Sectional elements in the Lebanese army have been widely blamed – whether directly or indirectly – of being responsible behind the killing of fellow Lebanese civilians on Sunday. This is exactly why Hezbollah refuses to be part of a divided, weak and relatively undisciplined army. It would be a disaster for Hezbollah’s effectiveness if they ever were incorporated into the army. Their deepest secrets would be easily accessible and fully available to the media within days.

Pascal’s Wager

Co-writer: Mahmood Hameed

“If you believe in God and turn out to be incorrect, you have lost nothing–but if you don’t believe in God and turn out to be incorrect, you will go to hell. Therefore it is foolish to be an atheist.”

This argument is known as Pascal’s Wager. It seems to be common sense, however it has several flaws.

Firstly, it does not indicate which religion to follow. Indeed, there are many mutually exclusive and contradictory religions out there. This is often described as the “avoiding the wrong hell” problem. If a person is a follower of one religion, he may end up in another religion’s version of hell.

Even if we assume that there’s a God, that doesn’t imply that there’s one unique God. Which should we believe in? If we believe in all of them, how will we decide which commandments to follow?

Breaking the Tension…

Although, sometimes I even wish Arab ‘leaders’ would throw paper-planes at Israel. At least it’s better than silence.

Mossad in Iraq

War on Error

The Silent Suffering

The yellow iron gate between the village and the main road was open that night. The Mercedes raced toward its destination; Sana held Khaled, panting and convulsing, in the back seat. After about fifteen minutes, they reached the Atara checkpoint north of Ramallah, one of the toughest and cruellest in the West Bank, especially of late. At this hour there were no other cars waiting.
The driver stopped at the stop sign in front of the checkpoint, as required. After about a minute, a soldier emerged and approached them. In the back seat, Khaled’s condition was worsening. His breath was getting shorter and his shaking was getting stronger.

“Where are you going?” the soldier asked. The driver replied in his meagre Hebrew, “To the hospital in Ramallah.” The soldier asked for the ID cards of all the passengers. Daoud appealed to him, “Before the ID’s, listen to me. We have a very sick baby in the car and I want to get him to the hospital on time, before it’s too late.”

The soldier heard him, says Daoud, but didn’t show any signs of interest. He didn’t even bother to glance in the back seat, to see their convulsing baby. “He didn’t care. He wasn’t deaf. He heard, but he didn’t even ask, ‘Where’s the baby?’”

The Mystery of Fatah Al-Islam

Fatah Al-Islam has been shrouded by mystery and confusion since the day it officially declared it’s existence. Their story and plight has become politicised by frankly every single party involved in Lebanese politics – this includes outsider party’s as well as national one. Sadly, the misinformation broadcast by every politician, political party, news outles and governments has led to the obstruction of unveiling the truth behind this militant organisation either due to the inaccuracy of information gathered or journalist and freelancers’ fear of being accused of lying and siding by a political party – and in effect have all their research disregarded as well as their record stained – if they dare declare their findings.

We’ll start with the basics. Fatah Al-Islam became known in May 2007 after it officially declared it’s existence and fought the Lebanese National Army in the same month. It’s leader is Shaker Al-Abssi, a notorious criminal and hardcore militant who used to be an ex-Fighter Pilot for the Libyan army, sentenced to death in absentia in Jordan as well as jailed in Syria for smuggling weapons and is now again wanted by the Syrian Authorities.

The March 14 camp in Lebanon (US/Western-backed) claims that Fatah Al-Islam is a small splinter or sleeper terrorist group in Lebanon under Syrian direction and support (including arms and finances). Meanwhile, the March 8 camp (Syrian/Iranian-backed) claims the contrary. That in fact, Fatah Al-Islam is a group created by the March 14 camp in order to weaken the relatively strong Army – essentially the only barrier to a confrontation with Hezbollah and total control in Lebanon.

Where Does Your Allegiance Lie?

A few days back, I was on PalTalk. I started going around different chat rooms until one of them, which was a Lebanese chat forum, caught my eye – or should I say, my ear. The discussion was between two Lebanese natives – one of them living in Brazil and the other in Germany.

The topic was – allegiance. Which of the countries you live in deserves allegiance, the native country or the one you reside in?

“George Maalouf, an energy analysts told Ya Libnan: “The irony in all this is that neither Hezbollah nor Amal supporters pay for the electricity in Lebanon. Electricity fee collectors are scared to go to the Hezbollah controlled areas for fear for their lives.”"

Let me clarify a few things that this comment infers. It infers;

1) If you support a specific political party in Lebanon, in this case Hezbollah or Amal, you automatically do not tend to pay your electricity bills. It is like a virus – once your allegiance is pledged to a specific party, you systematically gain a tendency to evade bills.

2) The comment also infers that all Hezbollah and Amal supporters live exclusively in ‘Hezbollah controlled’ areas of Lebanon. They are autonomous from the rest of the nation and only ever live under the control of their party.

3) Finally, the commentator assumes that fee collectors are afraid to ‘enter’ these areas because they may be at risk – therefore making a connected assumption that there is some kind of common rivalry between a fee collector and Hezbollah supporters, I guess they are both born to hate each other – whereas the rest of Lebanon and Lebanese absolutely love the bill collectors. They are similarly born with a common love for each other.

Objectiveness of Franjieh

The thing I love about Franjieh is his willingness and courage to criticise anything that he doesn’t like. He is honest and straight forward. He does not hide behind political jargon or political correctness to deliver his message. He says it loudly and clearly for everyone to hear. I also salute him for being one of the very few (if not the only one) politicians to criticise both Bkirki and Michelle Suleiman.

Lebanon’s Security Dependence

“A US security team including FBI experts began inspecting evidence Thursday from the car bomb blast that targeted a US Embassy vehicle this week in the first such attack in Lebanon in more than two decades.”

Not surprising. The fact that Lebanon only ever asks for the help of ‘FBI experts’ raises many eyebrows. Why is it that US ‘experts’ always investigate every crime in Lebanon. Are Lebanese ‘experts’ allowed to go into the US and investigate a crime in their profession? What about Lebanese ‘expert’ secret services agents? Do you see Britain or any other Western country asking for ‘experts’ from the US secret services?

Another flaw that surfaces is the state that Lebanon is in and its lack of true independence. If we rely on the outside to provide security (Lebanese government = US FBI agents, Hezbollah = Syria/Iran), then we have a huge problem in Lebanon. We can not protect ourselves let alone accomplish anything else.

Bush discussing foreign policy

Commentary on the FPM

 

The FPM (Free Patriotic Movement) is led by the former Army General Michelle Aoun. The leader fled for exile in the 1990’s, after confronting the Syrian military presence in Lebanon, which was dubbed the “War of Independence”. The former Generals exile coinciding with the end of the civil war.

After 15 years, the General returned to Lebanon in March 2005. His party, and the followers he had amassed, participated in the Anti-Syrian protests of March 15. Although, as things progressed, both the March 8 and March 14 forces ignored General Michelle Aoun to form an alliance ahead of the Lebanese General Elections.

Arguably, they both feared the stance the new-comer may adopt and had perceived him as weak and ineffective – especially due to his long absence. March 14 could not risk their alliance with the PSP, Phalanges and Lebanese Forces for an alliance with an unpredictable Aoun. Similarly, the Hezbollah and pro-Syrian camp could not risk an alliance with a Aoun who had periodically waged war with their ally and the friction in relations between them and Syria if Aoun would be allowed into the camp.

The Forgotten People of Cedar Land

Lebanon is a unique country in every aspect. It is amazing. Despite all the problems in my native country – I still love it. I’m not the only one. Despite the wars, corruption, scandalous politicians and awkward parties, many Lebanese – both at home and abroad – are still attached to this small piece of land like no other.

I want to focus on the aspect that fills me with pride. The diversity in Lebanon tops everything I love about this country. Yes, we are extremely liberal and open people. Yes, we are also extremely hospitable and educated. But to see a native Lebanese Jew talking of their concern and love for this country truly touches you.

Mess with the best, Die like the rest!

It’s the biggest online shooter game in the world. With tens of millions of users and hundreds of thousands of servers, it is not easy to avoid being drawn in. The spectacular game play, graphics and range of maps and game types included does not make it’s addiction easier to overcome.

Counter Strike and Counter Strike: Source (CS & CSS) are the best games I have ever played. Especially the Source version. The graphics are wow. The speed is incredible. The sound, communication – everything just puts you in the game.

Pity the Nation

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.

Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream, yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting, and farewells him with hooting, only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.

Banksy!

He is a legend. A true rebellion. An anarchistic graffiti artist on a loose around the world. From the streets of London, to the Middle East and into the houses Bradjelina (Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt). It is the renounced and mysterious Banksy.

I would like to dedicate this post to him. Featuring some of his work with a bit of commentating of my own.

The wall of separation or the wall of Paradise? Some Palestinians thought Banksy made the wall beautiful with the graffiti he made on it. But they did not want it to look beautiful because they were supposed to hate it!

   

       

     

Incompetency

A new image has hit the internet. It a moped with a number plate depicting an image of the Lebanese cedar with two Thulfiqar swords (the sword of Imam Ali, the Shi’ite’s most sacred person after the Prophet), with the words in Arabic reading, “Jumhuriyyat al-Dahyeh”. This translates into “The Republic of Dahyeh” The word Dahyeh literally means Suburbs. In Lebanon, it is a reference to the Beirut Southern Suburbs.

The picture speaks for itself. As they say, a picture contains a thousand words, and this one contains a thousand synonyms for forgery, deception, hate and provocation. A rusted, busted moped will unlikely have such a shiny and brand-new looking number-plate. It is called a number-plate to have a number on it not an insignia. The photo has been clearly PhotoShoped and toyed around with.

One question that pops up in my head as soon as I see stuff like this is: Why? What benefit do you get from it? A bit of a laugh? Why are you messing with the Shi’ites when they’re leaving you alone. Don’t forget they’re boiling in anger and armed to the teeth with some of the best trained, most organised, experienced and relentless fighters in the Middle East. Certainly the strongest Guerilla force in the world and undoubtedly stronger than some national armies (such as, um, the Lebanese Army?)

This is the photo:

The Effects of Globalisation on the Pharmaceutical Industry

Globalisation can be described as a process which the people of the world are into a single society. This process is a combination of economic, technological, socio-cultural and political forces. The Pharmaceutical factor comes as a hybrid of economic and technological forces. The trend of Globalisation was first recognized in the mid-1940s and the term was later used in 1981. The pharmaceutical industry is a commercial business whose focus is to research, develop and/or distribute drugs – conventionally under the context of healthcare.

                In March 2001, South Africa was sued by 41 Pharmaceutical companies for their Medicine Act, which allowed the import and generic production of cheap AIDS drugs. The case was later dropped after protest around the world. This incident clearly reflects the influence of pharmaceutical matters on the international scene. Although, it would be a mistake to consider that all effects of globalization on the pharmaceutical industry are negative – or for that matter, entirely positive.

                The pharmaceutical industry has taken advantage of the modern trend of globalisation to increase their assets and influence in medical healthcare across the globe. Companies spend large amounts of money on advertising, marketing and lobbying (government or parliament i.e. the decision-making body). The industry spends roughly US$19 billion a year for that sole cause.

On the Beirut US-Embassy Bombing

“US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday expressed “outrage” at what she called a terrorist attack against a US embassy vehicle in Beirut that left three people dead.

“I want to state the outrage of the United States against the terrorist attack that took place in Lebanon today,” Rice said at a joint press conference here with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal.”

“Saudi Arabia condemned the bombing attack on a US embassy car north of Beirut on Tuesday, calling it a ‘terrorist act’ meant to prevent stability in Lebanon.”

Please, don’t get me wrong. These attacks have killed 4 of my own people. I am outraged and feel disgusted by these attacks. But notice how the Americans and their Arab puppets jump up and rush to condemn anything that endangers the US interests in the Middle East.

I condemn all acts perpetrated wrongly, including the ones taking place on a daily basis in Palestine and periodically in Lebanon. Thank god no American citizens died in the attack, otherwise we might have those new Saudi Arabian Euro-fighters  circling the sky trying to find the perpetrators – something like Israel’s tactics.

When thousands die in Lebanon by Israeli jets, America is not outraged and Saudi Arabia -  supposedly the champion of the Arab world and the Islamic”ummah”, or what’s left of both – both find satisfaction in that. I really don’t get it. I’m lying, I do.