tagged w/ Lebanon
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PART ONE...
Reports: Benghazi now in the hands of Libyan protesters
Witnesses: Benghazi, Libya in hands of protesters
By the CNN Wire Staff
February 20, 2011 5:17 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Witnesses report protesters are aided by military who switched sides
NEW: Libya's ambassador to the Arab League resigns
Gadhafi's son will make a speech Sunday night
More than 200 people are reported killed
(CNN) -- Multiple eyewitnesses have reported that Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, was in the hands of protesters and their military allies after several days of unrest in the nation.
Some of the military dropped allegiances to longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, according to the report.
Obtaining independent confirmation on events in Libya is very difficult. The Libyan government maintains tight control on communications and has not responded to repeated requests from CNN for access to the country. CNN has interviewed numerous witnesses by phone.
Earlier Sunday, new clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in Libya killed another 25 people, a doctor at Benghazi's Al Jalla Hospital said, as protesters used an explosives-laden car and a tank to attack a military camp in Benghazi, according to witnesses.
The attack followed a clash between troops and marchers in a funeral procession in Benghazi. Sunday's violence brought the death toll in the recent unrest to 209. Clashes also erupted in Tripoli on Sunday, according to an activist and witnesses.
Libyan state television reported that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi,the son of Moammar Gadhafi, would give a speech Sunday night.
"Our goal is simple: We want Gadhafi to leave. We want freedom. ... We want democracy."
--Libyan protester
Thousands of mourners, some carrying coffins above their heads, crowded into Benghazi streets Sunday in a funeral procession honoring those killed Saturday. The clashes occurred as the procession passed by the Alfadeel Abu Omar military camp, where one man told CNN uniformed troops opened fire on the mourners.
"The situation is very, very grim at the moment," he told CNN. "... What we have here can only be described as genocide."
Libya's ambassador to the Arab League said Sunday he resigned his position on Saturday over "the killing of innocent people." Abdel Ehuni said the protesters are asking for "normal things" and that Gadhafi is "over, finished." He speculated that the Libyan leader has only a day or two left in power because "he lost the people."
The clashes escalated after the incident involving the funeral procession, centered around the military camp. Protesters packed at least one car with explosives Sunday and sent it crashing into a compound wall at the camp, eyewitnesses said. Security forces then fired on the protesters as they attempted to breach the camp.
On the camp's southern side, meanwhile, protesters drove a tank from a nearby army base in another attempt to break in, witnesses said. They have also obtained other weapons, the protester said. Protesters who speak to CNN are not being identified for safety reasons.
Libyan state television reported the camp was defended, and that protesters were being warned on loudspeakers not to attack the compound. The network called it an act of sabotage.
The protester who described the Benghazi fighting said the military camp is significant because it houses Gadhafi's eastern palace.
"It's a symbol of his dominance here," he said. "And it's the last symbol, basically."
He appealed to nations around the world for help, saying "The situation is extreme here."
Other nations expressed concern about the situation Sunday. British Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke on Sunday with Gadhafi's son and "made clear the U.K.'s grave concern at the escalation of violence," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "He expressed alarm at reports of large numbers of people being killed or attacked by Libyan security forces. The Foreign Secretary told Mr. Gadhafi that the Libyan government's actions were unacceptable and would result in worldwide condemnation."
CONTINUED...PART ONE...
Reports: Benghazi now in the hands of Libyan protesters
Witnesses:... more
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Gilbert Achcar: More democracy in Egypt will mean more opposition to Israeli and US policy.
Gilbert Achcar grew up in Lebanon, and is currently Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London. His books include The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World Disorder, published in 13 languages, Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy, co-authored with Noam Chomsky, and most recently the critically acclaimed The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives.Gilbert Achcar: More democracy in Egypt will mean more opposition to Israeli and US... more
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In 1956 it was a bit different - but there still was a guy in charge who was the product of a: the Military and b: a coup - oh yeah, and the West hated him.In 1956 it was a bit different - but there still was a guy in charge who was the... more
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(all of them dictatorships, bar those of Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, a trio of flawed exceptions) has been rattled by events in Egypt and Tunisia. But some are more vulnerable than others. The latest Arab guessing game is: “Who will be next?”(all of them dictatorships, bar those of Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian... more
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Lebanon's complexity can be sorted out when viewed through the lens of history. In many ways, Lebanon resembled Ireland, where religion was used to drive a wedge between landless Catholics and privileged Protestants. Conn Hallinan at the Foreign Policy in Focus blog Focal Points.Lebanon's complexity can be sorted out when viewed through the lens of history.... more
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dave discovering the sites and scenes in lebanon and here are some of the vibes captured for the world to see. Truely a amazing country. I recomend everybody to see and visit this country/ ride the ridedave discovering the sites and scenes in lebanon and here are some of the vibes... more
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/hezbollah-collapses-lebanon-government-as-hariri-meets-obama/story-e6frg6so-1225986945027
As a result of a straight forward investigation into the assassination of lebanons former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Hezbollah has walked out of Lebanon's unity government.Hezbollah who functions as both a military,political, and intellegence agency, in going rouge creates a power vaccum in a region where violence already proliferates.
If ever thier was a question as to Hezbollahs legitimacy as a governmental body, walking out of the Lebanese government surely answers that.Hezbollah has admited its guilt in action by ducking charges while also showing that its agenda supercedes that of the Lebanese people.
This change in events means that one of the most well armed, and active terrorist organizations is now bound by nothing, and is under international pressure.Of the actions Hezbollah may take to regain power, is provoking a civil war in Lebanon wich they would certainly win, or possibly attacking Israel to gain regional support despite being terrorists.With Israel's recent discovery of natural gas in the region, the latter seems likely.http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/hezbollah-collapses-lebanon-government-as-ha... more
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One of his predictions for the year 2011 already materialized. When Lebanese psychic Michel Hayek, speaking from inside a studio of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International channel, read his predictions for 2011 just an hour prior to the New Year, millions tuned in to listen as he has a huge following in the Arab world. This is his 26th year in the art of clairvoyance.
As reported in the L.A. Times Blog, hours after Hayek spoke of a darkness falling over leaders of the Egyptian Coptic Church, a church explosion in the city of Alexandria, Egypt killed no less than 21 worshipers, all of them Coptic Christians. Since the attack there has been much conjecture about responsibility, - ranging from al-Qaeda sympathizers to Israel's Mossad. The investigation continues.One of his predictions for the year 2011 already materialized. When Lebanese psychic... more
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What was needed was an ‘Arab force’ drawn from Arab ‘periphery’ states to deploy to Beirut under the “cover of the UN” and with a significant presence drawn from UNIFIL in south Lebanon ‘which is sitting doing nothing.’ The US and NATO would be asked to provide equipment for such a force as well as logistics, movement support, and ‘naval and air cover.’What was needed was an ‘Arab force’ drawn from Arab... more
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A large explosives and weapons cache was found Saturday near the southern Lebanon village of Shuba, not far from theIsrael borderA large explosives and weapons cache was found Saturday near the southern Lebanon... more
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خلال الأشهر الماضية ظهرت إشارات دولية محلية بأن سورية تريد السير فى خطة لاستعادة الدور الذى فقدته مع خروج قواتها من لبنان، هذا الدور الذى ورثه (حزب الله)، وذلك فى محاولة لإجراء تعديل على العلاقة القائمة بينها وبين إيران و(حزب الله). ففى عهد الرئيس الراحل حافظ الأسد كانت كل الفصائل اللبنانية وغير اللبنانية أدوات فى يد دمشق التى تستخدمها للقيام بدور الشريك مع إيران لا التابع، ومن ناحية ثانية، كان حافظ الأسد يستغل هذه العلاقة ليفوز باحترام الغرب وملاعبته، مما أعطى لسورية دوراً مركزياً طيلة سنوات حكمه، وبعد وفاته بدأت المعادلة تتغير، وازداد الاعتماد السورى على إيران، فاختلت بالتالى موازين اللعب مع الغرب وشهدت الساحة اللبنانية نموذجاً لهذا الاختلال، عندما ظهر رئيس الوزراء الراحل رفيق الحريرى فى المؤتمرات الدولية المالية التى عقدت فى باريس لمساعدة لبنان على أنه الشخصية البارزة فى المنطقة، وليس بشار الأسد، وبعد الاغتيال، بل خلال غزو العراق، ظهرت سورية فى المنطقة لا كشريك لإيران، بل مجرد أداة تنفيذ ويد تحتاجها لاختراق الصف العربى، وصار هذا موقعها بالنسبة لـ (حزب الله) أيضاً .
وفى لبنان اختتم هذا التحول بحدثين، خروج القوات السورية من لبنان، وحرب (تموز 2006) التى خرج (حزب الله) وحسن نصرالله منها منتصرين. وصارت صور نصرالله تغطى على صور بشار الأسد فى دمشق نفسها. وبدون شك، فإن المعادلة الجديدة التى حصلت إيران فيها ومعها (حزب الله) على الدور الأكبر فى لبنان، ومباشرة وبدون المرور بالوسيط السورى، قد أخلت بالتوازن الداخلى فى لبنان، بحيث وصلنا إلى المرحلة التى شهدناها فى الأشهر الماضية، فقد حصلت سورية على دعم من الغرب، خاصة فرنسا وأميركا، ودعم من العرب لتعدّل من علاقاتها بإيران و(حزب الله).
ولإنجاح ذلك كان لابد لسورية من أن تعود إلى الإمساك بورقة (حزب الله)، ولتعود مرجعيته إلى دمشق فيستنير برأيها قبل أن يقدم على أية خطوة أو اتخاذ أى موقف، بدل أن يظل الخط المباشر مفتوحاً بين الضاحية وطهران أو قم، وكان على سورية أن تحقق هذا التحول بدون أن تغضب إيران، لاستعادة الدور التاريخى الذى كان يلعبه حافظ الأسد، و(حزب الله) الثمانينيات الذى كان يحتاج إلى حماية سورية ودعمها، لم يعد كذلك اليوم، فقد شب عن الطوق ولم تعد دمشق قادرة على لجمه وتحديده بالألعاب السياسية السلمية وبتقوية جماعات شيعية أخرى للوقوف بوجهه، كما أن مسيحيى لبنان لم يعودوا كما كانوا، وكذلك سنة لبنان، فالضعف غير المسبوق الذى يعانون منه، وتراجع دور رئيس الوزراء، أدى إلى انهيار القوة السنية بشكل لم يشهده لبنان من قبل، وهنا تكمن الخطورة على لبنان، فإذا أرادت سورية أن تكبح (حزب الله) فإنها لن تستطيع أن تفعل ذلك إلا بالحديد والنار والتخريب، إذ إنها لا تملك الأدوات المناسبة للوصول إلى هدفها بالقوة السياسية والأساليب السلمية .
ومن هنا تأتى زيارة الرئيس الإيرانى محمود أحمدى نجاد إلى لبنان كرسالة، ليس للغرب والعالم فقط بل أيضاً لسورية، وتأتى بعد استدعاء بشار الأسد إلى طهران وتوجيه الملاحظات إليه وتحذيره من أن طهران ملمة بما يجرى فى لبنان، فقد أعرب خامنئى صراحة عن معارضته للتصعيد الأمنى فى لبنان فى هذه المرحلة، لأن مثل هذا التصعيد حالياً لن يصب إلا فى مصلحة إسرائيل وسورية، وبنفس الوضوح اعترض خامنئى على مراوغة سورية فيما يتعلق بالتفاوض مع إسرائيل، رافضاً عروضها للعب دور الوسيط مع الغرب، وبدا من حديث الإيرانيين إلى بشار الأسد أنهم قد كشفوا مبكراً نواياه، ولذلك تم استدعاؤه إلى طهران لمواجهته مباشرة بمخاوفهم التى لم تخفف من حدتها تطميناته أو تبريراته أو وعوده .
فلبنان هو بالفعل مرآة لما يحدث فى المنطقة، وإذا كان (حزب الله) سيقوم بتحرك على الأرض، فإنه لن يسعى للسيطرة على الدولة بالكامل واستلام السلطة مباشرة والاستيلاء على القرار اللبنانى، لكنه سيحافظ على موقعه، كمعطل للقرار اللبنانى وفوق الدولة، وحتى فى قضية المحكمة الدولية، فإنه ليس محتاجًا لتعطيلها بنفسه، ويستطيع القيام بذلك عن طريق وكلائه. فالوقت لم يحن لذلك، وستأتى اللحظة المناسبة، عندما تملك إيران قدرة ردع نووية، فحين ذلك سنرى متغيرات ليس فى لبنان فقط، بل فى البحرين والكويت والعراق، وربما أيضًا فى سورية لأن إيران حينذاك ستكون قادرة على توفير مظلة ردع للدول التى تنضم إلى منظومتها، وقبل ذلك فلا مصلحة لـ (حزب الله) أن يستولى على الحكم، لأنه سيضع نفسه مباشرة فى مواجهة انتقادات شعبية تتعلق بقضايا حياتية مثل الماء والكهرباء والبطالة، وهو بغنى عن ذلك فى هذه المرحلة، وما يؤكد هذا الاتجاه، أن إيران لم تنفق دولاراً واحداً فى لبنان، سوى على سلاح (حزب الله) فالعرب هم من مولوا إعادة بناء ما دمرته إسرائيل فى لبنان خلال حرب تموز، وليس إيران التى اقتصرت مساعداتها على تسليح (حزب الله) وتوفير الأموال اللازمة له للإنفاق على رواتب منتسبيه ومناصريه .
وكما قلنا، فإن زيارة نجاد ليست رسالة إلى الغرب والعالم، بل رسالة إلى سورية، وهذا يعنى أن احتمال إسقاط الحكومة الحالية أو أية حكومة مقبلة سيظل احتمالاً وارداً، ولكن من دون أن يحاول (حزب الله) السيطرة على الحكم، للأسباب التى ذكرناها، ويعنى أيضاً أن قرار الحرب الأهلية فى يد سورية، فهل ستشعلها لإعادة التوازن إلى علاقاتها مع إيران، أم ستحافظ على الصمت؟ فلبنان اليوم، لا يرتبط مصيره باحتمالات الضربة العسكرية لإيران، بل بلعبة التوازنات بين سورية وإيران، التى تمثل اختباراً للإرادة السورية فى لعب دور مركزى فى لبنان والمنطقة.خلال الأشهر الماضية ظهرت إشارات دولية محلية... more
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Given a hero’s welcome at a rally attended by thousands of Hezbollah supporters in Beirut’s southern suburbs, President Ahmadinejad said that the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were an excuse for the US and its allies to pursue “colonial goals.”Given a hero’s welcome at a rally attended by thousands of Hezbollah supporters... more
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The latest reports from Lebanon describe a frightened country; the Lebanese are terrified about the prospect of a slide toward civil war. Several reports speculate that Beirut residents are arming themselves in expectation of a flare-up of violence between the two main antagonists in Lebanon today: Hezbollah and its allies on the one hand, and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his supporters on the otherThe latest reports from Lebanon describe a frightened country; the Lebanese are... more
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The Lebanese guerrilla group is about to have its true face unmasked by the UN Hariri investigation – of course it’s panicking. The Lebanese guerrilla group is about to have its true face unmasked by the UN Hariri... more
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There is a striking episode early on in “A Privilege to Die,” Thanassis Cambanis’s well-reported account of the rise of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movementThere is a striking episode early on in “A Privilege to Die,” Thanassis... more
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Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations hung in the balance Monday as Israel ignored international pressure to extend a 10-month freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank.Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations hung in the balance Monday as Israel ignored... more
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I went into Lebanon convinced that I really didn't want to see another examination of the moral quandary that is the Middle East conflict. I came out of it -- head and heart racing -- convinced that I had seen one of the best films of the year. That's a considerable achievement, considering that Lebanon takes place primarily on one dark, constricted set, and that that set recreates a place that few of us would care to spend five minutes in, much less the 90 minutes of the film, much less -- from the characters point of view -- the desperate hours that form the opening day of the Lebanon War in 1982.
Save for the opening and closing shots, Lebanon is set completely within the confines of a tank, observing its crew -- four Israeli boys in their twenties -- as they get their first taste of war. Whatever we see of the outside world is only what they can see from inside, views limited to what can be observed through tiny windows and (tellingly) a gunsight. Whatever we can divine of the situation is only what they can figure out from those windows, from terse radio communications, and from limited dialogue with whichever superiors or purported allies drop down through their hatchway. In short, info is limited, which does not exempt the crew from making split-second decisions, many of them life-or-death. The experience is tense, claustrophobic, occasionally brutally graphic, and absolutely compelling; gripping drama with a higher goal.
It was a pleasure talking with Maoz about the motives and challenges of this incredible film. Click on the link to hear the interview.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-persons/emmighty-movie-podcastem_b_674406.htmlI went into Lebanon convinced that I really didn't want to see another... more
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THE brutal raid on the freedom flotilla carrying humanitarian supplies that was trying to break the blockade of Gaza was bound to provoke outrage—and rightly so.
The Israeli government arrogantly declared that Israel had the right to defend itself, in justification of the massacre of unarmed humanitarians.
And this ” right to defend itself ” jazz seemed as some kind of ” reverse logic”, to almost everybody who were following the updates of this terrible incident on TV screens, including the people with impartial view on the Arab – Israeli conflict, but this Israeli raid somehow helped them to take sides.
The Israeli statement failed to gain any worldwide sympathy this time, it failed to delude people.
This time, Israel looked as the aggressor, and only an act of god could convince people otherwise. And actually this is what the Israelis needed, a divine intervention, maybe another parting of the sea, which would have swallowed up the aid flotilla and spared the Israeli commandos the trouble of confronting enemies in international waters.
Anyhow, the Israeli commandos must have killed those civilians with a clear conscience, for they were assured that God was on their side, at least that how the Rabbis must have brainwashed them beforehand, the same way that happened in the inhumane Israeli war on Gaza2008- 2009.
To those commandos, they were not engaged in a military mission but in holy war. And speaking of holiness, let’s go back in time and take a look at the Israeli conflicts in the bible.
The holy conflict scenario
Scholars failed to trace the Jews to any affinity to an ancient cultural tradition other than the Ibraheimic tale. And agreed that being Jewish is solely a religious affiliation?
Remove the old bible with all its fancy tales of the Israelites and you’ll be literally left with nothing, absolutely nothing worth mentioning regarding the Jews or their heritage as if they never existed outside the narrative of the Old Testament. Or maybe they did, but in a far different manner from the biblical story.
That’s why most scholars of ancient near eastern history relied primarily on the bible to study the ancient history of the Israelites but that is no longer the case. In the last quarter century or so, archaeologists have seen one settled assumption after another concerning who the ancient Israelites were and where they came from proved false.
If you examined the history of the Israelites in the ancient near east, from a biblical perspective, you would be surprised by the fact that Israel had always been depicted as the one nation exclusively chosen by their God, but on the contrary to that unjustified and weird divine attitude, the Israelites had commonly been persecuted by their neighbors.
Intolerance of the Jews has always been the most commonly shared feature of every tribe or culture or even kingdom that came to deal with Israel as far as the old bible is concerned.
Conflict due to intolerance of Israel has been a biblical reality whenever Israel has existed as a nation in the old testament. Whether it was the Egyptians, Amalekites, Midianites, Moabites, Ammonites, Amorites, Philistines, Assyrians, Persians, or Romans, the nation of Israel has always been surrounded by and persecuted by its neighbors. Why is this?
There are two possible answers to this question;
1 – The biblical narrative could be correct, and all the above cultures, authorities and monarchies acted antagonistically to the Jews.
2 – The biblical narrative could be corrected and refuted by another and more solid vision of the ancient Israelites era, namely modern archaeology.
Early biblical archaeology was conducted in “bible and spade “approach with the presumption that the bible must be true, finds only being considered as illustrations for the biblical narrative, and interpreting evidence to fit the bible.
The first biblical archaeologists were thus guilty of one of the most elementary of scientific blunders: rather than allowing the facts to speak for themselves, they had tried to fit them into a preconceived theoretical framework. Another layer of political mystification was added in the twentieth century by Zionist pioneers eager for evidence that the Jewish claim to the Holy Land was every bit as ancient as the Old Testament said it was.
But since the 1970s most archaeologists have begun instead to interpret the evidence only in the light of other archaeology, treating the bible as an artifact to be examined, rather than as an unquestioned truth.
Israeli archeologist, Ze’ev Herzog born 1941, professor of archaeology at The Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University , is considered one of the leading figures in that modern field archeology along with his colleague archeologist, Israel Finkelstein.
In 1999 Herzog’s cover page article in the weekly magazine Haaretz “Deconstructing the walls of Jericho” attracted considerable public attention and debates. In this article Herzog cites evidence supporting that “the Israelites were never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not conquer the land in a military campaign and did not pass it on to the 12 tribes of Israel. Perhaps even harder to swallow is the fact that the united monarchy of David and Solomon, which is described by the Bible as a regional power, was at most a small tribal kingdom.
And archaeologists noticed that ancient chronicles and records of all the above mentioned authorities and kingdoms were silent and devoid of any record of a conflict with the ancient Israelites.
And if modern scientific history and archaeology managed to refute the bible claims to history, and showed that Jewish bible scribes were keen on portraying Israel as the nation surrounded by imaginary enemies,who held them in enslavement and captivity, In an attempt to keep the conflict scenario going, and keep the sympathy with Israel going. But what does that say of the legitimacy of the holy war that the Israeli military is now waging on alleged enemies, especially that the pro-Palestinian sympathy is considerably gaining momentum worldwide.
For Israel, this aid flotilla tragedy should be the starting point for deeper questions—about the Israeli list of potential and alleged enemies, about the Jewish state’s increasing loneliness
Israel is caught in a vicious circle. The more it tends to shoot opponents first and ask questions later, the more it finds that the world is indeed full of enemies.THE brutal raid on the freedom flotilla carrying humanitarian supplies that was trying... more
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Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox judge their excitement level for upcoming movies after viewing the trailers for Gulliver's Travels, Lebanon, and Winnebago Man, a documentary that tracks down and interviews viral video star Jack Rebney.
The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a movie review show that airs on Thursday nights at 10:30 e/p on Current TV. From reviews of the newest releases to commentary on cult favorites and movie trends, each episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a fast-paced, comedic journey through the week in cinema.
For more from the Rotten Tomatoes Show: http://rottentomatoesshow.comBrett Erlich and Ellen Fox judge their excitement level for upcoming movies after... more
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