Tories cite "anti-Semitism" as reason to ban Lebanese journalist

Tories leader, David Cameron, has pressed the British Government to ban Ibrahim Moussawi, former editor of Hizballah's TV channel Al Manar, from entering the country for an anti-war event.

Moussawi had been invited by the Stop The War Coalition to attend the "World Against War" day in London on December 1. The former Al-Manar editor was also prohibited from participating in an anti-war event in Ireland after the country rejected his entry last month on similar grounds. The Daily Star reports that the US Government pressured Ireland to refuse Moussawi's entry, which outraged the Irish Anti-War Movement, who had organised the event.

Suppression of Hizballah's media affiliates has been a common scene in the Western world, largely attributed to the successful attempt by Jewish lobbies to censor the Shi'ite Party's perspective. In recent years, countries such as Australia, Canada, and the UK have all followed the US in succumbing to the pressure of Jewish lobbies and banning media affiliated with Lebanon's largest and most popular political party.

The Irish decision was the most surprising, as Ireland has long sought the path of diplomacy and dialogue in the Middle East ... so long as that dialogue doesn't take place in Ireland it seems.

If Western governments aim to win the "hearts and minds" of Middle Easterners, then perhaps it would be wise to honour their own words. Hurls of hypocrisy are often the typical response by the Arab world each time the West gives its lecture on democracy, free speech and dialogue... and rightly so. It's a great pity that under the hawkish auspices of George W. Bush, democracy and free speech have become selective, almost hampered within the Occident.
Thank heavens that the internet was invented before Bush came to power.
I wonder what would have become of us simple Western taxpayers had total censorship of information taken place instead of a free world wide web ... perhaps something eeringly resembling the greatly censorsed and closed societies of the Arab and Islamic world?

Censorship has no rewards.

Meanwhile on the topic of racist attacks, here's an example of one that generally goes unnoticed:

Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to stop spitting on them

A few weeks ago, a senior Greek Orthodox clergyman in Israel attended a meeting at a government office in Jerusalem's Givat Shaul quarter. When he returned to his car, an elderly man wearing a skullcap came and knocked on the window. When the clergyman let the window down, the passerby spat in his face.

Full story from Haaretz.

Return to Civil War unlikely ... for now

There has been a lot of diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing in the past week.

European ministers continue to fly in and out of Lebanon and Syria; UN head Ban-ki-moon dropped into Beirut; the Arab League's irrelevant leader Amr Moussa was in Damascus; Israel confessed that it's resumed secret dialogue with Syria.

I presume the UN, the Arab League and the EU all went to Damascus pleading, threatening or sweetening Assad in order to get him to compromise on Lebanon's presidency.

To make matters even more confusing, Hizballah has launched investigations into Al-Qaida's activities in Lebanon and its apparent assassination plot against their number one, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

What a week!

In the meantime, Lebanon's constitutional (not that the Lebanese revere their constitution) deadline to appoint a new president is rapidly approaching, and a chosen candidate for November 24th remains elusive. The most neglected aspect of the puzzle, the Lebanese people, are baffled, yet still remain in fear of what may occur should consultations to elect a new president fail. Reports (or allegations) of Lebanese factions re-arming themselves in anticipation of an internal conflict have been emerging for the past year, and the Lebanese people wonder how many more assassinations and bombs the fragile state can sustain before one of these factions explodes.

However, whilst many are looking inwards to find a solution, my concentration is fixed on where Lebanon's key decision-makers lie ... beyond Lebanon's borders.

Critics have already voiced their scepticism of the looming Annapolis Conference, especially from the Arabs, with obviously good reason. The Israelis and the US have on several occasions before invited Arab states for "serious" negotiations, which have often ended up as mere PR stunts. Syria's insistence that the Golan Heights be placed on the agenda - with the backing of America's Arab allies - alludes to the great cynicism of Arab states when it comes to negotiating with Israel.

But Lebanese ought to be focusing on Annapolis and other diplomatic initiatives for key reasons. Whether every Lebanese faction is armed to the teeth or not, guns will remain silent so long as the US, Israel and Syria want them to. The latest expression of willingness from Israel and Syria to resume some kind of dialogue (despite the high possibility of no fruitful outcome being achieved) signals that neither side is interested in embarking on another military initiative in the meantime. Of course, tensions still remain high after Israel's mysterious airstrike on Syria in September, but it is possible that the Israelis and the West are trying to soften Assad's stance to win a few compromises.

Arab critics are probably accurate in their pessimism at achieving a peace agreement at Annapolis, but is this conference really designed to bring peace, or to simply calm the waters? Is this conference a sign that - behind-the-scenes - the US and Israel are willing to conduct a dialogue with Syria over Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinians?

The speeches of Nasrallah, Aoun, Geagea or Hariri deliver little more than affirmation of the status quo. We are incapable of making our own decisions, otherwise I'm sure we would have a new president by now. There will be no president so long as the US, Israel and Syria are not satisfied. Let us not forget that it was a consensus between the US, Israel and Syria that ended the Lebanese Civil War in 1990. Regretfully, our deep inter and intra-religious divisions ensure that we are not the bearers of our own destiny.

Until the Lebanese learn to take initiative in their internal matters, my eyes remain fixed on regional developments and for the time being, Annapolis.

US-Israel divisions begin to surface

Israel to US: We want dialogue with Syria, and action against Iran. Give Lebanon to Syria in exchange for severing alliance with Iran, but keep Golan Heights

US to Israel: We want dialogue with Iran, and action against Syria. You're wasting your time with Damascus, they won't accept anything less than the Golan ... And get used to an Iranian bomb.

From Haaretz, full article here.