Several Parliament Blocs Request Copy of ‘Controversial’ Naturalization Decree

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by Source Naharnet -- Several parliamentary blocs dismayed by a decree reportedly signed by President Michel Aoun granting Lebanese citizenship to foreigners, have headed to the Interior Ministry on Monday to request a copy of the decree. A Kataeb delegation led by MP Nadim Gemayel said after leaving the ministry that Kataeb is requesting a copy to get acquainted with the names listed under that decree, in light of the “ambiguity” surrounding the issue, said Gemayel. He raised concerns over “secrecy revolving the matter,” adding that “some names are listed on the Interpol regulations which may expose the banking sector to serious US or European penalties.” But, MTV station said none of the blocs “received a copy as requested." A Lebanese Forces delegation and another of the Progressive Socialist party also headed to the ministry for the same purpose. Reports emerged lately saying that President Michel Aoun has signed the controversial decree one day before the government turned to its caretaker capacity. The law grants citizenship to some 300 people mostly including names of Syrian figures close to Syrian President Bashar Assad who are also subject to US financial sanctions, to Palestinians, Western and Gulf businessmen, as well as a number of stateless applicants. The decree has provoked criticism, especially since it will be issued by a caretaker government, and for including names reportedly close to the Syrian regime.

Hezbollah derives its clout from outside the Lebanese state

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This article does not necessarily represent khazen.org 

by Ali al-Amin -- thearabweekly.com -- In Lebanon, having a partisan bloc in parliament twice the size of Hezbollah’s bloc does not necessarily mean that group’s share in decision-making is commensurate with its size. Hezbollah has no more than 15 members of parliament but nobody in Lebanon doubts the party is the ultimate decision-maker in the government and parliament. The strength of Hezbollah comes from outside the framework of state institutions. The state in Lebanon is the party’s weakest leg. A mini-state within the state, Hezbollah has more power even though it does not draw that power from any democratic process. It draws its power from military and security considerations and imposes it on the state and its institutions in a model of power legitimacy never before seen in normal countries, be they democratic or dictatorial. For this model of power legitimacy to continue in Lebanon, other forces in the country must at least have formal representation in parliament. This representation is just a formality and is not meant to lead to effective participation in the management of public affairs. Surely these forces can have a say in minor side issues but they cannot touch the major political issues, such as those related to security, foreign policy and war.

Participation by the other political forces in Lebanon is limited to deciding matters that are not related to state sovereignty, including agreeing on each party’s share of public offices or providing services. All parties are equally engaged in corruption, a major element of the mini-state’s power and protection and its lever for exercising power over the state. Without corruption, the mini-state would vanish. Corruption is crucial for the survival of the evil connection between the mini-state and the state. The first objective condition for fighting the phenomenon of corruption in any country is an authority possessing the right of coercion and which has the responsibility to fight corruption. That authority is only accountable to the citizenry for its actions. This concept is quasi-absent from Lebanon. As the executive branch, the government in Lebanon is incapable of maintaining a monopoly on the legitimate use of power. More than that, it is unable to openly admit that it has the exclusive right to be in charge of the country’s security and military affairs. This painful reality serves as the perfect excuse for the government to flee from its constitutional responsibilities. Naturally, when huge gaps in exercising authority are left unfilled and when accountability is absent, the genie of corruption will escape from its bottle under the watchful and encouraging eye of the mini-state. The message to the Lebanese is simple: Your government is not qualified to govern. With this in mind, Hezbollah’s secretary-general declaring war on corruption in the state apparatus is extremely dubious and ironic. Hassan Nasrallah made that promise during the campaign leading up to Lebanon’s recent general elections. It is indeed dubious when it is known that all of Hezbollah’s alliances and agreements with other political forces in Lebanon were based on the principle: “leave my army and arms alone and do whatever you want with the rest of the country’s affairs.”

Hezbollah’s multiple wars on corruption have always been merely rhetorical. Not once has it carried through with its promises. Instead, it has often used the threat of exposing corruption cases as a tactic to blackmail opponents and critics into turning a blind eye on Hezbollah’s state-within-the-state project. Saying that is not to imply that Hezbollah itself is not guilty of corruption. It is known that Hezbollah did nothing to expose or intervene in cases of government corruption that occurred with Hezbollah’s collusion, if not encouragement. However, when the Lebanese government threatened to shut down the party’s communication network, Hezbollah resorted to its blackmailing tactics and almost staged a coup. The Lebanese are eagerly awaiting Hezbollah’s miraculous approach to stomping out corruption. The country’s economy and its citizens have been worn thin by corruption at all levels and by smuggling. The country’s borders have become porous to all sorts of smuggling operations — with Hezbollah’s complicity. To say Hezbollah will eradicate all of that when most of its power alliances are with figures and parties heavily suspected of systematic corruption is beyond fiction. When Lebanese citizens wish Hezbollah the best of luck in its war on corruption, they do so out of desperation. They have despaired of the government’s ability to curb corruption. However, wishful thinking is one thing and reality is another. Reality says that reforms and fighting corruption require state institutions that refuse to be subjected to an outside source of power.

Pro-Syrian Regime Officials Top Lebanon’s Controversial Naturalization Decree

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by aawsat.com -- Lebanon’s controversial naturalization decree has included former Syrian officials and wealthy warlords close to the Syrian regime, according to information released on Saturday. Minister of Education in the caretaker government Marwan Hamadeh accused President Michel Aoun of conspiring with the Syrian regime. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hamadeh said the decree, “regardless of the powers of those who signed it, indicates a serious complicity between the Lebanese governance, in particular the current term, with the Syrian authorities that massacred the Syrian people.” “The decree entails more threats than the mere naturalization of some of the suspicious people of the Bashar Assad regime, who will certainly be hit by international and Arab sanctions sooner or later,” he added. Hamadeh called on Prime Minister Saad Hariri to give answers to his friends and allies about the truth behind this decree. Meanwhile, in an official presidential statement on Saturday, Aoun requested that anyone with evidence of the ineligibility of members of the list of people to be granted Lebanese citizenship bring the information to General Security. “The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, requests anyone who has definite information about any person included in the above-mentioned decree and does not deserve Lebanese nationality to submit this information to the Ministry of the Interior,” the statement read.

Three parliamentary blocs, including the Democratic Gathering, headed by Taymur Jumblat, the “Powerful Republic”, led by the Lebanese Forces, and the Kataeb Party, are preparing to challenge the decree before the Constitutional Council. Some information and photos posted on Twitter revealed that those who were granted Lebanese nationality include Farouk al-Joud, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lattakia. He is the owner of the largest fleet of ships and is close to the Syrian regime. The family of former Syrian Minister Hani Murtada, Samer Fawz, who is very close to Maher al-Assad and Iyad Ghazal, former governor of Homs, have also been included in the decree. It is not yet confirmed whether some of these names have been mentioned on the lists of international and Arab sanctions, since the naturalization decree has not yet been officially released. However, the Lebanese nationality is an outlet for Syrian individuals and investors to open bank accounts, given that their country is subject to sanctions that hinder their work. The decree needs the signature of the prime minister and interior minister to take effect.

Lebanese woman faces entry ban to Cairo for 'insulting Egypt'

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by egypttoday.com -- CAIRO – 3 June 2018: Egyptian Attorney General Nabil Sadek ordered on Sunday to hold a Lebanese citizen, Mona al-Mazbouh, in detention for four days pending investigations over accusation of “insulting Egyptian people and the president”, amid calls from the Egyptian parliamentarians to bar her from entering Egypt. Her arrest came before her departure from Cairo International Airport, as per a decision issued by the Egyptian General Prosecution after a number of Egyptian lawyers filed lawsuits against her, Egypt’s state-owned news agency MENA reported on Sunday. On May 29, Egyptian authorities arrested Mazbouh over posting a video on her Facebook account talking about several situations that triggered her anger while spending her vacation in Cairo.

In her video, Mazbouh described Egyptians as the “dirtiest people” on earth, and used other disrespectful and insulting phrases. She also insulted Egyptian Uber drivers as "SOB" and described Egypt as “the state of pimps…and the state of beggars” after speaking about being harassed by two Egyptian men in the upscale district of Zamalek, Cairo. Mazbouh added in the video that she visited Egypt four times and every time she felt more resentment toward the country, adding that she was robbed two years ago when she was in Alexandria. The Lebanese citizen also described President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as “unjust”, spitting on the Egyptians and insulting Egyptian women. Before being arrested, Mazbouh posted a second video on her Facebook account apologizing to some people, saying that the first video was not public on her account and one of her friends took the video and spread it on social media. “I definitely didn’t mean to offend all Egyptians, and never meant to say anything about the country’s political affairs,” Mazbouh stated in her second video. She added that most of her first video was in the Lebanese accent, and that is why most Egyptians didn’t get what she was saying correctly. She also denied all the claims about being paid for recording the video. “I love all Egyptians and I love this country, that’s why I visited it more than once and I keep coming back,” Mazbouh concluded. A number of Egyptian lawmakers of the House of Representatives called for barring Mazbouh from entering Egypt. “It is inappropriate to keep Mazbouh in Egypt after insulting Egyptian women," said Galila Othman, a member of the Media and Culture Committee of the Parliament. Othman asked for imposing entry ban on Mazbhouh. “Mazbouh is a very bad example of Lebanese women and does not represent the respect and good taste of Lebanese people," said parliamentarian Nousela Abul Amr, calling for barring her from entering Egypt.

Egypt Today contacted the Lebanese Embassy in Cairo on Sunday regarding Mazbouh's case and is waiting for a response. On May 11, security forces arrested a woman called Amal Fathy Abdel-Tawab who was reported to be a member of April 6 Youth Movement and was detained for six days pending investigations over accusations of defamation, insulting the Egyptian state and assaulting Banque Misr employees. Abdel-Tawab started a live video on her Facebook page, while angrily-telling a situation that happened to her as she was finishing a routine procedure for reactivating her bank account; she started to mention several bureaucratic situations that delayed the procedures for a long time. She added that she faced verbal sexual harassment and finally started to assault everyone in the bank. Abdel-Tawab’s video was full of inappropriate words and insults against the state, police, Egyptians and even herself.

'Vogue' Cover Of Saudi Princess In The Driver's Seat Sparks Controversy

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npr.org -- SASHA INGBER -- The June cover of Vogue Arabia featuring a Saudi princess behind the wheel of a convertible is facing backlash. The photo was intended to celebrate the trailblazing women of Saudi Arabia ahead of the lifting of a ban on women driving, on June 24. But the royal family has been accused of jailing female rights activists who for years fought for the right to drive. It is the first Vogue edition dedicated to the conservative country. Editor-in-Chief Manuel Arnaut said the magazine "celebrates the exciting and progressive changes transforming the Kingdom" and that "embodying this new era of female empowerment is [her royal highness] Princess Hayfa bint Abdullah Al Saud." He added that the photo shoot, in "the dancing sands of the desert of Dhahban" outside Jiddah, was "of great meaning for the Arab world." But some people saw the cover as an affront to Saudi women's rights activists who were recently arrested.

At least 11 activists have been detained since mid-May, amounting to "a large-scale crackdown on women's rights activists and other supporters," according to the Human Rights Watch. Some of the activists remain in custody. That casts doubt on the kingdom's commitment to women's rights, Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "The crown prince, who has styled himself as a reformer with Western allies and investors, should be thanking the activists for their contributions to the Saudi women's rights movement." "The choice of a Saudi princess for Vogue Arabia's cover is completely tone-deaf," Husain Abdulla, executive director of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, told NPR. "It obscures the monarchy's long-standing violations of women's rights and freedoms in Saudi Arabia, and steals credit from the trailblazing women who have campaigned ceaselessly since the 1990s for equal rights — and who the government just locked up."

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This Reconfigurable Tower in Beirut Allows Its Inhabitants to Slide Its Walls Outside

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by George Kafka -- metropolismag.com--   Beirut is a profoundly complex and contradictory city. The vaunted jet-setters’ playground of the Middle East, with sparkling new towers designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Foster + Partners, is also home to tens of thousands of Syrian and Palestinian refugees. It’s a coastal metropolis of over 2 million that offers little public transportation, and Lamborghinis sit bumper to bumper with minibuses in its congested streets. “Our context is chaos,” explains Fouad Samara, a Lebanese architect whose eponymous practice is situated on the first floor of Modulofts, its most recently completed project. Born in Beirut, Samara studied at the American University of Beirut and the University of Bath in England and has a keen grasp of Lebanese and international architectural history (with a particular focus on Modernism) that suits his highly intellectual approach to design. At the University of Bath, he studied under the late Patrick Hodgkinson, architect of London’s Brunswick Centre, and is fiercely devoted to the work of Alison and Peter Smithson.

Modulofts was completed in 2017 and can be seen as a thoughtful unification of the threads that run through Samara’s life and career. Located in eastern Beirut’s Rmeil neighborhood, near the historic and now-gentrifying Ashrafieh area, the 14-story building comprises seven stacked “lofts”—six duplex apartments plus Samara’s ground-floor studio. The layouts of the apartments blend the traditional Lebanese residential floor plan—a double-height central communal space with four radiating rooms—with the functional expectations of loft-style living: “light, spatial luxury, flexibility, and honesty in the use of materials,” says Samara. His architectural checklist is on full display at Modulofts. Light floods into each of the lofts through the glass frontage, which also provides sweeping views of the city. “Spatial luxury” is achieved with a central 19 foot, double height living area, which—like the traditional Lebanese home— is flanked by a kitchen and one non-specific room. This layout is repeated on the unit’s upper level, which can be accessed by a floating steel staircase inside, or by a secondary entrance off the building’s central stairway. A simple yet strict material vocabulary of exposed, board-formed concrete, dark steel, and white painted wood is maintained throughout.

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