By Tessa Fox — foreignpolicy.com — For months, protesters in Lebanon remained on the streets after the spark of the uprising in October 2019, when tens of thousands came together to demonstrate against corruption and an economic downturn and call for accountability and social rights. Now, they have focused their energy not on barricades but on ballot boxes, hoping to at last topple Lebanon’s entrenched political elite in next year’s election. They face some big obstacles, starting with a corrupt, sectarian power-sharing system allergic to reform. They’re also up against a sub-state militia which all but controls the levers of power in Lebanon. Even so, a new generation of political activists is hoping to leverage the increase in political engagement in Lebanon over the last two years into a more democratic state. Formed during the 2019 uprising and bolstered after last summer’s explosion in the port of Beirut, Minteshreen is the largest of the new activist groups to emerge in Lebanon. The party’s name has two meanings in Arabic: “from October” and literally “spread out,” or coming from everywhere and different backgrounds, a nod to its determination to break down divisions that the political elite in Lebanon have instilled.

Mia Atoui, 34, is a clinical psychologist who co-founded the mental heath organization Embrace and established Lebanon’s only suicide prevention hotline. She joined Minteshreen after months on the street throughout the uprising. The turning point for Minteshreen came in the wake of the August 2020 Beirut explosion, when its protesters were attacked and shot at by police and security forces, galvanizing the group’s transformation into the liberal, progressive party that it is today. “We realized that the political class and the people in power are ready to do anything so that they stay in power,” said Atoui, who is running for parliamentary election, representing Minteshreen, in a Beirut district next March. But even if she and other new independent candidates win their elections, that won’t bring immediate change. The biggest problem is that Lebanon isn’t entirely a sovereign state. Real reform can’t advance as long as foreign interference in the country, particularly Iranian support for the terror and political group Hezbollah, is a constant. After the end of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 2005, Hezbollah has only increased its grip on the state.

عام ٢٠١٢ عممت الدولة اللبنانية اعلان بعبدا الذي توافقت عليه كافة الاطراف على الدول الصديقة والمراجع والهيئات الدولية والتزم به معظمهم وتبناه مجلس الامن ولا يزال يشدد على تطبيقه في حين تنكر له لاحقاً العديد من المشاركين في هيئة الحوار الوطني وصمت عنه البعض الآخر فتخلفت الدولة عن التزامها. اليوم وبعد ١٠ سنوات هل يصحو […]

by aawsat.com — The United States has reopened the case of the American hostage crisis during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). The Rewards for Justice program released a reminder of a reward of up to $5 million for information that brings to justice those responsible for these attacks. “Numerous kidnappings and murders were a part of the decade-long Lebanese hostage crisis undertaken by Hezbollah-related terrorists. The hostage crisis lasted from 1982 to 1992,” it said on its website. “On March 16, 1984, terrorists kidnapped William Buckley, the CIA Station Chief in Beirut. Buckley was interrogated, tortured and held captive for 15 months before the estimated date of his death.” “On December 3, 1984, American University of Beirut librarian Peter Kilburn was reported missing. Sixteen months later, he and two other captives were shot and killed, their bodies dumped in the mountains east of Beirut.” “On February 17, 1988, terrorists kidnapped Col. William Higgins from his United Nations peacekeeping vehicle. As a hostage, Col. Higgins was interrogated and tortured before being killed. The exact date of his death is unknown.”

Diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was not the first time such a reward has been put up. American University of Beirut history professor Dr. Makram Rabah said that period of the civil was “very critical” because it witnessed the birth of Hezbollah. The kidnappings during the war were carried out by various parties, such as the “Islamic Jihad” and others, he continued. Hezbollah never declared its responsibility for kidnappings. Everyone was aware of Iran’s role in the hostage-taking of foreigners, especially under the term of President Ronald Reagan, he added. He noted the “Irangate” affair, which was an attempt by Tehran to eliminate the US role in Lebanon, whether through bombing the Marine headquarters or by taking hostages. Rabah said it was significant that Washington is bringing up the hostage crisis again at a time when nuclear negotiations with Iran have resumed in Vienna.

By Najia Houssari — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has affirmed his government’s commitment to honoring its undertakings for reform. Mikati said that his joint phone call on Saturday with Saudi and French leaders was “an important step toward restoring historic brotherly relations with Riyadh.” A joint Saudi-French statement, following the joint phone call between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Macron with Mikati, linked “economic aid to Lebanon with the implementation of the required reforms.” The statement reiterated demands that Lebanon should “implement comprehensive reforms, monitor borders, abide by the Taif Agreement, limit arms to the legitimate state institutions and not be a launching pad for any terrorist acts that destabilize the region (nor) a source of drug trafficking.” Mikati also said: “I thank President Macron and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their keenness in maintaining the friendship toward Lebanon.”

Mikati called both President Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and briefed them on the phone call. Mikati’s media office said that Aoun and Berri “expressed their satisfaction and stressed their adherence to the best relations with Saudi Arabia and all brotherly Arab countries, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.” Mikati called “all parties in Lebanon to appreciate the sensitivity of the situation and circumstances and not to take any action or interfere in any matter that offends the Arab brothers and harms the Lebanese.” He added: “It is time to commit again to the policy of disassociation and not to involve ourselves and our country in what has nothing to do with us.” The Saudi position toward Lebanon left the Lebanese anxiously relieved about the extent of the seriousness of the ruling authority in implementing what was agreed on in Jeddah between French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

بالغ الشكر وعظيم الامتنان للدول الصديقة وفي طليعتها الولايات المتحدة التي تدعم الجيش بالسلاح والعتاد والذخيرة وتحسين مستوى معيشة الضباط والرتباء والافراد. ولكن الا يجدر بنا كلبنانيين دعمه عبر المطالبة بحصر السلاح بيده والاتفاق على استراتيجية دفاعية تُختصر بوضع امرة السلاح بيد الدولة والاتفاق مع حزب الله على جدول زمني مدته سنة للتخلي عن السلاح […]

Al Arabiya — Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati held a phone call on Saturday during which all three countries agreed to work together on reforms in Lebanon. “His Excellency the Lebanese Prime Minister expressed Lebanon’s appreciation for the great efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France to stand by the Lebanese people and the commitment of the Lebanese government to take everything that would strengthen relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and reject everything that would harm their security and stability,” the Saudi Press Agency reported on the call. “It was agreed between the three countries to work together to support the comprehensive reforms necessary in Lebanon,” the statement added.

Macron announced on Saturday a Saudi-French initiative to solve a diplomatic row between several Gulf states and Lebanon. Saudi Arabia expelled Lebanon’s envoy to the kingdom, recalled its ambassador to Beirut and banned Lebanese imports after comments made by former Lebanese information minister George Kordahi.

By Najia Houssari — arabnews.com –BEIRUT: Tons of wheat, corn and barley stored at the Port of Beirut since the devastating explosion that rocked the city 16 months ago are to be disposed of as they are no longer fit for consumption, it has been found. As temperatures change, mold, weevils and other insects have made it impossible to reach the contents of silos at the site without protective equipment; according to the World Health Organization, mold produces mycotoxins “which can cause a variety of adverse health effects and pose a serious health threat to both humans and livestock … ranging from acute poisoning to long-term effects such as immune deficiency and cancer.” Before the blast, the port’s silos contained about 45 tons of wheat, barley and corn, most of which was lost during the explosion. Minister of Environment Nasser Yassin said that six to seven tons remain at the site. Lab tests run on samples of wheat in cooperation with the ministries of economy, agriculture and environment, the American University of Beirut, Saint Joseph University, and the French Embassy, which brought in experts to assist, showed that the crops “are suitable for neither human nor animal use.”

In August, a year after the explosion, the remaining grains were removed from their silos and stored in the open air to reduce the risks of accidental fires in the hot weather, but resulted in hastening the demise of the crops as fit for consumption. A committee formed under the government of former Prime Minister Hassan Diab failed to reach a solution. Yassin told Arab News: “We decided to ferment these quantities and turn them into compost to be distributed to farmers for free, or turn them into industrial firewood to be given to the Lebanese Army to heat its units in the high mountains, or donate them to needy families living in cold areas.” He added: “Turning them into compost allows us to avoid any procedure that produces heavy metals, and we started with this process with the help of MAN Group, which obtained funding from France to treat organic waste resulting from the explosion, and had signed the contract with the Lebanese state in May.”

لخطط الانقاذية السياسية والاصلاحية، الهندسات المالية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية لن تجدي نفعاً في المدى المنظور طالما سيادة الدولة مفقودة. من المفيد وضع هذه الملفات جانباً والانخراط في بحث جدّي، صريح وشجاع حول تحييد لبنان وتصويب السياسة الخارجية، حصر السلاح، ضبط الحدود ومعابرها، رفع اليد عن القضاء والمرافق العامة والمؤسسات وتنقية اجهزة المخابرات والمعلومات … والا لا […]

by vaticannews.va — A sequence of political crises, financial speculation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and, finally, the massive explosion at Beirut’s port on 4 August 2020 have plunged Lebanon into economic disaster. However, according to Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Paul Abdel Sater, not all is lost and there still is hope. “It is a disaster, which has yet to be fully grasped” Speaking to Vatican News in his home in Beirut, Maronite Archbishop Paul Abdel Sater does not mince his words: “Ordinary people are becoming poorer and poorer. Medicines are increasingly expensive and hospitals are unaffordable”, he says.

A humanitarian catastrophe: According to the Lebanese prelate, it is a humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding day after day with no apparent way out: “For a number of reasons the government is paralyzed, while in our society people are desperate”. Hope against all odds: However, although the future seems bleak, not all is lost: “As a Church, as Christians, we still have hope against all odds. We still confide in the goodness of human beings and of the Lebanese people”, Bishop Sater says.

A growing chain of solidarity is helping the country cope with one of the worst crises in the country since the 1975-1990 war. Relief from international religious and not religious organizations is of great help to the population and to the Christian community in Lebanon. According to Archbishop Sater, this relief could help contain mass emigration, which is essential if the Middle Eastern country is to remain an example of “religious and cultural pluralism” in the region.

BEIRUT (AP) By ZEINA KARAM and SARAH EL DEEB  — Lebanon’s information minister resigned Friday, a move many hope could open the way for easing an unprecedented diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab nations that has compounded the small country’s multiple crises. George Kordahi, the minister and a prominent former game show host, said he took the decision to step down ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The resignation, Kordahi said at a press conference in the Lebanese capital, may help Macron start a dialogue to help restore Beirut-Riyadh relations. But the crisis goes deeper than Kordahi’s comments aired in late October, in which he was critical of the Saudi-led war in Yemen. His resignation is unlikely going to be a game changer in the dynamics of the crisis. It is rooted in Saudi Arabia’s uneasiness over the rising influence of Iran in the region, including in Lebanon, once a traditional Saudi ally and recipient of financial assistance from the oil-rich kingdom. It is also unlikely to diffuse internal divisions in Lebanon and a government paralysis made worse during the diplomatic crisis.

Saudi Arabia, which has been joined by other Gulf Arab states in a boycott of Lebanon, is unhappy with the dominance of the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group and its allies on the levers of power in Lebanon. “The Saudi view is that any initiative that does not address that core issue will not succeed nor receive its blessing,” said the risk consultancy Eurasia Group in a statement Friday. “As a result, a minister’s resignation will be viewed as somewhat constructive but largely irrelevant to the much larger issue at hand.” Prospects of significant financial assistance to Lebanon are therefore dim, the group said. That crisis has added to immense economic troubles facing Lebanon, already mired in a financial meltdown. Following Kordahi’s televised comments, the kingdom recalled its ambassador from Beirut and banned all Lebanese imports, affecting hundreds of businesses and cutting off hundreds of millions in foreign currency to Lebanon. That aggravated Lebanon’s economic crisis, the worst in its modern history, which has plunged more than three quarters of the nation’s population of 6 million, including a million Syrian refugees, into poverty.