
The polarization the General inspires is evident in the reviews of his new book which you can now purchase online.
When this entry was written, 5 people “reviewed” the book on Amazon, 3 of whom voted 5 stars (best score), and 2 voted 1 star (worst score). Considering that the book was just launched, the reviewers’ judgment that it was “Pure démagogie” or “la modernité en personne” more likely depends on what they think of the person himself. Not the book.
Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.

Mustapha, I know this is irrelevant to your post here, but have you read this outrageous article from “Faysal el Kasim” ? It just pissed me off with how much ignorance it displays.
This is the article from his site: (in Arabic)
http://alsaha.fares.net/sahat?128@178.I9Onfj0Wu7V.0@.3baa19f3
Sorry for double posting, but I gave the wrong link.
This is his personal site with so much cr** on it, ( and the article)
http://www.fkasim.com/content/view/1053/9/
Hey mazen, Don’t mind him. This man thrives on being an “agent provocateur”.
Besides, the first commentator hit him right back: Much like the armies he’s talking about, on the internet he’s a big-mouth, but in his country, Syria, he’s an ostrich :)
What a book it was,great read…actually it was nothing short of a NOVEL.A certain vision of Lebanon?…u kiddin? this guy calls for The Maronite Patriarch to be divorced from the state,(atleast he learnt something new while abroad in France.}While at the same time siding and supporting the Mullahs of the Jnoub.Im just wondering how much money he gave to the publishers…
Bayan/Statement 2
Accusations and Appeals
We, the undersigned:
Accuse the majority of our Lebanese leaders of using the Palestinian people and its resistance for their sectarian and petty agendas.
We accuse them of covering up the attack on an over-populated Palestinian-Lebanese camp by using the slogan of ‘sovereignty,” that is often employed in Lebanon against the weak and the poor.
We accuse them of adhering to a fascist ideology similar to the one that justified the siege of Tal Al-Zaatar and Dbayyeh camps in the mid-seventies, and of adopting Bush’s discourse on terror, as if the Palestinian people as a whole are supposed to carry the burden of a gang that Lebanese authorities themselves admit has no popular base in the camp.
We accuse them of covering up the creation of a security apparatus that is not subject to the jurisdiction and monitoring of the people and their representatives; just like those, who falsely claim sovereignty today, covered up the security apparatus during the period of the Syrian-regime’s control in Lebanon.
We accuse the 14 of March group in particular of propagating a project/plan that targets the arms of the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance, while reinforcing the weaponization of sectarian gangs. Such a policy will undoubtedly lead to an intensification of the conflict in Lebanon to the benefit of the Imperialist project spanning Morocco to Afghanistan.
We accuse part of the ‘opposition’ of standing silent vis-a-vis the plans of the ruling dynasty simply because they are targeting a ‘sect’ that currently has no protection in Lebanon –namely, the Palestinian people. We also accuse part of the opposition of regurgetating the discourse of hostility against the Palestinian people.
We accuse many of the Lebanese of closing their shelters and schools to the Palestinian refugees escaping from Nahr al-Barid camp, while Palestinian camps had opened their doors wide to the Lebanese displaced during the summer Israeli war on Lebanon.
We accuse our liberal intellectuals of propagating a discourse of sovereignty and revenge instead of solidarity, citizenship, and true humanity. We accuse them of hypocrisy when they condemn the killing of Israeli civilians, but do not lift a finger at raising a camp on its inhabitants. In addition, we accuse them of advocating human rights in only one Arab country.
We accuse Lebanese ‘nationalism’, which attempts to build a country on the shattered pieces of the victims of random bombing of Nahr Al-Barid camp, of despicable racism.
We condemn some of the Palestinian leadership who due to sectarian, material and shameful interests, have worked to cover up this ongoing war.
We accuse the fanatical salafis (supported and funded by the same entities that support and fund the current ruling Lebanese government) of spreading hatred, sectarianism, the culture of ‘takfeer’, exclusion, and one-dimensionality.
We accuse those Lebanese who claim that the American aerial bridge is an innocent or humanitarian act of political naivety at best, and complying with the escalating war at worst.Based on what was presented above, we demand:
1. An end to all acts of war against Nahr al-Barid camp and a rejection to invade the inhabited camp.
2. That the Lebanese Army’s leadership reassert that it is Israel, not the Palestinian people, that is the enemy (not the ‘neighbor’).
3. A condemnation of the sectarian fueling that has become the normal strategy of the ruling dynasty especially since the north elections in 2005.
4. Working to change the current inhuman circumstances in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, and providing the Palestinian people in Lebanon all civil rights until their eventual return to their homeland, Palestine.
5. Ending all meaningless talk of ‘Lebanese services’ to the Palestinian cause, given that significant political actors in Lebanon have transformed this country into a den of conspiring against the Palestinian cause.
6. That national and democratic parties, loyal to the long history of Lebanese-Palestinian common struggle, take the initiative to save the camp and its inhabitants.
Posted by As’ad at 4:36 PM 10 comments
We accuse the government for not being perfect in a region thats known for its perfection.The government is a pyramid of cards on shaky ground and against a hostile breeze.The shaky ground is internal,the breeze external,bonus points for guessing.Now,the pyramid is still standing although very slightly,and not too assuring but amidst all the faces of antagonism and sabotage,it is still standing,—- a feat,in my humble F’n opinion is a marvellous one at that,and I invite the governments of the world to learn from the Lebanese predicament.