Saturday 9 January 2021

Britain’s Colonial Past and Brexit. The Real Link Which Remainers Can’t Deal With

Britain's Colonial Past and Brexit. The Real Link Which Remainers Can't  Deal With
Martin Jay is an award-winning British journalist based in Morocco where he is a correspondent for The Daily Mail (UK) who previously reported on the Arab Spring there for CNN, as well as Euronews. From 2012 to 2019 he was based in Beirut where he worked for a number of international media titles including BBC, Al Jazeera, RT, DW, as well as reporting on a freelance basis for the UK’s Daily Mail, The Sunday Times plus TRT World. His career has led him to work in almost 50 countries in Africa, The Middle East and Europe for a host of major media titles. He has lived and worked in Morocco, Belgium, Kenya and Lebanon.

Martin Jay

January 6, 2021

The Brexit deal snatched at the last minute by Boris Johnson is not the amazing coup, trumped by his media officials or the conservative press. But it is a good deal for the UK and a pretty good escape plan for the EU which was faced with a new battle in 2021: to deal with the political turmoil of Britain ‘going alone’. Given that the EU already has enough political tumult with Poland and Hungary blocking a 2 trillion dollar rescue package for countries hit hard by Covid, the last thing the EU needed was a new crisis of its own making.

Yet the deal is still controversial both in the UK and in Brussels as in many ways the real test will be in the coming years, whether EU giants like Germany and France chose to allow the UK to grow – thus becoming a bigger and bigger customer to the EU 27 – or for it to become a pariah which the EU punishes through its arbitration system, agreed in the fine print of the final draft. Some sceptics will argue that when Britain starts to grow in certain sectors, it will have its wings clipped by an overzealous EU which will cry foul play every time one EU member state complains that it can’t compete with British goods or services. This is the real heart of the deal: whether this part of the agreement will be exercised fairly.

But does the EU really do “fair”? One look at how it treats Iran within a human rights prism while not condemning Saudi Arabia’s appalling war in Yemen should tell you much. Or how it supports the repressive regimes of many North African countries who acknowledge its fake hegemony while signing up to training courses for its police forces in how to effectively spread fake news through social media platforms and carry out better “surveillance”. Or just the number of human rights scandals on home soil which dog the EU, as more and more debating chambers in the European Parliament are named after journalists murdered while uncovering graft – while the perpetrators remain free.

The EU doesn’t really do well when we examine it in this light. Fairness and equality are not really its traits. In fact, the quip from Vladimir Putin that the EU “can’t even create a single market in its energy sector” when complaining about market access in Germany is very true. The “level playing field” is very much just a buzz phrase in Brussels to distract the embedded journalist to not look too hard at how ineffective the EU is at playing on it. A sort of reverse theory of logic which dictates the more you talk about something the less likely you are to do anything about it. And there are too many examples of this doctrine. SMEs is another. “Small and medium-sized business” which we are told in tomes of EU reports provide the solution to unemployment as studies show that they are the ones who employ workers quickly. And yet, the EU does almost everything it can to destroy them in reality through allowing the European parliament to be an orgy scene of multinational companies – invariably non-EU ones – who use the lobbying system to ensure than new EU directives push them out of the market altogether.

There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in Brussels and for remainers in the UK, who are still angry over Brexit now going though, much of their grief is really based on ideals built on the foundations supporting a pantheon of ignorance and mythology.

The EU doesn’t do fairness. It doesn’t even do democracy and in fact doesn’t even faintly pretend to. Yet it remains quiet when its millions of supporters harp on about how democratic it is, chiefly sighting the most useless and futile institution ever created: the European parliament. “Look, the EU is democratic. It has its own parliament!” people often say without taking stock of how the European parliament is probably the only assembly in the world which has no power whatsoever to propose draft legislation and is more or less run by powerful lobbying firms. For the EU itself, it is a farcical, last minute idea bolted on to allude to the idea of being democratic. But most portly MEPs who blow hundreds of millions of dollars each year travelling to Strasbourg every three weeks – burning a hole in the ozone layer the size of London – will tell you after two glasses of Chilean house red that they are nothing more than EU civil servants rubber stamping the important stuff that the adults do down the road in the European Commission. And that’s on a good day.

Yet fairness and its opaque interpretations is a big part of what Brexit is really all about. Certainly, the feral remainers in the UK who still dream of the deal being scuppered. Many are left-wing and believe naively that to belong to the EU assures Britain stays multicultural and will never fall victim to a rise of the far right – a desperate, yet equally hilarious notion, given that the EU itself is a white supremacist organisation essentially ran by white, middle aged men, many of whom are European freemasons whose delusion views about taking more power in Brussels is actually feeding the far right movement in Europe. The more the political crisis the EU finds itself in, the higher the number of far right seats in the European Parliament. It’s no longer a mystery or an enigma. Many top EU officials now admit that the EU has a real identity problem and are dumbfounded to see that its power grab is part of the solution.

But it’s also about how British people see themselves and how they cope with achievement. Winners and losers, if you like. Many remainers believe that any excursion to win in any given field should be discouraged and that being an EU member state was a perfect way of instilling this assiduous virtue which comes from the same loins as “it’s not the winning that matters, but the taking part”.

For 11 years I worked in Brussels as a journalist pouring over the texts of financial services directives, many hundreds of pages. A theme always became clear though in all of them which was that the City of London needed to “harmonize” its rules more in line with new rules which France and Germany wanted to introduce. The effect of this each and every time was to take away the business from London. And this is really the crux of Brexit. The EU has been trying to diminish the UK’s lead in many sectors through a disingenuous ruse which led Britain to believe that its membership was a genuinely fair and decent one. In reality it was entirely indecent and in the end enough people woke up and realised that EU membership really wasn’t worth much, given that it meant Britain handing over much of its gains from being a leader.

And what in God’s name is so wrong with leading? Remainers who pen clever op-eds now in the left-wing press are the real conservatives obsessed with Britain’s colonial past when they make the erroneous link with Britain’s pink history. It is just plain wrong to assume that British leadership at anything is colonial. Those same journalists fail to see that Britain’s colonial past was a failed venture and ended up almost bankrupting the country. Many, by contrast, who voted for Brexit see the UK embracing new relationships all over the world and signing trade deals with countries like Turkey, free now of the “colonialism” of old white men in Brussels who probably dance naked around trees once a year and have funny handshakes. Brexit is very much about an anticolonialism and yet many remainers are still joined at the hip with their khaki pasts. They are, by definition, conservative and racist as they equate anything to do with coming first with Britain’s war with the Mau Mau in the 1950s. They want Britain to be an “also ran” and dependent on Brussels for help tied to a colonial and abusive master who can’t look forward, is out of touch with reality and is racist to the core. If anything, Brexit is an end to colonialism and the embrace of a new set of economic ideals which places Britain as equal partners in trade with countries like India. If India can put aside its colonial past and wrongs by Britain, then why can’t remainers? The real link between Britain’s imperial past and Brexit is that the European Commission is still stuck with this model of governance itself, complete with the Brylcreem, the Sten and the khaki shorts. Remainers are not anti-imperialists at all. They are just anti-British imperialists who much prefer to be enslaved by Jean-Christophe, Luc or Hans in Brussels.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Gen. Suleimani Had Special Relation with Imad Mughniyeh’s Family: Untold Stories النجوى الأخيرة لآل مغنية: وكأنّي ذاهب إلى مقتلي

 January 6, 2021

Suleimani Jihad Mughniyeh
Martyrs Gen. Qassem Suleimani and Jihad Mughniyeh (photo by Al-Akhbar news paper).

Just two days before his assassination on January 3 last year, Lt Gen. Qassem Suleimani visited Lebanon and spent time with the family of top Hezbollah commander martyr Imad Mughniyeh and Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.

At dinner, Mughniyeh family told the Iranian general that it had been a long time since his last visit. Gen. Suleimani replied by saying that in the coming period they would go to Iran to meet him due to security concers, Qassem Qassem reports in an article published by Lebanese Daily Al-Akhbar on the first martyrdom anniversary of the Iranian general.

Gen. Suleimani was so calm, all who was present at that unexpected visit described it as strange. “Suleimani was not a normal man to Mughniyeh family, whose house was just like his own house. Throughout long years, Suleimani prayed, ate and wept there. He shared the family’s sorrow and joy,” Qassem says.

Suleimani, Mughniyeh Faced Death Together

The relation between Suleimani and Mughniyeh family started in 1998 when he was tapped to be the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force. Since that year, Suleimani constantly went to the house f Hezbollah’s military commander Imad Mughniyeh who was assassinated by Israeli Mossad in Damascus on February 12, 2008, according to the Al-Akhbar’s article.

The relation between the two commanders became closer after they repeatedly face death together, Qassem says. One of that incidents took place in July War in 2006. At that night, and due to intensified Israeli bombing of Lebanon, Mughniyeh and Suleimani (along with his associate) moved for another place. While moving, Suleimani pulled Mughniyeh by his shoulder addressing him: “Stay back, I will secure the road. You have to stay alive.”

Qassem narrates another incident when Suleimani and Mughniyeh, known for his nom du guerre (Haj Rudwan), noticed a suspected car on their way from Qom to Tehran.  As they changed their way, Mughniyeh’s facial expressions had never changed, the Beirut-based Palestinian journalist cites a story told by Suleimani himself about that incident.

Just few minutes before Mughniyeh’s martyrdom in 2008, Suleimani was accompanying the Hezbollah commander, Qassem cites a report by Ronen Bergman, Israeli investigative journalist. Following the assassination, Suleimani became a member of Mughniyeh family. He got the nickname of “Amo”, which means uncle, and kept on following up their issues. His house in Iran also became a destination for Mughniyeh family, Qassem says.

Relation with Jihad Mughniyeh

Jihad Mughniyeh, Haj Rudwan’s son, had a special relation with Suleimani, Qassem says. During the Syrian war, Jihad worked among the ranks of the Resistance fighters in the occupied Golan. Few days before his martyrdom by an Israeli strike on Golan’s Quneitra in January 2015, Suleimani and Jihad Mughniyeh attended a meeting for the Resistance in Syria. Qassem quotes one of the meeting attendees as saying that Jihad asked Suleimani to go on a mission to the occupied Golan.

“Unlike previous meetings, Gen Suleimani authorized the mission of Jihad who was extremely charming to the extent that no one could say ‘no’,” Qassem quotes the Resistance fighter who attended that meeting in Syria as saying.

After Jihad’s martyrdom, Suleimani headed for the house of Mughniyeh family. He offered Hajjeh Amina Slameh, Imad Mughniyeh’s mother and Jihad’s grandmother, condolences. The Iranian general spent that night at Jihad’s room weeping and calling Allah to grant him martyrdom just like that of Imad and Jihad Mughniyeh, according to Al-Akhbar’s Qassem.

The Last Visit

Going back to Suleimani’s visit to Mughniyeh family two days before his martyrdom last year, Qassem narrates what happened by saying: “Unlike previous visits, Suleimani did not care for time. It was a special night when he stayed long at the house of Mughniyeh family’s house in Beirut’s southern suburb (Dahiyeh). He told them that he was heading for Iraq. They asked him to refrain from going there. But he replied by saying that he was going by his official capacity and that it was ‘illogical’ that he would be assassinated. However, with the presence of a man like Donald Trump at the White House, there is no place for logic. Then, Suleimani headed to visit Sayyed Nasrallah. After meeting Hezbollah secretary general, Suleimani received a phone call from Fatima Mughniyeh, daughter of Imad and sister of Jihad. During that phone call, Fatima reiterated her call on Suleimani to change his mind and cancel Iraq visit. He replied by saying that the weather was nice and that the moon was shining, using the term: ‘It seems that I’m heading to death’.”

“After midnight on Thursday, January 2, 2020, US fighter jets assassinated Gen. Suleimani near Baghdad International Airport. “Amo” was martyred in the same way as Imad and Jihad Mughniyeh were martyred. The news took Mughniyeh family back to February 12, 2008, the day when the top Hezbollah commander was martyred. Yes, according to that family the loss was the same,” Qassem concludes his article at Al-Akhbar.

Translated and edited by Marwa Haidar

Source: Al-Akhbar Newspaper

 قاسم س. قاسم الإثنين 4 كانون الثاني 2021

قبل اغتياله بـ72 ساعة، كان قائد «قوّة القدس»، الشهيد قاسم سليماني، في لبنان. أمضى وقته في زيارة لعائلة الشهيد عماد مغنية، والأمين العام لـ «حزب الله»، السيد حسن نصرالله. زيارة أتت بعد فترة من الانقطاع افتقدت في خلالها عائلة مغنية حضوره بينها. يوم الثلاثاء، أي قَبل اغتياله بيومين، طُرق باب البيت. كانت المفاجأة أن «عمّو»، كما يناديه أبناء الشهيد عماد، هو الطارق. وكلمة «عمّو»، في الثقافة الشعبية الإيرانية، مقرونة بالروح دائماً، وهي تعني أن الشخص المنادى بها ينوب عن الأب في غيابه.

ترك استشهاد جهاد أثره على الحاج قاسم، فكان يطلب ممَّن يلتقيهم أن يدعوا له بأن يستشهد بالطريقة نفسها (الأخبار)

على العشاء، قيل له إن غيبته طالت هذه المرّة. أجاب العائلة بأنها، في الفترة المقبلة، ستضطرّ للمجيء إلى إيران لرؤيته، ذلك أن وضعه الأمني لم يعد يسمح له بالتحرّك كثيراً، خصوصاً بعد اكتشاف الخلية التي حاولت اغتياله في مدينة كرمان في تشرين الأول/ أكتوبر 2019. كان سليماني هادئاً جداً. مَن حَضَر الزيارة يصفها بالغريبة. مجرّد مجيئه بدا مفاجئاً، إذ لم يكن متوقّعاً قبل رأس السنة. كعادته، أدّى واجب الصلاة، إلّا أن العائلة، وللمرّة الأولى، صلّت خلفه، واحتفظت من بعدها بسجادة صلاته وسجدته وسُبحته، وهو ما لم يحدث سابقاً أيضاً في مئات المرّات التي صلّى فيها الحاج في بيت آل مغنية. بعد استشهاده، وجدت العائلة تفسيراً لهذا كلّه.

لم يكن سليماني رجلاً عادياً في حياة عائلة مغنية. كان البيت بيته. صلّى وأكل وبكى فيه. عاش مع العائلة أفراحها وأتراحها. هذه العلاقة بين العائلتين بدأت قبل التحرير عام 2000، وتحديداً في عام 1998، عندما تسلّم سليماني قيادة «قوّة القدس»، ومغنية القيادة العسكرية لـ«حزب الله» في لبنان. خلال تلك السنوات، تردّد سليماني إلى منزل «الحاج رضوان». وقتها، كانت العائلة تسمع باسمه، لكنّها لم تكن تعرف مَن يكون. ما كان مؤكداً، أنه صديق عماد مغنية. توطّدت العلاقة بينهما، وأصبحا أقرب بعدما واجها الموت مرّات عدّة في خلال حرب تموز. في إحدى ليالي الحرب، اشتدّ القصف الإسرائيلي وانقطعت الكهرباء عن المنطقة حيث البيت الآمن الذي يحتضن مغنية وزوجته الحاجة سعدى بدر الدين وسليماني ومرافقهما. ارتأى الرجلان المغادرة. امتشقا والمرافق رشاشاتهم، ونزلوا على الدرج المعتم. تقدّمهم مغنية وخلفه سليماني والمرافق وراءهما. لدى وصولهم إلى مدخل المبنى، شدّ سليماني مغنية من كتفه، وقال له: «أنا سأؤمّن لك الطريق، عليك أن تبقى حياً».

في إحدى المرّات، يروي سليماني أنه كان في السيارة مع مغنية متجهَين من قمّ إلى طهران. على الطريق، اشتبه الأخير بسيّارة تلاحقهما، وشعرا بأنهما مهدَّدان بالقتل، فاتّجها صوب الصحراء، وقاد الأول لكيلومترات عدّة قبل العودة إلى الطريق الرئيس. يقول سليماني إن مغنية كان هادئاً جداً: «لم تتغيّر ملامحه أبداً، لا عندما اعتقدنا أننا معرّضان للموت، ولا عندما أصبحنا بأمان». في عام 2008، استُشهد مغنية في تفجير بالقرب من سيّارته. بحسب الكاتب الإسرائيلي، رونين بيرغمان، فإن سليماني كان معه قبل استشهاده بدقائق. وبعد استشهاده، تمنّى الحاج قاسم، الذي سيصبح جزءاً من العائلة، أن يحظى بالشهادة نفسها. لم يعد صديق «الحاج رضوان»، بل أصبح «عمّو» وناب عنه. حرص على متابعة شؤون العائلة، وفي إيران أصبحت الأخيرة جزءاً من عائلة سليماني، وبيته أصبح وجهتها.

في تلك الليلة، قبل استشهاده بـ48 ساعة، طلبت عائلة مغنية من سليماني عدم التوجّه إلى العراق


خلال الحرب السورية، عمل الشهيد جهاد عماد مغنية في الجولان السوري المحتلّ. كثر لم يعرفوا طبيعة عمله. قبل استشهاده بأيّام، التقى جهاد بسليماني، وأطلعه على عمله وما أنجزه، واستأذنه للتوجّه إلى هناك. في العادة، كان يرفض طلبه. لكن في تلك الجلسة، وافق وأذِن له بالذهاب. يقول أحد الذين حضروا اللقاء إن «جهاد سَحَر الحاضرين، ولم نتمكّن من أن نقول له لا على شيء». بعد استشهاد جهاد في قصف إسرائيلي استهدف سيّارته في القنيطرة عام 2015، توجّه سليماني إلى منزل جدّة الشهيد في منطقة الغبيري. بمجرّد دخوله البيت، لم يتمالك نفسه، حتّى إنه أمضى ليلته تلك في غرفة جهاد. جلس على أرضها وبكى. ترك استشهاده أثره على الحاج قاسم، فكان يطلب ممَّن يلتقيهم أن يدعوا له بأن يستشهد بالطريقة نفسها التي استُشهد بها عماد وجهاد مغنية، وهو ما نقلته زينب، ابنة القيادي في «حرس الثورة»، الشهيد حسين محرابي، عندما زار سليماني بيتها في مشهد. تروي عن لسانه: «الحاج عماد وجهاد نالا شهادة مميّزة. استشهدا في السيارة، أي أنّ أحداً لم يكن يجرؤ على مواجهتهما… الشهيد جهاد مغنية، أطلقوا صاروخاً على سيّارته واحترق بشكل كامل ولم يبقَ منه شيء كثير. كم كانت شهادته مميّزة، ادعي لي يا زينب أن أستشهد كما استشهدا».

بالعودة إلى ليلة الثلاثاء، قبل 48 ساعة من استشهاده، أمضى الحاج قاسم ليلته في بيت عائلة مغنية. يقول مَن التقاه إنه، للمرّة الأولى، لم يكترث للوقت. أطال في كلّ شيء؛ في صلاته، في جلسته، حتى إنه عندما همّ بالرحيل عاد وجلس لوقت إضافي، وهو ما لم يكن عادياً. في تلك الليلة، طلب الحاضرون من سليماني عدم التوجّه إلى العراق، فقال لهم إنه مضطر للذهاب إلى بغداد وبعدها سيبقى في طهران. حاول طمأنة العائلة، وقال إنه يزور العراق بصفته الرسمية، ولن يكون من المنطقي استهدافه. لكن مع وجود مجنون كالرئيس الأميركي، دونالد ترامب، في البيت الأبيض، فلا مكان للمنطق. بعد زيارته العائلة، تَوجّه سليماني للقاء السيد حسن نصرالله. عند الباب، ودّع الجميع، ثم عاد وودّعهم مرّة ثانية قبل ركوبه السيارة، وهو أمرٌ استغربته العائلة أيضاً واعتبرته إشارةً إلى شيء ما. بعد لقائه نصرالله، اتّصلت فاطمة، ابنة الشهيد عماد مغنية، بسليماني، مستبقةً توجّهه إلى سوريا. كرّرت تمنّيها عليه بعدم التوجّه إلى العراق، قائلةً إنها ليست مطمَئنّة للزيارة. أجابها: «الطقس جميل والليلة مقمرة وكأني ذاهب إلى مقتلي». ليلة الخميس – الجمعة، في الثالث من كانون الثاني/ يناير الماضي، اغتالت طائرات أميركية قائد «قوّة القدس» قرب مطار بغداد. استُشهد «عمّو» بالطريقة نفسها التي اغتيل بها عماد وجهاد مغنية. بعد وصول نبأ اغتياله إلى عائلة مغنية، عاد التاريخ بها إلى 12 شباط/ فبراير عام 2008. فالخسارة، بالنسبة إليها، كانت نفسها.


في الذكرى السنوية العاشرة لاغتيال الحاج عماد مغنية عام 2018، تحدّث سليماني، للمرّة الأولى، عن الشهيد في احتفال أقيم في طهران. خلال كلمته، كشف سليماني عن الجوانب التي لا يعرفها كثيرون عن الحاج رضوان، متطرّقاً إلى شخصيّته ودوره في المقاومة. بعد الاحتفال، توجّهت عائلة مغنية، ومَن يرافقها، إلى مشهد مع سليماني. ولدى سؤال الحاج قاسم عمّا دفعه إلى الظهور والحديث عن الشهيد، قال، وهو ينظر إلى فاطمة، ابنة مغنية، مبتسماً: «ابنتنا طلبت ذلك». حديثه عن مغنية لم يكن سهلاً بالنسبة إليه، إذ دائماً ما كان يبكيه، مثلما حدث أثناء مقابلته مع التلفزيون الإيراني عن يوميات حرب تموز، والذي دفعه إلى تأجيل تصوير الحلقة إلى اليوم التالي.


بعد وفاة الحاج فايز مغنية، والد الشهيد عماد، في عام 2017، لم يتمكّن سليماني من المشاركة في تشييع «أبي عماد»، بسبب المعارك الدائرة في سوريا والعراق. إلّا أنه لم يغب عن تفاصيل الجنازة. ففي عزّ المعارك، تواصَل مع ابنة أبي عماد سائلاً عن مكان الدفن، وعمّا تحتاج إليه العائلة. بعد فترة، حضر هو وأبو مهدي المهندس إلى لبنان لتعزية المرحومة الحاجة آمنة سلامة، «أم عماد». حاولا التخفيف عنها وعرضا عليها زيارة العراق أو إيران. لكنّ أمّ عماد أوصت القائدَين الشهيدين بالانتباه إلى نفسَيهما، بعدما تكرّر ظهورهما على الخطّ الأمامي للمواجهات في العراق. وقالت لهما: «قبل أن توصياني بالانتباه إلى نفسي، عليكما أنتما أن تنتبها».


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Mind blowing hypocrisy!

Mind blowing hypocrisy!

January 06, 2021

The Saker

I just listened to Trey Gowdy and a few others GOP big-shots condemn the “terrible violations of the law” committed by the protestors today and I take my hat off to these folks: they are truly world class hypocrites.

When cops and mayors refuse to protect the innocent, the rule of law is doing great!

When the letter soup agencies spend millions on a typical witch hunt, the rule of law is doing great!

When the First Amendment is being destroyed by Big Tech, the rule of law is doing great!

When the corporate legacy ziomedia brazenly silences the President, and simply does not report on crucial events, the rule of law is doing great!

When elections are stolen, the rule of law is doing great!

When courts refuse to enforce the law, the rule of law is doing great!

When the Supreme Court refuses to defend the Constitution, the rule of law is doing great!

But when the people, literally, those whom the elected officials are supposed to represent, demonstrate all day peacefully and then a few, not necessarily even Trump supporters (false flags are very easy to organize with crowds!), storm the halls of Congress, then the GOP bigshots take to the air and lament the “tragedy” of the law being violated.

No country and no regime can stand on such truly galactic levels of doublethink, hypocrisy and cowardice.

This is the beginning of the end of this regime.

My thoughts tonight are with the “deplorables”.  In the prophetic words of George Orwell:

“If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there, in those swarming disregarded masses, eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. The Party could not be overthrown from within. Its enemies, if it had any enemies, had no way of coming together or even of identifying one another. Even if the legendary Brotherhood existed, as just possibly it might, it was inconceivable that its members could ever assemble in larger numbers than twos and threes. Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflection of the voice; at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They need only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it.”  

Orwell’s “proles” are our “deplorables”.  And for all the self-evident weaknesses and delusions, they are the only ones left, literally, and they will have to be the soil from which the liberation of the USA will have to begin.

The rest of them make me feel nauseated.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Israel Bombs Damascus while World Riveted to Capitol Hill Mayhem

  MIRI WOOD 

Israel bombs southern damascus on Orthodox Christmas eve

At the late night of the 6th of January and while the Orthodox Syrian Christians were celebrating Christmas eve, Israel engaged in yet another war criminal bombing of Syria, in Damascus countryside, taking advantage of the world riveted on the storming of Capitol Hill by ‘peaceful protesters’ ‘democratically’ engaged in trying to prevent the official confirmation of the election of demented Joe Biden.

A military source stated that: “at exactly eleven and ten minutes this evening, the Israeli enemy carried out air aggression through bursts of missiles fired from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan on some targets in the southern region.

People in southern Damascus heard and saw Syrian air defense fired at the incoming missiles and some explosions in the skies and others from the southern direction.

This video is also available on YouTube and BitChute.

Netanyahu and his Trump buddy need an escalation that led to the mayhem in Washington DC, this is the 3rd Israeli attack on southern Syria in the past 2 weeks only, the first bombing was on the eve of the 25th of December and the second was on the 30th of January:

The country that exported its version of democracy to countries that didn’t need it by ways of military invasions, black op covert attacks, destabilizing efforts using 5th column elements, sanctions, stealing wealth of the targeted countries while appointing some of the most despised figures as presidents of those countries, yet it was very much comfortable with dictators and absolute monarchies in countries that do not have a constitution even like in the cases of Saudi Arabi and Qatar, who both jointly funded Al Qaeda and ISIS in Syria to the tune of 137 Billion Dollars up until 2017 as per a statement of the Qatari former Prime Minister.

And instead of pushing for the rights of people in Palestine, the US regimes throughout history has empowered and encouraged Israel to attack its neighbors and steal more land to the extent that the current PM of Israel, Netanyahu, takes advantage of his close relationship with the US despot Trump repeating the elections in Israel for 4 times within 2 years because he’s not getting a majority to save him from prison on multiple charges of corruption in the last apartheid regime in the world, we’re here today with the evil powers of the world attacking other countries and trying to ignite more wars and strife so they can remain in power.

What we saw in the US Capital of mobs attacking the center of the fake US democracy and a real ‘peaceful protester’ sitting on the chair of the head of the congress is exactly what the US did to Venezuela and a host of other countries. That was a real peaceful protest compared with what the officials in the US and its stooges worldwide and their mainstream media called as ‘peaceful protesters’ Al Qaeda terrorists torching public buildings in Syria, slitting the throats of kidnapped police officers and public workers and throwing post office workers off the rooftop of their 4 story building. The citizens and residents of the United States of America are lucky there’s no US embassy in Washington, otherwise, it would be a very different scene, a long time ago.

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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

حوار العام: توثيق شفوي بامتياز

قاآني لم يملأ فراغ سليماني.. حزب الله قلق بعد رحيله
بثينة شعبان

بثينة شعبان 

المصدر: الميادين نت 4 كانون الثاني

لقد خطّ الأستاذ غسان بن جدو والسيد حسن نصر الله في حوار العام مساراً هاماً للتوثيق الشفوي لا بدّ من متابعته واستكماله ليكون القاسم المشترك بين السياسة والإعلام والتاريخ وثقافة الحاضر والمستقبل.

 لقد خطّ الأستاذ غسان بن جدو والسيد حسن نصر الله في حوار العام مساراً هاماً جداً للتوثيق الشفوي

أن تجلس أمام الشاشة شاخصاً وناصتاً لقرابة أربع ساعات ولا تريد حتى لصوت الرياح أن يزعج خلوتك مع ما يقال، ولا لأحد أن يدب قربك لأي سبب كان؛ فهذا يعني أنك تنصت لما يلامس شغاف قلبك وعصارة عقلك ووجدانك وبأسلوب سلس وهادئ ومريح لا ادعاء فيه ولا محاولة لإبراز حجم مساهمة المتكلم أو المحاور أو تسليط الضوء على ما قد يزيد من مكانة أو مساهمة أي منهما. 

بل كان التركيز والتصويب كله على توثيق حقائق ومعطيات أتت بالكثير من الجديد هدفها الأساس إنصاف الناس قادة كانوا أم شهداء أم جنوداً أم مجموعات مغمورة لم يذكرها أحد، والنتيجة الجميلة كانت توثيقاً شفوياً لذاكرة قائد في الميدان يقارع، ولا يزال، تحالف الشر بين أعداء الأمة وبين المستسلمين الخانعين على مدى سنوات وهو يعمل مع الأصدقاء والإخوة والرفاق عملاً أهمّ ما يميّزه الصدق والغيرية وإنكار الذات ووضع مصير الأوطان والشعوب فوق كلّ اعتبار.

شعرتُ وأنا أحضر هذا الحوار أنني لا أريده أن يصل إلى النهاية أبداً بل أتمنى أن يتطرق إلى كلّ الأوضاع في العالم لأستزيد من خبايا خبرة هذا الذي يحمل اسمه إرث الرسالة والذي يدلي باتصالاته ومعلوماته عن القادة والرفاق وسير العمل على أكثر من صعيد وفي أكثر من بلد في هذه الساحة الإقليمية الصعبة والمعقدة والتي يعصف بها أحياناً عاملون في الطابور الخامس ليذرّوا الرماد في العيون ويمنعوا الحقيقة عن المتسائلين والتوّاقين لمعرفة الحقيقة وجوهرها.

استزدنا من السيد نصرالله عن شخصية فارس من فرسان المقاومة تحلّى بكلّ صفات الفارس النبيلة والأخلاقية والإنسانية الراقية الشفافة؛ فكما كان صلباً وعنيداً في مقارعة الأعداء كان مرهفاً في مقاربة آلام الآخرين ومتواضعاً جداً في تعامله مع الناس وفي نظرته إلى نفسه؛ فجسّد بخلقه وعمله الآية الكريمة “وعباد الرحمن يمشون على الأرض هوناً وإذا خاطبهم الجاهلون قالوا سلاماً”.

وكلما أُفرد ملف عن هذا الفارس اكتشفنا زاوية من شخصيته وعمله وخلقه ونبله لَم نكُن لننفذ إليها من قبل لولا حوار السيد هذا. 

هذا التوثيق في غاية الأهمية لأنه الإرث الذي نتركه للأجيال، والثقافة التي نغذيهم بها وننشئهم عليها؛ فإذا كان الشهيد قاسم سليماني الرجل الذي لا بديل عنه فإن إرثه العسكري والسياسي والأخلاقي والإنساني حكماً لا بديل عنه ويجب أن يعكف الدارسون على توثيقه وتوصيفه ووضعه في متناول الأجيال القادمة كي يساهم في تشكيل وعيها عن الماضي ويساعدها على اجتراح الوسائل المناسبة لمواجهة أعاصير الحاضر واحتمالات المستقبل. هذا الإرث هو السلاح الأمضى كي نقوّض خطوات الأعداء الذين ظنوا أنهم بتنفيذهم هذا العمل الإرهابي المجرم يستطيعون القضاء على هذا المسار النبيل.

الشهيد قاسم سليماني لم يعد رجلاً عادياً بل أصبح مساراً وثقافة وأسلوباً وقدوة، وعلينا ترسيخ هذا النموذج بكلّ الوسائل الممكنة من توثيق وتوضيح وشروحات كي يشكل عضداً لثقافة المقاومة التي هي الضمانة الوحيدة لاستمرار الأجيال على هذا النهج إلى أن يتحقق تحرير الأرض ويتم بناء الأنموذج الذي يضمن حرية الأرض والإنسان وزرع القيم والتي هي أخشى ما يخشاه العدو لأن الصراع الحقيقي هو على القيم والأخلاق والمسار الإنساني الذي تتبناه الشعوب، والصراع هذا هو صراع بالفعل وهو الصراع القديم الحديث بين الحقّ والباطل والخير والشرّ وبين من يقدّس إنسانية الإنسان ومن يسعى لانتهاكها وظلمها كي يراكم ثرواته.

في هذا التوثيق الحصيف الانسيابي الهام جداً تطرّق السيد إلى ما اعترى سوريا وإلى الأشهر الأولى من الحرب الكونية على الشعب السوري فبدّد الأوهام وكذّب السفهاء والمتاجرين بدماء وحيوات شعوبهم؛ إذ ذكر حقيقة في غاية الأهمية وهي أن السيد الرئيس بشار الأسد ومنذ البداية سأل ما هو المطلوب وأنا جاهز للحوار، وأضاف السيد نصرالله أن الأصدقاء في الجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية استنفروا للاتصال، كلٌّ بأصدقائه ومعارفه، لكي يبدأ النقاش والحوار حول المطلوب وتعقد الطاولات المستديرة حول المهام المطلوبة لإخماد نار الفتنة وإنقاذ البلاد، ولكن الجواب الذي عاد به الجميع هو أن الطرف المدعي يؤمن أن النظام في طريقه إلى الانهيار وأنهم سوف ينتظرون إلى أن ينهار هذا النظام ولا مصلحة لهم في الدخول في مفاوضات أو نقاشات أو حوار معه الآن. 

هذا يتقاطع، وهذا للتاريخ أيضاً، مع الدور المتواضع الذي كلفني به سيادة الرئيس مع بعض الشخصيات هنا داخل سوريا  لنتحدث مع من يعتبرون أنفسهم ممثلي المعارضة ونرى ما هي طروحاتهم وماذا يريدون أن يبحثوا وما هي في نظرهم النقاط التي ترضي الجميع وتنقذ البلد من أي احتمالات خطرة أو سيناريوهات مغرضة. 

وقد قابلنا كل من كان يقود ما أسموه “حراكاً” في المراحل الأولى، وامتدت اللقاءات لساعات وأيام كانوا يركزون خلالها على سرد تاريخي لأي تجاوزات حصلت منذ عشرات السنين حتى من قبل مسؤولين غادروا البلد ولم يعودوا إليه، ونحن نحاول إعادة البوصلة إلى الوقت الراهن ونقول دعونا من كلّ هذا ونركز على ما يتوجب فعله اليوم كي نتعاون أنتم ونحن في وضع الأمور في نصابها الصحيح ولا نعرّض شعبنا وبلدنا لما قد لا تحمد عقباه. 

ولكن القرار الذي فهمناه من كلّ هؤلاء في ختام كلّ حوار هو أنهم يفضّلون الانتظار وكان واضحاً أنهم كانوا ينتظرون وعداً وعهداً من أعداء سوريا بقلب الطاولة لصالحهم لأن أسيادهم كانوا قد روّجوا عبر وسائل الإعلام أن المسالة مسألة وقت قصير وبذلك شجعوا على الانشقاقات وعلى أن تأخذ هذه المعارضات المواقف المؤدية إلى تدمير مؤسسات البلد ومنشآته أملاً منهم في تحقيق الموعود واعتلائهم سدة الحكم كما وعدهم أسيادهم بذلك وكما جرت الأمور في بلدان أخرى كتونس وليبيا والعراق. 

هذا التوضيح من قبل السيد نصرالله ومن قبل من عمل في الداخل في غاية الأهمية، لأنه يؤرّخ لمرحلة قد تبدو ضبابية لأجيال المستقبل، ويجيب عن أسئلة جوهرية شغلت بال الكثيرين هنا في سوريا: هل كان من الممكن تفادي الكارثة؟ وهل كان إبداء مرونة أكبر سيجبر الآخرين على التراجع عن تحالفهم مع أعداء سوريا وعن مخططاتهم والعمل مع دولتهم وشعبهم على احتواء الحراك في بداياته؟

هذه الأسئلة وغيرها كثير مما يطلقه المغرضون تمت الإجابة عليها وبشكل واضح وصريح من قبل شاهد كان على تماس مباشر مع السيد الرئيس بشار الأسد ومن قبل قائد معنيّ بالمقاومة في لبنان وسوريا والعراق وإيران، ومن قبل إنسان يشهد له العدو قبل الصديق بالصدق المطلق في كلّ ما ينطق به لأنه مسؤول أمام الله قبل أن يكون مسؤولاً أمام البشر. والسؤال: كيف يمكن تطوير وتكثيف هذا النوع من الحوارات التوثيقية مع مسؤولين في المنطقة وخارجها بحيث يتم تسجيل هذا التاريخ من أفواه من صنعوه وقادوه وصاغوه، وبعد ذلك ينشغل الكتاب والباحثون والإعلاميون بترتيب وتصنيف هذه المعلومات لتشكل إضافة نوعية لثقافة المقاومة في المنطقة ولتورث الأجيال القادمة تاريخها الحقيقي وتمكنها من التصدّي لكل حملات التشويه والترويج للأعداء والخصوم؟

هذه الحملات التي تعتمد على اختلاق الأكاذيب والمراهنة على سرعة وتيرة الحياة وعدم صبر الكاتب والمتلقي. لقد خطّ الأستاذ غسان بن جدو والسيد حسن نصر الله في حوار العام مساراً هاماً جداً للتوثيق الشفوي لا بدّ من متابعته ووضع الأطر المنهجية والخارطة الشاملة لاستكماله ليكون القاسم المشترك بين السياسة والإعلام والتاريخ وثقافة الحاضر والمستقبل.

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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

This week in the US: The ‘model nation’ for no nation anymore

 Thursday, 07 January 2021 7:57 AM  [ Last Update: Thursday, 07 January 2021 8:07 AM ]

US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) talks with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a rally with fellow Democrats before voting on H.R. 1, or the People Act, on the East Steps of the US Capitol on March 08, 2019 in Washington, DC. (AFP photo)
Supporters of US President Donald Trump walk on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, the US, on January 5, 2021, one day ahead of a joint session of the US Congress to certify the Electoral College vote that confirmed Joe Biden as the presidential winner. (Photo by AFP)
This week in the US: The ‘model nation’ for no nation anymore
Ramin Mazaheri is currently covering the US election. He is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea, and elsewhere. He is the author of ‘Socialism’s Ignored Success: Iranian Islamic Socialism’ as well as ‘I’ll Ruin Everything You Are: Ending Western Propaganda on Red China,’ which is also available in simplified and traditional Chinese.

By Ramin Mazaheri and cross-posted with The Saker

As this article is on the verge of publication, the United States Capitol has been occupied by protesters on the day of Electoral College’s presidential vote. It’s very exciting stuff, certainly, but an insatiable craving for excitement seems to have long been a major flaw of Western culture.

Few people are as guilty of greedily loving the short-term sugar high of daily news as I am — being a longtime hack reporter — but whether the immediate outcomes of this historic election week in the United States give you rushes or drops, it’s important to remember that what’s really historic is just how far the US has truly fallen and will keep falling.

We all agree America on January 6, 2020 is certainly not at an apex, but it’s only via constant spin, rationalization, and deflection that one cannot see that the US has so very far to go — this is not the nadir.

No matter what happens, this is not even really over.

In my reporting from here, it turns out the wisest and most pleasant of the “never Trumpers” — normally a very disagreeable lot — were right to say that they are not assuming anything about Joe Biden’s projected victory until after inauguration day, January 20. Maybe the Proud Boys are going to blow up the Washington Monument next week — who really knows what will happen over here?

I have to add a last-minute modification to that hyperbolic exaggeration: Maybe a peaceful “Occupy Capitol Hill” is a real thing?

If you want to read more Trump-obsessed hysteria, you can always go to Politico’s “Trumpology” section, where everything before 2016 never was, but this column is trying to establish exactly where America as a whole really is: What should the globe’s global assessment be of the country which in 1991 seemed poised for a century of global superiority?

There is no doubt that there was a time when the US was really at the forefront of global political thought; when they were successfully enjoining many people to do good and forbidding a lot of bad — I am referring to 1776, the birth year of modern anti-imperialism.

The calendar has just turned to 2021. You would have to be so jacked up on Western Mainstream Media sugar spin to believe that — whatever happens this week — the US is somehow doing well, or looking well, or acting well, or was anything else but a society in decline, dispute, degradation, and maybe even dissolution.

I think the latter goes too far, but I include it to point out: this is not a country like France or Iran or China in that it’s still debatable whether the US has enough years under its belt to really consider that they have a unified sense of nationhood/culture given that this was never really a country but a unity of separate, self-involved, self-serving states inside America (which used to be the term used for the entire Western Hemisphere). This is the United States of America, after all, and Scotland is awfully close to breaking up the United Kingdom — so why couldn’t their over-the-sea brethren go in the same direction?

A short but exciting list of things US media would like you to ignore this week.

Their United Kingdom brethren/clients finally admitted they cannot hand over Julian Assange, the greatest journalist of my generation, not because the US will execute him but because they essentially fear that American prisons are so atrocious that he won’t be killed but that he will be tortured without end.

(Things like this are, of course, why the US and UK are the unquestionable arbiters of what “human rights” and “political prisoners” are.)

Have money, join the duopoly, you will get elected: The Georgia elections were the most expensive congressional seats in history — they spent an estimated 900 million dollars, say the early returns. The only presidential candidate who ever exceeded that in their campaign was brand change golden boy Barack Obama, in a testament to what a huge role the rich, the 1% and corporations play in manipulating American elections.

(You have to have rocks in your head the size of Gibraltar if you are an average American and you give a single greenback to either of the duopoly — just so people Kamala Harris and the Clintons can fund their lavish lifestyles.)

The Electoral College emphatically does not have majority democratic support, as years of polls have shown that 60% of the US wants it abolished. Is it so shocking that as I type this, the voting of this body has been stopped by upset Americans?

Pro-Trump protesters breach US Capitol as Congress holds session to certify Biden victory
Pro-Trump protesters breach US Capitol as Congress holds session to certify Biden victoryProtesters supporting
US President Donald Trump have stormed the US Capitol where the lawmakers were engaged in the process to certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.

The American intelligentsia is so unpersuasive, so ineffective, so overpaid and so distrusted that even if Democrats do capture both Georgia Senate seats — and thus the Senate — the anti-Trump “Blue Wave” they almost universally rammed down American throats for four years merely goes from a total failure to a major failure: In this decentralized country local states control local matters and conservatives captured the local legislative, executive, and judicial branches. In a redistricting year, no less. The reason it was rejected, of course: the “Blue Wave” was fake-leftism and not real leftism — why would American lower classes get excited about that?

(And how many Congressional Democrats are so right-leaning and so desirous only of winning their own re-election that Republicans won’t be able to swing this very definition of “tenuous majority” by buying Democrat Congressmen off on countless key votes via things like promising to build more B-2 bombers in their home state?)

The (apparent) demise of Trump actually does not totally destroy Trumpism, even though the chattering classes promised that voting him out for president is all it would take to end what they insisted was merely a Russian-orchestrated cult of personality.

(Four years ago, the US chattering classes certainly didn’t have to accept Trumpism, but they could have at least taken Trumpism seriously. By refusing to have that honest and open conversation, the US has wasted four years. The US has not progressed in this sense since 2016’s inauguration day — and now Capitol Hill is occupied by angry citizens who likely feel they have been unfairly ignored and demonized.)

It was just announced that the cops who shockingly shot Jacob Blake in Wisconsin in the back seven times will not even face a trial. Last night, protests in Kenosha were calm, but what about tonight?

(My bosses have a tough decision to make soon, perhaps: Do I cover the political rebellion in Washington or the possible racial rebellions if they break out again?)

A short, healthy conclusion to balance out this sugar high.

That was not a difficult list to compile, nor an exhaustive one. I’m sure everyone wants to read about Capitol Hill but the short-term question (how much violence will they use to clear out this protest?) is not as vital as the long-term questions (how did we get here, how does the US heal from this), nor is it as vital for the world as the global question of America’s longstanding claim to global leadership.

Both sides of America have disgraced themselves in the eyes of the world since 2016, with their only-low-blows cultural civil war, and it’s not as if the world wasn’t already quite, quite appalled at American behavior since 2003.

2020 was indeed a woeful and unfortunate low point, but the consequences of 2020 are so very, very bad that who can say that it is over? Things were so bad a brand change or calendar change can’t fix things.

Who would say that America’s political cultural civil war is over? Who can say the dispute over electoral integrity is over? Who can say that 1%-rewarding, inequality-creating Quantitive Easing/Austerity is over? Who can say the endless foreign wars are over? Who can say the healthcare crisis is over? Or the unemployment crisis, or the famine crisis, or the housing crisis, etc., etc.?

Who is the nation which is modeling themselves on the United States and why on earth are they doing that?

Gerald Ford famously said as Richard Nixon left that, “America’s long national nightmare is over.” Less than a week into 2021 it should be dawning on the world that the American model produces an endless bad dream not only for their colonies and their clients but even for their own people. That makes sense because that is precisely the goal of Western neo-imperialism and neo-liberalism.

Whoever is the accepted winner of the Electoral College — assuming they ever meet again — is not likely to change that trajectory because American problems were not caused, and cannot be fixed, by just one man.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

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Insolent Lebanese Boast about Beirut Streets Named after French Conquerors, Reject Raising Altruistic General Suleimani’s Statue



Beyrouth: la ville où les rues portent encore les noms d'hommes d'État  français | Arabnews fr

Source: Al-Manar English Website

 January 8, 2021

Mohammad Salami

How insolent the Lebanese political parties and figures who boast about Beirut streets, named after French conquerors, yet reject raising the statue of the martyr General Qassem Suleimani despite all his support to Lebanon in the capital.

If you wander through some Beirut streets, you may feel, at first glance, that you are in Paris. However, the fact says that certain Lebanese political parties approved naming several streets in the capital after French Conquerors. Thus, you move from Rue Gouraud (General) to Wegand (General) Street before reaching Rue Clemenceau (Prime Minister).

These are few instances of the streets in Beirut which were named after French commanders who occupied Lebanon and confiscated its sovereignty.

Certain Lebanese parties, figures and media outlets voice their satisfaction with those names; however, they themselves reject completely raising portraits and statues of IRGC’s Quds Force Commander, General Qassem Suleimani.

General Suleimani did not undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty, nor did he lead Iranian troops to occupy the Lebanese towns and cities. On the other hand, the martyr provided all kinds of support to Lebanese Resistance which has protected the nation from the Israeli and the takfiri enemies.

Consequently, those who boast naming streets in their capital after its occupiers may never welcome raising statues for anyone who support its resistance against the occupation forces.

A statue of martyred Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Suleimani was unveiled in Beirut’s southern suburb (Dahiyeh) on Tuesday.

The statue was unveiled during a ceremony held by Ghoubeiry municipality on the first martyrdom anniversary of Gen. Suleimani.

On January 3, 2020, a US drone attack claimed General Suleimani after targeting his convoy near Baghdad airport. The attack also killed the former head of Iraq’s Hashd Shaabi, Hajj Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

Beirut: The city where streets still have French statesmen’s names

Beirut: The city where streets still have French statesmen's names
Rue Georges Catroux is located in Beirut’s Badaro residential area
  • After the creation of Greater Lebanon in 1920, the French reconfigured the capital to conform to the new political order
  • The French mandate authorities changed the names of Beirut streets after modifying the city’s architecture

BEIRUT: After the French entered Lebanon in 1920 after the declaration of the State of Greater Lebanon, they reconfigured the capital Beirut to conform to the new political order.

Among the most visible transformations was the introduction of identity cards for residents, a move that sought to establish a Lebanese entity separated from other Arab states.

In 1921, the French mandate authorities conducted the first census of the Lebanese population, and on the basis of this the Lebanese were granted a new identity card in place of Ottoman tickets. The census was boycotted by those who refused to separate from Syria and recognize the new state.

The streets of Beirut, which were under Ottoman rule for more than four centuries, were referred to as haraat (alleyways).

Beirut: The city where streets still have French statesmen's names | Arab  News PK

The alleys were named after the families that inhabited them, leaders and princes, or even sects. The city’s markets were named after the professions found in them, according to the records of the Sharia court in Beirut.

The French mandate authorities, however, changed the names after modifying the city’s architecture. Twenty-meter streets were paved to connect the capital’s neighborhoods and make life easier. And while the neighborhoods preserved the names of the families that lived in them, such as Al-Barbir, Al-Bashoura, Karm Al-Zaitoun, Zaroub Saba and Zaroub Al-Arawi, the mandate left its mark on modern streets by naming them after French generals and high commissioners who ruled Lebanon after the fall of Ottoman rule.

Although Lebanon won its independence in 1943, some prominent streets in Beirut still have the names of French generals who became famous during the two world wars.

Rue Gouraud is a residential and commercial street in Gemmayzeh in the Achrafieh district of Beirut. It is one of the trendiest thoroughfares, full of fine restaurants, French cafes and jazz bars.

Beirut: The city where streets still have French statesmen's names

General Henri Gouraud was the French high commissioner in Syria and Lebanon and army commander on the eastern side. Gouraud declared the State of Greater Lebanon from the porch of the Pine Residence in Beirut, and adopted the French military strategy known as “battle of annihilation.”

General Gouraud, who led the French forces in the famous Battle of Maysalun, lived on this street in Beirut.

A parallel street, Rue Pasteur, was named after the famous French scientist Louis Pasteur. It is also a commercial street and features shops of Lebanese innovators. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was a French chemist and one of the most important founders of medical microbiology. His medical discoveries contributed to reducing the fatality rate of puerperal fever, and he prepared vaccines against rabies and anthrax. He was known to the general public for inventing a method for pasteurizing milk.

Beyrouth: la ville où les rues portent encore les noms d'hommes d'État  français | Arabnews fr

The street adjacent to Beirut Municipality, Rue Weygand, bears the name of Maxime Weygand, a high-ranking officer in the Mandate-era French Army. He was the second high military commissioner appointed by France to rule Syria and Lebanon, from April 1923 to Nov. 29, 1924. Weygand, who saw action in both the world wars, died in 1965.

Rue Georges Catroux is located in Beirut’s Badaro residential area. Catroux was a general in the French Army (1877-1969), a diplomat who served in World War I and II, and an adviser in the Legion of Honor.

Rue Clemenceau, located in Ras Beirut, is named after the French prime minister Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (1841-1929). He was a statesman, doctor and journalist who was elected twice to head the French government.

His first term was between 1906 and 1909, while his second was during the critical period 1917-1920 during World War I. One of the leading architects of the Treaty of Versailles, he was nicknamed Father of Victory and the Tiger.

Beirut: The city where streets still have French statesmen's names | Arab  News PK

Avenue General de Gaulle (1890-1970) is the waterfront road of Beirut and named after the most prominent French figure during the Second World War. Charles de Gaulle lived in Lebanon for two years (1929-1931) when he was a major in the French army. He went on to serve as president of France.

Rue Verdun is one of the most high-end lively residential streets in Beirut. It has luxury retail stores, beauty and hair salons, and several cafes. In the center of the street is the Lycée Franco-Libanais school. The French St. Joseph School was situated on this street before it moved to a new location outside the capital. Although this street has been renamed after former Prime Minister Rashid Karami following his assassination in 1987, the name Verdun has remained popular.

Rue Verdun was so named in honor of the victims of the Battle of Verdun, which took place during World War I.

Beyrouth: la ville où les rues portent encore les noms d'hommes d'État  français | Arabnews fr

Foch Street, or Marshal Ferdinand Foch Street, is in the commercial heart of Beirut. Foch was a supreme Allied general in the World War I. One of Beirut’s streets was named after him following the Allies’ victory over the Germans.

Monnot Street, located on the eastern side of Beirut’s central district, is full of restaurants, bars and libraries. It hosts painters and creative events and holds concerts and plays in its famous theater, which is named after Father Ambroise Monnot, the head of the Jesuit mission to Lebanon in the late 19th century.

Father Monnot contributed to the establishment of schools and printing presses so that Lebanon could become a cultural and intellectual center in the Near East.

Twitter: @najiahoussari


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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!