Qifa Nabki
Hezbollah
Landis and Abbas Go Head to Head
Given the enormous potential of Syria’s peace negotiations with Israel to transform the strategic balance of the region, it is a bit odd that the discussion of this issue has been largely absent in Lebanese media and political circles. The talks are hardly ever mentioned by opposition figures, and the majority only ever seems to … Continue reading
Moubayed Strikes Out
Sami Moubayed has a piece in Asia Times this week (“Syria plays hardball with the Saudis”), in which he compares the litany of victories registered by Syria to the string of Saudi defeats. I usually like Sami Moubayed’s analyses, and I found much of what he said in this article to be true, apart from his … Continue reading
Will Israel Destroy Lebanon in 2008?
The threats have become more insistent of late. Ehud Barak promised five Israeli army divisions in the next round of battle against Hizbullah, while Northern Command chief Gadi Eisenkot unveiled his Dahiya Doctrine, stipulating that any village that fired a single shot at Israel would receive the same treatment meted out on Beirut’s southern suburbs. … Continue reading
Lebanon’s Cabbies on the Syria-Israel Negotiations
View from a ’72 Benz C250 series, issue no. 1. Beirut’s service taxi drivers are more oppressed than usual these days. The new Interior Minister, Ziad Baroud, is proving his mettle by enforcing the long-ignored seat belt law, and so the chauffeuriyyeh are predicitably getting shafted, not least because most old cabs don’t even have working seat … Continue reading
Conspiracy Chronicles, issue no. 1
This theory comes courtesy of Abbas, who works as an office boy at a consulting firm in Ras Beirut, and uses the first person plural pronoun (“we”) when speaking about the Hizb. ** Abbas: The Damascus bombing was a message to Syria from the Salafists operating in north Lebanon. The message stated, loud and clear: … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…