Winograd versus God

They say Israel is a democratic State…We don’t like it…

We say Israel is a racist, artificial, belligerent State in the heart of the Arab world…

Well, we in the Arab world are known for bullshiting (i.e. talking bullshit)

After the Summer War 2006, Israel formed the Winograd Commission to look into the failures of the war…

After the Summer War 2006, Hezbollah decided that it won a Godly protected War…

Oh, Ah!!! When God is involved we have to stay on the side…and this is what Hezbollah wanted us the Lebanese who suffered the consequences of a war that we didn’t want, to do…

Hezbollah wanted no Lebanese to cross-exam its decision to abduct the Israeli soldiers…

Hezbollah wanted no Lebanese to criticize…They wanted us to clap and cheer for its Godly pretentious victory…

Winograd spoke today…he blamed Olmert, Peretz and Halutz for the failures of the war…

Let’s wish God will speak and blame Nassrallah for the catastrophic effects of the abduction of the Israeli soldiers on July 12, 2006…

Shebaa Farms' restaurant Unites

I woke up today haunted with my on-going dream of opening a restaurant in the Shebaa Farms (of course when we liberate them diplomatically or through our Godly protected Resistance, whatever…)

I was thinking will it work? Or is it going to be a financial disaster…opening a restaurant so far away?

But I am not doing it for financial purposes…I am doing it to bring together people from across the borders (the 3 borders)…

Then again, this is my long term project…But I hope it won’t be THAT long…I hope I won’t have to wait for another 60 years to see the borders re-opened…

Food does bring people together…

See you all at the restaurant in Shebaa…The all-day opening ceremony will be a day to remember…on all levels…

Remembering the Armenian Genocide:

Today is a sad day to millions of Armenians around the world...

Today we remember our 1.5 million dead, our martyrs of freedom...

It is a sad day... Another shameful day for the whole of Humanity...

I salute the souls of my great grandfathers and great grandmothers...

Segolene Royal Sprint

She made it to the second round...nothing of a surprise...

Jubilation, happiness, joy and enthusiasm for this victory... Well I am happy too...a woman in power is great...

However what impressed me is her speech after her victory...

Segolene Royal appeared in front of her supporters very solid and very focused...

She gave a very serious speech remind the French of her priorities...reminding the French what it means to vote for her...

She aimed her speech to the people's mind....She wasn't intrested in hearing people cheering instinctively... She wasn't talking instinctively...emotionally...

This is something that politicians in the Middle East should learn from...

Our politicians adore seeing people cheering around them...shouting crazily...Tickling people's emotions is what our politicians like....and this is why we are in big political troubles in our region...

Ok enough of sad thoughts...let's be happy that Segolene passed the first round and let's hope she will win the presidency on the 6th of May...

Bravo Segolene...

The Middle East & Edith Piaf

Yossi Beilin… I liked him during Oslo…I adored him afterwards…then I was disappointed with him…till a friend of mine explained to me accurately his motives and position regarding all the confusing issues in the Middle East…

Nowadays, I listen to what he has to say with respect and with my friend’s diagnosis of him in my mind…

He is an academic not a politician…So I let you understand it the way you want…

Today I read something he wrote and I kept in mind these few words of him:
“Those who pay the price of these mistakes are Israelis and Palestinians, who see peace moving further away, and meanwhile are forced to live with lack of security
and concern over the next war, which is facing them from newspaper headlines.”

We in Lebanon are living the same situation: lack of security and concern over the next war which is facing us from newspaper headlines…

Another friend of mine called me two days ago to tell me she cancelled her wedding in Beirut and she will do it somewhere else maybe in Qatar…because of the information or rumours that there will be another war this summer in Lebanon…

We are all talking about the coming war…Investors, businessmen and entrepreneurs are all freezing their activities waiting for the summer war…

Is that a normal life? Well it depends whom you are asking…If you are asking someone outside the Middle East…you will get a pale, outraged face…

If you ask a person living in the Middle East… you will get a nonchalant person…saying to you coldly: “God help us”…

Well the secret is that even though you keep on hearing bad news coming from the Middle East, there are beautiful lives being lived everywhere from the Mediterranean sea to the Gulf…

And this secret got to me yesterday while I was watching “La Mome” (the French movie about Edith Piaf’s life)… Edith Piaf the great French singer had a miserable life from the day she was born till the day she died in 1963…But despite all the sadness, misery and disasters she was able to become that great world-known singer…She was able to excel and produce "greatness"

The Middle East is like Edith Piaf… Despite all the destruction, sadness, and misery…you can see the love of life in people’s eyes… You can see their "greatness"

Freeze the future

What is it that makes people eager to take pictures?

Why do we like freezing events and moments?

Is it the feeling of holding on to the moment?

Is it to inform others of what we do and how we feel?

Look at the above pictures...

These are pictures of my friends… we had dinner and we laughed for two hours non-stop…Does it show in the pictures?

What stays in one’s memory is what is important not the pictures…

Don’t freeze the present…Don’t live the past…Look forward to the future…

Imagine the future…

Take pictures of the future...in your head...

The wise person in the desert said so...

Ridiculous Peace Initiatives

It seems that everybody in the Middle East needed to witness the dismantlement of Iraq…needed to see the atrocities against the innocents in Iraq to understand that it was time to end the Arab-Israeli conflict…

The Arabs, the Americans and the Israelis are all speaking about peace in the Middle East…but unfortunately each has its own vision of the peace…

Well, the truth is that none has a vision…They are all using the peace process as a tool to fix internal problems in their own countries…

Whatever,

So, Mr Ibrahim Suleiman (the American businessman of Syrian origins) arrived to Israel, talked to members of the Knesset… He told them about the secret talks he had with Israelis to reach a peace agreement…

He wasn’t very welcomed in Israel…

The Syrian regime hasn’t commented on the visit yet…

Oh and what about Hezbollah? What? No comment? Suleiman mentioned that some Lebanese wanted from Syria to be engaged in the last summer war but Bashar Assad refused… Oh what a great support he is… Yes Mr Nassrallah keep on destroying the country in the name of your union with the Syrian regime…the same regime that will destroy you to get a peace treaty with Israel that you are so eager to fight day and night…

Anyways, on January 16, 2007, I wrote a piece about the secret talks between Israel and Syria…It is one of my favorite posts…take a look at it again…”Wonderful Park”… You know I don’t want to repeat myself…then I will get a phone call from my sister and be blamed of being boring and repetitive…

But I am starting to believe that it is not me who is boring and repetitive or ridiculous… The problem is in the leadership in the Middle East... They are the ones who are boring, repetitive and ridiculous…

Remembering the Lebanese Civil War

With sadness, bitterness and disappointment I write these few lines…

Today we remember the start of the civil war in Lebanon on 13 April 1975…

Yesterday, I watched “kalam annass” one of the leading political talk shows in Lebanon…

For 3 hours. I listened to the Lebanese calling in to share their fears and views about the next potential civil war in Lebanon…

Almost all of the callers, women, men, old, young…pretended to be against a new civil war BUT if they felt that their existence was in danger or if they felt that some “agents”= “traitors” will be forcing on them some unacceptable agendas…They were ready to fight…

They were all ready to fight for their existence, their rights…
They were all ready to fight for Lebanon’s identity (each seeing it differently)…
They were all ready to fight against injustice…

But these were the same reasons for the first civil war of 1975…and the experience showed that the result was disastrous…

No party was able to win…We all lost a country…

Who will be the new heroes of the potential civil war?

The stupidity of the Lebanese will be the next hero…
The short memory of the Lebanese will be the next hero…
The ignorance of the Lebanese will be the next hero…

Why do we always want to fight in this country?

People that never learn from past experiences will never be able to form a nation…

Hassan Nasrallah's rule

Today, we were able to enjoy the sun and have a fabulous lunch near the sea... However the big question and the main preoccupation of Lebanese are what does Hassan Nasrallah holds for us this summer? (above in the pictures my son, sister and mom)

Hassan Nasrallah spoke yesterday...

He has decided that either his way should prevail (a mini Iran in Lebanon, a maxi Gaza in Lebanon) or we will have a deadlock and a destructive status quo for two years (till the parliamentary elections in Lebanon)…

The gap is widening and no solutions on the horizon…

People are fed up…Why don’t we divide the country and finish with this neverending story? We don’t want to be an example of co-existence in the Middle East…

We don’t want to live in suspense everyday…We want to have boring days…

Inspired by Music & Lyrics

So it is…my sister complained that I was being late in writing on the blog and yesterday she complained that I was repeating myself…Did she mean I was becoming boring?

Maybe the peace business was becoming boring?

Most probably it is me who is boring… these days…

So I decided to resume reading Etgar Keret…he is in a way inspiring with his weird stories…

And I went watching a movie…Music & Lyrics…maybe I will get inspired…

It is a nice movie…that keeps a smile on your face… It is about inspiration and love… about the magical effect that some people can have on others…

And the last thing I did to get back my inspiration and innovation was to buy a yellow crocs…and I bought a blue crocs for my son…and a black and red crocs to my sisters…

That made us all happy…well maybe happiness could bring inspiration…or maybe that way my sister will find my old and repetitive ideas creative…well we live in the Middle East…bribery is in our blood…

So, is this post boring too?

Happy Easter….

Nancy Pelosi in the Middle East

I just had a phone call from my sister asking me why I haven’t written a word on the blog since Sunday…

I was reflecting on Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the Middle East, well to be honest, I was trying to digest the idea that Pelosi decided to visit Syria and that she had “honest” talks with Bashar Assad…

Yes I am convinced that the only way to end the conflict in the Middle East and reach peace is through diplomacy, negotiations, dialogue etc, etc…

But when it comes to Syria I get upset and frustrated because Bashar Assad holds the Lebanese as hostage for his peace talks with Israel…

Well, Bashar Assad doesn’t want to hold peace talks with Israel…He wants talks only…

Peace, real peace, not another compromise or another settlement or another agreement will not come from Syria.

The end of the conflict will come definitely from Syria: they will sacrifice Hezbollah and Hamas…

But where will real peace come from?

Ah you are asking what is real peace?

It is the interaction between governments and people on both sides or on all sides…

Real peace is like the peace between France and Germany…

So, Nancy Pelosi visited Syria, she met with Assad…

Great, Olmert sent a message with Pelosi about "dying" to resume peace talks with Syria…

Great, Assad’s sham for peace talks with Israel has been transferred to Pelosi…

Of course we Lebanese are busy destroying each other and fighting each other to the point that we don’t have time for peace…

Again and again I say it…and I will keep on saying it…

We will be ON the table of negotiations between Israel and Syria if we keep ignoring that issue and if we keep on adopting the stupid strategy of being the last Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel…

And by the way, call me a fool or naïve or stupid or a dreamer…

It is only with Lebanon that Israel will have a “warm”, “real”, “hot” peace…

The Lebanese brain is the most competitive and most compatible to the Israeli brain…

And the future is for a competitive and compatible peace…

It is through Beirut and Tel Aviv that the Middle East will flourish…

Call me a fool...

The past and Angela Merkel

On Sunday, after a breakfast with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, German chancelor Angela Merkel spent about half an hour at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Before leaving, she wrote in the memorial's guest book: "Humanity grows out of responsibility for the past."

The past… a four letter word with a huge impact on generations…

We in the Middle East understand, we feel, we live, and we suffer from the acts of the past…

We in the Middle East live in the past more than in the present or the future…

The Israelis want to find the Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD…

The Muslims want to go back to the Prophet’s times to revive the greatness of Islam…

Christians in Lebanon think they are Phoenicians and not Arabs…

Turkey will never be able to enter the European Union until it admits its responsibility of the Armenian genocide of 1915…

Palestinians want to bring back their refugees to the land lost in 1948…

Syria wants back a land that it lost in 1967…

And the dates are endless…

Rarely will you hear somebody in the Middle East talking about plans or demands for the year 2020 or 2050 or 2100…

We all live in the past…while we are losing the present and who knows what future we will have…