Daily Archives: July 11, 2007

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Debate In Canada About Lebanese-Canadians

Apparently the evacuation of 15,000 Lebanese-Canadians during last war is causing a divisive debate in Canada about whether or not Canadian tax-payers should pay for the evacuation of Lebanese who live in Lebanon but hold Canadian passports.

It seems what most angers some Canadians and what pushed this conservative government to scrutinize dual citizenship is that most of the evacuees went back to Lebanon after the emergency was over:

[critics] do not like the fact that some [..] Lebanese-Canadians simply went back to their established lives in Lebanon, and tucked away their Canadian passports for the next emergency.

“If you are on vacation and you are a taxpayer, you are entitled to get all the help that your government could afford,” said Elias Bejjani, chairman of the Lebanese-Canadian Co-ordinating Council.

As for those who simply took the free ride — a sealift from Beirut to Cyprus or Turkey and then a flight back to Canada — and who don’t pay taxes in Canada, Bejjani said they probably should have been billed.

Some Tough questions are being asked. Check the wording of this one:

If Lebanon is bombed again will Canada spend 80 million to bring the so called Canadian-Lebanese that live in Lebanon not Canada on vacation for a few weeks again?Do you think that people who were evacuated last time only to leave in two weeks since their lives are in Lebanon should not be eligible for evacuation again or do you think since they have the citizenship the government is obligated to evacuate them?

So, what do you think about all of this? Does it have an element of racism, or is it simply the duty of the government to make sure that taxpayer money is well spent?

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The Latest Final Showdown

“After all attempts to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the ongoing fighting failed”,

Of course, that is, all attempts after the previous all attempts that came after the all attempts before, The Lebanese army was preparing for a final showdown with the Fatah Al Islam militia.

That would be the first Final showdown after our Minister of Defence heroically announced his mission accomplished on TV a few weeks ago.

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Shebaa Farm, Soon Officially Lebanese

When Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon back in 2000, Hezbollah held on to its arms under one pretext: Liberating a small piece of land called the Shebaa Farms.


(photo : Jpost)

This is why the upcoming annoucement by the United Nations that the Shebaa Farm is Lebanese territory will be very significant:

A UN cartographer has determined for the first time that the Israeli-held Shebaa Farms — long the centre of a territorial dispute — belong to Lebanon, a senior Israeli official told AFP on Wednesday.

The United Nations has asked Israel to hand control of the flashpoint territory to the world body, the official said on condition of anonymity,

But there remains a fly in the ointment: Israel has so far rejected that finding, as that would mean it should hand over the land back to Lebanon.

France24 , Jerusalem Post..

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Aoun The Deceiver – Part 2

Why would a sane political party plant firecrackers next to one of their offices then drum up lies in their media about a “bomb” that was discovered and dismantled by “explosives experts”? Lies, fear and paranoia are becoming the bread and butter of the FPM. (more here)

PS: the story was removed from Tayyar.org, although I personally read it yesterday

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How Southerners Are Terrorized By Hezbollah

Here is a section of an article on Lebanon in today’s New York Times:

Amid the rubble, Muhammad Hassan Bazzi, 70, his wife, Amina, and his brother Muhammad Najib Bazzi, 67, sat in the shade enjoying the afternoon breeze while sipping sweet tea from small glasses. “We ask when we will get help,” said the elder Mr. Bazzi. “They say be patient. But what is happening? We don’t know.”
“I had everything,” said Mrs. Bazzi. “Now I want a refrigerator, a washing machine, a TV.” Tears came to her eyes.
Soon a shiny black Infiniti emerged along a dirt path cutting through the rubble. The younger Mr. Bazzi saw the car and without hesitation said, “The conversation is over.”
The driver was with Hezbollah. He wanted to know who they were talking to — and what they were saying.