h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BA3C0687-38E2-4B85-9AC5-B110128F0DB3.htm

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/87EA6727-4C84-4EA4-A771-1AB94A73C4B6.htm

The rift begins to widen: pro west vs pro arab...

oops.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=75903


Israeli warplanes flew deep into Lebanon on Tuesday, just two days after Israeli forces withdrew from nearly all of Southern Lebanon. Two Israeli warplanes entered Lebanese airspace at medium altitude Tuesday over Aitaroun and headed north toward Tripoli at approximately 9 a.m., the Lebanese Army said.

Two more warplanes entered Lebanese airspace over Jounieh a short while later, before heading south. They left Lebanon at approximately 10:30 a.m., according to the army.

Reports from the National News Agency said the first pair of warplanes conducted a series of mock air raids over Nabatiyeh, Khiam and Marjayoun. The second pair conducted similar maneuvers in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region, Nabatiyeh, Khiam and Marjayoun, as well as the Western Bekaa Valley.

The Lebanese government has complained repeatedly about the violations of its airspace and sovereignty, adding that they also constitute breaches of the UN resolution that halted the war on August 14.

Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin told Reuters in Jerusalem that the overflights would continue to help ensure that arms supplies do not reach Hizbullah from Syria.

"Israel's redeployment along the international border does not negate Israel's right to self-defense and to assist in the implementation of the arms embargo, especially when it comes to the Syria-Lebanese border, an issue that has not yet been resolved as part of the Security Council resolution," she said.

Israel completed its withdrawal from all but one small area of South Lebanon on Sunday. Lebanon has threatened to complain to the Security Council unless the Israelis also leave the Lebanese side of the divided village of Ghajar. Israeli forces isolated Ghajar on Tuesday with barbed wire and ramparts.

.../ and so on and so forth and blah...

... and blah... why am I not surprised?...


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=75893


Israel's national infrastructure minister said on Tuesday that war with Hizbullah might restart in a few months, and called for an enhancement of the Israeli Army's capacities. Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Israeli public radio that the deployment of the Lebanese Army along the border with Israel "will not ensure safety for Israel" and that Hizbullah still presents a threat to the Jewish state.

Meanwhile, Britain-based Jane's International Defense Review reported that Hizbullah received direct intelligence support from Syria during the month-long Israeli offensive on Lebanon, using data collected by listening posts jointly operated by Russian and Syrian crews.

Hizbullah was also fed intelligence from new listening posts built on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, which are operated jointly with Iran, it claimed.

Israel has also alleged that Russian anti-tank missiles procured by Syria were reportedly transferred to Hizbullah and used during the war.

Syria's centrality to the collection and transfer of intelligence to Hizbullah is based on separate agreements Damascus signed with Moscow and Tehran on intelligence cooperation, the Haaretz report said, adding that the deal with Russia is much older than the one with Iran, which was signed earlier this year.

The intelligence cooperation agreement between Syria and Iran is part of a broader strategic cooperation accord that was achieved in November 2005 and confirmed during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjead's visit to Damascus in January 2006, Haaretz said.

..../ vomit - blah - bleurgh...

Editorial


US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has issued a call to regional leaders that should be heeded: "All parties need to be dedicated to helping young governments in places like Lebanon ... [and] helping the moderate forces against the extremist forces." Rice is correct to suggest that each and every government in the region ought to pursue policies that empower moderates. But unfortunately, the United States has turned a blind eye to its allies' provocative policies, which have been fueling extremism for generations.

Consider, for example, Israel's policy of military incursions into Lebanon. Israel's daily violations of Lebanese sovereignty do not get much coverage in the Western media, nor are they often mentioned by Western diplomats. But these incidents, which occur on a near-daily basis, have an enormous political impact on the ground. During the year prior to Israel's recent war on Lebanon - from June of 2005 to June of 2006 - the Lebanese Army recorded no fewer than 11,984 Israeli air, land and sea incursions into Lebanese territory. Yesterday, just two days after Israel's withdrawal from most of South Lebanon, four Israeli warplanes flew deep into Lebanese territory.

Israel insists that it has a "right" to conduct military incursions into Lebanon, even though these operations have no apparent strategic value. The Israeli government openly announced this week that it will continue authorizing overflights in order to ensure that weapons do not reach Hizbullah. But the Israeli military has long had access to satellite technology that would serve the same purpose - both more effectively and at a lower cost.

.../

Editorial


US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has issued a call to regional leaders that should be heeded: "All parties need to be dedicated to helping young governments in places like Lebanon ... [and] helping the moderate forces against the extremist forces." Rice is correct to suggest that each and every government in the region ought to pursue policies that empower moderates. But unfortunately, the United States has turned a blind eye to its allies' provocative policies, which have been fueling extremism for generations.

Consider, for example, Israel's policy of military incursions into Lebanon. Israel's daily violations of Lebanese sovereignty do not get much coverage in the Western media, nor are they often mentioned by Western diplomats. But these incidents, which occur on a near-daily basis, have an enormous political impact on the ground. During the year prior to Israel's recent war on Lebanon - from June of 2005 to June of 2006 - the Lebanese Army recorded no fewer than 11,984 Israeli air, land and sea incursions into Lebanese territory. Yesterday, just two days after Israel's withdrawal from most of South Lebanon, four Israeli warplanes flew deep into Lebanese territory.

Israel insists that it has a "right" to conduct military incursions into Lebanon, even though these operations have no apparent strategic value. The Israeli government openly announced this week that it will continue authorizing overflights in order to ensure that weapons do not reach Hizbullah. But the Israeli military has long had access to satellite technology that would serve the same purpose - both more effectively and at a lower cost.

That should have been:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=75882

.. and the highlight of that article is this statement:

During the year prior to Israel's recent war on Lebanon - from June of 2005 to June of 2006 - the Lebanese Army recorded no fewer than 11,984 Israeli air, land and sea incursions into Lebanese territory.

Ah crud

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C3ED51AD-EA03-4444-AFE5-C6D1B3C965EE.htm

The commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon has said force may have to be used to stop repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese air space.

General Alain Pellegrini, the French commander of the Unifil force in Lebanon, said on Thursday that the UN was relying on diplomacy to try to end the violations.

"If the diplomatic means should not be enough, maybe it could be considered other ways," he added, referring to the possible use of anti-aircraft missiles equipping French forces in Lebanon.

'Plus ca change, plus ca ne change pas'

12 Israeli jets violate Lebanese airspace as Paris seethes over mock attacks


Compiled by Daily Star staff
Friday, November 10, 2006


Twelve Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace on Thursday, a few hours after Paris summoned Israel's ambassador in protest over Israeli warplanes diving on French UN peacekeepers in the South, the Lebanese Army said. The fighter-bombers entered Lebanon at 12:25 p.m. and flew high over the coastal town of Naqoura, headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) near the borders with Israel, an army statement said.

They then flew over other Southern regions before flying at a lower altitude over the eastern city of Baalbek, the army added. The 12 planes left Lebanese airspace at 1 p.m. after flying over Tripoli and Akkar in the North.

France on Thursday summoned Israeli ambassador Daniel Shek to complain about an incident in which Israeli warplanes dived menacingly on French UN peacekeepers, officials said.

French officials said Israeli military aircraft dived toward

French troops serving with UNIFIL, who came very close to opening fire.

Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Wednesday the French troops had been within "two seconds" of firing on the aircraft and a "catastrophe" was narrowly avoided.

blah blah blah...
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76800

'Very positive' to 'no progress:' Latest installment of national talks draws mixed reviews
Berri says participants have 'begun to trust each other'

By Leila Hatoum
Daily Star staff
Friday, November 10, 2006



Consultations day 3


BEIRUT: No headway was made on the formation of a unity government during national talks on Thursday, with parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri saying that the only positive outcome so far was that politicians have slowly "begun to trust each other." The consultations were to resume on Saturday. MP Atef Majdalani, who left the session an hour after it began, said the atmosphere in the talks was "worse than that of Tuesday's, unless Speaker Berri manages to break the ice."

MP Ghassan Tueni said it was time for a change.

"It is time for the Lebanese to change the tag they have held as people who constantly fight amongst each other. Peace must prevail," he said.

While Tueni said he "supports Murr's suggested plan" to include four additional representatives of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun in the current Cabinet, "this has not been approved by all participants."

Berri said Thursday's session was "very positive and was one of the best rounds of consultations that we've had so far, despite all the attempts to ruin it. It was an ice-breaker.

"We have agreed to postpone the next consultation session for more deliberations until this Saturday at 11 a.m," the speaker said. "We hope to reach good results then."

MP Walid Jumblatt and Hizbullah MP Mohammad Raad refused to speak to reporters after the session. Reports from inside the meeting described passing friction between Raad and MP Saad Hariri.

"No matter what you say about supporting the resistance's weapons, we don't believe you," Raad was reported to have told Hariri.

Hariri was said to have replied: "And no matter how much you speak of the international tribunal that will try [former Premier] Rafik Hariri's assassins, I will not believe you."

Jumblatt was quoted as having asked: "Why do we go around in circles when we can never reach a solution? The problem is having two states and two governments."

Raad was reported to have responded: "Well, let's unify the two governments."

Jumblatt then said: "And the two states."

Premier Fouad Siniora said directly after the session that a plan to expand the government "lacks several ingredients, including salt and vegetables."

Responding to the premier's comments, Berri said: "I spoke to Siniora myself and he told me that he meant that the plan proposed by MP Michel Murr to expand the Cabinet to 26 ministers didn't work."

Berri, who will travel to Tehran Saturday for the Asian Parliamentary Speakers' Convention, said he would discuss the situation in Lebanon with Iranian officials.

"Iran and its officials have always called for unity and good relations among the Lebanese and the stability of the Lebanese internal situation," Berri said.

Berri denied reports that the Shiite ministers in Cabinet would resign if Hizbullah and the FPM's demands for one-third of governmental portfolios were not met.

"No one has spoken of toppling the Cabinet," Berri said. "The subject is to expand it to include a fairer representation" of realities on the ground.

"One third of Cabinet's portfolios to ensure a veto is not the demand. Our demand is the participation of all in the unity government," he said.

Berri also warned against false rumors spread by "ill-wishers and those who are trying to create an atmosphere of tension between the Lebanese."

"They have spoken of the March 14 Forces asking the permission of the Interior Ministry to demonstrate against the March 8 Forces on Monday, and vice versa, and all of this turned out to be untrue," he said.

In addition to local issues, participants in Thursday's consultations "unanimously condemned the Israeli massacres against the Palestinian people ... and the Israeli atrocities committed against the Lebanese," the speaker said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told reporters that "no progress" had been made.

"The March 14 Forces has no problem with more ministerial representation for Aoun ... but the current proposition under discussion lacks something," Geagea said. "We have been trying to reach a solution, but solutions need the highest level of reasoning," he added. "Today, there is a part that is demanding wider participation in the Cabinet under the pretext that they cannot stop any decision they don't approve of, and based on this they are demanding a third of the Cabinet's portfolios."

Geagea said the most important issue was the presidency. "The Cabinet [is the product of] a free and democratic Parliament, while the extension of the presidential term was imposed on us" by Syria, he said.

While Geagea said his allies would not "take to the streets," he said that the opposition was free to do so "in a democratic and civilized manner."

"Aoun's response to this was positive," he said, "but we don't know about Hizbullah."

As The Daily Star went to press, a fax purporting to contain a transcript of the session was received by this and other newspapers in Beirut. The sender was anonymous, however, so the authenticity of the document could not be ascertained.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76797

What's your take on it Wilma? I haven't been following events, but it sounds like Hezbollah are using the political capital they gained in the conflict to try and exert greater control over Lebanon.

That's about it in a nutshell, SWL

I think the proverbial is about the hit the fan

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7807ACD1-DACF-457A-87BC-9C971DEF6030.htm



Lebanese crisis talks fail

Saturday 11 November 2006

Lebanese political leaders have met four times this week



Five Shia Muslim ministers in Lebanon's cabinet have resigned after talks on forming a government of national unity failed.

The move, by members of Hezbollah and its ally Amal, puts further pressure on the government of Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's prime minister.

The resignations come after anti-Syrian leaders rejected a series of demands which would have given Hezbollah and its allies more power.

Michel Aoun, a Christian opposition leader and Hezbollah ally, said on Saturday: "We did not reach a result today and the session was ended without setting a date for a new session."

Other politicians played down the break-up of the talks.

Samir Geagea, a Christian politician, acknowledged that they had failed to reach an agreement but suggested the talks would resume at a later stage.

He said: "We want to continue consultations until the last minute."

Geagea said the meeting was stopped partly because Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, was scheduled to leave for Iran.

Hezbollah wants greater representation for itself and its allies in the ruling coalition, which is currently dominated by parties opposed to Syria's interference in Lebanese politics.

Mass demonstrations

It has threatened mass demonstrations in order to bring down the government unless changes are made to the cabinet by mid-November.



"Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera", in the words of the King of Siam

Well, here we are, 8 months on and the true extent of the damage is only just becoming apparent

"An appeal has been launched for funds to restore world heritage sites damaged during the recent conflict in Lebanon.
The UN cultural arm, UNESCO, says some of the Middle East's most significant ruins are affected."



http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_5350000/newsid_5358600/5358676.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm

Irreplaceable, if they go. At least the issue's been raised - though with all the human damage it almost seems uncaring to care. If you know what I mean.

Do you think the comment at the end, about psychological benefit to children there is true?

Pfft. I dunno, Waz. Most people on Lebanon are only vaguely aware of these 'jewels' of history and the growth of 'civilisation'... and very few have any inkling of how the rest of the world covets or treasures (pick your word ) them.

The thing is that there are many much more immediate issues to address for your average Joe Bloggs - like feeding his kids, paying their school fees, dressing them and funding their healthcare, then doing all of that (barring the school fees) for his elderly parents (and not his wife's, if he is very very lucky). I doubt many children in Lebanon would give a stuff about falling frescoes, tbh.

The oil on the beaches even - people were swimming in the sea in September - just making sure they took a small bottle of kerosene with them (to clean off the oil after they came out of the water ) That's what people did in the 70s-90s during the civil war.

I am not even going to go into the whole issue of nuclear waste in leaky barrels that have been popping up in the 'pristine' mountain gorges and valleys

It beggars belief that such a beautiful country with so many precious cultures can be so dreadfully trampled and spat on. We Lebanese are supposed to love our country and yet if we don't pull our finger out and salvage what we have left, how can we expect others to 'respect our sovereignty'...

Don't mind me, I have been reading the local papers

... then I read the BBC I love the Brits. this lady is outright bonkers and I think I am going to have to go meet her this summer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2006/08/02/karen_bellamy_living_in_lebanon_feature.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6431637.stm

'About 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, died in the 34 days of fighting along with 116 Israeli soldiers and 43 civilians.'

'about a 1000' - give or take a few hundred or dozen (give 320, in fact), who knows or cares... but defintely 116 of one and 43 of the other. How much anger and paina few careless words can cause.


I make myself sick with my own cliche ridden reactions sometimes.

I'm orf to bed. best place for me and my tired brain right now.

Mebbe I'd best stay in bed...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6497109.stm

"Two rival delegations will represent Lebanon at this week's Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, it has been confirmed.

One will be led by President Emile Lahoud and the other one by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

The split shows the continuing failure to resolve the political stalemate between Mr Siniora's government and the opposition, which includes Hezbollah.

Efforts to resolve the impasse have not yet borne fruit, and dangerous tensions have been bubbling to the surface. "

Plus ca change.... etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE5kF4TMuTo

Well I hope whatever work gets done on the antiquities goes to local people. Then maybe it might help, drop in the ocean thoug it is. Otherwise it’s treasuring things above people. Treasures though the things are, I don’t see how that can help.

Looking at that new video – I didn’t realise it was such a beautiful country.