There have been a few interesting developments in the past weeks regarding the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).

First, the Aadaiseh incident in south Lebanon saw the Lebanese Army engage Israeli armed forces to prevent a perceived encroachment on the territory the LAF is tasked with defending. Although the results of the UN investigation into the incident are yet to be announced, the importance of the skirmish is hard to ignore; this was the first deadly confrontation between the LAF and the IDF since the former’s redeployment in south Lebanon in the summer of 2006. A confrontation that all importantly took place without the involvement of Hizbullah, the non-state actor that Israel has for so long tried to push back from its border with Lebanon.
The LAF’s deployment in the south and its taking over of border security from the aforementioned fundamentalist islamic militia marks the fulfilment of one the LAF’s most important nationally and internationally mandated missions (see UN-SC resolution 1559).

Israel’s reaction was swift and ruthless, its spokespeople, after tweaking their version of events one too many times, settled on assimilating the LAF to Hizbullah in an attempt to tarnish the credibility of the Lebanese government’s fighting force internationally.
Israel’s hawks in Washington were quick to move in an incredibly choreographed coup: the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs announcing only days later that it was suspending $100 million worth of badly needed US military assistance to the LAF. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee stated “concern of the influence Hizbullah may have on the LAF” as the reason for this sudden reconsideration of US foreign policy in a fascinating yet unsurprising echo of the official Israeli line.

Then came a reminder of another of the LAF’s internationally significant roles. On Saturday 14th of August a Lebanese Army intelligence unit made a move to arrest two top leaders in the Al-Qaida linked Fatah al-Islam group. Abdul Rahman Awadh and his associate Ghazi Faisal Abdullah, two wanted terrorists, later laid dead after they had opened fire on the LAF unit in a desperate final attempt to resist arrest. The pair were reportedly on their way to Iraq through Syria.
Few in the LAF have forgotten the huge sacrifices made during the 2007 month long Nahr-el-Bared campaign to neutralise Fatah-al-Islam, a group that plotted attacks on Lebanese and Western targets from the lawless confines of a Palestinian refugee camp.
170 LAF soldiers perished in an operation for which they were hopelessly under-equipped and ill-trained. Although ultimately successful thanks to shear courage, ingenuity and perseverance, the LAF cannot be expected to continue to be a serious partner in the war against terror if the US does not pick up a part of the financial and technological burden.

As Saturday’s confrontation has shown, the LAF continues to be successful in containing and preventing the spread of a breed of terror that could well reach US interests in Iraq or elsewhere.
As one of the only truly multi-faith fighting forces in the global war against terror and in an increasingly unfriendly neighbourhood, the Lebanese Army is an ally the US would be much worse off without.

With its dual mission to on one hand guarantee the sovereignty of the Lebanese state, therefore claiming Hizbullah’s main raison d’être, and on the other hand to defeat the forces of terror and prevent their deadly spread to other regions, the LAF deserves both the respect and support of the western world in general and the US in particular.

Israel’s attempts to undermine the LAF’s credibility internationally are nothing more than a shallow ploy. A Lebanon with a weaker and even less capable army would be a haven for would-be terrorists and a nightmare for US policymakers and counter terror efforts worldwide.

The case for supporting the Lebanese Army has never been stronger.

So much ink (real and virtual) has been spilled on analyzing Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s press conference on August 9th 2010 that I thought I would briefly look at the event from a stylistic/visual perspective, which I frankly think is more interesting than the political analysis (when are we ever going to stop the never-ending national obsession with scenarios, plots, conspiracies, etc?).

Well, the conference was a bit like watching George Lucas’ original 1977 Star Wars movie (which at the time was a major special effects achievement) after you’ve watched Avatar: modern audiences whether in Lebanon, India or France expect, or rather demand, top quality audiovisual effects, especially when the film-maker (in this case Nasrallah) heavily promoted his film (the press conference). Thus in terms of visuals and audio, the end-product was underwhelming; the Carmina Burana-style music which accompanied the individual videos was hopelessly kitschy and an obvious (but failed) attempt to enhance the impact of the ‘evidence’ presented. The segments on Israeli spies were straight out of Prison Break or other U.S. cop shows; an unflattering picture of the person and bulleted information on him; almost as if the dramatic music and presentation style is itself meant to convey their guilt without further information or appeal to our logic. Whether Hezbollah likes it or not, when it comes to audiovisual presentation, Hollywood is Nasrallah’s competitor and not the STL.

The press conference/world premiere moreover revealed hidden socio-cultural implications other than the obvious political analysis.
First of all, it showed a Nasrallah and by extension a Hezbollah out of touch with the world, or at least out of step with modern audiences of the 21st century. As noted above, the intercepted Israeli videos from drones, the segments on Israeli spies in Lebanon, and even the filmed confession by a spy, are all things we’ve already seen countless times on TV or at the cinema (just watch any recent James Bond film). Thus in visual terms the ‘evidence’ was not satisfying or convincing; when we watch movies we’re in a willing suspension of belief, but when the same scenes are presented to us as real life, we tend to disbelieve them, or say: is that it?

Second, with the internet, Facebook, Twitter, Google Earth, Blackberry, Ipad, etc. we’re in the Post-Privacy Age: if Nasrallah intended to shock us that Israel is spying on all our moves, then he more or less failed. Most people have no problem parading the most intimate details of their lives on Facebook so the fact that we’re being spied on is not a major revelation to us.

The shortcomings of living underground and getting only second-hand information on the world above from Hezbollah cadres were obvious on Monday night. The attempted joke on Jbeil (apparently most people who sit in cafes in Jbeil are March 14), the fake drum-roll moments, as well as everything noted above all backfired.

In short, audiences (and I use the word audiences intentionally and not citizens) will not accept anything other than conclusive audiovisually convincing evidence. Nasrallah failed this test; we can only hope that the STL is able to pass it.

Tajaddod Youth expresses its full support to the Lebanese Army and pays tribute to the two soldiers who were killed on August 3rd 2010 defending Lebanon’s soil against Israeli aggression. Tajaddod Youth also pays condolences to the family of Assaf Abou Rahal; he joined the long cohort of journalists who fell while fulfilling their mission.

The champion of rule of law, Lebanon’s number one rule enforcer [if i may call him so], is back at it. Our Minister of Interior, Ziyad Baroud, recently paid a visit to the “Dekwaneh Vehicle Registration Department”, where he personally investigated the corruption taking place there.

The offenses committed included, but were not limited to, agents applying for driving licenses on behalf of their clients, without having them show up for the exam, and [shockingly?!] a law enforcement officer with an illegitimate number plate and unlicensed tinted windshields. Minister Baroud made sure that the offenders were punished according to the law, his personal attempt to improve Lebanon’s jungle of a traffic situation and to curb increasing car-related accidents and deaths.

Such a crucial step will hopefully minimize the number of reckless drivers who are not even aware of what the driving regulations are, let alone abide by them, as a result of them not taking the exams. It is also a warning for the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, for if even they do not abide by the laws, how are they going to enforce them?

The minister’s tour can be viewed here:

Now some of you might be thinking that Minister Baroud is only doing this for a [well-deserved!] publicity stunt, especially since he is accompanied by all the media outlets. Ziyad Baroud is no super-man, and since there is no real political will to tackle Lebanon’s traffic situation, the media is one of the few yet effective tools for him to get his message cross:

Bad boys, bad boys,

Careful what you do,

‘Cos Ziyad Baroud’s gonna come for you!

Picture: Mohammad Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters

Hundreds of Sudanese demonstrated on June 23rd in Khartoum protesting against the Lebanese security forces’ brutal arrest of Sudanese workers in Ouzai, Lebanon.

Tajaddod Youth highly commends Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s honorable position, who denounced the use of force and racist language by General Security members, and hopes that proper investigation and measures will follow.

It is time to seriously tackle the rampant racism at all levels of Lebanese society.

L’écrivain franco-libanais Amin Maalouf a été récompensé par le très prestigieux prix espagnol Prince des Asturies 2010 pour les lettres.
Je jury a particulièrement apprécié sa contribution à la culture méditerranéenne et son combat pour la coexistence et la tolérance.
Amin Maalouf a reçu le Prix Goncourt 1993 pour son roman Le Rocher de Tanios.

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٢ حزيران… حلمه فينا

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Name	Somali Pirates	Israeli State Piracy
Picture:
Geographic Concentration:	Off the coast of Somalia, usually within somali waters	Eastern mediterranean, in international waters.
Main Port of Refuge:	Eyl	Haifa
Mode of Attack:	Armed assault via small and fast light crafts, often modified fishing boats.	Violent armed assault by helicopter and light water vessels.
Attack characteristics:	Agressive but usually bloodless.	Fast, bloody and merciless with little to no regard to human life.
Weaponry:	AKM assault rifles, RPG-7 rocket propelled grenade weapons and various semi-automatic pistols.	M4A1 assault rifles, stun grenades, Jericho 941 semi-automatic pistols.
Motive:	To take hostages and claim ransom money.	To terrorise all who oppose the state of Israel’s policies and to maintain the illegal blockade of Gaza.
Cause:	Extreme poverty in Somalia and lack of other opportunities.	Extreme desperation of the state of Israel and complete moral bankruptcy.
Solutions:	Strong international cooperation and the effective implementation of international law and justice.	Strong international cooperation and the effective implementation of international law and justice.

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Israel’s assault this morning on the Gaza humanitarian aid Freedom Flotilla is nothing but a blatant act of Israeli state terrorism. Israel once again ignored every single principle of international law and human rights.

We call upon the international community, the United Nations and the Security Council, the world powers, the international civil society and free citizens around the world to condemn this act, not only by words, but mainly by holding Israel accountable for all its crimes.

The era of double standards must end!

Photo: Guardian.co.uk

The Amnesty International Report 2010 is out, and unfortunately but unsurprisingly, foreign domestic workers continue to be discriminated against:

Women migrant domestic workers continued to face
exploitation and physical, sexual and psychological
abuse in their workplace.

However the report does note that the Lebanese Labour Ministry has standardized working contracts for the domestic workers to define their responsibilities and rights (including maximum hours) as well as those of their employers. However the fact remains that there is no law enforcement unit charged with monitoring whether the contracts are implemented correctly.

Hopefully the Lebanese people will soon learn that they should treat and respect migrant workers in Lebanon, just as we all expect to be—and are—properly treated like human beings when we travel and work abroad ourselves.

The report also touches on issues concerning Palestinean refugees, Lebanese women’s inability to give their nationality to their children, abductions, alleged collaborators with Israel, and the death penalty.

To read the full report, download the PDF, courtesy of Amnesty International.