Lebanon: Khamenei Dismisses STL, “Justice is More Important” Than Stability
December 21st, 2010 by Jason
Speaking during a meeting with the Qatari emir yesterday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) “‘a rubber-stamp one whose verdict is null and void whatever it is.’” The Daily Star reports that the statement from the leader of Iran was not well received by many in Lebanon. “Labor Minister Butros Harb criticized Khamenei’s remarks, saying that it was up to the Lebanese to decide, ‘and not for others to dictate to them how to deal with the tribunal.’” Also in The Daily Star, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir worries about a possible take over by Hizbullah: “The way Hizbullah is acting and their talk about becoming a significant force leads us to believe that if the party continues to pursue its plan it could seize power.” The patriarch also contradicted the recent assertion by Roger Cohen that stability “trumps” justice, saying “‘Justice is justice and if we sacrifice it once, we could sacrifice it many times. Stability is important but justice is more important and guarantees stability.’”
Posted in Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, Political Parties, Sectarianism | Comment »
Lebanon: Stability “Trumps” Justice
December 13th, 2010 by Jason
Roger Cohen, writing in The New York Times, describes Lebanon as a “gravity-defying…country with two armies, a ‘unity’ government too divided to meet, a wild real estate boom and a time bomb called the ‘international tribunal.’” Attitudes in Lebanon about the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) have changed significantly since its inception. This change is embodied by Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Druze community: “A recent meeting between Jumblatt and Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, did not go smoothly. ‘He told me I’m a national leader and should back the tribunal,’ Jumblatt said. ‘I said, no, I prefer to be a tribal leader, I’m downgrading! And I asked what the use of tribunal justice is if it leads to slaughter? It’s better to drop justice for stability.’” Jumblatt’s notion of stability over justice is echoed by Cohen. “Lebanese stability is precious and tenuous: It trumps justice delayed, flawed and foreign.”
Posted in Hezbollah, Lebanon, Political Parties, Sectarianism, US foreign policy | Comment »
Lebanon: Names of Indicted to be Withheld for “Several Months”
December 9th, 2010 by Jason
The Daily Star is reporting that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will not announce indictments for “several months.” The article also reveals that “acting registrar Herman von Hebel said the budget had allocated funds to hold trial proceedings ‘toward the end of next year.’” Meanwhile, at a press conference Wednesday, Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad described the STL as “rushed by the illegitimate cabinet of Fouad Siniora without being constitutionally ratified and placed within constitutional norms. The agreement was not signed by the president and it was not endorsed by Parliament as well.”
Posted in Hezbollah, Judiciary, Lebanon | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Crisis in Lebanon: Sectarian Politics, Regional Dynamics, and the U.N. Special Tribunal”
December 8th, 2010 by Jason
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) held a panel discussion Wednesday titled “Crisis in Lebanon: Sectarian Politics, Regional Dynamics, and the U.N. Special Tribunal.” The speakers were Aram Nerguizian, a scholar with the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Randa Slim, an independent consultant and a board member of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue and the Project on Middle East Democracy, Andrew J. Tabler, a Next Generation Fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, and Mona Yacoubian, head of the Lebanon Working Group at USIP and special adviser to USIP’s Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention.
(To read full notes, continue below the fold or click here for pdf.)
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Posted in Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Hezbollah, Israel, Judiciary, Lebanon, Military, Political Parties, Saudi Arabia, Sectarianism, Syria, US foreign policy, United Nations | Comment »
Lebanon: STL Indictments are “Precursor to Strife”
November 26th, 2010 by Jason
According to a report in the Daily Star, MP Hussein Moussawi, from Hibzullah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, said that “the impending indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was a precursor to strife in the country.” Another MP, Walid Jumblatt (an influential leader in Lebanon’s Druze community), said the Tribunal “‘is aimed at destabilizing Lebanon rather than rendering justice,’” and that “‘[i]t is clear that this probe is being used for political purposes […] It is clear that the investigators are leaking information and are working for countries that have accounts to settle.’” Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri voiced support for the STL saying “‘We have to put dialogue ahead of tension. No strife will happen and no one will drag us into strife.’”
Posted in Civil Society, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Sectarianism | Comment »
Lebanon: Tensions Over the STL Continue to Build
November 9th, 2010 by Jason
Sami Moubayed writes at the Asia Times Online that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has pushed Lebanon to the “verge of a major explosion.” According to Moubayed, Hezbollah has been attempting to block the tribunal by removing the “state financing of the United Nations-backed court in parliament, claiming it had become politicized.” Saudi Arabia, an ally of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, has also been working to stall the STL using “its heavyweight influence in the world community to secure a postponement of the indictments until next March.” The legality of the STL has been questioned as well, an issue that recently reemerged when Italian judge Antonio Cassese, President of the STL, said that “in his capacity as a law professor and not as president of the tribunal, he acknowledges that the agreement to establish the STL was not concluded in compliance with the Lebanese Constitution,” but that the Lebanese government’s staffing of the tribunal means that it is nevertheless “bound by the agreement.”
Posted in Hezbollah, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia | Comment »
Iraq: The Next Lebanon?
November 9th, 2010 by Jason
An editorial in The Daily Star contends that the “bazaar-style haggling” over the “booty of the state” in Iraq could result in “a cabinet that will exhibit near-total paralysis instead of acting to improve the conditions of the state and its citizens.” The authors argue that the reliance on outside powers to help negotiate the formation of a government will lead to a “state of dependence” on those same powers. Using their own country as an unhappy example, the authors conclude that “[i]f the Iraqi leaders need a cautionary tale that might scare them into acting responsibly, they need only look at Lebanon, a country so deeply reliant on others to manage its crises that its independence exists merely as a hollow holiday in the calendar.”
Posted in Iraq, Lebanon, Sectarianism | Comment »
Lebanon: Reform Needed in Elections and Political System
October 28th, 2010 by Anna
Lebanon’s Daily Star reports today that Osama Safa, secretary general of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE), warned yesterday that the government has six months to implement a series of electoral law reforms. Among the reforms are giving soldiers the right to vote, lowering the voting age to 18, setting a quota for women candidates, and having independent oversight of electoral lists. Last November, the parliament stated that it would finish a draft law on election issues within 18 months. LADE and other organizations have called for changes to Lebanon’s “archaic” election laws, according to the Star, pointing to various types of irregularities in recent elections. Safa called on the government to prioritize electoral reform, saying: “The electoral law is considered the right gateway to any other reform.”
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern yesterday over rising political tensions in Lebanon. In a report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004),which calls for free and fair presidential elections in the country, he said: “Lebanon is currently experiencing a domestic climate of uncertainty and fragility” and called on leaders to work on strengthening institutions and to “transcend sectarian and individual interests and to genuinely promote the future and the interests of the nation.”
Posted in Elections, Lebanon, Legislation, Political Parties, Reform, Sectarianism | Comment »
Egypt: The Power of Statistics
October 25th, 2010 by Jason
Writing at The Guardian’s Comment is Free, Brian Whitaker takes Egypt to task for its failure to report basic statistics about its economy: “Imagine trying to govern a country that lacks adequate statistics about economic activity, healthcare, crime, education, urban development and environmental pollution. Imagine a country that relies heavily on tourism but has no figures showing why people visit or what they think of their stay. Imagine a country that relies heavily on agriculture, and yet has produced no data on the quality of cultivable land since the 1970s.” Whitaker cites a recent report by the Egyptian government that exposes the lack of reliable information on a number of issues. The selective usage of statistics by governments to control perceptions about their country is common throughout the world. Whitaker lists Lebanon’s failure to conduct a census since 1932, the lack of data on the number of Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the sensitivity of regimes in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan to opinion polling as examples of the power of statistics.
Posted in Civil Society, Egypt, Freedom, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia | Comment »
Challenges to Political Development in the Arab World
October 25th, 2010 by Evan
Writing in The Daily Star, Rami Khouri describes what he believes are the fundamental political challenges facing the Arab world. First, governments across the region have failed to establish credible constitutions to facilitate power sharing. Second, many countries have struggled to build a national identity and, as a result, religious and sectarian divisions continue to plague political life. Third, while economies across the region have grown, economic development is not sustainable or equitable. Fourth, the rule of law is exceptionally weak and limits to state power have not been delineated in many countries. And fifth, political and economic difficulties at home have left many states exceptionally vulnerable to outside influence. Khouri concludes that these issues are evident in Lebanon more so than any other country in the region.
Posted in Freedom, Lebanon, Reform | Comment »
Lebanon: Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
October 7th, 2010 by Jason
The anticipated UN Special Tribunal on Lebanon indictments are stoking tensions in the Levant. Mona Yacoubian writes at the Middle East Channel that the situation “embodies all the complex challenges that confront Lebanon: Sunni-Shiite sectarian tensions, Hezbollah’s weapons, confessional power-sharing, the influence of regional players particularly Syria […] and broader proxy battles between the West and the Hezbollah/Syria/Iran alliance.” Yacoubian argues that, of all the concerns, the reaction of Hezbollah to the possible indictment of several of its members is the most worrying because it has the most to lose: “…Hezbollah’s culpability in the Hariri assassination will deal a fatal blow to Hezbollah’s professed raison d’etre of ‘resistance’ against Israel, instead reducing the organization to nothing more than a sectarian militia among many in Lebanese confessional politics.”
A main point of contention in Lebanon presently is the issue of “false witnesses”–those who initially testified that Syria was responsible for the assassination. “(M)inisters loyal to Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc announced on Wednesday they would suspend their participation in future Cabinet sessions if a session scheduled for Tuesday did not tackle the issue of false witnesses,” Nafez Qawas reports in the Daily Star. Several members of the Cabinet, including Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Shami, refused to participate in sessions until the subject was addressed and warned that not addressing the issue would lead to “civil strife.”
Posted in Civil Society, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Political Parties, Public Opinion, Sectarianism | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Promoting Political Reform in Lebanon”
September 30th, 2010 by Evan
On Wednesday, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in partnership with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) convened a panel to discuss political reform in Lebanon. The panelists were Lebanese Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Tamara Wittes, and IFES Chief of Party in Lebanon Richard Chambers. The discussion and the following question and answer session were moderated by Mona Yacoubian, the Director of the Lebanon Working Group at USIP.
(To read the full event summary, continue below or click here for the pdf.)
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Posted in DC Event Notes, Democracy Promotion, Lebanon | Comment »
Lebanon: Hezbollah Still Ahead in Governance
September 15th, 2010 by Anna
Marlin Dick, a freelance journalist based in Lebanon, profiled the evolving nature of Hezbollah in a piece for The Middle East Report Online on Monday. He asserts that, among other successes, the group’s partial reconstruction of some of Beirut’s southern suburbs after the July 2006 War demonstrates that “the party remains ahead in the governance game compared to the woeful Lebanese state,” which remains fragmented and weak. Dick suggests that the party’s domestic reputation has only been improving in recent years, especially in areas where law and order are kept by the party, not the state. Dick describes Hezbollah’s social service provision to its Shiite base as “large-scale and usually efficient,” and adds that its reconstruction projects have been run with considerable professionalism. In contrast, Dick writes, the government has been widely accused of fund mismanagement, corruption, and overall incompetence. Although the party’s performance “has not been spotless in the eyes of its base,” its leaders have cultivated a “domestic political aura of seriousness and anti-corruption” and have engaged in domestic political debates about how to conduct elections, reform, and privatization among other issues.
Dick concludes: “For now, the party is benefiting from its expanded civil, political and state responsibilities [and] has managed to run its ministries without becoming tarred with accusations of corruption and squandering of resources.” He dismisses accusations that the party’s Islamist inclinations threaten the “Lebanese state and political order.”
Posted in Hezbollah, Lebanon, Political Islam, Political Parties, Public Opinion, Sectarianism | Comment »
Lebanon: Saad Hariri Retracts Accusation Against Syria
September 7th, 2010 by Jason
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has taken back the accusation that Syria assassinated his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. “At a certain stage we made mistakes and accused Syria of assassinating the martyred premier. This was a political accusation, and this political accusation has finished.” Hariri has been working to repair relations with Syria of late while a U.N. backed commission continues to investigate the 2005 assassination. Babylon & Beyond has an extensive wrap up of reactions to Hariri’s statement including Jamil Mroue of the Daily Star who commented, “Hariri has shown his leadership” and a blogger called “Mustapha” who asked, “Could Mr. Hariri have sold-out justice for his father to political expediency (or Saudi pressure)?”
Posted in Lebanon, Syria | Comment »
Iraq: Drawdown Reactions, What Does it Mean for Democracy?
August 31st, 2010 by Jason
As combat troops are withdrawn from Iraq, questions remain about how this will affect its emerging democracy. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Stephen Hadley argues, “The six-month stalemate in forming a new government is worrying, but virtually all Iraqi leaders accept the need for a broadly inclusive government.” Mohammad Bazzi believes that Iran has been the true beneficiary of the war, which may have repercussions across the region: “…the Iraq war has unleashed a new wave of sectarian hatred and upset the Persian Gulf’s strategic balance… the brutal war between Iraq’s Shiite majority and Sunni minority unleashed sectarian hatreds that are difficult to contain. This blowback has been most keenly felt in Lebanon…”. Bazzi adds, “Far from becoming a model of freedom and religious coexistence, Iraq remains a powder keg that could ignite sectarian conflict across the Middle East.” According to former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker , “The difficulty and delays we have seen since the March elections illustrate the fundamental truth that everything in Iraq is hard…”. He goes on to list a few of the challenges facing the government once it is formed: “…it will have to wrestle with the tough issues… includ(ing) the structural and constitutional issues underlying much of the tension between Kurds and Arabs in the north — disputed internal boundaries, especially Kirkuk, and the authorities of the federal government in Baghdad vis-à-vis the Kurdish regional government in Irbil, including the control of armed forces.” Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki struck a more hopeful note, “Iraq today is sovereign and independent…our relations with the United States have entered a new stage between two equal, sovereign countries.”
Posted in Civil Society, Iran, Iraq, Kurds, Lebanon, Oil | Comment »
Lebanon: Palestinian Employment Rights an “Important Breakthrough”
August 20th, 2010 by Jennifer
Representatives of various institutions
praised the Lebanese parliament’s recent decision to grant Palestinian refugees in Lebanon full employment rights.
Salvatore Lombardo, the Lebanon director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), stated, “These amendments are an important step in the right direction,” while
Nada al-Nashif, regional director of the International Labor Office (ILO), commented, “This endorsement of the universal right to work by Lebanese legislators is an important breakthrough.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon also commended the amendment, saying, “This is a small step that was long awaited on the road to grant the nationality to Palestinians and their naturalization in Lebanon and elsewhere around the world.” Future Movement bloc leader
MP Fouad Siniora contradicted this suggestion, remarking that “a healthy and new relation with our Palestinian brothers… would also strengthen the Lebanese and Palestinian commitment to reject naturalization.” Meanwhile, only the Phalange Party criticized Parliament for passing the law, with
Phalange leader Amin Gemayel arguing that “it is not fair to give rights to a non-Lebanese when the rights of Lebanese who own land alongside camps are confiscated.”
Posted in Human Rights, Lebanon, Palestine, Reform, United Nations | Comment »
Lebanon: Unclear U.S. Policy Toward Beirut
August 19th, 2010 by Farid
Writing in The National, Michael Young says that while the Lebanese government “reacted with bravado” after several members of the U.S. House of Representatives decided to cut off military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Hezbollah is continuously gaining influence in the country. Nevertheless, Young writes that the State Department has “declared that the US would not re-evaluate plans to supply the Lebanese army.” The administration is taking a risk by failing to acknowledge the wishes of Representative Howard Berman and the Foreign Affairs Committee, Young explains, since future allocations must be approved by the committee before being executed. The extant fear in the U.S. is that if the U.S. cuts military assistance to the LAF, Lebanon might seek assistance from elsewhere — primarily Iran and Syria. However, Young dismisses this concern as a misconception, stating, “The army is equipped mainly with American hardware and is therefore reliant on American ammunition and spare parts.” While some analysts argue that isolating Lebanon would only benefit Hezbollah, Young says that Prime Minister Saad Hariri “is partly responsible for this state of affairs,” adding that he has “paid lip service to the resistance” because of his “patrons in Saudi Arabia” and a lack of “clear American policy toward Lebanon.”
Posted in Hezbollah, Lebanon, Military, US foreign policy | Comment »
Lebanon: Palestinians Get Full Employment Rights
August 17th, 2010 by Farid
The Lebanese parliament granted 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon full employment rights today. A Lebanese official commented, “Parliament approved a bill lifting former restrictions on employment for Palestinian refugees, who will now have the right to work in any field open to foreigners with benefits including social security from their own special fund.”
Posted in Lebanon | Comment »
Lebanon: Leaving Democracy to the “Jackals”
August 11th, 2010 by Jennifer
Lee Smith writing in The Tablet mourns “the collapse of the March 14 movement, the return of Syrian hegemony to Lebanon, and Hezbollah’s de facto takeover of the state.” Smith suggests that the Obama administration’s policy of engagement with Syria has empowered Hezbollah and deepened the cracks in the pro-democracy March 14 government, while under George W. Bush’s policy of democracy promotion, the U.S. had previously “curtailed our relationship with Syrian security services and put more money into Lebanese political institutions.” However, Smith ultimately criticizes the American interest in institution-building abroad. Stating that “the premise of institution-building is that it is not the particular ideas and values of foreign cultures that determine how people in those places live; it is rather the absence of U.S.-style political institutions that have kept these foreigners mired in poverty,” Lee says that “this obsession with building political institutions betrays a parochial innocence.” In the case of Lebanon, he concludes, “the United States wanted to help the Lebanese build political institutions but were unwilling to do anything that might alter the balance of power,” adding that “we have abandoned the Lebanese to the jackals.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Hezbollah, Lebanon, US foreign policy | Comment »
Lebanon: Civil Society Speaking out for National Unity
August 11th, 2010 by Jennifer
Over 25 representatives from Lebanese civil society and NGOs attended a series of workshops on national unity and citizenship yesterday. The event– organized by the Makhzoumi Foundation and the Christians of the Orient and the Collective for Training on Development Action (CRTDA) –emphasized the need to form a common definition of Lebanese nationality over and above sectarian divisions; push for amendments to restrictive laws; and enact social reforms. Specifically, the workshops highlighted empowering women, improving education, and increasing access to health care as important steps to achieving a stronger sense of citizenship. According to Reem Zaben, project coordinator at CRTDA, “We need to encourage integration and we have to work together to develop a common concept of the state and of what our rights are within this state.” More workshops are reportedly planned for after Ramadan, while the CRTDA also intends to complete a report by the end of the year analyzing problems in the provision of social services to Lebanese citizens, and explaining the aggravating affect the situation has on sectarianism within the country.
Posted in Lebanon, NGOs | Comment »
