Who would have dreamt of getting the Syrians out last year ?
Who would have dreamt of getting our sovereignty and independance back that soon ?

Let us not forget where we were almost 2 years from now, let us not forget where we were 30 years from now …

Martyrs Square during the war. ( pic by Stavro)

Martyrs Square 2005.

I posted this few months ago, i will repost it as per Amir in Tel Aviv request. Everytime i look at our situation, and the differences we have, i get more convinced of this solution to our problems and the same way i thought 3 months ago, today is the perfect time to talk about Federalism and even to propose it.

In fact the events that have been going on for the past few weeks are showing more and more that Federalism is the only way out to save Lebanon.

Some say Federalism is equal to division, some say its an American-Israeli plan, some simply attack it because the LF led by Dr.Geagea proposed it, even though it was previously sponsored by the Lebanese Front led by Pr.Camille Chamoun and Sheikh Pierre Gemayel back in 1977 an during the Deir el Bir convention in 1980 ( reference to the booklet that was issued after the convention called : The Lebanon we want to build).

Federalism is a unitarian project that is capable of preserving Lebanon’s pluralistic society and
building a true Lebanese identity. How is that ? I ll try to elaborate based on my sort of limited knowledge on the issue but i believe sufficient to prove my point.

Lebanon has always endured endless wars between its different communities, it started back in the 1800s between the uprising Christians and the powerful Druze fighting over the control of Mount Lebanon. Each community wanted to overtake the other and recurred to foreign help in order to do so.

Several regimes were implemented back then trying to resolve the crisis, Secularism failed miserably as well as Feodalism, the only system that lasted was a decentralized one keeping each community’s rights but it wasnt built on strong basis and so did not last.

What followed was the declaration of the Greater Lebanon in 1920 and the joining other communities to Lebanon, mainly the Shiite community. From 1920 till 1943, Few Christian leaders abused of their powers causing a minor revolt within the Muslim street which ended up in signing the National pact in 1943, it was more an oral agreement also built on weak basis and not taking into consideration long term effects.

And eventually the Palestinian crisis in 1958 came to mess things up, Christians backed by France and other foreign countries against Palestinians financed by few Muslim parties and Leftists.

A revolt againt the President Chamoun was initiated and its impact was disastrous. Palestinians backed by Muslim parties and Leftists started gaining strengh and the army got divided over sectarian belongings therefore encouraging parties to get armed in order to defend themselves against Palestinian guerrillas.

What followed was a deadly war, not a civil war but a very well directed war by Palestinians and Muslim parties against Christian parties, with foreign interference on all sides, from Americans trying to imply the Kissinger plan, to Israelis wanting to weaken Palestinians, Syrians wanting a piece of the cake backed by the Soviet Union.

After war was done, the same scenario was repeated but this time politically, Muslim groups supported by Syrians along with the Druzes and Christians isolated with a minor support from the Western.

Nowadays, major shiite party backed by Iran and Syria initiates war against Israel who launches a massive assault on Lebanon, Sunnites keep their distance from the war as well as Christians and work on stopping it with their American and Saudi allies as well as Europeans.

From this short resume of the Lebanese history, we can conclude the following :
Our society is a pluralistic one where each community is struggling to keep itself equal to others and using all possible foreign help to do so.
The wars and inner fights have raised more hatred and anti-semitism among the Lebanese and divided the country into religious cantons.
The major problem that we are facing is the division of power among the several communities and the external interferences which are dragging Lebanon into regional wars and making it a pressure tool in the hands of bigger powers.

Why Federalism ?

All sorts of systems have been tried in Lebanon and failed miserably, except a decentralized federal Lebanon. Secularism was a deadly experience, same as Feodalism and all sorts of mandates and invasions were faced with fierce opposition added to other centralized political systems that failed miserably.

Federalism is one of the most civilized and advanced political systems in the world and is adopted in some of the most developed countries(USA, Switzerland, Germany etc etc ..)

Given Lebanon’s pluralistic nature, and the two major political streams that govern the country, a Pro-Arab Muslim line and a Pro-Lebanese Western-like Christian line, and knowing that Lebanon without its Christians will sink in the Islamic world surrounding him and reassuring that Lebanon needs both its Muslims and Christians to go on, we need to preserve the rights for each community in a way to avoid conflicts in the future.

What Federalism proposes can be resumed as follows:
Dividing Lebanon into federal states based on confessions ( Already done demographically cause of the war) and decentralizing the powers and distributing them equally between all communities in a way to preserve each community’s rights and freedom and eliminate the feeling of threat between the different confessions.

Once each confession is secured in its own state, it wont feel threatened by other communities and therefore the religious factor will get weaker therefore removing feelings of anti-semitism within each community.

Added to that, since each state will be responsible for its own economy, terrorist and extremist groups wont be able to last economically and will get unpopular specially in a highly educated and freedom-oriented society like the Lebanese one and will lose ground to more secular and open-minded mentalities.

Of course this is a long process but what will accelerate its process is the external policy that Federalism implies, which is neutrality.
Similarly to Switzerland, we r a very small country uncapable of entering regional conflicts or even influencing on major powers, therefore neutrality is a must.
This will keep foreign countries away from us and let the people focus more on improving their own country and fixing their own problems instead of leading the liberation of Palestine from Beirut for example.

Those two factors are already of major importance and if applied properly will put us on the right track. Now you might ask me but isnt Lebanon too small to be divided ?
I tell you that Lebanon has the most diverse and complicated society in the world maybe and opposing a federal system cause of its small demography is a lame and unrational argument.

Added to that, Feodal families and war lords who base their popularity on confessional belonging will fade away and lose ground to competent and self-made young leaders capable of serving their community better.

What will Federalism achieve on the long term ?
The ultimate aim of a Federal system in Lebanon is not letting each community live on its own but on the total opposite, by weaking the religious and anti-semitic factor and applying neutrality, you ll be paving the way for founding a true Lebanese identity one that doesnt separate between confessions but on merit and competence and the merging of federal states will become natural with time and who knows maybe lead to a secular centralized unitarian system.

The benefits of Federalism are unimaginable on all sides and can lead us to a true united Lebanon and a true national unity.

Federalism is a project intended to elevate the value of the human above all confessions and sects and races and found a liberal mentality capable of accepting the other and working with him for one strong country.

Finally, i assure you there are tons of aspects i didnt mention yet since this project is a uge one and is not property of the LF, but was studied by a large number of intellectuals and politicians. The only problem it faces in Lebanon is the bad image or the taboo spread around about how Federalism is an American-Israeli plan to divide Lebanon.

Federalism cannot be imposed, but must be assimilated first and orientation on this issue is a must.

Regards,

A man was leaving a cafe when he noticed an unusual funeral.

A funeral coffin was followed by a second one. Behind the second coffin was a solitary man walking with a black dog. Behind him was a queue of 200 men walking in single line.

The man couldn’t stand his curiosity. He approached the man walking with the dog, “I am so sorry to disturb you, but I’ve never seen a funeral like this with so many of you walking in single line .

Whose funeral is it?”

The man replied, “that first coffin is for my wife.”

What happened to her?”

“My dog attacked and killed her.” “Well, who is in the second coffin? ” “My mother-in-law. She was trying to help my wife when the dog attacked and killed her also.” A thoughtful moment of silence passes between the two men.

Then the first one asks in excitement , “Can I borrow the dog?”

The man replied, “Join the queue. “

This is the question to ask when it comes to investigating Elie Hobeika’s assasination.
Elie Hobeika was a threat to so many local and foreign political parties, to so many countries and governments and most importantly to secret services.

On the 24th of January 2002, at 9:42 am, Elie Hobeika, known as HK, was driving his his blue Range Rover from his home in Hazmieh,with his three bodyguards, Dmitri Ajram, Walid Zein and Faris Suedan, when a white Mercedes 280, parked in a basement garage level with the road, blew up. An estimated 10 kilos of explosives (TNT or C4 not confirmed) blasted Hobeika’s vehicle across the narrow highway, killing all four men instantly.

His 4th year memorial mass took place last week on the 24th of January 2007 in Badaro after a small prayer took place on the murder scene in Hazmieh.

history of HK:

Hobeika was born in Kleiat, Lebanon in 1956, he finished his studies at 22 and joined the Kataeb (Lebanese Phalange) party and started climbing the ranks until he was promoted in 1979 to security chief of the Lebanese Forces as head of Intelligence[…]

HK joined Hakim in 1985 in the first intifada to force the resignation of the commander of the Lebanese Forces back then, Fouad Abu Nader, considered too close to Amine Gemayel who disliked the LF and wanted to rejoin it to the Kataeb (Phalange party).

HK then pronounced himself head of the executive committe in the LF and signed the unfamous Tripartite Accord with Nabih Berri and Walid Jumblatt under Syria’s blessing.

Samir Geagea later on removed HK from the LF command in 1986, ironically assisted by Amine Gemayel, and assumed the leadership of the LF till today. Hakim ( Samir Geagea) spared Elie Hobeika’s life back then after several calls from Syrian officials were done with Lebanese officials, mainly Michel Aoun head of the army back then , Pakradoni and Michel el Murr whose son was stuck in the same building with HK when the LF troops loyal to Samir Geagea surrounded them.

Since then, Elie Hobeika shaded from politics and ran away to Syria for a while before trying to reclaim the LF leadership assisted by Syrians, but failed miserably. He then took over few ministries(Displaced, Social Affairs & Handicapped, Energy) till 2000 when he lost his parliament seat.

Assasination of HK:

Most of the analysis and articles written on his assasination conclude that several external parties were involved directly or indirectly in his assasination, and some even go as far as saying that HK was on the list of targetted people by the US administration after the 9-11 terrorist acts in 2001.

Here is a very interesting approach i read entitled:
Elie Hobeika # 1 Victim of Illegal Assassinations of the US Administration of GWB & CIA

DEC. , 2006- On September 15, 2001, just four days after the 9-11 attacks, CIA Director George Tenet provided President [sic] Bush with a Top Secret “Worldwide Attack Matrix”-a virtual license to kill targets deemed to be a threat to the United States in some 80 countries around the world. The Tenet plan, which was subsequently approved by Bush, essentially reversed the executive orders of four previous U.S. administrations that expressly prohibited political assassinations. Mr. Elie Hobeika will be the first target of the US administration, to pave the way for its Iraq Invasion[..]

Hobeika headed the Lebanese forces intelligence agency since the mid- 1970s and he soon developed close ties to the CIA. He was a frequent visitor to the CIA’s headquarters at Langley, Virginia. After the Syrian invasion of Lebanon in 1990, Hobeika held a number of cabinet positions in the Lebanese government, a proxy for the Syrian occupation authorities. He also served in the parliament. In July 2001, Hobeika called a press conference and announced he was prepared to testify against Sharon in Belgium and revealed that he had evidence of what actually occurred in Sabra and Shatilla. Hobeika also indicated that Israel had flown members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) into Beirut International Airport in an Israeli Air Force C130 transport plane, in full view of dozens of witnesses, including members of the Lebanese army and others. SLA troops under the command of Major Saad Haddad were slipped into the camps to commit the massacres. The SLA troops were under the direct command of Ariel Sharon and an Israeli Mossad agent provocateur named Rafi Eitan. Hobeika offered evidence that a former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon was aware of the Israeli plot. In addition, the IDF had placed a camera in a strategic position to film the Sabra and Shatilla massacres. Hobeika was going to ask that the footage be released as part of the investigation of Sharon.[..]

If you read the full report, you will conclude that Sharon had a hand in his assasination given the fact that HK was killed within few hours of a hearing before a Belgian appeals court, dealing with the Sabra & Shatilla massacre whereas Hobeika was the prime witness against Sharon.

But back in 2002, Israelies could not have possibly executed such an operation without the Syrian ‘approval’ or at least knowledge, without forgetting the undeclared ties between Damascus and Israel forged during the rule of Hafez El Assad.

As for the CIA, HK was know to be a frequent visitor of the CIA headquarters and had strong ties with them. He announced in 2001 that he was ready to testify against Sharon and that he had proof that the SLA troops were involved in the massacre of Sabra & Chatilla and that a former U.S ambassador knew about the plot.

Syria was involved throught Bahjat Suleiman who had ties with the American intelligence and through its agents in Lebanon, mainly Jamil el Sayyed who was in charge of executing such assasinations and Ghazi Kanaan, Syria’s coordinator in Lebanon .

In an interesting approach from the MEIB Intelligence Report, the author points out that after 9/11, Hobeika attempted to win American support by contacting the CIA to offer his help in locating and capturing Imad Mughniyah, the former head of special overseas operations for Hezbollah who is listed on the Bush administration’s most wanted terrorist list.

It appears that the Syrians, who maintain close ties with Mughniyah, discovered Hobeika’s attempts to contact the CIA[..]

Who would have opposed this murder on the local level ?

Hobeika was ‘feared’ by most of the political leaders in Lebanon and was hated by many cause of his practices in the past ( his bodyguard Robert Hatem ‘Cobra’ who is still hiding till today in France wrote 2 books on him already, unavailable in the Lebanese bookstores though).

HK’s machievalian acts turned everyone against him and few tears were shed when he was murdered. No one except his wife, Gina Hobeika, and head of the Waad party that HK founded, keeps asking for the truth on her husband’s murder.

This year, the billboards showed the blown car that killed Hobeika with a title : The truth starts from here ( 24/01/2002) refering to the date Hobeika was murdered at.

Few days before his assasination, during the funeral of a close ally and confidante, former MP Jean Ghanem, who died on January 14 from injuries sustained in a car crash in Hazmieh, Hobeika was quoted saying (in Al-Sharq al-Awsat(London)) “that the latter’s death was not accidental.”

In his article entitled ‘Elie Hobeika: lady-killer and blood-soaked war criminal’, Robert Fisk ends by saying:

“My last message from Elie was that bottle of champagne: a magnum of Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Rosé 1988. I never drank it. I felt it was contaminated. It lay in my fridge here in Beirut last night. I know many in Lebanon would like to drink it in celebration. But I suspect that, if I uncorked it, blood would spurt out.”

Finally,
Who killed Hobeika ? Will we ever know the truth behind his assasination ?

The truth is everyone wanted him dead.

Waiting for your answers  

1- What is a four-letter word that ends in “k” and means the same as intercourse?

2- What is it that the cow has four and a woman has only two ?

3- What can you find in a man’s pants that is about six inches long, has a head on it, and that women love so much that they often blow it?

4-What word starts with “f ” and ends with “u-c-k”?

5-Name five words that are each four letters long, end in ” u-n-t ” one of which is a word for a woman?

6-What does a dog do that you can step into?

7-What four letter word begins with “f ” and ends with ” k”, and if you can’t get one you can use your hands?

8-What is hard, six inches long, has two nuts,and can make a girl fat?

9-What four-letter word ends in “i-t ” and is found on the bottom of birdcages?

10-What is it that all men have one of; it’s longer on some men than on others; the pope doesn’t use his; and a man gives it to his wife after they’re married?

This is the article in Annahar.

Article From Le Parisien.
Cancer : l’incroyable découverte d’un chercheur de 24 ans

Michel Obeid arrivé il y a 3ans dans l’unité dirigée par Guido Kroemer fait sa thèse sur la vaccination contre le cancer.
Depuis des mois il teste la réactivité de certaines protéines.il les soupçonne de pouvoir servir d’alarme au système immunitaire en présence de cellules cancéreuses.Ce jour-là il teste la quarantième protéine, la CALRETICULIN,alias la”cal”. et ce 23 décembre la Cal qu’il observe est en train de stimuler un dispositif immunitaire! Du jamais vu !

la “cal” se trouve dans toutes les cellules ” l’idée , explique le jeune chercheur c’est à travers elle ,d’attirer l’attention du système immunitaire sur les cellules cancéreuses.Une fois ces intruses identifièes et cataloguées comme étrangère par le système immunitaire , les lymphocytes T se mettront à chasser toutes les cellules semblables en vue de leur destruction “. La théorie générale s’est révélée exacte.Quelques mois plus tard,lors d’essais sur les souris, le système immunitaire réagit.En quelques jours la tumeur a été réduite à néant chez 90% des souris , explique Michel Obeid.Sans dommage cette fois contrairement à la chimiothérapie.

le doctorant et son directeur spécialiste de la mort cellulaire décident enfin de tester la protéine en l’associant aux médicament utilisés en chimiothérapie.Le résultat est spectaculaire.Les effets des produits sont pour certains décuplés.La découverte est importante et ses conséquences,notamment économique, poussent l’IGR à engager une procédure de brevet international.

(Le Parisien du 19janvier -édition Val de Marne )

I have been looking for this movie for a while now cause i missed it on all news. I posted earlier about the ‘orders’ given to assasinate Souaid during the riots that emerged btw the LF and 14th of march forces and Marada on the black Tuesday.

Thank You HourrasElJabal.

Video

“what good does it make if an operation is crowned by success, while the patient dies.”

I posted earlier billboards on the 11th of march movement that i spotted on the streets.

Apparently, they have a website as well with a small introductionary letter.

“Realizing the urgent need to bridge the ever increasing gap, a group of moderates developed and proposed the establishment of a new bloc to represent the majority calling it March 11th.”

It is definitly the perfect moment to start a new political movement, since 14th of February and 14th of March are nearby, let us just wait and see what 11th of march is up to, they should be given their chances but i still wanna know who are the people behind that, because as ‘nice’ as the objectives look, if we dont have new or neutral people behind it, i doubt it will lead anywhere.

 Here is a book suggested by a good friend of mine.

 Small Preview:

Clouée sur son lit d’hôpital, Noura, une jeune femme Libanaise, égrène ses souvenirs au rythme du va et vient inquiet de ses proches à son chevet. Dans une course contre la montre, elle va revisiter les lieux redoutés de ses souvenirs : Le Liban dans la tourmente, Paris, New York, et les places désertes de ses amours déçus. Une introspection doublée d’allers-retours incessants entre présent et  Une introspection doublée d’allers-retours incessants entre présent et passé dans un rythme haletant qui accroche le lecteur dès les premières lignes.
 Pour son premier roman, l’auteur nous livre une histoire poignante de vérité sur l’amour, la jeunesse, l’unité d’une famille, l’exil et l’attachement à un pays en guerre. 
La rage de vivre de Noura n’a d’égal que sa quête du vrai bonheur. Le trouvera-t-elle au bout de cette épreuve ? 

During the black tuesday, a very dangerous incident occured in Jbeil when Fares Souaid’s car was hammered by gun shots which injured four of his bodyguards.

I remember hearing on the news at first that Souaid was shot, then it turned out he escaped from what it seemed like an assasination attempt. Afterwards, Souaid Left a press conference where he projected a video showing army men (maghawir) stepping down from a car and shooting at his car.

I didnt get a hold of that movie, i dont think they uploaded it anywhere.

Who are those people ? who gave them such orders ? Why didnt Michel Sleiman issue any PR concerning that issue ? How come the Opposition totally ignored this incident ?

The video is in the hands of the police now i suppose, i hope they will investigate the issue asap and do the necessary to arrest those men.

Apologies for the bad quality of the last pic.

“Rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, the 191-member Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution condemning “without reserve” all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, whenever they occur.”

Great! I really admire that… but how about we condemn the denial of the Armenian genocide… actually not just condemn, but punish as well!

One blogger named ‘AH’ mentioned in my earlier post that Aoun did not show the fake pictures i displayed during his interview on Manar TV.

Ironically, i just got that by mail.

I have been told that it’s difficult to find Joseph Attia’s La Trou7i song on mp3.

So this is for my mom and others who are look for the song.

Click here to go to my music page, and then right click on “la trou7i.mp3″ and save it on your computers.

I will remove the song from my server tomorrow at midnight, Beirut time.

Enjoy!

On Tuesday, when the demonstrations/riots were taking place, I called my grandparents to check on them. Grandma was sleeping so I spoke to my grandfather. He told me not to worry meanwhile I hear shooting in the background but he laughs it off and changes topic.

During my last night in Lebanon, I bought a yanaseeb ticket for 20 000LL. The winning prize was something like a million dollars or something. I gave the ticket to my grandfather. Apparently he won 20 000LL from the ticket, so he went to the place and took the cash and before he left the place he felt bad, thinking its my money and not his so he should not accept the cash (awwwww). He went back in and bought two 10 000LL tickets. The next week he won 10 000LL and still did not accept the cash and bought two 5000LL tickets. The next week, he didn’t win anything.

I thought it was so sweet of him for not accepting the cash and playing with it again, although I really would not have minded if he did take the cash. I also thought it was so sweet how he was telling me not to worry there is nothing in their area when I could hear the shooting in the background.

I miss my grandfather who also is the only man I would allow to make fun of me and tease me as much as he likes.

I never know what to eat on Sundays, everyone usually goes out for lunch but i prefer resting home. I decided to make cheese sandwiches (Bulghari & kachkawan) using lebanese bread ( falafel size)and heat them using the SEB ( picture below)

Those sandwiches remind me of the war back in 1989-90, when the whole family was stuck in Adonis and my aunts and grandma used to make us those sandwiches in the morning or at night and we’d drink tea with them , we were like 12 kids in that appartment and we would wait in turn to get those sandwiches. That was one ‘enjoyable’ memory from the war.

Now this is all fun and yummy, but the worst part is the cleaning, i forgot one of the sandwiches on the SEB while watching the Federer-Gonzalez Australian open final and the result was an extra half an hour of cleaning.

Well anyways, sandwiches were good and i am full now

Have you realized that after any event in Lebanon for at least the duration of a week, all who hear are people blaming each other for what happened?  They all try to act that they are saints and innocent of any wrong doings… why don’t you all just get it? You are all wrong!

I will refer back to my post, Seriously, what happened yesterday?

How quick we are to brush off the feelings of shock and disgust and go back to our usual ways.

Even though i didnt do it on purpose, i was doing legal researches to see if burning tyres and blocking roads was illegal and ended up posting about them @ 5:03 am

Here s the post.

I win

Aoun & the Opposition leaders insisted that it was legitimate to go down and demonstrate the way they did and block roads and burn tyres etc etc …

Well apparently, they didnt read the laws properly, if they ever read them.

You can read the rules here.

I saw on the streets today 11th of march billboards all over the place, but didnt have my camera on me. They were putting the billboards as i was passing by, so i suppose this is a new movement that should be announced within the next few days.

They have a very difficult task to do, if their intentions are to join btw both groups or work on the Lebanese that are sick of both groups, i am very curious to see who is behind this movement and what are their goals.

I will share few pictures of the billboards posted on Beirut Spring posted pictures.
(thank U Mustapha)

Someone please explain this to me. Israeli planes flew into Lebanese airspace, to Nabatiyeh, just South of Beirut, and dropped poisonous balloons hospitalizing 8 people??

I really hope UNIFIL kids had sobered up from the wine and wrote down notes.

If a Lebanese mosquito flew over Israeli we would had gotten at least a couple of bridges blown up, a few hundred people killed, and a few neighborhoods demolished, while the world looked the other way.

Curious Rampurple

Update: Zvi pointed out that they were balloons from a promotional campaign and not flown over by planes.   Article in Haaretz. I couldn’t find anything about it in Jerusalem Post.

So now Rampurple is Confused.