The Damascus Summit:

-
The Syrian government refused to air Mr. Saniora’s speech to the attendees of this year’s low –profile Arab Summit.
This is a mistake reminiscent of the refusal of the Syrian-imposed President of Lebanon, Emile Lahoud, of airing the address of PA President Yasser Arafat. At the time Mr. Arafat was imprisoned in Ramallah by Israeli troops. Similarly, Mr. Saniora is surrounded by Syria’s allies who wish him the same end that Israel imposed on PA President Arafat. External pressures stopped Israel from storming Arafat’s compound and arresting or killing him. Saniora is surrounded too- surrounded by [tents donated for humanitarian reasons now used for political reasons] the Syro-Iranian axis groups. They would storm the Ministerial compound had it not been for serious external and internal pressures.
One of the things that Lebanon and Palestine have in common is the fact that the Syrian regime thinks of them as lowly spheres of influence that should have the independence of a mukhtar/mayor of a small village in the Syrian region of Houran. That is no independence whatsoever.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan stood up for Lebanon by their leaders’ refusal to sit at the same table with those that have colluded to paralyze Lebanese political life-by having its Parliament closed and keeping the position of President of the Republic vacant.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Response to Amer Zahr’s Sexual Harassment Column

-
Image
Rana Abbas, former ACRL executive director Amer Zahr, Rana Abbas's BFF Response to Amer Zahr’s Sexual Harassment Column The Imad Hamad saga has attracted a motley crew of individuals who joined in for two reasons: 1. To say, without any legal basis for personal knowledge, that the allegations are “true” for a variety of reasons.  2. To say that we basically need no investigation and that Imad should be fired because these two women have made these allegations. Allegation is the key word. Let’s look at the bright side of this sordid affair. Who knew that everyone in our community is a solid supporter of women’s rights? This is great! It really is. However, by God, people will prove it by piling on Imad Hamad before receiving all the facts. Let me make one thing clear. I am not stating these women were not harassed; nor am I stating they were. No one, other than Imad and the women, was in the room when the alleged harassment occurred.  No third party ...
Read more

The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

-
The Lebanese secular al Safeer newspaper. The Lebanese leftist/ secular/communist Al Akhbar Both called the individual who attacked the Jewish religious school in Jerusalem a “shaheed” or martyr. When Arab seculars and communists, in addition to Islamists, call this person a martyr, it is further proof that the conflict is, not surprisingly, a political conflict between Jewish nationalism and Palestinian nationalism- not a religious conflict. Neither party in this conflict is respecting international law. It's a fact regardless of who has the big guns- and it's Israel who has the big guns here. Noncombatants continue to suffer.
Read more

The Lessons of the Wissam Allouche case: About lies, not terrorism

-
Image
Wissam Allouche arrested by the JTTF Flag of the Lebanese Shia Amal Movement The Lessons of the Wissam Allouche case: An American Lebanese Shiite Muslim caught in the government and media dog- and- pony show Wissam Allouche, a Lebanese Shia immigrant from Lebanon was sentenced to five years in prison for lying on his citizenship application and for lying to get a security clearance from the Department of Defense. The US government had asked for a ten- year sentence. Allouche’s criminal case began in 2013 and he was tried and convicted in 2015 in the Western District of Texas district court.  After conviction, the US Attorney for the Western district of Texas issued a press release that read in part: “Jurors found that defendant lied about his previous association with the Amal militia This afternoon in San Antonio, a federal jury convicted 45–year-old Lebanese–born Wissam “Sam” Allouche of knowingly lying to federal authorities on his U.S. citizenship p...
Read more