Lebanese social media erupts in frustration over Soleimani monument

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by arabnews.com -- LONDON: Lebanese took to social media platforms to express their discontent and frustration with the unveiling of a Qassem Soleimani monument in the Hezbollah district of Ghobeiry on Tuesday. “New Qassem Sulaimani statue in #Lebanon — with Lebanese flags in the background, useful to remind us where we are. Whats next? Sulaimani stamps?” wrote journalist Luna Safwan, who was the subject of a targeted campaign by Hezbollah last year. Another user, Wael Atallah, opposed the step, calling it “a cultural aggression being imposed on Lebanon,” which left the Lebanese people “violated and powerless.” Supporters of the Iran-backed Hezbollah unveiled the statue of the Iranian general a year after he was killed by a US drone strike in Iraq.

Hezbollah supporters gathered in a commemoration ceremony grieving the loss of Soleimani. Recent weeks have seen the installation of scores of Soleimani billboards across Hezbollah-dominated areas in the south Beirut Dahye suburbs and throughout south Lebanon. The move has fueled criticism by local Lebanese, who took to social media to protest Iran’s infringement of Lebanon’s sovereignty to try to counter Iran’s growing influence in the country. Nizar Hassan, a Lebanese researcher, said that it highlighted Hezbollah’s desperation “to make (the) late Iranian General Qassem Suleimani a local hero, despite knowing that for the majority of people in Lebanon, he simply represents a foreign power.” Another Lebanese citizen, Dalia Tarabay, tweeted a picture of the statue, saying: “The day will come when the Lebanese will tear down the statue of this terrorist and tyrant Qassem Soleimani like they have done with many other statues of tyrants before this. Until then, shame on anyone who deems this appropriate.” The erection of the statue comes soon after a top IRGC commander boasted that Lebanon owed its missile capabilities to Iran and that the country was in the front line of Iran’s fight against Israel.

Lebanese cardinal Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Rai urges leaders to help country avoid ‘total collapse

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By Courtney Mares -- Rome Newsroom, (CNA).- Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch has said that the country could be facing “the risk of total collapse” amid a deepening economic and political crisis. In his homily on Jan. 3, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, the leader of Lebanon’s Maronite Catholics, said that Lebanon’s political leaders needed to “overcome the logic of partisan interests” and form a government to help rescue the country. Rai urged the formation of a “government with real independence, democratic and pluralistic balance, and with highly qualified ministers.” He added that Lebanon’s leaders needed to make a “responsible and courageous decision” to disrupt various internal and external interventions and “set their sights on the interest of Lebanon only.” The patriarch warned officials not to “underestimate the risk of complete collapse.” It was the second time in less than a week that the Lebanese cardinal had spoken of the risk of collapse.

In his homily on New Year’s Day, Rai said: “No one or any group of the political spectrum, whether directly or indirectly involved, has the right to hinder the formation of the government for the sake of current or future accounts and interests.” “Two months and 10 days have passed since the task to form the government was issued, while Lebanon is moving rapidly towards complete collapse and bankruptcy.” He continued: “It is truly shameful that the new year begins without the government formed and committed to work. It is also disgraceful for the unemployed to deal with the Lebanese issue as if it were one of the chess pieces of the Middle East or major countries. Let the political community remember that forming a government is its first and basic duty and the justification for its existence.”

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Iran Seeking Trump's Arrest for Death of Soleimani

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by Newsmax -- Jeffrey Rodack -- Iran has requested Interpol arrest President Donald Trump and 47 other Americans it said played a role in the death of top general Qassem Soleimani. The U.S. killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2020. Washington had accused him of masterminding attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on U.S. forces in the region. The request for Trump’s arrest was announced by Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili on Tuesday, according to Al-Jazeera. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is very seriously following up on pursuing and punishing those who ordered and executed this crime,” Esmaili told reporters.

It is the second request Iran has made since June seeking to have Trump arrested. France-based Interpol turned down Iran’s first request, according to Al-Jazeera. The international police organization had said its constitution prevents it from undertaking “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial character.”

Lebanon's famed musician Elias Rahbani dies aged 83

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by arabnews -- DUBAI: Veteran Lebanese musician Elias Rahbani died on Monday at the age of 83 due to COVID-19, Lebanese media reported. According to Al-Arabiya, Rahbani – who was a composer, songwriter and an orchestra conductor – died due to COVID-19. He was the yonger brother of Assi and Mansour Rahbani, who rose to fame as the Rahbani brothers. Celebrities quickly took to social media to pay tribute to Rahbani.

Singer Carol Samaha wrote on Instagram: “We lost an important figure from my country, and he took with him the most beautiful musical era in the history of the Lebanese music. Goodbye, Elias Rahbani. Thank you for your generosity and loyalty to our country Lebanon. Your work is immortal in memory and conscience.” While Lebanese singer and actor Ramy Ayach wrote on Twitter: “A great loss… the one with a pure heart and the lover of art and homeland.” Rahbani composed over 2,500 songs, 1000 of them were for 25 movies and multiple series across the region. He wrote and composed some of Lebanese singer Fairouz’s most-famous songs, including “Qatalooni Aouna El-Soud,” “Kan Endna Tahoun,” and “Maak.” His songs for late legendary Lebanese singer Sabah included “Keif Halak Ya Asmar” and “Shoftoh Bel Anater.”

by AP -- The three brothers were pioneers of a Lebanese golden age of music and culture, before the country was plunged into a lengthy civil war in the mid- 1970s. Many Lebanese still start their day listening to their songs and see them as uniting figures, beloved across the country’s divided political spectrum. Born into a musical family in the town of Antelias, north of Beirut, Elias quickly forged a path for himself in the music industry. He often worked with his brothers but went on to compose his own songs for veteran Lebanese artists including Fairouz, Sabah, Melhem Barakat, Majida al-Roumi and others.

Elias Rahbani distinguished himself from his brothers, who were the industry's best known duo, with his more modern styles and mix of Middle Eastern and Western music that won him international awards. He wrote some of Fairouz’ best hits, as well as the music and lyrics for many patriotic songs. Rahbani composed hundreds of songs and music for the theater and the soundtracks to dozens of films and TV series, including “Habibati,” or my Love, “The Night Player.” Elias leaves behind a wife, Nina, two sons, Ghassan and Jad and a sister, Elham.

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Joe Biden’s Creed

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by catholicherald.co.uk -- Matthew Schmitz -- On paper, Joe Biden will be the second Catholic to hold the office of US President. In reality, he will govern in accord with a very different faith. His policies and rhetoric will be based not on Roman dogma but on a creed which might be called “therapeutic technocracy”. This is the unacknowledged religion of much of America. It promises that by listening to science and the voices of the suffering we can ensure our nation’s physical and psychological health. Biden’s adherence to this faith was made clear in his victory speech. He declared that he would defeat coronavirus with a plan “built on a bedrock of science” and “constructed out of compassion, empathy and concern”. These are the quasi-religious pillars of his legitimacy. By invoking them he claims an authority that goes beyond the merely human, just as a king once might have claimed divine favour. Why does therapeutic belief (“compassion, empathy and concern”) go along with faith in technocratic expertise? Because it justifies the technocrats’ right to rule. This new class lacks the more traditional forms of legitimacy – sacred anointing, popular acclaim, or loyalty to a national history. Instead, they claim to be experts in soothing our pain. As Biden’s vice-president-elect Kamala Harris promised: “Know that Joe Biden and I will wake up every single day thinking about you and your families.”

The figure of the therapist exemplifies a particularly attractive form of expertise. He is not tasked with overcoming external technical problems, in which success or failure would be obvious. He is charged with the more ambiguous – and in some ways more ambitious – task of resolving all the problems of the psyche. If an engineer doesn’t know how to build a bridge, his incapacity will become disastrously clear. The competence of a therapist can never be tested in the same way. A ruling class incapable of increasing the median wage or restoring American industry can still vow that it is overcoming the internal darkness of hatred and bigotry. A soft, therapeutic technocracy can promise more and deliver less than a hard technocratic regime devoted to, say, cold fusion or the abolition of age.

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Beirut port still has 52 containers of dangerous acids: director

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The new director of Beirut port said there are still 52 containers of dangerous acids at the port and a German company is working to ship them away, the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported Sunday. The German company Combi Lift is properly packaging the acids of eight different types and will ensure their shipping according to European standards, Asharq Al-Awsat quoted the new director Bassem Al-Kaissi as saying. The move comes after reports issued by the Lebanese and German environment ministries about the presence of acids at the port. Kaissi attributed the presence of acids at the port to negligence and the long administrative procedures needed to destroy or re-export them. He said the Lebanese army has checked 725 out of the 10,000 containers available at the port in about a week.

Two huge explosions ripped through the Port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020, killing about 200, injuring at least 6,000 and leaving 300,000 homeless. A big part of the Lebanese capital was destroyed in the disaster. Investigations pointed to the roughly 500 tons of ammonium nitrate left at Beirut port as the cause of the explosions, as stated by caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab last month.