Lebanese held in Syria

Lebanese Military Judge Saqr Saqr gave his orders on Tuesday to authorities to hand over the remains of two Syrian soldiers found in the Beqaa valley in Lebanon sometime last week.

My question to you is: what is Lebanon getting in return? What about all the bodies of Lebanese citizens (soldiers and civilians alike) that are in Syria? What about all the living Lebanese that are rotting in some basement in some Syrian jail? Do we hear anything about these people? Does the Syrian government ever hand any of them over? Do we even hear our own Lebanese government ever complaining or demanding their release?

Judge Saqr should have issued an order to hold the remains with Lebanese authorities to use as leverage in negotiations to get Lebanese held in Syria.

Or are Lebanese only Lebanese and worthy when they are held in Israeli prisons and morgues?

The ones we got held in Syria are just on vacation, you know, taking a stroll around Damascus.

Shame on Lebanon and its government for neglecting its people in this manner.

We go to war with the Israelis to return Lebanese held in Israel, while we bend backwards for the Syrians with nothing in return.

Shameful.


BG

For more information on Lebanese detained in Syria, please visit the following website: S.O.L.I.D.E. They have done an excellent job in keeping the story alive.

BetLZ News 2.11.10...continued!!!

More news for today!!

Daily Pampering: Four Seasons Beirut / Gadling

Anti-Israel protesters target Beirut Starbucks due to false internet rumors / Examiner
For years I have been receiving emails that the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, was a total Zionist. Apparently the rumors began because of a speech he made in a synagogue in 2002. This article clarifies that Starbucks immediately responded to this rumor saying : "I deeply regret that my speech in Seattle was misinterpreted to be anti-Palestinian. My position has always been pro-peace and for the two nations to co-exist peacefully. I am deeply saddened by the current events in the Middle East."" So maybe all of those rumors (to which I have never seen any evidence) are true, and we should stop hating on Starbucks...at least in the Zionist aspect...

In Beirut, something for the weekend that really smokes / The National


VIDEO:

And something that is a MUSTMUSTMUSTTT watch!!!:

You may have heard about the infamous tacky Syrian lingerie...

Watch this TIME Video titled "Naughty Lingerie in Conservative Syria"


A Phone on a thong..that's what I call multitasking!


My favorite parts??

"when i sit down to design I think as a man, how they want to see their women"

"how many a man buys depends on how many wives he has"

I don't know about you ladies, but I personally asked my boyfriend to get me a pair of those clap-off undies--so pragmatic and sexy at the same time!! Don't you want a little teddy bear in front of your crotch? (Hurry before they're sold out!)


Lingerie can be both educational AND sexy!!!


Let me NOT comment on how women throughout conservative societies throughout the Middle East are expected to stay virgins until marriage, behave totally innocently and never think of sex or boyfriends, societes where rape is very often taboo, where society requires them to dress conservatively, etc. but when it comes down to being married and having a husband, he wants you to be as slutty as he would like. So its not that women shouldn't be sluts...that type of behavior is totally ok--for their husbands.

Humph.

But other than that this video is actually hilarious!

Click Here to watch!




(Thanks to BG for sending me this link!)

~LZ

BetLZ News 1.29.10 #2

Global Warming (or is it more PC to say climate change these days?) is so hot and happening that even Osama (yes that one) is getting in on it! /BBC

Gen. Aoun is expected in Damascus on Feb 9th of next week (is it me or does he really pick the most memorable days to visit Syria? St. Maron day of all days?) /Naharnet

BG

Solde w Akbar!

Do you guys remember that show back in the day on MTV (Lebanese one) where Mireille Mazraani (at least I think that's what her name was) would be screaming solde w akbar all the time?

Well it seems that the Lebanese judiciary has gotten on board that ship.

Check out this news clip from LBC reporting on the judiciary seeking the death penalty for a bunch of arrested terrorists.

These are the guys that had been arrested for involvement in the Tripoli van bombing that killed a dozen or so Lebanese Army personnel.

This is what they have been accused of/what they have admitted to:

• Tripoli bombing
• Francois El Hajj assassination
• Wissam Eid assassination
• UNIFIL bombing in the south
• Involvement in the assassination of Pierre Gemayel, or at least owning the weapon used
• Possible involvement in the Damascus bombing
• Planning the assassination of Ashraf Rifi

Does it seem a bit odd that these guys are pretty much responsible for almost every single little bombing/assassination that happened in the past couple years in Lebanon AND Syria?

Is the government putting the blame on a group/bunch of people to avoid blaming somebody else because of whatever political and security reasons?

Basically, is there a cover-up going on that someone should make a bigger fuss about?

And does it not seem odd that not a single politician in Lebanon has said anything about this? Or even praised the judiciary and the security services for their excellent investigative techniques (read as detainee abuse), which is pretty much what they do all the time in similar incidents?

This does not smell right to me!

BG

Lebanese Cabinet

Armand Homsi is at it again!
I love that guy, he's a genius.


(click on image for larger view)
Hariri-Aoun meeting chez Mr. Le President, aka Fakhamto!

Basically, Aoun and Hariri meet under the supervision of Baabda Palace Occupant to try and break the wall between them that is supposedly hampering the birth of a new government in Lebanon. Yep, that wall was broken alright!

Yes, supervision: since both politicians (actually all politicians) are acting like children and need to be supervised!
Yes, Occupant: since given his constitutional powers, our beloved President is nothing more than a space filler!

And as for the government, that thing needs a c-section now, no natural birth here!
It is far easier to believe the Immaculate Conception than to believe that this government will see the light anytime soon.

Oh, and whoever tells you that Syria is not behind this severe crippling of the Lebanese political system, is flat out LYING to you.

BG

Lebanese Syrian Relations 4

A recent incident occurring on the Lebanese-Syrian border has put the issue of border demarcation between Lebanon and Syria at the forefront again.

It took Syria about 60 some years to recognize Lebanon as an independent and sovereign nation by finally agreeing (albeit under pressure) to exchange diplomatic missions with Beirut. This however, has not stopped Syria from wanting and working towards the goal of meddling in Lebanese internal affairs to assure it's hegemony over anything Lebanese.

The mere presence of an ambassador in Beirut is not proof enough that Syria believes, wants, and works towards a free and independent Lebanon. After all, nobody hears anything from the guy, and he rarely appears in public. There is no shortage of issues that need to be dealt with when it comes to Lebanese-Syrian relations, and this blog has previously listed some of them.

One of the main issues, is the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border. Syria has refused for years to demarcate the Lebanese border for various reasons that I will not get into in this post. However, one reason the border should be demarcated is the recent spat between the village of Arsal and the neighboring Syrian villages. Farmers and residents from both sides of the border have agricultural land that they tend to. The catch here is that since the border is not demarcated, and the propriety of the land is in question, and since apparently Wild West mentalities (video) are prevalent, every now and then, each time somebody goes out to tend to their land, they get killed. Usually, casualties are mostly on the Lebanese side of the border, however this time around, both a Syrian and a Lebanese were killed. The villagers are hoping that this will serve as a deterrent to what they see as a clear, concrete and constant violation of their rights by the Syrians.

Whatever the reasons are for Syria to not demarcate the border between the two countries, this however should not be used as an excuse or pretext by the Lebanese government to not protect its citizens and ensure their rights, no matter where they be found on Lebanese land.

It's time for the Lebanese government to take serious actions to pressure the international community and Syria to force a demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border. If this cannot be easily achieved, I believe that the Lebanese government should take unilateral actions to demarcate the border itself, at the very least to protect its citizens and territorial integrity.


BG

Score one for the ladies! #2

It is indeed a good week for women in the Middle East!
Now, mind you lot's of work still needs to be done but there has been a few stories that are encouraging.

The first one comes out of Syria where Bashar Al Assad has decreed that men convicted of honor killings should get harsher sentences. Get this though, he increased their sentence from a 1 year to a whopping 2 year imprisonment! Still a ludicrous sentence for murder, but better than nothing I guess!
LINK

The second one comes out of Egypt where the government has finally done something about the rampant sexual harassment woman experience on a daily basis. This apparently had been a recurring problem in Egypt where woman just don't feel safe on the streets. A sexual perpetrator had been charged with 45 years in prison. A tough and very much needed sentence.
LINK

Both these stories are welcome developments coming out of the Middle East where women still lag considerably behind men when it comes to their rights and social equalities.

BG

Lebanese Syrian Relations 2

FINALLY

Syria finally appoints its ambassador to Lebanon.
After years of not recognizing Lebanon as an independent sovereign nation, Syria has finally succumbed to international pressure to recognize its' tiny neighbor as an independent entity not part of its' own greater geographical existence. It remains to be seen if the Syrians will actually follow up this recognition of independence by not interfering in Lebanese internal affairs and not undermining Lebanon's sovereignty.
We can only hope that Lebanese Syrian relationships are finally on the right track.

This is certainly a first step in the right direction.
A plethora of issues remain to be solved:

• final and concrete demarcation of the border that separates the two countries
• review of the various treaties signed under Syrian occupation that are mostly one-sided and favor Syria
• dismantling of the various pro-Syrian Palestinian military posts
• and most importantly, the return/fate of the various Lebanese prisoners in Syria

Youtube Video

BBC Story

BG

Lebanese Syrian Relations

I wonder for how long are the Syrians going to keep on playing the same game?

Since Lebanese independence in 1943 and they still play by the same book: undermine Lebanon's independence as much as possible, and never ever try to even hint that you recognize Lebanon as an independent sovereign nation.

This is classic Syrian behavior towards Lebanon!

They were not-so-much-conspicuously absent from Monday's opening of the Lebanese embassy in Damascus.

The best part is their reason for not attending: Oh, we thought that the opening of the Lebanese embassy was yesterday, so we did not attend today!

Oh really?
So let me get this straight. You thought that it was yesterday (meaning Sunday) and thus you did not show up on Monday?

So, I'm confused.
Did they show up Sunday and there was nothing going on?
How do you manage to screw up an entire diplomatic affair like this one?

And let's assume for once that they are not lying, so let's assume that they did really think it was taking place on Sunday and that they showed up on Sunday. Wouldn't you think that they will find out that it was really Monday and not Sunday and then would have eventually attended the Monday opening?

How do they get away with saying stuff like that in public?
Oh, not to mention that they still have not named their ambassador to Beirut, even though it's been over month since the Lebanese have done so.

Just give it up already. Lebanon is its' own country and you just need to recognize that and move on!

Relevant links: Naharnet story, and Youtube video, and BBC story.

BG

Salmonella maybe?

It seems that these pesky relations between Lebanon and Syria can't seem to come to an end. They have basically perfused every single little crevice of detail between the two countries. What should have been a totally normal and fun football game (or soccer as we call it here in americaland) turned into a tense game where accusations where flying high at the end. Apparently the Syrian team was mistreated by their Lebanese counterparts, with a few members ending up in the hospital for alleged food poisoning, which I might add was found "highly suspicious" by the Syrian modern reincarnation of Ibn Sina. Instead of the normal "rouh riyadiye" (sport spirit) we might end up with some people's rouh's, as in lives, somehow, mysteriously being lost, and again Syria of course having nothing to do with it. Although that is a very far fetched idea by any long stretch of the imagination, I wouldn't be surprised if this story puts a dent in the already strained bilateral relations.

You can find the relevant sports article at the Asian Football Federation's website at the following link:
http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168494039.html

The accusatory statements by the Syrian team can be found at the following link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7857229.stm

The best part about this whole debacle is that the Lebanese authorities promised a fast and full investigation. Hehe.

Does anybody else find this laughable?

I think the words Lebanese, promised, fast, full and investigation never ever belong in the same sentence, no matter what the combination.

BG