Will Syria let us have a new president ??
Will Syria let 14th of March go out as victorious after two years of assasinations and bombings ?

Everytime we have a major achievement, Syria would do everything to spoil it ..
One might wonder why there were no assasinations lately ?? Simply because it was not in Syria’s favor yet, and unless they were pressured by the Europeans and accepted their defeat in Lebanon, which i highly doubt, i have a feeling Syria is preparing something big, that will be the trigger for a new war or will cause major chaos in the country …

I sense Syria will got after one of its own men, kill a member of the 8th of March or maybe a member of the Aoun bloc, Syria knows by now that by dividing the Christians, it will weaken all of Lebanon and it will try to go for it one more time …

I hope i am wrong, but i dont see Syria letting go that easily.

How was the LBC founded ?

It was launched in 1980 as a national, educational, cultural and non-commercial television. It was Sheikh Bashir’s dream of having a TV that will broadcast to the whole world Our struggle and explain Our cause and get the world’s support.

Bash however did not live to see his dream come true. LBC was finally inaugurated on August 23, 1985 ( Elie Hobeika & Pierre el Daher & Sheikha Solange Gemayel were present in that famous press conference, i still have the video).

LBC became then the LF official TV, and remained so until 1994.

From 1994 till 2005, Sheikh Pierre was handed the LBC management by Hakim ( sallamo el 2amene), and we cannot deny that Sheikh Pierre El Daher did an amazing job by making the LBC one of the leading TVs in the whole Middle East, and founded LBCI and LBC Europe etc etc ..

Politically speaking, LBC stopped being the LF voice since Pierre had to compromise on several issues to keep it running, and sold shares to Pro-Syrian figures who had a major influence on the news. the LBC staff however were mostly LFers ( not anymore though), and it would have been unreasonable to close LBC for their sake.

So we can clearly conclude LBC should have closed since 1994 if we were to judge its political allegiance, since it sold the Cause and everything to stay running. What he did was disrespectful to the martyrs, to Samir Geagea and to the Lebanese Forces, and the least he should have done today is give Hakim & the LF their share from LBC, not just a financial one, but give them their own channel, their own station, an LF TV ( similarly to C33 that was a supplementary channel to LBC).

As for Hakim, He was jailed since 1994 till 2005, he gave Pierre el Daher full control on LBC, assuming he wont be in jail for more than a year or two, however that was not the case and 1 year became suddenly 11.

LBC’s image was totally changed by 2005 and Hakim was welcomed by Sheikh Pierre el Daher to take a share in LBC, but refused to turn LBC into an LF station. Both met several times, Hakim was asking for a larger financial share, and of course for controlling the news, which Daher did not allow.

I must agree with Daher on that one, it is unwise to destroy 11 years of hard work, specially at this critical time, we should have kept things as they are and exploited the good relation with Daher to promote our activities and speeches and use LBC’s potential for LF media monitoring & coverage ..

The demonstration that was sent to LBC ( i dont believe it was an unprepared one), was unecessary and it was useless, it had a bad timing, and no effect whatsoever. Hakim said it himself, things will be dealt with legally and the last thing we need is a clash with LBC.

Dr.Geagea being the LF leader has every right to get his rights in LBC back, however turning this issue into a legal & financial one is wrong from both men, wrong in regards to our martyrs, whose blood helped in building this station, wrong in regards to Sheikh Bashir, who wouldnt wanna wake up and see his dream turn into another tool for dividing Christians.

I cannot understand how more than 10 meetings didnt result in an agreement between two responsible men such as Daher and Hakim, i would have NEVER imagined LFERS demonstrating in front of LBC.

For all who insult me, i thank you, i wont insult back its not how i was taught to argue, but i urge you to read thouroughly this post and understand my perspective instead of accusing me of treason and betrayal not to mention the lame attacks ..

Think LF-wise, think Christian-wise.

The Patriarch finally gave Kouchner a list of 6 candidates, including Aoun, Harb & Lahoud and most importantly Joseph Tarabay, the head of the Maronite league.

I believe he is the best alternative and i support his candidacy. He is a clean person, very known for his services, very friendly and is not sided to either teams. He is not a compromise candidate, he is a strong capable one but with no ennemies.

The Patriarch seems to want him and i hope it works out.

I will be starting this new section soon, by exposing pictures and facts of the Syrian barbarism in Lebanon and by showing to all Lebanese and the whole world why the Cedars Revolution must prevail and Syria kept out of Lebanon.

It is a crucial time for Lebanon now, to decide whether Syria is brought back through its allies ( Hezbollah & co), or the new Independance we earned 2 years ago is preserved ..

Syria did not leave Lebanon, it is still spread like a virus through its allies here, it is still poisoning us, killing our leaders and intellectuals and terrorizing our people ..

Yes to closing borders with Syria !
Yes to jailing every Syrian agent in Lebanon !

Most importantly, i hope this new section will awake some sleeping heads who are still defending Syria and still think its a friendly and brotherly country.

To forget, we will never forget what those animals did to us ..

May our martyrs rest in peace.

After months of tensions between Aoun & Hariri, Monsieur le General goes on Jazeera and states that he agrees with Hariri on most of the political issues except the UN resolutions.

اجاب: تبينا أننا متفاهمون على كل المواضيع السياسية المطروحة ولا نقاط خلافية الا واحدة وهي قضية القرارات الدولية

Honestly sometimes i truly wonder how his supporters think, i hear them cursing Hariri on a daily basis, now its over, we all love him ?? Dont they feel ashamed of such behavior ??

This article was proposed by a friend - Cedrus Tutella and outlines his vision of the HA phenomenom in Lebanon…

HEZBALLAH: The COUNTER-SOCIETY

(Moujtama3 moudad)

It’s all in the name

Hezb-Allah. Two crucial components, intrinsic to the name. Hezb, as in “party,” as opposed to a militia, or an army, such as, say, Jaishallah. It was thus engineered from the start to be a movement with massive popular support, from which it would derive national and regional credibility and legitimacy. The Allah part is even more obvious. Guidance and orders are divine, and undivided obedience is a given. Hezballah, from a religious point of view, means “those who have chosen the path of Allah – unlike the rest…”

It’s in the flag too

A flag is the summation and summary of what one stands for. Hezballah’s mother entity, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, (Pasdaran) simply drew another version of its own for its successfully exported offspring. Let’s point out the analogies:

The Iranian sponsored Popular Resistance Councils. (PRC) But that’s another story. Or is it?

Threat to the nation

By imposing his paramilitary and fascist socio-religious model on an ever-expanding territorial basis, Hezballah constitutes a clear and present danger to our very existence. The threat is to the very inception of Lebanon, an entity in total antagonism with Hezballah’s religious tenets. Hezballah’s participants to politics are not religious men, as these are “above” the nation and its institutions, which they openly reject and deny, even ban from “their zones.” This is the concept of Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam, whereby Dar al-Islam is their world, and Dar al-Harb is… the rest, upon which they wage war until it is subdued and thus part of Dar-al Islam. Hezballah has already accomplished this agenda in Lebanon. It already controls its own Dar and is now moving in on the rest of us, into our Dar…

Hostile take-over

Since its inception, Hezballah, awash with unlimited Iranian cash and military support, capitalized on a Shia population which was extremely primed, due to its neglected and deprived situation, to fall for the flowing incentive, willingly or otherwise. All opposition was swiftly eliminated. Rival Shia party Amal soon reached the state of shadow ally. When the civil war ended, the occupying Syrian forces coerced all political entities in Lebanon to recognize Hezballah’s “special” status, and allow it to maintain its arsenal. Hezballah’s strength reached unprecedented heights under Lahoud’s shameful presidency, whereby the Iran’s militia forcibly replaced the nation and its institutions, applying its own rule of law.

Chosen path: war as an end, not a means to an end

No party should have an exclusive right to wage an independence war, or even to selectively fight one invader and hook its lifeline to another. But let’s assume this is all beyond us now. And Now is May 2000. The Israeli invader is out, and South Lebanon is free. The UN is handling remnants of territorial disputes and controversies. What is, then, the expected course of action for the valiant militia post-victory? Turn South Lebanon into heaven on earth, of course, an aim much facilitated by geography, and towards which most southerners were longing. Or NOT? Hezballah turned South Lebanon into one giant bunker, sinking billions of dollars in the process, and… postponed heaven until after death, which is where it belongs, they insist on “thinking,” and pursue their unending war agenda. The conclusion is clear.

Conclusion. A foreign mercenary force, politico-military amateurism, a hostage nation

On July 12, 2006, Hezballah, acting on obvious Iranian pressure, and betraying all promises of restrain made to both the government and the nation, launches a cross-border raid against Israel. We all know the results of this mercenary action. Despite the undisputed tactical success against the IDF, one is forced to recognize two things. The first is that the IDF never really intended to invade. If it did, it would have never bombed every single bridge and road crossing, all necessary communication routes for its entirely mechanized army. Hezballah, thanks to its drug smuggling network into the IDF, was quite aware that no mobilization orders were issued, for neither logistics nor reservists. No military intelligence activities were carried out either. Hence the words of being both surprised (by the intensive air raids) and ready (for the land invasion – it’s not coming!) The second essential aspect is that, in the Israeli strategic point of view, its Spoiling Attack was a total success, indeed a much better scenarios than victory against Iran’s militia. It diverted Hezballah’s total power against a much competitive neighbor and host nation which, once again, is a hostage nation. Hostage to a fascist counter-society with an alien and hostile agenda. For said counter-society, this is business as usual. They are not expecting any miracles this side of death. Hezballah smartly promised them something it doesn’t have to deliver. It comes after death.

Cedrus Tutela

We have tackled this issue tons of times already, without asking ourselves one important question:

Why is so much importance given to those elections ?? How come we cant agree on a president but we can easily agree on a head of parliament and a Prime Minister ?? How come Muslims can reach agreements and we cant ?? Is it the Christians’ fault or Our allies ??

A big responsability falls on Lahoud here, on the harm he has done to both Christians & Sunnites and the harm he has shown he is capable of in the past two years. He has shown in the past few months as well that the president is a crucial and powerful seat, and that one can no longer neglect his role, unfortunatelly of course he strenghened this seat the wrong way, but i believe this is the main reason why the Majority led by Saad Hariri, son of Rafiq Hariri who was mostly fought and harmed by Lahoud, is giving that much importance on the upcoming presidential elections.

Christian-wise, we were divided throughout the Syrian hegemony, but our leaders were weakened and today we got our leaders back and as a result, instead of uniting and cooperating and working as the moderator btw Sunnites & Shiites, we allied ourselves and became dependant of each side.

Why cant we agree on a president ? a simple and clear answer : Michel Aoun.

14M Christians & a large group of the 8M Christians (non-Aounists) want those elections to happen, and wont mind proposing someone different than Aoun, as long as Aoun agrees on him, but the dilemna here is that Aoun only wants himself at any expense and at any price.

It is his right to run for president, however it will be his biggest sin to block those elections and get us into more trouble. it would be a crime against his voters firstly, regardless of whether the other team is wrong or right.

Those elections were given that much importance because Christians were unable to agree and politicians from both sides are exploiting the chance to score some points, from Berri to Nasrallah to Hariri etc etc …

I dont know what will happen, no one does, everything seems so unclear, we are living in a chaotic situation that could get even worse, and we are yet to realize that .. it is like someone speeding on the highway and seeing a wall ahead of him and not braking at all ..

We are waiting for the trouble to come to us so we REACT, instead of ACTING and saving ourselves.

Who is to blame ??

First and foremost, each one of us who still follows blindly and votes for a leader, without demanding accountability and honesty.
Second, i blame Aoun’s stubborness and madness and blindness.
Third, i blame M14 Christians for being unclear in their statements and failing to name one valid candidate.

I guess we have to rely on Michel Hayek, he seems like the most reliable of all our politicians.

Because the Lebanese Forces was the first to take up arms when the time called for a fight, and the first to give up those arms when we saw a hope for peace settling on this land…

Because we have held the Christian cross on our shoulders along the long path to the ultimate sacrifice, not hesitating once to offer the dearest of what we had for the sake of this country.

Because the Lebanese Forces is an extension of a centuries old desire to stay on this land…

Because the Lebanese Forces was, is and will forever be an institution towards the future…

Because our resistance should never stop as long as we have not achieved the goals set forth, goals which include the consolidation of a strong and independent nation, free from all foreign intervention, a nation where we as Christians can live side by side with our Muslim compatriots on the same level, without thoughts of worry or fear, without any injustice or any inequality..

Because there are others in this country, who for reasons that have nothing to do with nationalism, or with the good of this land, prefer to wreck havoc and sow hatred, acting on external agendas and orders, or on personal dreams of grandeur and lust for power

Because, it is our duty as THE ORIGINAL resistance to do something for this country, to keep giving and never stop

Because we refuse to go back to the days where the gun was mightier than the pen and we refuse to immerse our country once again in the terrible bloodbath brought upon by war and because we refuse to have others settling their scores with our children’s lives and their innocent blood

Because of all the above, we at the Lebanese Forces have decided to shift our resistance effort onto something more constructive and thus came out with the Lebanese Forces Business Assembly (LFBA).

What is it?

Well it is a grouping of LF business men who are putting all their efforts together, forming a wall of resistance against the obvious plan to impoverish the Lebanese people, more specifically the Christians, pushing them to emigrate and leave this country.

Those men, who in the past held a gun in defense of their lands, today hold the pen and their businesses and aim at forming a safety net for their less fortunate brothers in order to help them survive those rough and tough days.

The image of the fierce fighter holding a gun, an image our enemies have long capitalized on keeping in the collective memory of the people in their nonstop effort to marginalize the Lebanese Forces, will soon be replaced by that of the educated business man opening up new business opportunities and investments to bring a long lost prosperity to this country.

As an example of their efforts, the LFBA will be hosting the very first Regional Congress in Cyprus this December. This congress aims at bringing together LFers from all over the globe to network, to communicate and to encourage each other to expand their horizons.

This should have a positive impact on business men based both in Lebanon, as it would open for them new ventures, and those based abroad as they would get a chance to give something back to their beloved country by investing in it.

The congress will also host a multitude of speakers from different economic domains who will attempt to present an accurate picture of the current economic situation in the country after the terrible tragedies that have not ceased to fall upon it.

I believe with this congress, the Lebanese Forces is turning a very important page in its history and proving to the entire world that it is always up to the challenge, be it a military one or an economic one.

It would be good to see other parties do the same instead of coming out with fiery speeches and useless rhetoric in an attempt to escalate things further into chaos

I spotted this banner on the road today, and another one showing how the army & the ISF are working together to defeat terrorism, but i started asking myself how efficient is the job being done ..

Lebanon unfortunatelly is an open space for many intelligences, and it is very hard to have a non-infiltrated intelligence, but i find it hard to believe we cannot come up with a group of professionals loyal to their institution and doing their job properly. If it is that hard, we can always get paid foreign professionals to do the job.

Since i believe in pragmatic & practical solutions, and just to show that am not talking for the sake of it, i will expose two examples of assassinations that occured and the incompetence our security forces have shown :

1- Antoine Ghanem & Gebran Tueni’s assassinations :

Both Anti-Syrian MPs were killed by a car bomb, and both were outside Lebanon and got back and Airport intelligence ( pro-syrian loyal to Lahoud), informed the ‘assassins’ about their arrival. How hard is it to put people in charge of monitoring those checking in & out passengers, those providing the lists of passengers arriving and leaving ?? it cant be that hard.

Ghanem came with a fake passport, someone visually saw him and reported it, it cant just be lists ..

Monitor everyone providing lists, restrict the lists to specific people, monitor the mails sent, monitor the janitors, monitor anyone suspicious or taking documents with him home … it cant be that hard.

2- Assassination of Pierre Gemayel :

Pierre was the only MP assassinated without a car bombing, he was shot in the middle of the day by armed men who managed to escape quickly and hide. He was being very closely monitored and was killed very easily ( unfortunatelly).

Now everyone knew Pierre was targetted, he was an Anti-Syrian MP, and potential next president and a young man with a bright future in politics. How hard is it to put a group of 5 to 10 people monitoring his every move ?? people who could have anticipated the assassination and acted in time ??

Those will monitor those monitoring him, it sounds easy and it is, and again if you cant trust local people, get foreign professionals, there are tons of security companies who would gladly assist us.

We have the “che3bit el ma3loumet” which are supposebly trusted people loyal to M14, but i dont see efficiency at all, i see a lack of personel and lack of competence and professionalism .. i understand the security institutions are still infiltrated with Pro-Syrians, but we can do better than that … we have a list of targets, the easiest thing is to monitor them the same way criminals do, that way we will end up monitoring the criminals

One common argument that i keep hearing lately by non-Aounists but neutral Christians is that Aoun deserves presidency because he gained the most seats in the last elections or heading polls, or because he is old and wont have another chance ( so 7aram let us give him this seat .. how bad can he be ?? )

The 2nd argument is truly pathetic and i wont bother answering it ..

As for the first one, i will not bother discuss the last elections held, and how Dr.Geagea was in prison and Aoun came back with new reforms and a new deceptive method to convince Christian voters that Jumblatt & Hariri are evil and he is the savior and that HA is a milita that is serving Syria’s interests of course ..

I will assume Aoun won the seats fairly and debate why he should not become president under any circumstances, and by any, i mean ANY !

1- The Lebanese system is based on a parliamental vote, and it is the majority in the parliament that votes for a president, and that majority is not Aoun’s majority, so constitutionally speaking he has no ‘legitimate’ right whatsoever to claim he deserves it.

2- Aoun does not have 70% of the Christians, Aoun is nothing without his allies and that was proven clearly in the last Matn elections where he lost his ‘Maronite’ majority, so he cannot claim as well his right to be president.

3- A president is not ‘traditionally’ nor ‘constitutionally’ the one with the highest popularity ( not proven though), and most importantly and thats what matters most to me, a president must have what it takes to be president and Aoun doesnt have ANYTHING a president must have.

- He is psycho and loses his temper.
- He is old and unstable mentally.
- He has no manners and could embarass us diplomatically.
- He has a past full of failures ( militarily & politically) and am talking objectively.

The only reason Aoun has any chances is because HA & the rest of 8M are pushing him and supporting him ( for their own purposes), but deep inside, i am quite sure they dont want him.

Getting Aoun into presidency is a suicide, it is not a compromise.
So i suggest all those considering this option to take it back and rethink of what this man is capable of .. and encourage young intellectual & Ambitious Maronites ( not necessarily from M14 or M8) to get to presidency.

Regards.

Union Libanaise Culturelle Mondiale

Objet : Droit de réponse concernant l’article “Liban, Pays des Esclaves…”

 de Dominique Torrès publié dans Le Monde le 11/10/2007

Chers amis,

Chers compatriotes,

Nous vous informons de la lettre que nous avons adressée, dans le cadre du droit de réponse, au journal le Monde et  à l’émission « Envoyé Spécial » sur France 2,  suite à la publication le 11/10/2007 de l’article de  Dominique Torrès sur les employées de maisons au Liban intitulé “Liban, Pays des Esclaves…”, sujet qui a été repris dans un reportage diffusé dans « Envoyé Spécial » le jeudi 18 octobre 2007.

La même lettre a été adressée aussi au quotidien libanais l’Orient le Jour pour informer les libanais de notre réaction.

Nous Signalons que beaucoup de compatriotes ont réagi aussi ce qui a poussé les journaux concernés à ne publier que des extraits.

(ci-joint une copie conforme de la lettre)

ULCM

————————————————–

A l’attention de Mme Dominique Torrès,

Chère Madame,

Nous avons lu avec la plus grande attention votre  article publié dans le journal Le Monde daté du 11/10  sur les employées de maisons au Liban, sujet  qui a été repris dans un reportage diffusé dans l’émission « Envoyé Spécial » sur France 2,  le jeudi 18 octobre 2007.

Si l’on peut être légitimement choqué par les agissements de certains employeurs de jeunes étrangères au Liban, il est inacceptable d’amalgamer tout le Liban et les libanais à ces agissements scandaleux et de plus réduire le Liban à la seule pratique de l’esclavage contemporain.

L’ULCM déplore l’exagération et l’inexactitude de l’article cité ci-dessus et tient à préciser les points suivants :

-         Si certains faits relatés sont réels, ils ne concernent nullement l’ensemble des 200000 employées de maison travaillant au Liban et plus d’un million d’ouvriers Syriens, égyptiens et iraquiens…Ces quelques cas ne permettent pas de généraliser comme le fait l’auteur contrairement à toute déontologie journalistique.

-         Beaucoup de contrevérités sont évoquées comme le salaire qui, contrairement à ce qui est écrit, atteint 300 dollars ce qui représente un peu plus que la moitié du salaire moyen d’un libanais employé de banque par exemple.

-         Toutes les employées de maisons ont obligatoirement la couverture sociale alors que celle ci n’est pas assurée à tous les libanais eux-mêmes.

-         Le nombre de ces employées augmente de plus en plus ce qui veut dire que la situation de ces gens n’est pas aussi mauvaise comme l’article essaye de montrer.

Ainsi  nous affirmons que ces actes sont loin d’être des habitudes libanaises et que nous sommes sûrs que dès l’installation d’un état de droit, ils disparaitront.

En attendant, nous vous invitons à publier notre réponse selon le droit qui nous est réservé car soyez sure Madame nous luttons comme vous le respect total des Droits de l’Homme au Liban et nous sommes conscients que nous allons y parvenir bientôt.

Veuillez agréer, Madame, l’expression de nos sentiments les plus respectueux.

Roger Hani     Président de      l’ULCM France        

 Nibal Moussa          Président du Comité     de la Communication   

Georges Abi Raad         Secrétaire Général  Mondial de l’ULCM  

 Antoine Menassa   Vice-Président  de l’ULCM

I was having today a very long and intereting debate, which started of with the assassination of Dany Chamoun and led to other political assassinations throughout our history and the ‘arguments’ that some refer to to justify killing their opponents and whether there are certain circumstances that could justify killing a person ..

It is true that most parties had a bloody history in Lebanon, and all leaders wanted to take control of their people, either by force or by bribbing their opponents .. and by force i mean eliminating ur ennemy physically ..

In the 70s, there was a struggle within the Christian militias, and Bashir Gemayel came out victorious after eliminating all opponents, and many were eliminated physically, starting with Marada and Frangieh followers and then Safra ..

Could this bloodshed be avoided in anyway ? Was Bashir capable of fixing things politically but he decided to take the easier way ??

Frangieh was already harrassing and killing Kataeb supporters in the North, Noumour el a7rar in Safra were causing too much trouble … can one unite armed militias in the middle of Palestinian presence without referring to force ??

I argue that Bashir had a greater goal, but to get there, one had to adapt with the current circumstances, since we were in war … but is that enough to justify the killing ?? I say yes & no ..

Yes because one cannot fight with his pen or his articles in times of war, when Palestinians were there along with Syrians and co, but was it impossible to reach an agreement with Dany the same way it was reached with Amine Gemayel in North Matn ??

No because i strongly believe one can find other ways to marginalize the other without eliminating him physically, and i strongly believe there is always another way to solve things ..

Keep in mind that this thread is in no way attacking Bashir, but is rather tackling the use of force in general ..

The Church defends the use of weapons or any tool to defend your property or when threatened .. but many cases do not apply here ..

If you look all over the worlds, Ataturk managed to create Turkey by force, while Indians did it peacefully, Americans had freedom & democracy ideas imported from the West, so they adapted and formed their country ..

As for us Middle Easterns, we are still on this killing mentality wishing that our political opponent to die and get sick

On 21 October 1990, Dany Chamoun was assassinated brutally along with his wife Ingrid and his two sons Julian & Tarek.
Only the youngest child Tamara was saved by the maid who hid with her in a closet until the killers left.

Syrians had invaded the Baabda palace a week earlier and kicked Michel Aoun out and were in full control of the region. Later on, Syrians along with their allies tried to accuse Dr.Samir Geagea of this murder in an attempt to jail him and ban the Lebanese Forces party. After long and endless court sessions ( all documented in a 900 pages book that can be found in most libraries), no clue was found against Dr.Geagea, yet he was jailed for mainly political purposes and false accusations.

Dory Chamoun, the brother of Martyr Dany, clearly stated on many occasions that Dr.Geagea is in no way responsible for his brother’s death and asked for a fair retrial.

A mass is organized every year to commemorate the assassination of Dany & his family..

May they rest in peace.

The St.Georges hotel issue has been ongoing for years now, but lately a huge sign saying “stop solidere” was hung on the Hotel building, so i thought of bringing that issue back.

Most of the people blame Hariri for the 40 billion dollars debt, while they disregard or dont know about the real harm i blame him for.

First of all, to set things clear, most of the debt is due to Syrians & Shiites ( HA & Amal ) and not Hariri as most claim.

Solidere was founded and supported by a law voted in the parliament that allowed it to purchase any land in Beirut Downtown ( which was destroyed back then), and indeed, land owners were forced to sell their lands for its actual price ( its lowest since Beirut was destroyed) in return of shares that they were unable of selling except for Solidere owners.

Solidere borders were @ Starco Bab Idriss almost and so St.George was too far and they have no rights whatsoever to acquire it ..

Years after Solidere was founded, land owners who now had shares were screwed again, when Solidere decided to enlarge its capital, to sell more shares, yet kept the same number of shares for those poor land owners who barely benefited from anything now ..

The problem with St.Georges is that it has a seaside and the right for a seaport, which is a huge one and that Solidere wants to acquire, but they have no right to do so, and have been annoying since then the owner of the St.Georges.

This story is one of many, it just happened that this man has enough money and can handle Solidere .. i was discussing this issue with friends today and one told me that a relative of his as well was being pressured to sell his building ( he was also wealthy), and he refused but was annoyed a lot.

I dont quite understand this attitude, thats what i blame Hariri most on, this monopoly he was after, not theft or corruption, but a monopoly over everything in Beirut by any means necessary.

The man is dead now, may he rest in peace, and i doubt anyone will be accounted for those actions, but at least let us stop them once and for all.

The Hariri memorial is being built on the St.Georges side while there is an empty spot on the right ..

You can find more info on this issue on Bloggingbeirut ( from which i took the picture as well)

Here are few extracts :

Aggressions
All summer Solidere has purposefully installed ropes along our border to stop people from arriving to the St George Beach
Attack Guards by nightA few days ago Solidere attacked our guard during the night
Why would they come like thieves in the night if they were doing something legal?

We would like today to build the St George Hotel to be a candle of remembrance for Mr Hariri too, and for my friends who have died, five of them, whom I have spent a life time with.
I call upon those who care to stand with us and unite for justice to prevail and not allow an employee from some company to take us both for a ride.

The road was closed for 2and a half years in front of the St George Hotel there was nothing we could do to open it and it only did harm to the St George Hotel no one else.
I said once: Is it acceptable to have the road closed for ever?
Someone answered: Mr Hariri was an extraordinary man!
But he was a man! And we are all men!

Solidere has lost money for many years and now that it has began to make some it is taking it away from the country and the shareholders and the Lebaneese people.
Is this not a crime?
But
La hayata liman tounadi

I was watching today a report on Euronews on a major project the EU countries are up to to lower the number of road deaths to 25 000 by 2010. Studies & researches were made to examine the main causes of deaths and ways to reduce them.

I was reading the article as well and it is quite impressive how those countries are doing their best to preserve their people’s lives while we are so reckless in Lebanon, even though it is very easy to lower the rate of accidents and deaths ..

I honestly do not think we even need to do a research in Lebanon, i will assume the government is not capable of fixing all roads right now nor of priving electricity to all highways ( i think god we have ads on Dora-Jal el Dib highway to see anything).

What i propose is very simple:

- The main reason for accidents in Lebanon is reckless driving by drunk or tipsy people, and the only way to stop those is setting up checkpoints at the exit of every clubbing region, for ex set up checkpoints on all gemmaye exits, on all monot exits, on kaslik exits etc etc ..

Dont let anyone drive if he cant do it, throw him in jail for one day.

- The other alternative is to simply ask the pub owners to report any drunk person or not let him drive his car.. also pure and simple.

Now i dont get it what is so hard about doing that ? its not even costly …

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 ?

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…

What happened from 2005 till now ? Why are we fighting all the day and what are we fighting for ??
What are the roots of our divisions ?? We the Lebanese of course.

I am afraid most people have forgotten what happened in 2005, they forgot that the whole Syrian army was kicked out of Lebanon in one of the most peaceful and civilized revolution Lebanon ever witnessed.

But they most importantly forget that this huge revolution came mainly as a response to the one that preceeded it, on the 8th of March, a Pro-Syrian rally organized by Hezbollah and Syria’s allies in Lebanon.

What were these people thanking Syria for ?? Why didnt they join the Cedars Revolution and ask for Lebanon’s independance ??
Why dont they consider Syria an ennemy ?? an invador ??

That is the root of our problems, its the perception of Lebanon as an independant sovereign country and another perception of Lebanon as the Anti-Israeli Operations base in the Middle East.

We do consider Israel as an ennemy but Lebanon is our first priority and by that i mean we cannot compromise on our independance and freedom to serve some ideological plan of defeating the Zionist state.
We cannot do that while staying weak and invaded by another “friendly” country.

But even though the above statement makes perfect sense, we happen to have an ideological party called Hezbollah wishing to accomplish it and destroy Israel, on the expense of Lebanon’s freedom and independance. They do not care whether Lebanon is burned or not as long as Israel is present; and instauring their islamic state and spreading their teachings are the only ways that should be adoptedto strenghen the “resistance” against Israel.

Sunnites sided with Palestinians during the war in support of this Cause but realized two years ago Lebanon must comes first, Druzes as well … The Shiite political parties on the other hand are still attached to Syria and refuse to let go, either out of fear or commitment am not sure, but sooner or later they will get a slap from this rotten regime.

Now you will tell me some Christians are allied to this party, i tell you this is how short-sighted some of our politicians are, allying with their complete opposite for a stupid chair …

Finally, let us keep in mind its not elections or municipalities or laws or tribunals we are fighting over … those are simply for diversion .. the root of all our problems is the presence of certain Lebanese factions who simply dont believe its independance and sovereignty are a priority.

I am anxiously waiting to see who this president is gonna be, that president who is gonna make us suffer six additional years ..

And who is to blame ??
Not Hariri nor Nasrallah nor Berri nor any of those leaderships .. but Christians and only Christians ..

The Maronite Bishops said it clearly in their last statement, if we had true political parties that name potential candidates in a democratic way, then we would have had a president, but that is not the case.

Bkerke cannot unite the Christians, Aoun wants it all for himself and a large group of Christians following him seem to agree that only him can save us, which is truly saddening and depressing ..

On the other hand, 14M Christians cant agree on one candidate but rather have around 10 candidates and everyone trying his luck to fit in that magic formula ..

Well rest assured, the next president wont be from any side, but rather a neutral powerless useless figure who will keep things as they are and just sit on that chair making statements for the next six years, unless one side buys him and gets him to his side ( which is highly probable).

We were in that situation almost 20 years ago and we got weakened by those inner divisions and Taef showed up, i wonder what will we have left now ..

In an article entitled : In Lebanon, 2007 looks like 1974: Do you know where your sons are? , the author argues that “Surely those who survived the civil war cannot want their sons to experience similar horrors - or to inflict them on a new generation of innocents. To prevent history from repeating itself, they will need to be brave enough and wise enough to go against the warlords.”

And indeed, he is making a very valid point, and that “picnic” incident two days ago could have easily degenerated and turned into a blood bath if some LFers happened to be there “training” as well ..

It is not about FPmers training or not here, its about our whole community not thinking clearly and getting too blinded by their leaders and by imagining ways to destroy the other … not know that such attitudes will harm us all ..

There is a huge responsability among leaderships from both sides and most importantly on parents who should keep their kids on the right track and let them avoid getting dragged into training camps or other similar issues …

This whole process of arming ourselves is spreading like a virus in our society, and could “only multiply the number of potential sparks in a political climate already overflowing with tinder”.

We need to think forward, think of our future, our children’s future ..