Lebanese 1960s Election law (Map) + Beirut Update

Here’s a map that shows the districts of the 1960s electoral law that will be used for the next general elections in Lebanon.

A lot of people are interested in seeing this, so please pass it around.
Update: Here’s a map of Beirut’s new law from Blogging Beirut (more details here)

Now The Hard Part

The Doha agreement diffuses the current crisis and everyone will immediately feel the benefits. But the real issues remain to be solved.
Dismantling the scar (photo credit: Reuters)
Nothing beats the sense of relief the Lebanese are feeling today except perhaps the realization that they will be able to celebrate in the heart of the now-liberated [...]

What Lebanese Relief Looks Like

My facebook friends are a varied bunch with all sorts of political views. But today they are all relieved that things got settled in Qatar. Here’s a slice of their facebook status updates in the last few hours:
Ibrahim is DOWN TOWNImad is happy and going to BeirutBashar: SO 2DAY @ LAST BEIRUT IT SMILES”SHUKRAN QATAR”IT’LL [...]

Will Bush Bomb Iran Before The End Of His Term?

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Army Radio quoted top Israeli politicians about Bush’s intent to bomb Iran in the next few months.
Army Radio had quoted a top official in Jerusalem claiming that a senior member in the entourage of President Bush, who concluded a trip to Israel last week, had said in a closed [...]

Haggling Over The Election Law

Basing the electoral law on temporary alliances is ill advised and unsustainable.
There are rumors that the Lebanese parties in Doha are trying to carve a self-serving electoral law. It is being said for instance that Mr. Aoun is proposing Beirut divisions that allow the Shiaas to vote for the Christians and that Mr. Hariri would [...]

The Sunni-Shiaa Tension Is Real And Dangerous.

The New York Times reports on grizzly details of Lebanon’s latest ordeal.
He says Hezbollah electrocuted his Genitals (Photo: NY Times)
Hezbollah and Amal appear to be in complete denial that any “Sunni-Shiaa” fitna is taking place in Lebanon. They argue that Hezbollah’s only cause is Jihad against Israel, and that the Sunnis surely must understand [...]

Fudge Country

The tiny Arab emirate of Qatar is actively seeking to become a land where extremes coexist.

Can Bin Jassem seal the deal?
When Aljazeera was first launched in Qatar, it sported a slogan considered to be a novel idea back then in the Arab world: “The opinion and the other opinion”. Their Anchor Faysal el Qassem became [...]

Obama And Hezbollah

The Democratic presidential candidate revisits his previous statement on the events in Lebanon.
When Hezbollah begun its punitive actions against the Seniora government, Sentaor Barack Obama released a statement that Left many Lebanese bloggers unimpressed. Abu Kais spoke for many when he wrote:
Oh the time we wasted by fighting Hizbullah all those years with rockets, invasions [...]