I promise to lay off March 14th at some point this week and go back to bashing Napole-aoun, but credit should be given where credit is due. The silly flag billboards all around Lebanon have been replaced by Future Movement electoral campaign billboards (coincidence?), and as Bech explains over at Remarkz, the results are often … Continue reading
The Future Movement launched its electoral campaign last night at BIEL with a (rather unusually) charismatic speech by Saad al-Hariri. Eschewing the teleprompters (and correct desinential inflection, alas) al-Hariri built up to a stirring crescendo: “Dear loved ones, there are nine weeks left until June 7. There are nine weeks before we fill the ballot … Continue reading
Deal 1: The General’s Return I’ve been reading Karim Pakradouni’s recently published history of the Lahoud presidency (Sadma wa Sumud: ‘Ahd Imil Lahhud, 1998-2007), and I recommend it to anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes peek at Lebanese politics from the perspective of a consummate insider. I’ll mention one anecdote by way of an endorsement. Toward … Continue reading
Christopher Hitchens has penned a riveting account of his drubbing in Hamra forVanity Fair. Previous articles sponsored by the Lebanon Renaissance Foundation were either rife with errors or somewhat off-message, so Hitch’s piece comes right in the nick of time and proves that you really do get what you pay for. Here’s his opener: “As … Continue reading
Lebanese daily As-Safir (which leans towards the opposition) has a very interesting analysis of the results of a poll conducted by Information International (the premier polling organization in Lebanon [see their blog here]). On the face of it, it seems to suggest that Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement and its allies are more popular than … Continue reading
And the people say…