Al Akhbar(Lebanese newspaper close to the opposition and Hezbollah) also reported the death of Jamil Salih, contributing the death to a "technical incident"

قد يتوصّل بعض الأفراد إلى الفصل بين الاعتبارات السياسية والعمل الإنساني، لكنّ بعضاً آخر يعجز عن ذلك. الأميركية مارسي نيومان هي ناشطة من الصنف الثاني. فبعد حضورها اجتماعين تنظيميين في الولايات المتحدة، وعند اكتشافها وجود إسرائيليين في المشروع، امتنعت عن المشاركة لأنها رأت في ذلك تطبيعاً. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، ترى نيومان أن المشروع إعلامي فقط، وهو بمثابة «تبديد للأموال»، إذ سيدفع كل مشارك ما يقارب 2000$، لن يستفيد منها الفلسطينيون في شيء. ذلك رغم إشارة وسام صليبي، المساهم في اللجنة اللبنانية، إلى احتواء السفينة على أجهزة طبية للسمع فقط لضيق مساحة السفينة على احتواء المزيد من المساعدات.

(ANSA) – 12:58 - Beirut, 15 lug - E' morto uno dei due soldati israeliani catturati dai miliziani di Hezbollah nel luglio 2006 in un blitz oltre confine. Lo riferisce stamani il quotidiano libanese al-Akhbar, vicino al movimento sciita.

Citando fonti "autorevoli", il giornale afferma che "in base alle informazioni immediatamente successive all'operazione del 12 luglio 2006, è possibile affermare con certezza che uno dei due soldati è rimasto ucciso durante il fulmineo assalto".

Per quanto riguarda l'altro soldato israeliano, il quotidiano aggiunge che "le fonti non sono invece in grado di fornire dati sulla sua condizione".

In Israele si presume che i due, Eldad Regev ed Ehud Goldwasser, siano morti durante la prigionia. In Israele sono comunque in corso i preparativi dei funerali militari.

Disponible depuis bientôt deux ans dans les kiosques libanais, le quotidien arabophone al-Akhbar, si proche du Hezbollah que certains lui prête le statut de porte parole du parti de Dieu,  tire à 10.000 exemplaires et rencontre un succès inespéré. Le quotidien cible principalement les jeunes et les femmes en leur parlant de leur quotidien. Son président-directeur général, Ibrahim el-Amine, a confié à APN les grandes ambitions qu'il nourrit pour son titre.

Le premier numéro d'al-Akhbar est paru le 15 août 2006, au lendemain du cessez-le-feu entre Israël et le Hezbollah.
« Nous avons commencé à travailler véritablement le 14 août 2006. Nous devions imprimer le journal dans la banlieue sud de Beyrouth, car c'est dans ce secteur que se trouve la seule imprimerie du pays prenant en charge un format berlinois. Or, la zone avait été tellement bombardée la veille que les employés de l'imprimerie ne se sont pas présentés au travail. Nous avons été obligés d'imprimer notre journal ailleurs et de découper le papier après impression pour avoir le format requis », se souvient le PDG d'al-Akhbar, Ibrahim el-Amine.

En choisissant le 15 août 2006 comme date de sa première édition, al-Akhbar a voulu donner le ton. « Nous sommes un journal qui soutient la résistance (contre Israël), qui lutte contre les Etats-Unis, l'Etat hébreu et l'ingérence occidentale au Moyen-Orient. Nous sommes proches de l'opposition libanaise [NDLR :qui regroupe notamment le Hezbollah, le Mouvement Amal et le Courant patriotique libre] » indique El Amine.
Le premier éditorial de l'ancien rédacteur en chef du quotidien Joseph Samaha, décédé à Londres six mois après le lancement du titre, révélait sans équivoque les positions d'al-Akhbar. « Joseph disait clairement que nous contesterons notamment les relations avec les Américains et les Israéliens », poursuit El Amine.

D'aileurs, al-Akhbar est désigné dans certains milieux proches de la majorité politique comme 'le porte-parole du Hezbollah'. « Il existe une campagne visant al-Akhbar. Les rumeurs prétendent que le journal est subventionné par l'Iran et le Hezbollah », proteste le PDG du quotidien qui poursuit « Nous sommes le seul journal au Liban qui ne censure pas ses journalistes ».

Mais a-t-on besoin de censurer des articles quand ceux qui les signent sont tous du même bord qui reflète la ligne éditoriale du quotidien ? El  Amine reconnaît que la plupart des membres de la rédaction soutiennent l'opposition.

« Al-Akhbar compte des journalistes influents de gauche. L'équipe est constituée de communistes, de gauchistes - c'est le cas du directeur de la rédaction Khaled Saghié - de partisans du général Michel Aoun, et de nationalistes arabes », indique-t-il.

Une presse écrite archaïque en connivence avec le pouvoir

Malgré l'importante crise économique au Liban et le recul des lecteurs de journaux, El Amine n'estime pas avoir pris des risques en lançant un nouveau titre sur le marché.

« Les quotidiens qui existent au Liban et au Moyen-Orient sont devenus archaïques et ne peuvent plus concurrencer les médias audiovisuels. Nous avions l'impression qu'une certaine génération de journalistes avait besoin d'exercer son métier différemment. Nous avions besoin d'une autre voix politique, différente de celle que véhicule la presse au Liban ; une presse qui s'est adaptée à la situation politique du pays et qui est entrée en connivence avec la classe politique. Ce n'est pas le cas d'al-Akhbar », affirme-t-il.

El Amine, lui-même ancien journaliste d'as-Safir, considère que les grands quotidiens libanais tels que « as-Safir et an-Nahar ont arrêté de se développer et de se moderniser il y a quinze ans ». Il estime également que ces journaux font partie de « l'ordre établi au Liban » et qu'al-Akhbar est « en train de faire bouger les choses...Et les choses changeront ».
Pour lui, « l'important ce n'est pas d'avoir les moyens financiers d'autres journaux, mais de pouvoir être présent sur le marché ».

Al-Akhbar qui sort en format berlinois, une première au Liban, compte 24 pages et emploie 150 personnes. En dix-huit mois, le journal a rapporté des gains supérieurs à ceux prévus par les études de marché préalables au lancement.

« Au début, on prévoyait d'imprimer 3000 à 4000 exemplaires. Actuellement nous tirons à 10 000. Nous avons réussi à nous imposer sur le marché publicitaire et nos parts sont en hausse. Nous avons également des projets d'expansion dans le monde arabe », indique le PDG du journal.
Actuellement, 5000 exemplaires sont acheminés vers le monde arabe et sont ditribués en Syrie et en Jordanie et dans quelques pays du Golfe. Un projet, consistant à imprimer une édition à partir de la péninsule arabique, est en cours d'étude. Il est également question de publier une édition depuis le Maroc.

En ce qui concerne les ventes au Liban, tout comme les journaux du pays, al-Akhbar, bien que distribué dans l'ensemble du pays, réalise le plus gros de ses recettes dans le Grand Beyrouth, zone regroupant la capitale et ses banlieues.

« Nous avons 2450 abonnés. tous les jours nous distribuons entre 4300 et 5000 exemplaires aux librairies, kiosques et camelots. 1000 exemplaires vont aux entreprises et aux administrations. La distribution gratuite, destinée aux entreprises de presse et à certaines personnalités, se chiffre à environ 700 exemplaires. De plus, 5000 exemplaires partent à l'étranger », commente El Amine.
S'appuyant sur les études, il avance que « les Libanais consacrent 25 minutes quotidiennes à la lecture d'un journal. Du fait du format et de la mise en page d'al-Akhbar, notre lecteur peut lire trois pages du quotidien.  Notre mise en page a contribué à notre popularité ».

Le quotidien cible principalement les jeunes et les femmes et privilégie les sujets qui les intéressent. « Nous pensons que ces deux catégories constituent une force très active sur tous les plans notamment politique et économique », note El Amine.
« Une grande partie de notre lectorat a moins de 35 ans. Nous ne voulons pas prendre les lecteurs des autres journaux existants. Quand nous avons commencé nous n'avons détourné que 20 % du lectorat des autres quotidiens », indique le PDG d'al-Akhbar.

« Au Liban, 200.000 personnes veulent lire la presse mais elles ne le font pas car elles sont critiques envers les journaux du pays. Ces personnes estiment que les quotidiens mentent et que le milieu de la presse est corrompu. Elles veulent également des publications qui s'intéressent à leurs affaires et non à celles de la classe politique. Ces citoyens veulent qu'on leur parle de leur quotidien. La plupart d'entre eux sont jeunes et nous voulons les attirer », ajoute-t-il.

Pour séduire ces jeunes, le quotidien a notamment misé sur une maquette aérée, un style rédactionnel simple et des articles plus courts que la plupart des autres publications libanaises.  El Amine avance également qu'à l'inverse de ses confrères, l'agence nationale d'informations (Ani) ne constitue pas la principale source d'information d'Al Akhbar. En outre, ce quotidien ne rapporte pas les déclarations et les activités officielles des hommes politiques (thématique assez présente dans la presse libanaise).

L'un des sites internet les plus consultés

A compter de juin, al Akhbar comptera 40 pages et lancera une importante campagne publicitaire. Cette nouvelle mouture consacrera un espace plus important aux femmes et aux jeunes. Des rubriques, touchant notamment le sport, la culture, la famille, les nouvelles technologies, les sciences, l'environnement et les dossiers dans diverses régions du pays, seront ajoutées.

Le quotidien al-Akhbar dispose depuis son lancement d'un site internet très lisible. Deux personnes, formées chez Microsoft aux Etats-Unis, gère la version électronique d'al-Akhbar. Selon El Amine, il arriverait en tête des sites des quotidiens libanais. Il revendique 305 000 visiteurs uniques par mois, alors que les connexions mensuelles peuvent atteindre un million et demi. Les visiteurs du site viennent du Liban, des Etats-Unis, de la France, des Emirats arabes unis, des Territoires autonomes et d'Israël, de la Syrie, de l'Arabie saoudite, de l'Australie, de l'Europe du Nord et d'Egypte. « Nous n'avons aucune crainte que l'affluence sur le site n'influe négativement sur la vente du journal. Dans notre esprit, le site ne fait pas concurrence au journal mais le renforce ».

« On sait aussi que 60 % de nos lecteurs dans les pays du Golfe sont des Libanais parce qu'ils s'intéressent aux pages locales », indique le PDG d'al-Akhbar soulignant que les annonceurs se trouvent sur le site depuis tout juste un mois et demi. Il promet enfin que dans deux mois le site d'al-Akhbar prendra encore plus d'ampleur.

 Hizbollah was born with the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Lebanon and showed itself in the summer of that energetic year – 1982. It was a power which only a few people could imagine would have the power that it has today.

 2. About one month ago, on the 24^th of April, 2008, George Bush who prepared himself to visit the Middle East and take part in the occupied territory’s 60^th anniversary gave news of America’s strong desire to topple Hizbollah. Some American and European news outlets called this a gift to Israel before his trip to occupied Palestine. A few days afterwards, Siniora’s government in an unexpected move fired the head of Beirut’s airport’s security who was a supporter of Hizbollah. It also called Hizbollah’s telephone system illegal. This move by the 14^th of March political party which illegally held Lebanon’s government was faced with a serious warning by Hizbollah’s leader, Sayyid Hassan Nasrullah. At the same time, America emphasized that it will completely support the government and the American warship Cole entered Lebanon’s shores. Then, as always, Sayyid Hassan Nasrullah disgregarded America’s threats and gave Siniora a few days to retake his statements about the head of Beirut’s airport’s security and Hizbollah’s telephone system. When the government’s insistence and America’s support was seen, in a quick, accounted for move all of the centers under the control of the 14^th of March political party were taken over along with their leaders. The continuance of this quick move in which America and the 14^th of March PP did not expect showed the deep influence that Hizbollah has on the Lebanese people. Once again after the 33-Day-War a Lebanese struggle ended in the favor of Hizbollah. Hizbollah’s move was so unexpected from the view of America and Israel that Israel gave the order for all of its troops to be completely prepared. Some leaders of the 14^th of March PP ran away from Beirut. The Siniora government, who thought itself to be strong with the backing of America only a few hours before, was forced to give in to the resistance’s orders. They retreated from what they said a few days before. According to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar a number of CIA and Mosad officials who came to Lebanon to command this move and who stayed in the American embassy made a bridge between Beirut and Qabars escaping the situation.

It is worth mentioning that Walid Jumblatt, the head of one of the 14^th of March PP’s groups who is undeniably attached to America and the Zionist regime and who escaped Beirut after the resistance’s lighting move, made fun of America’s promise of help in an interview and said: “Apparently the American Cole was sent to save us from Lebanon – not to help us in Lebanon.”

3. After the Hizbollah victory, which according to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar was a slap in face to America before it was a blow on the 14^th of March PP, the demands of Hizbollah that were made after their victory in the 33-Day-War were once again put uat the forefront. The reason for this is that after Hizbollah’s victories the resistance in Lebanon is not seen as a mere political power, rather as the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv wrote: “Hizbollah showed that it is a popular movement and has took the power of the country who trusts and believes in them.”

The Doha Talks with the presence of Arabic foreign ministers, representatives of the resistance, and the 14^th of March PP lead by Qatar was formed in this situation. From the beginning the Doha Talks could do nothing except give in to some of Hizbollah’s demands. It is clearly expected that Hizbollah will gain strength and the 14^th of March PP will loose power, although most of the Arabs who took part in the talks wanted to protect the power of the 14^th of March PP more than make Hizbollah loose power. Therefore, Hizbollah’s victory in the Doha Talks proves their strength – not that the things given to them makes them strong. Because of Hizbollah’s moves in the past two years the 14^th of March PP did not have any other choice but to accept what the decisions in the Doha Talks were.

4. Hizbollah’s demands were: the establishment of the national-unified government, Mishel Sulayman becoming president, and 11 seats of the parliament (one-third reserved for the resistance) which gives them the power of veto. This plan was called the Mishel ‘Aun plan and was accepted in Doha. It should be noted that when these talks were announced Lebanese people in Beirut and other places protested saying that the Lebanese political heads have rigged these talks. They said: “This helped speed up the process.

5. The most important result of the Doha Talks was Hizbollah crossing the limits. Hizbollah created a nation in the past few years by their faith, bravery, sincerity, popularity, and their lives while protecting Lebanon and its entire population regardless of their religion or tribe. They brought a country who has been at discord and internal war since the Ottoman empire to a unified position showing that Lebanon’s peace will only be in unity.

6. After the results of the Doha Talks were mentioned American figures such as Khalilzad, Afghanistan’s representative in the United Nations said that they were going to make a United Nations Security Council resolution regarding Hizbollah. They said that since Hizbollah has turned national so the resolution number 1701 is illegal and nobody has the right to interfere in internal politics – making Siniora’s American backed movement illegal.

source

Remember Fortune Knocks only once and it is knocking now...

About Gwadar:
Too many people know plenty about Gwadar and too many are not even familiar with this word.

Why Gwadar?:
Why not Khuzdar? Why not Zhob? Why not Sukkur? Why not K.T Bandar? Why not existing well developed city like Karachi? Why Gwadar?

Top City: The Futuristic City of Pakistan. Located at the entrance of the Persian Gulf and about 460 kms from Karachi, Gwadar has had immense Geostrategic significance on many accounts. Gwadar is now destined to be the most important upcoming coastal town located on the inter junction of the three most strategically and economically important regions of the world.

The well planned master plan consists of Five Star Hotel, High Rise Luxury Apartments, Schools, Colleges, Play Grounds, Tennis Courts, and Horse riding Club, Post office, ample green areas and all the state of the art civic facilities. Development work is in Progress and the price will be doubled during next few weeks. Gwadar will have all local and international banks, offshore banking will be started, factories, warehouses and storage, fast food chains and tourism industry will be promoted in the area. Beside this an export processing zone will be set up, making Pakistan a very attractive place for direct foreign investment, and Gwadar port a regional hub of trade and investment activities.

As of right now Gwadar is a great deal of importance for many developed and developing countries for example China, almost all the Central Asian Republics (CARs), European Countries and for other neighboring countries. Reasons for which Gwadar holds a key role for above nations are as follows;

China:

Today, China’s 60% economy is dependent on imported oil which is transported through this energy corridor.
Xinjiang, China’s dry port to Pakistan is only 2250kms from Gwadar port while, Shinghai port is 16,000kms from Xinjiang.

Central Asian Republics (CARs):

Almost all the CARs are landlocked areas, meaning they have no access to import from or export to rest of the world. Gwadar is the closest and most efficient gateway to all these CARs. Moreover, Tajikistan has world’s highest oil reserves which will be transported through Gwadar port.

European Countries:

European countries will have cheaper goods from many areas which never had a chance to transport their goods through an efficient route.

This article is an ongoing topic. Every day I get to hear some kind of news about Gwadar. There will be a day when all will distinguish actual heroes and zeros who have invested in Gwadar. We will find out people who had made tons of money legally from Gwadar and will find out people who have wasted their time, energy, and money in Gwadar.

Today also, when usually people get scared when they hear a deal about Gwadar, there are people who are willing to explore Pakistan’s dream city and invest in it safely.

Middle East:
Gwadar because of its geo-strategic location had the potential to become a regional maritime hub.

Oman has offered $ 100 million aid for the development infrastructure facilities in Gwadar. Out of this, Oman has provided $7 million for extension of runway at Gwadar Airport, construction of Jetties, up gradation of Gwadar Hospital, provision of 100 engines to fishermen and construction of powerhouses. Beside this Oman is also financing construction of Gwadar-Hoshab Road, water supply scheme in Gwadar area and construction of irrigation dams.

Today that project, with the help of People's Republic of China, and Gwadar’s 600 km long coast line has put Gwadar’s importance at the top and people with a futuristic approach can see it developing into one of the most modern and beautiful port in the world. Contact For more details Remember Fortune Knocks only once and it is knocking now.

Gwadar Port would emerge as the national gateway to and from Pakistan and a major transhipment Port of the region catering to the needs of Pakistan and Central Asian States. 14.5 meter deep draft of Gwadar Port would be able to attract up to fifth generation ships including Panamax and mother vessels. In addition to the location of Gwadar and the depth of the channel, low operations cost will provide competitive advantage to the Gwadar Port, he added.

With the completion of Gwadar Port the government had fulfilled another commitment with the people of Balochistan. The operations of Gwadar Port would usher in a new era of development and prosperity for the people of Balochistan as it would generate economic activity and a significant number of jobs will be created.

Free zones which will be set up along the port will contribute to harnessing of Balochistan”s potential in natural resources and development of heavy and large scale industries, petrochemicals and manufacturing.

The deep-sea Gwadar Port will emerge as a central energy port in the region.

Gwadar port will become an important and strategic storage destination because it is located near the world”s largest hydro-carbon resources. With the passage of time the port will help improve the living conditions of the people of Balochistan. It will also increase job opportunities in the area.

Gwadar will become an attractive destination for cargo traffic as it will provide better facilities to larger vessels.

The cost of doing business in Gwadar would be less than in Dubai while it had all prospects to become a support centre for Dubai.

Read more about Gwadar or Mega Gwadar Deep Sea Project.

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Le président du parlement libanais Nabih Berri a été "sidéré" que le ministre français des Affaires étrangères Bernard Kouchner l'ait accusé de fermer le parlement et l'ait jugé "pas libre de ses mouvements", a rapporté mercredi le quotidien local Al-Akhbar.

M. Berri, un des principaux chefs de l'opposition libanaise, est en contact avec le monde arabe et la communauté internationale pour un nouveau cycle de dialogue entre groupes rivaux libanais.

"Pourquoi le dialogue ne se fait-il pas au parlement ? Mais parce qu'il (Berri) n'est pas libre de ses mouvements !", a dit M. Kouchner lors d'une conférence de presse mardi à Paris.

La diplomatie française a souligné que les remarques du ministre avaient été prises "hors contexte".

La dernière session du parlement libanais date d'octobre 2007, M. Berri refusant d'en convoquer une en la présence d'un gouvernement qualifié d'illégitime alors que la coalition au pouvoir l'accuse de pirater le pouvoir législatif.

Le Liban traverse aujourd'hui la plus grave crise de son histoire depuis la guerre civile de 1975-1990. La présidence est vacante depuis la fin, le 24 novembre 2007, du mandat de l'ancien président Emile Lahoud, une première pour le pays.

La session parlementaire qui doit permettre d'élire son successeur a déjà été reportée 17 fois. Elle est pour l'instant fixée au 22 avril.

* One passionate individual, motivated by love of land and love of justice and hope in the possibility of change, approached a leading local newspaper with a new concept: let's have regular space devoted to bridging environmental issues, removing environmental issues from the narrow box in which our society (and Civilization* in general) have placed it and return it to its home -- i.e. let's link the environment (back) with economics, politics, history, and people, and let's talk about it in a local context.

* A newspaper, also led by passionate individuals, received this concept openly, and commited to give it a weekly page and staff assistance.  

And, so on Friday, the page of 'Bada'eel' (alternatives) was born.  Congratulations to Rami Zurayk, the excellent team working with him, and to Al-Akhbar. 

To quote from Rami's page: "The Bada2el page starts with an editorial on Development and politics , which says somewhere: "Development is a deeply political action. How can we combat poverty if we rely on our financing on money donated by those who create poverty?"

Check also the main article: Food sovereignty before national sovereignty . The article goes to the roots of the current wheat prices crisis in Lebanon and points to the over dependence on exports and its role in shaping national politics.

There are also articles on millet el smeed, a traditional bread from south Lebanon that is being revived, and another on dietary fibers and the difficulty of ensuring that the content matches the product description when purchasing locally-made high fibers products (less expensive)."

Big cheer to passion and hope, and to a grounding of environmental regard.  May this page cleanse people's eyesight so that we may begin to live sustainably and with a bit of wisdom.

----
(*Civilization: I place this term in italics because it is all too oft incorrectly placed as civilized=good, and uncivilized=bad. More on that concept later.)

Nostalgia for colonialism

By As'ad Abu-Khalil

It is the season again. The Arab liberals are marching in step with their guides slavishly copying the conservatives in the west. You can predict the future course of the Arab liberals by following the past and present direction of rightwing discourse in the west. The Arab liberals are groping around looking for clues by copying and following this discourse, but the products of the west always arrive in our countries corrupted: you will find them implemented here more harshly, more brutally, and in a more degrading way. Here, 'liberalism' becomes 'right wing', 'right wing' becomes 'fascism', and 'leftism' is turned into a despised form of liberalism associated with the Hariri family. Only the Phalanges and the Lebanese Forces preserve the western product as it is. They adopted western fascism and preserved it intact.

Take for example the capitalist course that Rafiq Hariri took before his assassination. You won't find its like in the west, not even in the programs of the right wing parties. At one point he was considering to radically abolish all taxes and let the poor take care of themselves. Didn't he tell the poor to repair their shoes instead of buying new ones, since only the rich, “those whom god had bestowed wealth upon”, as he put it, were entitled to new shoes? He treated the poor as if they were a burden on society and on the state. And he would have gotten rid of them if his honeymoon with the Syrian intelligence agencies had lasted - they who brought him in and appointed him prime minister for over a decade (although Hariri's professional town criers would have us believe he was 'powerless' during those years).

Worn-out “clichés”

Arab liberals think they are creators and pioneers, while in reality they just keep repeating the “clichés” of the racist theses in Rafael Patai's book “The Arab Mind” (the same book that Seymour Hersh described as the “gospel” of the neocons for use in the American wars). Even the torturers and executioners of Abu Ghraib took their clues in carrying out their duties from this book, which was rejected by the academic world as soon as it was published, but circulated widely in popular, media and political milieus in this country. Even some academics not specialised in Middle Eastern affairs had recourse to it for their “understanding” (or lack thereof) of the Arabs. For example, Jean Kirkpatrick (Ronald Reagan's UN envoy) used it in the national security course which she taught at the University of Georgetown, because it fitted in well with her own ideology: she was the originator of the theory that aims to distinguish between totalitarian and authoritarian regimes (and serves as the basis for marketing US support to pro-American dictatorships – consider the upgrading on this scale of the Libyan regime, merely because of its foreign policy turnaround).

You read the Arab liberals of today – better to call them the Arab conservatives, even if they wear the mantle of the Democratic Left (and democracy here is similar to the democratic model of Kim Jung-Il, although Elias Attalah has a more stalinist past (?) than the “Great Leader”) in alliance with the agents of the World Bank in Lebanon. Read them, and you will see a monotonous repetition of what you have read years ago in the writings of the American right. You will see how the sweeping generalizations about the Arabs and Islam are the same: in zionist publications, in the writings of the wahhabi Arab liberals and in the writings of those among the ones calling themselves contemporary leftists who join them because they can reject the poor. Oh, the glory of the newspaper “Al-Mustaqbal”, filled to the brim with scorn for Srilankan and Ethiopian housemaids committing suicide. Read some of the liberal writers in the Arabic newspapers and you can trace back some of their ideas, and even actual phrases, to this zionist magazine or to that rightwing website, which our writer unearthed as if it was a buried treasure.

They speak about 'the culture of life' as if the idea was their own brainchild, or an invention of the Lebanese branch of Saatchi & Saatchi charged with the account of the cedar revolution (another branch occupies itself with improving the image of the American occupation of Iraq in the Arabic media). And western zionism (both its jewish and christian branches) uses this expression to undermine the credibility of the Palestinian resistance and to sow hatred for islam – the way the municipality of Hazir erected a statue for Ernest Renan (whose racism western academics salute, even when he used linguistic criteria to grade nations on an incremental scale, but he is ingested in the country of the cedar and the chestnut. Didn't he breathe the air of our country? Isn't that enough?) Maybe the distinguished municipality of Beirut will soon erect a statue for Bernard Lewis. Who knows, maybe Fuad Ajami (the first Arab Likudnik, although many would follow) will return to Lebanon, inspired by the methods of Ahmad Chalabi and Iyad Allawi (the latter being a friend of the speaker of parliament – and speaking of friendships, why did Chebli Malat stop speaking of his 'friend' Paul Wolfowitz? Is it because he went on to market the civilised methods of struggle with Israel (methods which he and Ahmed Fatfat are very well acquainted with), or is it because of his repeated attempts and failures to get the sponsorship of the member of congress most hostile to Arabs and islam, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen - although she did allow him to attend a rightwing republican event)?

Arab liberals (under the banner of Saudi wahhabism) speak of peace and harmony between the Arabs and Israel years after Anwar Sadat beat them to it. They forget that Sadat also preceded them in throwing all the “cards” in America's lap, and that at the height of the cold war. The American president furthermore patted Anwar Sadat on the back years before Siniora received this distinguished honour. Arab liberals speak of peace with Israel as if it is a measure of civilisation (a specialty of the March 14 movement in Lebanon), and they blame the crisis of the Arabs (their backwardness as they call it today) on the resistance, like Muhammad Ali Jabari and others who sided with the Israeli occupation were already doing when Muhammad Dahlan was still an adolescent. They relieve the west, and specifically the US, of any responsibility in our affairs and problems (even while vast numbers of foreign soldiers are present in our lands), so that we don't fall into the fold of conventional “international legitimacy”. This is a classical colonial technique.

Nostalgia the Lebanese way

For years now, the right in the west has been expressing its nostalgia for, and singing the praise of, the colonial age, especially as regards the Middle East, because the nominal liberation of these parts has not turned out well for Israel, although the zionist state cooperates conveniently with various Arab regimes, some of whom it has concluded peace agreements with, and some of whom offer nominal opposition. The Iraq-born orientalist Elie Kedourie was the first to start this trend with his book on democracy and the Arabic political culture published in the early nineties. Kedourie would wax lyrical over the days of the mandate, before those who Saddam Hussein referred to as “the rabble” rid themselves of foreign rule. The American author Charles Krauthammer (who accuses Likud of moderateness, which is the position of the neocons who are so fond of the - “permanent” - cedar revolution - there's no harm in the spontaneous meeting of opinions, as they tell us) openly expressed his nostalgia for colonialism in Africa and Asia. Today he is the spiritual guide of the “cedar revolution”. And the nostalgia for colonialism is expressed in the positions of the US administration and those of none other than the UN. What does it mean, for example, when Terje Roed Larsen (who is close to, if not actually stuck onto, the Bush administration) issues a legal decision on the subject of the quorum in the Lebanese parliament? Would Larsen even dare to whisper a statement on the issue of the succession to the throne in the wahhabi kingdom? Of course not, because Saudi Arabia is an example of nearly perfect government to the standards of the UN in the days of Larsen and the new secretary-general, who has no need to preserve his good reputation. Can Larsen interfere, for example, in issues related to the government of Hosni Mubarak? Of course not, because the interference is more obvious in regimes that have not completely come under the control of the American empire. Next, what is signified by the presence of a special envoy of the UN in Lebanon? What is the extent of his importance, if any? And why does a society that chants slogans of sovereignty from morning to evening accepts to host a representative of the remnants of the mandate age, especially if this man holds opinions and even expresses preferences on electoral and local topics. And the Lebanese politicians of the 14 and 8 March movements alike are happy and proud to receive Mr. Pedersen and discuss with him even the most insignificant and local matters. Lebanon will become really independent when Pedersen is finally chased out of Lebanon and when the US ambassador's contacts will be restricted to the ministry of foreign affairs only, when he will be forbidden to roam the other ministries at will. Why does the US ambassador in Lebanon enjoy powers and authorities which the Lebanese ambassador in Washington does not have? The Lebanese ambassador would end up in Guantanamo prison if he would interfere with the US presidential elections or make a tour around the US ministries in Washington. Of course, this is exactly what classical colonialism is: the powers of the representative of the colonizing state are wholly different from those of the colonized state. The acceptance of the idea of western colonialism in Lebanon goes back to the idea of the creation of the entity which was born, coincidentally of course, in the time when the zionist movement was apiring to create a jewish state on Palestine land (will we ever see the day when the maronite patriarchat will release the text and the documents of its treaty with the zionist movement which was signed in 1946?). And Lebanese thinking, since its inception, has been founded on opposition to the idea of Arab solidarity (even before the idea of Arab unity emerged– how the Baathists have disfigured that word, and how have they divided and antagonized the Shia in the name of assimilated unity. Drawing a picture of Lebanon as a representative of the west (politically, economically and even militarily in the age of Chamoun) was fundamental in the creation of the entity, fundamental to the western colonial construct which this entity is. This is why Lebanon can graphically translate western control (which is essentially American, whatever the attempt to hide the fact under the fairytale of the 'international community' as an independent political body that expresses the truthful and concerned opinions of the world's states) as a proof of the solidartiy with Lebanon, just like the allies of the Syrian regime see the regime's nursing of the country as the translation of Arabism.

The role of the media

The marks of this nostalgia for colonialism can be seen in most Arab countries and on many levels, as it is financed by the system of wahhabi control over the media. And thus king Faruq will be the subject of the nightly ramadan evening chats in the form of a new TV series financed by Gulf money. King Faruq will be transformed from a tool of Britain into a misunderstood leader. And those watching will find enough pride in the fact that king Faruq was not addicted to wine (because he didn't taste his food) because islam forbade wine but it didn't forbid service to colonialism, according to the 'modern' behaviour of the glorious king. They may revive the introduction of the “shame law” regarding the “royal self”. Thus we see the Arab media taking advantage of specific occasions (anniversaries of wars or uprisings) to try and rewrite history into a different image for popular consumption. And so the British colonial regime in Egypt has become a source of pride and remembrance, all this to prove the fault of the Egyptian revolution. The liberal Arab writers in the Arab newspapers are doing the same for the regime of Nuri As-Said when they make the man look as if he's just another misunderstood politician. In this way the Arab media mirror the nostalgia for colonialism and for the regimes of the fat and the corrupt in Syria, of the “Maku Awamir” in Iraq and of the corrupt troops in Egypt. This is the way American colonialism and its Arab propagandists are trying to convince us that the choice is between Saddam Hussein and the return of colonialism, as if the choice of a true independence is but a mirage.

And the nostalgia for colonialism has surfaced in everything that is published in the press about the assessment of modern Arab history. This nostalgia fits well with the project of the US administration for the Middle East. We usually talk about neo-colonialism, but the age of Bush has returned us to the phase of classical colonialism. The characteristics of classical colonialism are apparent on many levels, notably in the fact that the US administration has achieved its longstanding object of having cooperative Arabic governments open up their lands to US troops and the CIA. The disarmament of the Arab regimes began after the invasion of Kuwait (when the Kuwaiti and western media portrayed the plight of the Kuwaiti people under Saddam's occupation as worse than the plight of the Palestinian people over the decades). The successive US administrations had made no secret of their anger at the refusal of the oil governments of the Gulf to host US troops on their soil. All this changed after Saddam's invasion. The biography of Dick Cheney in the recently published book of Stephen Hayes shows that the US administration was determined to station its troops in the region after the invasion of Kuwait, whether officially invited or not. And the nostalgia for colonialism became actual reality after 9/11. The US administration realised that the only way to manage the affairs of the region was to do it directly, not by outsourcing the warfare to client regimes. The regimes were more than submissive. Because Nasser, who had scared them, was dead, and the Palestinian revolution had fallen into Muhamad Dahlan's hands, while Hamas was occupied with trying to turn its authority into reality.

From Ramallah to Morocco

As for Lebanon, it is always a candidate for the leading role in the service of colonialism, and it is always glowing with pride when it is hosting non-Arab foreign armies on its soil. Do we not know why Rafiq showered the UNIFIL-troops with praise? Is there anybody who thinks they came to protect the land of Lebanon? Is the history of these forces not a lesson? Have they repulsed one single Israeli aggression against Lebanon since they graced it with their presence? They say that they will testify about the Israeli aggressions, but the UN's reports are submitted for political editing to Washington (didn't you read the memoirs of Boutros Ghali about his experience in the UN?) Witnesses? They are what Ali ibn Abi Talib called “the absent witnesses”. Doesn't the statement of Angela Merkel suffice (although Fuad Siniora has already interpreted her statement saying she was joking)? And the US marines, who have graced the homeland twice with their presence in the contemporary history of Lebanon, were enthusiastically received by more than just Lebanese in the region - we have not forgotten that there were those (among the sunnites, the shiites, the druze and the christians) who welcomed the Israeli occupation forces in 1982 by throwing rice on them.

Colonialism has returned to our countries. The descendants of the governorate applaud it. The leaders of some sects think that colonialism will rid them of their opponents. They are mistaken. Wasn't Muhammad Dahlan set up by colonialism as the governor of Gaza? Didn't Amin Gemayyel resort to foreign soldiers to rule the land and the subjects? The struggle for the second liberation from neo-colonialism in our region will be harder than the first time, not because the cold war has ended and American sovereignty is globally and universally established, not even because of he tyrannical ways of the American Empire, but because the second colonialism comes with a widespread band of governors, from Ramallah to Morocco, an uninterrupted series with the character of a governmental squadron.

Also in this post: a brief summary of Iskandar Mansur's reply to Abu-Khalil and my reaction to that.
Quote: 'But the point which neither Mansur nor some of the commenters to the posting both on As'ad's and my own blog seem to get, is that As'ad is speaking to the Palestinian people and not to their leaders, whom he actually accuses of being bribed and of betraying their people. The piece doesn't make any sense (comes across as naive even), if you don't take this essential distinction into account. As'ad doesn't apologize to Arafat or the PLO in its heyday, much less to Abu Mazen and the current manifestation of Fatah in the occupied territories, he apologizes to the Palestinian men, women and children who experience the actual suffering while their leaders are happily conferring with their enemies' leaders.'

Read the full piece:

Iskandar Mansur, a Lebanese writer living in the US, replied today in al-Akhbar to As'ad's opinion piece, pointing out a few obvious replies to his polemic piece. First, even if they are obviously the victims in the larger picture, the local Palestinian history within the narrow Lebanese context is hardly that of 'innocent bystanders': the PLO, when they were expelled from Jordan in the Black September war and first moved their organisation's HQ to Lebanon in 1970/71, didn't exactly behave as respectful guests and managed to alienate a big portion of the Shiite population in the south, orginally sympathetic to their struggle, by arrogant behaviour and rule by the gun; Arafat ruled West Beirut like a dictator until 1982, had people killed and publications censored galore; the Palestinian presence and the policies of the PLO were major factors in the outbreak of the civil war in 1975 and the Palestinians are equally guilty of massacres among the Lebanese population during that period. Lastly, he states that it is a bit easy to absolve the Palestinian inhabitants of Nahr al-Bared of all the guilt in the implantation of the Fatah al-Islam gang in their camp: they must have noticed the presence of Syrian, Yemeni, Algerian and Saudi accents, the inflood of weapons and armaments etc, his argument goes, so why didn't the Fatah or other Palestinian militias fight or expel them? Which in itself is probably again a simplistic representation of the actual situation, whereby these well-armed thugs were obviously aided from the outside (cf. my interview with Munir al-Maqdah in an earlier posting) - after all, it is the responsibility of the LAF to guard the entrances and perimeters of the camps - and the gang may simply have been too powerful for the Fatah militias to take them on, or they may even - if the Symour Hersh theory is correct - have been prevented (or bribed) from doing so by Lebanese groups. Besides, there are 'native' Palestinian islamist groups galore sprouting among the impoverished and desperate youths in the camps, who may have sided with F al-Islam against the Fatah militia - at least until they saw the result of their actions on the Nahr al-Bared camp in the past 3 months. Fatah has reportedly expelled scores of Saudi jihadis from Ain al-Hilweh (where the Fatah militia is strongest) since the outbreak of the fighting on 20th May and the incidents with Jund ash-Sham in that camp - but significantly, they have had to fight and win over Jund ash-Sham before they were in a position to do so. I think many people are eagerly waiting in any case to find out who financed, armed and 'parachuted' Fatah al-Islam into the tightly guarded (by the LAF) refugee camps - if that is actually going to be revealed at some point.

But the point which neither Mansur nor some of the commenters to the posting both on As'ad's and my own blog seem to get, is that As'ad is speaking to the Palestinian people and not to their leaders, whom he actually accuses of being bribed and of betraying their people. The piece doesn't make any sense (comes across as naive even), if you don't take this essential distinction into account. As'ad doesn't apologize to Arafat or the PLO in its heyday, much less to Abu Mazen and the current manifestation of Fatah in the occupied territories, he apologizes to the Palestinian men, women and children who experience the actual suffering while their leaders are happily conferring with their enemies' leaders.

To my people in Nahr al-Bared... refugees for a second time...

As'ad Abu-Khalil

Al-Akhbar 4/9/2007

Copyright English translation Bart Peeters 2007

Liars, that's what we are¹. Don't rely on us. We are sweet-talkers. Don't trust us. Mean-spirited, that's what we are. We bow before the mighty and armed while we brutalize the poor and defenseless. Did you see them, those who applauded the intelligence services of the Syrian regime while the Syrian army was in Lebanon, suddenly discovering the Syrian lack of democracy only after its army left Lebanon? This is Lebanon – the Lebanon which you won't see on LBC. We obey our oppressors and dream of heroism in those boring and vacuous plays Mansur Rahbani excels in. We shower our enemy with praise in his face, only to draw cardboard swords as soon as he turns his back. As for our resistance fighters, we slander their names and bury them in our hypocrisy. The leading role of the freedom fighters in Lebanon is reduced to that of cake sellers for the Syrians, to clueless subcontractors of Syrian works. Our past is ugly, and our present is even uglier. When we were shouting “We're all fedayyeen” in demonstrations during the sixties and the early seventies (the gentleman director Gary Garbatian – does Amin Gemayyel count him among the 'intruders'?² - died while recording his film “We're all fedayyeen” in the sixties) we didn't mean what we were shouting. We didn't mean a word. What we meant was: “We're all phalangists”. “We're all sectarian”. “We're all racists”. When we were defending Palestine - or pretending to do so - in loud demonstrations, we were actually trying to improve the positions of our respective sects. Some of us entered the ranks of Palestinian organisations, some of us even died for the sake of Palestine, but most of us entered the game for purposes unrelated to the liberation of Palestine. Some made fortunes out of your cause and some built their grand palaces on it, while others took money from Israel for what they did to you. Yet others joined your organisations only to eavesdrop on your discussions and submit detailed reports to intelligence services of the oily variety³. Some of these are now prominent politicians, and they speak about their past without shame. And some who flocked to the ranks of the Palestinian organisations and rode on their backs, today consider the phrase “the liberation of Palestine” a worm-eaten slogan whose time has long passed.

What can we say to you: we deceived you and you believed us. We abandoned you and you forgave us, for no other reason than because you actually meant⁴ the words 'friendship' and 'brotherhood', while we were doing what we're good at: lies, trickery and deceit. We didn't believe a word of all these things we said about Palestine. We were only joking: we were really trying to improve the position of our sects, each of us from a different angle, because it is in sectarianism that we Lebanese, who differ about everything else, are united. Only in sectarianism and in the slogans of our sectarian leaders are we united... isolated and withdrawn into our own community.

My people in Nahr al-Bared, refugees for a second time, what can we say to you while we are approaching that other anniversary⁵, that of the massacre of Sabra and Shatila. You will not see its memory observed in the media. Don't bother switching channels. You won't see anything about it. They broadcast only soap series, and worse. We will cry over the victims of the massacre in silence. We will sit in a corner of the room and remember those men and women who were killed in their nightgowns and pyjamas. Last year, I met a woman from the camp who had survived the massacre. She was a little girl at the time. They found her days after the massacre, hidden under a bed. They thought she was dead. She was suffering of course, psychologically and physically. She had seen them. She had witnessed them, one after the other, raping her mother, taking turns raping her before they cut her up, limb by limb, before the eyes of the little girl hidden under the bed. She remembered. I didn't ask her whether she recognized any of the gang among the Lebanese MPs. I didn't ask her to point them out to Lebanon. We have forgotten. We do not want to remember. We have transformed the chief of this very militia of rapists into a national leader whose name is put forward in the bazaar of presidential nominations. I am warning you. Don't watch television (or 'the starebox', as Sheikh Abdullah al-'Alili preferred to call it⁶) in memory of the massacre. Boycott the television on that day. It will only hurt you more. It will reopen your wounds and your scars. They will pour acid and vinegar into your deep wounds and laugh while smoking cigars (the Lebanese have invented a lie which is meant to increase the affinity with smoking cigars in Lebanon – they consider smoking cigars as the ultimate in civilization). They will search the remains of your bones to spray them with vitriolic acid.

In the latest remembrance of the bus massacre of Ain al-Rumanneh, they falsified history. They blamed the victims. They called them, civilians all, terrorists. They said that he innocent passengers on the bus started the civil war. They transformed the murdered passengers into the protagonists. Which is exactly what Israel does with its victims: civilians, Palestinian men and women. The anniversary of Sabra and Chatila will be obscured this year by the anniversary of the assassination of Israel's candidate for the position of president in Lebanon. This man, who was appointed president in Israel's interest, openly said to foreign reporters that the refugee camps should either be turned into zoos or into tennis stadiums. This is the man who used to boast that he kept the skulls of your victims in the trunk of his car. The skulls of your victims, people of the refugee camps. Your victims, people of the refugee camps in Lebanon, died in silence, were buried in silence. No monuments were erected for them, their pictures were not displayed on posters hung on the walls. Your victims, Palestinian people in Lebanon, were not billionaires, and so no minister of communications will immortalize them on memorial postage stamps. Your innocent victims, men and women, civilians of Nahr al-Bared, who had never in their difficult lives even met Shakir al-Abssi, were dying while Ahmed Fatfat – what else – insisted only one civilian had died in the refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared.

My people of Nahr al-Bared... while you are covering yourself with Saudi- and Hariri-donated blankets in the refugee camp of Beddawi, do you feel an intense longing to throw up?⁷ Do you experience recurring attacks of intense hatred? And when the Future Movement brings you emergency food relief, does this food remind you of your nausea? Do you eat the nausea when you wake up in the Beddawi morning? And did you assuage your remaining hunger by nourishing yourselves with the memory of the support of the Lebanese people for the Palestinian revolution? Your victims were dying in Nahr al-Bared at a time when the Lebanese people were reproaching the Lebanese army for showing mercy towards you. It wasn't destroying enough of the refugee camp, they said. If it had been in the hands of the Lebanese sects, they would have deported the bodies of your victims, under the motto 'prevention of permanent settlement'. If it had been in their hands, even though you have made it easier for them to disarm you, they would dumped you on the Normandy waste diposal site⁸ without remorse. They believe they are genetically superior to you.

My people of Nahr al-Bared... what can I say to you while you see with your own eyes the destruction of he entire refugee camp, while you hear the shouting of the Lebanese in the opposition and in the government alike demanding blood. Can you feel the helplessness or the anger while you are paying the price for the gang which was planted in your refugee camp against your will? It was their cause, not yours to live and die for. You are twice victims, a first time because of the occupation of Palestine (the whole of Palestine, since your Palestine extends beyond the West Bank and the Gaza strip that we know from the maps and the lines of peace)⁹, and a second time because of the pain, the death and the torture you are suffering in Lebanon.

I know that they blame you for everything, just like they blame “the Syrians” today. Can you sense them worrying, through their empty discourse, about Israel criticizing them? Are you nauseated when you hear the Lebanese leaders speak with intense hatred about “the Syrians and the Palestinians”? Whereas they refer to the Israelis as “neighbours”... Do you feel frustration when they are torturing you and killing you, and subsequently state their desire for the wellbeing of the Palestinian people in Lebanon? They will also blame you for the loss incurred by the sex tourism in their country this summer, as they consider this of greater interest than the defense of the Lebanese territory against the recurring Israeli assaults. Notice that “the Saudis” do not worry them, despite the involvement of a number of Saudis in Fatah al-Islam. Of course they are racist towards “the Saudis” too, but they don't have the guts to say so. The dollar rules here.

My people of the refugee camp Nahr al-Bared... learn the lesson. All Palestinian men and women in Lebanon should learn the lesson. Heed the warnings from the history of the civil war and of its neverending twists and turns. Don't feel safe at our side, and don't trust our promises. Don't ever expose your backs to us. We will stab you in the back, and we are experts in the art of backstabbing, especially backstabbing the poor. Haven't you seen the cedar “revolutionaries” hit and stab the (Syrian) cake sellers in Lebanon? We want you disarmed to make it easier for us to weed you out, subjugate you and kill you as much as we deem necessary. We remember how you were treated before the ceasefire and before the Palestinian revolution broke out, and before the “excesses” of Abu Za'im and the gangs that were nurtured by Arafat and by a number of Arabic regimes, both among us and among you, and although the Lebanese were among the perpetrators of the excesses at that time too, we only remember your excesses.

My people of the refugee camps... don't believe the reassurances you are offered. They don't do things for your sake – they lied about that. They work against you to further a project which they didn't conceive of themselves, but which was conceived by your enemies. They are merely its executors. My people of the refugee camps, we remember how you were treated while you were unarmed. We remember how you were treated in the days of the “reformer” Fuad Chehab when in the days of the shadow government (Niqula Nasif didn't devote a single word to your sufferings in his voluminous book on the shadow government) the soldiers entered the refugee camp during the curfews, and ogled the women in night gowns. They would shove their weapons in your faces when you objected. Ask your elders - they have stories about the situation they were in. And today these same (Lebanese) – made of the same clay – want you to hand over your weapons both inside and outside the refugee camps. Do you feel schizophrenic when you hear the promises and the reassurances made by persons (from different sects) keen to kill you in your refugee camps?

My people of the refugee camps in Lebanon... if it was in their hands, even though you have made it easy for them to disarm you, they would do to you what Amin Gemayyel has done to you during his rule, when they were kidnapping your young men and raping the girls left behind in the refugee camps. Woe to you if you leave it in their hands. They will only give you grief. Those who were shouting your slogans louder than yourselves back then, are today demanding surrender to Israeli requests unrelated to the liberation of your parts of the Palestine land. They flattered you to preserve their own sectarian separations, and you came to their help at the cost of your own lives. Today, they say you are terrorists.

My people of the refugee camps in Lebanon... why did you trust us? Don't you know us by now? Didn't you hear us heaping insults on you and on your cause over the years? Didn't you see how the Lebanese have been treating you like trash? Don't you hear them today in the opposition and in the government alike speaking about the Palestinian “abyss”? You are the vermin of today. Those who think they are civilised, those who enjoy torturing their Sri Lankan housemaids in the morning and go shouting for freedom in the afternoon.¹⁰ You know them, or you should know them. With their hypocrisy and their power.

My people of Nahr al-Bared... what can you say when you see with your own eyes how they are buying off your leadership with money. They are bought as easily as a pair of shoes. First, your leaders were silent, then they outdid the calls to increase the bombardment and the destruction of Nahr al-Bared (before the evacuation of the civilians, men and women). One of them was so enthusiastic that he put together a team of volunteers to aid in the storming of the refugee camp (before the evacuation of the civilians, men and women). What can you say when you see even the leadership of the leftist Palestinian organisations remain silent before the sight of the destruction of the refugee camp (while you were still in it, at first)?

My people of Nahr al-Bared... don't trust them and don't trust the leadership that speaks in your name. My people of the refugee camps, you are alone. You are alone. As for who to trust: what goes through your mind when you have seen less than a dozen Lebanese demonstrate for your sake? Study the faces of those few men and women who felt your pain. Study their faces until you don't hate us anymore. It is understandable that you hate us, but remember there are those among the Lebanese whom you are indebted to. Some teach the world about Palestine and about the poor. Some teach about the contempt of the Arab regimes (for you) – all of them without exception. Study their faces. They impregnate the Palestinian cause with your suffering. Truly, those comrades (M/F) have died for the Palestinian cause. Some of them threw out their schoolbooks when they were young to embrace the Palestinian guns. No, they are not all like the clique of spiteful sectarians. They have stayed by your side, though some of them remain silent. The country has changed. Don't hate them, people of the refugee camps.

Even the revolution, look what they've done in it. Look what they've done to it, those who were naming the “symbol of Palestine”. The whole of Palestine was on the verge of being sold in your lifetimes to satisfy Clinton and the oil sheikhs. This is what the Arab regimes ordered the leaderhip of the Palestinian revolution to do, in order to eliminate it (i.e. the leadership). It didn't eliminate it, but it pushed us back. It left (Muhammad) Dahlan and Abu Mazen (Mahmud Abbas) as its legacy. This is what they planted. They skillfully removed the uncorrupted militants and installed the corrupt. Control is facilitated by the corrupt, as he said sarcastically.

What can I say to you, refugees of Nahr al-Bared, refugees for a second time? I bow before you and apologize. I ask for forgiveness. I see pictures of the destruction of Nahr al-Bared and I now know with certainty that zionism has found recruits in more than one Arab country. Zionism has leaked into the Charter of the Arab League. Why don't you ask why the Lebanese artillery was silent when Israel attacked Lebanon about a year ago? Where were its bombs then, people of the refugee camp in Nahr al-Bared? We are approaching the anniversary of Sabra and Chatila, and we are struck by paralysis while we hear Siniora - he who built his glory in government by his policies directed against the poor of all the sects - talking with a smile about “the reconstruction of the refugee camp”. Doesn't he remind you of the enemy government speaking of the reconstruction of the refugee camp of Jenin after its destruction? Avoid the conspiracy theory, people of al-Bared. Best to disregard it. They ridicule conspiracy theory so as to facilitate its application. Notice it and you will become aware.

They destroyed your refugee camp, people of al-Bared, and danced on the ruins. They beat the drums to celebrate the invasion of your destroyed refugee camp. They felt it was the occasion to open bottles of champagne, just like the Phalangist and Tiger militias (and the Tanzim militia, lest we forget Georges Adwan) did during the war. The Lebanese celebrated the destruction of your refugee camp, people of Nahr al-Bared, what can you say to them?

My people of Nahr al-Bared, when you come across us in the street, I have one request. Slap us in the face, or if a slap is not possible, spit on us. I beg you.

1Abu-Khalil is addressing the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon as a Lebanese.

2Referring to Gemayyel's sneer, after he lost the Metn by-election last month, to the well-established Armenian community in Lebanon, blaming his loss on their votes and calling them 'alien intruders'.

3i.e. of the Gulf countries.

4All italics are the translator's – whether as emphasis or as explanatory notes

510 september 1982 – 25 years ago today

6 Some conservative mufti somewhere... (sorry, I didn't check)

7Abu-Khalil is hinting here at the theory put forward by Seymour Hersh and others, that Fatah al-Islam and other Sunni jihadist groups were armed and financed by Saad Hariri (Future Movement) and his Saudi allies so as to create a counterweight against the (Shiite) power of Hizbullah.

8A notoriously toxic waste disposal site in a densely populated area near Beirut, emblematic of Lebanon's total disregard for environmental and public health issues.

9Most of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon arrived here in 1948 and come from 'Israel' proper. Consequently, they want to return there and not to Gaza or the West Bank, which they do not consider their home.

10Referring to the 'BMW revolution, as Abu-Khalil calls the Cedar revolution, when the upper classes took their Asian servants along to the demonstrations to carry their 'Syria out – we want freedom for the Lebanese' placards.

In the pro-opposition newspaper Al-Akhbar, the newspaper chairperson Ibrahim Al-Amine wrote on August 13:

If the majority team is more confused because of the abundance of candidates among its ranks, it is helped by the support of a large swathe of the Lebanese people and influential factions among the Arabs and the rest of the world while the opposition seems to be more comfortable with the fact that it has only one candidate, the head of the Fee Patriotic Movement General Michel Aoun who enjoys strong support from a large popular mass that includes more than half the Lebanese population.

I beg to differ.

Firstly, let's get the facts straight. The only person from the opposition to officially endorse Aoun's candidacy was Wiam Wahab who isn't high enough in the hierarchy. His statement is simply not enough to make Aoun the official opposition's candidate. I want to hear it from Berri. Even more, I want to hear it from Nasrallah. Yet, should we not hear the needed endorsement from such figures, that too will say a lot. Back on December 1, 2006, the opposition took for the streets and launched their first day of occupation over Downtown Beirut. Note that back then only Aoun was present. Berri and Nasrallah did not support the orange leader as he led on the Shi'a crowds (remember, few were the Christians who attended that day). Then, the implications of the absence of the Shi'a leaders was understood: they did not take Aoun seriously. Let's see if they'll take him seriously today.

Secondly, Aoun does not have the support of more than half of the population. If that were the case, why isn't he majority leader in the Parliament?

Now let's go back to Al-Amine's above argument. He is suggesting that March 14 is unsure of itself whereas the opposition (read: FPM) is fully backing one candidate. My question: since when was diversity a problem?

March 14 is not a political party and therefore is not limited to the nomination of one candidate. The FPM is restricted by party regulations and therefore must nominate one candidate to avoid a conflict of interest within the party itself.

Given that March 14 is a cluster of different political parties and groups that do not have political party status, these different groups have the right to present as many candidates as they wish (of course within the rationale of some sort of meritocratic rubric). The result is the nomination of people like Boutros Harb and Robert Ghanem and perhaps in the near future Nassib Lahoud or Nayla Mouawad.

The fact that these people should feel comfortable nominating themselves within the March 14 democratic spirit is impressionable. They will be a source of competition for each other, and at the end of the day, will not insult or discredit each other. Furthermore, the losers of the elections will accept their loss in good team spirit and support the March 14 candidate that makes it through. This, Mr. Al Amine is democracy not confusion.