· April, 2008

Stories about Lebanon from April, 2008

Lebanon: Remove the Mufti

  30 April 2008

“The Mufti (religious leader) of Mount Lebanon is a foul-mouthed demagogue who needs to be demoted as soon as possible,” writes Beirut Spring from Lebanon.

Lebanon: Roumieh Prison Mutiny II

  25 April 2008

“The prisoners handed over the seven warders they were holding hostage and returned to their cells after having negotiated and handed over demands to the chief of internal security,” reports Lebanon News Network on the peaceful ending of the prison mutiny.

Lebanon: Cultural Renaissance

  25 April 2008

“There's a sort of Renaissance taking place in Lebanon – attributed partially to an massive influx of European tourists (and a marked absence of Gulfies) – art, culture, and creativity are becoming more the norm than the exception in public & semi-public spaces,” notes Finkployd with photos and video on...

Lebanon: Roumieh Prison Mutiny

  25 April 2008

“….of interest to the laymen, Roumieh prison is where the 4 Generals, Assayed, Azar, Hamdan; Hajj are kept … and where many of the Fath El Islam elements are imprisoned … I remain suspicious,” noted GPC on the mutiny taking place at the Roumieh prison in Lebanon.

Lebanon: CLuster Bombs

  25 April 2008

M Bashir from Lebanon draws our attention to the dangers of cluster bombs in his country – which are still claiming lives today.

Lebanon: Valet Parking

  21 April 2008

Valet parking provides a luxury service and VIP treatment for customers. This is not so in Lebanon any more, where the practice has become so widespread that it is found even at fast food outlets and career fairs attended by young unemployed people, who are looking for jobs. Moussa Bashir looks into what bloggers are saying about the phenomena.

Lebanon: Media reporting on Gaza

  21 April 2008

“So now the headline is that there is ‘unrest’ in the Gaza strip. Last week, I felt unrestful: I didn't know whether to take chicken taouk or shwarma – but I didn't kill five children in the process…” Burghol commenting on how the media reports about Gaza.

Lebanon: Sunnification of R. Hariri?

  21 April 2008

“When religion sleeps with politics, the outcome is an ugly bastard,” declares Tantalus while suspecting the beginning of the “Sunnification” of the late Rafic Hariri, who was previously dubbed as “Pan-Lebanese.”

Lebanon: Show-off all the time

  21 April 2008

“In Lebanon, everybody live in community. Everything you’re doing have to be known, by your friends, your family, your neighbors… it is show-off all the time,” observes élodie while writing about Lebanese fascination with social networking such as Facebook.

Lebanon: Commemorating the Civil War

  15 April 2008

April 13 marked the 33rd anniversary of the beginning of the Lebanese civil war which ended, officially, in 1990. Lebanese, who are anxious that the violence may be renewed any time, commemorated the occasion with events to raise awareness against it. Bloggers too wrote about the war from different angles as usual; some with lengthy analysis of what caused it and others with reports on some of the anti–war activities, writes Moussa Bashir, who brings us blogger reactions.

Lebanon: Turf on concrete sidewalk

  13 April 2008

“…some dude ‘planted’ turf right on gemmayze street… midst a heated turf war right on gemmayze street! (pubs vs residents),” reports finkployd with photos and video.

Lebanon: Selling Air

  6 April 2008

With Lebanese air now canned and exported around the world, bloggers are torn between considering the move as a nationalist or money making scheme. Moussa Bashir reports from Beirut.

Lebanon: Mughnieh's Billboards

  5 April 2008

“We came up with a stencil of him so that people can remember him like they do Che Guevara,” said the “creative director” responsible for Mughnieh's billboard design, as quoted by Sursock.