Dirty Hands and Flies: To the Arab sultans and the zua’ama of the Lebanese tribes
Posted by . in Uncategorized on January 30th, 2010
Jawad N. Adra - In order not to do injustice to the Arab sultans (now known as kings or presidents) and in order not to do injustice to the zua’ama of Lebanon (the lords of war, money and tribes) we shall recall what Jean-Paul Sartre wrote in Les Mains Sales (Dirty Hands) in 1948:
“Listen to me:
A family man is never a real family man.
An assassin is never entirely an assassin.
They play a role, you understand.
While a dead man, he is really dead.
To be or not to be, right?”
Since none of them care for, or for that matter, fear the dead, let us also quote Sartre in his 1943 Les Mouches (The Flies):
“Fear ‘your’ dead no more, they are ‘my’ dead.”
With this, The Monthly will notecase to publish an editorial for a period of time.
Minister Zero’s chances of success in the Republic of “Not Now”!
For a while now, Citizen Zero has been working and dreaming of having a say in the decision-making process and reform in this country.
He believed that there was a serious chance during the Chehab era, had it not been for the American-Nasserite feud, the coup by the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party, the circumstances leading to the Cairo agreement, and, and … Read the rest of this entry »
“Their” book about “our” history or Who corrects exams at the IC? As’ad AbuKhalil1 or Avigdor Lieberman2?
Jawad N. Adra - Modern World History, a book that has been taught in IC’s second level curriculum since 2003, suddenly became a topic of discussion in the Lebanese press. The controversy focused on a few pages titled “Hunting for Terrorists”; more specifically about the mention of Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations. Then, just as suddenly, everyone went silent.
What happened exactly?
It is worth noting that not one member of the IC’s parents committee, parent, student or teacher (needless to mention nobody at the Ministry of Education) had in the past considered this important. Perhaps it is because we didn’t read the book, or perhaps because we read it and we approved of it, perhaps because we are simply apathetic, or, perhaps because we are content with any history book at all. Read the rest of this entry »
The Francophone Games: USD 125 million, no sports and Condi the savior
Posted by . in Editorial, Uncategorized on October 28th, 2009
Citizen Zero was not surprised by the Lebanese public’s indifference to the annual Francophone games, which were organized primarily to demonstrate the link between Francophone countries, including Lebanon, and, as always, between them and France.
The Lebanese played the perfect hosts on the opening day, with the attendance of most of their zu’ama and representatives, applauding Lebanese singer Majida Al Roumi as she sang “Beirut, Lady of the World”, a poem actually written by Damascene poet Nizar Qabbani – an irony lost to the leaders of the ‘Cedar Revolution’. They also failed to notice that the Beirut Sports City was built by Syrian laborers and that the chairs they sat on were cleaned by those same laborers. Read the rest of this entry »
The end of Ta’ef: 20 years later, it is yet to be implemented
Twenty years ago, Lebanese MPs gathered in the Saudi city of Ta’ef and ratified the Document of National Accord, also known as the Ta’ef accord, putting an end to the Lebanese civil war. It established the second Lebanese republic on the ruins of the first, which was founded on the 1943 National Pact.
The domestic and regional events that dictated the terms of the agreement are not what our study will focus on. The article will instead evaluate what has been accomplished so far and offer a comparison of the powers of each of the three top state officials before and after the Ta’ef accord. Read the rest of this entry »
“Lebanon Wars, Why?”
Posted by . in Uncategorized on October 28th, 2009
Lebanon and War: two words that go hand in hand. As soon as one war ends, another one always seems to be around the corner. The 1840 war, the 1860 war, and then on to World War I, then there was the 1958 strife, until the major war of 1975 that lasted until 1990 during which there were Israeli wars on Lebanon including the 1978 and 1982 invasions, after that the Israeli aggressions of 1993, 1996, and finally in 2006. Read the rest of this entry »
Jawad Adra replies to Sarkis Naoum’s “Lebanon of 1870… similar to present-day Lebanon?”
Posted by . in Uncategorized on October 15th, 2009
The following is a reply to columnist Sarkiss Naoum’s article published in An Nahar on August 10, 2009 titled “Is Lebanon of 1870 … Similar to Present-Day Lebanon?” Naoum quoted Protestant missionary William M. Thomson’s impressions on his travels to ‘The Holy Land’ published in his book “The Land and The Book”. An Nahar published an abridged version of Jawad Adra’s response on August 12, 2009 that The Monthly will print in full. Read the rest of this entry »
Hariri submits government line-up to president: Lebanese press takes sides and places blame
Posted by . in Uncategorized on October 15th, 2009
Seventy-three days after he was designated prime minister, Saad Hariri submitted to President Michel Suleiman a government line-up based on the formula that was reached in agreement with the opposition. The 5-10-15 formula calls for the formation of ‘national unity’ consisting of 30 Ministers, of whom five are to be nominated by the President (including a pro-opposition minister), ten by the opposition and 15 by the parliamentary majority.
However, the fact that Hariri proposed the line-up. Along with the names of minority ministers and portfolios. Without prior consultations with the opposition created a problem that could eventually prompt the prime minister-designate to step down if Suleiman rejects the proposal. The line-up could also form a first step toward an agreement on a new distribution of portfolios and new nominations. Furthermore, Suleiman could be pushed to sign the government decree, thus placing him on the majority’s side of the fence. However, until the Lebanese see the plumes of white smoke announcing the birth of a government, they will continue to be preoccupied with many questions that have no immediate answers.
The headlines of Lebanese newspapers on the morning of September 8th presented opposing views regarding the most recent development in the government formation crisis.
As Safir: Stepping Down Read the rest of this entry »
Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport
Posted by . in Uncategorized on October 15th, 2009
Slight drop in traffic in August with 25.3% rise in one year
Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport witnessed a slight drop in airport traffic during the month of August compared to the previous month of July. The total number of passengers (arrivals-departures-transits) reached 612,956 in August compared to 621,522 in July, dropping by 8,566 passengers or 1.37%. The figures indicate that the number of departures climbed in August while that of arrivals increased in July. Read the rest of this entry »
Did You Know That? by Dr Hanna Saadah
Posted by . in Uncategorized on October 15th, 2009
Aspirin is not for everybody.
New guidelines for preventive aspirin have been issued based on reviews of all available studies. These new guidelines recommend low-dose aspirin (80-100 mg/day) for men aged 45-79 and for women aged 55-79 after their blood pressure is normalized. In these age groups, the risk of bleeding is offset by aspirin’s cardiovascular benefits. These benefits are different for men and women: they prevent heart attacks for men and strokes for women. Aspirin should not be given preventively to patients who are at high risk of stomach bleeding such as patients with history of bleeding ulcers or those taking arthritis pills such as Naproxen or Ibuprofen. If such patients need aspirin prevention, it needs to be given with a stomach acid suppressor such as Nexium. People over 80 have high risks of bleeding because their stomach lining becomes thin with age. If they need aspirin, their blood pressure should be normal, they should have no history of stomach ulcers or bleeds, and they should be given an acid suppressor to reduce the bleeding risk. (Prescriber’s Letter, Vol. 16, No. 6, June 2009).
Loading ...
Recent Comments