If Lebanon had a US-style colour-coded “war-fear” alert ranging from white to purple, we are now – courtesy of Israeli president Shimon Peres, the White House spokesman and the head of the Lebanese Hizbollah militia, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah – hovering somewhere between pink and red.

Has Syria given the Hizbollah a set of Scud ground-to-ground missiles to fire at Israel? Can Israeli aircraft attack them if the Hizbollah also possess anti-aircraft missiles? Can the Lebanese army take these weapons from the Hizbollah before the balloon goes up?

It is a long-standing saga, of course, and Israel has been itching to get its own back on the world’s most disciplined guerrilla movement. You can forget al-Qa’ida when it comes to Hizbollah’s effectiveness – after the Israeli army’s lamentable performance in 2006, when it promised to destroy the Hizbollah and ended up, after the usual 1000-plus civilian dead, pleading for a ceasefire. Over the past few months, Mr Nasrallah has been taunting the Israelis to have another go, promising that an Israeli missile attack on Beirut airport will be followed by a Hizbollah rocket attack on Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.

But over the past week, a warning by Mr Peres that the Hizbollah has received Scud missiles from Damascus – or via Syria from Iran – and a refusal by the Hizbollah to even discuss its own disarmament within a Lebanese “national dialogue” chaired by the Lebanese President, Michel Suleiman, has darkened the spring skies over both Lebanon and Israel. The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said this week that the United States has expressed its concern to both the Syrian and Lebanese governments over “the sophisticated weaponry that … is allegedly being transferred”. Mr Peres started the whole thing off a day earlier when he declared that “Syria claims it wants peace while at the same time it delivers Scuds to Hizbollah, whose only goal is to threaten the state of Israel.”

These hootings and trumpetings have always had a strong element of hypocrisy about them. The Scuds – even if Hizbollah has them – are as out-of-date as they are notoriously inaccurate. In the 1991 Gulf war, Saddam Hussein’s Scuds caused fewer than a hundred deaths. The more Peres thunders about the danger they represent, the more Hizbollah’s allies in Iran – supposedly trying to build a nuclear weapon – take pride of place in public imagination over the continued and illegal Israeli colonisation of Palestinian land.

As for Mr Nasrallah, he promised only a year ago that Hizbollah’s disarmament could not be discussed by the Lebanese government – only during the so-called “national dialogue”. And now the “national dialogue” has begun, the organisation has made it clear that it has no intention of discussing disarmament with other Lebanese political parties.

The problems are legion. Hizbollah is itself represented in the Lebanese parliament, and under the Doha agreement which followed Hizbollah’s one-day military takeover of west Beirut in May of 2008, it also has an effective veto over majority decisions taken by the Lebanese cabinet. And even if the Shia Muslim Hizbollah’s opponents in the Cabinet – they are largely Sunni Muslim with a prominent Christian contingent – ordered the Lebanese army to take weapons from the militia, they would be unable to do so for one simple reason. At least half the army – possibly two-thirds – are themselves Shia Muslims, and would obviously object to attacking the homes of brothers, sons and fathers in the Hizbollah.

A clue to the seriousness with which everyone now takes the possibility of war is contained in a remark made by an anonymous US spokesman who warned that the transfer of Scud missiles to Hizbollah would represent a “serious risk” to Lebanon. Not to Israel, mark you – but to Lebanon. There is no doubt that this is an allusion to frequent threats from the Israelis themselves that in another war with Hizbollah, the Lebanese government would be held responsible and as a result Lebanon’s infrastructure would be destroyed.

This does not sound so bad in Lebanon as it does elsewhere. For in its last Lebanese war – the fifth since 1978 – the Israelis blamed the Lebanese government for Hizbollah’s existence and smashed up the country’s roads, bridges, viaducts, electricity grid and civilian factories, as well as killing well over 1,000 civilians. Israel’s casualties were in the hundreds, most of them soldiers. What worse can Israel do now against the ruthlessness of the Hizbollah, even after the accusations of war crimes levelled against its equally ruthless rabble of an army?

BEIRUT: Lebanon successfully made three entries in the Guinness Book of Records over the weekend for the largest plate and the largest plates of hummus and tabbouleh. The “Hummus and Tabbouleh are 100 percent Lebanese” festival took place on Saturday and Sunday at Saifi Market in Downtown Beirut. Thousands attended the two-day event marking Lebanon’s attempt to claim the two dishes.
The dishes were prepared un der the watch of Guinness adjudicator Tallal Omar by 250 sous chefs from the Kafaat catering school. The 50 chefs were led by the famous Lebanese chef and culinary figure Ramzi Choueiri.
The first attempt for the largest hummus dish reached an incredible 2056 kilograms, shattering the previous record of 362.8 kilograms set in New York in 2006. The tabbouleh dish weighed in at an even more astonishing 3557 kilograms, which surpasses Israel’s previous record of 2359 kilograms.
Both dishes were prepared in the world’s largest plate designed by Lebanese engineer Joseph Kabalan which was designed to hold over 3 tons.
The event was organized by the International Fairs and Promotions group (IFP), along with the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) and the Industry Minister Ghazi Zaiter.
The event was held to affirm the origins of the dishes after the ALI’s claim that the specialties are sold internationally as Greek or Israeli dishes, undermining the cultural originality of the dishes and causing huge losses for the Lebanese economy.
At the event, Ghazi Koraytem, president of the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industries called for the international recognition and registration of the dishes as being Lebanese in origin.
The festival, which attracted thousands of people to Saifi Market, was set up to include many stalls from Lebanese caterers and artisans. Famous presenter Michel Azzi acted as the master of ceremonies for the event, keeping the crowd lively and amused throughout the various stages of the record attempts.
At the event Azzi said: “We wish that the Lebanese could share this sense of unity all the time in all endeavors.”
At times the security struggled to keep the enthusiastic audience back away from the giant dishes. Mona, from Beirut, said: “This is an important issue to the Lebanese. If Israel attempts to break the record again, we will keep breaking it and prove that these dishes are Lebanese.”
The ALI has claimed their case is similar to the European Union court ruling in 2002 that ruled feta cheese to be Greek.
Geographical appellation rights exist for sparkling wine from the French Champagne region and Scotch whisky, and according to ALI, Lebanon should be able to patent hummus and tabbouleh dishes.

More than 200 Harley Davidson bikes checked in at the InterContinental Mzaar Mountain Resort & Spa on their first night in Lebanon.

Designated by the event’s organizers as Lebanon’s most prestigious and trendy hotel, InterContinental Mzaar was proud to accommodate the 1st Lebanon Harley Owners Group H.O.G. Tour, an officially recognized event organized by the H.O.G. Lebanon Chapter for Harley-Davidson owners only.
“The resort’s alpine architecture, spacious guestrooms and cozy lobby were perfect for kicking-back and relaxing after a day-long ride” explained one of the bikers enjoying a sip of coffee in the hotel lobby along with his wife/bike partner.

After spending a refreshing night at 2000m above sea level, the riders enjoyed the exquisite Mzaar buffet breakfast before gathering in front of the main entrance, ready to take off to the Cedars, their next destination.
Dressed up in original Harley Davidson gears, the bikers coming from all over the world were riding along the scenic Lebanese roads from seaside’s to winding mountains in a fun-packed adventure until reaching the resort where they lived an authentic InterContinental Mzaar Experience.

© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

5 October 2009
For the first time in American television history, Oprah Winfrey will feature some of the Middle East’s most prolific celebrity icons in a new show set to air this month on satellite network MBC4.

The show titled Fame Ffrom Aaround Tthe Wworld features snap segments of artists like Nancy Ajram, whom Winfrey calls ‘the Britney Spears of the Middle East’, and highlights the controversy she has caused with her risqué dance moves and sexy image in this ‘deeply conservative’ part of the world, as Winfrey points out.

The show, filmed on August 27, will also feature Egyptian heartthrob Amr Diab as well as Lebanese icons Haifa Wehbe and Ragheb Alameh.

Muddled reports claim that Oprah interviewed Ajram via video chat because the starlet would not leave her infant daughter, Mila, to travel to the United States, but this couldn’t be confirmed. Arabic music fans are elated that the reigning queen of talkshow has decided to highlight Arab celebrities in her new show, but some are questioning the sensitivity and accuracy that Oprah used in portraying them to American audiences.

In the United States, images of war and conflict dominate the media coverage of the Arabian Peninsula, but Oprah’s depiction of Lebanon as a ‘deeply conservative’ country has many people annoyed and confused at the lack of research done by the Winfrey team.

Lebanon, by many accounts, remains one of the most open and liberal societies in the world, and Winfrey’s report only sensationalises and reinforces stale stereotypes.

According to a recent report by Mercer, a US consulting firm, Beirut is one of the least hospitable places on Earth when measured against the firm’s annual “quality of life” index. It ranks 175th out of 215 countries surveyed. I find this news a little hard to digest. Even within the Middle East, the people at Mercer say the Lebanese capital doesn’t perform well. They say its “quality of life” trails behind that of Kuwait City, Riyadh and Jeddah.
Why then is everyone dying to be in Beirut?
The New York Times has rated the Lebanese capital number one city to visit in 2009. This summer thousands of Saudis, Kuwaitis and other Gulf Arabs flooded its streets, as they do every year, eager to spend loads of cash in the city’s luxurious bars, restaurants and hotels.
Yes, tourism and quality of life are totally different indicators, and Beirut has many problems politically and econo mically. Corruption is widespread, there is a huge gap between rich and poor, traffic and state services can be terrible. But these problems exist in different forms in other cities. (Why does it take me 45 minutes to travel 5 kilometers in NYC?)
Plus the Mercer survey is not about reporting wealth distribution or political mobility for average citizens. It’s intended largely as a tool for multinational corporations in assessing hardship allowances for executives sent to live abroad.
Judging by the endless stream of parties thrown by diplomats and executives in Beirut, I wonder how “quality of life” is defined.
Beirut has its disadvantages and so do other cities on the list, especially in the Middle East. But when it comes to climate, geography, attractions, cultural diversity, entertainment, dining, social life and personal liberties, Beirut is at the forefront. (Thus the high tourism numbers, especially from Arab countries.)
Perhaps these factors did not carry much weight in the final assessment; but again, how does one define quality of life? Is infrastructure more important than entertainment and social relations?
I admit, doing business in Beirut can be challenging yet at the same time, the cost of living (such as groceries/rent) is much cheaper than Western capitals – while income taxes are relatively non-existent. Yes there is political violence (aimed mainly at politicians), but crime is insignificant compared to Europe and the US.
Beirut has plenty of other problems: the Internet is slow, cell phones are expensive – but these are offset by panoramic views of the sea on a daily basis, cheap housing, beaches, mountains, sking less than an hour away … beautiful retreats urban and rural, layers of fascinating history to explore, exciting nightlife, the list goes on and on …
It may not be conventional, but Beirut definitely has quality of life, heaps of it. To rank the city 100 places behind Dubai and 125 places behind New York and 50 places below Kuwait just doesn’t seem right.
Perhaps it would be interesting to visit other cities ranked on the bottom of Mercer’s list and see if “quality of life” there is really as bad as they say it is.

Habib Battah is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker based in New York and Beirut. He blogs at www.beirutreport.blogspot.com

BEIRUT: The $14 billion of capital inflows recently deposited in Lebanese banks may pose a burden if proper investment tools are not found for this massive cash injection, bankers and economists warned Monday. The Central Bank said recently that close to $14 billion flowed into Lebanon in the first eight months of 2009, despite the long running political stalemate and the failure of Prime Minister-designated Saad Hariri to form a cabinet.

Some bankers, although thrilled by the size of capital inflow in such a short period of time, argue that they cannot sit on this cash for ever because the costs of deposits are a too high.

“About 90 percent of this cash has been converted into Lebanese pounds because the interest rates on the local currencies are higher than US dollar and other foreign currencies. But Lebanese banks [face the] problem of the cost of funding which may be reflected in terms of banks’ profits each year,” head of research at Byblos Bank Nassib Ghobril told The Daily Star.

He added that the profits of Lebanese banks were already being affected by the declining interest rates on both the Lebanese pound and US dollar.

Over the past six months, the Central Bank has gradually reduced interest rates on all five categories of treasury bills to help the Finance Ministry cut the cost of debt servicing and eventually reduce the budget deficit.

Lebanese banks are the biggest subscribers to the T-bills and sovereign Eurobonds, which increases their risk exposure to the growing public debt in Lebanon.

Although the public debt to GDP ratio fell to 161 percent from 180 percent three years ago thanks to the growth in the economy, this debt nevertheless is expected to reach $51 billion at the end of 2009.

Ghobril reflects popular opinion when he says that banks need to find new investment tools to generate good revenues in order to cover the cost of deposits in Lebanese banks.

But this may be easier said than done, given that investment outlets in the Gulf states are becoming harder to find.

Before the global financial crisis, many Lebanese banks managed to grant loans to Lebanese expatriates in Gulf countries to finance specific projects. But since the credit crunch spilled over to Dubai and other Gulf countries, bank lending to Lebanese expatriates has dropped.

At one point, more than 15 percent of the total assets of Lebanese banks came from their operations abroad.

Another banker said that falling interest rates on the Lebanese pound would induce banks to lend more to the private sector.

“But how can we lend to the private sector even at lower rates if the investors are not too comfortable about the political situation? We must have a government as soon as possible to encourage investments,” the banker said.

“Every time we have a transition of power in Lebanon, it results in political crisis. This discourages investment and has a negative impact on consumer confidence,” he said. Bankers and financers are deeply concerned by the inability of politicians to form a government at this critical stage.

Ghassan Deebah, a professor of economics at the Lebanese American University, believes that the Lebanese banks are in a middle of a crisis.

“It is wrong to assume that a rise in capital inflow is good. For the time being, the Lebanese banks have an outlet through subscribing to T-bills. But the more money you put into banks the more difficult it becomes to find outlet for this cash,” Deebah said.

Lebanon has the only fixed exchange system in the world.

“Before Argentine and Uruguay had similar monetary exchange system as Lebanon but they eventually collapsed,” said Deebah, adding that capital inflow and the role of the Lebanese banks in re-financing the public debt have prevented Lebanon from a similar fate.

“But this has its cost in terms of rising debt to GDP ratio,” Deebah said.

Deebah stressed that the growth of the banking sector was at the expense of the rest of the economy.

“If you look at the data on the manufacturing sector since 1998 we notice a trend towards de-industrialization,” he said.

Deebah sarcastically concluded: “Let’s hope that the Lebanese government will not nationalize the local banks if things go out of control. Look what happened to some of the banks in the US where the government injected billions of dollars to keep these banks afloat.”

BEIRUT: Financier Salah Ezzedine has refused to declare bankruptcy, saying he was only going through a “staggering” financial crisis. The disgraced financier, whose case has made worldwide news because of his connections to Hizbullah, told an investigating magistrate that he had hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investments and deposits abroad. These, he claimed, could possibly generate profits next year to pay off at least some of his investors. Ezzedine continued to deny all charges pressed against him, including fraud and embezzlement, adding that he had no knowledge of the value of the total amount of his assets in Lebanon and overseas. His remarks came during a lengthy interrogation on Thursday of Ezzedine and his business partner Youssef Faour. Meanwhile, press reports said the number of lawsuits filed against Ezzedine for financial damages rose to 16. – The Daily Star

In the footsteps of financier Salah Ezzedine, a Lebanese man living in Abidjan has received $15 million from Lebanese businessmen, telling them he would transfer their money to Lebanon.
The daily An-Nahar, which carried the report, said Friday the man, identified as H.N. from the southern Lebanese town of Taibeh, took the money and disappeared.

It said the suspect was said to have headed toward Morocco and that his wife had been arrested.

Octavia Nasr is CNN’s senior editor of Middle East affairs. She serves as an on-air and off-air analyst across all of CNN’s worldwide platforms. She appears regularly on CNN/U.S., CNN International and HLN and offers expertise on issues ranging from Middle East politics and current affairs to insurgency, terrorism and radical Islamist messages and sites. She also contributes to a CNN.com weekly segment that provides audiences with in-depth analysis of breaking news and issues affecting the Middle East.

Prior to this position, Nasr served as anchor and head of newsgathering for CNN World Report. During her years with the program, she coordinated coverage and was responsible for contributions from some 150 international broadcasters from around the world.

In 2005 Nasr traveled to Lebanon and Syria to report on The Cedar revolution and its regional repercussions. During that trip she co-produced a series of reports for CNN’s flagship program Anderson Cooper 360°. She was instrumental in the 2006 coverage of the war between Israel and Hezbollah. In addition to running the Arab desk which monitored and analyzed dozens of Lebanese and Arab TV stations and on-line media, she traveled to the region and contributed to CNN’s award-winning coverage of the conflict. She continues to monitor the situation in Lebanon and report on the many facets of the political and military turmoil’s there.

In 2003, Nasr played a pivotal role during CNN’s Operation Iraqi Freedom coverage. She managed the 15-member Arab desk and coordinated all Arabic translations for the network. She also served as executive producer and anchor of CNN’s popular segment “Arab Voices” which aired several times a day throughout the war providing CNN domestic and international audiences with an inside look into Arab media and culture and how they viewed the conflict. Since then, her reporting on Iraq has included the fall of Baghdad, the capture and later trial and execution of Saddam Hussein, and the historic national elections. She also followed Arab and Muslim reaction to the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal. She has filed reports on the rise of the insurgency, the continued escalation of violence and terror attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces. She continues to track down Iraq’s insurgency, analyzing their many propaganda messages, websites and videos.

Nasr’s experience and deep knowledge of the Middle East put her in the spotlight during CNN’s coverage of September 11th and its aftermath. Shortly after the attacks, she spent months traveling in the Middle East region coordinating on-air appearances and forging exclusive newsgathering deals with media partners.

Nasr anchored CNN World Report and CNN International’s World News from 1993 to 2003. Among the major stories she covered live were the Bosnian war, the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Japan’s Sarin gas attack, the Concorde crash, and every major step of the Middle East peace process.

Nasr is the recipient of the 2006 Excellence in Journalism award from the Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce. She was honored CNN World Report’s 2003 Achievement Award for her numerous contributions to the program. Her work has also brought her with her colleagues recognition and many prestigious awards including: Edward R. Murrow for Continuing Coverage: CNN, Coverage of the Middle East Conflict; Peabody Award in 2005 for CNN’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath; duPont-Columbia University Award in 2005 for coverage of the Tsunami Disaster in South Asia; Golden Cable ACE Award in 1993 for CNN’s coverage of the Gulf War; and Overseas Press Club Award in 2002 for CNN’s post 9-11 coverage.

Nasr joined CNN in 1990 and served as an editor on the international assignment desk coordinating coverage of the first Gulf War. Before joining CNN, Nasr was a war correspondent for the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. She reported from the front lines of the civil war during Lebanon’s most dangerous times for journalists. She was the first woman reporter to interview Hezbollah spiritual leader Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. Her journalism career began in 1985 as an assistant news director at LBC before becoming executive producer of news.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication arts from the Lebanese American University. She is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Official Website: http://www.octavianasr.com

Leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command Ahmed Jibril warned the Lebanese government against any attempt to disarm his militant group.

In an interview aired on Iran’s Alalam television late Saturday, Jibril said a demand for the disarmament of his PFLP-GC movement is an “Israeli and not a national Lebanese request.”

Jibril claimed that his weapons “do not constitute a threat to Lebanon since they have not interfered in inter-Lebanese affairs just like no terrorist attack had been launched from the group’s positions in Lebanon.”

“Palestinian arms inside the camps should be closely controlled. In the event of continuing chaos in the camps, we should fear a fate similar to that of Nahr al-Bared,” Jibril cautioned.

He renewed his call to discuss Palestinian arms with Lebanese authorities “but not without taking into account Palestinian rights and ways to improve their living conditions.”

Jibril pointed a finger at Israeli and U.S. intelligence and even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “who may be stirring up security mishaps inside (Lebanon’s) refugee camps in a bid to raise the issue of Palestinian arms.”

He denied his group’s involvement in the latest attack against northern Israel in which militants fired two Katyusha rockets from south Lebanon into Nahariya.