دعوا النوّابَ يَعُدّون أسماءَهم ويُوزِّعونَها على كُتلٍ حقيقيّةٍ ومجازيّة، دَعوهم يَفرَحون برفعِ السواترِ من محيطِ مجلسِ النوّاب على أمل رفعِ الستائرِ عن مواقفِهم. دَعوهم وتعالوا نَبحَثْ عن مصيرِ لبنانَ المتَمايِلِ بين مشروعَي الأكثريّةِ والأقليّاتِ في الشرقِ الأوسطِ وليس بين الأكثريّةِ والأقليّةِ في المجلسِ النيابيّ. نحن اللبنانيّين مجموعةُ أقليّاتٍ فَشِلنا في أن نُكوِّنَ أكثريّةً جامعةً ونَكُونَ شعبًا موحَّدًا. مَكَثنا في زمنِ المدائن والكنائس والمآذِن. وحين لامَسَت التجربةُ اللبنانيّةُ النجاح، انتَصَبت المطالبُ الطائفيّةُ عِوضَ الإعجابِ بمن نَجحوا وهُم من جميعِ الطوائف. لم تَبقَ تُهمةٌ لم تُلصَقْ بتلك الدولةِ النُخبويّةِ التي صَنعَت مجدَ لبنان وحَمَت شعبَه وحدودَه من دونِ طلقةِ نار. كان زمنُ: “قُلْ كلمةً واحدةً فتَحيا بها نفسي”…

كان الذَكاءُ صواريخَنا العابِرة، والحِيادُ مُسيّراتِنا، والنظامُ المصرِفيُّ شبكةَ أمانِنا، والاقتصادُ المتنوِّعُ كَفافَ أجيالِنا، والديبلوماسيّةُ أوراقَ اعتمادِنا، والميثاقُ استراتيجيّتَنا الدفاعيّة، والازدهارُ سلاحَنا المدَمِّر… يومَها كانت قوّةُ لبنان في مناعتِه لا في ضُعفِه. يومَها كان العالمُ العربيُّ والدُوليُّ يَعتبر لبنانَ حاجةً فيما اعتبرَه بعضُ بَنيه عالةً. يومَها كان العالمُ العربيُّ يدفُقُ الأموالَ والاستثماراتِ، والغربُ يَتدخّلُ حتى عسكريًّا للحفاظِ على لبنان. يومَها كنّا أُمّيين في تَـهْجئَةِ حروفِ اللامركزيّةِ والفِدراليّةِ والكونفدراليّة، ولم يَخطُر بِبالِنا أنَ نَفتحَ القاموسَ لنعرِفَ معاني هذه الكلمات. لم يكن ذلك حُلمًا ولا حنينًا سورياليًّا. كنا سعداءَ حتّى في خِلافاتِنا لأنّنا كنّا قادرين على احتوائِها إلى أن أتَت ساعةُ تسليمِ لبنان إلى جلّاديه. آهٍ كَم كانت أعدادُ “يَهوذا”، وكم كانت أعدادُ “بيلاطُس”…

كان القَنّاصُ “عَ المفْرق ناطِرْنا”. نيرانٌ شريكةٌ ثم شقيقةٌ ثم عدوّةٌ أصابَت لبنان؛ لكنَّ اللبنانيّين ظلّوا واقفِين وصامدين نِصفَ قرنٍ ونيِّفًا. ضَمّدوا جراحاتِهم وتَصالحوا على أساسِ ميزانِ قوى جديدٍ فتَشوَّهَت المصالحةُ وراحَ ميزانُ القِوى يَنتَقلُ من فريقٍ إلى آخَر. حاولوا تناسِي الخطايا المتبادَلةِ والشهداءِ أحيانًا والانطلاقِ من جديد. أَعطَوْا فرصةً أخرى للشَراكةِ المركزيّةِ ولوِحدةِ الكيان. لكنْ، كلمّا كان يَهتدي مُكوِّنٌ لبنانيٌّ كان يَضِلُّ مكوِّنٌ آخَر. مُشْتهى الولاءِ إلى المحيطِ القريبِ والأبعدِ كان أقوى من روحِ المصالحةِ ومَنطقِ العقلِ ونَجوى الوِجدان.

والخطورةُ أنَّ الولاءَ المتجَدِّدَ للخارج لم يَقِف، هذه المرّةَ، عند حدودِ الهَوى القوميِّ، بل تَـمدَّد حتّى التبعيّةِ المطلَقةِ وتَبنّي مشاريعَ دينيّةٍ وسياسيّةٍ وعسكريّةٍ واجتماعيّةٍ وعقائديّةٍ ضدَّ المشروعِ اللبنانيّ. والخطورةُ الأخرى أنَّ أحدَ هذه المشاريعِ الأجنبيّةِ صار دولةً مستقِلّةً على أرضِ لبنان وتُسيطرُ على دولةِ لبنانَ الشرعيّة. لكنَّ الـمُصيبةَ الكبرى أنَّ غالِبيّةَ القوى السياسيّةِ، لاسيّما حَديثو النيابةِ ودعاةُ التغييرِ الضبابيِّ، يُقاربون الأزْمةَ اللبنانيّةَ الراهنةَ بمنأى عن القضيّةِ اللبنانيّةِ التاريخيّة، ويَعتقدون أنَّ مِنَ الأرقامِ يَخرُجُ الحلُّ المعجِزة. غابت عن إطلالاتِهم الإعلاميّةِ المواقفُ الوطنيّةُ المصيريّةُ، واكتفوا بالسياسةِ اليوميّةِ والاقتصاد، وارتَضَوا المساكنةَ مع سلاحِ حزبِ الله.

by arabnews.com — LONDON: Al Arabiya network denied accusations and threats made by Lebanese terror group Hezbollah in a statement issued on Thursday, which claimed that the network is peddling false information on the militia’s captagon and drug smuggling operations. Al Arabiya stressed that all accusations cited in the Hezbollah statement are false. It also […]

By Najia Houssari — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: The dollar exchange rate on Lebanon’s black market was expected to continue its fall in the wake of measures announced by central bank Gov. Riad Salameh on Friday, a senior banker told Arab News. The banker expects the exchange rate to drop further until it is almost equal […]

  General Abbas Ibrahim By nbc news — Abigail Williams, Dan De Luce and Mustafa Kassem —The head of Lebanon’s main intelligence service General Abbas Ibrahim met with Biden administration officials in Washington this week to discuss reviving negotiations with the Syrian government in a bid to secure the release of journalist and former marine […]

  by naharnet — Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday scheduled a Tuesday parliamentary session for the election of a new speaker, deputy speaker and the members of the Parliament Bureau, the National News Agency said. The session will be held at 11am at parliament’s building in Beirut’s Nejmeh Square, NNA added. Berri, 84, has […]

By EPHREM KOSSAIFY — arabnews.com — NEW YORK: The UN Security Council on Wednesday welcomed the fact that parliamentary elections in Lebanon went ahead as planned on May 15, “despite challenging circumstances,” but called for the swift formation of a new, inclusive government and the “urgent implementation” of previously outlined economic reforms. In a joint statement, council members said that the reforms should include the adoption of “an appropriate” national budget for 2022 that will enable the speedy implementation of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund “to respond to the demands of the Lebanese population.” The country’s economy has been mired since August 2019 in a crippling crisis, during which the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value and more than three-quarters of the population have fallen into poverty.

Last month, Lebanon and the IMF had reached an agreement on a plan that could unlock about $3 billion of international funding over several years. However, the deal is subject to approval by the management and executive board of the IMF, and hinges on Lebanese authorities implementing a host of economic reforms, including the restructuring of the country’s collapsed banking sector, improved transparency, and unifying the multiple exchange rates that apply to the nation’s spiraling currency.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s currency hit a new low Tuesday as deep divisions within the newly elected parliament raised concerns that political paralysis could further exacerbate one of the worst economic meltdowns in history. The legislature elected May 15 showed no clear majority for any group and a fragmented and polarized parliament divided between pro- and anti-Hezbollah lawmakers. The sides will likely find it difficult to work together to form a new government and enact desperately needed reforms. Among those elected to the 128-member parliament were 13 independents. They took part in the protest movement against Lebanon’s entrenched political class blamed for the crisis rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement. This sets up a potential clash in parliament between the two camps, raising concerns of a protracted deadlock to form a new Cabinet desperately needed to resume negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over a bailout program.

On Tuesday afternoon, the dollar was selling at 34,000 pounds on the black market, surpassing the 33,000 pounds to the dollar recorded in January. The Lebanese currency was pegged at 1,500 pounds to the dollar for 22 years until the crisis erupted in in October 2019. Since then, more than 80% of the population has been plunge into poverty, suffering acute shortages in electricity, medicine and other necessities as central bank reserves dry up. The crisis has also triggered the biggest wave of emigration since the 1975-90 civil war. On Friday, Lebanon’s outgoing government approved a recovery plan for pulling the Mideast nation out of its economic meltdown. The development came during the Cabinet’s last official meeting before it becomes a caretaker government following the elections. The plan is a key IMF demand.

By Joyce Karam — thenationalnews.com — The head of Lebanon’s main intelligence agency has held talks with senior US officials in Washington to discuss resuming negotiations with Syria on the release of American hostages, including Austin Tice. Maj Gen Abbas Ibrahim, who heads Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security, was flown to Washington on a private flight organised by the US government. He met with senior White House, State Department and intelligence officials in his first visit since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. In an exclusive interview with The National on Tuesday, he said the release of Tice, a freelance journalist and former marine who disappeared while reporting in 2012, was a top item at talks.

Lebanon fosters unique role in freeing Western hostages “We discussed Mr Tice’s file and we agree that it has to make progress, but we have to see first how we can bridge the gap, how to bring the views closer between Washington and Damascus,” Maj Gen Ibrahim said. Maj Gen Ibrahim leads Lebanon’s most powerful security service after the military and has a reputation as a savvy negotiator who has helped to secure the release of US residents and citizens such as Sam Goodwin, a tourist who had been held in Syria, and Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese businessman with US permanent residency who was released from Iranian custody in 2019. He also successfully mediated the release of Canadian tourist Kristian Lee Baxter in 2019 after he was detained in December 2018 by Syrian authorities while on holiday. There is now the possibility that negotiations will pick up from where they left off at the end of former president Donald Trump’s term in November 2020. “We came very close during Mr Trump,” Maj Gen Ibrahim said.

By Scott Peterson — csmonitor.com — With a Lebanese flag draped over her shoulders, and optimism for political change filling her heart, Nisrine Hammoud joined hundreds of thousands of her fellow citizens on the streets during Lebanon’s “October Revolution” in 2019. “We feel like we are alive again,” she told the Monitor late one night at Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square back then, as protesters demanded the toppling of a political class renowned for corruption, and a total uprooting of the entrenched sectarian system that was leading to state collapse. An election was the “only chance” to make such change, Ms. Hammoud said. “It’s up to us. It’s up to the people to decide if they are going to go back to their old ways, or we are going to go forward.”

WHY WE WROTE THIS

Changing an entrenched system requires energy. While some in Lebanon voted last week to break with the past, most still voted for sectarian parties, an indication of fear and fatigue. That election finally came May 15, but with mixed results for activists like Ms. Hammoud. Pro-change candidates won a dozen or more of the 128 seats in Parliament, and Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies lost their majority, dropping from 71 to 58 seats. The result outstripped modest predictions for anti-establishment candidates, and so was lauded as a “breakthrough” by some Lebanese media. But it also showed the challenges of changing the country’s baked-in sectarian system at a time when people are worn down by the demands of survival. Indeed, popular disgruntlement has grown even more widespread following the Beirut port explosion in August 2020, and the further disintegration of the economy and services that has now left more than 70% of Lebanese living below the poverty line.

MP Farid Haykal el Khazen confirmed on Monday to LBCI that he is not an ally of Hezbollah and will remain independent within the National Bloc alliance, adding that when it comes to situations on the national level, he is committed to the constants of Patriarch Rai. He supports all of the arms to be […]