Beirut Spring

Blogging Lebanon
since 2005

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The Bane Of Lebanon

There’s an article about Lebanon in the new issue of The Economist. In a neat paragraph, it summarizes our weakness as a nation:

Mustapha Hamoui · Jul 5, 2007

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Loving Life

Terrorism? What terrorism? July 2nd saw the biggest nightlife event in Lebanon’s history. 18,000 filled an entire beach while 5,000 watched from outside because the event sold out. read more here and here

Mustapha Hamoui · Jul 5, 2007

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Does Salafism Preach Violence?

To the contrary, argues Dr. Hassan Chahal, one of Tripoli’s first Salafist scholars and Abu Samra native.According to Mr. Chahal, Salafism (which I like to call Islam’s Mormonism) came originally from Saudi Arabia from Hanbalism, unlike the violent strain which originated in Egypt (He mentions Alqaeda’s #2 Ayman Al Zawahiri) and then migrated to Afghanistan and came back to the Gulf countries.Mr. Chahal argues that Salafism is by its nature very lax on authority and never calls for opposition to the ruling elites, no matter how permissive they are with Sharia (except in very rare cases he concedes) Lebanon:According to him, the Tripoli Salafist schools are even more peaceful than those abroad because the “nature of Lebanon” with its variety of confessions imposes an emphasis on persuasion and the shunning of violence…Mr. Chahal knows whom to blame in the Lebanese mess: America is trying to make the Sunnis and the Shias fight each other, like it’s doing in Iraq. But does that mean he likes Hezbollah? “When the opposition and the so-called Hezbollah occupied the center of Beirut, the Sunnis felt endangered and some youths went and bought weapons to defend themselves, but the Islamic schools here do not condone that”If you read Arabic, you can read the whole thing here..

Mustapha Hamoui · Jul 5, 2007

Wednesday’s Newspapers Up

Today’s newspapers are up. Addiyar is still not updated, but it will be as soon as it’s available online. Please feel free to discuss their contents in this comments section (is there a story one newspaper is emphasizing more than the other? Why do you think this is so..etc).Some of you have asked me about Assafir: Unfortunately, Assafir doesn’t have a .pdf version. It has instead a flimsy “e-reader” that’s more gimmicks than substance and it can’t be transfered to the News standAlso: Mabrook for Allan Johnston’s release. Such good news!

Mustapha Hamoui · Jul 4, 2007

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Tuesday’s Newspapers Up

Tuesday’s Lebanese Newspapers are now up in the Newsstand. I am committed to updating that page every morning (around 1:00 GMT), so it would be a good habit if you check it on daily basis. (Great with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning!). Please bookmark it and help spread the word..

Mustapha Hamoui · Jul 3, 2007

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Alternative Online

Allow me to introduce Alternative Online, a publication written by very bright people whom I personally know.The writers are March14 supporters in their late 20s and 30s who lean to the left. In the latest issue of the magazine, Joyce Nassireddin realized that “it has become a necessity to remind each other of what has been done so far since the beginning of the Independence Intifada in February 2005”. She proposes 14 contributions for March 14 and suggests a research center..Hussain Abdul-Hussain takes on As’ad bu khalil, the enfant terrible of the “Lebanese” blogosphere and puts his blog’s credibility into question..Mark Daou discusses the topic of immigration and how it became a part of the Lebanese Identity, and finally Joe Manok proposes “derailing sectarianism, not abolishing it” as a potential enhancement for the political system..The people at Alternative Online would love to hear some feedback on the articles and on the magazine itself. You can send them emails or simply comment here.They thank you in advance.

Mustapha Hamoui · Jul 2, 2007

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