Solidariteit met opstand Syrië is gevaarlijk in Libanon

 

We berichtten er vandaag al over: het gaat goed met de Arabische lente, maar niet heus. In Egypte zijn 100.000 Kopten reeds gevlucht en wordt de onderdrukking steeds grimmiger en gewelddadiger, in post-Ghadaffi-Libië zijn Joden niet welkom, in Syrië gaat het leger nog steeds grof tekeer tegen vreedzame demonstranten, en in Libanon kun je daar beter niet tegen demonstreren. Maar het is natuurlijk belangrijker om op de TV (Tegenlicht) te laten zien hoezeer de Gazanen te lijden hebben van een niet meer bestaande blokkade (er komen dagelijks honderden vrachtwagens met goederen voor Gaza via Israel binnen) dan om dieper in te gaan op de oorzaken waarom het zo mis dreigt te gaan in de Arabische wereld. 

 

RP

---------- 

 

31 killed in Syria today - but don't protest if you are in Lebanon

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/10/31-killed-in-syria-today-but-dont.html

From Al Arabiya:

More than 30 people were killed in clashes across Syria, including 14 civilians and 17 soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday, as army forces continued to pound the cities of Homs and Qamishli. 

Seven of the 14 civilians killed on Sunday were gunned down by security forces in the central city of Homs, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that seven others were killed in other towns.

Seventeen security personnel died the same day in clashes with mutinous troops refusing orders to shoot on anti-regime protesters, the watchdog said.

"It was like a war scene in Homs, where blasts and sound bombs were heard all over town, with heavy machine guns also being fired," said officials with the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), which organizes protests on the ground.

"A lot of homes were destroyed. Nine people were killed and dozens wounded. Security agents and pro-regime militias prevented ambulances from evacuating the wounded," the officials said.

It said the regime "attacked the Homs region in yet another desperate effort to make its free residents bow and to snuff out the revolution."

Activists said Army forces pounded Qamishli through the night on Sunday. The city was the scene of a mass rally on Saturday against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad during the funeral of Mishaal Tammo.

Gunmen shot Tammo, a Kurdish opposition figure, dead on Friday in his home in the east of the country, activists said.

 

In Lebanon, Kurds protested the murder of Tammo - and learned their own lesson:

 

A group of Syrian Kurds decided to organize a small demonstration in front of the Syrian Embassy in Beirut on Sunday to protest the assassination of an opposition leader and key member of the Syrian National Council, Meshal Temmo, who was a Syrian Kurd himself.

Temmo's assassination came at a very critical time for the Syrians, immediately after the formation of the SNC, and the group of Syrian Kurds in Beirut wanted to express their resentment. According to activists at the scene, Lebanese security services erected extensive checkpoints that delayed and prohibited the arrival of seven buses carrying demonstrators to the embassy. The protest still took place, but not many could attend.

Surprisingly, this time Lebanese security protected the protesters who made it to the demonstration from a group of thugs who, as usual, went to break up the event. 

But the incident did not end there. That night in the neighborhood of Dora, members of the Lebanese intelligence service brutally attacked and humiliated Syrian Kurd workers who participated in the demonstration.

They delivered the message that no one is allowed to demonstrate in support of freedom in Syria.

 

That same Now Lebanon article also talks about another example of the chilling of freedom of expression in Lebanon:

Three film directors were banned from travelling to Lebanon by the Iranian authorities. Iranian Nader Davoodi, Iranian Kurd Babak Amin and Iraqi Kurd Ibrahim Saeedi were not allowed to come to Lebanon to attend the screening of their films, "Red, White and Green," "I Wish Someone Was There Waiting for Me," and "Mandoo" at the Beirut Film Festival.

These directors are probably heading for a tough trial by the Iranian authorities, and that's probably why the festival's administration decided to pull the most controversial one, Davoodi's "Red, White and Green," after Lebanese censorship authorities requested to see the film before its screening. The film focuses on the violent events of the three weeks leading up to the disputed June 2009 re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Lebanese authorities did not even have to ban the film, but only made a simple call, which instilled enough fear among the festival's administration to pull it. This fear is based on previous incidents when the same authorities banned Lebanese, Arab and Iranian films from the BFF and other festivals. Because festivals rely heavily on the Lebanese authorities for licenses and passes, some believe it is safer not to challenge authorities; otherwise, the whole festival could be shut down.

 

Een Libanees is strafbaar als hij met een Israeli twittert

 

Stel je wilt als Libanees vrienden worden op Facebook met Uri Avneri, of Amira Hass, of Gideon Levy. Dan overtreedt je de wet en dat kan nare gevolgen hebben. Kontakt tussen Libanezen en Israeli's is strikt verboden. Ik las onlangs in een oud tijdschrift over Libanezen van het blad Time Out die tijdens een internationale ontmoeting op Cyprus, kort voor de tweede Libanon oorlog, hun collega's uit Tel Aviv hadden leren kennen en bevriend waren geraakt. In het artikel vertelde een Libanese journalist dat naarmate de oorlog langer duurde die vriendschap wel op de proef werd gesteld omdat de Israeli's steeds meer achter de oorlog gingen staan. Wat een schande, Israeli's die aan Israels kant staan in een oorlog tegen Hezbollah, een beweging die Israel wil vernietigen. Later vertelde iemand van een rockgroep dat hij een oproep had gedaan op Facebook aan Israeli's om te verbroederen. Er was nauwelijks op gereageerd, want die nationalistische Israeli's stonden daar helemaal niet voor open, zij stonden immers 'als een blok achter Israel'. 'Ik laat de boodschap daar staan, ook al is hij achterhaald, aldus de muzikant. 'De mensen moeten weten dat er een moment heeft bestaan waarop wij dachten dat solidariteit tusen Tel Aviv en Beiroet mogelijk is'. Tja. Niks over de vele Israelische initiatieven tot verbroedering, voor en na de tweede Libanon oorlog, en niks over de hieronder genoemde wetten die ieder kontakt met Israeli's verbieden. Het is geweldig dat er Libanezen zijn die bereid zijn ze te overtreden, maar bijna niemand hier weet dat ze überhaupt bestaan, en ik geloof niet dat dat in Libanon een big issue is en tot veel controverses heeft geleid.

 

RP

--------- 

 

Want to get Lebanese in trouble? Tweet them from Israel!

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/09/want-to-get-lebanese-in-trouble-tweet.html

 

 

From Now Lebanon:

 

What happens if, while abroad, you make a friend who happens to be Israeli? What if you are attending an event with participants from the Jewish State and shake an Israeli representative's hand? What if you bought a magazine that was printed in Tel Aviv and wanted to bring it back home?

These questions may seem superfluous to non-Lebanese, but for natives of the Land of the Cedars, engaging in any activity with an Israeli, physically or not, can land you in hot water.

That is because relations between Israelis and Lebanese are governed by two half-century-old laws: the 1943 Lebanese Criminal Code and the 1955 Lebanese Anti-Israeli Boycott Law, the former of which forbids any interaction with nationals of enemy states, and the latter of which specifies Israelis.

To boot, because in the laws' eyes Lebanese nationality takes primacy over any other, a Lebanese who has dual citizenship and is involved in an exchange with an Israeli anywhere in the world can be legally prosecuted in a Lebanese court.

NOW Lebanon asked Salim El Meouchi, senior partner and chairman of the Beirut-based law firm Badri and Salim El Meouchi, just how far the laws extend. 

 

Can a Lebanese citizen who Is physically In Lebanon, or can any resident of Lebanon, engage in a conversation with an Israeli citizen who is physically in Israel? What if the Lebanese has dual citizenship?

No in both cases, and the same applies if the person the Lebanese is talking to is Arab-Israeli. However, a Lebanese can legally call the Occupied Territories. Israelis can also call Lebanon, though engaging in a phone conversation should be avoided and would be considered illegal.

Can a Lebanese citizen who is in Lebanon engage in a conversation with an Israeli citisen who is outside of Israel?

No, not even through an intermediary or institution, though "If you are discussing non-threatening issues such as social small talk, and if you happen to be in another city, the case could, in principle, be defended," said El Meouchi.

Can a Lebanese citizen who is outside of Lebanon engage in a conversation with an Israeli who is outside of Israel?

No, though "In the case of spontaneity, tortuity and the discussion of non~threatening issues, it could be defended," noted El Meouchi.

Can a Lebanese who only holds a Lebanese passport marry an Israeli citizen, dual or not, outside of Lebanon and some back to Lebanon? 

No. Article 1 of the Anti-Israeli Boycott Law prohibits any type of relation with Israelis, though it basically has to do with commercial and business transactions. As such, it could he argued that marriage is not a commercial or business transaction, said El Meouchi, However, such an argument may not convince the Lebanese government.

Can a Lebanese man marry an Israeli woman who gives up her nationality and transfer his Lebanese citizenship to her? 

Yes. In principle this is possible, though the Lebanese government could take a negative position on a case-by-case basis, the lawyer said.

Can a Lebanese citizen do business from abroad with an Israeli who Is In Israel?

No.

Can a Lebanese buy an Israeli publication or product abroad and bring it back to Lebanon? 

No.

Can a Lebanese citizen participate in a conference, festival or sporting event where an Israeli citizen is also a participant? 

Yes, as long as they are not in direct communication.

Can a Lebanese publish in a journal in which an Israeli also published? 

Yes, as long as the publication is not Israeli, does not publish from Israel, does not belong to an Israeli or a person residing in Israel, and as long as the Lebanese and Israeli did not communicate directly on the published work.

Can a Lebanese Iriend an Israeli on Facebook? 

No, because technically speaking, any Facebook activity with an Israeli would still be considered a violation of Article I of the Anti-Israel Boycott Law.

 

As far as the question on sports competitions, the answer seems to be that Lebanese cannot even compete against Israelis - and must forfeit their matches, the way Iran does. 

 

Sixteen-year-old Christopher Finan's Tae Kwon Do coach has very high hopes for him. The teenager, who trains in Champville, north of Beirut, started to learn the Korean martial art when he was 10 and has rarely lost a match. Competing in the 2010 World Junior Championships in Tijuana, Mexico last month was a dream-come-true for the Lebanese junior champion. He paid for his own training and even bought his own ticket – which cost over $1,000 – to reach Mexico, but he was in for an ugly surprise.

Finan's first opponent at the championship was Gil Haimovitz, an Israeli teenager. Finan had to forfeit the match, for as a Lebanese, he is not allowed to not touch, speak to, deal with or compete against an Israeli citizen, even if that citizen is just a 15-year-old boy.

 

According to that older article, Lebanon has the most restrictive anti-Israel laws of any country - including Iran! 

 

No other Arab countries that take part in international competitions have national laws stipulating boycott with Israel in sports competitions, while Iran allows players to boycott as an individual decision.

 

It would be a real shame if Israelis should start conversations on, say, Sayed Nasrallah's YouTube page or on the talkbacks at his Al Manar channel. No matter what insult they hurl at him and his Lebanese Shi'ite buddies, they couldn't legally answer without breaking the law. 

There's a lot of potential here....

 

Op 9/11 in Beiroet

 

Ik geloof graag de berichten dat het maar een kleine minderheid is in de Arabische wereld die blij was met 9-11, alhoewel het me wel duidelijk is dat velen het wel kunnen begrijpen of zelfs rechtvaardigen, vanwege Amerika’s ‘imperialisme’. Maar dit artikel laat een ander beeld zien. Uitgelaten mensen in Beiroet, ‘het Parijs van het Midden-Oosten’. Niet alleen fanatieke baardmannen, maar heel gewone mensen, hippe jongeren, hoger opgeleiden. Waar komt dat door? De haat tegen Amerika zit diep en wordt door de media aangewakkerd en levend gehouden. En de vernedering ten opzichte van het Westen zit diep, men heeft het gevoel aan de kant te zijn geschoven, niet serieus te worden genomen, als wingewest te worden gezien waar de VS en Europa de invloedssferen verdelen en de dictarors steunen die hun de beste deals bieden. Dat laatste is niet 100% onjuist, maar andere landen hebben een minstens zo agressieve buitenlandse politiek, zoals China en Rusland. Veel Arabische staten zelf doen ook graag mee aan deze machtspolitieke spelletjes, en gaan daarbij vaak nog een stap verder omdat zij niet worden gehinderd door lastige mensenrechtenactivisten, kritische journalisten en een onafhankelijke rechtsspraak. De slachtofferrol speelt de Arabische wereld parten, en alleen als men die van zich af kan schudden en besluit vooruit te kijken en te zorgen voor een betere toekomst voor de volgende generatie, kan de Arabische lente (of wat daarvan over is) leiden tot een zomer. Wanneer haat en ressentiment plaats maken voor innovatie en de wil tot vooruitgang, is de hoop niet verloren. Helaas ziet het daar op dit moment nog bepaald niet naar uit.

 

RP

-----------

 

An eyewitness to Arab 9/11 celebrations in Beirut

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/09/eyewitness-to-arab-911-celebrations-in.html

 

 

The original Wall Street Journal article is no longer available, but this account by Elisabetta Burba about her experiences in Lebanon is a must-read:

 

 

Whooping It Up
In Beirut, even Christians celebrated the atrocity. 

BY ELISABETTA BURBA 
Saturday, September 22, 2001 12:01 a.m. EDT 

BEIRUT--Where were you on Sept. 11, when terrorists changed the world? I was at the National Museum here, enjoying the wonders of the ancient Phoenicians with my husband. This tour of past splendor only magnified the shock I received later when I heard the news and saw the reactions all around me.

Walking downtown, I realized that the offspring of this great civilization were celebrating a terrorist outrage. And I am not talking about destitute people. Those who were cheering belonged to the elite of the Paris of Middle East: professionals wearing double-breasted suits, charming blond ladies, pretty teenagers in tailored jeans.

Trying to find our bearings, my husband and I went into an American-style cafe in the Hamra district, near Rue Verdun, rated as one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Here the cognitive dissonance was immediate, and direct. The café's sophisticated clientele was celebrating, laughing, cheering and making jokes, as waiters served hamburgers and Diet Pepsi. Nobody looked shocked, or moved. They were excited, very excited.

An hour later, at a little market near the U.S. Embassy, on the outskirts of Beirut, a thrilled shop assistant showed us, using his hands, how the plane had crashed into the twin towers. He, too, was laughing.

Once back at the house where we were staying, we started scanning the international channels. Soon came reports of Palestinians celebrating. The BBC reporter in Jerusalem said it was only a tiny minority. Astonished, we asked some moderate Arabs if that was the case. "Nonsense," said one, speaking for many. "Ninety percent of the Arab world believes that Americans got what they deserved."

An exaggeration? Rather an understatement. A couple of days later, we headed north to Tripoli, near the Syrian border. On the way, we read that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who donated blood in front of the cameras, was rejecting any suggestion that his people were rejoicing over the terrorist attack. "It was less than 10 children in Jerusalem," he said.

In the bustling souk of Tripoli we started looking for the Great Mosque, a 1294 building with a distinctive Lombard-style tower. But in that labyrinth, nobody spoke anything but Arabic, which we don't speak. Finally, in a dark shop, we found an old gentleman who knew French. His round white cap showed that he was a devout Muslim. Leaning on his stick, he managed to get on the street and with most exquisite manners gave us directions. Common decency survives all.

Once at the mosque I donned a black chador, but our Lonely Planet guide attracted the attention of a hard-looking bearded guy all the same. "Are you Americans?" he asked in a menacing tone. Our quick denial made him relax. He gave us the green light to go in. But very soon afterward we were again approached, by a fat young man. He turned out to be one of the 350,000 Palestinians who live in Lebanon, unwelcome by most of the population and subject to severe hardships. Hearing we were Italians, first he recited like a prayer names of Italian soccer players. We were relieved at first that he wanted to talk about sports, but he soon moved on to politics and the "events."

"My people have been crushed under the heel of American imperialism, which took away our land, massacred our beloved and denied our right to life. But have you seen what happened in New York City? God Almighty has drawn his sword against our enemies. God is great--Allah u Akbar," he said.

I heard these appeals to religion so often that I needed some theological help. "How can God do evil?" I later asked an Arab friend, a businessman with an international background. "According to what I learnt in my catechism, God lets evil happen. He doesn't do it," I said, and he answered:

"The Koran has the same teaching, but blood calls for blood."

What about compassion? I asked, pointing out that Jesus had turned the other cheek. Isn't Allah also always called the Merciful? "He is, but when a people has been begging for a piece of land for 52 years and it has experienced only bloodshed, what can you expect?" But the victims of the World Trade Center were civilians, I insisted. "In the new intifada, 500 Palestinians have been killed. America didn't give a damn, so why should Muslims care now about those who died in the twin towers? It's hard, but that's the way they see it."

I couldn't help it. I kept remembering how a day earlier, in Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had talked about clash of civilizations.

On Thursday night, in the Christian northern part of Beirut, we heard some loud noises. "Probably they are celebrating the attacks," someone told us when we asked. You mean the Maronite Christians are also celebrating? I asked.

"Yes, they also feel betrayed by the Americans."

On Friday, the national day of remembrance for the victims in Europe and the U.S., I was relieved to see that the Christian church in the Sahet Aukar district was packed with people holding a candlelight vigil. Less comforting was the thick barrier of soldiers and checkpoints that protected the church.

Heliopolis, in the Bekaa Valley, was the Sun City of the ancients. Nowadays it is called Baalbek. Near its lavish temples stands the stronghold of the Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite Party of God. Along the clean alleys that lead to the Hezbolla's stronghold there are hand-made posters of bearded young men. "They are martyrs," explained a well-dressed, cultivated Arab man who had just gotten out of his Mercedes. "They fought until victory: the withdrawal of Israeli occupants. So they became a model for the all Arab world." Weren't they terrorists? we asked. "Terrorists? What about the Israelis who kill women and babies?"

In the seven days we spent in Lebanon, we saw one young Arab woman with teary eyes. "The stories of the victims touched me," she said, and I began to regain my trust in humanity. Then she added: "But in a way I am also glad, because for once the Americans are experiencing what we in the Middle East go through every single day." Back in Italy, I received a phone call from my friend Gilberto Bazoli, a journalist in Cremona. He told me he witnessed the same reactions among Muslims in the local mosque of that small Lombard city. "They were all on Osama bin Laden's side," he said. "One of them told me that they were not even worthy to kiss his toes."

 

Libanees parlementslid Hezbollah roept op tot oorlog tegen Israel

 

Hezbollah strijdt slechts tegen de Israelische bezetting, horen we vaak van deskundologen en vooral linkse politici. Hezbollah is een legitieme beweging, en in staat verantwoordelijkheid te dragen en snapt ook wel dat Israel er nou eenmaal is....

De aarde is plat, varkens kunnen vliegen en Hezbollah en Hamas willen vrede ? 

 

RP

----------

 

Hizbullah MP, Retired Brig.-Gen. Walid Sakariya: Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Hizbullah Will Wipe Out Israel, Even at the Cost of Hundreds of Thousands of Casualties, following US Withdrawal from Iraq

 

Following are excerpts from an interview with Hizbullah MP Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Walid Sakariya, which aired on ANB TV on August 7, 2011. 
http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/3069.htm 

Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Walid Sakariya: Iran is the country most hostile to Israel, but Iraq serves as a buffer between Iran and the Palestine front – from the days of Saddam Hussein and until the US military presence in Iraq. Iran supports the forces of confrontation: Hamas, Hizbullah, and Syria. 

If, following the US withdrawal, Iraq becomes a bridge linking Iran to Syria, the Iranian forces could cross Iraq and arrive in Syria, in order to participate in a direct war on the Golan front. 

In that case, Israel would not be fighting Hizbullah alone. It would be fighting Hizbullah, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. This is the so-called "Shiite Crescent" that they fear. Since Iran dominates this [axis], the Arab countries refer to it as the "Shiite Crescent." 

If Hizbullah has 5,000 missiles and can destroy some targets in Israel, the equation will completely change when Syria and Iran join the war. You will have the strategic superiority and a force large enough to pulverize Israel, even if this war costs you hundreds of thousands of martyrs – not just 1,000 or 2,000. You will enter this war with a population mass exceeding 100 million. 

[...] 
 

If Syria, as a confrontation country, fails, America and the Zionist enterprise will be victorious. 

Interviewer: Syria is that important... 

Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Walid Sakariya: Of course. But if Syria is victorious as a confrontation country, Israel will come to an end. There are military balances. Hizbullah can defeat Israel, but it cannot abolish it. If Syria enters a war with Israel, it may be able to regain the Golan, but it will not be able to liberate Haifa and Tel Aviv. 

However, Hizbullah, Syria, Iraq, and Iran will constitute a force that is militarily superior to Israel and will destroy it. They will wage a war and might even suffer hundreds of thousands of martyrs – because Israel might use the nuclear weapon in order to survive – but nevertheless, this war will put an end to Israel. 

 

 

Hezbollah bedreigt Libanese buikdanseres die met Israelische band optrad

 

Op een festival in Frankrijk traden een Israelische metalband en een Libanese buikdanseres samen op. Resultaat: de Libanese danseres kan niet meer terug naar Libanon vanwege doodsbedreigingen afkomstig van Hezbollah.

 

Israel and Lebanon are technically at war and it is illegal under Lebanese law for any citizen to have public interactions with an Israeli. Media outlets around the world carried the image of Fakhri and Fahri brandishing their national flags, prompting a seething Hezbollah to declare Fakhri a traitor and issue a death warrant for her. The dancer has since been hiding out in France, fearing for her life if she returns to her homeland.

In Israel zijn zulke wetten er niet, wel is het voor knessetleden verboden om naar landen te reizen waarmee Israel officieel in oorlog is en enkele Arabisch-Israelische parlementsleden zijn daarvoor vervolgd. Dat riep vervolgens weer de verontwaardiging op van antizionisten, die dat een ongeoorloofde inperking van hun vrijheden vond. Maar ik geloof niet dat iemand zich over de Libanese buikdanseres zorgen maakt. En veel mensen blijven roepen dat organisaties als Hezbollah, Hamas en de Moslim Broederschap pragmatisch zijn geworden en dat het allemaal reuze meevalt en we ons vooral niet teveel zorgen moeten maken dat zij aan de macht komen.

 

RP

--------

 

Hezbollah threatens belly dancer for appearing with Israelis

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/07/hezbollah-threatens-belly-dancer-for.html

 

From Israel HaYom:

 

A Lebanese belly dancer is facing death threats and cannot return to her homeland after embracing an Israeli musician at an international festival in France.

 

On June 19, Israeli heavy metal band Orphaned Land performed alongside Lebanese belly dancer Johanna Fakhri at the Hellfest music festival in the western French town of Clisson. At the end of their performance, the Lebanese dancer held up her country’s flag while Orphaned Land's singer, Kobi Fahri, held up an Israeli flag. The two then hugged and clasped each other's hands.

Israel and Lebanon are technically at war and it is illegal under Lebanese law for any citizen to have public interactions with an Israeli. Media outlets around the world carried the image of Fakhri and Fahri brandishing their national flags, prompting a seething Hezbollah to declare Fakhri a traitor and issue a death warrant for her. The dancer has since been hiding out in France, fearing for her life if she returns to her homeland.

The threats against Fakhri have now spread from Lebanon. Last week, the French Muslim party PMF, which is closely tied to Hezbollah, carried a quote from Hezbollah on its website, declaring Fakhri “a traitor who collaborates with the Zionist enemy.”

In response, Fakhri released a statement calling her appearance with Fahri an act of peace.

 

Here's the performance on YouTube.

That is not the limit of anti-Israel nuttiness, however. Dr. Azzaf Eshrat, an MD writing in the crazy-left Salem News, says that this entire show was orchestrated by the Israeli government in order to distract attention from the flotilla! (He also claims that Orphaned Land stole their song from an Egyptian pop song. And that there is no archaeological evidence that Jews ever lived in Israel.)

Which just goes to show that upper class Egyptians are not necessarily more sane than crazed Hezbollah terrorists.

 

 

Libanese moefti heeft het gehad met Palestijnen

 

Hartverwarmende woorden van de Libanese broeders, maar niet heus. Palestijnen worden in Libanon zwaar gediscrimineerd en zitten er veelal opgesloten in vluchtelingenkampen. Een paar jaar geleden heeft het Libanese leger flink huisgehouden in een van die kampen, omdat zich er extremisten ophielden. Een groot deel van het kamp werd plat gebombardeerd, met honderden doden en tienduizenden vluchtelingen tot gevolg. Maar daar hoorde je de zogenaamde sympathisanten van de Palestijnen niet over....

 

RP

-----------

 

Palestinians no longer welcome, says Lebanese Mufti

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=225297

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
06/16/2011 16:50 

"You're trash, you'll never be victorious," Sheikh Qabbani tells stunned Palestinians reps.

 The mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, was quoted this week as saying that Palestinians are no longer welcome in his country. He also condemned Palestinians as "trash," and said that he's not afraid of their weapons.

Sheikh Qabbani's remarks were made during a meeting he held in his office in Beirut with a Palestinian delegation, representing refugees and various Palestinian factions in Lebanon.
The furious mufti later kicked the Palestinian representatives out of his office.

More than 400,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon, most of them in extremely harsh conditions in refugee camps.

The meeting was called to discuss Palestinian "assaults" on state-owned and Islamic Wakf lands in Lebanon.
"We've hosted you and no longer want you," the mufti told stunned members of the Palestinian delegation.
Accusing Palestinians of "usurping" Wakf lands to build houses, Qabbani told hisvisitors: "I will defend Wakf lands – even if that costs me all what I have."

Attempts by the Palestinian representatives to muzzle the mufti further enraged the top religious official, who at one point shouted at them: "You are trash. You [Palestinians] will never be victorious. Nor will your cause. I'm no longer afraid of your weapons."

The Palestinian delegates said they were extremely shocked by the mufti's abusive language and threats.
"He called us trash," one of them said. "He didn't even give us time to respond to his allegations."

Samir Abu Afash, Secretary- General of the PLO in Beirut, said he sent a report to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about the mufti's remarks.
Abbas instructed the Palestinian representatives to refrain from a confrontation with Qabbani out of fear that such a move would escalate tensions between the two sides.

Former Lebanese prime minister Fuad Saniora later phoned Fathi Abu al-Aradat to apologize on behalf of the mufti.

The mufti lost his temper following complaints that Palestinians living in refuge camps in Lebanon had illegally seized lands belonging to the state and the Islamic Wakf Trust.

Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, former head of the PA religious courts, strongly condemned the mufti of Lebanon, saying his statements were unsuitable for a man of his status.
He said Qabbani had a long history of instigating sectarian strife between various communities in Lebanon, and demanded that he apologize to all Palestinians.

 

 

Duizenden militaire Hezbollah posities in Libanon

Het is duidelijk dat UNIFIL haar taak niet naar behoren kan uitoefenen met het beperkte mandaat dat zij nu heeft:

 

"UNIFIL is doing an effective job in open areas, and for that reason we don't really see Hezbollah positions there," the officer said. "Instead, Hezbollah is based inside villages, since UNIFIL cannot go there freely."

Hezbollah heeft de afgelopen jaren verschillende keren geprobeerd een aanslag op een Israelisch doelwit buiten Israel te plegen, maar dat is tot nu toe gelukkig mislukt. Hezbollah heeft, even voor de duidelijkheid, net als Hamas meermaals laten weten voor de 'bevrijding' van heel Palestina te gaan en niet tevreden te zijn met een Palestijnse staat op de Westoever en de Gazastrook. Dat is ook logisch, want Hezbollah wordt gecontroleerd door Iran en dat wil Israel van de kaart vegen.

 

RP

----------

 

IDF identifies thousands of Hezbollah sites in Lebanon

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=224401

By YAAKOV KATZ  
06/10/2011 02:18 

Senior officer tells 'Post' that "target bank" many times larger than on eve of Second Lebanon War; says Hezbollah has some 50,000 missiles.

The IDF has identified thousands of Hezbollah sites throughout Lebanon, making its "target bank" many times larger than it was in 2006 on the eve of the Second Lebanon War, a senior IDF officer told The Jerusalem Post ahead of the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict.

According to the officer, the IDF had approximately 200 pre-designated targets on July 12, 2006, when Hezbollah set off the war by abducting reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Those targets included close to 100 homes and other storage sites where the Islamist group had deployed long-range missiles it received from Iran. The targets were destroyed on the first night of the war.

Today the bank has thousands more sites throughout Lebanon that would constitute legitimate targets in the event of a future war with Hezbollah, the officer told the Post. Earlier this year, the IDF released a map showing 950 locations scattered across the country – a majority of them bunkers and surveillance sites.

According to the officer, Hezbollah is also believed to have passed the 50,000 mark in the number of rockets and missiles it has obtained. Most of these weapons are stored in some 100 villages around southern Lebanon.

"Our intelligence is much better today than it was five years ago," the officer said of the growing target bank.

In recent months, OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot and Col. Assaf Orayun, head of the Planning Directorate's Strategic Planning Division, have briefed senior diplomats as part of an effort to convince the United Nations to strengthen UNIFIL's mandate, and enable it to operate independently within southern Lebanese villages.

UNIFIL's mandate will be up for extension in August, and the IDF is hoping that by raising awareness of Hezbollah's growing presence in these villages it might succeed in getting the UN to enforce a tougher mandate.

Currently, peacekeeping troops who want to enter villages need to coordinate their moves with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), which in many cases warns Hezbollah.

"UNIFIL is doing an effective job in open areas, and for that reason we don't really see Hezbollah positions there," the officer said. "Instead, Hezbollah is based inside villages, since UNIFIL cannot go there freely."

An investigation into a bomb attack against Italian UNIFIL soldiers last month is continuing. Hezbollah and a Palestinian group affiliated with al- Qaida have blamed each other for the attack, which injured six peacekeepers.

On Thursday, the Beirut-based Daily Star reported that Hezbollah had uncovered two car bombs in southern Beirut.

Meanwhile, two months after warnings were received of a Hezbollah plan to strike at an Israeli target overseas, the attack appears to have been foiled – for the time being.

Hezbollah's desire to lash out at Israel was sparked by the 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, the group's military commander in Damascus.

Hezbollah blames the Mossad, and reportedly has tried to carry out revenge attacks several times.

According to foreign reports, such attacks were thwarted by security services in Azerbaijan, Thailand and Sinai in 2008, and in Turkey in 2009.

In April, ahead of the Pessah holiday, security officials took the rare step of revealing the names of senior Hezbollah operatives planning another attack.

For now, the moves seem to have deterred Hezbollah from carrying it out.

Defense officials said that Hezbollah would prefer to attack an overseas Israeli target – an embassy, an El Al plane or a consulate – as opposed to a border attack, as it would afford a level of deniability.

The security sources named Hezbollah operative Talal Hamia as commander of the small but well-organized unit, which also includes his bodyguard, Ahmed Faid, and Hezbollah's top bomb expert, Ali Najan al-Din. Hamia was allegedly involved in the 1992 and 1994 bombings in Buenos Aires that targeted the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA Jewish community center.

Another member of the cell, Majd al-Zakur, is referred to as "the forger" and is responsible for preparing fake passports.

The cell is being aided by businessmen, among them a Lebanese cellphonesalesman and a Turkish national.

 

 

Amnesty International komt op voor Hezbollah spion

Amnesty International, dat ik normaliter hoog heb zitten, stelt een spion die in Israel is veroordeeld voor het doorgeven van informatie aan Hezbollah, voor als een mensenrechtenactivist die onterecht door het regime wordt gestraft. Een politieke gevangene dus.

The truth is here: "On October 27, 2010 Haaretz reported that Ameer Makhoul, the director of Israeli-Arab NGO Ittijah, "confess[ed] to charges of spying, contact with a foreign agent and giving information to the enemy." Makhoul, as head of Ittijah, has a background of anti-Israel activities characterized by demonisation and hate rhetoric. For example, an Ittijah email during the Gaza war claimed, "the IDF is turning Gaza into kind of an extermination camp, in the full sense of the word and with the full historical relativity."

 

Hezbollah en Hamas hebben mensen in Israel nodig om hun aan waardevolle informatie te helpen voor hun aanslagen en andere vijandige activiteiten. Het is gangbaar dat landen achter zulke spionnen aanzitten. Zo heeft Libanon niet zo lang geleden een aantal mensen opgepakt die werden verdacht van spioneren voor Israel, en Iran heeft er verschillende de doodstraf gegeven. Hamas hangt tegenstanders van zijn beleid soms op met deze smoes, ook al is er verder geen concreet bewijs.

Het zou mooi zijn als Amnesty zich kan beperken tot de werkelijk politieke gevangenen, zij die om het hebben van een mening of het strijden van hun democratische rechten worden opgepakt en gemarteld. Hulp bieden aan Hezbollah, dat Israel van de kaart wil vegen, valt daar niet onder.

 

RP

----------

 

Amnesty supports a confessed Hezbollah spy

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/01/amnesty-supports-confessed-hezbollah.html

 

 

From TheJC:

Amnesty International has put out a Press Notice "urging the Israeli authorities to end their harassment of Palestinian human rights activists" "after a veteran Palestinian campaigner was jailed for nine years earlier today and given an additional one-year suspended sentence. Ameer Makhoul, a longstanding Palestinian activist, was convicted on various counts of having contact with enemies of Israel and espionage after a plea bargain agreement at his trial. He was originally charged with an even more serious offense, "assisting an enemy in war", which could have carried a life sentence, but that was dropped by the prosecution when he agreed to a plea bargain."

........

"Ameer Makhoul is well known for his human rights activism on behalf of Palestinians in Israel and those living under Israeli occupation. We fear that this may be the underlying reason for his imprisonment."

http://www.ngo-monitor.org/digest_info.php?id=3112#head

The truth is here: "On October 27, 2010 Haaretz reported that Ameer Makhoul, the director of Israeli-Arab NGO Ittijah, "confess[ed] to charges of spying, contact with a foreign agent and giving information to the enemy." Makhoul, as head of Ittijah, has a background of anti-Israel activities characterized by demonisation and hate rhetoric. For example, an Ittijah email during the Gaza war claimed, "the IDF is turning Gaza into kind of an extermination camp, in the full sense of the word and with the full historical relativity."

Amnesty International in London has had a succession of Israel-bashing speakers such as Ben White. I have offered them Ruvi Ziegler - an Israeli lawyer studying in Oxford who is an expert on the security fence - but they have stonewalled.

Shame on Amnesty International for its Israel-bashing biased agenda.

A Hebrew article shows that he passed on the names of six potential spies for Hezbollah as well as other information that was encrypted - showing that he had something to hide in his "innocent contacts."

But when someone hates Israel and pretends to care about "human rights,"  it appears that Amnesty will automatically side with him, no matter who it is.

 

 

Hezbollah plande opstappen uit regering Libanon zorgvuldig

 

Al van voor het weekend, maar een interessante analyse van de machtspolitiek van Hezbollah, de 'verdedigers van Libanon' in een desastreuze oorlog die ze zelf hadden uitgelokt; de 'partij van God' die mede verantwoordelijk was voor moord op de vader van de huidige premier.

 

Wouter

_________________

Published 00:46 13.01.11

Latest update 00:46 13.01.11

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/hezbollah-exit-from-lebanon-government-carefully-planned-1.336691

Hezbollah exit from Lebanon government carefully planned

The sudden move by the Lebanese militant group is meant to signal to Syria that if it wants to show Washington it can preserve stability in Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iran will have the last word.

By Zvi Bar'el

It was no coincidence that the opposition Hezbollah party and its allies resigned from the cabinet yesterday, bringing down the Lebanese government, at the same moment that Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with U.S. President Obama in Washington.

Party leader Hassan Nasrallah stopped performing only for the Lebanon stage a long time ago. Since the country evolved into an inter-Arab and international political theater, there have been several arm-wrestling contests involving Iran and Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt, the United States and Iran - with Nasrallah the fulcrum around which they strain.

In essence, it's his call whether Lebanon becomes again a theater of violence, or bumbles along with a new prime minister acting in the shadow of Hezbollah.

The immediate excuse for the resignation is Hariri's refusal to wash his hands of the expected indictment regarding his father's murder. But the anticipated U.N.-backed indictment has driven Hezbollah to foment some upheavals in the region, the most significant being increased cooperation between Syria and Saudi Arabia as they tried to head off the crisis. This effort hit a dead end and that serves the Shi'ite organization well.

The United States, which was partner to the consultations between Saudi Arabia and Syria, reached an understanding with them that the charges must be published - as this was a UN-backed tribunal that Lebanon had been partner in setting up. Iran disagreed, rejecting the court's ruling. Syria said it would accept the indictment if it were based on decisive evidence.

Hezbollah's collective resignation yesterday was intended to show Syria the limitations of its influence on the group and to tell Damascus that if it wanted to show Washington it can preserve stability in Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iran will have the last word.

In itself, the resignation does not insure that the indictment - which likely implicates senior Hezbollah officials - would not be released. But it prevents the Lebanese cabinet from functioning or making any cardinal decisions, as these require a majority of two-thirds of the 30 ministers.

Nasrallah, who is not pleased with the strengthening ties between Syria and Hariri and fears they will gnaw at his power, now wants to reshuffle the cabinet, have a new prime minister appointed and split up the coalition. This will increase Hezbollah's strength and could thwart Syria's ability to form a political bloc that would counterbalance the group.

Of Hariri premier Libanon kan blijven hangt af van Druzen

 

Hoewel de Libanese regering onder Hariri meewerkt aan het VN tribunaal dat de moord op de vader van de premier onderzoekt, lijkt de kans klein dat men verdachten van Hezbollah gaat uitleveren aan het tribunaal. Bij een poging hiertoe zou Hezbollah er niet voor terugdeinzen om naar de wapens te grijpen, en wellicht een coup plegen. Ze noemen zich niet voor niets de 'partij van God'.

Ook de leiders van Syrië en Iran zullen niet komen opdraven bij het tribunaal. Dat zal zich voorlopig moeten beperken tot waarheidsvinding en eventueel veroordeling, want bestraffing van de daders valt ver buiten haar bereik.

 

Wouter

____________

 

Lebanese Druze leader to decide Hariri's political fate

Draft indictment in the 2005 murder of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri is expected to charge senior figures in Hezbollah over the assasination.

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/mess-report/lebanese-druze-leader-to-decide-hariri-s-political-fate-1.337226

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

 

A draft indictment by the international tribunal in The Hague that has been investigating the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will go to a judge for review on Monday. Several senior figures in Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement are expected to be charged.

This was announced on Sunday by Lebanese Labor Minister Boutros Harb following a meeting with the president, Michel Suleiman. The prosecutor for the special tribunal, Daniel Bellemare, will deliver the draft charge sheet to Judge Daniel Francine, who is expected to consider the document for six to 10 weeks before deciding on possible legal proceedings.

The delivery of the draft indictment is expected to be highly damaging to Hezbollah in the eyes of the Lebanese public, but it is not clear what steps the organization will take. Precisely how the international tribunal will proceed is also not clear. It is not certain, for example, whether the full text of the draft indictments will be released.

The several Hezbollah figures expected to be charged with murder include Mustafa Badr al-Din, the brother-in-law of the head of Hezbollah's military wing, and Imad Mughniyeh, who was himself assassinated in Damascus about three years ago.

An indictment would be a major development, which Hezbollah has been trying to head off in any way possible.

The organization has put Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain Rafik Hariri, under tremendous pressure to disassociate himself from the tribunal and stop Lebanon's contribution to its funding even before indictments are issued.

Hezbollah withdrew its support for the Lebanese government last week, resulting in the government's collapse. Saad Hariri is now caretaker prime minister.

In a surprise report on Sunday, the Lebanese daily Al Nahar cited an item from November on the conservative American Newsmax website, which said Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would ultimately be accused by the international court of ordering Rafik Hariri's murder.

It said evidence would be introduced showing that the murder was carried out by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in cooperation with Hezbollah.

Newsmax said Syrian President Bashar Assad and his brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, who was head of Syrian intelligence, were also involved.

Hariri arrived back in Lebanon Friday after meetings in Washington and Paris. He returned home despite concerns for his safety and the view of some Western sources that he would not return to Lebanon at this point.

On returning to Lebanon, Hariri went immediately to meet with a key powerbroker, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. Al Nahar reported that Hariri told Jumblatt that "they have a gun pointed at my head and they want me to surrender."

The daily said Hariri still seeks an agreement with the opposition headed by Hezbollah, but the gaps are large. The sources said Hariri accused Hezbollah of failing to honor past agreements.

Jumblatt's parliamentary faction will apparently decide Hariri's political future. If the 11 members support Hariri, he will be able to retain his job as prime minister. If they support Hezbollah, it is expected that a Sunni politician tied to Syria will be appointed premier.

The Lebanese constitution requires the prime minister to be a Sunni Muslim. Jumblatt is one of Lebanon's most veteran politicians. He has often shifted his support on the political spectrum.

After Rafik Hariri's assassination, Jumblatt allied with Saad. Jumblatt became a leader of the so-called Cedar Revolution, took an anti-Syrian stance and criticized Syrian's interference in Lebanon.

Since the last Lebanese elections, however, he has reconciled with Syria and become a major supporter of the country.

Israeli intelligence officials say all the sides seek to avoid violence and arise as a compromise over the crisis.

 

Vindt Libanon de moed om voor haar vrijheid op te komen?

 

Hezbollah had al jaren geleden ontwapend moeten worden. Ze is een bedreiging voor Libanons fragiele democratie, voor haar onafhankelijkheid en vrijheid, en ze dreigt Libanon opnieuw in een oorlog met Israel te storten. Het probleem is dat noch de Libanese regering noch de VN het aandurven of bij machte zijn Hezbollah te ontwapenen, en Israel is het in 2006 ook niet gelukt. Een fikse verkiezingsnederlaag zou Hezbollah misschien een toontje lager doen zingen, maar nog meer zou een machtswisseling (a la Tunesië?) in Syrië helpen, dat de terreurbeweging annex politieke partij van illegale wapens blijft voortzien.

 

Wouter

______________

 

Can Lebanon find the courage to be free?

By JPOST EDITORIAL 
01/13/2011 21:51

With the US at the forefront, the int'l community should make it absolutely clear how it intends to offer Lebanon's gov't support in facing down Hizbullah.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=203523

 

 

The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon, appointed to investigate the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, will soon release its findings, which will reportedly place blame for the murder on Hizbullah. In response, Hizbullah has toppled Lebanon's government, headed by Hariri's son Saad, in an attempt to bully it into denouncing the tribunal before it announces its verdict.

So far, Hariri has refused to cave in to Hizbullah, whose fighting forces are known to be stronger than the Lebanese Armed Forces. Doing so would compromise his own, his family's and his country's honor, though it demands supreme courage on his part – and assurances of Western support.

Just before his government collapsed, Hariri was in Washington seeking US President Barack Obama's backing to stand up to Hizbullah. Undoubtedly, Hizbullah and its allies will attempt to place additional pressure on Hariri in the coming days and weeks. Meanwhile, IDF troops in the North are on alert over concerns the political turmoil in Lebanon might spill over into renewed violence.

As The Jerusalem Post's military correspondent Yaakov Katz noted on Thursday, while Hizbullah is ultimately interested in taking over Lebanon, it hopes to do so not via a violent coup, but in a way that does not undermine its legitimacy. Hizbullah is jealous of Hamas's 2006 Palestinian parliamentary election victory, which set the ostensible groundwork for its violent takeover of Gaza the following year. The Shi'ite terrorist organization to our north hopes for a similar political success, but a UN tribunal indictment for the murder of a popular Sunni politician would make it much harder for Hizbullah to straddle the Sunni-Shi'ite divide. It would also convince the less politically savvy Lebanese who did not already know it that Hizbullah was responsible for the Hariri murder – not Israel, as Hizbullah preposterously claims.

Getting the Lebanese government to discredit the tribunal would mitigate much of the political damage that would be caused to Hizbullah by the the public punishment of its operatives.

Under this state of affairs, it is absolutely essential that America, France – where Hariri went to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy on his hurried route home from Washington – and other Western countries and moderate Arab nations, in particular Saad Hariri's patron Saudi Arabia, continue to provide Lebanon's prime minister with full support.

Cracks are already forming in the consensus calling to prosecute those responsible for Rafik Hariri's assassination.

Walid Jumblatt, a bellwether of internal Lebanese politics as leader of an embattled Druse minority with well-developed survival instincts, backtracked on his original support for prosecuting those found guilty by the tribunal.

"Madness" was how he described that support in a recent interview with New York Times columnist Roger Cohen, who was so impressed by Jumblatt and his arguments that he, too, concluded, "Lebanese stability is precious and tenuous: It trumps justice delayed, flawed and foreign."

CAVING IN to Hizbullah might enable transient short-term stability, but a state of lawlessness will ultimately only lead to more violence. Assassins not held accountable for their crimes will be encouraged to perpetrate additional assassinations.

With the United States at the forefront, the international community should make it absolutely clear how it intends to offer Lebanon's government support in facing down Hizbullah, even if that provokes a renewal of sectarian violence among Sunnis, Christians and Shi'ites. But as Elliot Abrams, former US deputy national security adviser, pointed out in a recent blog entry, the present crisis is less a test of the US, France or any other country than of the Lebanese. It is for them to lead the resistance to Hizbullah. Maronite Catholics, Druse, Sunni and, yes, Shi'ites, too, must demonstrate the will to keep their country from complete domination by an Iranian-controlled terror group that spells nothing but doom for Lebanon.

The Lebanese tasted the beginnings of vibrant democracy after mass demonstrations protesting Hariri's assassination – known as the Cedar Revolution – ousted Syrian occupation forces from Lebanon. This short-lived period of freedom ended traumatically in the spring of 2008 when Hizbullah turned its arms against the Lebanese people to forcibly take control.

Which will hold sway over the Lebanese, the memory of freedom or the trauma of civil war?

 

 

VN tribunaal gaat leider Iran als opdrachtgever moord Hariri aanwijzen

 

De hoogste Iraanse leider, nee niet Achmadinejad maar ayatollah Khamenei, zou opdracht hebben gegeven tot de moord op Libanons premier Hariri in 2005, volgens bronnen bij het Hariri tribunaal van de VN.

 

Wouter

___________

 

Report: UN tribunal to link Iran's Supreme Leader with Hariri assassination

Newsmax report quotes sources blaming Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah for Hariri hit; Lebanese labor minister says UN tribunal will submit a draft indictment on Monday.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-un-tribunal-to-link-iran-s-supreme-leader-with-hariri-assassination-1.337118

By Avi Issacharoff and Haaretz Service

A United Nations tribunal is to indict Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with ordering the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, U.S. news website Newsmax reported on Saturday, adding that the hit itself was planned executed by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in collaboration with Hezbollah.

The report comes just days into Lebanon's latest political crisis, as minister affiliated with Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from the unity cabinet led by Saad Hariri earlier this week, citing Hariri's cooperation with the UN-led probe of his father's killing.

Saturday's Newsmax report, also cited by Lebanese news website Naharnet, quotes source close to the UN investigation of the Hariri killing who claimed that the order to assassinate the former Lebanon premier was given by Khamenei.

The order was then reportedly passed on to Hezbollah military leader Imad Mughniyeh by the head of the IRG's Quds foece, Qassem Suleymani. Upon receiving the order, Mughniyeh and brother in law Mustapha Badr al-Dine allegedly put together an assassination squad.

Mughniyeh himself was killed in a car bombing in Damascus on February 12, 2008. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the assassination, but Israel has denied any involvement.

Speaking with Newsmax, a conservative news website, sources close to the probe are quoted as saying that the "Iranians considered Hariri to be an agent of Saudi Arabia, and felt that killing him would pave the way for a Hezbollah takeover of Lebanon."

The report also alleges that both Syrian President Bashar Assad and the head of Syrian intelligence and brother in law Assef Shawkat were also involved in the operation.

Lebanese Labor Minister Boutros Harb said on Saturday that the UN tribunal probing Hariri's murder would submit a draft indictment on Monday.

Harb's announcement came after he met with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.

Earlier on Saturday, the Lebanese daily Al Nahar had reported that the draft would be submitted later in the day.

The draft indictment is to be submitted to Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen who will then have around six weeks before he decides whether or not to proceed toward a trial.

The report of Iran's alleged involvement in the planning and execution of the Hariri assassination comes in an already volatile period in Lebanese politics, as many fear that indictments against Hezbollah officials could spark a new round of factional violence, if not full-on civil war.

Hezbollah, which is supported by Syria and Iran and maintains an arsenal that far outweighs that of the national army, denounces the Netherlands-based tribunal as a conspiracy by the U.S. and Israel. It had been pressuring Hariri to reject any of its findings even before they came out, but Hariri has refused to break cooperation with the tribunal.

Now, the chasm between the two sides is deepening with Hezbollah accusing Hariri's bloc of bowing to the West. Hezbollah's ministers timed their resignations to coincide with Hariri's meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington, forcing him to meet the American president as a caretaker prime minister.

Lebanon suffered through a devastating civil war from 1975-1990, a 1982 Israeli invasion to drive out Palestinian fighters in the south, a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and deadly sectarian fighting between Sunnis and Shiites in 2008.

An indication that some of those fears may have been founded came late Thursday as unknown individuals hurled grenades at the headquarters of Hezbollah ally Free Patriotic Movement's headquarters north of Beirut. No injuries were reported.

Speaking of the need to regain control of the potentially volatile Lebanese political scene, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said earlier Thursday that he was sure there would be no civil conflict between Shiites and Sunnis.

According to a Channel 10 report citing the Al-Jazeera news network, Nasrallah, who had been reportedly holding meetings with other Hezbollah officials in recent days to discuss the political situation in Lebanon, blamed Hariri for the current political crisis, urging the Lebanese prime minister to remain on his overseas trip and not return to Lebanon.

 

Analyse: Stabiliteit in Libanon wankelt

Een VN-eenheid patrouilleert langs de grens tussen Israël en Libanon.

 

 

Er was de afgelopen dagen opvallend weinig aandacht voor dit nieuws in Nederlandse media. Ik meen dat het NOS journaal er zelfs helemaal niets over had, want er is natuurlijk belangrijker nieuws, zoals het overlijden van mensen uit sport en cultuur, de opening van een nieuwe tentoonstelling, de mening van de straat over deze of gene maatregel, de overstroming van de Maas en de Waal en de Ijssel, etc. Ondertussen is het uiterst spannend wat er in Libanon gaat gebeuren. Het is duidelijk dat Hezbollah, sterker dan ooit, haar positie verder verstevigt ten koste van de democratische krachten in het land.

 

RP

----------

 

Analyse: Stabiliteit in Libanon wankelt

http://www.refdag.nl/nieuws/buitenland/analyse_stabiliteit_in_libanon_wankelt_1_527880

14-01-2011 10:01 | Mr. Richard Donk

BEIROET – Met het vallen van de Libanese regering is de veiligheidssituatie er in dat deel van het Midden-Oosten bepaald niet beter op geworden. Israël heeft zijn strijdkrachten in verhoogde staat van paraatheid gebracht. De Arabische Liga vreest voor een burgeroorlog.

De ministers van Hezbollah stapten afgelopen woensdag collectief uit het Libanese kabinet. Die stap kwam niet onverwacht. Sterker nog: de sjiitische beweging had die manoeuvre nauwkeurig getimed. Niet voor niets namen de bewindslieden ontslag tijdens een bezoek van premier Sa'ad Hariri aan Washington, waar hij onder andere over de openbaarmaking van de aanklachten van het Hariritribunaal met president Obama van gedachten zou wisselen.

Het in Nederland gevestigde Hariritribunaal onderzoekt de aanslag in 2005 op de Libanese premier Rafiq Hariri, de vader van de huidige minister-president. Het VN-hof staat op het punt de aanklachten tegen diverse verdachten openbaar te maken. Het is vrijwel zeker dat onder de beklaagden ook hooggeplaatste leden van Hezbollah zijn, reden waarom Hezbollah publicatie de afgelopen tijd heeft proberen te voorkomen. Het opstappen van de Hezbollahministers zal die openbaarmaking overigens niet tegenhouden. Maar het voorkomt wel dat het demissionaire Libanese kabinet maatregelen neemt die Hezbollah onwelgevallig zijn.

De Arabische Liga toonde zich na de val van het Libanese kabinet ernstig bezorgd dat het ontslag van de ministers tot regionaal geweld kan leiden. De verhoudingen tussen aanhangers van de sjiitische Hezbollah en soennitische Libanezen zijn al niet al te best. „Alleen nationale eenheid kan Libanon van het kwaad van een burgeroorlog redden", aldus een sombere secretaris-generaal van de Arabische Liga, Amr Mussa, gisteren.

Of die vrees terecht is, valt –zeker op de korte termijn– nog maar te bezien. Hezbollah is qua bewapening en training veruit superieur aan zowel de reguliere Libanese strijdkrachten als aan welke gewapende groepering in het land dan ook. Het zou ronduit zelfmoord zijn om het op een burgeroorlog met Hezbollah uit te laten draaien.

Het zou ook het proces bespoedigen waar Hezbollah al langer mee bezig is, namelijk de overname van de macht in heel Libanon. Hezbollah begon ooit als verzetsbeweging, met als belangrijkste doel de Israëlische troepen uit de bufferzone in Zuid-Libanon te verjagen. Sinds enkele jaren heeft de organisatie ook in de nationale politiek haar aspiraties weten te verzilveren. Veel Libanezen vrezen dat de jongste manoeuvre de opmaat vormt voor een volledige controle van het Arabische land – al dan niet met gebruik van geweld.

Ook Israël volgt de ontwikkelingen in zijn buurland met argusogen. De Joodse staat bracht zijn troepen na het bekend worden van de val van het Libanese kabinet direct in verhoogde staat van paraatheid. Hoewel het aan de noordgrens al sinds het einde van de Libanonoorlog van 2006 relatief rustig is, blijft het gebied altijd vatbaar voor een plotselinge opleving van geweld. En Hezbollah zou een heropening van het front tegen aartsvijand Israël kunnen aangrijpen om de aandacht van de huidige interne politieke strubbelingen af te leiden.

Vooralsnog gaat Israël er overigens van uit dat Hezbollah momenteel geen belang heeft bij een grootschalige confrontatie. De beweging hecht meer aan de strategische mogelijkheid om de wapens tegen Israël op te nemen als bondgenoot Iran onverhoopt wordt aangevallen. Om die reden zijn ook nog geen reservisten opgeroepen.

Desondanks is Jeruzalem terecht alert op een escalatie aan zijn noordgrens. Generaal b.d. Ya'akov Amidror verklaarde eerder deze week tegenover de Israëlische legerradio dat hij weliswaar niet gelooft dat een nieuwe oorlog direct ophanden is, maar waarschuwde de legertop „alle inschattingen, zowel van mij als van anderen, kritisch te bezien, want de situatie in Libanon is zeer onzeker."

„De zaken dreigen degenen die het voor het zeggen hebben door de vingers te glippen", aldus Amidror. „Je weet het nooit in zo'n fragiele en delicate situatie, waarin iedereen een hoop wapens heeft, en een hoop rancune en frustratie. Je weet nooit waar dat toe kan leiden."