Daily Archives: October 2, 2007

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Lebanon Is Burning, Literally This Time..

Wide swathes of Lebanon from the North to the South are burning in wild fires. Deir el Qamar is reportedly surrounded by flames.

Emergency workers across Lebanon are mobilized and calls for citizens to help with water tanks are spreading throughout the radio waves.

Rumors of arson are rife as the fires have started simultaneously, at night, and in non contiguous regions. Some have even started to blame Syria (after all, Assad did threaten to burn Lebanon didn’t he?), but authorities are asking for caution, as some of these places have witnessed wild fires before.

For continuous coverage in Arabic, click here . For English coverage, Check yalibnan and fellow bloggers Blacksmith , Eliedeth and Abu Kais

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Hezbollah Speaks To Naharnet

The choice of Naharnet as a channel for Hezbollah to make a very important announcement is significant.

Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan told Naharnet‘s Daila Nehme that in the event of an Israeli-American attack on Iran or Syria, Hezbollah will only “denounce and reject” the strikes “nothing more”. In other words, Hezbollah will not attack Israel.

But why make such an important statement to a web outlet that is in English and has more readers outside of Lebanon than inside of it?

For precisely the above reasons. Naharnet, a member of the respected Annahar‘s family has risen in ubiquity after the Cedar Revolution, where the entire world took interest in Lebanese affairs and enjoyed daily updated news in English from a Lebanese website with a reputable name. In other words, Naharnet has a large international and Israeli readership.

In speaking to Naharnet, Hezbollah is sending a message (of peace?) to the outside world (including Israeli and American public opinion) while maintaining plausible deniability with its Lebanese supporting masses in case they change their minds to say the truth in Arabic.