I wonder sometimes if our politicians do things on purpose to be more hated. We all understand they are threatened and need extreme security measures, but that doesnt give them any right to screw up our lives and make us stand for hours in traffic …

There are thousands of students going down to universities in Beirut ( AUB, LAU etc ..) in the morning, isnt it smart to do your meetings around noon and let those students get on time to their classes ???

There are thousands of Lebanese going to their work early in the morning, isnt it smart to keep all roads open until everyone is at work ??

Bikafeena those tents in DT blocking lots of roads and causing huge traffic on a daily basis !

I cannot but wonder sometimes, isnt there anyone among those MPs who thought about all those people going down to their jobs ?? who thought of delaying the meetings set ?? and by the way the USELESS meetings that occured yesterday ..

We keep attacking M8 leaders for their actions, yet M14 Mps are doing the same mistakes and worse, instead of exploiting such mistakes by their opponents to gain more ground.

Every now and then, i ask myself what is it we are fighting for ?? what Lebanon are we dying for ?? what Lebanon do we believe in ??

I keep asking myself .. back in 1982, we had a great president named Bashir Gemayel, he was very powerful, capable of doing whatever he wants, supported by the Americans and ‘friends’ with Israel .. He could have weakened all Muslim parties and Palestinians and ruled Lebanon with a hand of steel, letting Maronites rule over Muslims for years and decades …

But instead he turned his back on Israel and believed in Lebanon, the 10452 …

When he died, Many Muslim parties & Palestinians were cheering his death, and for the next 25 years, we were marginalized, weakened and deprived from many of our rights by those same Muslim parties, helped by Syria mainly.

Muslims turned on Taef and screwed us up with the Syrians, and now you have two Muslim parties, a Sunnite group who is highly connected with the Saudis and who is neglecting the danger of Jihadists and Islamists and Qaeda presence in the country, thinking money controls everything.

Shiites on the other hand have a militia, and want clearly to start their own Iranian-like state.

As for us, we are the only ones believing and defending this state, but where to and what for ???

My simple answer is that we need one honest person or leader to come out and say things clearly as they are, say that this whole country was built on illusions, that we are fighting each for his own vision of Lebanon, and that maybe division is the only way to resolve our problems. We cannot live together that way .. everyone needs his place and his independance, everyone keeps getting back to his community and religion …

Why is division a taboo ?? Why is Federalism a taboo ? Why is peace with Israel a taboo ? What will happen if we get divided ?? Arent we already divided ?

I cannot answer those questions, because what i feel for Lebanon is not something i can concretize, i would hate to see it divided and split into religious regions, i would hate not being able of interacting with Muslims and Druzes etc ..

I have a passion for this country that keeps me from letting it go, and there are many individuals from all sects feeling the same, and i was having that same discussion with a shiite friend the other day, but the problem is very few think that way and many just react instinctivly and that i am afraid we cannot fix as individuals, not in a million years, and to challenge our current leaders is also not doable ..

It would be such a waste to see Lebanon fade away, but for how long can we continue to live in illusions ?

Full interview

ماذا فعل “حزب الله” يوم 13 تشرين الاول 1990 ؟ تقرير من اعداد حماة الارز سؤال جيد يستحق ان تعرف الاجابة عنه …

ماذا فعل “حزب الله” يوم 13 تشرين الاول 1990 سؤال خطير يجيب عنه احد القياديين من مساعدي الوزير الراحل الياس حبيقة، الذي كان حليفا للنظام السوري في لبنان والذي دخلت وحداته مع القوات السورية الى المناطق الشرقية، لكنها لم ترتكب المجازر كما فعل هذا الجيش السوري،

 ولا قامت بنهب الكنائس والبيوت كم فعل حلفاء ميشال عون من عناصر “حزب الله” . قبل الاجتياح اتخذت القيادة السورية مقرا لأدارة العمليات في الضاحية الجنوبية في احدى صالات السينما القديمة، وجرى الاتفاق بين الضباط السوريين وقيادة “حزب الله” ان تتول وحدات الجيش السوري عملية الاجتياح والهجوم، على الوحدات العسكرية التابعة للجيش اللبناني في حين تتولى ميليشيات “حزب الله” عملية السيطرة على المناطق الشعبية المسيحية الآهلة بالسكان ومنع اي نوع من المقاومة الشعبية لقوات الجيش السوري. اعتبارا من صبيحة 13 تشرين الاول وبعد صدور الامر من العماد ميشال عون اللاجئ الى السفارة الفرنسية، الى قوات الجيش بتلقي الاوامر من اميل لحود ووقف اطلاق النار. وبعد ان اوقفت قوات الجيش اللبناني اطلاق النار، ودخول السوريين الى قصر بعبدا ووزارة الدفاع وقيامهم بتنفيذ المجازر واعمال النهب والتصفية.

 اخذت ميليشيات “حزب الله” بالدخول الى المناطق المسيحية من كل مناطق الضاحية الجنوبية المتاخمة لها وخصوصا الى سقي الحدث وغاليري سمعان وكفرشيما وبعبدا وبعض احياء الشياح وعين الرمانة المسيحية قرب مستشفى الحياة. واستنادا الى شهادات الاهالي ورجال الدين المسيحيين والراهبات في مدارس المنطقة والمستشفيات، فقد قام عناصر ميليشيات “حزب الله”، بأقامة الحواجز الطيارة واعتقال المواطنين واخضعوهم للتحقيق الميداني، كما قاموا بنهب البيوت في كل الاحياء التي دخلوها، اضافة الى سرقة المحال التجارية التي تمكنوا من خلعها والسيارات وكل ما وقع تحت يدهم. واستمرت ميليشيات “حزب الله” في التقدم واعمال النهب والسرقة الى ان وصلت الى منطقة كنيسة السيدة في الحدث، حيث تصدى لها هناك العناصر المسلحة من قوات حبيقة التي كانت قد دخلت سابقا مع القوات السورية المهاجمة وارتدت شارات صفراء وبيضاء مميزة لكن الشعور المسيحي لدى عناصر حبيقة تغلب على الاوامر الصادرة لهم. ويتذكر كل اهالي منطقة بعبدا وسكان الحدث وحي الاميركان واحياء غاليري سمعان،

 المعارك الطاحنة التي دارت بين قوات حبيقة وميليشيات “حزب الله” وللتاريخ فأن ما قام به شباب الحبيقة في تلك الايام من مواجهة عسكرية ساهم في انقاذ المسيحيين من مجزرة كبيرة وهائلة كان يقوم بها “حزب الله” عن سابق وتصور وتصميم بعدما اباح لهم الجيش السوري نهب المناطق المسيحية وسرقتها واسكات اي مقاومة شعبية مسيحية. والمسيحيون في تلك المنطقة يعلمون هذه الحقائق جيدا ويدركونها ولن ينجح ميشال عون بسياسة الكذب واللف والدوران في التعمية على الحقائق، فلولا مقاومة شباب الحبيقة ومبادرتهم الى التصدي بقوة السلاح وبشراسة الى مسلحي الخميني لما نجا مسيحي واحد في تلك المنطقة من شرور “حزب الله” وزعرانه الذين ارادوا الافادة من الفرصة التي وفرها لهم هرب عون وتخليه عن مسؤولية مقاومة الاحتلال والدفاع عن شعبه.

بيروت في 15 تشرين الأول 2007

Video

Yes you read properly.

No your eyes are not deceiving you.

The Lebanese Forces have been training since March.

The decision was taken at the level of the leadership and executed on the ground.

More than hundreds of people attended the training sessions which were quite successful.
The initial kick off for the training was given last year in September, during the Martyrs mass in Harissa when DSG said:

“halla2 wa2et al moukawami al siyessiyi al fekriyi al selmiyi…yali bit2oum 3al feker mouch 3al swarikh, 3al kelmi mouch 3al rsasa…”

The training sessions were not carried out in total secrecy in some terrorist camp in the Bekaa but rather in the open and in front of every one…

The name given to the trainees was not “saraya al moukawami” or some other resonating hypocritical name but rather “al jami3a al sha3biya” – the popular assembly.

The attendees were not instructed in how to blow up a car or make a home bomb but rather in the history of their country, in the politics that lead us to where we are today…in the intricacies of theology and the ramifications of multiplicity of sects…

To those that find it strange that the Lebanese Forces should be engulfing themselves in academic training whereas other factions were arming themselves, I will quote a famous saying: “the pen is mightier than the sword”…and to each time its weapons of defense.

Today, the war, the true war, is fought on the psychological level and not on the battle field…a wrecked economy can cause a massive exodus of skilled Lebanese therefore creating a massive gap amidst them and bringing Lebanon’s enemies one step closer to re-occupying the land…

and this is the war being raged on us by Syria and its allies in Lebanon…a psychological economic war of attrition…

Another defense wall that has been setup is the Lebanese Forces Business Assembly, a grouping of Lebanese businessmen who come together in order to form a solidarity chain…in an attempt to provide each other with enough sustainability in order to keep running and avoid leaving this country…

Ever since his arrival at the helm of the Lebanese Forces, DSG has made it a point to build on solid bases.
Eleven years of civil war had taught him that a society built on military strength, on the number of weapons it possesses, on the readiness of its citizens to die for such and such person is a society doomed to fail sooner or later.

He knew that the key to continuity laid in providing the Lebanese society with alternative means to sustain themselves…the key laid in education and a broadening of horizons …

He realized that the Lebanese Forces came from nowhere else but from the people and thus a strong and resilient people ultimately meant a stronger LF.

This same realization is what causes the Popular Assemblies to be revived once more and the LFBA to be setup…the desire to make the society more robust and more resilient to the ill meaning attempts of other factions in the country which do not wish to see a strong nation emerge from the ashes left by Syrian occupation.

It is sad indeed that other factions in the country, who consider themselves as reformative factions, should choose to engulf in the dirty world of weapons and military training (not to mention at the hands of people who do not believe in the existence of the Lebanese state in the first place).

It is sad indeed that those people who instead of considering ways of building and rebuilding are today studying plans to wreck more havoc in the fragile Lebanese body…

I guess the saying is true indeed: ma bi so7 illa al sa7i7…

Article publié le 11 Octobre 2007
Par Dominique Torrès
Source : LE MONDE

“Bienvenue à l’aéroport Rafic-Hariri”, susurre une voix féminine tous les quarts d’heure. 7 h 30 du matin, le hall est vide. Seule une salle d’attente est noire de monde. Sur le mur, un panneau indique “zone de réception pour les bonnes”. Des chrétiens, des musulmans, des couples, des familles entières, arrivent. Parmi eux, M. Hadj, un médecin franco-libanais. Il est pressé, le travail à l’hôpital l’attend : “Les agences s’occupent de tout, explique-t-il, mais il faut venir soi-même pour la livraison de la bonne.” “En 2002, j’ai littéralement sauvé de la famine une Togolaise en la prenant chez moi, raconte une dame en jeans. Je l’ai d’abord payée 50 dollars (35 euros) par mois, mais au bout de six mois, comme elle travaillait très bien, je l’ai augmentée à 75 dollars (53 euros).“

Depuis des années, des jeunes filles d’une trentaine de pays pauvres viennent se placer comme domestiques au Liban. Aujourd’hui, elles sont plus de 90 000 Sri-Lankaises, 30 000 Ethiopiennes, 40 000 Philippines, sans parler des autres nationalités, dont beaucoup de Burundaises et de Malgaches. Une personne sur seize vivant au Liban est une domestique étrangère, selon le quotidien anglophone Daily Star. Ces domestiques sont payées 200 dollars par mois pour les Philippines (les plus éduquées), 150 dollars pour les Ethiopiennes, 100 dollars pour les Sri-Lankaises - moins de 20 centimes d’euro de l’heure. L’employeur peut à tout moment “rendre” la bonne, qui, elle, n’a pas le droit de partir.
Ce matin, les futurs employeurs attendent les passagères de l’avion d’Ethiopian Airlines arrivé à 2 heures du matin : 200 jeunes filles pour l’heure parquées sous douane, accroupies les unes contre les autres. Pas de boissons, pas de nourriture, pas de toilettes. Comme l’exige la sûreté nationale, leur passeport transitera directement des mains du policier des frontières à celles de l’employeur.
La jeune Ethiopienne qui foule pour la première fois le sol libanais ignore que son passeport ne lui sera rendu que le jour de son départ. Elle ne se doute pas qu’à cet instant elle vient de perdre sa liberté. Le docteur Hadj vérifie d’un coup d’œil que le nom correspond à celui que lui a donné l’agence, fait, d’un geste du bras, “yalah”, sans parole ni sourire. Son maigre bagage à la main, la jeune fille tente de le suivre en jetant des regards terrorisés de tous côtés. Ils doivent se rendre à l’agence de placement. Là, elle va probablement signer un nouveau contrat, en arabe, avec des conditions qui n’auront plus rien à voir avec les engagements pris dans son pays. Son salaire risque de diminuer. Selon l’ambassade des Philippines, certaines jeunes filles travaillent gratis les trois premiers mois, voient la durée du séjour obligatoire passer de deux ans à trois ans et sont privées de toute liberté : interdiction de sortir seule de la maison, de correspondre avec sa famille et de communiquer avec l’extérieur. Sans parler de la chambre promise qui risque d’être un balcon, voire la cuisine ! Refuser de signer ? Trop tard. Sans argent, sans passeport, elles voient le piège se refermer.
Le jour de la signature du contrat, l’agence se verse entre dix et quinze fois le premier salaire de la domestique. Une jeune Ethiopienne revient au total à 2 400 dollars à l’employeur (billet, visa, visite médicale, contrat chez le notaire, etc.). Une somme importante, dont 60 % reviennent à l’agence. A Beyrouth, 380 agences de placement de personnel de maison officielles envahissent le paysage d’affiches publicitaires. Il y a quelques années, l’une d’entre elles avait même proposé des soldes de Sri-Lankaises !
21 juin 2007. Anlyn Sayson, une jolie Philippine de 21 ans, arrive au Liban. Le 29 juin, elle meurt, en se jetant d’un balcon du cinquième étage d’un appartement de Beyrouth. Que s’est-il passé durant cette semaine pour pousser une jeune fille sans histoires à se suicider ? Selon la police libanaise, la jeune domestique aurait fait une crise de nerfs chez ses employeurs à Tripoli, dans le nord du pays. Ceux-ci l’auraient illico ramenée à l’agence de placement NK Contrat, à Beyrouth. Le patron de l’agence, Negib Khazaal, raconte que la jeune fille était très excitée et que l’un de ses employés lui aurait donné des calmants avant de la laisser seule dans l’appartement. A 3 heures du matin, les voisins ont entendu des cris. Ils ont trouvé le corps fracassé de la jeune fille gisant sur le trottoir. Résultats de l’autopsie : il y avait des doses massives de méthanol, une substance neurotoxique particulièrement dangereuse, dans l’estomac d’Anlyn Sayson.
Si sa mort a donné lieu à quelques lignes dans la presse locale, la plupart de ces suicides ont lieu dans l’indifférence totale. Pourtant, le nombre de suicides de domestiques ne cesse d’augmenter : 45 Philippines, 50 Sri-Lankaises et 105 Ethiopiennes se sont suicidées ces quatre dernières années. “Dans de nombreux cas, raconte Sami Kawa, médecin légiste, les mortes sont couvertes d’ecchymoses, de morsures ou de brûlures.”
Tout un système d’exploitation est en place où chacun, Etat, agences, employeurs, joue sa partition, souvent avec la complicité des pays d’origine. Depuis 1973, le Liban “importe” des domestiques étrangères qui ne sont protégées par aucun texte de loi : le code du travail ne s’applique pas à elles. Et selon les associations caritatives, leur situation ne cesse d’empirer. “Depuis quelques années, nous enregistrons une augmentation des actes de violence et de viols”, explique-t-on à Caritas.
“A ma connaissance, il n’y a pas eu au Liban une seule condamnation pour crime ni pour viol en trente ans, seulement quelques rares et faibles condamnations au pénal pour coups et blessures”, souligne Me Roland Tawk, qui défend les domestiques depuis plus de dix ans. La plupart des affaires se traitent à la libanaise : comme la majorité des cas de maltraitance s’accompagnent de non-paiement de salaire, la victime laisse tomber sa plainte pour viol contre le versement de son salaire, ou bien le salaire est totalement oublié, mais elle récupère enfin son passeport. La violence n’est pas l’apanage des employeurs. Ici, on peut faire corriger une bonne par la police ou, plus fréquemment, par les agences de placement.
Le résultat d’un sondage effectué par l’association Caritas en 2007 auprès de 600 employeurs est édifiant. Plus de 91 % des sondés confisquent le passeport de l’employée, 71 % ne la laissent pas sortir seule, plus de 31 % avouent la battre, 33 % limitent sa nourriture, 73 % surveillent ses fréquentations et 34 % la punissent comme un enfant.
Elles sont quarante, cachées au sous-sol de l’ambassade des Philippines. Trente à l’ambassade du Sri Lanka. Autant dans une annexe de l’ambassade d’Ethiopie. Toutes veulent rentrer au pays mais n’ont pas touché leur salaire depuis des mois voire des années. Les journaux publient les noms et souvent les photos de celles qui sont en fuite, et la police est chargée de ramener les fuyardes à l’employeur de gré ou de force.
A l’ambassade d’Ethiopie, Yeftusran, 22 ans, est prostrée sur une chaise depuis le matin. Elle a un bras cassé. L’assistante sociale de l’ambassade, Lina, Libanaise compatissante, tente de comprendre son histoire, mais Yeftusran est mutique, hormis quelques mots qu’elle répète en boucle : “Je veux rentrer à Addis-Abeba.” Ses yeux sont vides, sa détermination est terrifiante. Au bout de plusieurs heures, la jeune femme lâche par bribes son histoire. Depuis quatre ans, elle vit dans une famille de campagnards, dans le nord du pays. Le fils de 22 ans lui a cassé le bras parce qu’elle n’avait pu - ou su - ramasser la grand-mère impotente qui gisait au sol. Yeftusran ne veut ni voir un médecin ni en dire plus. Le lendemain, l’ambassade fera chercher ses affaires personnelles pour l’expédier à Addis-Abeba. “Nous avons eu trois suicides cette semaine, j’ai peur pour celle-ci, murmure Lina. Une Ethiopienne arrivée il y a deux jours est à l’hôpital. Elle serait tombée d’un balcon”, poursuit l’assistante sociale en levant les yeux au ciel.
Environ 400 domestiques croupissent en prison pour des vols imaginaires, affirme Me Roland Tawk. Dès qu’une employée de maison prend la fuite, l’employeur dépose plainte pour vol. Durant l’été 2006, l’attaque israélienne au Liban et le désarroi des Libanais fuyant les bombes ont été largement couverts. Les médias ont évoqué, sans s’attarder sur le sujet, le nombre de 30 000 domestiques abandonnées dans des appartements fermés à clef, souvent avec le chien. A leur retour, les employeurs étaient furieux. La domestique était partie ! “Nous avons eu beaucoup de mal à récupérer leurs passeports, certains employeurs menaçaient d’entamer des procès pour abandon de poste”, raconte Annie Israel, assistante sociale à l’ambassade des Philippines.
Le dimanche, les services religieux sont bondés à Beyrouth. Les domestiques qui ont droit au congé hebdomadaire et celles qui sont en fuite se retrouvent. A l’église Saint-Joseph, le Père MacDermott, un Américain de 75 ans installé au Liban depuis trente ans, dénonce chaque dimanche le calvaire des domestiques et souhaite que la hiérarchie chrétienne s’implique. En 2001, les évêques du Moyen-Orient ont publié un rapport sur le calvaire des domestiques, mais il est resté confidentiel.
En 1948, le Liban a signé un traité contre la confiscation des papiers d’identité. En 1991, la Convention des droits de l’homme est devenue partie intégrante de la Constitution libanaise.

Grand reporter à France 2, Dominique Torrès est la fondatrice du Comité contre l’esclavage moderne et l’auteur d’”Esclaves” (éd. Phébus, 1996). Elle a réalisé un reportage, “Liban, le pays des esclaves”, qui sera diffusé sur France 2 dans le cadre d’”Envoyé spécial”, le jeudi 18 octobre 2007.

We all have seen lately ads and posters celebrating our army’s achievement in Nahr el Bared, with all sorts of creativity in the quotes and images. Two of them caught my attention, one that i could not understand and another that i believe is innapropriate.

Look at this poster, it doesnt resemble anything, this cant be a flower, i ve never seen such a flower.. i thought of a flame but then again its very badly done, only thing that resembles this shape is a jewish candle ironically heh ..
No disrespect to our army martyrs or whatsoever is meant from this remark, so no one gets silly ideas or gets frustrated .. its just a badly done banner .. and i would appreciate if someone explain to me what that picture really is ..

Our second banner is quite interesting, and my opinion is that whomever wrote it is an arrogant bastard with no respect to the army itself nor its martyrs .. Putting btw quotes “Hakim” to mock Dr.Geagea is not a way to support your army .. no matter how much you hate Hakim …
What i dont get is how a respectable municipality allows itself to put such a thing …

Video

I was in DT Beirut today and a huge ad caught my attention. Virgin had it displayed on his building saying “Virgin is Open“.

I hope all shops will take a similar initiative and invite All Lebanese to go down and revive the DT & Beirut until we free them from those tents.

A better term would be “cleaning” Beirut from the tents.

I didnt quite understand this ad, i understand the ministry of telecommunications doesnt like Lahoud much .. but why mock the presidential seat that way ?? I honestly didnt even get the joke if there is one ..

I was just told that Roland died yesterday when a car hit him on Zalka highway …

He stopped to check on his friends who had an accident ..

What a tragic loss !

22 years old and great bball player and a great guy ( now playing with Moutta7ed, Tripoli).

He s from Zahle and funeral is tonight.

R.I.P Roland.

Written by Malaysia Sun

Saturday, 12 October 2007

Syria should immediately release writers and activists detained solely for expressing their opinions or reporting information online, Human Rights Watch said this week.

Syrian authorities have held two men in incommunicado detention since June for expressing online views that are critical of the Syrian government. Authorities have refused to disclose the whereabouts of the detained men to their families. On September 23, the Supreme State Security Court sentenced a third man to two years in prison for posting online comments that displeased the authorities.

“The fact that Syria arrests people solely because they criticize the state speaks volumes about the government’s utter disregard for the most basic human rights,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Even worse, Syrian intelligence has the nasty habit of not telling families where their loved ones are being detained – in effect, disappearing them for periods of time.”

On June 7, the Mantaqa Branch of Military Intelligence detained Karim `Arbaji, 29, allegedly for moderating www.akhawia.net, a popular online forum for Syrian youth covering social and political issues. Persons familiar with the case told Human Rights Watch that the Mantaqa Branch may have transferred him to the Palestine Branch in Damascus, but the authorities have provided no official notification of `Arbaji’s whereabouts.

On June 30, 2007, Military Intelligence in the coastal city of Tartous arrested Tarek Biasi, 22, because he “went online and insulted security services,” according to a person familiar with the case. Biasi remains in incommunicado detention, his whereabouts unknown. On September 23, the Supreme State Security Court sentenced Ali Zein al-`Abideen Mej`an to two years in prison for “undertaking acts or writing or speeches unauthorized by the government … that spoil its ties with a foreign state” because he posted comments online attacking Saudi Arabia.

The UN General Assembly condemned “enforced disappearances” as “a grave and flagrant violation” of human rights, and defined the violation in these terms: “[P]ersons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government … followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside the protection of the law.” The UNGA Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance states that enforced disappearance violates the right not to be subjected to torture, and constitutes a grave threat to the right to life.

Syrian security services frequently require Internet cafe owners to spy on customers that access “sensitive” sites. On December 13, 2006, Political Security arrested `Ahed al-Hindi, 23, and one of his relatives, in an Internet cafe in Damascus, because al-Hindi was sending comments and information to opposition Web sites outside Syria. The owner of the Internet cafe had filmed al-Hindi posting the comments. Al-Hindi and his relative were released on January 15, 2007.

Syrian authorities recently took measures to restrict the use of anonymous comments that many Syrian writers rely on to escape state surveillance. On July 25, 2007, the Syrian minister of communications and technology, `Amr Salem, issued a decree requiring all Web site owners to display “the name and e-mail of the writer of any article or comment [appearing on their site] … clearly and in detail, under threat of warning the owner of the Web site, then restricting access to the Web site temporarily and in case the violation is repeated, permanently banning the Web site.” In the first documented application of the directive, the Ministry of Communications and Technology restricted access to www.damaspost.com, a popular Syrian news Web site, for 24 hours after a commentator identified as “Jamal” criticized the head of the Journalists’ Union and the al-Ba`ath newspaper for nepotism.

Under international law, the rights to privacy and free expression entail a corollary right to communicate anonymously. Allowing persons to speak anonymously, without fear of reprisal or stigma, encourages the sort of expression that is critical to protection of rights and a democratic society – from political pamphleteering, to anonymous tips for journalists, to “blowing the whistle” on corruption by officials or companies. While the right to anonymity is not absolute, the restrictions imposed by the Syrian decree eliminate it altogether in the name of repressing purportedly “criminal” expression.

The Syrian government blocks Web sites that span a range of categories. Authorities impose most substantial filtering against sites that criticize government policies or support Syrian opposition groups. Censored Web sites also include Arabic newspapers outside Syria that carry materials critical of the government, such as the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi (www.al-quds.co.uk) and al-Sharq al-Awsat (www.asharqalawsat.com), the Beirut-based al-Mustaqbal (www.almustaqbal.com.lb), the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyassah (www.alseyassah.com), as well as Web sites belonging to Syrian opposition or Kurdish political parties and Islamist Web sites. OpenNet Initiative, a partnership of four leading universities in the US, Canada and the UK, which monitors government filtration and surveillance of the Internet, says that filtering of political Web sites in Syria is “pervasive.” The Syrian government’s censorship also covers popular Web sites such as Google’s blogging engine, www.blogspot.com, and www.youtube.com.

The last six years have seen an explosion of Internet use in Syria, with close to 1 million of the country’s 18 million people now online, compared to just 30,000 in 2000. The Arab Advisors Group, an Amman-based business-consulting firm, projects that the number of Syrian Internet users will exceed 1.7 million by 2009.

Human Rights Watch called on Syria to cease blocking Web sites that carry material protected by the right to free expression and access to information, and to release all those detained solely for exercising these rights, online or otherwise.

http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/290301/cs/1/

The Jerusalem Post - Oct 12, 2007

Daniel Sharon, an Israeli who was arrested in Beirut in September on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a local man and released to German custody on Thursday, says he still sees Beirut as the “Paris of the Middle East.”

Sharon told Channel 10 that despite his weeks in prison, he still loves Lebanon and in no way regretted his travels there. “It’s a beautiful country, the girls are beautiful, the food’s great,” he said.

The dual Israeli-German citizen gave an exclusive interview from Frankfurt, where he is expected to be questioned by Israeli security officials before being allowed to continue his travels.

“You can’t describe the feeling [of being released] - knowing that your life isn’t in danger anymore, knowing that you’re not accused of anything. It’s like being born again.”

Sharon also said he understood that, as a prisoner holding German citizenship, he had “gotten off very cheap” during his incarceration. He had been hit a few times, but generally not abused. “You see people around you being tortured, begging for their lives,” he said.

Sharon was arrested on September 20 after authorities in Beirut questioned a Lebanese security agent about the shooting death of the agent’s roommate.

The agent claimed to have been with a German friend, later identified as Sharon, at a Beirut hotel at the time of the killing. When authorities questioned Sharon, they discovered he was an Israeli who spoke Arabic and had repeatedly visited Lebanon.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1191257291493&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Video

I was hearing it and i thought he mentioned “Al Majliss el Doustouri” as the only place to judge whether this government is legal or not ??

Isnt this majliss inexistant today ?? after a decision by the government ??
Isnt this why Amine Gemayel lost the last elections as well ?? because there was no “majliss doustouri” to refer to ??

The rest of the speech was reasonable and rational and i agree on .. but i was surprised to hear that ..

13:30 Dr. Samir Geagea press conference

13:25 Nayla Moawad press conference

13:15 Boutros Harb press conference

12:45 President Amin Gemayel press conference

12:15 Dory Chamoun left the meeting at 12:10 pm, saying not only the Christian opposition want consensus, but also March 14 leaders on the grounds of building a “strong state.”

10:15 Video 1

10:00 Nayla Moawad arrived in Bkirki

9:50 Boutros Harb arrived in Bkirki

9:45 National Liberal Party leader Dory Chamoun arrived in Bkirki

9:30 MPs Fouad al-Saad and Hadi Hobeish arrived in Bkirki

9:20 President Amin Gemayel arrived in Bkirki

9:15 Dr. Geagea & Carlos Edde arrived in Bkirki

9:00 Nassib Lahoud arrived in Bkirki

I wish all Our Muslims readers a Eid Mubarak .. May it be blessed on you and your families.

I keep asking myself why the Patriarch bothers receiving this man, who keeps on disrespecting him and talking to him as if chi wa7ad z3oure sa7bo ..

From Al liwa2:
فرنجية الى القول للبطريرك امام عدسات المصورين في الصالون الكبير: “ما تكشر” على طول “اضحك شويّ وكشر شوي”(اللواء)

And this is from Annahar:
علم ان احد المطارنة سأل عن موضوع التسلح والتدريب، فرد فرنجيه مطالباً بـ”ضمانات” من رئيس الهيئة التنفيذية لـ”القوات اللبنانية” سمير جعجع “ان لا يقتلنا في بيوتنا، ونحن لا نريد شيئاً”(النهار