tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20833409168942205822011-08-23T17:23:43.088+06:00A description of what's news in Beirut. In a highly censored country with partisan media, sometimes the word on the street is the only source you can trust. This blog weaves together media reports with the talk on the street.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.comBlogger121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-36849617247478410322006-11-27T22:53:00.000+06:002006-11-27T23:42:00.430+06:00

The post below was the first of today's updates. I think from now on I will only post on the front page today's posts, and archive the rest.The following Deir Spiegel article is a must-read. I read it last week in Deir Spiegel and and couldn't believe it. The article outlines new tactics that Israel is working on to neutralize 'the enemy.' It makes all the Terminator movies look as cute as

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-10909746393963491202006-11-27T20:06:00.000+06:002006-11-27T22:21:09.946+06:00

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora decided to hold cabinet talks on Saturday despite his promise to wait for the five resigned Shi'ite cabinet ministers (CM) and one Christian CM to rejoin the cabinet. The international tribunal was approved in the cabinet and will go through in the UN. In response Hezbollah and Amal announced that they will protest in a peaceful way and may even request Shi'ite

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-91798981127340938652006-11-25T23:07:00.000+06:002006-11-26T14:58:35.846+06:00

So my family went to pay their respects to The Gemayel's again. They went together, my Dad' brother and his wife, his sister and her son, and his other sister. Kamal Salibi also joined them. Salibi is a prominent Lebanese historian who wrote numerous books analyzing the civil war as well as other middle easter issues. Salibi said that the conditions here are night ripe for a civil war. In the

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-56869175470577018872006-11-25T19:50:00.000+06:002006-11-26T05:55:47.853+06:00

Hezbollah is now considering the ME to be the MB--Middle Beast.BAHRAIN:Another interesting development is the elections in Bahrain which reflects what's happening in Lebanon right now--Shi'ites demanding more power in a government that treats them as a minority when they are a majority. Bahrani Shi'ites comprise 60% of the population. The al-Khalifi monarchy is Sunni and the king appoints the

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-89941972641942785232006-11-25T05:48:00.000+06:002006-11-25T23:33:03.414+06:00

So, with my ear on the ground (well, with Hicham's help), I recovered an interesting tid-bit of information.A couple of weeks ago, gun silencers were intercepted in the Lebanese airport. They were headed to the American embassy.Around the same time, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, intalks with Rice, announced that a Lebanese minister would be assassinated. And then, Pierre Gemayel dies with

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-83433439351968534332006-11-25T05:24:00.000+06:002006-11-25T05:41:05.531+06:00

Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa, who resigned nine months ago, has decided to resume his position. This is a definite boost for Siniora's cabinet, which is down to 17 ministers from 24. Sabaa decided that due to the volatile political situation he's resume his duties. Only one more minister needs to resign or be assassinated for the government to fall. With Sabaa's inclusion inthe cabinet, now two

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-6330391980940662982006-11-24T17:04:00.000+06:002006-11-24T19:56:48.037+06:00

One thing I've noted about Lebanon, both when I lived here in my adolescence and now with my move back is that Lebanese always lament the 'what Lebanon used to be like.' Bygone are the days in the early 70s before the war, where the country was beautiful, everything functioned and sectarianism was absent. Well, maybe sectarianism is stronger today but people seemed to still identify with the

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-57968354490914672322006-11-24T04:07:00.000+06:002006-11-24T04:54:53.699+06:00

First off, I'd like to announce that I added a new segment to the Conspiracy post, below. I've added another reason why Aoun and Hezbollah may have done it.Today was the funeral for Gemayel (Wednesday was the mourning). Afterwards there was a big protest at Martyr's square. There were maybe 10-20,000 people there, tops (and that's generous). 'Official' statistics said hundreds of thousands

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-62595430984500877272006-11-22T22:54:00.000+06:002006-11-24T20:05:17.524+06:00

The Gemayels and my family go way back. My grandfather and Pierre senior (founder of the Kataeb) were good friends, and I've met Amin many a time. My dad remembers going to play with Amin when he was a kid. Today I went to visit the Gemayels for the first time.Up we went to the village of Bikfaya, the home of the Gemayels. As soon as we drove past the town centre, Ketaeb flags were everywhere, as

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-48393261995946013442006-11-22T20:38:00.000+06:002006-11-24T05:07:14.828+06:00

As good Lebanese, ever person is now constructing their conspiracy theories around the Pierre Gemayel death. Here are some I've heard:AMERICA DID IT: The U.S. decided to get rid of Pierre Gemayel to put further pit Lebanon against Syria, forcing Syria into the international spotlight pressuring it to clean up its ways. Benefits: possibly more cooperation in Iraq? This theory, as I heard it,

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-4966146909926440812006-11-22T13:44:00.001+06:002006-11-22T14:39:58.043+06:00

Today the industry minister, Pierre Gemayel, was gunned-down mid-afternoon in new Jdeideh, a Christian Beirut suburb. Gemayel's death marks the first time that a sitting minister was targeted (mps were targeted in the past). Also, Gemayel's death marks the first time since the Syrian forces withdrew in May 2005, that a Christian politican was targeted. Gebran Tueni, Samir Kassir and May Chedac

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083340916894220582.post-73302353951627233462006-11-22T13:01:00.000+06:002006-11-22T13:37:39.089+06:00

I wrote this mass email to my friends two days ago. Many wrote back, saying I should start a blog. These are bits and pieces of the e-mail, parts spruced up.I got back three weeks ago and it's been 'go' ever since. I went down to the south the day after I got back, to help a friend shoot a movie. We went to Srifa, a destroyed village. We stood in what seemed to be the rubble of what once was a

Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697554477274421050noreply@blogger.com0