من هو سمير الخطيب؟
يوسف بزي/المدن/04 كانون الأول/2019

قضى العونيون دهراً في ذم الحريرية، لكن خيالهم، أو بالأحرى انعدام خيالهم، لا يذهب أبعد من استنساخ الحريرية على نحو باهت و”فقير” (حرفياً ومجازياً).

أما حزب الله الذي يصح وصفه بـ”عدو” الحريرية، فهو لا يستطيع العيش من دون هذا العدو حتى بعد قتله. فيروح يفتش عن نسخة أو عن شبه أو طيف حريريّ يسعفه ويديمه.

على هذا النحو ارتضوا بالوريث سعد الحريري مراراً.

ولأنه مذموم دوماً و”عدو” أبداً، حطموا قدميه وأسنانه ويديه تكراراً، كسروا رأسه بمناسبة ومن دون مناسبة.

وقبل ذلك، وفي الأثناء، حاربوا فؤاد السنيورة بالسلاح وبالكلمة وبالفوضى والعنف، واجهوا تمام سلام بالأسلحة نفسها.

جرّبوا نجيب ميقاتي وخذلوه، أو خذلهم لا فرق.

وتلاعبوا بالمرحوم عمر كرامي، ومهزأوا فيصل كرامي وعبد الرحيم مراد ومحمد الصفدي وآخرين. وعلى طول الخط ابتزوا سعد الحريري كرياضة سياسية يومية.

حدثت ثورة.

لا حزب الله ولا العونية تزحزحا قيد أنملة عما هما فيه.

الأمر بات لعنة منذ ذاك الصيف المشؤوم عام 2006.

التفاهة والضغينة في إكسير مميت واحد، يتجرعه لبنان ببطء حتى تحول إلى كائن مسموم، يتآكله التأكسد السرطاني والسمّي.

بين ضحالة العونية وعدوانية حزب الله، واستعصاء الإصلاح واصطدام الثورة السلمية المدنية بشبح الحرب الأهلية (تهديدات الثنائي الشيعي)، وبغوغائية “الثورة المضادة” وطائفيتها (رأس حربتها العونية الباسيلية)، وبمخاطر التجويع والانهيار الاقتصادي والمالي الشامل، عادت الوقاحة إلى السلطة لتفرض الأمر الواقع الذي يناسبها: إعادة إنتاج نفسها.

وجواباً على الثورة ونكاية بها وبأغلبيتها المدنية، تولى جبران باسيل برعاية حزب الله إعداد طبق الثأر: الحكومة المسخ. الحكومة الخدعة. حكومة النظام السياسي المستولي على الدولة والذي يرفض تسليمها للشعب..

واستمراراً لهوايتهما، بحث حزب الله وباسيل عن “حريري” ما: رجل أعمال ومقاولات وورش بناء ورئيس حكومة في وقت واحد. لكن بمواصفات مناسبة لهما. أي أن يكون أكثر قابلية للمهانة والضعف. بل ووفق مصطلحات الثورة، أن يكون متلقياً لـ”السحسوح” من غير شكوى.

هنا يجب الاعتراف بالدهاء الثعلبي لجبران باسيل، وبأسلوبه الخاص في التعبير عن حقده الطائفي تجاه الحريرية الأصلية.

إذ بهذين الميزتين استطاع وتجرأ على التقاط المهندس سمير الخطيب ورفعه إسماً مرشحاً لرئاسة الحكومة.

فسمير الخطيب، ابن بلدة مزبود في إقليم الخروب، المدير العام ونائب الرئيس التنفيذي في شركة “خطيب وعلمي”.

وهو ليس مالك شركة خطيب وعلمي ولا مؤسسها، بل هو ورثها عن عمّه والد زوجته، منير الخطيب.

حتى أن منزله في بلدة مزبود، شيّده على قطعة أرض يملكها منير الخطيب، وقد منحها لابنته التي تزوجها سمير.

الأهم أن هذا الرجل لا علاقة له بالسياسة على الإطلاق.

هو رجل أعمال بالكاد يدير فعلياً الشركة التي ورثها عن عمّه.

والمعروف عنه أنه قليل الحضور إلى مكتبه. ومن يفتقده لن يضيعه أبداً. يمر على مكتبه صباحاً لبعض الوقت ويحل به الضجر سريعاً، فيخرج كالعادة  ليقضي معظم أوقاته في مقهى ستارباكس، في فردان. يغادرها ظهراً لتناول الغداء.

يأخذ قسطاً من الراحة وربما قيلولة.. من ثم يعود إلى المقهى ذاتها حيث يتسامر مع بعض الأصدقاء حتى ساعة متقدمة من الليل.

رجل كسل وتبطل يستأنس براحة باله وبوفرة ثروته وبقلة همته وشغفه بالجلوس على مقهى النميمة والنكات وحسب.

من يعرفه ويعاشره يستشف بسهولة أن الرجل لا علاقة له بالثقافة السياسية. لم يقرأ كتاباً في حياته. ولم يكن يفكر يوماً في أن يدخل المجال السياسي أو أن يعمل في الشأن العام. حتى أن المعضلة الإعلامية اليوم هي أن نجد له صوراً شخصية بنوعية جيدة وصالحة للنشر!

لكن ثمة إجماع أنه رجل دمث الأخلاق، طيب العشرة. سطحي وبسيط.

صحيح أنه من خارج الطبقة السياسية. لكنه ليس غريباً عنها.

فهو كان مقرباً من الرئيس سعد الحريري، كما أنه كان شريكاً للشهيد رفيق الحريري في جزء من أعماله. ويرتبط بعلاقة مصاهرة مع اللواء عباس ابراهيم، فابنة الخطيب متزوجة من نجل ابراهيم، عدا الصداقة التي تجمعهما.

الترويج السياسي له، يخلط عمداً بين فروع شركة خطيب وعلمي وبين ضرورات العلاقات الدولية والعربية والإقليمية لمنصب رئاسة الحكومة. فالشركة لديها أعمال في لبنان والسعودية وسوريا ومصر والجزائر.

لكن الترويج ذاته، غفل عمداً أيضاً عن أدوار وأعمال الشركة في مشاريع ومقاولات هي على رأس لائحة اتهامات الفساد والهدر، فهي عملت مع الهيئة العليا للإغاثة، ومع أوجيرو، وعلى صلة وثيقة بمشاريع وببناء السدود العزيزة على قلب جبران باسيل وفريقه.

وهذا ما شكل دافعاً إضافياً لحماسة باسيل له.

ولا ننسى أن صلات المصاهرة والصداقة مع اللواء عباس ابراهيم، لها أثرها في الامتدادات السياسية عند الثنائي الشيعي وأبعد..

ماكينة السلطة تروّج لسمير الخطيب وكأنه رفيق الحريري الثاني، الذي يحظى برضى الأميركيين والفرنسيين والإيرانيين، كما يحظى برضى السعوديين والخليجيين والمصريين.

لكن أحد المسؤولين الغربين ضحك عندما سئل عن هذا الأمر، هازئاً من هكذا تداول للأسماء، خصوصاً لاسم سمير خطيب، قائلاً: “ومن هو هذا السمير الذي تتوافق حوله كل المجموعة الشمسية؟”.

جواباً على هذا السؤال “الكوني”، سمير الخطيب صنيع الخبث الباسيلي والعداوة الحزبلاهية، وشريك منظومة الفساد، والنسخة الممسوخة للحريرية، وفق خيال العونية وكيدية حزب الله.

The post يوسف بزي: من هو سمير الخطيب؟ لا علاقة له بالسياسة وبالثقافة السياسية على الإطلاق، لم يقرأ كتاباً في حياته، ولم يكن يفكر يوماً في أن يدخل المجال السياسي أو أن يعمل في الشأن العام appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

أَمَّا الأَزْمِنَةُ والأَوقَات، أَيُّهَا الإِخْوَة، فلا حَاجَةَ بِكُم أَنْ يُكْتَبَ إِلَيْكُم في شَأْنِهَا؛ لأَنَّكُم تَعْلَمُونَ جَيِّدًا أَنَّ يَوْمَ الرَّبِّ يأْتي كَالسَّارِقِ لَيْلاً
رسالة القدّيس بولس الأولى إلى أهل تسالونيقي05/ من01حتى11/:”يا إخوَتِي، أَمَّا الأَزْمِنَةُ والأَوقَات، أَيُّهَا الإِخْوَة، فلا حَاجَةَ بِكُم أَنْ يُكْتَبَ إِلَيْكُم في شَأْنِهَا؛ لأَنَّكُم تَعْلَمُونَ جَيِّدًا أَنَّ يَوْمَ الرَّبِّ يأْتي كَالسَّارِقِ لَيْلاً. فحِينَ يَقُولُون: سَلامٌ وأَمْنٌ! حِينَئِذٍ يَدْهَمُهُمُ الهَلاكُ دَهْمَ الْمَخَاضِ لِلحُبْلى، ولا يُفْلِتُون. أَمَّا أَنْتُم، أَيُّها الإِخْوَة، فَلَسْتُم في ظُلْمَةٍ لِيُفَاجِئَكُم ذلِكَ اليَومُ كالسَّارِق. فأَنْتُم كُلُّكُم أَبْنَاءُ النُّور، وأَبْنَاءُ النَّهَار؛ ولَسْنَا أَبْنَاءَ اللَّيلِ ولا أَبْنَاءَ الظُّلْمَة. إِذًا فلا نَنَمْ كَسَائِر النَّاس، بَلْ لِنَسْهَرْ وَنَصْحُ؛ لأَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَنَامُونَ فَفي اللَّيلِ يَنَامُون، والَّذِينَ يَسْكَرُونَ فَفي اللَّيلِ يَسْكَرُون.أَمَّا نَحْنُ أَبْنَاءَ النَّهَار، فَلْنَصْحُ لابِسِينَ دِرْعَ الإِيْمَانِ والمَحَبَّة، ووَاضِعِينَ خُوذَةَ رَجَاءِ الخَلاص. فإِنَّ اللهَ لَمْ يَجْعَلْنَا لِلغَضَب، بَلْ لإِحْرَازِ الخَلاصِ بَرَبِّنَا يَسُوعَ المَسِيح، الَّذي مَاتَ مِنْ أَجْلِنَا، لِنَحْيَا مَعَهُ سَاهِرِينَ كُنَّا أَمْ نِائِمِين. فَلِذلِكَ شَجِّعُوا بَعضُكُم بَعْضًا، وَلْيَبْنِ الوَاحِدُ الآخَر، كَمَا أَنْتُم فَاعِلُون.”

Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
First Letter to the Thessalonians 05/01-11/:”Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, ‘There is peace and security’, then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”

 طُوبَى لِذلِكَ العَبْدِ الَّذي يَجِيءُ سَيِّدُهُ فَيَجِدُهُ فَاعِلاً هكَذَا! أَلحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُم: إِنَّهُ يُقِيْمُهُ عَلى جَمِيعِ مُمْتَلَكَاتِهِ
إنجيل القدّيس متّى24/من45حتى51/:”قالَ الربُّ يَسوع: «مَنْ هُوَ العَبْدُ الأَمِينُ الحَكِيْمُ الَّذي أَقَامَهُ سَيِّدُهُ عَلى أَهْلِ بَيتِهِ، لِيُعْطِيَهُمُ الطَّعَامَ في حِينِهِ؟ طُوبَى لِذلِكَ العَبْدِ الَّذي يَجِيءُ سَيِّدُهُ فَيَجِدُهُ فَاعِلاً هكَذَا! أَلحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُم: إِنَّهُ يُقِيْمُهُ عَلى جَمِيعِ مُمْتَلَكَاتِهِ. ولكِنْ إِنْ قَالَ ذلِكَ العَبْدُ الشِّرِّيرُ في قَلْبِهِ: سَيَتَأَخَّرُ سَيِّدِي! وبَدَأَ يَضْرِبُ رِفَاقَهُ، ويَأْكُلُ ويَشْرَبُ مَعَ السِّكِّيرِين، يَجِيءُ سَيِّدُ ذلِكَ العَبْدِ في يَومٍ لا يَنْتَظِرُهُ، وفي سَاعَةٍ لا يَعْرِفُهَا، فَيَفْصِلُهُ، ويَجْعَلُ نَصِيبَهُ مَعَ المُرَائِين. هُنَاكَ يَكُونُ البُكَاءُ وصَرِيفُ الأَسْنَان”.

Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 24/45-51/:”‘Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, “My master is delayed”, and he begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The post أَمَّا الأَزْمِنَةُ والأَوقَات، أَيُّهَا الإِخْوَة، فلا حَاجَةَ بِكُم أَنْ يُكْتَبَ إِلَيْكُم في شَأْنِهَا؛ لأَنَّكُم تَعْلَمُونَ جَيِّدًا أَنَّ يَوْمَ الرَّبِّ يأْتي كَالسَّارِقِ لَيْلاً/Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

محتل إيراني متجبر وحكام مرتزقة عادوا إلى طبيعة الإنسان العتيق
الياس بجاني/04 كانون الأول/2019

الحقيقة الكارثية والصادمة المعاشة على الأرض بكل مآسيها والفواجع التي يتنكر لها كثر من أهل السياسة والحكم والنافذين وقطعان أغنام غالبية أصحاب شركات الأحزاب الصنمية في لبنان هي أن البلد محتل، وبأن المحتل هو عسكر إيران المحلي المسمى كفراً وتجديفاً “حزب الله”.

المحتل الفارسي المحلي هذا قد حول لبنان بغطاء ودعم من نظام الأسد البراميلي وكل جماعات المقاومة والتحرير والتمذهب المنافقين ومنذ العام 1982.. حوله إلى مستعمرة إيرانية، وقاعدة عسكرية لغزوات إيران وحروبها، وخنجراً ابليسياً مسمماً ومُسماً لكل ما هو لبنان ولبناني، وأداة أذية وتدمير لكل الدول العربية وشعوبها.

أما الحكام الحاليين في لبنان، ومعهم غالبية الطاقم السياسي، و99% من أصحاب شركات الأحزاب العائلية والتجارية، فهؤلاء مجرد مرتزقة وأدوات ودمى لا أكثر ولا أقل، وإتباع نرسيسيين ومستسلمين وخانعين قبلوا برضاهم بواقع الاحتلال، وبنفوذ المحتل وبفجوره وبسلبطته مقابل السكوت على فسادهم، وبمقابل كراسي ثانوية في سلطة مهمشة، وطمعاً اسخريوتياً بمنافع ذاتية.

هؤلاء الظالمين والمستكبرين، أي المحتل والحكام والمرتزقة يعيشون في انسلاخ تام عن واقع الثورة المستمرة وبتصاعد منذ 50 يوماً.

وعلى خلفية هذا الانسلاخ، قام حزب الله وبناء على فرمان ملزم له من أسياده الملالي، قام باستكبار بتشكل حكومة صورية تابعة له، وذلك لتنفذ دون اعتراض كل رغباته وأوامره، ولتكمل بخنوع كل مهمات الحكومة المستقيلة التي كانت نتاج صفقة خطيئة تم من خلالها مداكشة الكراسي بالسيادة.

اختار الحزب سمير الخطيب التاجر والمتعهد لترأس الحكومة، وهو رجل كما يبين سجل تاريخه جاهل لكل ما هو عمل وطني وسياسي.

على ما يبدو فقد شكل الحزب الحكومة ووزع الحصص على من تنازل له على خلفية الطروادية عن السيادة والاستقلال والقرار مقابل الكراسي.

ومن خلال مسرحية المشاورات التي ستبدأ الإثنين المقبل مع نواب بغالبيتهم قرارهم مصادر، وليس عندهم، سيُسقّط الحزب اسم سمير الخطيب على رئاسة الحكومة التي شكلها، وعملياً إن اكتملت ونالت الثقة ستكون استنساخاً كاملاً لتلك المستقيلة.

عملياً، سعد الحريري كان ولا يزال الشريك الأخطر في خطيئة الصفقة الأولىوكل متفرعاتها، ومعه كل من جعجع وجنبلاط وربع 08 آذار.

سعد الحريري التاجر مستمر في تمرمغه وغرقه بذنوب وخطايا الصفقة، ولهذا تبنى الخطيب وسوف يدعمه ليحافظ على حصصه من الصفقة. وربما هو يناور الآن بالإتفاق مع حزب الله وباسيل ليحرق اسم الخطيب هذا كما حرق غيره وبعد ذلك يعود هو ليشكل الحكومة.

أما غرام وهيام حزب الله بالحريري فحدث ولا حرج.. وهذا أمر طبيعي كون الرجل وعلى خلفية الصفقة الخطيئة ومداكشة الكراسي بالسيادة قد مارس دور الغطاء والمسوّق للحزب، وكذلك الوسيط بينه وبين القوى العربية والغربية بنجاح كبير.

أما حكامنا من المسيحيين تحديداً، ومنهم الرئيس، فهؤلاء للأسف قد وقعوا في تجارب إبليس، وتخلوا عن نعمة الحرية، وعن عطية العماد بالماء والروح القدس، وعادوا طوعاً إلى وضعية الإنسان العتيق، إنسان الخطيئة الأصلية.

في الخلاصة، لا يدوم غير وجه الله، والظلم لا يمكن أن يستمر مهما طال زمنه، وكذلك فإن نهاية كل ظالم ومفتري، وبعد يوم الحساب الأخير، ستكون في لهيب نار جهنم وبأحضان دودها.
ترى من يتعظ ويتوب ويعود إلى رشده وربه قبل فوات الأوان؟

*الكاتب ناشط لبناني اغترابي
عنوان الكاتب الالكتروني
Phoenicia@hotmail.com
رابط موقع الكاتب الالكتروني على الإنترنت
http://www.eliasbejjaninew.com

في أسفل تغريدات جديدة متفرقة

ماري انطوانيت معراب والإنسلاخ عن الواقع وكارثية التصنع
الياس بجاني/04 كانون الأول/2019
مؤتمر ستريدا اليوم عن مهرجان الأرز هو أهانة لعقول اللبنانيين وللثورة بتوقيته وبالمواضيع التي طرحت وبطريقة التصنع والإستكبار بالتقديم.
وين أولوياتها النائبة ووين أولويات الناس.
الظاهر مش عارفي الست في ثورة بلبنان..
مرتا مرتا.. وسلم أولويات مخربط ومقلوب ..
هالست وين والناس وين..
انسلاخ تام عن التطورات في لبنان.
مؤتمر غلط بالمكان الغلط وفكر غلط..ربنا يشفي
السيدة هي من كلن يعني كلن

Madam Geagea is extremely arrogant, pompous and so irritating. Apparently she is totally detached from reality. It seems in her out of touch mind that she is not aware that there is a revolution in Lebanon…Sadly her approach, tone and rhetoric are so disgusting and irritating. She is one of them all who the revolution is calling for their retirement from every thing that is politics

الصهر والإستاذ والحريري وكل الحكام والسياسي هم مجرد أدوات
الياس بجاني/03 كانون الأول/2019
حزب الله يحكُم حُكام البلد ويمسك بقرار تشكيل الحكومة وهو لن يرضخ للثورة دون فرمان ملالوي. جبران وسعد وبري وكل الباقين أدوات وبس.

هل ركبت حكومة الملالي والصهر بالخطيب
الياس بجاني/03 كانون الأول/2019
كلام جبران الملغم وبرمة جنبلاط ع بري والحريري والحكي عن اجتماع الخطيب والحريري ببعبدا ينذر بأن حكومة باسيل ركبت. هل سيقبل الثوار؟

مطلوب رئيس حكومة ادمي ومن الناس ومش من كلن يعني كلن
الياس بجاني/02 كانون الأول/2019
سمير الخطيب صاحب شركات للتعهدات ومتورط في عمليات فساد وإفساد ولهذا رشحوه. هو والحريري والصفدي وميقاتي والسنيورة من خامة واحدة.

The post الياس بجاني: محتل إيراني متجبر وحكام مرتزقة عادوا إلى طبيعة الإنسان العتيق/ماري انطوانيت معراب والإنسلاخ عن الواقع وكارثية التصنع appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

Detailed LCCC English News Bulletin For December 05/2019

Click Here to read the whole and detailed LCCC English News Bulletin for December 05/2019

The post Detailed LCCC English News Bulletin For December 05/2019 appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For December 04- 05/2019 Addressing the On Going Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon in its 49th Day
Compiled By: Elias Bejjani
December 05/2019

Tites For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on December 04-05/2019
Lebanon’s Iranian Cancerous Occupation and The Required Solutions
Man Kills Himself in Latest Suicide Linked to Economic Crisis
Protesters Block Ring Road after Suicide, Overnight Clashes
Protests, Road Blockages after Reported Consensus on PM
Al-Rahi Describes Call for PM Consultations as ‘New Dawn’
Former PMs Denounce ‘Violations’ against Constitution and PM Post, Aoun Replies
Raad Likens Economic Crisis Impact to 2006 Israeli War on Lebanon
US court sentences Hezbollah operative to 40 years in jail
Lebanese Central Bank Instructs Banks to Cap Interest Rates on Deposits
Lebanon to start government formation talks as protests persist
Lebanese banks to cap interest paid on deposits
Aoun calls for binding parliamentary consultations for new PM on Monday
Hariri’s Future party to nominate Khatib as new Lebanese PM: Source
Ex-Lebanese PMs seen dealing blow to chances of govt led by Khatib
Lebanon house speaker said efforts to form govt very positive as of Tuesday: MP Bazzi
Berri: All Parties Have Expressed Readiness to Offer Concessions
Demonstrations, road blocks continue across Lebanon

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on December 04-05/2019
Lebanon’s Iranian Cancerous Occupation and The Required Solutions
سرطان الإحتلال الإيراني للبنان والحلول الدولية المطلوبة
Elias Bejjani/December 03/2019
Lebanon’s current problem is the cancerous Hezbollah’s Iranian Occupation that is systematic, and since 1982 has been covertly and overtly devouring Lebanon and everything that is Lebanese in all domains and on all levels.
The Solution is through the UN declaring Lebanon a rogue-failed country and the strict implementation of the three UN Resolutions addressing Lebanon’s
ongoing dilemma of occupation:
The Armistice agreement
The 1559 UN Resolution
The 1701UN Resolution.
All other approaches, no matter what, will only serve the occupying Mullah’s vicious scheme of destroying Lebanon and strengthening its ironic, terrorist grip on the Lebanese.
All Pro-Lebanon’s Freedom demonstrations in any country in the Diaspora that are carried on by the Lebanese MUST call for this only International solution.
Meanwhile, yes, Lebanon and the Lebanese are facing very serious crises, hardships and problems in all life sectors; e.g., poverty, unemployment, corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering, politicization of the judiciary, electricity shortage, a scandalous disarray in trash collection, lack of health benefits, education, and numerous social services … and the list goes on and on.
BUT, non of these hardships in any way or at any time will be solved as long as the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah remains occupying the country and terrorizing its people. At the same time, the majority of Lebanese officials, politicians and political parties are actually the enemies of both Lebanon and its citizens.
In this context, President Michael Aoun, His son-in-law, the FM, Jobran Bassil, Amin Gymael and his son Sami, PM, Saad Hariri, Druze leader Walid Jumblat, House Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Forces Party leader Samir Geagea, Slieman Frangea and many other politicians, as well
as numerous topnotch clergymen from all denominations are all cut from the same garment of oligarchic, narcissism, trojanism, greed, and feudalism in their mentality and education.
They all, with no sense of patriotism, have succumbed to the Hezbollah’s Iranian savage occupation.
They all and each from his status and based on his capacity and influence, have traded Lebanon’s independence, freedom, decision making process and sovereignty with mere personal power and financial gains.
In reality, they have sold their country to the occupier, Hezbollah, and with no shame have accepted the status of Dhimmitudes, puppets, tools, trumpets, cymbals and mouthpieces for the terrorist occupier. They betrayed, and still betraying, the country and their own people.
In this realm, the Lebanese demonstrators who are loudly shouting the Slogan, “All of them” are 100% right and are righteously witnessing for the truth because all of the above political and official prominent figures are practically mere merchants with numbed consciences.
All Of Them definitely means all of them.
It is worth mentioning that the Lebanese constitution is ideal for the nature of the multi-cultural and multi-religious denominational composition of the mosaic of diversified Lebanese society.
The governing disasters that have been targeting and hitting Lebanon since the early seventies has nothing to do with the great and ideal covenantal (unwritten pact) constitution, but with the foreign occupations and the oligarchic Lebanese corrupted officials and politicians.
My fellow patriotic and God fearing Lebanese from all religious denominations and all walks of life in both Lebanon and the Diaspora, stand tall and steadfast like our cedars. Do not lose faith or give up on hope, and never ever forget that our beloved, country, Lebanon is holy.
Yes, Lebanon is holy and has been blessed by Almighty God since he created man and woman and put them on earth.
Pray for our oppressed and occupied country and that Almighty God shall always guard, protect and defend it through His saints and angels.

Man Kills Himself in Latest Suicide Linked to Economic Crisis
Associated Press/Naharnet/December 04/2019
In a stark reflection of the deepening economic crisis in Lebanon, a man in his 40s shot himself to death Wednesday with a bird rifle when he became despondent over salary cuts in recent weeks, according to his family. The father of 41-year-old Danny Abi Haidar said his son, who worked in a lighting company, spent the day Tuesday warding off creditors, trying to explain that he only received half his salary because of the economic crisis. Many private companies have resorted to reducing staff or slashing their pay to deal with rising inflation and liquidity crunch. Adding to the burden, the son had been supporting his father, his mother and younger brother. The father had lost his job eight months ago and moved in with his older son. On Tuesday, the local supermarket began demanding hundreds of dollars that Abi Haidar, a father of three, owed them. Creditors “called him and he said I only got paid half my salary,” the father, Mohammed Abi Haidar, told The Associated Press. “He said I only have 200,000 liras (barely $100) to spend on my family.” The father, distraught, said he holds senior officials and the protests responsible for his son’s death. “I hold those senior officials responsible; the revolution and everyone, I hold them responsible,” Abi Haidar said. In a statement, Dani’s employer, the Debbas Holding group, said he “continued to receive all his salaries and remunerations despite the difficult economic circumstances,” denying reports claiming that he had been sacked. Protesters meanwhile gathered in central Beirut on Wednesday to mourn Abi Haidar’s death. “How many more suicides do you want?” read one placard raised by a protester. Marwa Saad, a protester who was among hundreds at a rally that blocked a major Beirut intersection, said government officials are wasting time and fail to sense the depth of the public misery. “They are blind and deaf while we burn and kill ourselves. They still don’t feel a thing,” she said, raising a Lebanese flag. The protesters lit candles along the road they blocked. Security forces deployed but didn’t forcefully open the road.

Protesters Block Ring Road after Suicide, Overnight Clashes
Naharnet/December 04/2019
Anti-corruption protesters blocked the vital Ring highway in central Beirut on Wednesday evening, hours after security forces fired tear gas overnight to disperse protesters blocking the same road. Some demonstrators said they came to protest the way they were treated by security forces the night before as others said they were enraged after reports said a 41-year-old man took his own life on Wednesday due to his dire living conditions. Protesters who came from the main protest site in downtown Beirut meanwhile said that they are opposed to the blocking of the road, urging the other protesters to stage a sit-in outside the Interior Ministry. Huge numbers of riot policemen were present on the Ring highway on Wednesday evening. Minor scuffles erupted with the protesters but the demo remained largely peaceful. “How many more people need to commit suicide for them to wake up?” one man told a local television channel, after the second such reported death in four days. Protesters lit candles on the roadside in memory of those who took their lives, apparently crushed by the burden of Lebanon’s spiraling economic crisis. Lea Zeinoun, the director of a non-governmental organization running a suicide prevention hotline, said a person ending their life was chiefly the result of a mental illness. But she said she did fear a rise in cases “especially if the situation in the country doesn’t improve.” “Today we received 15 calls in three hours, while we usually receive 150 on average per month,” she told AFP. The Ring highway has been repeatedly blocked since the eruption of the popular uprising on October 17 and has witnessed many confrontations with security forces and supporters of Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement.

Protests, Road Blockages after Reported Consensus on PM
Naharnet/December 04/2019
Protests and road blockages resumed around various Lebanese regions on Wednesday denouncing reported consensus on businessman Samir Khatib to lead the new government. In the northern city of Tripoli, protests kicked off early on Wednesday where protesters gathered in front of universities, schools, state institutions preventing access for employees, the National News Agency reported. The protesters also gathered in front of the main entrance of Tripoli’s port preventing trucks and employees from access amid heavy deployment of security forces, said NNA. They also prevented access of employees to the central telecommunications offices in Qadisha and the offices of OGERO. NNA said Tripoli’s protesters also blocked the Minieh-Abdeh highway with dirt mounds. In the eastern city of Baalbek, campaigners rallied in front of the central bank chanting slogans in protest at the bank’s policies, said NNA.
In Akkar’s Halba, several roads were blocked with burning tires and metal barriers. Protesters also forced the closure of banks in the city. Moreover, the road in Saadnayl was blocked by protesters and the Lebanese army brought in reinforcements to reopen it. Several protesters were arrested in the process, LBCI said. Demanding an overhaul of the entire political class since October 17, protests showed non abating even after reports emerged on Tuesday that a partial agreement has reportedly been reached on the new prime minister and form of the new government. Outgoing PM Saad Hariri publicly announced Tuesday that he endorses the nomination of the engineer and businessman Samir Khatib for the PM-designate post. Reports said political talks to name a premier-designate have made major progress, amid a reported meeting between Khatib, President Michel Aoun and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil. Over the past weeks, politicians failed to agree on the shape and form of a new government. Hariri had insisted on heading a government of technocrats, while his opponents, including Hizbullah, want a Cabinet made up of both experts and politicians. It was not clear how the protesters who have been demonstrating against widespread corruption and mismanagement in the country would respond to the possible formation of the government. The frustrated protesters have resorted to road closures and other tactics to pressure politicians into responding to their demands for a new government.
They have insisted that a new Cabinet be made up of independent figures that have nothing to do with the ruling elite that have been running the country since the 1975-90 civil war ended. On Tuesday evening, a number of protesters staged a sit-in outside Khatib’s residents in Beirut’s Tallet al-Khayyat area to reject his reported nomination for the PM post.

Al-Rahi Describes Call for PM Consultations as ‘New Dawn’
Naharnet/December 04/2019
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday described the Presidency’s call for binding parliamentary consultations to name a PM-designate as a “new dawn” for Lebanon. “Today I want to talk about a delightful thing and a saddening thing. The delightful development is that the Presidency has announced that the consultations will begin on Monday, and this means that Lebanon will witness a new dawn,” al-Rahi said during a prayer in Bkirki. “The saddening news is that three people have committed suicide over the past days due to financial hardships and it is very agonizing when a person ends their life because they can’t provide money and decent living to their family,” the patriarch added. “Today we pray for the souls of these young men and so that the relevant authorities speed up the formation of the government,” al-Rahi said, cautioning that “this state of recession affects all institutions and leads to laying off citizens from their jobs.”

Former PMs Denounce ‘Violations’ against Constitution and PM Post, Aoun Replies
Naharnet/December 04/2019
Three former prime ministers on Wednesday denounced “gross jurisdiction violations” of the constitution, that drew a prompt reply from President of the Republic, and indirectly criticized a leading candidate to lead the new Lebanese government, Samir Khatib, without naming him.
“Any candidate for premiership who agrees to engage in (parliamentary) consultations on the form of the government and its members prior to his official designation to form a government, contributes to violating the constitution and weakening the position of the prime minister,” said ex-PMs Najib Miqati, Fouad Saniora and Tammam Salam in a joint statement. The statement added: “Ex-PMs are appalled by the blatant violation of the Taef Accord, the Constitution and the jurisdictions of lawmakers and PM-designate, through parliamentary consultations binding for the President to conduct.”
“Anticipating the parliamentary consultations and innovating a leading candidate for the premiership, was what President Michel Aoun and caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil have done, as announced by Bassil himself,” added the statement. Khatib, the head of a major contracting and construction company, was recently nominated for the post of premiership to succeed Hariri. Hariri resigned on October 29 bowing to the demands of people and anti-government protests sweeping the nation since October 17. Media office of the Presidency immediately replied to the ex-Premiers’ statement stressing that the President “did not violate the Constitution and Taef.”“Consultations conducted by President of the Republic do not violate the Constitution, or Taef Accord. The Constitution does not specify a timeframe to complete the binding parliamentary consultations, nor does it set a timeframe for the PM-designate to form a government,” said the Presidency on Twitter.

Raad Likens Economic Crisis Impact to 2006 Israeli War on Lebanon
Naharnet/December 04/2019
Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad likened the lingering economic crisis in Lebanon to the Israeli-Hizbullah war back in 2006, urging people to support each other in times of crises. “We are about to confront in this aspect of soft war what is equivalent to the July war in 2006. Notice how big the matter is with its objectives, goals and results, but we will win just like we won in that war,” said Raad. Hizbullah MP added that “the economic situation is bitter today,” urging people to offer assistance and help the less fortunate ones if the crisis prolongs further. “We have to act as one, we must cooperate and heal the wounds.” After years of political turmoil, the Lebanese economy is in a sharp downturn as banks have restricted access to dollars while prices have risen. Amid the crisis, thousands of Lebanese say their jobs are under threat.

US court sentences Hezbollah operative to 40 years in jail
AFP/Wednesday, 4 December 2019
An American of Lebanese descent was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Tuesday for buying weapons and plotting attacks on behalf of the Lebanese Hezbollah organization.. Ali Kourani, 34, was found guilty in May of gathering intelligence on potential attack targets, including New York’s JFK International Airport and a federal building in Manhattan. A federal court in America’s financial capital convicted him of eight allegations including conspiracy to use weapons in a violent crime. Geoffrey Berman, attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the lengthy sentence sent an important message to Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist organization. “If you are caught planning harm against this City and its residents, you will face justice and be held accountable,” he said in a statement. Born in Lebanon but naturalized by the United States in 2009, Kourani attended several Hezbollah training camps in his country of birth and took orders from agents of the Iran-backed organization after his 2003 arrival in the United States. Hezbollah was created by Iran in the early 1980s and has fought Israel for decades. The group has been blamed for attacks in France, Lebanon, and Bulgaria, among others.

Lebanese Central Bank Instructs Banks to Cap Interest Rates on Deposits
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 December, 2019
Lebanon’s central bank told commercial banks on Wednesday to cap their interest rates on deposits in foreign currencies at 5% and to cap the rate on Lebanese pound deposits at 8.5%. The central bank also said it would pay interest due on US dollars deposited with it by Lebanese banks half in US dollars and half in Lebanese pounds as an exceptional measure. It said the same applied to US dollar certificates of deposit issued by the central bank. In a circular seen by Reuters, it said the cap on interest rates would apply to all new deposits and those renewed from December 4. It said banks should pay interest on foreign currency deposits half in the currency of the account and half in Lebanese pounds. The measures would be valid for six months, it said. All deposits made before December 5 would remain subject to the agreement between the bank and the customer, it said. The central bank circular said the decisions aimed to “preserve the public interest amid the exceptional circumstances that the country is presently going through and to safeguard the interests of depositors by not decreasing their bank deposits”.

Lebanon to start government formation talks as protests persist
Demonstrators reject latest frontrunner for PM, businessman Samir Khatib, as being too close to ruling elite.
Consultations to form a new government in Lebanon will formally begin on Monday, the presidency has announced, more than a month after a wave of protests led the prime minister, Saad Hariri, to resign. “The presidency has set Monday as the date for the parliamentary consultations” for the designation of a new prime minister, the presidency announced in a short statement on social media on Wednesday. Despite continued pressure from a nationwide protest movement to radically overhaul the political system, President Michel Aoun had so far stopped short of announcing formal talks to agree on a new lineup.
He and several key partners in the fractious outgoing governing coalition had apparently insisted on reaching a deal before announcing the start of formal talks with Lebanon’s parliamentary blocs. Hariri announced his resignation on October 29, nearly two weeks into an unprecedented nationwide protest movement that has been demanding an end to corruption and sectarian-based politics. Several names have surfaced since, each time prompting the scorn or the anger of the protest camp, which has accused the ruling elite of using stalling tactics to cling to their jobs.
In recent weeks, politicians failed to agree on the shape and form of a new government. Hariri had insisted on heading a government of technocrats, while his opponents, including Hezbollah, want a cabinet made up of both experts and politicians.
The latest frontrunner to lead the new government is Samir Khatib, a businessman who is less widely known than most former prime ministers and has no experience in politics.
Hariri, a Sunni politician, said on Tuesday he supports Khatib’s nomination to become the next prime minister, a move that will likely pave the way for the formation of a new cabinet amid a severe economic and financial crisis. “There are still some details and God willing something good” will happen, Hariri said, speaking to reporters on Tuesday night. “Everyone is trying to get through this difficult period.” Politicians from the Future Movement, which is headed by Sunni leader Hariri, as well as powerful Shiite groups Hezbollah and Amal, are all expected to back him at the consultations, sources familiar with their positions said. The support of Lebanon’s main Sunni and Shia Muslim political forces would make Khatib the frontrunner in leading the small Mediterranean country, which faces its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. ‘We will not accept this’ The news of the possible nomination of Khatib, the head of a large contracting and construction company, sparked spontaneous demonstrations as protesters perceive him as being too close to the ruling elite.
Protesters demand the wholesale removal of the current political class and have insisted on a government dominated by technocrats. Marching in the middle of traffic with a dozen other protesters on Wednesday evening, Fadi Hamdan, 27, said the latest name being circulated would not do. “This person for us represents the corrupt authorities,” the unemployed pilot told AFP News Agency. “They can’t lie to us and say he’s independent,” he said. On Tuesday evening, hundreds blocked a strategic intersection in Beirut, known as the Ring Road, chanting against Khatib.
Security forces tried to prevent the protesters from blocking the road that links east to west Beirut, and after a warning, used tear gas to disperse them. “We will not accept this as people, and we will not accept this as revolutionaries, because we know that we are heading toward the abyss with this government,” Elie Kayrouz, an anti-government protester at the Ring Road, told the Associated Press News Agency, describing Khatib and other names leaked to the media who may form the new cabinet as connected to the outgoing one. The protests, which kicked off on October 17 over a proposed tax on WhatsApp calls, have brought the country to a standstill and its economy has continued to slide in recent weeks.
Outcry after suicides
Even as Aoun announced the beginning of consultations, hundreds of protesters were gathering in central Beirut for a previously planned rally to block the main highway. They chanted in the middle of the highway after local media earlier in the day reported a father of three in his early 40s had shot himself dead over mounting debt. “How many more people need to commit suicide for them to wake up?” one man told a local television channel, after the second such reported death in four days. Protesters lit candles on the roadside in memory of those who took their lives, apparently crushed by the burden of Lebanon’s spiralling economic crisis. The Lebanese pound has lost up to 30 percent of its value on the black market and many economic analysts now predict

Lebanese banks to cap interest paid on deposits
Reuters/December 04/2019
Half of the interest on US dollar accounts with Lebanon’s central bank will also be paid in Lebanese pounds.
Lebanese banks will impose new caps on interest rates on deposits and pay savers half the interest due on foreign currency holdings in Lebanese pounds, the central bank said on Wednesday, noting these moves were aimed at protecting deposits. In a circular noting “exceptional circumstances” in Lebanon, which is in a deep economic crisis, the central bank also said it would be using local currency to pay half the interest due on United States dollars deposited with it by Lebanese banks. Economists said the decisions are aimed at easing pressure on foreign currency reserves and helping the economy by lowering borrowers’ interest rates, which have crept higher as Lebanon sought to revive capital flows from abroad. Banks have been imposing tight controls on access to hard currency and transfers abroad for more than a month, fearing capital flight as Lebanon wrestles with the worst economic crisis since its 1975-90 civil war. “Since you have capital controls, why not reduce the interest rates so the economy can benefit because the rates on loans from banks have increased to very high levels?” asked Marwan Mikhael, head of research at Blominvest Bank.
The central bank circular said the decisions aimed to “preserve the public interest amid the exceptional circumstances that the country is presently going through and to safeguard the interests of depositors by not decreasing their bank deposits”. It said interest rates on deposits in foreign currencies should be capped at five percent and the rate on Lebanese pound deposits capped at 8.5 percent. Interest due on US dollars deposited with the central bank by Lebanese banks would be paid half in US dollars and half in Lebanese pounds as an exceptional measure, the central bank said. The same applied to US dollar certificates of deposit issued by the central bank. The cap on interest rates would apply to all new deposits and those renewed from December 4 onward. The central bank said banks should pay interest on foreign currency deposits half in the currency of the account and half in Lebanese pounds.
The measures would be valid for six months, the central bank added. All deposits made before December 5 would remain subject to the agreement between the bank and the customer, it said. The International Monetary Fund said in a report issued in October that the US dollar reference lending rates in Lebanon had risen from around seven percent in early 2018 to 9.7 percent in June 2019, which had in turn translated into higher Lebanese pound lending rates.

Aoun calls for binding parliamentary consultations for new PM on Monday
Tommy Hilton, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun called on Wednesday for binding parliamentary consultations to designate a new prime minister to take place on Monday. Lebanon has been in political deadlock since Saad Hariri resigned as prime minister in late October. On Wednesday, three former prime ministers criticized the current process of government formation, a move which was widely interpreted as a blow for moves to appoint Samir Khatib as Hariri’s replacement. Hariri had endorsed Khatib as candidate for prime minister. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nabih Berri was reported as saying that the process of forming a new government was going well. Aoun’s announcement comes against continued protests in the country, with several roads blocked on Wednesday. Demonstrators have criticized the entire political class for alleged corruption and called for a government of politically independent specialists to host new elections. Aoun had previously called for consultations late last month, but then announced they would be delayed.

Hariri’s Future party to nominate Khatib as new Lebanese PM: Source
Reuters/Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Lawmakers with the Future Movement led by Saad Hariri will nominate businessman Samir Khatib to be Lebanon’s new prime minister in formal consultations on Monday, a source familiar with Future’s position told Reuters.
A source familiar with the position of the Shia groups Hezbollah and Amal said they would also nominate Khatib for the post, which must go to a Sunni Muslim according to Lebanon’s sectarian system of government. The support of Lebanon’s main Sunni and Shia Muslim political forces would make Khatib the frontrunner to lead the new government that will face the worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

Ex-Lebanese PMs seen dealing blow to chances of govt led by Khatib
Reuters, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Any candidate for the post of Lebanese prime minister who engages in talks over the make-up of the cabinet before being formally designated premier is violating the constitution, three former prime ministers said. The statement on Wednesday from former prime ministers Fouad Siniora, Tamman Salam and Najib Mikati was seen as a blow to efforts underway to form a new government led by Sunni businessman Samir Khatib. Later in the day, Siniora told Al Arabiya that there is a denial of what is happening in Lebanon, and suggested that young people across sectarian lines were speaking up. He continued by calling for return to the text of the Lebanese constitution to overcome obstacles to the formation of a government. The post of prime minister is reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon’s sectarian sytem of government. Statements from Lebanese politicians on Tuesday had appeared to signal progress towards agreeing a new government led by Khatib, though a deal had yet to be done. Lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis since its 1975-90 civil war. Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Tuesday he backed Khatib for the post but added that “some details” still had to be hashed out. He said his party would only name technocrats as ministers.

Lebanon house speaker said efforts to form govt very positive as of Tuesday: MP Bazzi
Reuters, Beirut/Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Lebanon’s House Speaker Nabih Berri said that efforts to form a new government had been very positive as of Tuesday evening, according to MP Ali Bazzi speaking on Wednesday.Talks aimed at naming a new prime minister appeared to receive a blow on Wednesday after three former prime ministers issued a statement criticizing the process so far as violating the constitution.

Berri: All Parties Have Expressed Readiness to Offer Concessions
Naharnet/December 04/2019
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday said “things are very positive” regarding the political talks to name a PM-designate, noting that “all parties have expressed readiness to offer concessions.” “No one should evade responsibility amid the financial and economic crises that we are going through,” Berri told MPs during the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting, stressing the need to “bolster national partnership to face the pressing challenges whose flames are burning the Lebanese.” Berri’s political aide Ali Hassan Khalil and Hussein Khalil, the political assistant of Hizbullah’s secretary general, had held talks overnight with caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who reportedly told them that he endorses the nomination of the contractor Samir Khatib for the PM post.

Demonstrations, road blocks continue across Lebanon
Joanne Serrieh, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Protesters continued to block roads using tyres and vehicles across cities in Lebanon on Wednesday, while many staged a sit-in in front of the Central Bank of Lebanon in Baalbek, east of Beirut, the National News Agency reported. This comes after a night of clashes between protesters and anti-riot police where tear gas was used to disperse the demonstrators blocking the Ring Bridge in the capital Beirut. Meanwhile, in Tripoli, protesters gathered in front of universities, schools and public institutions, blocking students and employees from reaching amid tight security measures. The NNA also reported that protesters set fire to tyres, blocking roads in the eastern city of Zahle. In Sidon, protesters put signs on bank buildings saying, “Down with the banks’ rule.”Protestors have been taking to the streets of Lebanon since October and are fueled by deep resentment for a ruling class seen as mired in corruption, which drove the economy into crisis. Lebanese banks recently imposed new curbs on access to cash, fueling depositor worries over their savings despite government assurances they are safe. The banks have tightened limits on withdrawing US dollars and blocked nearly all transfers abroad amid worries about a capital flight and political gridlock over forming a new government. Lebanese politicians signaled progress on Tuesday towards agreeing a new government to tackle the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, though a deal had yet to be done.- With agencies

Titles For The Latest Lebanese LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 04-05/2019
Lebanon’s Iranian Cancerous Occupation and The Required Solutions/Elias Bejjani/December 03/2019
Death of Naji Fleity shows just how Lebanon has failed its poor/National Editorial/December 04/2019
Lebanon’s Hezbollah Joins Search for New Iraq PM as UN Slams Protest Violence/Hamza Mustafa and Ali Barada//Asharq Al-Awsat/December 04/2019
And They Tell You: Why Gebran Bassil and the Aounists?/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 04/2019

The Latest Lebanese LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 04-05/2019
Lebanon’s Iranian Cancerous Occupation and The Required Solutions 
 Elias Bejjani/December 03/2019
 Lebanon’s current problem is the cancerous Hezbollah’s Iranian Occupation that is systematic, and since 1982 has been covertly and overtly devouring Lebanon and everything that is Lebanese in all domains and on all levels.
 The Solution is through the UN declaring Lebanon a rogue-failed country and the strict implementation of the three UN Resolutions addressing Lebanon’s
 ongoing dilemma of occupation:
 The Armistice agreement
 The 1559 UN Resolution
 The 1701UN Resolution.
 All other approaches, no matter what, will only serve the occupying Mullah’s vicious scheme of destroying Lebanon and strengthening its ironic, terrorist grip on the Lebanese.
 All Pro-Lebanon’s Freedom demonstrations in any country in the Diaspora that are carried on by the Lebanese MUST call for this only International solution.
 Meanwhile, yes, Lebanon and the Lebanese are facing very serious crises, hardships and problems in all life sectors; e.g., poverty, unemployment, corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering, politicization of the judiciary, electricity shortage, a scandalous disarray in trash collection, lack of health benefits, education, and numerous social services … and the list goes on and on.
 BUT, non of these hardships in any way or at any time will be solved as long as the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah remains occupying the country and terrorizing its people. At the same time, the majority of Lebanese officials, politicians and political parties are actually the enemies of both Lebanon and its citizens.
 In this context, President Michael Aoun, His son-in-law, the FM, Jobran Bassil, Amin Gymael and his son Sami, PM, Saad Hariri, Druze leader Walid Jumblat, House Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Forces Party leader Samir Geagea, Slieman Frangea and many other politicians, as well
 as numerous topnotch clergymen from all denominations are all cut from the same garment of oligarchic, narcissism, trojanism, greed, and feudalism in their mentality and education.
 They all, with no sense of patriotism, have succumbed to the Hezbollah’s Iranian savage occupation.
 They all and each from his status and based on his capacity and influence, have traded Lebanon’s independence, freedom, decision making process and sovereignty with mere personal power and financial gains.
 In reality, they have sold their country to the occupier, Hezbollah, and with no shame have accepted the status of Dhimmitudes, puppets, tools, trumpets, cymbals and mouthpieces for the terrorist occupier. They betrayed, and still betraying, the country and their own people.
 In this realm, the Lebanese demonstrators who are loudly shouting the Slogan, “All of them” are 100% right and are righteously witnessing for the truth because all of the above political and official prominent figures are practically mere merchants with numbed consciences.
 All Of Them definitely means all of them.
 It is worth mentioning that the Lebanese constitution is ideal for the nature of the multi-cultural and multi-religious denominational composition of the mosaic of diversified Lebanese society.
 The governing disasters that have been targeting and hitting Lebanon since the early seventies has nothing to do with the great and ideal covenantal (unwritten pact) constitution, but with the foreign occupations and the oligarchic Lebanese corrupted officials and politicians.
 My fellow patriotic and God fearing Lebanese from all religious denominations and all walks of life in both Lebanon and the Diaspora, stand tall and steadfast like our cedars. Do not lose faith or give up on hope, and never ever forget that our beloved, country, Lebanon is holy.
 Yes, Lebanon is holy and has been blessed by Almighty God since he created man and woman and put them on earth.
 Pray for our oppressed and occupied country and that Almighty God shall always guard, protect and defend it through His saints and angels.

Death of Naji Fleity shows just how Lebanon has failed its poor
National Editorial/December 04/2019
In Lebanon’s impoverished town of Arsal, two little children have lost their father – not to illness or accident but poverty. After he lost his job at a stone quarry, 40-year-old Naji Fleity was struggling to pay back his debts. On Sunday, he was unable to give his hungry daughter a mere 1,000 Lebanese pounds (roughly Dh2) so that she could buy herself a manoushe, a popular breakfast dish in Lebanon. He took his own life that same day. The fact that someone died for lack of Dh2 is proof that poverty kills and that the Lebanese state, which is supposed to care for its most vulnerable citizens, has failed in its role to protect the needy. It has in fact, consolidated a political system that has thrived off economic mismanagement and corruption, costing the country’s poor their lives.
Mr Fleity was a family man, kind enough to leave his job in the army six years ago in order to care for his ill wife. He was a veteran, a man who had worked to defend Lebanon. Yet society failed to help him feed his children. No one should have to die because they cannot pay for life’s basic necessities.
And the injustice that has been done to Mr Fleity is far from being an isolated incident. In February, Georges Zreik, another Lebanese citizen in need, self-immolated in front of his daughter’s school in the northern town of Koura, in protest against the tuition fees he could not afford.
Mr Fleity’s tragic story has become emblematic of Lebanon’s troubles and its ongoing uprising, driven widely by economic strife and lack of job opportunities.
News of his death went viral on social media, with many Lebanese expressing compassion for Mr Fleity and anger at a system that let such injustice take place. Some are even referring to him as a “martyr of the revolution”, in reference to the Lebanese uprising.
For the past two months, Lebanon’s people of all sects and backgrounds have joined forces in protest against the political class. Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government resigned after two weeks of intense demonstrations, as Mr Hariri expressed his own disdain for the dysfunction of the political system. Since then, the country’s financial crisis has intensified, with the pound losing half of its value against the US dollar on the black market. Protesters blame a corrupt sectarian system for looting the state and failing to solve the country’s economic woes, after years of a widening wealth gap between the rich and poor. According to the United Nations Development Programme, close to a third of all Lebanese live on less than 10 dollars per day. That number has remained virtually unchanged for more than a decade.
Mr Fleity’s death is only a drop in a sea of economic despair. Many more Lebanese are in need of money and job opportunities, despite possessing skills and talents that should allow them to make a decent living, and provide for their children. Protesters are now asking for a government of technocrats to be put in place. But President Michel Aoun, who is allied with the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah, has stopped short of naming a successor for Mr Hariri, as traditional parties refuse to give up their power. It is time for the people’s demand to be taken seriously. Lebanese lives depend on it and, as the economic situation deteriorates, every single day counts. When Mr Zreik died nearly a year ago, Lebanon’s political elite did not take stock of this tragedy and this week another man lost his life to poverty. This is no time for self-serving political bickering. The people of Lebanon deserve leaders who will put their own wellbeing above political interests before more lives are lost.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah Joins Search for New Iraq PM as UN Slams Protest Violence
Hamza Mustafa and Ali Barada//Asharq Al-Awsat/December 04/2019
Lebanon’s Hezbollah party has joined the search for a new Iraqi prime minister following the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi last week.
An Iraqi informed source revealed on Tuesday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Hezbollah official, responsible about the Iraqi file, Mohammad Kawtharany have joined negotiations to find Abdul Mahdi’s replacement.
“Soleimani is in Baghdad to push for a particular candidate to succeed Abdel Mahdi,” the source told Agence France Press, without providing details.
Kawtharany, who is Hezbollah’s pointman on Iraq, “is also playing a large role in persuading Shiite and Sunni political forces on this,” the source added.
Meanwhile, in New York, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said Iraq is at a crossroads that cannot be resolved by “buying time with band-aid solutions and coercive measures.”
In a briefing to the Security Council, she stressed that without full accountability and justice, “it will be nearly impossible to convince the people that political leaders are sincerely willing to engage in substantial.”
She called on Iraqis to build a sovereign, stable, inclusive and prosperous country: “Now is the time to act. The great hopes of so many Iraqis call for bold, forward thinking,” she said.
Hennis-Plasschaert emphasized that while talks about the Prime Minister-designate are ongoing between political leaders, there is urgency of current circumstances. “Political leaders do not have the luxury of time and must rise to the moment,” she explained.
The UN official said “the harsh reality” is that live fire, tear gas and unlawful arrests and detentions persist, “as do abductions, threats and intimidation.”
Noting that most protesters are peacefully seeking a better life, the Special Representative stressed that “it is the primary responsibility of the State to protect its people”, spelling out that all forms of violence are intolerable and must not distract from “the rightful demands for reform”.
Protests in Iraq erupted two months ago over rampant corruption, lack of jobs and poor public services. Despite the oil wealth of OPEC’s second-biggest producer, one in five Iraqis lives in poverty and youth unemployment stands at one-quarter, the World Bank says.
Abdul Mahdi is the first premier to step down since Iraq installed a parliamentary system after Saddam Hussein’s overthrow in 2003.

And They Tell You: Why Gebran Bassil and the Aounists?
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 04/2019
It is difficult to separate the parts that integrate to eventually perform one action. But within the limits of separation, the parties to the Lebanese ordeal may be coded as follows: banks are the biggest looters, Hezbollah is the most repressive, and Gebran Bassil and the Aounist movement are the best to represent wicked politics and bad values.
Bassil’s Aounist movement, and the movement in general, is similar to those novels with many beginnings. But each of these beginnings strikes the other. Let’s go back to the party’s history:
The “war of liberation” against the Syrian army in March 1989 required at least an invitation for unity among the Lebanese, beginning with the Christians. On the contrary, the war was accompanied by unprecedented shelling of Muslim-populated areas, and then “complimented” by the “war of abolition” against the Lebanese Forces. There was a 10-month difference between the first war and the second. The French exile was also a founding beginning of Aoun’s emerging leadership. That beginning paved the way for positions and alliances with the more radical American and Western adversaries of Syria and Assad.
At the beginning of 2006, white turned black: the “Mar Mikhael Understanding” was signed, which associated the Aounist movement to Hezbollah, and then to Syria. It happened a year after the series of assassinations that started with the killing of Rafik Hariri.
In the summer of 2001, from his French exile, Michel Aoun called on his supporters to demonstrate in solidarity with members of the Lebanese army, who stood by him in wartime and were then unfairly tried.
The partisans’ sit-in was instrumental to the open public presence of the Aounists, especially after being ferociously suppressed. Fighters and cadres, who were screened by that experience, became in their majority outside the Aounist stream. The Aounists introduced into the Lebanese political language issues of corruption and traditional ways of exercising power. It is another beginning. But as the son-in-law of the leader and the subsequent president, Gebran Bassil became the man who delayed the formation of governments just to secure himself a decent government post.
He also became president of the Free Patriotic Movement and head of its parliamentary bloc. Today, amid fateful concerns, rumor has it that Bassil is the one forming the government, keeping for himself the ministry of Interior! Corruption is therefore just a tool of revenge.
The Aounists have resorted in all their political propaganda to the expression of “power”: they promised to make the Republic “strong” and the State “prestigious”. The opposite happened. In response, they said that the Taif Agreement prevented them from achieving their promises. They believed their pretext and were happy with it.
They talk a lot about secularism and poison space with sectarianism. Their wisdom: Secularism now; otherwise a maximum degree of sectarianism.
A catalog of contradictions… When Michel Aoun became president in 2016, he himself became a reflection of the rule and a mirror of its eagerness. On the other hand, one should acknowledge that these contradictions did not fall out of nowhere. The most important element that intervened in their elaboration was the “quartet alliance”, which was forged shortly after the Syrian withdrawal and before the 2005 elections. Back then, the Christians felt that they would be always deceived with or without the Syrian army. They believed that this was the will of the Lebanese Muslims.
This thinking widened the popularity of the Aounists as much as it made Aounism a frustrating movement. Since then, until the presidential elections in 2016, the party has only moved with the power of the triangular hatred towards the Lebanese Forces, the Sunnis, and the Druze.
It is, therefore, a policy of hatred. Exhuming past disputes with intensity, persistence, and stubbornness. It was the mentality of the civil war that led them to ally with Hezbollah and Damascus.
But the most dangerous thing about Aounism is precisely its past. Here, most likely, we fall on the fuller interpretation of the dilemma posed by Bassil’s followers in the form of an innocent and sacrificing question: “Why were we targeted by the revolution with insults, while we were not the rulers of the country and its economic policymakers in the last 30 years?”
Let us try to visualize the image of Aounism and Gibran Bassil in the eyes of the young men and women of the revolution: let’s imagine, for example, young men or women, in their twenties, aspiring to live in a modern, democratic, and secular country. Let us imagine them watching the political rise of Bassil, just because he is the “president’s son-in-law” and the way he exercises his royal power within his party… Let us imagine that all what they hear from him or from his political environment is warnings against jeopardizing the “rights of Christians”, calls for the “restoration” of their quotas, positions against hiring Muslims in Christian areas, and daily incitement against refugees and foreigners…Such a scene is more than enough for the aspirants to another future to cast the image of the enemy on Bassil and his movement. These young people, who are the best among us, find in him and his movement only the worst in us. They find in him the most aggressive voice and the bluntest attitude. Are they to be blamed for the insults?

The post A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For December 04- 05/2019 Addressing the On Going Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon in its 49th Day appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

نشرة أخبار المنسقية العامة للمؤسسات اللبنانية الكندية باللغة العربية ليوم 05 كانون الأول/2019

اضغط هنا لقراءة نشرة أخبار المنسقية العامة المفصلة، اللبنانية والعربية ليوم 05 كانون الأول/2019

ارشيف نشرات أخبار موقعنا اليومية/عربية وانكليزية منذ العام 2006/اضغط هنا لدخول صفحة الأرشيف

عناوين أقسام نشرة المنسقية باللغة العربية
الزوادة الإيمانية لليوم
تعليقات الياس بجاني وخلفياتها
الأخبار اللبنانية
المتفرقات اللبنانية
الأخبار الإقليمية والدولية
المقالات والتعليقات والتحاليل السياسية الشاملة
المؤتمرات والندوات والبيانات والمقابلات والمناسبات الخاصة والردود وغيره

The post نشرة أخبار المنسقية العامة للمؤسسات اللبنانية الكندية باللغة العربية ليوم 05 كانون الأول/2019 appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

*سمير الخطيب وشركة خطيب وعلمي: تاريخ حافل بـ”الإكراميات”
*لدى سمير الخطيب المرشّح لرئاسة “حكومة الإنقاذ والثورة ومكافحة الفساد” وجه آخر يخفي سوء إدارة وشبهات فساد واعتماد طرق ملتوية للفوز بمشاريع هندسية، في شركته الناجحة “خطيب وعلمي”، أقله في لبنان.
*لدى شركة خطيب وعلمي تاريخ حافل مع مجلس الإنماء والإعمار، وأحد وزراء الأشغال والنقل العام. تاريخ من “الإكراميات” والإغراءات المادية في سبيل الفوز بعقود وتعهدات، لتنفيذ مشاريع هندسية في لبنان، غالباً ما تكون خارج إطار المناقصات.
عزة الحاج حسن/المدن/05 كانون الأول/2019
يدير رئيس الحكومة “المُحتمل” سمير الخطيب إحدى إمبراطوريات الأعمال والهندسة في لبنان والشرق الأوسط، شركة “خطيب وعلمي”.
نجح بتوسيع أعمالها وباستحواذها على مشاريع ضخمة بمنتهى الحرفية.
لكن لدى سمير الخطيب المرشّح لرئاسة “حكومة الإنقاذ والثورة ومكافحة الفساد” وجه آخر يخفي سوء إدارة وشبهات فساد واعتماد طرق ملتوية للفوز بمشاريع هندسية، في شركته الناجحة “خطيب وعلمي”، أقله في لبنان.
من هي خطيب وعلمي
شركة خطيب وعلمي هي شركة هندسية عالمية تعمل في مجال الاستشارات والتصميمات الهندسية وإدارة المشروعات، ووفق موقع ويكيبيديا، فهي مصنفة رقم 40 على مستوى العالم طبقاً لإحصائيات عام 2017. في العام 1959 وضع منير خطيب الأساس لشركة هندسية في بيروت باسم شركة منير خطيب وشركاه، والتي تم تغيير اسمها في العام 1964 إلى شركة خطيب وعلمي بعد الشراكة التي تمت مع زهير علمي، وحالياً يبلغ عدد فروع الشركة 32 مكتباً خارجياً على مستوى العالم بعدد موظفين يتجاوز 5000 موظف. لدى الشركة العديد من المشاريع العملاقة التي نفذتها من فنادق وتخطيط مدن وبنى تحتية ومتاحف على مستوى العالم. وفازت الشركة بالعديد من الجوائز العالمية لمشاريعها.
ولكن..
لدى شركة خطيب وعلمي تاريخ حافل مع مجلس الإنماء والإعمار، وأحد وزراء الأشغال والنقل العام. تاريخ من “الإكراميات” والإغراءات المادية في سبيل الفوز بعقود وتعهدات، لتنفيذ مشاريع هندسية في لبنان، غالباً ما تكون خارج إطار المناقصات.
حتى أن الشركة كانت، وفق مصدر موثوق لـ”المدن”، تخصص مدخولاً شبه ثابت لنجل أحد وزراء الأشغال.
وكان الأخير يتردّد إلى مكاتب إدارة الشركة قبل توقيع أي عقد لصالح وزارة الأشغال.
أضف إلى أن شركة “خطيب وعلمي” دخلت عبر تقديم الخدمات الهندسية إلى عالم قطاع الكهرباء في لبنان، من خلال شركة “KVA”، التي شابت أعمالها كما باقي شركات مقدمي الخدمات، العديد من المخالفات، وتورطت بعمليات صرف جماعي لعمال من دون سداد مستحقاتهم.
كما أن الشركة متهمة بتلزيمات في الطاقة وفي شبكة الألياف البصرية (fiber optic) من دون مناقصات.
ومن بين أبرز المشاريع التي فاحت منها رائحة الفساد، مشروع تشييد مدخل منطقة الشوف. إذ تقدّمت الشركة بدراسة للمشروع قدّرت قيمته بنحو 32 مليون دولار، قبل أن يتبيّن أن تكلفة المشروع لا تزيد عن 10 ملايين دولار، خلال استدراج العروض واستبعاد شركة خطيب وعلمي.
ويُسجل على الشركة استحواذها على عشرات المشاريع بمليارات الليرات “خلسة” وعن طريق التراضي.
سوء إدارة
تواجه شركة الاتحاد الهندسي “خطيب وعلمي” في السنوات القليلة الماضية أزمة مالية لا ترتبط بالأزمة الاقتصادية في لبنان وحسب، بل بالأزمة في السعودية أيضاً، وهو ما عرضته “المدن” في وقت سابق.
فالشركة تعاني من نقص سيولة ناجم عن تأخر أصحاب المشاريع، ومن بينهم الدولة اللبنانية، بسداد مستحقاتها من مشاريع قامت بتنفيذها.
وللمرة الأولى بتاريخ شركة خطيب وعلمي، يحدث تأخير في سداد الرواتب. وهو مؤشر مقلق بالنسبة إلى شركة بحجم “خطيب وعلمي”.
الأزمة المالية دفعت بالشركة إلى البحث عن طرق لتقليص النفقات. فاتجهت إلى مكاتبها في مصر، حيث عمدت إلى تحضير مشاريع هندسية من قبل مهندسين مصريين، وإحضارها إلى مكاتب بيروت لوضعها موضع التنفيذ. والسبب هو فارق التكلفة بين البلدين. إذ تفوق تكلفة المشاريع الهندسية في مكتب بيروت نحو 40 في المئة عن تلك المُعدّة في مصر.
من هنا، قررت الشركة خفض تكاليف تحضير المشاريع عبر الإستعانة بمهندسين مصريين وعرب، وإن كانت تعتبر، وفق أحد الإداريين في الشركة، أن المشاريع المُعدة في مصر أقل جودة من تلك المُعدة في مكاتب بيروت.
الأزمة المالية لا تُعيب تاريخ شركة خطيب وعلمي، إنما ما يعيبها ويُعيب إدارتها أنها تعمد، وفي ظل الأزمة المالية، إلى استقدام مهندسين أميركيين برواتب خيالية تصل إلى 15 ألف دولار مع امتيازات عالية جداً، من بينها شقق سكنية مستأجرة في وسط بيروت، وسيارات فخمة.
وكل ذلك، وفق المصدر، بذريعة الاستعانة بخبرات عالية، علماً أن كبرى المشاريع ينفّذها مهندسون لبنانيون يفوقون نظراءهم الأجانب خبرة وكفاءة. وليست المرة الأولى التي يتردّد فيها بكواليس الإدارات والمشاريع في لبنان والسعودية عن كفاءة ومهنية مهندسي شركة خطيب وعلمي في مقابل فساد إدارتها وبعض مديريها.

The post عزة الحاج حسن: سمير الخطيب وشركة خطيب وعلمي تاريخ حافل بالإكراميات/لدى سمير الخطيب المرشّح لرئاسة حكومة الإنقاذ والثورة ومكافحة الفساد وجه آخر يخفي سوء إدارة وشبهات فساد واعتماد طرق ملتوية للفوز بمشاريع هندسية، في شركته الناجحة أقله في لبنان appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

حزب الله يستجدي الخارج لحماية سلطة الفساد
علي الأمين/العرب/05 كانون الأول/2019

حزب الله يتفادى عملية الإصلاح ووقف الفساد والهدر ويستجدي عونا خارجيا، لأنه يدرك أن وقف الفساد والهدر هو نهاية سلطته التي ترتكز على معادلة قوامها الولاء لحزب الله مقابل إطلاق يد الفساد لمواليه وحمايتهم.

الولاء مقابل الفساد
بعد شهر ونصف على انطلاقة الانتفاضة اللبنانية، تبدو السلطة المستحكمة في لبنان أمام خيار وحيد لإعادة إنتاج السلطة نفسها، هذا الخيار هو الخارج بكل ما تعنيه الكلمة من معنى، أي القوى الإقليمية والدولية المؤثرة، وليس الشعب اللبناني الذي يمارس فعل فضح السلطة، وتعريتها من خلال إصراره على مطالب الانتفاضة الواضحة والمُعلنة، تشكيل حكومة إنقاذية من المستقلين تمهّد لانتخابات نيابية مبكّرة.

السلطة هنا هي تلك التي تتركّز اليوم في المثلث الذي يقف على رأسه الأمين العام لحزب الله حسن نصرالله، ويمسك بزاويتيه رئيس الجمهورية ميشال عون ورئيس مجلس النواب نبيه برّي.

لا يعني تغييب رئيس الحكومة المستقيل سعد الحريري عن هذه السلطة، نفيا لوجوده في السلطة أو تبرئة له منها، إنما للإشارة إلى أنه، كما الزعيم الدرزي وليد جنبلاط والمسيحي سمير جعجع، خارج التقرير في هذه السلطة التي تتركّز في المثلث أعلاه إن لم يكن في رأسه نصرالله وحده.

قوة الانتفاضة تكمن في عوامل شتى، فإلى جانب لبنانيتها وامتدادها الديموغرافي والجغرافي غير المسبوق وطنيا، وحيويتها في ابتداع أشكال متجددة في المواجهة مع السلطة، فإن قوتها أنها تواجه سلطة مكللة بالفشل والفساد والعجز عن الاستجابة لمطالب الشعب، ليس في الإصلاح السياسي والديمقراطي، بل في أدنى من ذلك بكثير أي في مواجهة الأزمة المالية أو الاقتصادية وحتى المعيشية، فنظام المحاصصة أو بتعريف أدق نظام الفساد، هو أساس قوة السلطة وأطرافها، ومصدر القوة هذا هو ما أوصل الدولة اللبنانية إلى المأزق، وأي مواجهة جدية لهذا المأزق تتطلب تفكيك مصادر الفساد ومكافحتها، أي تفكيك منظومة السلطة، وتغيير قواعد اللعبة السياسية، بما يتيح إمكانية خروج لبنان من الأزمة التي يعاني منها على مختلف المستويات.

للمفارقة، أن حزب الله طالما كان يقاتل خصومه في عملية سيطرته على السلطة، باعتبارهم أدوات للخارج، رغم أنه هو نفسه الذراع الإيرانية التي لا لُبْس في ولائها لمن سماه نصرالله “حسين العصر” أي المرشد علي خامنئي، إلا أن المستجد اليوم أن حزب الله الذي يبحث عن منقذ خارجي، يتفادى عملية الإصلاح ووقف الفساد والهدر في الدولة ويستجدي عونا خارجيا، لأنه يدرك أن وقف الفساد والهدر هو نهاية سلطته التي ترتكز على معادلة واضحة قوامها الولاء لحزب الله مقابل إطلاق يد الفساد لمواليه من الحلفاء والشركاء وحمايتهم.

في ردّه على موقف الرئيس سعد الحريري الذي يشترط لأن يكون رئيس حكومة أن لا تضم في مكوّناتها شخصيات سياسية، قال رئيس المجلس السياسي في حزب الله إبراهيم أمين السيد في موقف لافت، إن “واشنطن لا تمانع أن يكون حزب الله مشاركا في الحكومة” في سياق ما يعتبره اتهاما للحريري بأنه هو من يرفض وجود سياسيين. وإن دلّ على شيء فإن هذا الموقف يشير إلى أن الحريري صادق في استجابته لمطلب المحتجين، سواء في استقالته من الحكومة أو في اشتراطه تشكيل حكومة من التكنوقراط. رغم أن الانتفاضة تتمسك بمطلب حكومة من المستقلين ولا تستثني الحريري نفسه من رئاستها أو المشاركة بها.

حزب الله يتمسك بالحريري كرئيس للحكومة المقبلة، لا احتراما لما يمثّله الحريري من تمثيل سياسي، بل لسببين؛ الأول أن حزب الله يعتبر شخص الحريري الأقدر بين الأطراف اللبنانية على مخاطبة الخارج وإقناعه بدعم لبنان ماليا واقتصاديا. والثاني أن تشكيل حكومة أحادية في الشكل والمضمون لا يلبس فيها حزب الله في داخلها قناع الحكومة المتعددة، سيجعله في موقع مباشر أمام اللبنانيين وأمام الخارج، وهذا ما لا يريد أن يفعله ولا يستطيع التنبؤ بتبعاته.

استجداء الخارج هو حقيقة موقف حزب الله اليوم، فهو لا يزال يراهن على أنّ أحدا ما سيأتي إلى لبنان محمّلا بهدايا الدعم المالي والاقتصادي، كما يأتي “بابا نويل” في عيد الميلاد محمّلا بالهدايا للأطفال. ولا يريد الإقرار بأن ثمّة انتفاضة لبنانية حقيقية لن ترضى بأقل من تغيير قواعد السلطة والحكم في لبنان، وأن اللبنانيين باتوا مقتنعين أن العودة إلى ما قبل 17 أكتوبر، لم تعد واردة. وأن الخارج ولاسيما واشنطن وباريس، التي أخذت على عاتقها تنظيم “مؤتمر سيدر” لدعم لبنان، ليس في وارد القبول بتسيير دعم مالي لسلطة فقدت ثقة الشعب، لجهة نزاهتها وجدارتها في إنقاذ البلاد، وبالتالي فإن التغيير لا يمكن أن يكون شكليا كما يحاول حزب الله الإيحاء بقبوله بتغيير عنوانه أوبالإتيان بحكومة تكنو- سياسية، هي بالفعل إعادة إنتاج للحكومة الحالية، أي لنفس قواعد اللعبة السياسية التي قامت الانتفاضة من أجل إلغائها وتقويضها.

كل ذلك يعكس الإرباك الذي وصلت إليه السلطة، والعجز عن مواكبة التغيير الذي عبّرت عنه الانتفاضة في الإصرار الشعبي على الخروج من دوامة الأزمة التي تمثّلها السلطة نفسها، وهو ما تُرجمَ في التباين الذي فرضه نظام المصالح بين حزب الله ورئيس الجمهورية. فالرئيس عون بات قلقا من أن إصرار حزب الله على ترئيس الحريري ينطوي على مخاطر إضعافه، لاسيما أن الأخير يتمسك باستبعاد صهر الرئيس ووريثه الوزير جبران باسيل، لذا بات المقرّبون منه يتحدثون بوضوح عن ضرورة تشكيل حكومة من دون الحريري، وما يزيد من هذا التباين أن رئيس الجمهورية وفريقه هما من أكثر الخاسرين، وحال الانتظار هذه تزيد من استنزافهما مسيحيا، وتظهرهما في موقع التابعين لحزب الله. في المقابل فإن حزب الله الذي يتمسك بعلاقته وبتحالفه مع رئيس الجمهورية، لما يوفرانه من غطاء مسيحي له ولو أنه تراجع وضعف، يدرك أن الرئيس وصهره لا يستطيعان أن يقدّما له أيّ خدمة خارجية بعدما استهلك كل طاقة الولاء لديهما، وباتا في المشهد اللبناني والدولي ملكيّين أكثر من الملك، لذا فإن من يريدهم حزب الله اليوم هم من يمكن أن يستمع لهم المجتمع الدولي.

ما تقدّم هو الإرباك، لأنه ينطلق من رهان لدى حزب الله أن المعادلات الخارجية والتفاهمات الإقليمية والدولية، كفيلة بأن تعيد الاستقرار للسلطة بين يديه، من دون وعي حقيقة باتت جلية أن لبنان دخل مرحلة جديدة على كل المستويات، وأن الرهان على الخارج لإنقاذه من أزماته لم يعد مجديا، بل إن التغيير أصبح قدرا وليس ترفا؛ التغيير في قواعد اللعبة التي يديرها حزب الله والانتقال إلى قواعد جديدة، يرتكزان بجوهرهما إلى أن دولة القانون والعدل هي الأساس وليست الدويلة.

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ألحَقَّ ٱلحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُم: إِنَّ حَبَّةَ الحِنْطَة، إِنْ لَمْ تَقَعْ في الأَرضِ وتَمُتْ، تَبْقَى وَاحِدَة. وإِنْ مَاتَتْ تَأْتِي بِثَمَرٍ كَثِير
إنجيل القدّيس يوحنّا12/من20حتى28/:”كَانَ بَينَ الصَّاعِدِينَ لِيَسْجُدُوا في العِيد، بَعْضُ اليُونَانِيِّين. فَدَنَا هؤُلاءِ مِنْ فِيلِبُّسَ الَّذي مِنْ بَيْتَ صَيْدَا الجَلِيل، وسَأَلُوهُ قَائِلين: «يَا سَيِّد، نُرِيدُ أَنْ نَرَى يَسُوع».فَجَاءَ فِيلِبُّسُ وقَالَ لأَنْدرَاوُس، وجَاءَ أَنْدرَاوُسُ وفِيلِبُّسُ وقَالا لِيَسُوع. فَأَجَابَهُمَا يَسُوعُ قَائِلاً: «لَقَدْ حَانَتِ السَّاعَةُ لِكَي يُمَجَّدَ ٱبْنُ الإِنْسَان. أَلحَقَّ ٱلحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُم: إِنَّ حَبَّةَ الحِنْطَة، إِنْ لَمْ تَقَعْ في الأَرضِ وتَمُتْ، تَبْقَى وَاحِدَة. وإِنْ مَاتَتْ تَأْتِي بِثَمَرٍ كَثِير. مَنْ يُحِبُّ نَفْسَهُ يَفْقِدُهَا، ومَنْ يُبْغِضُهَا في هذَا العَالَمِ يَحْفَظُهَا لِحَيَاةٍ أَبَدِيَّة. مَنْ يَخْدُمْنِي فَلْيَتْبَعْنِي. وحَيْثُ أَكُونُ أَنَا، فَهُنَاكَ يَكُونُ أَيْضًا خَادِمِي. مَنْ يَخْدُمْنِي يُكَرِّمْهُ الآب. نَفْسِي الآنَ مُضْطَرِبَة، فَمَاذَا أَقُول؟ يَا أَبَتِ، نَجِّنِي مِنْ هذِهِ السَّاعَة؟ ولكِنْ مِنْ أَجْلِ هذَا بَلَغْتُ إِلى هذِهِ السَّاعَة! يَا أَبَتِ، مَجِّدِ ٱسْمَكَ». فَجَاءَ صَوْتٌ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ يَقُول: «قَدْ مَجَّدْتُ، وسَأُمَجِّد».

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 12/20-28/:”Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.
‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’”

إِن كُنتُم قَد مُتُّم مَعَ ٱلمَسيحِ عَن أَركانِ ٱلعالَمِ، فَلِمَ تَقبَلونَ أَن تُفرَضَ عَلَيكُم فَرائِضُ كَأَنَّكُم عائِشونَ في ٱلعالَم
رسالة القدّيس بولس إلى أهل قولسّي02/من12حتى20/:”يا إِخوَة، إِنَّ ٱلمَسيحَ حينَ كُنتُم أَمواتًا في ٱلزَّلاّتِ وَفي قَلَفِ جَسَدِكُم، أَحياكُم مَعَهُ، مُسامِحًا إِيّاكُم بِجَميعِ ٱلزَّلاّتِ، إِذ مَحا ٱلصَّكَّ ٱلَّذي عَلَينا بِموجَبِ ٱلأَقضِيَةِ، ٱلَّذي كانَ ضِدَّنا، وَقَد رَفَعَهُ مِنَ ٱلوَسَطِ وَسَمَّرَهُ عَلى ٱلصَّليبِ، وَإِذ خَلَعَ ٱلرِّئاساتِ وَٱلسَّلاطينَ شَهَّرَهُم جَهرًا، ظافِرًا عَلَيهِم في نَفسِهِ. فَلا يَحكُم إِذَن عَلَيكُم أَحَدٌ في مَأكولٍ أَو مَشروبٍ، أَو مِن قَبيلِ عيدٍ أَو رَأسِ شَهرٍ أَو سُبوت. فَهَذهِ ظِلُّ ٱلمُستَقبَلاتِ، أَمّا ٱلذّاتُ فَهِيَ ٱلمَسيح. لا يُخَيِّبُكُم أَحَدٌ مِن جِعالَتِكُم، راغِبًا في تَواضُعٍ وَعِبادَةٍ لِلمَلائِكَةِ، وَخائِضًا في أُمورٍ لَم يُبصِرها، وَمُنتَفِخًا عَبَثًا بِعَقلِهِ ٱلجَسَديِّ، غَيرَ مُتَمَسِّكٍ بِٱلرَأسِ، ٱلَّذي بِهِ كُلُّ ٱلجِّسمِ يَتَعاوَنُ وَيَتَلاءَمُ بِٱلمَفاصِلِ وَٱلمَواصِلِ، فَيَنمو نُمُوًّا بِحَسَبِ ٱلله. إِذَن إِن كُنتُم قَد مُتُّم مَعَ ٱلمَسيحِ عَن أَركانِ ٱلعالَمِ، فَلِمَ تَقبَلونَ أَن تُفرَضَ عَلَيكُم فَرائِضُ كَأَنَّكُم عائِشونَ في ٱلعالَم”؟

If you died with Christ to the elemental powers of the world, why do you submit to regulations as if you were still living in the world?
Saint Paul Letter to the Colossians/02/13-20/:” You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And even when you were dead (in) transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross; despoiling the principalities and the powers, he made a public spectacle of them, leading them away in triumph by it. Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or sabbath. These are shadows of things to come; the reality belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, delighting in self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, 9 inflated without reason by his fleshly mind, and not holding closely to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and bonds, achieves the growth that comes from God. If you died with Christ to the elemental powers of the world, why do you submit to regulations as if you were still living in the world?

The post ألحَقَّ ٱلحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُم: إِنَّ حَبَّةَ الحِنْطَة، إِنْ لَمْ تَقَعْ في الأَرضِ وتَمُتْ، تَبْقَى وَاحِدَة. وإِنْ مَاتَتْ تَأْتِي بِثَمَرٍ كَثِير/unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

الفارقُ بين تغييرِ نظامٍ وانبثاقِ سلطة
سجعان قزي/جريدة النهار/05 كانون الأول 2019

النظامُ اللبنانيُّ الأساسيُّ لا يحتاجُ ثورةً ليتَطوّرَ، فهو نظامٌ قابلُ التطويرِ الدوريِّ والتكيّفِ مع المتغيّرات. لكنَّ أكثريّةَ الطبقةِ السياسيّةِ التي تَتحكّـمُ به منذُ سنواتٍ هي مَن يحتاجُ ثورةً لتُقتَلع.

حضارةُ نظامِنا السياسيِّ هي حضارةُ تراثِنا الروحيِّ والمدنيّ وامتدادٌ لحضاراتِنا التاريخيّةِ القديمة، وهي حضارةُ صيغتِنا الميثاقيّةِ الباحثةِ عن شكلٍ دستوريٍّ يَنسجِمُ مع تحوّلاتِ تَعدُّديَّتِها. التفاعُلُ الطائفيُّ ليس شرًّا مُطلقًا، ولا التفاعلُ العَلمانيُّ خيرًا مطلقًا.

يجب أن تكونَ لنا جرأةُ مواجهةِ الأفكارِ والاختيارِ منها ما يُناسِبُ مجتمعَنا اللبنانيّ، فليس كلُّ تطوّرٍ تَقدّمًا، وليس كلُّ تغييرٍ إصلاحًا، وليس كلُّ مُستورَدٍ أفضلَ من أصالةِ التراث. إنّ بعضَ البِدعِ تَحتلُّ النفوسَ كما تَحتّلُ الجيوشُ الأراضي.

إذا كانت الطائفيّةُ بتطبيقِها السيّئِ أساءت إلى اللبنانيّين، فالعَلمانيّةُ بتطبيقِها الإلحاديِّ أساءت إلى الإنسانِ إذ أقامَت منظومةَ قيمٍ مُضادّةٍ للدينِ وللطبيعةِ البشريّةِ وشَرَّعَتها.

وحين تَلتقي العلمانيّةُ مع الديمقراطيّةِ تَضيع الضوابطُ ما لم يكن قادةُ الأممِ شُجعانًا في قولِ الحقِّ للشعب. فالاستحقاقاتُ الانتخابيّةُ في الدولِ الديمقراطيّةِ غالبًا ما تجعلُ السياسيّين يُماشون مجموعاتِ الضغطِ الناشطةَ ـــ والفاجِرةَ أحيانًا ـــ وهي لا تُمثِّلُ بالضرورةِ الرأيَ العامَّ الحقيقيّ ووِجدانَ الأمّة.

دعواتُ فئاتٍ من الثائرين إلى إسقاطِ النظامِ اللبنانيِّ، وإلغاءِ الطائفيّةِ السياسيّةِ والطائفية ـــ وهما أمران مختلِفان ـــ سَبقَتها إليها جميعُ أجيالِ لبنان منذ الاستقلالِ إلى اليوم ولم تَتوفَّق.

ما تَغيّر هي الصلاحيّاتُ بين الطوائف بينما حقوقُ المواطنين بَقيت مهضومةً. فهل يَنجحُ جيلُ الثورةِ الحاليّةِ حيث فَشِلت الأجيالُ الأخرى فيَنقُلُ التغييرَ السلبيَّ بين الطوائفِ إلى تغييرٍ إيجابيٍّ يطالُ المجتمع؟

أيَّ نظامٍ نريد أن نُغيّرَ؟

وأيَّ نظامٍ بديلٍ نقدِّمُ؟

تغييرُ النظامِ في لبنان غيرُ ما يَعنيه في اليمنِ وسوريا والعراقِ وليبيا والسودان. لبنان يَمتلِكُ جميعَ البُنى التحتيّةِ الدستوريّةِ والقانونيّةِ والروحيّةِ والمدنيّةِ وآليّاتِ التغييرِ الذاتيّ. يعوزُ لبنانَ حوكمةٌ رشيدةٌ أكثرَ من نظامٍ جديدٍ.

الثورةُ في فرنسا كانت تريدُ الانتقالَ من الملَكيّةِ إلى الجمُهوريّة، وفي الاتّحادِ السوفياتيِّ من الشيوعيّةِ إلى الليبراليّةِ، وفي أوروبا الشرقيّةِ من الديكتاتوريّةِ إلى الديمقراطيّة، وفي ألمانيا من التقسيمِ إلى الوِحدة. أمّا ثورتُنا الرائعةُ في لبنان فتريد الانتقالَ من الفسادِ إلى النزاهة.

وهذا التحوّلُ لا يَستدعي تغييرَ النظامِ، بل تغييرَ الأَداءِ وانبثاقَ سلطةٍ جديدة. ما خلا موضوعَ الفسادِ، يسودُ التباسٌ وانقسامٌ في الشارعِ حولَ المطالبِ الدستوريّةِ والسياسيّةِ والوطنيّةِ.

أتُدركُ الجماهيرُ الفارِقَ بين إلغاءِ الطائفيّةِ السياسيّةِ وإلغاءِ الطائفية؟ وبين دستورِ الاستقلالِ ودستورِ الطائف؟ أتُدركُ الجماهيرُ ماهيّةَ خصوصيّةِ الميثاقِ الوطنيِّ ومميّزاتِ تاريخِ لبنان؟

إنَّ الأفكارَ المثاليّةَ تَصنع ثورةً، لكن الأفكارَ الواقعيّةَ المُطعَّمةَ بنبضِ الثوّارِ تصنعُ دولة.

وإذِ اختلَط على الثورةِ التمييزُ بين لبنانَ الجميل ولبنانَ القبيح، فلأنه لم يُعطَ للأجيالِ الثائرةِ أن تَتعرَّفَ إلّا على لبنانَ المحتلِّ، ولبنانَ المنهوب، ولبنانَ الضعيف، ولبنانَ المذهبيّ، ولبنانَ المتُخلِّف، ولبنانَ المديون.

لم يُعطَ لهذه الأجيالِ الطيّبةِ أن تَتعرَّفَ إلّا على طبقةٍ سياسيّةٍ دَمّرت لبنانَ ومستقبلَ أجياله، وحَجَبت عنها لبنانَ التجربةِ والنَموذجِ والديمقراطيّةِ والحضارة. كانت أجيالنُا مُحتجَزةً، وها هي تَتحرَّر. وكان لبنانُ معتَقلًا، وها هو يَسعى جاهدًا لإخلاءِ سبيله.

إذا أرادت هذه الثورةُ أن تنتصرَ يجب أن تَبتهجَ بقضيّتِها لا بنفْسِها.

أن تَنجحَ بتقدُّمِها لا باستمراريّتِها. أن تبقى ثورةً خاطفةً لا مُستنزَفة ولا مستنزِفة. أن تُبلوِرَ فكرَها الوطنيَّ والاقتصاديَّ وتُحدِّدَ سُلّمَ قـيَـمِها.

أن توحِّدَ أهدافَها وسقفَ مطالبِها. أن تَعيَ أنَّ سِلميّـتَها تَـحُدُّ من مدى طموحاتِها.

أن تَخرُجَ من الكُليّةِ والشموليّةِ والرفضيّةِ المطلَقةِ كأنّها ثورةٌ بولشيفيّة.

أن تَطرُدَ منها الثوّارَ المزوَّرين والعناصرَ المندَسّة. أن تُحوّلَ شعاراتِها طروحاتٍ.

وأنْ تُقيمَ معادلةً بين طروحاتِها وإمكاناتِها، وتوازنًا بين زَخمِ شارعِها ومناعةِ النظام.

كلُّ الشعاراتِ جميلةٌ في الشارع، فنحن اليومَ متأثّرون بجماليّةِ الثورة. لكن الجماليّةَ لا تعودُ مِعيارَ نجاحِ الثورةِ مع مرورِ الوقت.

صحيحٌ أنّه لا يجوزُ أن تَنتهيَ الثورةُ قبلَ تغييرِ السلطة، لكنَّ الخَشيةَ أن يُمسِيَ تَعلّقُ الثوّارِ بالشارعِ مثلَ تَعلّقِ المسؤولين بالمناصب؛ فغِوى الشارعِ لا يَقِلُّ عن غِوى السلطة. إنَّ اللبنانيّين يَبحثون عن ثورةٍ ضاغِطةٍ على السلطةِ لا عن سلطِةِ ثورةٍ مضادّةٍ للشرعيّة.

حِرصُنا على الثورةِ هو الضمانةُ لكي تُــغـيّـــرَ أجيالُنا لبنانَ الحالي ليبقى لبنانُ الحقيقي، فوِحدةُ اللبنانيّين التي كان يُفترضُ بالدولةِ أن تُحقّقَها، تُطلِقها الثورةُ رمزيًّا في العاصمةِ والمناطق. والتعديلاتُ الدستوريّةُ التي كان يفترضُ بالدولةِ أن تُجريها، تنادي بها الثورةُ متفرِّقةً في الشوارعِ والساحات. وأهمُّ تعديلٍ دستوريٍّ هو العودةُ إلى الدستور.

اشْتاق اللبنانيّون إلى الممارسةِ الدستوريّةِ النظاميّة. ومن الدستورِ نَنطلق إلى إقرارِ ما يلي:
تطبيقُ اللامركزيّةِ الموسَّعةِ، فصلُ الدينِ عن الدولةِ، وقفُ التجنيسِ، وضعُ قانونٍ مُوحَّدٍ للأحوالِ الشخصيّةِ يُنظِّمُ العَلاقةَ المجتمعيّةَ بين المواطنِ والدولةِ موازٍ لعَلاقةِ المؤمِنِ بطائفته، اعتمادُ مبدإِ الحِيادِ الناشط، وإنجازُ قانونِ انتخابٍ من وحيِ اللامركزيّة. لكنَّ الخَشيةَ أن تَستَغلَّ أطرافٌ هذه الإصلاحاتِ لا لتعديلِ الدستور، بل لتغييرِ لبنان.

الّذين يواجهونِ الثورةَ أقوياءٌ وواثقون من تحالفاتِهم أكثرَ من وثوقِ الثورةِ في مؤيّديها، ومُوحَّدون أكثرَ من وِحدةِ مكوّناتِ الثورة، وهم قادرون على إفشالِ التغييرِ اكثرَ من قدرةِ الثورةِ على إحداثه.

هؤلاءِ الأطرافُ يحاولون أن يُديروا سلاحَ الثورةِ نحو صدورِ الثوّار بتأخيرِ التغييرِ الحكوميِّ، بضربِ الإصلاحِ الدستوريِّ، وبتعطيلِ الإنعاشِ الاقتصاديّ. استمرارُ الثورةِ في الساحاتِ مقابلَ استمرارِ المسؤولين في الحكم استنزافٌ للثورةِ، فنَدخلُ في الحالةِ الإيرانيّةِ الماليّةِ والاقتصاديّةِ والمعيشيّة (فُقرٌ، عَوَزٌ، بَطالةٌ، تضخّمٌ، نموٌّ سلبيٌّ، اقتصادٌ مُقنَّن، مصارفُ مُتعَبة…)، فيما نحن نَسعى للخروجِ من النفوذِ الإيرانيِّ السياسيِّ والعسكريّ.

من هنا واجبُ المجتمعِ الدوليِّ أن يُبيّنَ مدى صِدقيّتِه في دعمِ لبنان عبرَ قراراتٍ على مستوى التَحدّيات التي تواجِهُه.

The post سجعان قزي: الفارقُ بين تغييرِ نظامٍ وانبثاقِ سلطة/إذا كانت الطائفيّةُ بتطبيقِها السيّئِ أساءت إلى اللبنانيّين، فالعَلمانيّةُ بتطبيقِها الإلحاديِّ أساءت إلى الإنسانِ إذ أقامَت منظومةَ قيمٍ مُضادّةٍ للدينِ وللطبيعةِ البشريّةِ وشَرَّعَتها appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

تقديس الزعيم في لبنان… التيار الوطني الحر نموذجا
إنها مشكلة هوية وتناقض في التطلعات في بلد يعدّ ديمقراطياً

سوسن مهنا/انديبندت عربية/05 كانون الأول/2019

تنشأ الأحزاب الشمولية على منهجية تقديس صورة زعيمها وعبادة شخصيته، لا تناقش فيما يصدر عنه، صواباً كان أم خطأًّ، وتبني عقيدتها على أن الزعيم لا يخطئ. وعادةً ما يستخدم رئيس الحزب الحاكم لوبيا إعلاميا وأبواقا صحافية لنشر بروباغندا مبالغ فيها أغلب الأحيان، بالإضافة إلى فريقٍ وجهازٍ وظيفتهم الترويج للنظام والدفاع عنه حتى لو كان ما يُروّج كذباً وغشاً. الخلاصة، ينبغي إظهار الزعيم بصورة الأب القائد المدرك لتفاصيل دولته ومواطنيها، بأسلوب يصل إلى حد التأليه والعبادة، وهذا ما نراه عادةً في الأنظمة الاستبدادية.

لكن الصادم أن نشاهد ظاهرة تقديس الزعيم في الدول التي تعدّ ديمقراطيةً، كلبنان مثلاً. ذلك أنه من الطبيعي أن يؤيد المواطن زعيمه، لكن ما يعدّ غير طبيعي على الإطلاق تقديسه ووضعه في مصاف الأنبياء، وهذا ما يشوّه وجه الديمقراطية والعمل السياسي.

هتافات التقديس
يطالعنا الأنصار والمحازبون في المناسبات الحزبية والسياسية بهتافات “بالروح بالدم نفديك يا فلان”، كما درجت العادة في احتفالات حزب الله أن تهتف الجموع بـ”الله ونصر الله الضاحية كلا”، كما جماهير تيار المستقبل، بـ”الله حريري وطريق الجديدة”.

لكن ما فعله جمهور التيار الوطني الحرّ وأنصار رئيس الجمهورية ميشال عون، عند مدخل قصر بعبدا في تظاهرة لتأييده يوم الأحد الماضي، كان متطوراً لناحية التعبير.

صحيح أنه منذ تولى عون الرئاسة وُصف بأنه “الرئيس القوي”، ومن ثم تلت أوصاف أخرى مثل “العهد القوي” و”التيار القوي”، لتجمع القوة جميع هذه الأوصاف. لكن أن يقال إن عون هو “الله على الأرض”، و”الله في السماء على عرشه، على يمينه ميشال عون وعلى يساره جبران باسيل (وزير الخارجية ورئيس التيار الوطني الحر)، ونحن على الأرض”، فهذا ما يعدّ تأليهاً وعبادةً لصورتي الرئيس وجبران باسيل.

يقول الكاتب الصحافي يوسف دياب لـ”اندبندنت عربية” إن “هذا يدلّ على عاملين، بعض من اللبنانيين ما زالوا يعانون من الجهل الذي يتحكّم بهم وليس الديمقراطية، إذ إن الزعيم عندما يكون مرتاحاً يتاجر بهم ويقودهم كالقطعان، وعندما يقع في أزمة يدفع بهم لمواجهة الطرف الآخر، وعندما يتصالح مع خصمه تأتي المصالحة على حساب هذا المواطن. لا يزال المواطن اللبناني بحاجة إلى الكثير من الأهلية والتربية المدنية والثقافية. لكن هذا الحراك بدّل إلى حد كبير في المشهد السياسي، فشاهدنا في كثير من الساحات مواطنين خرجوا من عباءة الزعيم وهتفوا ضده، وبدأوا ينادون بالحرية وبمطالبة الدولة بحمايتهم. لكن للأسف، ما زال هناك أشخاص تربطهم بالزعيم انتماءات لأنهم حققوا من خلاله مكاسب ومنافع شخصية”. ويضيف دياب “إذاً نحن أمام مشهد متناقض، ولكن قد تكون حالة الوعي بدأت تتغلب على الجهل الذي يسود في كثير من المجتمعات. بجميع الأحوال، نحن بحاجة إلى دولة مدنية تحمي المواطن وحقوقه كي نخرج من حالة التبعية”.

لكن لا بد من الإشارة إلى أن لجوء أنصار التيار الوطني الحر إلى هذه التشبيهات ليس المرة الأولى، فحين نزلوا إلى الشارع سابقاً تحت ذريعة المطالبة بحقوق المسيحيين، خرجت إحدى السيدات وقالت عن عون إنه آخر الأنبياء المرسلين على الأراضي اللبنانية. ما يطرح سؤالاً جدياً عن الأسباب وراء هذه الهستيرية عند الحديث عن عون وإضفاء هالة من القدسيّة عليه وترداد عبارات كهذه من دون وعي.

يقول دياب “في الماضي كنا نتحدث عن جاهلية بعض الطوائف، وعن وعي ورؤية المجتمع المسيحي، ولكن للأسف ما حصل مع التيار الوطني أظهر هذا المجتمع بأبشع مما كان في الجاهلية الوسطى والرجعية، وبصورة لم يسبق أن رأيناها بتاريخ المجتمع اللبناني، والمحزن أن من يهتفوا بهذه الشعارات ليسوا مستفيدين، بل يُستخدمون من قبل مرجعيتهم لتصرفات كهذه، ما يدل على أن الجاهلية ما زالت تتحكم ببعض المجتمعات اللبنانية. للأسف ما زال هناك من يعبد ويقدّس أصنام الزعامات السياسية”.

نادوا بالأمر وفعلوا عكسه
في هذا السياق، يقول مصدر مراقب مستقيل من التيار الوطني الحر، “إن المسألة مشكلة هوية وتناقض في التطلعات، إنهم يريدون محاربة الفساد وهم من يمارسونها، ينادون بالعلمانية ويطالبون بحقوق المسيحيين، ويحاولون تغطية السماوات بالقبوات. دخل التيار في عمق وتفاصيل السلطة وما زال يعتبر نفسه في المعارضة، من الفساد إلى التوريث السياسي عبر تعيين وزير الخارجية جبران باسيل رئيساً للتيار الوطني الحر وإلغائه منطق الانتخابات والديمقراطية التي كان يدّعيها. الوزير باسيل اشترى طائرة خاصة من الوزير السابق عدنان القصار بمبلغ يفوق 20 مليون دولار، وحُكي أخيراً عن مشروع نادي اليخوت المرخص، وشرائه عقارات في المدينة (مدينة البترون مسقط رأس باسيل)، واستئجاره عدداً من العقارات في سوقها القديمة. كل هذه التظاهرات المؤيدة (لعون) وتقديس باسيل مع الرئيس وجعلهما بمصاف القديسين، هرطقة وتجديف وما هو إلا بروباغندا لتغطية الموضوع الرئيس وهو فساد المسؤولين في التيار”.

يضيف المصدر “هم من نادوا بالإبراء المستحيل (ضدّ تيار المستقبل)، لكنهم لم يطبقوا منه شيئاً، أضف إلى ذلك أن الرئيس عون مسؤول سياسي ليس طوباوياً ولا قديساً، ومن يكون في موقع المسؤولية يكون أكثر عرضة للانتقادات، ويحق لأي مواطن أن يسائله وينتقده، وكنا نتمنى أن يخرج عنهم بيان استنكار أو تفسير لما حدث أمام قصر الشعب (لقب للمقر الرئاسي) في بعبدا، لكن الواضح أنهم سعداء بهذا التقديس، نحن مسيحيون ونؤمن بيوم الحساب الأخير وهم سيحاسبون كأي مسيحي”.

The post سوسن مهنا/تقديس الزعيم في لبنان والتيار الوطني الحر نموذجا…. مشكلة هوية وتناقض في التطلعات في بلد يعدّ ديمقراطياً appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

How Serious Is the Lebanese Uprising for Hezbollah’s Future?
Michael Young/December 05/2019

ما مدى تأثير الانتفاضة اللبنانية على مستقبل حزب الله؟
مايكل يونغ/مركز كارنيغي/05 كانون الأول/2019

مطالعة دورية لخبراء حول قضايا تتعلق بسياسات الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا ومسائل الأمن.
ديانا مقلّد | إعلامية لبنانية ومؤسِّسة مشاركة وسكرتيرة تحرير في موقع درج الإلكتروني
الدولة التي أُعيد تشكيلها حول حزب الله غداة انتهاء الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية في العام 1990 وصلت إلى شفا الانهيار. بُنيت هذه الدولة حول سلاح الحزب، وتُرِكت بعض المقاعد للشركاء الأصغر حجماً. إنه التفسير المبسّط للأسباب التي تدفع بالحزب إلى إبداء مخاوفه من أن الانتفاضة الحالية ترمي إلى استهداف سلاحه. ويوضح ذلك أيضاً لماذا يبذل الحزب جهوداً دؤوبة لتقويض الانتفاضة مهما كان الثمن. لكنه فشل حتى الآن تماماً في تحقيق ذلك.
سرعان ماسيجد حزب الله نفسه في مواجهة واقع أن مَن دفع بهم إلى النزول إلى الشارع لترهيب المحتجّين وإطلاق الهتافات “شيعة، شيعة”، هم أيضاً جياع ومغلوب على أمرهم وعاطلون عن العمل، علمًا بأن انقسامات واضحة بدأت تظهر في صفوف الحزب. ثمة أشخاص كانوا يثقون بحزب الله، وهم يعلنون اليوم دعمهم للانتفاضة. لقد اكتشف اللبنانيون أن دولتهم – منظومتها المالية، ومصرفها المركزي، وقطاعها المصرفي – سرقت مدّخراتهم بأساليب عدّة، بما في ذلك من خلال الفساد المستشري على نطاق واسع. وحزب الله ورعاته الإقليميون هم في صلب هذا النظام.
علي هاشم | مراسل “بي بي سي” للشؤون الإيرانية
كانت أمام حزب الله فرصة كبرى للبناء على الاحتجاجات الشعبية في مستهل الانتفاضة اللبنانية. فقد كان سجل الحزب نظيفاً في مايختص بفساد الدولة، مقارنةً مع الأفرقاء الآخرين في النخبة السياسية في لبنان.
بيد أن رد فعل الحزب على الحراك الشعبي بدأ بموقف شديد التشكيك وانتهى بالعداء للحراك، ماولّد هوةً بينه وبين شريحة من قاعدته الشعبية قرّرت البقاء في الشارع. وقد واجه الحزب أزمة أولويات اكتسبت طابعاً حسّاساً لناحية تأثيرها على جاذبيته، على ضوء الرسائل المتناقضة التي بعث بها. لكنني لا أرى، حتى اللحظة، أن الانتفاضة تحوّلت إلى تهديد للحزب، إذ إنه تمكّن من الترويج لسرديته لدى القسم الأكبر من مناصريه الذين بدأوا يتعاطون بطريقة سلبية مع المتظاهرين. لكن الخطر الحقيقي يُهدّد في رأيي صدقية الحزب على خلفية الحملة التي أعلنها بنفسه ضد الفساد قبل انتخابات 2018.
أوريلي ضاهر | أستاذة مساعدة في جامعة باريس-دوفين وفي كلية العلوم السياسية في باريس، مؤلِّفة “حزب الله: التعبئة والنفوذ” (Hezbollah: Mobilization and Power) (منشورات جامعة أكسفورد، 2019)
مع نزول اللبنانيين إلى الشارع احتجاجاً في تشرين الأول/أكتوبر، سرعان ماتردّد أن حزب الله وجد نفسه في مواجهة تشكيك غير مسبوق في شعبيته داخل الطائفة الشيعية التي تُعتبَر بيئته الطبيعية. بيد أن تشكيك الطائفة بشرعية بعض قادة الحزب ونزاهتهم ليس بالأمر الجديد. تجدر الإشارة في هذا الصدد إلى النائب عن الحزب، حسين الحاج حسن، الذي واجه صيحات الاستهجان في الانتخابات النيابية في عام 2018. وينطبق الأمر نفسه على وفيق صفا، المسؤول الأمني في الحزب ورئيس لجنة الارتباط والتنسيق مع مؤسسات الدولة، وعلى نجل الشيخ محمد يزبك الذي اتُّهِم ببيع الأسلحة إلى الثوّار السوريين في العام 2012.
لكن الانتقاد لايعني هجر الحزب والتخلّي عنه. تجدر الإشارة في هذا الإطار إلى أن أمين عام الحزب، حسن نصر الله، لم يتعرض مطلقاً للإساءة والشتم، حتى في بداية الاحتجاجات. ففي أفضل الأحوال، رُفِع التحدي في وجهه وطالبه المحتجون بمعالجة هواجس الناس. لكن الشيعة لم يعتبروه على الإطلاق واحداً من السياسيين الذين يدينهم المحتجّون. والحال هو أنه لم يكد يدعو إلى وقف الاحتجاجات حتى امتثل مناصروه على نطاق واسع. لايزال رابط الثقة والطاعة قائماً.
يحتل حزب الله، منذ نحو خمسة عشر عاماً تقريباً، موقعاً محورياً في اللعبة السياسية الوطنية، استناداً إلى ركيزتَين اثنتين، تتمثل الأولى في العلاقة الاستثنائية التي تربط أكثرية ساحقة من الشيعة بقيادة الحزب، ولاسيما نصر الله. والحال أننا لانجد لدى أي طائفة أخرى رابطاً قوياً بهذ القدر يوجّه الإعجاب والثقة والعطف نحو الجهة السياسية الأساسية التي تمثّل الطائفة.
أما الركيزة الثانية فكناية عن منظومة فاعلة من التحالفات مع أفرقاء خارج الطائفة الشيعية. وقد أتاحت هذه التحالفات لحزب الله توسيع نطاق رافعات النفوذ التي يمكنه استخدامها في أجهزة الدولة؛ وسمحت له أيضاً ببناء قاعدة دعم تمتد إلى خارج الطائفة الشيعية. ويبدو، حتى تاريخه، أن هاتين الركيزتين تحافظان جيداً على صمودهما. وعليه، ليس لحزب الله أن يقلق، في المدى المتوسط، من تعرُّض مركزيته للتحدي على المستوى الوطني.
مهند الحاج علي | مدير الاتصالات والإعلام في مركز كارنيغي للشرق الأوسط، ومؤلّف “القومية والرابطة العابرة للقومية والإسلام السياسي: هوية حزب الله المؤسسية” (Nationalism, Transnationalism, and Political Islam: Hizbullah’s Institutional Identity) (بالغريف مكميلان، 2018)
تمثّل الانتفاضة اللبنانية، لأسباب مالية وسياسية، التحدّي الأشد خطورة لمستقبل حزب الله منذ النزاع مع إسرائيل في العام 2006. فعلى الصعيد المالي، يواجه الحزب مأزقاً كبيراً نظراً إلى أن طائفته، والبلاد بأسرها، ينزلقان سريعاً نحو الفقر، في ظل ضآلة الخيارات أو الإمكانات المتاحة له للتخفيف من هذه الأزمة. وهذا أمرٌ جديد. ففي أعقاب الدمار الذي تسبب به نزاع 2006، سارع الحزب إلى تأمين السيولة من إيران للآلاف من أبناء الطائفة الشيعية في لبنان تفادياً لرد فعل غاضب من جانبهم. وبادرت الدول الخليجية الغنية بالنفط أيضاً إلى تقديم مساعدات لإعادة الإعمار. أما اليوم فمستوى المعاناة الاقتصادية في إيران وعلاقة العداء بين الحزب وبين دول الخليج تحولان دون تكرار تجربة المساعدات المربحة التي توافرت في العام 2006. ويواجه حلفاء حزب الله في سورية والعراق تحديات مماثلة، وهم عاجزون عن تأمين المساعدات.
على الصعيد السياسي، بدأت تظهر بدائل شيعية عن حزب الله ودائرة النفوذ الإيراني. فالحزب هو اليوم بمثابة خط حماية أساسي للوضع القائم حيث يستشري الفساد، من خلال أدائه دوراً ناشطاً في قمع الاحتجاجات في بيروت وكذلك في البلدات ذات الأكثرية الشيعية في الجنوب وسهل البقاع. بات لتفكير حزب الله في مجال نظرية المؤامرة تأثير أضعف من أي وقت آخر، وتراجعت فاعليته في إقناع الشيعة اللبنانيين بالخروج من ساحات الاحتجاج، ولاسيما أن الوضع الاقتصادي يزداد تدهوراً.
الرابط العراقي مهم أيضاً. فالشيعة في لبنان تجمعهم روابط دينية وثقافية بإخوانهم العراقيين الذين التحق عددٌ كبير منهم بالاحتجاجات تنديداً بالنفوذ الإيراني في بغداد. ويتجلى الأثر بصورة خاصة في الميدان الديني. فقد التحق رجال دين مرموقون في لبنان، على غرار جعفر فضل الله، نجل الإمام الراحل السيد محمد حسين فضل الله، بالاحتجاجات، مايُقوّض المحاولات التي يبذلها حزب الله لشيطنة الحراك. إنها نزعةٌ جديدة سيكون لها تأثير على احتكار ثنائي حزب الله وحركة أمل للتمثيل الشيعي في لبنان.

How Serious Is the Lebanese Uprising for Hezbollah’s Future?
Michael Young/Carnegie MEC/December 05/2019
A regular survey of experts on matters relating to Middle Eastern and North African politics and security.

Diana Moukalled | Lebanese journalist and co-founder and editorial secretary of the Daraj website
The state that was recreated around Hezbollah after the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990 has reached the brink of collapse. This state was built around the party’s weapons, with some seats left for smaller partners. That is the simple explanation for why the party is expressing fears that the current uprising aims to target its weapons. It also explains Hezbollah’s relentless efforts to undermine it at all costs. But so far it has utterly failed to do so.
The party will soon find itself faced with the reality that those whom the party has pushed into the streets to intimidate protesters and chant “Shi‘a, Shi‘a” are equally hungry, helpless, and unemployed, even as fundamental rifts are beginning to be visible in the party’s ranks. There are people who used to believe in Hezbollah who are declaring their support for the uprising. The Lebanese have discovered that their state—its financial system, central bank, and banking sector—has stolen their savings by various means, including through massive corruption. Hezbollah and its regional sponsors are at the core of this system.

‘Ali Hashem | BBC Iran affairs correspondent
Hezbollah had a great opportunity to build on the popular protests at the very start of the Lebanese uprising. Among other members of Lebanon’s political elite the party’s track record was clean when it came to state corruption.
However, Hezbollah’s reaction to the popular movement began with extreme skepticism and evolved into hostility. This created a gap between Hezbollah and part of its popular base, those who decided to stay in the streets. The party faced a crisis of priorities that became sensitive in terms of its appeal, as Hezbollah sent conflicting messages. Yet until this moment I don’t see the uprising as having become a threat to the party, as it has been able to push its narrative among a majority of its supporters, who themselves began dealing negatively with the protestors. What’s at serious risk, however, is Hezbollah’s credibility when it comes to its own anti-corruption campaign announced before the 2018 elections.

Aurélie Daher | Assistant professor at Université Paris-Dauphine and Sciences Po in Paris, author of Hezbollah: Mobilization and Power (Oxford University Press, 2019)
As the Lebanese took to the streets in protest in October, it was hastily advanced that Hezbollah had to deal with an unprecedented questioning of its popularity within the Shi‘a community, its natural breeding ground. However, this questioning by the community of the legitimacy and integrity of some Hezbollah leaders is not new. Mention should be made of the party’s parliamentarian Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, who was heckled during the 2018 parliamentary elections. The same goes for Wafiq Safa, the party’s security chief and head of relations with state institutions or Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek’s son, accused of selling weapons to Syrian rebels in 2012.
But criticizing is not deserting. It should be noted that the party’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, even at the beginning of the protests was never insulted. At best he was challenged and invited to address the people’s concerns. But in no way was he considered by Shi‘a as one of the politicians condemned by protestors. And the fact is that as soon as he called for an end to protests, this was widely followed among his own. The bond of trust and obedience still works.
For the past fifteen years or so Hezbollah has occupied a central place in the national political game. This centrality is based on two pillars: First, the exceptional relationship that a vast majority of Shi‘a have with the party’s leadership, especially Nasrallah. No other denomination has such a strong bond, directing admiration, trust, and affection at its main political representative.
Second, it is based on an effective system of alliances with actors outside the community. These alliances have enabled Hezbollah to broaden the levers of power it can employ in the apparatus of the state; and they have allowed it to establish a support base that extends beyond the Shi‘a community. So far, these pillars seem to be holding up very well. In the medium term, Hezbollah should therefore not have to worry about its centrality being challenged nationally.

Mohanad Hage Ali | Director of communications and fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, author of Nationalism, Transnationalism, and Political Islam: Hizbullah’s Institutional Identity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
For financial and political reasons, the Lebanese uprising represents the most serious challenge to Hezbollah’s future since the 2006 conflict with Israel. Financially, the party is facing deadlock as its community, along with the whole country, is quickly slipping into poverty, with little options or a capacity for relief. This is new. After the destruction of 2006, the party was quick to provide cash from Iran for thousands of Lebanese Shi‘a to avert an angry reaction on their part. Oil-rich Gulf states also provided reconstruction assistance. Today, the level of economic pain in Iran and the antagonism with the Gulf states do not allow for a repetition of the lucrative assistance available in 2006. Hezbollah’s allies in Syria and Iraq face similar challenges and are incapable of providing assistance.
Politically, Shi‘a alternatives to Hezbollah and the Iranian-dominated sphere are beginning to emerge. The party stands today as a prime protector of the corruption-ridden status quo, playing an active role in repressing protests in Beirut and also in Shi‘a-majority towns in the South and the Beqa‘ Valley. Hezbollah’s conspiratorial thinking now has a weaker impact than ever, and is less effective in persuading Lebanese Shi‘a to abandon the protests, especially as the economic situation is only deteriorating.
The Iraq connection is also significant. Lebanese Shi‘a have religious and cultural connections to their brethren in Iraq, many of whom have joined the protests to condemn Iranian influence in Baghdad. The impact is most visible in the religious field. Prominent Lebanese clerics such as Ja‘far Fadlallah, the son of the late Sayyid Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, have joined the Lebanon protests, undermining Hezbollah’s attempts to demonize the movement. This is a new trend that will have an impact on Hezbollah’s and the Amal Movement’s duopoly over representation of the Lebanese Shi‘a.

The post Michael Young: How Serious Is the Lebanese Uprising for Hezbollah’s Future?/مايكل يونغ: ما مدى تأثير الانتفاضة اللبنانية على مستقبل حزب الله؟ appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

مؤتمر جعجع الصحفي هو إخبار بحق نفسه للنيابة العامة بتهم الإستهزاء بعقول وذكاء وذاكرة الناس والاحتيال والغش
الياس بجاني/05 كانون الأول/2019

من شاهد وسمع مؤتمر سمير جعجع صاحب شركة حزب القوات اللبنانية قبل قليل لا بد وأنه اعتقد ولو للحظات بأن المتكلم هو شخص طوباوي من سكان المريخ أو زحل، وغير الشخص الذي يحمل هذا الاسم ويمتلك شركة حزب دكتاتورية واوليغارشية في وطن الفقر والاحتلال والصفقات والسمسرات والطبقة السياسية والحزبية المغربة عن ناسها، والتي تستعبد المواطنين، وتتاجر بهم، وتعتبرهم أملاك خاص، وجعلت من أشخاصها أصناماً يقدسها ويعبدها ويصلي لها الزلم والهوبرجية والقطعان من الصنميين.

 كلام جعجع العالي النبرة، والقاسي بمفرداته، بحق السلطة يدينه هو قبل غيره، وقانونياً وضميرياً ووطنياً وأخلاقاً يُعتبر اخباراً منه ضد نفسه للنيابة العامة بتهمتي الغش والاحتيال.

هاجم السلطة وانتقدها ولم يترك تهمة دركية إلا وألصقها بها، وهو عملياً من أهم أركانها ومن مركبيها ومن مهندسيها ورعاتها والمنتفعين منها.

الرجل توهم، كما دائماً بأنه قادر على مسح ذاكرة الناس واستغبائهم، واستنساخ صورة طوباوية لنفسه ولشركة حزبه، بمجرد أنه لفظياً يتبرأ من أفعاله الخطايا ويؤيد الثورة ويهاجم الحكومة المقبلة التي ربما قد انتهى حزب الله من تشكيلها دون أن يعطيه الحصة التي كانت مقررة له في بنود الصفقة الخطيئة التي جاءت بعون رئيساً وداكشت الكراسي بالسيادة.

يتعامى جعجع عن سابق تصور وتصميم ومن خلال آليات الإنكار والتبرير والإسقاط النفسية المرّضية بأنه متورط حتى أذنيه في الصفقة الرئاسية وفي كل متفرعاتها ويتحمل نتائج كل أضرارها الكارثية.

هو متورط في إقرار وتمرير قانون الانتخاب اللاهي الذي أعطى حزب الله أكثرية نيابية مريحة،  وإن أراد هو أن ينسي فالشعب لن ينسى تبنى النائب جورج عدوان للقانون حتى سماه البعض قانون عدوان.

هو متورط في صفقة انتخاب عون رئيساً من ضمن بنود ورقة نوايا معراب التجارية واللامسيحية التي تنص على تقاسمه مع عون المسيحيين حصصاً وغنائم.

هو متورط في دخول حكومات ما بعد انتخاب عون هي حكومات حزب الله بالكامل.

هو متورط في فرط 14 آذار وفي اتهام من عارض صفقاته السلطوية بالغيرة والجهل وانعدام الرؤية الإستراتجية.

هو متورط في مداكشة السيادة بالكراسي.

هو متورط بالتعايش مع احتلال حزب الله ودويلته وحروبه مقابل مشاركته في السلطة.

هو متورط بالدكتاتورية داخل شركة حزبه… وتطول وتطول قائمة السقطات ولا تنتهي.

هو متورط بالسكوت عن المطالبة بتنفيذ القرارات الدولية الخاصة بلبنان.

في الخلاصة، فإن من سمع وشاهد جعجع اليوم يتكلم عن الثورة لا بد وانه اعتقد بأنه هو من قام بها ومن يرأسها ومن يحركها. .في حين أن الثورة وفي كل الساحات قالت له بأنه من أول كلن يعني كلن.

من هنا وبناء على كل ما جاء على لسان جعجع اليوم في مؤتمره الصحفي من تشويه وتزوير للحقائق كلها تندرج تحت خانتي الغش والاحتيال، فنحن نرى أن المؤتمر بالكامل هو إخبار من جعجع ضد نفسه للنيابة العامة.

*الكاتب ناشط لبناني اغترابي
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في اسفل نص مؤتمر جعجع الذي هو موضوع التعليق في أعلى
جعجع بعد اجتماع التكتل: سلوك السلطة كفيل بإشعال أضخم الثورات والمطلوب حكومة متخصصة مستقلة بالكامل
الخميس 05 كانون الأول 2019
وطنية – حذر رئيس حزب “القوات اللبنانية” سمير جعجع من “الويل لأمة سائسها ثعلب وفيلسوفها مشعوذ وفنها فن الترقيع والتقليد. ويل لأمة حكومتها حكومة التقليد والترقيع واعادة استنساخ القديم من جديد”، مؤكدا أن “ما يجري اليوم هو قمة انعدام الإحساس مع الناس واللا مسؤولية، هو قمة خداع الناس والاستمرار تماما في النهج نفسه الذي كان سائدا، ولو بوجوه جديدة شكلا، قديمة ممارسة وأسلوبا”.

ولفت إلى أنهم “يتحدثون عن حكومة تكنوسياسية وعن ممثلين للحراك في محاولة لتقزيم المبادىء العامة للثورة ومطالبها الاقتصادية والمعيشية المحقة، كأن مشكلة الثورة والحراك هي مشكلة حصص أو مشكلة تمثيل وزاري داخل السلطة أو مشكلة شراكة بين الثورة وبين من تثور عليهم؟ ومن يمكنه أن يدعي تمثيل الثورة والنطق باسمها أصلا؟”.

وشدد على أن “الوضع الاقتصادي المعيشي في مكان، وقوى السلطة تتصرف كأنها تعيش على المريخ، لبنان ينهار بالكامل وقوى السلطة ذاتها ما زالت مصرة على محاولة صرف اكثريتها النيابية الدفترية في السلطة التنفيذية، فيما الأكثرية الشعبية باتت في الموقع المقابل تماما. ويسألونك بعد لماذا الشعب يثور، ثم يخبرونك بعد عن مؤامرات خارجية وسفارات تقف خلف الثورة؟ ان سلوك السلطة الحاكمة كفيل لوحده بإشعال أضخم الثورات من دون منة من أي سفارة أو أي جهة أخرى”.

كلام جعجع جاء في اطلالة مباشرة عقب انتهاء اجتماع تكتل “الجمهورية القوية” الدوري في معراب برئاسته، وفي حضور نائب رئيس الحكومة في حكومة تصريف الأعمال غسان حاصباني، الوزيرين في حكومة تصريف الأعمال كميل أبو سليمان والدكتور ريشار قيومجيان، نائب رئيس الحزب النائب جورج عدوان، النواب: ستريدا جعجع، بيار بو عاصي، وهبي قاطيشا، عماد واكيم، الدكتور فادي سعد، الدكتور أنطوان حبشي، ماجد إدي ابي اللمع، شوقي الدكاش، جوزيف اسحق، سيزار المعلوف، زياد الحواط، أنيس نصار وجان طالوزيان، الوزراء السابقين: ملحم الرياشي، الدكتور طوني كرم وجو سركيس، النواب السابقين: الدكتور فادي كرم، إيلي كيروز، أنطوان زهرا وشانت جنجنيان، الأمينة العامة ل”القوات” الدكتورة شانتال سركيس، عضو الهيئة التنفيذية إيلي براغيد ورئيس جهاز الإعلام والتواصل شارل جبور.

وقال جعجع: “وقع المحظور، وأصبح لبنان في وسط عاصفة الانهيار المالي والاقتصادي، وذلك بعدما كانت بوادر هذا الانهيار ومؤشراته واضحة منذ فترة طويلة، ولكن من دون أن تبادر الأكثرية الوزارية الى اتخاذ اي خطوة اصلاحية جدية في الاتجاه الصحيح، لا بل امعنت في سلوكها السابق مسرعة من عجلة الانهيار. حلت الكارثة الاقتصادية – الاجتماعية التي لطالما حاولنا تنبيه القيمين على مقدرات البلاد منها، من دون أن نحصد في المقابل سوى التجاهل والاتهامات والتهميش والتخوين والاستبعاد”.

أضاف: “ما كان بالإمكان تداركه بالقليل من الخطوات الاصلاحية والمبادرات السياسية والنوايا الحسنة، بات اليوم يلزمه عملية إنعاش فورية وخطة انقاذية ثورية جبارة تحاكي اجواء الثورة وروحيتها وتستجيب لصرختها ومطاليبها، بعيدا عن نهج المكابرة ومنطق المحاصصة العقيم، الذي كان السبب في إيصال الأوضاع الى ما وصلت اليه اليوم”.

ولفت إلى أن “اللبنانيين صبروا دهرا على سلوك أولياء الأمر أملا في تصحيح الأداء باتجاه اعادة النهوض بلبنان ووقف مسار الشلل والفساد والاهتراء. وكان كلما ازداد اللبنانيون صبرا ازدادت هذه السلطة تعنتا وإنكارا واستعلاء وكفرا، حتى مل الصبر من صبرهم وتوسلوا الثورة سبيلا وحيدا لوقف هذا الكفر والعبث. فالثورة هي النتيجة الطبيعية لإفلاس هذه السلطة، بعدما ادت وتؤدي دورها غير مشكورة في إفقار شعبها وإفلاسه”، وقال: “لم يتكبد الشعب مشقة النزول الى الطرق وافتراش الأرصفة والساحات، إلا لأن الحصول على لقمة عيشه البديهية بات اكثر مشقة، ولم تتجند الأمهات والآباء، الشابات والشبان، للثورة ترفا او حبا بالتظاهر والفوضى أو النزول إلى الطرق أو اقفالها، وإنما لأن كل طرق التغيير الطبيعية نحو واقع افضل باتت مقفلة، ولأن وجعها وحرمانها وقلقها على المستقبل والوجود والمصير واجهته السلطة طيلة سنوات وسنوات بعقل منغلق وقلب مقفل وافق مسدود”.

أضاف: “كلمة حق تقال، ان دخان الإطارات المشتعلة على الطرق والشحتار الأسود الذي خلفته الأيادي البيض للثوار والعمال والفقراء والمساكين، ما هو الا انعكاس لقلوب الطبقة الحاكمة السوداء ونفوسها الظلماء وآذانها الصماء. لم تؤمن الناس بالثورة، الا لأنها كفرت بالواقع القائم في ظل طبقة حاكمة انتهازية مكابرة تتحكم بمفاصل النظام السياسي، وبمقدرات البلاد واعناق العباد من دون اي وازع اخلاقي او وطني، وفي ظل منظومة محاصصة تأتي بالأكثر استزلاما لا بالأكثر نزاهة أو كفاءة أو استقامة”.

وقال جعجع: “في استعراض سريع لواقع الحال في لبنان اليوم نجد من جهة، مؤسسات تجارية وصناعية وسياحية وفندقية تقفل ابوابها وتصرف المئات من موظفيها كل يوم، وفي افضل الأحوال تقتطع لهم نصف راتبهم او اكثر لكي تحاول تأجيل إقفالها اطول فترة ممكنة، فرص عمل معدومة، ازمات معيشية تتهدد المواطن في كل لحظة، من ازمة المحروقات الى ازمة الرغيف الى ازمة الدواء والاستشفاء الى ازمة المعلمين والمؤسسات التربوية الى ازمة الدولار وازمة السيولة، وازمة ثقة غير مسبوقة داخليا ودوليا بالسلطة الحاكمة وسياساتها كافة، استثمارات متوقفة ورؤوس اموال هاربة، اسواق ومحلات تجارية خلت من زبائنها المعتادين في مثل هذه الفترة من كل سنة، تصدع النظام المصرفي الذي تميز به لبنان طيلة عقود، مواطنون عاجزون عن سحب مدخراتهم وجنى اعمارهم من المصارف، تفشي السوق السوداء للدولار في ظل إصرار السلطة على إنكار واقع التضخم المالي الكبير، غلاء فاحش في الأسعار وفقدان اللبنانيين لأبسط مقومات عيشهم وامنهم الاجتماعي الاقتصادي وتراجع قدرتهم الشرائية لحوالي النصف حتى الآن وصولا الى الفقر المدقع الذي دفع بناجي الفليطي وداني ابي حيدر وآخرين الى وضع حد مأساوي لحياتهم، بيئة فاسدة ملوثة بالصفقات المشبوهة مع ما تستجلبه من امراض مستعصية، عشرات آلاف اللبنانيين لا بل مئات الآلاف منهم متروكين في الشوارع منذ خمسين يوما من دون ان يرف للسلطة السياسية جفن، جيش وقوى امنية مستنفرة ومنتشرة في الشوارع بعيدا عن عائلاتها واولادها لدرجة الإنهاك والاستنزاف من دون ان ترأف السلطة المستبدة بحال هؤلاء العسكريين المهددين كل يوم بانقطاع رواتبهم والذين بالمناسبة، نحييهم تحية كبيرة على جهودهم في حفظ الأمن والاستقرار ومنع التعديات على المواطنين والأملاك”.

أضاف: “مقابل كل هذا ماذا نرى؟ نرى الوجوه ذاتها بالعقليات نفسها والسلوكيات اياها تطمر رؤوسها في الرمال وتتصرف، وكأن شيئا لم يكن: منذ اللحظة الأولى وجماعة السلطة تحاول الالتفاف والتذاكي على الناس. آخر هذه المحاولات يجري هذه الأيام، تجري فصولها اليوم، إذ بعد خمسين يوما على الانتفاضة الشعبية السلمية والمطالبة بحكومة إنقاذ، حكومة جديدة قولا وفعلا من خلال اخصائييين مستقلين، تحضر جماعة السلطة لتركيب حكومة، أولا قسم منها فقط أخصائيون، والباقي سياسيون، وثانيا حتى الأخصائيين فيها لن يكونوا مستقلين بل مجرد مستشارين تقنيين للمجموعة الحاكمة نفسها، بمعنى أن قرارهم الفعلي سيكون عند نفس المجموعة التي كانت هي في أصل خراب البلاد”.

وتابع: “إن ما يجري اليوم، هو قمة انعدام الإحساس مع الناس واللامسؤولية، هو قمة خداع الناس والاستمرار تماما بنفس النهج الذي كان سائدا، ولو بوجوه جديدة شكلا، قديمة ممارسة وأسلوبا. يتحدثون عن حكومة تكنو-سياسية وعن ممثلين للحراك في محاولة لتقزيم المبادىء العامة للثورة ومطالبها الاقتصادية والمعيشية المحقة، وكأن مشكلة الثورة والحراك هي مشكلة حصص او مشكلة تمثيل وزاري داخل السلطة او مشكلة شراكة بين الثورة وبين من تثور عليهم. ومن يمكنه ان يدعي تمثيل الثورة والنطق بإسمها اصلا؟”.

وقال: “كل الآراء أجمعت على ان لبنان بحاجة اليوم الى حكومة جديدة غير تقليدية يفتتح معها عهدا جديدا بعيدا عن الحكومات السابقة التي ادت الى نشوء هذا الواقع، سواء دعيت في السابق حكومات وحدة وطنية، او حكومات توافقية، او حكومات ميثاقية، او حكومات اكثرية واقلية. الحكومة التكنو-سياسية التي تطرحها قوى السلطة اليوم، ما هي الا حكومة لون واحد، لأن الأخصائيين فيها هم مجرد ديكور للقوى السياسية ذاتها التي تعمل وفق خلفيات سياسية ومصلحية وفئوية والتي افقدت لبنان ثقة الناس به داخليا وخارجيا، فيما المطلوب اليوم حكومة تعمل وفق خلفيات علمية واقتصادية ووفق اسلوب جديد يتميز بالنزاهة والكفاءة والموضوعية والتجرد ويعيد الى لبنان الثقة المفقودة”.

أضاف: “المطلوب اليوم حكومة متخصصة، مستقلة بالكامل عن أطراف السلطة، يأتي الوزراء إليها لا ليعملوا بخلفيات سياسية او عقائدية او مناطقية، وإنما بخلفيات علمية موضوعية، ويأتون اليها لا لتعصف بها رياح التعطيل والمناكفات السياسية والحرتقات الانتخابية السابقة، وإنما لتعصف بها رياح التغيير من خلال افكار نيرة وخطوات فعالة وسلوك شفاف، وخطط علمية مدروسة قابلة للتنفيذ سريعا”.

وتابع: “الوضع الاقتصادي المعيشي في مكان، وجماعة السلطة تتصرف وكأنها تعيش على المريخ، لبنان ينهار بالكامل وقوى السلطة ذاتها ما تزال مصرة على محاولة صرف اكثريتها النيابية الدفترية في السلطة التنفيذية، فيما الأكثرية الشعبية باتت في الموقع المقابل تماما. ويسألونك بعد لماذا الشعب يثور، ثم يخبرونك عن مؤامرات خارجية وسفارات تقف خلف الثورة؟ ان أهم سفارة تقف خلف الثورة هي السلطة بذاتها، سلوك السلطة الحاكمة كفيل لوحده بإشعال اضخم الثورات من دون منة من اي سفارة او اي جهة اخرى. ويل لأمة سائسها ثعلب وفيلسوفها مشعوذ وفنها فن الترقيع والتقليد. ويل لأمة حكومتها حكومة التقليد والترقيع واعادة استنساخ القديم من جديد”.

وختم: “صحيح ان ليل الوطن حالك لكن فجر لبنان الجديد الذي يحلم به الثوار سيبزغ من جديد، صحيح ان الماضي والحاضر صنعته طبقة غير مسؤولة بغالبيتها، اوصلت الوضع الى ما هو عليه الآن، لكن لبنان المستقبل ستصنعه سواعد الثوار والصالحين، وبطولات اجيال المناضلين والمقاومين، وستزهر تضحياتهم غدا افضل بإذن الله”.

The post الياس بجاني/مؤتمر جعجع الصحفي اليوم هو إخبار بحق نفسه للنيابة العامة بتهم الإستهزاء بعقول وذكاء وذاكرة الناس والاحتيال والغش appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

باشكاتب لعهد بائس 
علي حماده/النهار/06 كانون الأول/2019

البحث عن ”طرطور” للحكومة
عبد الوهاب بدرخان/النهار/06 كانون الأول/2019

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باشكاتب” لعهد بائس 
علي حماده/النهار/06 كانون الأول/2019
لا تعفي دعوة الرئيس ميشال عون للاستشارات النيابية الملزمة صاحبها من حكم الناس القاسي عليه بافتقاره الى حس المسؤولية، كونه ترك البلاد في حالة من الفراغ المؤسساتي، والغليان الشعبي لاكثر من ستة أسابيع، من دون ان يغير في سلوكه وبطانته قيد انملة، لا بل ان الرئيس ميشال عون الذي رفع بوجهه رؤساء الحكومات السابقين وبحق بطاقة حمراء انما اضاؤوا على أدائه السيئ في تحمل المسؤولية، كما انهم حددوا موضوعيا ان احد مكامن الخلل في الدولة يعود الى وجود رجل في سدة الرئاسة يفكر ويتصرف بذهنية جنرال سابق على جبهة سوق الغرب او القليعات في زمن الحروب البائسة التي خاضها بالطريقة التي خاضها وللأسباب المعروفة آنذاك. وليس الان وهنا وقت العودة الى ملف حروب ميشال عون البائسة، لأننا الان واقعون كلبنانيين في عين عهد رئاسي بائس وفاشل يسير بالبلاد نحو القعر الذي لا خروج منه. بالطبع لا يقتصر حكم الناس القاسي على الرئيس ميشال عون وعهده البائس الذي يضرب الأرقام القياسية في عمليات الانتحار العابرة للطوائف والمناطق. والمسؤولية الكبرى تقع على رئيس الجمهورية الذي وان لم يكن يمتلك الصلاحيات الرئاسية التي كان يملكها في الجمهورية الأولى، فإنه باعتباره رمزا للسلطة في البلاد، وحاميا للدستور والقوانين، وراعيا للمواطنين دونما تمييز، والأهم مما تقدم، باعتباره القاطرة المعنوية والأخلاقية للشعب، فإنه كان يمكن ان يجنب البلاد الكثير من الويلات التي حلت بها في السنوات الثلاث التي مرت.
نعود الى الاستشارات النيابية الملزمة، فالدعوة الى الاستشارات يوم الاثنين تستبطن مزيدا من خرق روح الدستور، وضرب موقع الرئاسة الثالثة، والأهم انها تستبطن كسب وقت للالتفاف على مطالب الناس، بهدف تشكيل حكومة على نقيض مما طالب به الشعب على مدى أسابيع. يريد عون ومن يسيرون في ركبه ان يشكلوا حكومة يعيدون فيها تدوير القديم في شكل جديد، وبعض الـ”رتوش التجميلي”، ويريدون تنصيب “عصا” على رأس الحكومة مستعدة ان تقبل بكل شيء، وفي كل وقت، لقاء منصب يكاد يصير من يتبوأه مجرد “باشكاتب” عند “حزب الله”. هذا المسار سيئ ومدمر، وهو انقلاب على الثورة ومطالبها ولن يمر كما يتوهمون.
استطراداً نقول للأطراف الآخرين أي الرئيس سعد الحريري والنائب السابق وليد جنبلاط، والدكتور سمير جعجع، الاّ ينجروا وأن يحاذروا الدخول في حكومة الانقلاب على الثورة، وان يتركوا السلطة لمن يريدون الاستمرار في إدارة البلاد وكأنها سجن كبير، فيتحملوا المسؤولية وحدهم.
وليأتوا بمن شاؤوا من المرشحين لمنصب “باشكاتب” الذي يعدونه للمرحلة المقبلة. فليشكلوا حكومتهم وحدهم، وليتقاسموا في ما بينهم جميع المقاعد الوزارية، وليسموا من يريدون في الحكومة العتيدة. ليواصل هؤلاء التفكير في ذهنية من لا يزال عالقا خلف متراس في جبهة سوق الغرب العام 1988، ومن لم يخرج من زواريب بيروت يوم 7 ايار 2008.

البحث عن ”طرطور” للحكومة
عبد الوهاب بدرخان – النهار
استطاع رئيس الجمهورية أخيراً أن يمارس الصلاحية الكبرى التي يملكها، إذ يحتجز الاستشارات النيابية ويحاول، عبر الوزير جبران باسيل، أن يعثر على رئيس للحكومة ليكلّفه تشكيل ما يشكّله باسيل وتأليف ما يؤلّفه. في أقلّ تقدير يريد العماد ميشال عون وصهره حكومة مشابهة لتلك المستقيلة مع تعديلات يستنسبانها، وبيّنت التسريبات خريطة طموحات باسيل والوزارات التي يريد السيطرة عليها ليضمن أن أي اتهامات بالفساد لن تطاوله لاحقاً لئلا تقضي على مستقبله السياسي، فهو لا يزال يعتبر أن له مستقبلاً سياسياً… وبهذه الطريقة يكون الرئيس والصهر يبحثان عن “طرطور” يسميانه رئيساً للحكومة، شرط أن يرضى بصفته/ وظيفته هذه وألاّ يحاول التذاكي أو الظهور كمَن لديه مشروع أو شروط، فالمشروع الوحيد في هذا العهد الرئاسي كان ولا يزال الإعداد لـ”عهد جبران”.
هذا النهج في إدارة الحكم، بالأحرى إدارة اللاحكم، هو أقرب الى تفكير جماعة/ عائلة وليس الى نهج دولة، وهو يقود الى ما قاد بشار الأسد سوريا إليه، أي الى الكارثة. وبالمعنى الطائفي، لمَن يفكّرون طائفياً فقط، هو نهج مَن يرى أولاً أن طائفته ملزمة بنصرته لأنه يمثّل “مجدها” وتفوّقها، وبالتالي يحقّ له إلزام الطوائف الأخرى بالتطوّع لخدمته، حتى وهو يسيء مثل بشار الأسد الى طائفته والى الطوائف جميعاً. يتناسى الرئيس وصهره أنه سبق لهما أن خاضا أشرس الحملات باسم الدستور و”الميثاقية”، لكنهما كانا آنذاك جنديين في معركة تمكين “حزب الله” من السلطة بمعزل عن أي دستور وميثاقية. أما وقد انعطب “العهد” و”وليّ العهد” ووقعا في فخّ أخطائهما، فقد أوقعا معهما حليفهما “الحزب” الذي وجد فجأة أن لا مصلحة له في التمسّك بمن أصبح عبئاً أكثر مما هو حليف، لكن خياراته الأخرى محدودة.
يعود الفضل الى الانتفاضة الشعبية في انكشاف الوجوه والأدوار، فهي ببساطتها وعظمتها في آن أعادت الى “الوطنية” معنىً ومكانة، وجعلتها معياراً لا يمكن طمسه، الوطنية التي هي نقيض سرقة المال العام، نقيض الفساد بكل أشكاله، نقيض الاستحواذ على الدولة بالسلاح غير الشرعي، نقيض السكوت على هذا السلاح مقابل المناصب والامتيازات، ونقيض صفقات المحاصصة. يكاد الجميع يفهم ما فعلته الانتفاضة، باستثناء “العهد” وصهره وحليفه، إذ يبدو لهم أن الإنكار أقل كلفة من الاعتراف بما حصل وبما يستوجبه من عمل، فالأولوية عندهم لمكاسبهم وليس لإنقاذ البلاد.
على رغم أن الأزمة المالية أصبحت أزمة معيشية متجهة سريعاً الى أن تصبح كارثة، وعلى رغم أن بعض العالم مهتمّ ويطالب بحكومة جديدة يعمل معها على تخفيف آلام الانهيار، إلا أن الأهم عند الرئيس ألّا يفقد الصهر منصبه في الحكومة، والأهم عند “حزب الله” ألّا يفقد وجوده في واجهة الحكم. وكلاهما يريد مساعدات عربية كي يحافظا على عدائهما المكشوف للعرب.

The post علي حماده: باشكاتب لعهد بائس/عبد الوهاب بدرخان: البحث عن طرطور للحكومة/A Puppet PM For Occupied Lebanon appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

Detailed LCCC English News Bulletin For December 06/2019

Click Here to read the whole and detailed LCCC English News Bulletin for December 06/2019

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A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For December 05- 06/2019 Addressing the On Going Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon in its 50th Day
Compiled By: Elias Bejjani
December 06/2019

Tites For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on December 05-06/2019
Rainfall Floods Poorly Maintained Lebanon Roads
Protesters Block Roads, Close Schools as Uprising Enters Day 50
Aoun Urges Fast Govt. Formation, Restoration of Confidence
Miqati Says His Bloc to Vote for Hariri, Not Khatib
Nadim Gemayel to Boycott PM Consultations
Geagea Says Proposed Govt. Nothing but ‘One-Sided Govt.
Israeli Army Says Hizbullah Undeterred despite Recent Setbacks
Filipino Workers Flock to Leave Crisis-Hit Lebanon
Climate, Not Conflict, Drove Many Syrian Refugees to Lebanon
Suicide Deaths Rise in Lebanon’s Stricken Economy
Lebanese Parliamentary Consultations Begin Monday as Khatib’s Nomination Comes into Question
Rebuttal of Sarkis Naoum’s column
Amin Gemayel meets Cypriot President in Nicosia

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on December 05-06/2019
Rainfall Floods Poorly Maintained Lebanon Roads
Naharnet/December 05/2019
Heavy rainfall flooded many of Lebanon’s badly maintained roads, stranding citizens in their cars and adding misery and suffering to their daily life conditions amid a burgeoning economic crisis unprecedented in the country’s history. Most of the roads have been rendered impassable by heavy rain. Several roads south of the capital mainly in Jiyeh, al-Naameh and Khaldeh all the way to the airport road were flooding with water. Cars were seen washed away. The National News Agency said the northern international highway in al-Biddawi, north of Beirut, was also rendered impassable. Students on their way back home were stuck for hours in school buses. Some had to take the walk back home with assistance. For Lebanese, the scene of flooded streets is nothing new, given poor maintenance, corruption and mismanagement. Only some of the few reasons that drove people to the streets in massive protests ongoing since October 17. In the southern town of Nabatieh and Iqlim al-Tuffah, rainfall transformed the roads into swamps and lakes, said NNA, due to clogged sewage and waterways. Incident response staff were nowhere to be seen. Lebanon has been swept with anti-government nationwide protests since October 17 against mismanagement and corruption, with Lebanese demanding an overhaul of the entire political class.

Protesters Block Roads, Close Schools as Uprising Enters Day 50
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 05/2019
Setting a date for the binding parliamentary consultations has not appeased protests against corruption and mismanagement in Lebanon as protesters blocked several roads and closed schools on Thursday keeping up the flame of 50 days of protests that witnessed suicides linked to a deteriorating economic crisis.In the northern city of Tripoli, university students skipped classes and blocked a major highway linking Tripoli to el-Koura. The main square in Tripoli, al-Nour, remains blocked since the protests began on October 17. In the southern city of Sidon, angry students and protesters disrupted traffic at the city’s main square before marching towards public institutions and banks to force them to close. They also marched to schools to close them down calling on students to join the protest. Other roads in north of Beirut were blocked with burning tires including a highway near Casino du Liban. On Wednesday, the presidency announced that consultations to name a new prime minister will begin Monday, more than a month after a wave of protests led Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign. But protesters have already began rallying against the potential candidate for the job, saying he is too close to the political elite they have been calling on to step down. In a stark reflection of the deepening economic crisis, Danny Abi Haidar, in his 40s shot himself to death Wednesday with a bird rifle when he became despondent over salary cuts in recent weeks, according to his family. Many private companies have resorted to reducing staff or slashing their pay to deal with rising inflation and liquidity crunch. Protesters, already mobilized against the name floated as a potential successor for resigned Prime Minister Saad Hariri, gathered in central Beirut on Wednesday to mourn Abi Haidar’s death. The protesters say Samir Khatib, named as a possible prime minister and a prominent contractor, is close to the political elite they have been protesting since Oct. 17. Hundreds of protesters blocked in towns in the Bekaa valley in the east on Wednesday in rallies against Khatib. Lebanon’s armed forces said it arrested 16 protesters following scuffles to break up road blocks.

Aoun Urges Fast Govt. Formation, Restoration of Confidence
Naharnet/December 05/2019
President Michel Aoun on Thursday hoped the new government “will be formed as soon as possible so that it starts addressing the problems that need urgent care and attention.”Aoun added that the new government should “restore confidence between the state and citizens.”“The priorities of the new government will be achieving the necessary reforms in the various sectors, continuing the process of fighting corruption, and rectifying the flaws in the work of state institutions,” the president went on to say. The Presidency on Wednesday announced that the binding parliamentary consultations to name a PM-designate will be held on Monday. Saad Hariri had tendered his government’s resignation on October 29, bowing to pressure from massive and unprecedented popular protests that erupted on October 17. Aoun refrained from calling for immediate consultations to name a replacement, arguing that prior consensus was needed on the shape of the new government amid the extraordinary situations in the country. Protesters had demanded the formation of an independent technocrat government but media reports have said that the ruling political forces have agreed to form a techno-political cabinet led by prominent contractor Samir Khatib. Quoting Hizbullah and AMAL Movement sources, MTV reported Wednesday that a final agreement has been reached on Khatib’s nomination. The sources added that they are “very optimistic,” saying that the new government could be formed “before Christmas” and that “only the distribution of some portfolios remains pending.”

Miqati Says His Bloc to Vote for Hariri, Not Khatib
Naharnet/December 05/2019
Ex-PM and Tripoli MP Najib Miqati on Thursday announced that his four-member parliamentary bloc had decided to vote for caretaker PM Saad Hariri in the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier. Hariri should “continue the mission that he has been leading since the presidential settlement three years ago, because we are not in a period that allows experiments,” Miqati said in an interview with Al-Arabiya’s al-Hadath television. Asked whether the bloc might nominate Samir Khatib, Miqati said: “Khatib possesses capabilities that should be respected, but the capability to shoulder burdens in these political circumstances is something else, seeing as the current period is difficult.”He also added that other candidate “might emerge,” noting that “an extraordinary government is needed to rescue the country.”

Nadim Gemayel to Boycott PM Consultations
Naharnet/December 05/2019
MP Nadim Gemayel of the Kataeb Party on Thursday announced that he will boycott the binding parliamentary consultations for naming a PM-designate that have been scheduled for Monday. “Since the beginning of the revolution, I have witnessed with all Lebanese how much officials, topped by the president of the republic, have failed to truly heed the demands and spirit of the revolution,” Gemayel tweeted. “Then we witnessed the farce of preparing for the binding parliamentary consultations. Accordingly, there is no point in taking part in these consultations, seeing as I’m not used to blind approval of decisions and charades,” the MP added. The ruling political parties have reportedly reached consensus on nominating the contractor Samir Khatib for the PM post. President Michel Aoun had refrained from immediately calling for official consultations, arguing that prior agreement was needed on the candidate and on the shape of the new government due to the extraordinary circumstances in the country.

Geagea Says Proposed Govt. Nothing but ‘One-Sided Govt.’
Naharnet/December 05/2019
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday noted that the proposed techno-political government is “nothing but a one-sided government.”“The techno-political government that the ruling forces are proposing today is nothing but a one-sided government, seeing as its technocrats are mere fronts for the same political forces who have pushed people inside and outside Lebanon to lose confidence in the country,” Geagea said after a meeting for the Strong Republic bloc. “What’s needed today is a government that works according to scientific and economic backgrounds and with a new approach characterized with integrity, competence, objectivity and impartiality, which would restore the lost confidence in Lebanon,” the LF leader added. Warning that Lebanon has become “in the middle of the storm of financial and economic collapse,” Geagea called for “an immediate revival operation and a mighty, revolutionary salvation plan that draws inspiration from the revolution and its spirit and meets its demands, away from the approach of obstinacy and the distribution of shares.” Saad Hariri had tendered his government’s resignation on October 29, bowing to pressure from massive and unprecedented popular protests that erupted on October 17.Protesters had demanded the formation of an independent technocrat government but media reports have said that the ruling political forces have agreed to form a techno-political cabinet led by prominent contractor Samir Khatib.The Presidency has meanwhile scheduled the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new PM for Monday.

Israeli Army Says Hizbullah Undeterred despite Recent Setbacks
Associated Press/Naharnet/December 05/2019
A year after uncovering a network of cross-border Hizbullah tunnels, the Israeli military said Thursday that the Lebanese Iran-backed group has beefed up its presence along the volatile frontier. Israeli military officials said that neither the destruction of the tunnels, nor the current political crisis in Lebanon, have weakened the group’s desire to prepare for renewed conflict with Israel. “We have a very serious enemy,” said Colonel Roy Levy, the Israeli military’s Northern Border Brigade commander, during a tour of the area Thursday. He said Hizbullah’s main focus is to entrench itself along the border area and “plan to attack us.”Israel and Hizbullah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. While direct fighting has been rare since then, there has been occasional violence, most recently on Sept. 1 when Hizbullah fired a barrage of anti-tank missiles into Israel in response to an airstrike in Syria that killed two of its operatives. Israel responded with artillery fire. Israel also has acknowledged carrying out scores of airstrikes in Syria, many of them believed to have been aimed at Iranian weapons shipments bound for Hizbullah. Israel considers Hizbullah to be its most immediate threat, saying the group has amassed an arsenal of some 130,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel. More recently, it has accused the group of trying to import or develop guided missiles. Last December, Israel announced that it had uncovered a network of tunnels that it said Hizbullah was building with the aim of infiltrating and carrying out attacks. Over several months, it systematically destroyed the structures. In recent years, Israel has accused Hizbullah of taking over houses in southern Lebanese border villages to hide soldiers, ammunition, cameras and intelligence-gathering equipment. Levy pointed across the tree-lined frontier to several small shacks that he said were Hizbullah positions, just a few hundred meters away from Israeli residents. “Civilians, farmers, children drive here every day,” he said. In addition to the loss of its tunnels, Hizbullah has suffered other setbacks in recent months. Its patron Iran, suffering from U.S. sanctions, is being rocked by mass demonstrations in which over 200 people have reportedly been killed. Lebanon has also experienced nationwide protests over the past two months against widespread corruption and mismanagement. Some of that anger has been directed toward Hizbullah, which is now seen as part of the ruling class that has wrecked the country’s economy. But Levy said he has seen no changes in the group’s behavior. “They have a lot of cameras, a lot of forces along the border, camouflaged,” he said.

Filipino Workers Flock to Leave Crisis-Hit Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 05/2019
Hundreds of Filipinos, most of them female domestic workers, flocked to their embassy in Lebanon Thursday to sign up for free repatriation from the crisis-hit country. The embassy issued a statement linking its offer of a free ticket home to Lebanon’s free-falling economy. “More than 1,000 Filipinos, mostly women with some children in tow, arrived in droves to the Philippine embassy in Beirut to register for free mass repatriation scheduled in February next year,” a statement said. An estimated quarter of a million domestic workers live in Lebanon, in conditions that have repeatedly been condemned by their countries of origin and rights group. A sponsorship system known as “kafala” leaves maids, nannies and carers outside the remit of Lebanon’s labor law, and at the mercy of their employers. Cases of abuses are reported regularly, with workers often unable to obtain their rights or even flee because all their money and travel documents are held by their employers. Hailing mostly from the Philippines, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, some make as little as $150 a month. The Lebanese pound’s tumbling value on the black market in recent weeks has led many employers to pay their domestic workers in the local currency. Others have been fired by employers who can no longer afford their services, leaving foreign workers stranded in Lebanon with no income. The embassy statement said that some workers “have recently lost jobs and income opportunities during these trying times in Lebanon.”
Mohanna Ishak, a lawyer with the KAFA NGO that assists domestic workers, said that the severe economic downturn risked leading to more abuses. “The financial and psychological stress the Lebanese are under risks have repercussions on domestic workers,” she said, adding that their salaries may go unpaid or they could face “more verbal and physical violence.” Lebanon has been rocked by seven weeks of an unprecedented protest movement demanding an end to corruption and the wholesale removal of the current political elite. The campaign to abolish the “kafala” system has been widely supported by protesters.

Climate, Not Conflict, Drove Many Syrian Refugees to Lebanon
Associated Press/Naharnet/December 05/2019
Hundreds of Filipinos, most of them female domestic People who fled Syria in recent years are often viewed as war refugees because of the violence that has engulfed much of the country since 2011. But those from the northern and northeastern parts of Syria may more accurately be viewed as climate refugees, fleeing not a worsening conflict but an increasingly severe drought. I have been studying various aspects of water and food security in the Middle East for a long time. Now I have begun a new project studying the social and economic conditions needed to repatriate rural refugees to the farming communities in Syria. My recent interviews with Syrian refugees who now live in Lebanon reveal that climate is a major obstacle for many people when they consider returning to their homeland. In Syria, most farming relies on rain, not irrigation, which makes it vulnerable to climate change. Many refugees from the Raqqa region tell a similar story: As one told me, “The land has been giving less and less.”The reason, they told me, is that it rains far less than it used to when they were young farmers, and rainfall is less predictable.
Increasing drought
Historically, northern Syria has been a productive agricultural area, making up part of the fabled Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, where humans first began farming around 9,000 B.C. An estimated 75 percent of Syria’s wheat production is in northern and northeastern parts of the country: Al Haksa, Ar-Raqqa, Aleppo and Dayr Az Zawr provinces. In general, precipitation is highest in the coastal areas in the west of the country and along the Turkish border to the north. Usually, there is enough rain to support rain-fed farming and pastureland for sheep and goat herders. Rainfall decreases farther east and south in the country. In the last few centuries, the country’s drought cycle has become more frequent, from having a drought once every 55 years, to every 27 years, to every 13. Now, droughts happen every seven or eight years. The poorest peasants of the Raqqa region are hit the hardest because they do not have many assets to sell in times of drought – nor any surplus grains to save for the next planting season.
People start to move
There is not a direct, immediate relationship between changing climate and the drive to migrate. The climate can change slowly, and people don’t usually respond instantly when circumstances shift. Thousands of Syrians have been leaving northern and northeastern parts of the country over the past 20 years or so. As the severe drought of 2006 to 2011 hit, the number of emigrants rose. A 2011 study found that Syrian households had lost 19.5% of their income as a result of droughts and other environmental factors – and that rain-dependent farmers were hit harder than farmers who relied on irrigation. The vast majority of Syrians who left northern and northeastern Syria are farmers and unskilled workers. Many of them were drawn, on a permanent or seasonal basis, to the Bekaa Valley, a large agricultural area in eastern Lebanon. The valley enjoys a moderate Mediterranean climate.
A rise in refugees
In 2011, before the Syrian civil war broke out, up to one million Syrians were believed to be working in Lebanon. When the violence started, those established settlers drew in relatives and neighbors. Official numbers say there are close to a million Syrian refugees also in Lebanon now, in addition to the million workers there before the war. The Lebanese government and U.N. officials believe the actual number is closer to one and a half million refugees. That means Syrians make up over one-quarter of Lebanon’s population. In my recent interviews with Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley, I learned why they had left their homes and what it might take for them to be ready to go back. The refugees I spoke with came from farming backgrounds. Many were from the city of Raqqa and nearby villages.
A few, especially those from southwestern Syria, spoke of bumper crops and routine farming challenges like varying harvests and the costs of seeds, fertilizer and livestock fodder. However, farmers who came from northern and northeast areas such as Raqqa and nearby towns and villages were almost unanimous in describing how hard farming had become over the last 20 years. The refugees attributed this to government agriculture policies that changed in the face of drought. The Syrian government reduced the amount of land that could be planted with cotton and sugar beets, water-intensive crops that earn farmers a lot of income. The government tried to boost farmers’ income by selling drought-resistant cotton seeds and sprinkler systems, which conserve water and boost yields. However, refugees told me, farmers were already financially squeezed from lower yields due to the drought. Most were small-scale farmers, or didn’t own the land they worked, so they could not earn enough to purchase the technology.
Heading home?
Many refugees told me that even if their home region became physically safe to return to, they would not go back. They feared they would be unable to eke out a living from the increasingly arid land. If they did return, they would also be faced with needing to repair war-damaged wells and irrigation canals and restore services from veterinary experts and farmers’ suppliers, who were driven away by war. Almost all of this infrastructure remains unrepaired.
Together, the drought and the war’s destruction mean it’s unlikely that many of these refugees will leave Lebanon anytime soon – if at all. The Syrian civil war may end one day, but the land’s problems will remain.
[ Like what you’ve read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter. ] This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/climate-not-conflict-drove-many-syrian-refugees-to-lebanon-127681.

Suicide Deaths Rise in Lebanon’s Stricken Economy
Associated Press/Naharnet/December 05/2019
Suicide deaths are rising in Lebanon as the country grapples with an unprecedented economic crisis raising suicide deaths to three on Thursday. Nazih Aoun, 56, from the southern town of Tebnin, put his life to an end on Thursday “because he has been unable to find a job for while,” the National News Agency reported. Aoun is the third Lebanese to commit suicide over dire economic conditions and an unprecedented financial crisis. On Wednesday, a man in his 40s shot himself to death with a bird rifle when he became despondent over salary cuts in recent weeks. On Sunday, Naji Fliti, a 40-year-old father of two, committed suicide outside his home in the eastern border town of Arsal because he could not pay outstanding medical bills for his cancer-stricken wife. An unprecedented anti-government protest movement has gripped Lebanon since October 17, fueled in part by deteriorating living conditions. The World Bank has warned of an impending recession that may see the number of people living in poverty climb from a third to half of the population. Unemployment, already above 30 percent for young people, would also go up, it said. Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s cabinet resigned two weeks into the protest movement, bowing to popular pressure. But the country’s deeply divided political class has yet to form a new cabinet, frustrating demonstrators who have remained mobilized.

Lebanese Parliamentary Consultations Begin Monday as Khatib’s Nomination Comes into Question
Beirut – Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 5 December, 2019
A recent agreement on the nomination of Engineer Samir al-Khatib for the premiership was further complicated by a controversy between the country’s former prime ministers and President Michel Aoun over constitutional powers, and renewed protests in the street. Although the Baabda Palace announced that the binding parliamentary consultations would be held on Monday, political sources noted that solutions were only “written on paper” and not approved by politicians, pointing that delaying the consultations for additional four days was an indication of complications. The political sources said that the initial consensus on Khatib was still open to all possibilities, adding that the positive atmosphere could be dissipated by two factors: the renewal of street protests and doubts surrounding the composition of the new government, “which looks so similar to the old cabinet, with some minor alteration.”
Meanwhile, a Lebanese ministerial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri was still supportive of Khatib’s nomination to head the new government. They added that Hariri would name experts to assume portfolios in the cabinet, out of his conviction that the current stage required a government of technocrats to create a “positive shock”, meet the demands of the street and salvage the economy. The source said that Hariri’s recent meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri’s political aide, caretaker Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, and Hezbollah Secretary General’s political assistant Hussein Khalil was “positive.” Well-informed sources said that the government would be composed of 24 ministers, including five Sunnis and five Shiites, two Druze ministers, five Maronites, four Orthodox, two Catholics and one Armenian.
They added that the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) would not participate in the government as a political party, but would name one non-partisan Druze figure to assume a key ministry. The other Druze seat will go to the civil movement, according to the sources. The Shiite seats will be shared by the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, while Hariri would nominate a Sunni professional to take over a portfolio. Two Sunni seats will go to the civil movement, in addition to the prime minister, while a fifth Sunni figure remains unresolved. As for the Christian seats, the quota of Lebanese Forces (three ministers) will go to the civil movement, which will name its own figures, the sources said.

Rebuttal of Sarkis Naoum’s column
NNA/December 05/2019
The Press Office of Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri issued the following: In his column published in An-Nahar newspaper yesterday, journalist Sarkis Naoum said that caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri “contacted his friend since college in Georgetown, the Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir, and asked him to convey his greetings to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and to ask for his guidance and positions. The Prince’s response, through Jubeir, was: The Crown Prince is fine and greets you. He tells you that when you were with him and told him about your candidacy or your intention to nominate Michel Aoun for the presidency, he objected. You then replied that you would vote for Aoun and that you would be responsible for the results. Now you have to bear the consequences of this stance.” Hariri’s Press office underscores that this phone call did not take place, and that everything in the alleged imagined dialogue is totally untrue.

Amin Gemayel meets Cypriot President in Nicosia
NNA/December 05/2019
Former President Amin Gemayel met in Nicosia with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, who called on his host to “use his international and regional relations with a view to reducing tensions and converging views so as to spare the Middle East further disasters, especially as this region has become strategic par excellence on the background of the discovery of oil and gas wells, which triggers the major powers.”The Cypriot president urged “creating an atmosphere of understanding to enable countries to invest in this wealth and use it in raising the standard of living of peoples and in establishing economic, cultural and social development.”

Lebanese security forces re-open all blocked roads
Joanne Serrieh, Al Arabiya/December 05/2019
The security forces have succeeded in opening all the blocked roads across Lebanon, according to an Al Arabiya correspondent. Clashes and road blocks continued into Thursday morning in various parts of Lebanon as the protests near their 50th day. Earlier in the south, demonstrators blocked the main entrance to Nabatieh’s vehicle registration department and demanded it be shut down, reported the NNA. Employees and demonstrators clashed when the employees refused to disrupt the business and interests of the citizens. Meanwhile in Sidon, a group of protesters, mostly school students, marched from Elia Square to public facilities to shut them down, starting with Electricite du Liban, telecommunications company Ogero as well as a number of banks, while another group headed to the public market of Sidon to close the shops. Shop owners re-opened their shops after closing for two hours at the request of the protesters. Others held demonstrations in front of the Lebanese University and the LIU in order to interrupt their studies and encourage the others to join the demonstrations. There were also major traffic delays in downtown Beirut due to the Ring Bridge being blocked by demonstrators once again Thursday morning. It was later opened by anti-riot police. Many clashes have taken place in this area since the start of the demonstrations, including clashes when Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Amal supporters attacked protesters. Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun called on Wednesday for binding parliamentary consultations to designate a new prime minister to take place on Monday. According to Al Arabiya sources, it is expected that the protests will continue and possibly escalate due to people objecting the nomination of Samir Khatib for the prime minister position. Lebanon has been in political deadlock since Saad Hariri resigned as prime minister in late October.

Titles For The Latest Lebanese LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 05-06/2019
Lebanese security forces re-open all blocked roads/Joanne Serrieh, Al Arabiya/December 05/2019
Lebanon protests are dividing the country’s struggling media/Adèle Surprenant/Al Arabiya/December 05/2019
After this week’s suicides, Lebanese NGOs offer assistance/Perla Kantarjian/Annahar/December 05/2019
Milking Iraq and Lebanon for Iran’s benefit/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Arab News/December 05/2019
Lebanon’s Daily Star employees on strike, citing unpaid salaries/Leila Molana-Allen/Al Jazeera/December 05/2019
Rafik Hariri was a nation-builder – his legacy must not be tarnished/Basem Shabb/The National/December 05/2019
U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire Suggests Sanctions on Lebanese Officials over Amer Fakhoury/Associated Press/Naharnet/December 05/2019

The Latest Lebanese LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 05-06/2019
Lebanon protests are dividing the country’s struggling media
Adèle Surprenant/Al Arabiya/December 05/2019
The ongoing protests in Lebanon have divided the country’s media along new lines and placed further stress on an already struggling industry – but also offered opportunities for new platforms to emerge. “One camp supports the revolution, and the other still conveys the narrative of the ruling power,” said Matthieu Karam, the head of the web journalism department at the Beirut-based French-language publication L’Orient-le Jour. This is a new dividing line in the country’s media landscape, which previously reflected the divide that emerged in 2005: between the March 14 Alliance, which opposes Syria’s interference in the country, and the pro-Syrian March 8 Alliance, made up of Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement of current President Michel Aoun. “The fracture line [in Lebanese media since the protests began] is less clear, as we can now see a firm opposition between the media outlets that support the revolution and those that are completely opposed,” explained Ayman Mhanna, Executive Director of the Samir Kassir Foundation, named after the Lebanese journalist and intellectual that was assassinated in 2005. News channel like MTV, LBCI and New TV have embraced editorial lines that clearly support the protesters, while media outlets like the Hezbollah-led al-Manar or al-Akhbar have expressed their support for the government. While some journalists have been able to criticize the political elite while working for elite-controlled media, others have been forced to resign. Al-Akhbar in fact saw two of its journalists resign in the first weeks of the protests on account of the paper’s position on the nationwide social movement.
Media struggling
As Lebanon remains in political deadlock and nears economic crisis, the media is also struggling. Since October 17, journalists have been working over-time, but advertising revenue has been dropping drastically, leaving the actors of the industry under stress. The financial pressure has already cost the jobs of 300 employees from Future TV, former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri’s channel – inherited by his son, Saad Hariri – that closed in mid-September due to economic reasons. Earlier this year, Hariri already had to let go of his newspaper al-Mustaqbal. This closure is seen as a reflection of the unsustainability of the current media model, which has resulted in unpaid salaries, increasing dependence on unpaid interns, and the dismissal of staff. Outlets such as The Daily Star have experienced high numbers of resignations, with many of the remaining staff striking on Wednesday, December 5, in protest against months of late pay checks. A staff member on strike told Al Arabiya English that, “what broke the camel’s back really was the dismissal of [their] colleague Benjamin Redd, quite abruptly in a way that [they] felt was unjustified.” In a Twitter post, Redd announced that he was let go on December 4 due to his implication in the “[organization of] a strike because workers are owed up to half a year‘s salary — despite the paper being owned by Lebanon‘s billionaire [former] prime minister [Saad Hariri].”
Journalists have also been the target of several attacks since the beginning of the uprising. The Samir Kassir Foundation’s Center for Media and Cultural Freedom has reported cases of online harassment or damages on vehicles and buildings owned by media enterprises, raising the question of journalists’ security in the coverage of the protests.
Journalists have also been harassed in the streets, as was the case with MTV staff members Joyce Akki and Christian Abi Nader, who got their cameras broken by protesters in downtown Beirut during the first days of the protests.
Challenging elite control
While traditional Lebanese media may be struggling, new forms of grassroots journalism have sprung up in line with the protests challenge to the status quo. Traditionally, political elites have controlled the media in Lebanon, a process with roots in the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). “[The wartime government gave] licenses to media outlets created by militias, militias who then converted into political parties and controlled the post-war political arena in Lebanon,” explained Mhanna. As the law does not prevent any MPs or Ministers from holding shares in media, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders – which ranks Lebanon 100 out of 180 for press freedom – estimates that 78.4 percent of the media outlets are politically affiliated. From that number, a quarter are directly owned by active politicians. But the protests have encouraged grassroots journalists to produce their own platforms.
On November 28 the first edition of the 17 Teshreen newspaper was published. Named after the October 17 Revolution, the print was created with the aim of “documenting the experiences and achievements of the Lebanese street,” according to its director, Bashir Abu Zeid.
In his first editorial, the young director also claims that the initiative was financed solely by donations collected during the protests – a rare feat in a country where the media’s economic structure is based on private ownership or donations from either political leaders or their parties. Already existing outlets such as Megaphone, Daraj and Raseef22 also saw their popularity rose, giving some commentators optimism about the future of Lebanese media. “These protests strongly helped independent, progressive and secular media, especially online publications,” said Mhanna, who sees hope in the new platforms. As protesters continue to voice their anger on social media, these new channels of communication might become “the reference for all the young revolutionaries that don’t recognizes themselves in the traditional media treatment,” he added.

After this week’s suicides, Lebanese NGOs offer assistance
Perla Kantarjian/Annahar/December 05/2019
In these times of distress, many Lebanese NGO’s and sympathetic groups are offering their services and assistance to alleviate any pain or difficulty their homeland’s community members may be going through.
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s ongoing economic and political turmoil is taking its toll on the mental health of its citizens, many of whom are losing their jobs and facing overwhelming financial and psychological troubles on a daily basis.
Within less than five days, the culmination of a variety of factors has led four of Lebanon’s citizens to die of suicide.
On Thursday, Nazih Aoun ended his life in Tebnine, South Lebanon, a day after Dany Abou Haidar, a man in his early 40s, shot himself in the Sin El Fil area in public; and Antonio Tannous, an Internal Security Force member from the Akkar area, was found dead with his rifle next to him.
On Wednesday, two men attempted suicide, one by jumping off the roof of his building in Saida, and another by setting himself on fire in Akkar.
On Sunday, Naji Al Fleity, a father of two, hung himself in his home in the Ersal area. Suicide prevention marches took place on Wednesday, where people carried posters that say “how many more suicides do you need?” directed at government officials.
In these times of distress, many Lebanese NGO’s and sympathetic groups are offering their services and assistance to alleviate any pain or difficulty their homeland’s community members may be going through.
Lea Zeinoun, Executive Director of “Embrace” told Annahar: “Mental illness has a twofold nature: one caused by biological circumstances and another by environmental surroundings, and 90% of suicides are caused by people with mental illnesses.”
“Embrace” is a local NGO, founded in 2013, dedicated to raising awareness on mental health in Lebanon and who launched the first national and emotional support and suicide prevention helpline in Lebanon.
“Within the last three hours, we have received over 25 calls expressing feelings of anxiety and distress, and four of which exhibited suicidal thoughts,” Zeinoun said, explaining that the enormous amount of stress that Lebanese citizens are currently going through might “add on the mental illness of a person and lead to suicide if left untreated.”
She continued: “When we receive calls on the suicide prevention hotline, we firstly tell our callers that politics and the economy affect our lives indirectly and directly and cause feelings of uncertainty, and it’s very normal to feel uncertain.”
“We advise them to pace themselves in times likes this in order to cope with the uncertainty and stress,” Zeinoun said, explaining that “there’s a certain amount of news the average human can tolerate, and taking a break from them is important, especially with the fake news being circulated.”
With the ongoing financial crisis, many Lebanese are struggling to provide food for their families. Maya Terro, co-founder and Executive Director at FoodBlessed, a pioneering national hunger-relief and food rescue initiative founded in 2012, told Annahar that “anyone in need can come to one of our soup kitchens and have a free meal any time they feel the need to. What’s ours is theirs. No questions asked.”
FoodBlessed keeps an updated record of all of its soup kitchen regulars who receive food assistance packages every couple of months, and not just over the holidays.
“The list is always updated,” Terro said, “Some names we already know and are our regulars, others are referred to us. This being said, anyone in need is welcomed.”
FoodBlessed’s volunteers are currently launching their Christmas food drive and are asking community members to help them collect food items for those in need, which are then packaged and distributed across Lebanon.
In the words of Ghida Husseini, counseling psychologist and managing partner at Metanoia, the stress and trauma center in the Middle East, “There are many factors that are at play for people who commit suicide.”
Husseini explained that “it’s not unusual for suicide rates to increase during times of crisis. People who are already suffering may find themselves more trapped, and revert to ending their life for the pain to stop.”
“However,” she continued, “I encourage anyone who might be suffering to seek help, there’s always a way out. I also encourage the people around friends and relatives in distress to help and listen to any suicidal reflection, since offering the needed support may save their lives.”
For anyone in need of psychological or physiological assistance, Annahar has gathered a list of local NGOs and groups who can help:
– Embrace’s suicide prevention hotline (12pm-2am): 1564
– Restart (NGO for specialized mental health services) : Tripoli +961 06 411 451 – Beirut +961 01 291 066
– FoodBlessed (NGO dedicated to hunger-relief): +961 70 159 337
– 4-A-Cause (NGO that collects fund for a variety of causes, currently dedicated to hunger-relief): cynthia@blackhowl.org
– Himaya (NGO dedicated to fighting child-abuse in Lebanon): himaya@himaya.org
– ABAAD (Resource Center for Gender Equality):
• Al Dar, emergency safe sheltering for women and girl survivors or at-risk of violence, emergency line (24/7): +96176060602
• Women and Girls Safe Spaces, legal, psychosocial, referral, holistic services, safe line (24/7): +96181788178
• Men Centre, support for men who have issues with aggressive behavior or masculinities, (M-F, 9:00-17:00): +96171283820
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all victims of suicide.

Milking Iraq and Lebanon for Iran’s benefit
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Arab News/December 05/2019
Protests in Basra, Beirut and elsewhere thwart Iran’s most important political plan, which is building a regional market under its control.
The uprisings are a development that the leaders in Tehran did not anticipate, as they had regarded Iraq and Lebanon as subordinate states, whose task was to host a land corridor linking Tehran to Beirut. The Iranian plan, however, is falling apart in Iraq and shrinking in Lebanon as a result of the hostile protests against it. This was reinforced by protests against the regime that erupted simultaneously in all Iranian cities.
The market plan was mentioned in a speech delivered by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. In his speech, he revealed the plan to exploit the Iraqi market by linking it to Syria and Lebanon through the so-called Iranian land corridor.
In his televised speech last month, Nasrallah said: “What is the opportunity? It is Iraq. Iraq is a big and rich country. We have one problem. How would Lebanon’s agricultural products reach Iraq? How would the Lebanese industrial production reach Iraq? What would all this lead to? It will reactivate the agriculture sector, revive the factories, open a horizon for new factories. What does all this depend on? Well, since we cannot export by sea and do not export potatoes to Iraq by air, our products must be exported by land, depending on one step: That the Lebanese government agrees with the Syrian government (to have a land link) between the crossings from Lebanon to the Al-Bukamal border crossing (between Syria and Iraq). The Americans have worked day and night to prevent the opening of the latter. One of the reasons for the (US) outrage against the Iraqi Prime Minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, is his insistence on opening the Al-Bukamal border crossing with Syria. Take it from me, and I know the details, the Americans have not spared any means of pressure or threat to prevent the opening of the Al-Bukamal crossing. The ‘excuse/lie’ is that, through the Al-Bukamal crossing, missiles will pass to Lebanon.”
This is what Nasrallah said, and we realize that the escalation of the Syrian war has been taking place in unison with a project of Iranian domination by armed force in three countries — Iraq, Syria and Lebanon — with an action plan to control all their markets.
In his speech, Nasrallah focused on the Iraqi border crossing with Syria because it is, indeed, the gateway for the militias and missiles of the Iranian project, in addition to potatoes and other goods. The Iranian regime is unable to transport these militias and missiles by air or sea, and has discovered that using distant sea lanes via the Atlantic Ocean was an expensive and dangerous operation.
What about Nasrallah’s trade integration?
The idea is not new. Before the Iranian intervention, Lebanon used to export agricultural and industrial products to the Iraqi and Gulf markets; but Hezbollah has destroyed Lebanon’s economy and stability by insisting on keeping its weapons.
Nasrallah focused on the Iraqi border crossing with Syria because it is the gateway to the Iranian project. Iran now intends to create its own regional economies that will bolster its political influence and war effort in the region; not to create independent economies that help the people of the countries concerned and strengthen their governments. In Lebanon itself, Hezbollah has filled its south and northeast with hashish farms and drug factories, imposed exorbitant tariffs and excluded those who disagreed with it from the market; leading to mounting hostility against it in areas such as Baalbek-Hermel.
In fact, Lebanon has lived for a decade-and-a-half under the almost total domination of Hezbollah. The result is the current deterioration of people’s living conditions, a shrinking economy, and widespread corruption.
Like the Lebanese, the Iraqi people, led by Shiites, have revolted too: Demanding decent living standards, and refusing to be a “cash cow” for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its militias.
*Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a veteran columnist. He is the former general manager of Al Arabiya news channel, and former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat. Twitter: @aalrashed

Lebanon’s Daily Star employees on strike, citing unpaid salaries
Leila Molana-Allen/Al Jazeera/December 05/2019
Over a dozen members of staff at English-language daily do not go to work after not being paid for months.
Beirut, Lebanon – Members of staff at Lebanon’s The Daily Star newspaper have gone on strike, saying salaries had gone unpaid for months.
More than a dozen reporters and editors at the English-language daily did not go to work on Thursday. Some said they had not been paid in nearly six months despite working full-time.
“First it was a week, then two, then a month,” said Timour Azhari, a reporter at The Daily Star and one of those on strike. “Then suddenly we went for two or three months without anything.”
“We’ve had promises saying the money is coming, we’re working on getting the money… but in the end, we have no money,” he said. “So we’ve been pressuring, we’ve been holding meetings, we’ve been asking, sending emails. But generally we felt that our demands were not getting through.”
Employees last week had warned management of the impending strike, submitting a document asking for one month’s salary to be paid by Wednesday, and for a schedule to be drawn up for the rest of the outstanding payments. The newspaper’s editor said it was unable to meet these demands.
“Yes, we have a cashflow problem; yes, salaries have been somewhat delayed, that of course is true,” Editor-in-Chief Nadim Ladki told Al Jazeera.
“We are doing as much as we can to resolve the situation. But, as you know, the newspaper industry around the globe is facing challenges, so we are part of that.” Ladki said employees could ask the company accountant to pay small sums in emergency circumstances on a case-by-case basis. Staffers said this system helped them to survive this long, with one likening the process to asking employees to “beg for our salaries”.
Previous promises to pay wages soon had gone unfulfilled due to Lebanon’s anti-government protests, which have been ongoing for six weeks, having disrupted the banking system and driven down advertising sales, Ladki said.
“I’m not saying the staff are not within their rights to demand the full amount, and of course this is the duty of the paper. But there are circumstances that have really not helped us.”
‘You’re fired’
As staffers met on Wednesday afternoon to decide whether or not to proceed with the strike, long-time employee Benjamin Redd received an email from management telling him it was his last day at the newspaper: He was being let go due to financial constraints.
“At the end of my shift I got an email basically saying you’re fired, get out, don’t come back … on the eve of the strike,” Redd said.
“I don’t believe it was just a financial decision. The timing is very convenient.”
The consensus among staff was that Redd had been fired for appearing to lead calls for a strike, according to Azhari, who submitted his resignation on Thursday, citing Redd’s dismissal.
“Management seemed to think that he had taken on a leading role, which I must stress is not true,” he said. “It really was democratically by consensus, with all staff members, but somehow they got the impression that he was leading it and he was fired for that.”Staff said if management had intended firing Redd to dampen calls for a strike, it had the opposite effect.
“[It] was the trigger for a lot of the people who went on strike today, because it came very much out of the blue, and it appeared to be in response to Ben’s role in helping organise this action,” said one current staffer taking part in the strike, who asked to remain anonymous as they feared jeopardising their job following Redd’s dismissal.
“We just weren’t convinced that it was done in good faith.”
“It was a clear tactic of intimidation coming from upper management … and I received that message as a clear threat,” said another. Ladki insisted Redd was let go solely for financial reasons, but acknowledged that the timing was unfortunate. “Ben was on a high salary and high expenses … so the idea was that for his salary, I can get three or four younger journalists, that was the decision,” Ladki said. “The timing looked very bad, yes.”
Several staffers at The Daily Star confirmed to Al Jazeera on Thursday that they had resigned or planned to do so imminently. One said they had been thinking about leaving over the pay issue, but Redd’s firing “was the last straw”.
Tens of employees have left the newspaper in recent months thanks to payment issues, leaving it severely understaffed.
The Daily Star is almost entirely owned by the family of Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Saad Hariri. Employees of several media companies owned by the family have consistently gone unpaid. In September, Hariri announced the suspension of operations at Future TV, once one of Lebanon’s most-high profile channels, citing financial difficulties. At the time, the majority of the station’s 380 staff had been on a weeks-long strike after going unpaid for months

Rafik Hariri was a nation-builder – his legacy must not be tarnished
Basem Shabb/The National/December 05/2019
Historians looking back at his rule will describe him as a patriot who had his country’s best interests at heart
Lebanon is undergoing the worst economic crisis in its history, and protesters have filled the streets of its cities and towns since October. Rampant corruption, mismanagement and a lack of job opportunities are at the root of the uprising. Protests initially opposed a new tax on Whatsapp, the popular messaging application, before quickly taking a political turn, with demonstrators demanding an end to corruption and sectarianism – as well as the departure of the entire political class.
In response, Shia political outfit Hezbollah and its allies – which effectively dominate Lebanese government – have orchestrated an assault on the legacy of the late Rafik Hariri, who as prime minister in the 1990s and 2000s, helped build an economically liberal Lebanon. They have blamed him for the current economic collapse, 14 years after he was assassinated.
Rafik Hariri’s critics could not be farther from the truth. However, before talking about his legacy as a nation-builder, it is important to provide the political context that the country finds itself in.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been allied to the Free Patriotic Movement, or FPM, founded by Lebanese president Michel Aoun and headed by his son-in-law, Lebanon’s foreign minister Gebran Bassil since 2006. A decade later, Mr Aoun became president and the alliance gained a majority in parliament and inside the council of ministers. For Hezbollah, this was an ideal arrangement. The FPM provided a broad Christian cover to the terrorist organisation, while rapprochement between the FPM and the now former prime minister Saad Hariri, the son of Rafik, served to appease the West and Gulf allies, understandably worried about the rise to power of an Iranian proxy.
All three major players in Mr Aoun’s unity government ignored the signs of a battered economy on the verge of collapse. A strong sense of entitlement prevailed. With Hezbollah dominating government, foreign investment dwindled, especially after the group provoked a month-long war with Israel in 2006. Tourists who used to flock from the Arab world by the thousands stopped visiting Lebanon, depriving the country of an important source of revenue, which Beirut relied on heavily during Rafik Hariri’s time in office.
In recent years, banks have applied skyrocketing interest rates to attract money to the cash-strapped country, where endemic corruption and poor governance have emptied the coffers of the state and plagued the economy.
While Hezbollah and the FPM have blamed the economic policies of the senior Hariri for the country’s financial woes, these parties have failed to acknowledge their own responsibility in precipitating Lebanon’s economic demise. Hezbollah’s Iranian backing, for instance, has made Lebanon the target of US sanctions against Tehran, which were by default extended to entities dealing with the proxy. The banking sector took a toll, with Jammal Trust Bank having had to close down in September for its dealings with the group. A few years ago, it was the Lebanese Canadian Bank that was under strain after the US accused it of laundering money for Hezbollah. Not only did ordinary civilians with no relation to the terror group lose their jobs, as a result of it, but the banking sector had also been tarnished.
Hezbollah and its allies have added further strain on the economy by delaying the formation of a new government. The junior Hariri and his cabinet bowed to protesters’ demands and resigned in October but Mr Aoun has yet to name a successor to form a technocratic government – a key demand made by the protesters. Hezbollah and the FPM insist on a shared technocratic-political government, an alternative that is refused by both the protest movement as well as Saad Hariri. This impasse has precipitated the country’s economic problems. In the past few weeks alone, the private sector suffered tremendous losses with many businesses halving their employees’ salaries for lack of revenues. The currency lose one-third of its value against the US dollar.
Returning to the issue about Rafik Hariri’s legacy, one must remember that he had a vision for an economically liberal Lebanon, closely allied with the West and fellow Arab countries, especially in the Gulf. The sound business acumen of the self-made billionaire gained the trust of Arab and European nations who invested in Lebanon after the 15-year civil war came to an end in 1990. Today, Beirut has failed to convince its allies to invest in a country unable to manage its resources properly, or to prevent funds from being siphoned off by corrupt officials.
I am confident that historians looking back at Rafik Hariri’s reign will describe him as a patriot who worked hard to end the civil war
I am confident that historians looking back at Rafik Hariri’s reign will describe him as a patriot who worked hard to end the war, paving the way for reconciliation and just representation with the so-called Taif Agreement. Signed in 1989 in Saudi Arabia, the deal that effectively ended the war focused on a power-sharing solution between the country’s three main religious groups. From then on, Lebanon’s president was to always going to be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister would be a Sunni and the speaker of parliament a Shia. In addition to his political achievements, the late Hariri oversaw an unprecedented period of growth in post-war Lebanon and had his country’s best interests at heart.
The restoration of downtown Beirut, entirely rebuilt after the war, was to be the jewel crowning Rafik Hariri’s achievements. The neighbourhood was supposed to revitalise the local economy and become a tourist destination. Its vacant shops and deserted alleys have now become silent witnesses to the end of an era. Years from today, we will recall Rafik Hariri’s time as prime minister as many Lebanese now recall Camille Shamoun’s presidency: a golden age of prosperity.
*Dr Basem Shabb is a former member of parliament in Lebanon

U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire Suggests Sanctions on Lebanese Officials over Amer Fakhoury
Associated Press/Naharnet/December 05/2019
Amer Fakhoury — a Lebanese-American man jailed in Lebanon since September over collaboration with Israel accusations — is very ill, and if he dies there, then Lebanon should be subject to sanctions, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire has said.
Shaheen, who was addressing a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, said Fakhoury has been “illegally” detained since Sept. 12. The 57-year-old Fakhoury, who owns a restaurant in Dover, New Hampshire, went to visit family in Lebanon on vacation — his first trip back in nearly 20 years.
“I think his health is very critical and we do not want a situation where he dies in Lebanese custody,” the Democratic senator testified during a hearing on Lebanon and Iraq. She said sanctions should include ones that would make any involved officials and their family members ineligible for entry into the United States. Joey Hood, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said the U.S. Embassy team in Beirut visited Fakhoury on Wednesday. “There are grave concerns about the process and the way he’s being treated,” he said. “But we are making this our absolute highest priority at the embassy and here at the State Department.”
Shaheen said, “I think this is a very serious situation that has not been taken seriously by the officials of the Lebanese government, and they need to be on notice that we are looking very carefully and closely at what they’re doing.” Fakhoury’s family said doctors have told them his condition is life threatening. In addition to an infection and bleeding disorder, doctors believe he’s developed an aggressive form of lymphoma. “We need to get him out of Lebanon as soon as possible to be treated,” his lawyer, Celine Atallah, said from Lebanon in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.
Atallah said it remains unclear why he’s being held. Fakhoury, however, was once a member of the former Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia. He also worked at a former prison described by human rights groups as a center for torture.
His lawyer and family insist he had no direct contact with prisoners and never abused anyone, and there was never an abuse allegation against him. Shaheen entered into the record a document provided by Atallah that she said indicates “that he’s not the individual that the Lebanese and Hizbullah-liked papers allege him to be.”
The articles described Fakhoury as “the Butcher of Khiam,” accusing him of torture and murder at the former Khiam Prison in Lebanon. The document said Fakhoury was assigned to the prison from 1989 to 1996 and that he never was involved in the interrogation or torture of prisoners. It also says he fled Lebanon in 2001 through Israel and eventually to the United States, because of “credible” death threats he and other SLA members received after Israel ended its occupation of Lebanon in 2000. The prison and the SLA were “investigated and documented exhaustively” by journalists, international organizations, agencies of the Lebanese government and others, according to the document. It also showed a 1996 charge of collaborating with Israel against Fakhoury was dropped in 2018. The document shows Fakhoury decided to return to Lebanon after receiving written confirmation in August 2018 from the Lebanese government that there were no accusations against him in Lebanon. Also, a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official encouraged Fakhoury, during an event in Boston in September 2018, to “come back to Lebanon.”Lebanon is in the middle of an unprecedented economic and political crisis amid nearly 50 days of nationwide protests. The anti-government protests led to the prime minister’s resignation last month. Given the current instability in Lebanon, it was unclear who could address Fakhoury’s case.”This is their opportunity to do the right thing,” Atallah said, “and to show the world the democracy they’ve been striving for now.”

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نشرة أخبار المنسقية العامة للمؤسسات اللبنانية الكندية باللغة العربية ليوم 06 كانون الأول/2019

اضغط هنا لقراءة نشرة أخبار المنسقية العامة المفصلة، اللبنانية والعربية ليوم 06 كانون الأول/2019

ارشيف نشرات أخبار موقعنا اليومية/عربية وانكليزية منذ العام 2006/اضغط هنا لدخول صفحة الأرشيف

عناوين أقسام نشرة المنسقية باللغة العربية
الزوادة الإيمانية لليوم
تعليقات الياس بجاني وخلفياتها
الأخبار اللبنانية
المتفرقات اللبنانية
الأخبار الإقليمية والدولية
المقالات والتعليقات والتحاليل السياسية الشاملة
المؤتمرات والندوات والبيانات والمقابلات والمناسبات الخاصة والردود وغيره

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فاثبتوا إذا في الحرية التي قد حررنا المسيح بها، ولا ترتبكوا أيضا بنير عبودية
رسالة بولس الرسول إلى أهل غلاطية05/من01حتى06/:” فاثبتوا إذا في الحرية التي قد حررنا المسيح بها، ولا ترتبكوا أيضا بنير عبودية. ها أنا بولس أقول لكم: إنه إن اختتنتم لا ينفعكم المسيح شيئا لكن أشهد أيضا لكل إنسان مختتن أنه ملتزم أن يعمل بكل الناموس. قد تبطلتم عن المسيح أيها الذين تتبررون بالناموس. سقطتم من النعمة. فإننا بالروح من الإيمان نتوقع رجاء بر لأنه في المسيح يسوع لا الختان ينفع شيئا ولا الغرلة (عدم الختان)، بل الإيمان العامل بالمحبة”

Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery
Letter to the Galatians 05/01-06/:”Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. It is I, Paul, who am telling you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. Once again I declare to every man who has himself circumcised that he is bound to observe the entire law. You are separated from Christ, you who are trying to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

أَلحَقَّ ٱلحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُم: كُلُّ مَا تَطْلُبُونَهُ مِنَ الآبِ بِٱسْمِي، يُعْطِيكُم
إنجيل القدّيس يوحنّا16/من20حتى24/:”قالَ الربُّ يَسوع: «أَلحَقَّ ٱلحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُم: إِنَّكُم سَتَبْكُونَ وتَنُوحُون، أَمَّا العَالَمُ فَسَيَفْرَح. أَنْتُم سَتَحْزَنُونَ ولكِنَّ حُزْنَكُم سَيَتَحَوَّلُ إِلى فَرَح. أَلمَرْأَةُ تَحْزَنُ وهِي تَلِد، لأَنَّ سَاعَتَهَا حَانَتْ. ولكِنَّهَا مَتَى وَلَدَتِ ٱلطِّفْلَ، لا تَعُودُ تَذْكُرُ ضِيقَهَا، لِفَرَحِهَا أَنَّ إِنْسَانًا وُلِدَ في العَالَم. فَأَنْتُمُ الآنَ أَيْضًا تَحْزَنُون، إِنَّمَا سَأَعُودُ فَأَرَاكُم، وتَفْرَحُ قُلُوبُكُم، ولا يَنْزِعُ أَحَدٌ فَرَحَكُم مِنْكُم. وفي ذلِكَ اليَوْمِ لَنْ تَسْأَلُونِي شَيْئًا. أَلحَقَّ ٱلحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُم: كُلُّ مَا تَطْلُبُونَهُ مِنَ الآبِ بِٱسْمِي، يُعْطِيكُم إِيَّاه. حَتَّى الآنَ لَمْ تَطْلُبُوا بِٱسْمِي شَيْئًا. أُطْلُبُوا تَنَالُوا فَيَكْتَمِلَ فَرَحُكُم”.

If you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 16/20-24/:”Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labour, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”

The post فاثبتوا إذا في الحرية التي قد حررنا المسيح بها، ولا ترتبكوا أيضا بنير عبودية/Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery appeared first on Elias Bejjani News.

تعليق المشانق
أبو أرز- اتيان صقر/06 كانون الأول/2019

ان تمجيد الزعماء تقليد بالٍ، تعتمده الشعوب المتخلفة، والمجتمعات القبلية البدائية.

اما ان تجد في بلدٍ حضاري كلبنان فئةً ما زالت تمجّد زعماءَها حتى اليوم، فهذا امر محزن ومستهجن، خصوصا وان الزعماء الممجدين هؤلاء هم ذاتهم الذين تولوا الفتك بهذا الوطن، وافقار شعبه ونهب أمواله.

لحسن الحظ ان عدد هذه الفئة الضالة والمضللة لا تمثل سوى أقلية ضئيلة، لا قدرة لها على الوقوف في وجه هذا الطوفان البشري الجارف الذي تمثله ثورة ١٧ تشرين، والذي سيجرف معه حتماً هذه الطغمة السياسية الأكثر فجورا وعهراً وفسادا في العالم.

ولأن الفقر بدأ يتعمم في مختلف اوساط الشعب، والمجاعة تدق الأبواب بقوة، ونسبة الأنتحار وبيع الكلى أخذة بالأرتفاع … فلا عجب اذا ما لجأ الثوار، في نهاية المطاف، الى تعليق المشانق!!!

فتحسسوا أذاً رقابكم ايتها الحيتان التي لا تشبع.
لبيك لبنان.
ابو ارز.

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How the Israel-Iran war might begin
 ياكوف كاتز/جيرازالم بوست: في حال وقعت الحرب بين إيران وإسرائيل هكذا ستبدأ
Yaakov Katz/Jerusalem Post/December 06/2019

 In the back of everyone’s mind there will be a constant and nagging question mark over what happens next. Everyone that is, except for Iran.

The missiles will come in low, after being in the air for almost an hour, and when they hit, they will be coming just over the horizon. People who witness the attack will remember later that the missiles didn’t fall from the sky. They flew at their target straight, like a bullet.

 The drones will hit just a few minutes later. They will have been flying at low altitudes for longer, taking off in Iraq, crossing into Syria, and then across the border into Israel.

 The “swarm” of drones and cruise missiles – as it will later be referred to – will have caught the country by surprise. By the time they strike, the target will be less relevant – the Haifa oil refinery, an apartment building in Kiryat Shmona, or a school in Katzrin.

 This scenario, while fiction for now, is one that the IDF top brass is talking about on a regular basis these days. It is being played out in the minds of IDF generals and intelligence officials, responsible for watching Iran’s every move, from Tehran all the way to its proxies’ bases in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and the Gaza Strip.

The model is very similar to Iran’s attack against the Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia in September: within the span of 17 minutes, 18 drones and three low-flying missiles hit the facility with amazing precision.

The ability to launch a coordinated cruise missile/drone attack that hit its target with precision (except for a few cruise missiles that missed) was an impressive feat. That Iran has this capability came as a surprise to many in America and Israel’s defense establishments.

 That Iran would like to attack Israel is not a secret. Two weeks ago, an Iranian-backed militia in Syria fired four Fajr-5 rockets at the Hermon Mountain in Israel. The rockets were intercepted by Iron Dome batteries.

In August, Israel struck an Iranian-backed cell planning to launch explosives-laden drones into Israel from Syria. After both incidents, the Israeli Air Force carried out extensive retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.

But what happens if Iran succeeds in hitting Israel with an Aramco-style attack? What happens if it hits a strategic installation and causes extensive economic damage or worse – loss of life? What will Israel do?

This question is at the heart of discussions within the defense establishment, and there are a number of possible answers, each with its advantages and disadvantages.

IF FOR example the cruise missiles and drones are launched from Syria, Yemen or Iraq, the easiest move is for Israel to simply retaliate against the cell that launched them, assuming it is able to quickly locate and identify the attackers.

On the other hand, while such a retaliation has tactical value – denying the cell the ability to continue firing missiles – what does it say about Israeli deterrence? If Iran knows that it can strike at Israel via proxies from other countries and not pay a direct price, what will stop it from continuing?

For that reason, another option would be for Israel to strike back directly at Iran and to deliver a decisive blow against the regime that would make the clerics there understand that there is a personal price to be paid for attacking Israel.

How would Israel do that?
Israel will likely need to rely on its Air Force, the backbone of which – the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, F-16I Sufas and F-15I Raams – are specially configured for long-range bombing operations.

With some refueling, the planes would be able to fly to Iran, attack their targets and return. There are different routes: flying directly over Jordan and Iraq, over Saudi Arabia and Iraq, or along the Turkish-Syrian border. All have their advantages and disadvantages. Some are longer while others are more dangerous.

Israel could potentially use drones in such an attack. According to foreign reports, the Heron TP – Israel’s largest drone with the wingspan of a Boeing 707 – has the ability to carry missiles. How big and how much damage they can cause remains unknown. That is why while the drones – if they are even an option – might minimize the risk to pilots, their ability to cause extensive damage is limited.

For this reason, for example, Avigdor Liberman when he was defense minister, and Naftali Bennett before he became defense minister, both pushed for the IDF to develop additional long-range capabilities. Liberman tried to establish a missile corps in the IDF. At the time, the focus was on short-to-medium range that was not big enough to reach Iran, but that would have been the next stage.

Prior to being appointed defense minister, Bennett also raised the issue in security cabinet meetings and tried to push the military to think creatively about how it can deal decisive blows to far away enemies like Iran. Now, as defense minister, he can try to implement his vision.

EACH RETALIATORY option will directly impact the scope of the conflict that will follow. If, for example, Israel goes with option 1 and limits its strike to the missile launchers in Iraq, Syria or Yemen, there would likely be almost no response. Iran would understand that Israel needed to vent and would accept the follow-up blow.

If Israel goes with option 2 and strikes in Iran, an unprecedented move, it could lead to a regional war. Iran can activate its militias based in Syria, Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and, of course, Hezbollah in Lebanon which has the ability to launch over 1,000 rockets and missiles a day against Israeli targets.

In theory, Iran also has the potential to launch its own long-range ballistic missiles toward Israel. While Iran has developed an impressive ballistic missile capability, they have never really been tested in combat. Will they be able to make the flight to Israel and accurately hit their targets? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, they would first have to make it through the Arrow, Israel’s ballistic missile defense system.

What would Israel target in such an attack against Iran? For purposes of deterrence, it might be enough to strike at a single symbolic target, like a military base.

On the other hand, if you know that a massive war is coming, maybe it would be the right time to strike additional targets at the same time – nuclear facilities, missile depots and launchers, air force bases, navy ships. If there is already going to be a war, it might as well be worth it.

The same could be argued about Hezbollah. If the military assessment is that Hezbollah would attack Israel after such a strike, then the IDF would need to consider launching a preemptive strike against Hezbollah and hitting targets – its long-range missile arsenal, assuming Israeli intelligence knows where it is stored as an example – at the same time that an attack is launched against Iran.

At least this way, if war with Hezbollah comes, Israel will have limited the Lebanese-based group’s ability to inflict damage.
WILL ANY of this happen? That is impossible to know. Based on the frequency of visits by top US military officials in the last few weeks – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.

Mark Milley, head of the US Air Force Gen. David Goldfein, and CENTCOM chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie were all here last month – there is coordination going on behind the scenes between the Pentagon and the IDF.

The same can be understood from the two phone calls Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently had with President Donald Trump, during which they discussed the threat from Iran as well as other “critical” regional issues.

The problem, though, is that anything Netanyahu does today will be seen as politically driven. If there is an attack in the coming weeks after Israel has gone to another election, then however Israel responds will be looked at through the prism of Netanyahu’s legal predicament.

Did he decide to go to war to try and postpone his trial, or did he decide to contain a devastating attack to avoid a war that would incur casualties and possibly also a political price?

In the back of everyone’s mind there will be a constant and nagging question mark over what happens next. Everyone that is, except for Iran.
https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editors-Notes-How-the-Israel-Iran-war-might-begin-610029

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