By Elisabeth Sherman One of the world’s rarest, and oldest, cheeses in the world is made in Lebanon through a traditional, though complicated, process that may be dying out. As the BBC reports, the cheese, called Ambarees, is around 2,000 years old. Ambarees is made in clay jars. The cheese is now made mostly […]

by Florence Massena, Contributor, Lebanon Pulse – Having become familiar with some of the material, Gino Raidy, the vice president of MARCH, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) behind the museum, told Al-Monitor, “Different trends could be observed according to the decades. In the 1940s, it mostly involved mentioning Israel.” Raidy further asserted, “In the 1950s-1960s, sexual explicitness was tolerated, but not political discussions. In the early 2000s, there was strong opposition to heavy metal. People would be arrested in the streets for wearing a heavy metal band T-shirt as many thought it was satanic. What stood to be censored became clearer after the Syrian army left in 2005, mostly focusing on sectarian and politics-related material. Nowadays, we note that LGBT art and events are getting targeted more and more.” The virtual museum aims to identify not only what has been banned and censored, but also the reasons behind it, in an effort to present the big picture when it comes to limits on freedom of expression in Lebanon.

The database launched on May 24, with an event at Phoenicia University, in Mazraat al-Daoudiyeh, in the south. An exhibition of panels and blackboards with words and names of individuals redacted to symbolize information omitted through censorship was followed by a discussion among free speech experts and activists. Participants included lawyer Hussein el-Achi, photojournalist Hussein Baydoun, author and activist Joumana Haddad, journalist and activist Luna Safwan and graffiti artist Omar Kabbani. In 2013 in Beirut, MARCH had organized “Censorship in Lebanon, An Uncensored Look,” a panel discussion on freedom of expression. Looking ahead, the team hopes to organize others in Tripoli after the end of Ramadan and maybe in the Bekaa Valley. “We believe that getting out of Beirut is important not only to inform people about censorship but also to have more discussions, address a different crowd living in rural areas and see what they think about the issue,” said Raidy, who is also a blogger. “Virtually, anyone can see what cultural material has been banned and censored, as well as what journalists and activists have been through when it comes to the expression of certain issues. We also invite people to submit entries if they hear about something new. Control over every cultural product in Lebanon is based on a law or decree, as detailed in “Censorship in Lebanon: Law and Practice,” a 2010 study by Nizar Saghieh, Rana Saghieh and Nayla Geagea, who are lawyers and members of The Legal Agenda, an NGO that follows socio-legal developments in Lebanon and the broader Middle East.

“Censorship of films in Lebanon is based on four very vague principles: respect for public morals, respect for the reputation or status of state authorities, respect for the sensitivities of the public and avoiding sectarian or religious incitement, and resisting calls that are unfavorable to the interests of Lebanon,” Ghida Frangieh, a lawyer with The Legal Agenda, told Al-Monitor. “If the General Security, which is a security agency, wants to ban a movie, it must refer it to an administrative committee, which reviews the film and gives its recommendation to the Ministry of Interior, which will make the final decision. The procedure is not transparent, and most of the time, the reason why a film is censored or banned is not given.” To this, Raidy added, “From the data we collected, the two main organizations asking General Security for censorship are first the Catholic Information Center and then Dar al-Fatwa,” the leading Sunni religious institution in the country. For example, in Nadine Labaki’s movie “Where Do We Go Now” (2012), a scene with a priest and a sheikh speaking to the public through the local mosque’s loudspeaker was cut. More recently, a Druze cleric’s apparition was masked by a black dot in Philippe Aractingi’s 2017 movie “Listen /Ismaii.” Both decisions were supposedly based on concerns of sectarian incitement.

New York times By Anne Barnard reported from Beirut, Lebanon, and David D. Kirkpatrick from London. Gardiner Harris and Michael R. Gordon contributed reporting from Sydney, Australia, and Rick Gladstone from New York.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Egypt, Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries severed all ties with Qatar early Monday, in a renewal of a four-year effort to isolate it and in a sign of a new boldness after a visit to the region by President Trump. In an abrupt and surprising move, the five Arab states not only suspended diplomatic relations, as they have in the past, but also cut off land, air and sea travel to and from Qatar. All but Egypt, which has hundreds of thousands of people working there, ordered their citizens to leave the country. Qatar, like other monarchies in the Persian Gulf, is a close ally of Washington, and it hosts a major American military base that commands the United States-led air campaign against the Islamic State.

As such, the feud among regional allies threatens to stress the operations of the American-led coalition and complicate efforts in the region to confront Iran — but could also be a heavy blow to Tehran’s regional ambitions, if Qatar is forced to sever ties. Continue reading the main story Related Coverage Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson offered to broker the impasse on Monday in the hope of preserving the Trump administration’s efforts to create broad coalitions against Iran and terrorist groups in the Middle East. “We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences,” Mr. Tillerson said. The severing of all connections by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen created an immediate crisis for Qatar. Qatari diplomats were given 48 hours to leave their posts in Bahrain, while Qatari citizens were allotted two weeks to depart Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Photo President Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May.

Mr. Trump’s strong support for the Saudis may have helped encourage other Sunni states to renew their campaign against Qatar. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Qatar, a relatively small country jutting into the Persian Gulf, has a border with Saudi Arabia and is vulnerable to its larger neighbor. It imports almost all of its food, about 40 percent of it directly from Saudi Arabia. Several residents, reached on the internet chat, said that people were stocking up on food and cash. . Air traffic was disrupted, with the United Arab Emirates suspending service to Qatar by its three carriers, Etihad Airways, Emirates and FlyDubai, beginning Tuesday morning. Qatar Airways was banned from Saudi airspace. Saudi Arabia said it was taking the action to “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism.” The Foreign Ministry of Qatar released a statement saying the action had “no basis in fact” and was “unjustified.” The Iranian government criticized the Saudi-led action against Qatar in a diplomatically worded rebuke. “Neighbors are permanent; geography can’t be changed,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account. “Coercion is never the solution,” Mr. Zarif said. “Dialogue is imperative, especially during blessed Ramadan.” It was not immediately clear why the five countries decided to take this action now.

  Reported by Yassmine Alieh –businessnews.com.lb –  Cityblu, a joint venture between local Société Mouawad Edde and Bulgarian firm Soriko, has begun garbage collection and transport in the cazas of Aley and Baabda. According to its contract with the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), the company is also in charge of the Shouf area. […]

Asharq Al-Awsat Beirut – Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri promised on Sunday to hold a cabinet session in Tripoli to endorse the city’s much-needed development projects. Speaking during a “Ramadan Suhour” held in his honor by former Minister Mohammad Safadi in Batroun, Hariri said: “Today, a new atmosphere prevails in the country that is in […]

AFP – BEIRUT: Daesh has claimed responsibility for the London attacks, which left seven people dead, an online news agency affiliated with the terrorist group said Monday. A “detachment of fighters from Islamic State (Daesh) carried out London attacks yesterday” the Aamaq news agency said, referring to Saturday’s assault which saw three men in a […]

by tradearabia.com FFA Private Bank, one of the leading investment companies in Lebanon, is all set to launch a structured investment vehicle to channel the country’s investments in power sector and infrastructure projects. A first-of-its-kind in the country, Lebanon Infrastructure Fund is very advanced in terms of financial sophistication, said its top official. The initial […]

by Gulf news – Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer Beirut: At least six months preparation time will be required before a Lebanese parliamentary election can be held under any new law, Interior Minister Nohad Mashnouq said on Friday. Lebanese politicians have indicated they are close to agreeing a new parliamentary election law after months of […]

By Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian – This article represents opinion of the author

Amid renewed congressional efforts to tighten sanctions on Hezbollah, delegations of Lebanese politicians and bankers descended on Washington in May in an attempt to minimize the effects of any new sanctions on the Lebanese banking sector. A draft amendment known as the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Amendment Act of 2017, which has not yet been formally proposed in the House, would tighten financial regulations on Lebanese banks and extend scrutiny to Hezbollah allies in order to screen for any illicit funding to groups linked to Hezbollah, which the United States, Israel, the Arab League, and others have designated as a terrorist organization.

The draft, first revealed in Lebanese news outlets in April, quickly attracted opposition there. In an April 28 press conference, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that he hoped to work with U.S. politicians to “change” the bill and that such sanctions would be “harsh on Lebanon,” according to the Beirut-based Daily Star. The banking sector is a mainstay of the Lebanese economy. The delegation of bankers and politicians aimed to convey to Congress that, without amendments, the draft regulations would damage their economy and even the overall stability of the country. Yassine Jaber, a Lebanese politician who visited Washington in May, told Reuters, “There’s one question anyone who wants to put pressure on Lebanon should remember: Do you want another failed state on the eastern Mediterranean?” The draft amendment is the second round in a series of efforts intended to squeeze Hezbollah’s financing. In 2015, President Barack Obama signed into law the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, which had been authored by U.S. Representative Ed Royce, a Republican from California. The new draft amendment aims to further strengthen sanctions on the political group’s financing both in Lebanon and abroad, and is in line with President Donald Trump’s emphasis on fighting terrorism financing, especially groups such as Hezbollah which receive backing from Iran.

by Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer Beirut: Lebanon has been ranked third globally for having the most smokers per capita, according to the data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the year 2015. Lebanon has been ranked poorly despite Law 174, which was approved by Najib Mikati’s Cabinet in 2012, and that intended […]