Zahra: If defending Lebanon is stupid, then we are proud of being stupid

In an interview with LBC TV , Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said in response to Jumblatt’s proposal during the parliament session yesterday by saying his bloc was not against granting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon their civil rights, but that the matter cannot be swiftly approved by the parliament.

During yesterday’s parliament session Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt proposed a bill that grants Palestinian refugees their civil rights and allows them to own property in Lebanon. (more…)

Campaign to save the Arabic language in Lebanon

When Randa Makhoul, an art teacher at a school in Beirut, asks her students a question in Arabic, she often gets a reply in English or French.

Abbas: Israel should open all its crossings to Gaza

Israel should open all seven of its crossings to Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday, as a Lebanese women’s group said it was sending an aid ship carrying medical supplies to Gaza.

Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog said Israel was examining ending the closure in its existing form, calling the current policy counterproductive and confirming remarks by Middle East envoy Tony Blair that change was likely. (more…)

How Turkey is chasing China to become the next big thing

Turkey is a likely candidate for future superpower. It possesses the 17th top economy in the world and has a good shot at breaking into the top 10 by 2050 according to Goldman Sachs

Sami Gemayel: ‘Jumblatt’s behavior is not normal’

Phalange MP Sami Gemayel told Al-Manar television on Tuesday that he is concerned about Democratic Gathering bloc leader MP Walid Jumblatt’s proposal to parliament to grant Palestinian refugees in Lebanon civil rights.

He criticized the PSP leader, saying that Jumblatt’s behavior “is not normal.” (more…)

UN to transfer aid flotilla’s cargo to Gaza

The United Nations will transfer humanitarian aid supplies to the Gaza Strip from a flotilla of foreign ships that Israel intercepted in international waters on May 31, the world body’s top envoy to the Middle East said.

“The government of Israel has agreed to release the entire cargo to the United Nations in Gaza on the understanding that it is for the United Nations to determine its appropriate humanitarian use in Gaza,” Robert Serry told the UN Security Council today. (more…)

Abbas urged Hamas to endorse the reconciliation pact

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has urged Hamas to endorse a reconciliation pact drawn up with Egyptian mediation, AFP reported on Tuesday, citing the Egyptian news agency. (more…)

Khalife: Suleiman invited Assad to Lebanon

Health Minister Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh praised on Tuesday before the cabinet session President Michel Suleiman’s summit with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, describing it as excellent.

Khalifeh, who was also present at the meeting, said it covered, bilateral relations, regional developments as well as the recurrent Israeli threats.

He also said that Suleiman and Assad discussed the 15 agreements that were reached over the weekend during meetings of the Lebanese-Syrian Committee. (more…)

Jumblatt: ‘The rightists are dumb and the Lebanese rightists are the dumbest’

The Lebanese parliament voted during its Tuesday extraordinary session on Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt’s draft law concerning granting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon civil rights to refer the issue to the administrative and justice committee to study and submit recommendation to parliament .

Hezbollah and Amal MPs voted in favor of the bill, while the Phalange party , Lebanese Forces and Change and Reform blocs voted against it. (more…)

A Democratic Turning Point?

By Ghassan Karam
The Lebanese Parliament postponed the vote on the proposed e Transactions law for one month in order to give the public, NGOs and other concerned groups time to make their views known