The supply of Electricity from Iran to Lebanon would be convenient for Iran and for some Lebanese parties, but it won’t be happening anytime soon.
Tehran, we have a problem
In the news today is a statement by an Iranian official that Lebanon could be getting Iranian electricity as soon as next week. Considering the state of affairs of the electricity in Lebanon, many would gladly (if begrudgingly) take that offer. But don’t hold your breath, it won’t happening anytime soon. Continue reading
Tripoli’s “mini-Syria” erupts as militant islamists battle a heavy-handed army. Extreme caution should be exercised to avoid Syria’s mistakes.
10 year old child from tebbané playing resistance (source: LBC)
As people are watching the events unfold in Tripoli, many are tempted to dismiss them as the usual clashes between pro-Assad Alawites in Jabal Mohsen and anti-Assad Islamists in Bab el Tebbaneh. The truth, alas, is that we are now entering a new chapter, one where things are a bit more complicated and a bit more like Syria.
Continue reading
What’s the best way to spend Lebanon’s upcoming oil wealth? The race for ideas has begun.
Is there anything better for a highly indebted country with creaking infrastructure than the prospect of earning substantial amounts of cash from newly discovered natural resources? Repaying the national debt, building more schools and improving the roads can all be nothing but unalloyed good, right? Continue reading
The Lebanese debt issue is back to the forefront. Social stability will be its first victim.
(Social instability is rearing its ugly head)
In case you haven’t noticed in the last few years, people and politicians have almost stopped talking about Lebanese national debt. What used to be a toxic political issue almost vanished as a talking point. It’s not because of fatigue or desperation, it’s simply because we were actually solving the problem. Continue reading
Yesterday, this exchange between our ex-PM and and a twitter “hater” made the round on facebook, accompanied by the usual tsk.tsk.tsks directed at our ex-PM:
Mr. Hariri’s response was mediocre as a put-down. It betrayed anger and awkwardly tried to squeeze in an “I’m rising above the fray” sentiment towards the end.
Critics focused on the fact that Mr. Hariri responded in the first place. That he almost stooped to a level of bickering in his responses to Assy. Supporters retorted that to the contrary, the tweets show that Mr. Hariri is a real person, unlike other politicians (a.k.a Mr. Mikati) who let sleek PR firms do the tweeting for them.
Here’s my suggestion to Mr. Hariri: Continue reading
I was positively surprised this morning when I peeked at my RSS counter (bottom of right sidebar) and found that 1019 of you are now subscribed to Beirut Spring’s RSS feed. I don’t usually celebrate statistical milestones — and I’ve had many since I started blogging in 2005 — but this one is close to my heart.
The reason I still prefer RSS over subscription devices like Facebook and Twitter is that RSS is still the best way not to miss what someone writes. Twitter and Facebook are great tools, but they’re more about what’s happening right now. A great blog post that was written 10 hours ago can easily get lost in a torrent of cool links and photos.
For those who are still not subscribed, perhaps you’d like to subscribe by email?
One more time, thank you.
Attacking a good idea for political expediency..
There’s a new talking point in Beirut: An electoral law based on proportional representation is evil because it reinstates Damascus’ influence by increasing the power of its allies in Lebanon.
I understand when people like MP Walid Jumblatt peddle such rubbish. After all, he stands to significantly lose influence if such a law was to be enacted. But MP Hariri’s reiteration of this argument yesterday is very worrying to me. Continue reading
Of all the responses I read to Sibai’s now infamous article in Outlook (responses listed here) , my favorite is the one written by Raja. I’ll get back to why a little later.
As someone who had a relatively conservative upbringing in Tripoli, I grew up sharing a lot of Mr. Sibai’s ideas. Whether out of intellectual laziness or habit, it was the only way to reconcile a religious view of the world with the existence of homosexuals.
(photo credit, Lilianne)
If you’re someone who truly cares about secularism in Lebanon, you can do a lot worse than read Walid El Houri’s insightful critique of the Laïque Pride movement and how it is failing to make progress in Lebanon’s pathologically sectarian system
His key argument (which also applies to many NGOs and their causes), is that in order to achieve true mobilization and make a real difference, Lebanon’s secularists should get out of their middle-class activist bubble, have an economic plan, form a political party and try their best Continue reading
I started this morning the process of registering to vote in the 2013 Lebanese Parliamentary elections. I figured I’ll share here some info and tips that you might find useful if you too are planning to vote. I’ll be using a questions and answer format (f.a.q) because I found it the best way to organize the different issues about the subject. Continue reading
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