Lebanon news - NOW Lebanon : : If not now, when ?

Heeding opposition calls to change President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria would lead to catastrophe, Russia’s foreign minister said Wednesday, after President Vladimir Putin met Chinese leaders in Beijing.

“Opposition groups outside Syria appeal to the world community more and more to bomb the Assad regime, to change this regime,” Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Beijing.

“This is very risky, I would even say it is a way that will bring the region to catastrophe,” he said.

To read more: ►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=406021#ixzz1x1AYjvPp

France on Wednesday denounced President Bashar al-Assad’s appointment of a new prime minister as a “masquerade” that does not meet the demands of the Syrian people or the international community.

“Bashar al-Assad remains stubbornly deaf to the demands of his people” and the move “does not meet the expectations of the Syrian people or the international community,” foreign ministry spokesperson Bernard Valero said.

To read more: ►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=406074#ixzz1x1AQMo6P

Mideast analysts, mea culpa time

A year and a half into the emergence of a new Middle East in the context of the Arab uprisings, it behooves commentators who have been tracking these events to step back and assess our own evaluations. There’s no point in dwelling on what we think we’ve gotten right. What’s more important is where we can see we have gone wrong, and why. Taking note of these missteps provides valuable lessons for reading ongoing events with greater accuracy.

I’m going to look at several of my own most notable mistakes or rushes to judgment over the past 18 months, and what can be learned from them.

To read more: ►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=405647#ixzz1wwjc6eha

Ibishblog
New Ibish article: Learning From My Mistakes [what I’ve gotten wrong in the past 18 months on the Arab uprisings] - ►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=405647

Mikati calls for opening investigation into Akkar incident
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=398538

The NNA reported earlier in that an “armed convoy” carrying Shiekh Abdel Wahid to the northern Lebanese town of Halba to participate in a rally refused to stop at a Lebanese army checkpoint at the Tal Abbas al-Gharbi intersection.

The report added that the Lebanese army opened fire when the convoy failed to stop, which led to the death of Sheikh Abdel Wahid and a bodyguard identified as Mohammad Hussein Merheb, both from the town of Al-Beri.

[NNA : National News Agency ; c’est l’agence de presse officielle du gouvernement libanais.]

Rape as a weapon in Syria
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=388100

Both men and women are victimized by sexual violence, according to reports by Amnesty International and the United Nations, though so few people report rapes that it is impossible to know how many people have been affected. Human Rights Watch fears that the extent of these violations may be underestimated in some cases and, in other cases, exaggerated in order to encourage people to arm themselves.

However, according to a HRW researcher who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to speak on the subject, it has been confirmed that rape is being used as a method of torture against men and women in Syrian prisons. The researcher also mentioned reports of sexual assault against women when the army raids houses in search of wanted men or weapons.

info à vérifier
#Syrie #violences_sexuelles #viol_comme_arme

US Republican rivals unite against Iran, Syria
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=367934

Three of the four remaining in the race spoke out in favor of making clear the military threat to Tehran should it continue to develop technology which Washington fears will result in the Islamic state having a nuclear weapon.

À nouveau, remarquer ce subtil changement d’exigence : auparavant on menaçait l’Iran au motif que le pays développait des armes nucléaires. Désormais l’Iran devrait être attaqué parce qu’il développerait des technologies dont on craint qu’elles pourraient être utilisées pour développer des armes nucléaires.

Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, Amal agree to form joint cooperation commission
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=363058

The Sunni Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya group held a meeting with members of the Shia Amal Movement on Friday.

According to the statement issued by Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, the two factions agreed to “form a committee for joint cooperation in the upcoming period.”

The meeting was attended by the chief of Amal’s political bureau, Jamil Hayek, and his Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya counterpart Azam al-Ayoubi, in addition to members of both parties.

Le feuilleton de la hausse des salaires n’est, finalement, peut-être pas terminé.
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=355124

Economy Minister Nicholas Nahhas said during an interview with the Kuwaiti daily As-Seyassah published on Saturday that “the way some [groups in Lebanon] are approaching the issue related to the decree on wage increase has crossed all limits.”

Nahhas added that such a way of dealing with this matter “has portrayed the government as if it is divided into two rival factions.”

[…]

Nevertheless, Charbel Nahhas said that he refused to sign the decree on transportation allowances that had been negotiated in Baabda between the Economic Committees and the General Workers Union because it is “illegal.”

The chief of the Syndicate Coordination Committee Hana Gharib told LBC television on Thursday evening that the commission will “take action and protest, [because] we will not remain silent [especially when] we consider that the transportation allowance is part of [an employee’s basic] salary.”

Trop la classe : ici, Lara Fabian chante en hébreu à un événement célébrant les soixante ans d’Israël.
►http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h-Uf9mWxaRE

Alors maintenant, pour son concert prévu au Liban, ça risque d’être un peu houleux. (Si ça se confirme, nos médias en causeront et en feront une affaire de censure un peu antisémite par le Hezbollah, comme ils l’avaient fait avec Gad Elmaleh.) C’est vrai, ça, hein, si on ne peut plus chanter son amour pour le pays qui vient de massacrer les civils libanais et ensuite aller chanter son amour pour les libanais survivants…

Lebanese activists want Lara Fabian concert ban after pro-Israel gig
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-activists-want-lara-fabian-concert-ban-after-pro-israel-

The Lebanese government is under pressure to ban a prominent Belgian singer from appearing in Lebanon after footage emerged of her performing at an event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel.

Lara Fabian, a Belgian-Italian classical singer who has sold over 15 million records worldwide, is due to perform two concerts at Casino du Liban in Jounieh on the 14th and 15th of February, with tickets costing between US$200 and US$500.

YouTube videos have emerged showing the singer performing at a concert in France in 2008 to celebrate the creation of Israel in 1948.

In the concert, directed by her fiance Gerard Pulliccino, Fabian sang in Hebrew in front of images of various Israeli leaders, settlements and other iconography.

After her song finished she reportedly shouted: “I love you Israel” to the crowd. She has also performed in Israel on a number of occasions and attended pro-Zionist meetings.

Tiens, intéressant. Sur sa page LinkedIn, Angie Nassar livre des chiffres des visites du « Blog » de Now Lebanon.
►http://lb.linkedin.com/pub/angie-nassar/42/8a7/ba6

Expérience de Angie Nassar

Journalist and Blogger
NOW Lebanon
Nonprofit; 11-50 employees; Newspapers industry
July 2010 – Present (1 year 7 months) Beirut, Lebanon

NOW Lebanon - the sixth most visited news website in Lebanon.
– Responsible for developing all news, feature and creative content for the NOW Lebanon Blog.
– Research and post five to seven blog entries per day along with occasional news articles for the website
– Increased blog traffic from 1,781 hits per week (July 2010) to 9,306 hits per week (September 2011)
– Increased blog’s absolute unique visitors per week from 863 (July 2010) to 6,161 (September 2011)

Le blog de Now-Truc, c’est ça :
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/blogs.aspx

Ça fait moins de 1000 visites par jour. Pas de quoi se taper les fesses par terre.

Alexander Cockburn enterre Christopher Hitchens: Farewell to C.H.
►http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/12/16/farewell-to-c-h

Since then it was all pretty predictable, down to his role as flagwagger for Bush. I guess the lowest of a number of low points was when he went to the White House to give a cheerleading speech on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I think he knew long, long before that this is where he would end up, as a right-wing codger. He used to go on, back in the Eighties, about sodden old wrecks like John Braine, who’d ended up more or less where Hitchens got to, trumpeting away about “Islamo-fascism” like a Cheltenham colonel in some ancient Punch cartoon. I used to warn my friends at New Left Review and Verso in the early 90s who were happy to make money off Hitchens’ books on Mother Teresa and the like that they should watch out, but they didn’t and then kept asking ten years later, What happened?

Lebanon news - NOW Lebanon -"Sexy Eyes" Banned in Saudi Arabia
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/BlogDetails.aspx?TID=2026

Women in Saudi Arabia who have “sexy eyes” will be forced to cover them up, a spokesperson representing the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in the Gulf kingdom announced on Wednesday.

Vive les moches :(

#feminisme #integrisme via @kozlika

Hezbollah discussing a substitute for Mikati
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=322449

Kuwaiti newspaper As-Seyassah quoted on Sunday sources close to March 8 alliance that “Hezbollah and some of its allies are discussing a substitute for Prime Minister Najib Mikati in case the latter insists on [Lebanon providing its share of] funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).”

The daily reported that potential replacements for Najib Mikati include former ministers Abdel Rahim Mrad and Adnan Addoum.

Adnan Addoum ? Voilà qui serait réjouissant !

Pour mémoire :
►http://www.lebaneseforces.com/news1march241999.asp

Public Prosecutor Adnan Addoum Tuesday formally requested the death penalty for the former leader of the banned Lebanese Forces militia, Samir Geagea, and his accomplices in the 1987 assassination of then-Prime Minister Rashid Karami.

Des éléments armés prennent d’assaut le service mécanique : neuf blessés (Hadath, banlieue sud de Beyrouth, Liban)
►http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/Liban/article/725815/Des_elements_armes_prennent_d%27assaut_le_service_mecanique+%3A_neuf_
Selon L’Orient-Le Jour :

Armes, poignards et battes de base-ball aux poings, des « courtiers » (intermédiaires) et leurs partisans en armes de la famille Mokdad, proches du Hezbollah, ont donné l’assaut hier aux locaux du service de la mécanique à Hadeth. Bilan : neuf employés blessés et certains hospitalisés.

Touteefois, on ne retrouve pas cette imputation des faits au Hezbollah dans d’autres organes de presse : The Daily Star, NaharNet. NowLebanon est plus prudent et rapporte, en citant MTV, que des employés font le lien entre cette famille Mokdad ou Miqdad et le Hezbaollah -(pas trouvé trace de l’incident sur ce site)- .
Quant au Hezb, il condamne et appelle l’Etat à intervenir contre les responsables de ces agissements :►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=318982
Alors, encore une couverture tendencieuse par l’Orient-Le Jour ? (cf.►http://seenthis.net/messages/34958)
#Hadath
#Beyrouth
#banlieue_sud
#Hezbollah

Après les déclarations du nouveau patriarche maronite, le bal des pleureuses continue. Ici, « les chrétiens du 14 Mars » vont se regrouper pour affirmer leur soutien aux mouvements « pro-démocratie » arabes.

March 14 Christians to address Arab uprisings in expanded meeting
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=317164

The Christian parties of the Western-backed March 14 coalition will hold a gathering to address the wave of pro-democracy protests that spread in the Middle East, March 14 General Coordinator Fares Soueid said.

[...]

“[We] will address issues that include the Syrian revolution, peace in the Middle East, and [we] will draft a political document that will constitute a [road] map for the concerned figures.”

Bon, en Syrie uniquement, en fait. Puisque pour rappel, trois jours à peine avant le déclenchement de la révolution égyptienne, Amin Gemayel allait discuter de politique intérieure libanaise avec Moubarak. Affirmant (sans rire) le soutien du dictateur égyptien à la démocratie libanaise.

Mubarak meets Amin Gemayel - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online
►http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/4589/Egypt/Politics-/Mubarak-meets-Amin-Gemayel-.aspx

President Mubarak received Phalange leader and former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel on Saturday at the presidential headquarters, after which Gemayel declared his appreciation of Egypt’s efforts to support stability in Lebanon.

Gemayel said he discussed with Mubarak the situation in Lebanon after the collapse of Saad Al-Hariri’s government and added that they agreed on the importance of strengthening Lebanese institutions to bring the country out of its current problems.

He added that both agreed that the most important thing is to strengthen Lebanese unity against foreign interference.

Talking about the future of Lebanon, Gemayel explained that the current challenge is for Lebanon to face up to foreign interference that hinders its democratic path.

He added that there are parties in Lebanon that work for democracy and respect the role of institutions, but that they are having to face other parties that depend on the use of weapons to influence local politics and ultimately hinder democracy. 

Commenting on his visit, Gemayel said that the Egyptian president fully supported democracy in Lebanon and decried any resort to the use of arms to sway internal politics.

Noter comme toujours cette belle contradiction : un politicien libanais va consulter un dictateur étranger soutenu par les Américains pour convenir avec lui qu’il faut mettre fin aux ingérences étrangères au Liban.

M’enfin bref, la promotion de la démocratie et le refus des ingérences étrangères, c’est quand ça m’arrange.

À ce rythme, bientôt, tous les membres du 14 Mars « pro-occidental » seront installés en Arabie séoudite. Faites la bise à Ben Ali.

Marouni says electricity plan will be approved if Bassil is clear
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=313001

Marouni also addressed Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel’s visit to Saudi Arabia and told Kuwaiti newspaper As-Seyassah that such a visit aims to address the Lebanese situation.

“Saudi Arabia has always supported Lebanon in confronting hard circumstances,” the MP said, adding that the Kataeb leader’s meeting with opposition leader Saad Hariri will address domestic and regional developments as well as ways to launch the opposition’s work.

According to members of the March 14 coalition, Hariri has been out of the country for almost six months due to security reasons.

Gemayel left to Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Les Phalanges libanaises ne se remettent toujours pas des déclarations de leur Patriarche chéri.

NOW Lebanon - Kataeb reiterates rejection of patriarch’s statements
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=313006

Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni reiterated in an interview published Monday his party’s rejection of Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai’s statements on Syria and Hezbollah’s weapons.

Et évidemment, un membre des Phalanges libanaises s’autorise toujours à donner aux autres des leçons de résistance contre l’occupation israélienne :

He also said that “[whoever] says that Muslims intimidate Christians encourages Israel to continue with its racism and occupation.”

Le site Now Hariri aime, régulièrement, se prévaloir de l’autorité morale d’Israël pour promouvoir ses options politiques au Liban. Admirer par exemple quelle déclaration a été choisie comme premier paragraphe de cet article :
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=309349

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said in remarks published on Thursday that what is important for Israel is that the issue of Hezbollah and its arms is resolved because “in all countries, the state completely controls its territories and its arms, while the situation in Lebanon is different.”

Le 14 Mars se mobilise autour d’un de ses membres les plus dangereux dans l’agitation sectaire :
►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=306093

On Monday, [Khaled] Daher said in a press conference that some security bodies are acting like “Shabeeha” (thugs) and are assaulting citizens and their dignity. He added that at later date he will reveal intelligence figures concerning acts of abuse and torture against certain people.

An unnamed military source said in remarks published Friday that Daher “was wanted” by the Lebanese army before being elected as an MP, adding that he would have been arrested if he had not received parliamentary immunity.