers and an alarm clock deserted near a church and the office of Gen. Michael Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement in the northeastern village of Faitroun.
A police statement said the parcel was found before dawn.

A police sapper checked the parcel and found out it was made up of 10 sticks of fire crackers and an alarm clock, the statement added.

Police investigators copied finger prints from the whole package and an investigation was launched, the statement added without elaboration.

The FPM, however, said in a statement an “explosive charge” was found near its Faitroun office after a meeting of the movement’s local leadership.

It said an explosives expert “defused the charge.”

The statement criticized Premier Fouad Saniora’s government of failing to shoulder its responsibilities in providing security for the citizens.

The FPM is part of the Hizbullah-led opposition that has been trying in vain to topple the Saniora government.

Source: Naharnet Beirut, 10 Jul 07,

And now the FPM version
التيار الوطني: تفكيك عبوة قرب مكتبنا في فيطرون

أعلنت لجنة الاعلام في “التيار الوطني الحر” في بيان “ان القوى الامنية فككت فجر اليوم عبوة قرب مكتب التيار في بلدة فيطرون - كسروان، حيث كانت هيئة المنطقة تعقد اجتماعها الأسبوعي.

وفي التفاصيل، جاء في البيان “عند منتصف ليل أمس، و بعد إنتهاء الاجتماع الأسبوعي لهيئة فيطرون في مكتبها الكائن في مبنى البلدية في ساحة البلدة، عثر شرطي البلدية على كيس أبيض يحوي ساعة - منبها ومعجونا أبيض على شكل كرة وشرائط، وعلى أثر ذلك إتصل الشرطي بمخابرات الجيش وبقوى الأمن الداخلي التي حضرت إلى المكان برفقة خبير المتفجرات الذي فكك العبوة من دون إعطاء معلومات دقيقة عن نوعية المواد المتفجرة أو زنتها”.

واضاف البيان “ان التيار الوطني الحر، إذ يستنكر هذه الأساليب التي تتنافى ومبادئ الديموقراطية وتقبل الآخر ويضعها ضمن أساليب الضغط على ناشطيه ومواقف قيادته، يدعو القوى المستأثرة بالسلطة إلى الرحيل ما دامت عاجزة عن تحمل أبسط مسؤولياتها، ألا وهي حماية أمن مواطنيها وبالتالي الإفساح في المجال أمام من هو مستعد لتحمل مسؤوليات البلاد”.

I am quite confident they put the firecrackers themselves.

Thanks Othello for the story.

I found this response on the internet:

I wish i were an Aounist

Enjoy pics provided by Tabouk.

FROM LFMEDIATEAM

Part 1 - Part 2

The Lebanese have a terribly short memory and rely on their emotions rather brains in taking important decisions or supporting this party or that ..

The much unpopular Lebanese army during the Syrian hegemony years suddenly became supported by more than 80% of the Lebanese people after the Nahr el Bared battle.
I know we all chanted for the Lebanese army during our Anti-Syrian demonstrations, and we all asked for it to replace the Syrian invadors, but we always ended up getting beaten by that same army and its intelligence, yet we keep supporting it since it is our national army after all.

Let me add here that the main reason of our youth’s immigration in the past years was the Army and the 1 obligatory year we had to serve.

The question raised here : Do we really want to strenghen this army ?? Is it really wise to give the army that much power and support it blindly ??

Rationally speaking, it is a must to have a strong army and strenghen it to face any invadors or terrorist groups like the ones we are fighting today, but i totally refuse to strenghen a sick and infected entity and the army is one of them, maybe the least sick but still.

15 years of Syrian fatal infection, endless list of corrupted army leaders and responsibles, of divisions and betrayals etc etc …

We cannot just ignore all those facts and say lets arm this army to the bones and give it our blind trust .. and Nahr el Bared is one big example of why we should not do that .. yes believe it or not ..

What we see on TV is not what was going on on the ground, and the decisions that were taken inside the army were not that easily made or uniformly agreed on, and on the battle ground, the stories of courageous soldiers we hear are accompanied by some frustrating stories about soldiers working against their own men, stories not shown to the public ..

What is needed first and foremost is a restudy of the Army Doctrine, and how to implement any new or modified doctrine in an effective way .. then we can talk about re-arming and getting planes and giving more powers.

Why do we need a new doctrine ?

The army is till today threatened to be divided at any time, and the somewhat 35 to 40% of Shiites in the army are the first threat to its division, mainly cause of their ( most of them) allegiance to Hezbollah and Amal.

We need a secular doctrine for this army, one that will make the soldier forget his religion once he is in that institution, one that is similar to Turkey’s army, one that punishes anyone acting based on his political or religious affiliation.

Until then, let us keep supporting our army men’s efforts in destroying the Fat7 el Islam terrorists, but let us use our minds when asking for blind support to the institution as a whole or support Gen.Sleiman for president !!

Lebanon today witnessed more than 150 weddings simply because it is the lucky 7/7/2007 date.
Mabrouk to all couples, but there is one thing very annoying … the convoys !!

I understand it is a big day for the bride, but do we all have to suffer because she wants to sit on her rented convertible rolls royce and drive in the Middle of the highway @ 30 mph ??

I was stuck in traffic for like half an hour, thinking there was an accident, then it turned out to be a wedding convoy !

They should ban them or put a penalty on any wedding convoy annoying the drivers on the highway !

Achraf Rifi hinted today that the investigation on Pierre Gemayel’s assasination is being finalized and that positive results will be published very soon, within weeks.

Annahar reported yesterday, based on reliable sources, that Fat7 el Islam will most probably be accused of killing Pierre Gemayel after several confessions done by those caught during the Nahr el Bared battle, and cause of the links founds between them and those arrested for the Ain Alaq bombing.

NNA published that the Internal Security Forces found links btw the Ain Alaq and Sheikh Pierre’s assasination, and found evidence related to the weapons used in the crime, as well as the CRV car that apparently was stolen from Broumana and was moved to the Bekaa, to a region where Jebha el Chaabiyya is in control, a Pro-Syrian armed militia led by Ahmad Jebril.

I am quite sure testimonies of those arrested will help find many other clans, but considering the non-credibility of any party right now, i wish if all evidences and testimonies found be given to the Media and shown everywhere so that people will trust in the ISF and in the government for further investigations.

I remember a picture of a suspect in Sheikh Pierre’s assasination was posted months ago, i dont recall seeing any member of Fat7 el islam without a beard to be honest

I still have a feeling SSNP or Baath cells are involved in this ..

Let us wait and see till now .. because without proper explanation, this is all looking like a 24 sequel.

I salute his visite to the Druzes and to Sheikh el Akl after the patriarch made the historic reconciliation years ago.

I was wondering though :

Shouldnt Hakim visit the Christian villages first ?
Shouldnt Hakim visit the hundreds if not thousands of martyrs from the Mountain war first?
Shouldnt Hakim visit Kfarmatta first ??

Just wondering …

From LFMEDIATEAM

Lebi2 ma3 el Arze wara dahro ..

Is that how we pass messages now to our allies ?? through the papers ??
And since when do we address the patriarch and Bkerke in such ways ??

Mufti Kabbani must call and explain to the Patriarch, this is how things should be done, specially in such critical days.

درس في الاخلاق العامة و الاخلاق السياسية

المشكلة الخلقية هي أول مشكلة داخلية في لبنان، فما لم نطمح الى خلق مجتمعية لبنانية جديدة تعالج كل إنحطاط خُلُقي، ترفع النفس بالقدوة الى أعلى القيَم، وتضع الخير العام فوق النفع الخاص، لا أرى أي مستقبل محترم للبنان.
حين أرى النفاق والرياء والحقد والصغارة والضغينة والفنائية وبيع الذمم والأنانية التي لا يردعها ضمير، والتآمر بعضنا ضد بعض، وتهديم بعضنا البعض، والقبول بالشيء مع تبييت “فشكلته” فيما بعد، وتقييم كل شيء بالمال، والمتاجرة ليس بالذمم والأعراض فحسب بل حتى بالإنتماء الطائفي وحتى بلبنان ذاته - وبدماء الشهداء- عندما أرى كل هذا أمامي وحولي في كل حين، أكاد أخجل من أنّي لبناني.
أين طبقة النبلاء في لبنان؟ أنا لا أسأل عن نبيل هنا ونبيل هناك، إنما أسأل عن طبقة نبلاء، الشرف، النُبل، التعالي، التجرّد، البطولة، المجد، قداسةالكلمة، إحترام الكلمة، العيش في البُعد البعيد، التضحية بإسم الله ولوجه الله، الطموح الى مستوى الألوهة، التواضع حتى الموت، إنيّ أفتقد كل هذا في لبنان، وبالطبع يوجد إستثناء هنا وهنالك، غير أن الإستثناء لا يُبرر القاعدة.
..أسأل نفسي: كم كلمة بطّالة تكلّمت بها اليوم؟ ثرثرة الناس، كلّ الناس، لا حدّ لها، نعمة الصمت البليغ لم تُغدَق بغزارة علينا في لبنان، الذهنية اللبنانية الجشعة اللامسؤولة هي خراب لبنان، كم من اللبنانيين مكتوب على جبينهم ” برسم الإيجار”.
الخصلة اللبنانية في الإنحاء باللائمة دائماً على الغير، هي التي أسهمت في تخريب لبنان، أفتّش بسراج ديوجينيس على الرِفعة والكِبَر في لبنان، على من يقول في الشؤونالمصيرية الخطيرة الكبرى: ” الحق عليّ.”
الإدعاء الفارغ، الغرور، “التفشيط” عدم الإقرار بأننا متأخرون مئات السنين بل آلافها، العيش في الأوهام والتخّيل، التوهمّ ان ما نتخيّله هو الحقيقة، الإكتفاء بقشور القشور، عدم الجلوس العظيم الى مأدبة الوجود الكبرى، كل هذا يؤلّف تعاسة لبنان، وتعاسة التعاسة عدم الشعوربها.

الدكتور شارل مالك - الدوار 1981-
__________________

I was reading yesterday that hundreds of people rallied on Wednesday “to demand an end to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East that has forced thousands to flee the region, taking up a concern voiced recently by Pope Benedict XVI [..]”

I wonder if those people would really want to defend some of our ministers and Christian representatives.

What happened in the past two weeks is more than alarming, and it promises to get even worse if 14th of March Christians plan to keep acting in such a ‘Dhimmi’ way. Yes we experienced two severe cases of dhimmitude, and the infected ones were Joe Sarkis and Nayla Moawad.

Islamizing Lebanon has begun long time ago, and while Shiites support publicly having an Islamic Republic, Sunnites chose the silent discrete way in islamizing the society and the institutions without anyone noticing. Those are facts, we as LFers warned several times against this Islamization processs and were accused of being sectarian.

Nowadays, we have LF ministers and even our LF Leader justifying The government’s islamization plans.

First Holy Friday is almost cancelled and Joe Sarkis is “ok” with it, considering it is not an important day for him. The government issues a public apology after the patriarch blasts this flagrant decision and Sarkis tries to cover his mistake but in vain .. Dr.Geagea critisizes the Christian ministers reaction to this issue, yet does not take any action against “his” minister.

Second the government wants to sign a treaty that is in contradiction with the International treaty for the rights of Children, a treaty that was ratified to suit muslim states that need to abide by the Shariaa laws.

From the Maronite Bishops statement:
ان مرسوم الإنضمام الى حقوق عهد الطفل في الإسلام رقم 363 الذي ينص على شرط عدم التزام لبنان بما يمس حقوق الأطفال اللبنانيين غير المسلمين وسائر أنظمة الاحوال الشخصية، أثار عدة اعتراضات شبيهة بتلك التي أثارها مشروع “منظمة الإيسيسكو”، وأدت الى تجميده في مجلس النواب لثلاث سنوات مضت. وهو مشروع يخالف المنحى المدني للدولة اللبنانية ويتعارض والمادة التاسعة من الدستور اللبناني التي تنص على ان “حرية الاعتقاد مطلقة، والدولة، بتأديتها فروض الاجلال لله تعالى، تحترم جميع الأديان والمذاهب، وتكفل حرية إقامة الشعائر الدينية تحت حمايتها، على الا يكون في ذلك إخلال في النظام العام، وهي تضمن للأهلين على اختلاف مللهم، احترام نظام الأحوال الشخصية والمصالح الدينية”.

Who is the one to defend this decision ? Not Kabbani nor Sanioura nor any Sunnite responsible, but SIT NAYLA MOUAWAD !

Next thin i hear, is Dr.Geagea trying to justify it somehow, saying we could be facing even worse conditions if we werent in that government ??

Did anyone notice how neither Hezbollah nor Amal nor any Sunnite religious leader reacted to this decision ??? a decision that should unite us since we are the targetted ones, yet i see people exploiting it to score points and others defending this wrong decision for reasons i cannot understand and that i will never do.

Is this what the LF has tought me throughout those years ? Is this how we preserve our Cause and our rights as Christians in Lebanon and the Middle East ?

……. Or is this the price we have to pay for our “strategic” alliances ??

Note that whomever is gonna attack the LF for not critisizing that decision or attack the FPM for being with HA and attacking this decision didnt get one single word of what i just wrote and can join the list of “buyable” dhimmist Christians .

By Mafiose13

You start smelling freedom at the airport while you are greeted by the warmth of airport police and a few lovely K-9 dogs, standing between 2 yellow lines, waiting for the imigration officer to take ur picture and scan ur thumb print to enter you in the big National raffle called “Who wants to be the terrorists?”.

Of course coming from Lebanon, you get special treatment by the customs, they don’t just let you go, instead they innondate you with their American hospitality, until you feel ashamed and tell them “take it all….”.
Exiting the airport, 25 cameras are watching you, this way every person feels like a celebrity, and 10’s of police patrol cars are roaming the area to protect your VIP free status.
After paying $20 for 30 min of parking, your car’s license plate gets photographed (without ur knowledge of course)…and that’s part of the parking package.

First thing you do is pick up that cell phone (which the company gave you for FREE, for merely a 10-year contract and just a page or 2 of terms of use and fine prints), you call ur relatives to tell them ur ok….and while saying the keyword “ya ALLAHH shoo hal balad el 7elo”, the CIA and FBI and HomeLand Security, ATF….become all listeners of ur conversation.

Driving home on the Free public road, you get pulled over by a Cop, because your tires crossed a painted yellow line, he gives u a 500$ ticket, and a lecture about driving safety.

At home…finally! You unlock your metal gate, the top lock and main lock, open the door…run to deactivated the security alarm. While sprinting to the alarm, u slip over 100 junk mail letters sent to you from ur friends in the corporate world. The fall breaks ur arm! call 911, which aids you and saves ur life (little knowing that later they BILL you $3000).

At the hospital, the insurance company denies your coverage because you missed the payment which by the way you have been making on time for the past 10-15 years, but missed this 1 because you were on a the vacation u’ve been planning 4 the past 10 years. Of course, a US hospital won’t refuse to serve it’s FREE people. You get a $4k cast on ur arm and go home after a 14 hour Bureacratic wait in the ER.

The next morning you call ur Boss, and since you already used ur FREE vacation time, he is very understanding but lets you-IN on the contract you signed, which stipulates that you need to let ur supervisor approve ur sick leave 3 days before u take it, otherwise ur braking the divine CONTRACT…and u have to be on a forced administrative leave until ur case is heard by the Board.
Disappointed, you decide to commit suicide, your neighbour calls the cops, which in turn arrest u because Free suicide is illegal.

Now you’re in Jail…………Eating Free food, wearing Free cloth, Using Free ****r, Free Gym, Free housing, Free lawyers……….Finally TRUE FREEDOM….Priceless!….I have found the LAND of the FREE.

Happy FORT of July

(it is not a typo….Fort is intended, because it’s a BIG FORT we live in)