tagged w/ Lebanon
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A pro-western coalition has defeated Hezbollah in a crucial Lebanese election. The pro-western alliance, known as the March 14 coalition, was not expected to win. As a result of the victory, the bloc has held onto it's majority position in the Lebanese parliament.A pro-western coalition has defeated Hezbollah in a crucial Lebanese election. The... more
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Today, Lebanese are streaming into polling stations to cast their votes. President Jimmy Carter was seen on the Lebanon streets, as he is in Beirut to monitor the elections, was asked by an al-Jazeera reporter: 'Will the U.S. recgonize a government which has a Hezbollah led coaliton?'
The former president indicated that he had spoken to the White House and that as President Obama indicated in his Cairo speech, whatever results will bring, the U.S. will work with the Lebanese government that is elected.Today, Lebanese are streaming into polling stations to cast their votes. President... more
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War Is Sin
By Chris Hedges
War exposes the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves. It rips open the hypocrisy of our religions and secular institutions. Those who return from war have learned something which is often incomprehensible to those who have stayed home. We are not a virtuous nation.War Is Sin
By Chris Hedges
War exposes the lies we tell ourselves about... more
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Der Spiegel has learned from sources close to the Court and verified by the examination of internal documents, that the Hariri matter is about to take a sensational turn. Extensive inquiries in Lebanon are converging towards a new conclusion: it was not Syria, but special Hezbollah forces that planned and executed the attack against Hariri. The reason for the secrecy from the court has to do with fear that Hezbollah, now implicated, may go forward in its killing spree against cumbersome witnesses and even go as far as eliminate some of the members of the International Special Court.Der Spiegel has learned from sources close to the Court and verified by the... more
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Vice President Joe Biden came to Lebanon on Friday to reinforce U.S. support for the government ahead of key parliamentary elections that could see a pro-Western majority ousted by a coalition led by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Biden is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Lebanon in more than 25 years and the second from the Obama administration in about a month, following in the footsteps of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The attention underscores Washington's concerns about a possible win by Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group.
The White House said Biden's visit was meant "to reinforce the United States' support for an independent and sovereign Lebanon."
With the election about two weeks away, this deeply divided nation is in the throes of an increasingly abrasive election campaign that has split voters into two main camps: a pro-Western one comprising mainly Sunnis who look to America, France and moderate Sunni Arab allies and another largely dominated by Shiites and backed by U.S. foes Iran and Syria.
Hezbollah, which is highly critical of U.S. Mideast policy and has a strong anti-Israeli agenda, is looking to strengthen its political hold beyond the veto power it and allies currently have in the government. The Shiite group has only 14 seats in the 128-seat parliament, but negotiated this power after it displayed force a year ago when its gunmen overran Sunni neighborhoods in Beirut.
The coalition dominated by the heavily armed group stands a good chance of winning, which could increase the influence of its sponsors Iran and Syria in the region.Vice President Joe Biden came to Lebanon on Friday to reinforce U.S. support for the... more
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Nevermind the fact that no one in Lebanon has been diagnosed with swine flu, or that only one person outside of Mexico has died from the new "pandemic". But in a bid to keep the disease from spreading, Lebanese health minister has encouraged people to forgo the traditional three-kiss greeting that's been a custom in Lebanon for, I dunno, forever? Now, I'm not trying to downplay the severity of this outbreak. But I do think that people are overreacting a bit, no thanks to all the global media splashing apocalyptic headlines into every media outlet on the planet. What do you think?Nevermind the fact that no one in Lebanon has been diagnosed with swine flu, or that... more
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BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Lebanon on Sunday to pledge U.S. support for the country and its push for free elections.
"The people of Lebanon must be able to choose their own representatives in open and fair elections, without the specter of violence or intimidation, and free of outside interference," Clinton said during an unannounced visit to Beirut.
It was Clinton's first time visiting the country since taking office.
Lebanon is preparing for legislative elections in June that analysts say could bring the militant group, Hezbollah, to power.
The Obama administration backs the unity government of Sleiman, while Syria is allied with Hezbollah.
"Both of us are committed to supporting President (Michel) Sleiman's efforts to build a peaceful, prosperous, sovereign and democratic Lebanon."
Clinton is expected to meet with Sleiman and lay a wreath at the tomb of former Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a bomb attack in 2005.
Many Lebanese, as well as the United States, accused Syria of orchestrating the assassination of Hariri, an outspoken opponent of Syria. Damascus denied responsibility.
But massive popular protests after Hariri's death led to the pullout of thousands of troops that Syria maintained in Lebanon from the 1970s.
A senior state department official said Clinton's visit is intended to reassure Lebanon that the United States will not forgo its support of the country as it opens dialogues with Syria and Iran.
"Beyond the election, we will continue to support the voices of moderation in Lebanon, and the responsible institutions of the Lebanese state they are working hard to build," Clinton said.
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share your thoughts.BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Lebanon on... more
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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Beirut for talks with the Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.
She will also visit the tomb of assassinated former PM Rafik Hariri, killed in a bomb attack in 2005.
It is Mrs Clinton's first ever visit to Lebanon and the well-travelled former First Lady and New York senator said she was anxious to see the country.
Mrs Clinton was in Baghdad on Saturday where she insisted the US was committed to supporting Iraq.
In Beirut she will hold talks with Lebanese leaders and lay a wreath on the tomb of Mr Hariri.
His assassination, blamed by many on Damascus, triggered massive demonstrations which put an end to years of Syrian control over Lebanon.
The protest movement was backed by the Bush administration.
Mrs Clinton's short stop here comes at a sensitive time. Legislative elections are due in June and it is expected that Syria and its allies, like Hezbollah, will make a comeback in the polls.
The new US administration is worried about the growing power of Hezbollah but is keen not to be seen as interfering in the elections.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Beirut for talks with the... more
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The St-Basil Convent in Beirut, Lebanon is one of the last remaining Christian convents in Beirut, Lebanon that has not been sold yet. However it is currently awaiting approval from the Vatican and is in the process of being sold to a Saudi holding company for real-estate construction that targets oil-rich, wealthy people.The St-Basil Convent in Beirut, Lebanon is one of the last remaining Christian... more
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In an unexpected move, Special Tribunal for Lebanon Registrar Robin Vincent has resigned. (Source Link: http://linkbee.com/RobinVincentRsgn)
The daily Asharq al-Awsat on Friday quoted a source close to the court as saying Vincent tendered his resignation on Thursday, citing personal reasons.
It said Lebanon received the official news of Vincent's resignation which the registrar submitted to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon. The source did not say when the resignation was tendered.
He said Vincent, a British judge, accepted a request by Ban to continue his duties till June until a replacement has been assigned.
Vincent's resignation would not have a negative impact on the tribunal, the source said, stressing that a replacement had been found and his name would soon be announced.
(Source Page:http://linkbee.com/RobinVincentRsgn)In an unexpected move, Special Tribunal for Lebanon Registrar Robin Vincent has... more
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Viper7
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2 years ago
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CNN's Video Report {Copy & Paste}: (http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2009/03/05/elwazer.lebanon.citizenship.cnn)
The Current Reality on Lebanese Soil:
All over Lebanon, women who marry foreigner mates are denied their ultimate and universal right to pass along their nationality. This basically extends to not only the husband (foreigner), but also to their children. Such a reality, however, is not faced by men who marry foreign women (thus easily passing their nationality to the man's whole family).
This rendered inequality of citizenship is discriminatory and it denies women a basic human right. It also has serious implications for children...Article also published on the activist Group on Facebook: (http://linkbee.com/LebWomanEquality) quoting: "Men of quality, RESPECT women's equality".
The various goals of the campaign include:
- Primary Objective: Advocating equal access of women to full nationality and citizenship rights
- The actual realization and display of equality WITHOUT reservation (thus by Law)
- Concentrate the public attention towards this subject matter, and accordingly acting upon it as soon as possible.
Thanks go out to: Schams Elwazer, Greta Sassine Nawas, Bilal Younes, Mohammad Ahmad, Zinab Chahine, and many others for all their continuous efforts, devotion to the subject matter and insistence to make the voice of all Lebanese mothers heard (and especially for the government to act)!
Publisher: Elias N.CNN's Video Report {Copy & Paste}:... more
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Viper7
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added this
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2 years ago
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"In a darkened concrete room the size of a large Manhattan loft, some 200 people sit jammed together on bleachers looking at a long table and 12 empty chairs under a spotlight. They've just heard a small band in the room's corner belt out a lament in Arabic with the chorus "oh my country, my country." There's no heating in the cold, bare space, but the powerfully built lute player with waist-long hair wears only a cotton undershirt over bristling muscles and tattoos. He sports delicately plucked eyebrows. A smallish man in suit and tie appears under the spotlight inches from the audience. He addresses the bleachers: "I hugged my mother for the first time in 18 years today. We're not allowed physical contact during normal visits. Until I joined this project, I had no friends, no hope. Since age 17, I'm serving a life sentence for murder . . . " As he talks, the chairs begin to fill with men of all ages in suits and ties, two Egyptians, an Algerian, a Nigerian who speaks only English, but most are Lebanese.
At Roumieh, Lebanon's biggest penitentiary, in the mountains above Beirut, something unprecedented in the history of the country is happening. Every Sunday for four months, inmates from the all-male prison are performing a play (interspersed with their own music and personal testimonials). What's more, they're doing it in front of an audience from outside, many of them women. The play's director is a woman from outside, a noninmate. They are performing an Arabic version of Reginald Rose's "12 Angry Men," originally an American TV drama and then a famous 1957 movie, in which the characters are sequestered jurors who argue bitterly over a murder case and, after much kicking and screaming, find the defendant not guilty.
According to the director, Zayna Daccache, an energetic 30-something actress famous in Lebanon for starring in a weekly political satire show on television, "prison inmates don't have rights the way they do in the West -- in the Middle East, this kind of thing doesn't happen. But as you know, Lebanon is a crazy, contradictory place. On the one hand, it's the most open and enlightened of the Arab countries; on the other hand, it's one of the most divided and troubled."
Ms. Daccache had come up with the idea because she had worked, some years before, with an Italian director putting on Brecht plays in Italian prisons. It took Lebanese authorities eight months just to agree in principle. She had applied in tandem with her friend Ghassan Moukheiber, member of Parliament for Jounieh and founder of a nongovernmental group that works for judicial reform. His political clout won over the authorities. Then it took Ms. Daccache a year of work in the prison to put on the play.""In a darkened concrete room the size of a large Manhattan loft, some 200 people... more
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The United Nations is trying the assasins of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri. Hariri was killed in 2005 in a massive car bombing in Beirut. The blast killed 22 others. The prosecution could take up to ten years. Syria is accused to have ordered the assasination but denies any involvement.The United Nations is trying the assasins of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri. Hariri... more
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Israel shelled southern Lebanon on Saturday after a rocket slammed into its territory in a tit-for-tat exchange of fire across their tense border, sources on both sides said.
Israeli rescue services said three people were injured when the rocket struck near the town of Maalot in the western Galilee region, triggering an immediate response from Israel.
"The Israeli army considers this a serious incident and believes it is the responsibility of the Lebanese government and the army to prevent this rocket fire," an Israeli army spokesman said.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora denounced the violence, which caused panic on both sides of the border, while the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah denied any involvement.
"The Israeli shelling is an unacceptable and unjustified violation of Lebanese sovereignty," Siniora said in a statement.
"The rockets launched from Lebanon threaten the country's security and stability and constitute a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701."
"The UNIFIL force commander Major General Claudio Graziano has been in contact with the senior commanders of the Lebanese and Israeli army with a view to ensuring that the cessation of hostilities is maintained," UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane told AFP.
A Lebanese army spokesman said Israel fired eight artillery shells after two rockets were launched from a banana plantation near the village of El-Henniyeh, in the El-Qlayleh region about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border.
There were no reports of injuries in Lebanon.
One of the two rockets landed in Israel and the second apparently malfunctioned and landed in Lebanon, Bouziane said.
Panicked residents could be seen fleeing as Israel retaliated.
"My six-year-old girl was terrified," said Hassan Faqih, 49, as he headed to the nearby coastal town of Tyre with his wife and two children. "We will stay in Tyre if the situation escalates."Israel shelled southern Lebanon on Saturday after a rocket slammed into its territory... more
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For 25 years, Ali al-Jarrah managed to live on both sides of the bitterest divide running through this region. To friends and neighbors, he was an earnest supporter of the Palestinian cause, an affable, white-haired family man who worked as an administrator at a nearby school.
To Israel, he appears to have been a valued spy, sending reports and taking clandestine photographs of Palestinian groups and Hezbollah since 1983.
Read and Discuss...For 25 years, Ali al-Jarrah managed to live on both sides of the bitterest divide... more
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Another question, "why are not the "peace loving" Islamic's not standing up as a voice against their terrorist brethren?" I say, if your not part of the solution, your part of the problem.Another question, "why are not the "peace loving" Islamic's not... more
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This is a 7 part video by Brigitte Gabriel speaking on her homeland of Lebanon. In this series she relates the her personal experiences before the PLO and after, and her warning.This is a 7 part video by Brigitte Gabriel speaking on her homeland of Lebanon. In... more
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Israel stands accused of perpetrating a series of war crimes during a sustained 12-hour assault on a village in southern Gaza last week in which 14 people died.
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This is only one of many ongoing investigations that are bearing fruit against the Israeli government
These People were all waving white flags and saying there were no weapons, they were not armed. Still, the Israeli Forces leveled homes with people INSIDE of them, killed fleeing innocent civilians, sent civilians to the center of the village and opened fire on them. Israeli military then attacked the civilians with White Phosphorous....I also heard on CNN about the IDF in this incident, shot a 64 year old man and when his body started stinking they tossed the body into a pile of rubbish. More is coming out of this as the investigation continues. Truly horrific and inhumane crimes
here's the story and I will continue it in the comments since I want the world to know in a flash. We cannot allow Israel to get away with these crimes and we will never give up. Many government and humanitarian organization are actively and presently prosecuting this crimes against humanity as I type and I see most of the world is backing them up.
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In testimony collected from residents of the village of Khuza'a by the Observer, it is claimed that Israeli soldiers entering the village:
• attempted to bulldoze houses with civilians inside;
• killed civilians trying to escape under the protection of white flags;
• opened fire on an ambulance attempting to reach the wounded;
• used indiscriminate force in a civilian area and fired white phosphorus shells.
If the allegations are upheld, all the incidents would constitute breaches of the Geneva conventions.
The denunciations over what happened in Khuza'a follow repeated claims of possible human rights violations from the Red Cross, the UN and human rights organisations.
The Israeli army announced yesterday that it was investigating "at the highest level" five other attacks against civilians in Gaza, involving two UN facilities and a hospital. It added that in all cases initial investigations suggested soldiers were responding to fire. "These claims of war crimes are not supported by the slightest piece of evidence," said Yigal Palmor, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman.
Concern over what occurred in the village of Khuza'a in the early hours of Tuesday was first raised by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. Although an Israeli military spokesman said he had "no information that this alleged incident took place", witness statements collected by the Observer are consistent and match testimony gathered by B'Tselem.
There is also strong visible evidence that Khuza'a came under a sustained attack from tanks and bulldozers that smashed some buildings to pieces.
----------------------continued belowIsrael stands accused of perpetrating a series of war crimes during a sustained... more
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This is what Israels inhumane massacre in Gaza is beginning to do. Violence only begets Violence, and Israel knows this. Israels disregard for the worlds safety is totally unacceptable. Their Lebanon attack several years ago demonstrated that using force will not work. Now we have people using violence because of Israel and I hope it doesn't spread. We need to find ways, utilize ways to not use violence and to understand the other side.
here's the story:
Lebanese security forces have used tear gas to disperse some 200 demonstrators who tried to cut through the barbed wire near the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
The protesters, carrying Lebanese and Palestinian flags, were demonstrating against the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have killed some 1,200 Palestinians since Dec. 27.
Police forces first used water hoses on Sunday to disperse the demonstrations but shortly afterward fired several tear gas bombs. It was not clear if there were any injuries.
Over the past three weeks, several demonstrations have been held near the U.S. Embassy and earlier this month five civilians and a policeman were lightly injured in a similar clash.This is what Israels inhumane massacre in Gaza is beginning to do. Violence only... more
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