Life in almost a year – my Bridget Jones list

Since I’ve stopped writing:

Hosni Moubarak is on trial and a military dictatorship is ruling Egypt

Lybia went through a civil war, Gaddafi ran away, was caught and killed ( horrifying and stupid, but the rage of armed men is always the same).

Bahrain‘s revolt died out, people went to jail

Syria is still in turmoil, Assad is still in power, 3500 people died in Syrian cities

The Europeans are still buried in their financial crisis, Greece collapsed.

Been 5 times to North Lebanon to meet Syrian refugees from Homs, Tal Kalakh and Qousair, wrote twice as many stories, some of them the best of my career.

Traveled twice to South Lebanon to find more statues and monuments dedicated to Hafez al Assad.

Seen a Lebanese government fall, some more political bickering, another government sword in, a new interesting prime minister. Wrote tens of stories about it.

Met several families of victims of assassinations in Lebanon, interviewed parents, wives, sons, brothers. Nobody cared (as expected).

Traveled once, to Romania, for two weeks. Did nothing of what I had planned.

Seen Moonspell and Katatonia in Beirut. Missed Metallica in Abu Dhabi.

Got the Yonkyu rank in Aikido.

Had the most wonderful birthday of my life, lost the boyfriend who made it special.

Finally convinced mother and father to visit Lebanon

Applied for a loan in a Lebanese bank.

Lost 10 kilograms.

Earned some very good friends, lost some.

Haven’t written the Master’s thesis yet.

Currently in pursuit of oneself, all by myself in a foreign country, without taking refuge. Just moving on.

One woman. Huge world. Many roads. Life to be continued…

Breaking news: Gaddafi is paranoid

I can’t say I haven’t heard this before.After 42 years in power you develop paranoia, it’s just normal. You start believing that you are God. Sad, but true.

“Moammar Qaddafi is not a president, he is a revolutionary leader. This is my country and yours. “

- We are more competent to [be Libyan] than those rats [who are protesting].

- We defied America and the nuclear countries and triumphed.

- This is glory.

- This is the glory that [our opponents] want to distort.

Italy was destroyed on Libyan soil.

- I am a fighter.

- Libya will remain the leader of African, Latin America and the world.

- Libya is a tree. We watered it with our blood.

- Qaddafi is the history of resistance, glory. Qaddafi is not a president or a normal person [who could be killed in an ordinary way].

- Where were you [protestors] when we were being bombarded?”

I’m waiting for the moment when he says he is the father of Libya. That’s when you know for sure.

GMA looking for a speech writer

I’m serious, he badly needs one. This is tonight’s speech. It just doesn’t make sense. I’ve got nothing against the man, he might have done something great in his life. But as a political journalist, who’s seen some political marketing in her life, I definetly advise him to get better PR people.
There it goes, as taken from Naharnet:

5:02pm FPM leader MP Michel Aoun after the movement’s weekly meeting: The debates in the media are talking about me without my knowledge.
Comment: People gossip about you, a public figure making political decisions, in the media without your knowledge? But that’s a good thing. It means you are actually a politician!

5:06pm MP Aoun: When we spoke of a blocking minority, we were granted less than half and even less than two thirds of the ministers.
Comment: Bad, bad translation.

5:06pm MP Aoun: The rights will be restored to those who support the government.
Comment: Sooo, if you don’t support the government buh-bye rights? That might be true, but its’ a dumb thing to say in a speech, isn’t it?

5:09pm MP Aoun: Representation in government is based on proportionality. What do they mean when they speak of spite? Does that mean ignoring previous crimes? I was tried even though there were was no case against me and now I have files against others.
Comment: Ummmm, spite? They governed to get vengeance? And now you’ve got files against others? Wanna take this outside? Cause it defies logic.

5:09pm MP Aoun: Spite was exercised in the past against the Armenians, Elie Skaff, and against us, and the country was governed on the basis of vengeance.
Comment: For the Naharnet translators: you don’t “exercise” spite, ladies (or gentlemen). I know you say it in Arabic, but in Eglish it doesn’t make sense.

5:10pm MP Aoun: I reject any country or individual telling me that I will not be granted a specific portfolio.
Comment: I agree. No country. Just the PM you’ve just brought to power.

5:11pm MP Aoun: Once they determine the number of ministers, they should set the size of representation of the parliamentary blocs, later they should distribute the portfolios, and determine the ministers at the end. No one should speak to the press before any of the names are set.
Comment: And what’s next? Not allowing internet connection in the Parliament? No tweeting for the ministers? No Facebook, maybe? The media is overrated anyway. (see Egypt, Bahrein, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia etc.) And what if the Lebanese want to know?

5:12pm MP Aoun: Why should the president be granted portfolios? Should we withdraw from rule so that he is granted portfolios? Who came up with this rule and when?
Comment: I believe it was Doha, sir. After Beirut had been burning. I remind you that without the president’s share in the former government you wouldn’t have had enough people to bring it down. ‘ya scared of the same thing?

5:16pm MP Aoun: Whoever says that the interior ministry portfolio is not mine should explain the reasons why. If we have a right to it, then we will take it.
Comment: The ministry is not “yours”. You’ve got possession issues, clearly. The argument is simple: you don’t have people capable to be in charge of it.

MP Aoun: Who said that I am demanding the interior ministry portfolio?
Comment: You did, just now. “If we have a right to it, then we will take it.”

Is there a university in Lebanon that teaches political marketing? The students should send their CVs to GMA.

Crossing the border from Egypt to Libya

This is what a journalist can do when he’s got guts and a strong media company which finances his trips.

Good one Mr. Ben Wedeman! I envy you.

Nice description of Gadhafi’s rule:

“”You see all the potholes in this lousy road? This should be a four-lane highway. Gadhafi spent hardly a dinar on this part of the country.”

“You see that rest house? Gadhafi’s son built it, and overcharged the government.”

“You see that house? It was stolen from its owner and given to one of Gadhafi’s sons.”

“You see those flashes? That’s an ammunition dump an army officer loyal to Gadhafi set on fire before fleeing to Tripoli.”

Why I still want to meet the Al Akhbar photo editor

Libyan protests in one picture that says it all.

Lebanese volleyball in the Arab championship in KSA

Let’s forget about politics for a minute. Because I got something that will make any Lebanese (even me, I’m already Lebanese in spirit ) proud.

So forget Mikati for a second.

There is the Arab Volleyball championship going on in Saidi Arabia. Two Lebanese teams, Al Anwar from Jdeideh (pool 1) and Zahra from Tripoli (pool 4) are trying to bring the cup to Lebanon.

I don’t know about Zahra, but Al Anwar is already qualified for the quarters, after they won three games in a row: with Bani Yas (UAE) on Saturday, Al Sakr (Yemen) yesterday 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 16-25, 25-16), Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya) 3-0 today. They still have to confront the Tunisians from Al Safakos on February 24, but they’re technically qualified already.

I’ve been to two of Al Anwar’s games in Michel el Murr and they are really good. Too bad that I don’t see many people in the courts although the entrance is free. I really don’t get this apathy as far as sports are concerned.

I understand football is sectarian. Basketball is supposed to have the focus on, since they’re spending all that money on American players when they have awesome Lebanese ones who can score more often sitting on the bench (I am mean but that’s the truth). But Lebanon is good at volleyball, the players are all Lebanese and they are damn good. So why are the courts so empty everytime?

A mother’s solidarity

I feel sometimes that nobody cares anymore. That the reports on victims of assassinations – you know, the people who just happened to be there when the bomb went off, the people who were never martyrs, just collateral damage – just go up on the website, people look at them, read the story, they say “haram” and move on.

But today, with Tony Daou’s profile, something new happened. Another mother, Ghassan Daoud’s monther, the young lawyer who blew up with Walid Eido at Sporting just because he took a swim that day, answered to Linda Daou.
“what can I say I feel what u feel I lost him at age of 28 before 3 months of ur son also by a bomb .We are loosing our innocent children without any reason , may be for one reason that they were born in lebanon .let there souls RIP may be they are happier there ……..we all missed our lovers lets always pray for their souls”

I strongly feel that these mothers, sisters, sons, wifes and daughters should meet and sit together to not feel forgotten anymore. Many of them lost hope that they would ever know who’s responsible for their grief.
This is not about the STL, this is about Lebanese people who were never taken into account, who were never even asked if they are alright.

They need to know. Nothing can bring back their lost dear ones. They need to know that they are not alone, that there is someone who feels with them (as the Lebanese say). They were given money by the Lebanese state. A few thousand dollars in damages. But nobody cared if they ever recover after the bombings.

A son saw his father’s head cut off, another son saw his father survive two attacks on his life just to see him die by accident in another explosion, parents raised their children to be educated, grown people and all of a sudden their life’s hope was gone. They need help to live with the grief, but nobody cared about a 10 year old girl who was seeing a psychiatrist because she saw her father’s body on television.

If in former Yugoslavia you’ve got tens of NGOs which deal with the victims, in Lebanon there is none. There is just one man who knows them all, who knows all their stories, who provides financial help for those who need it, for those who are not taken care of personally by politicians who feel guilty.

Raja Noujaim, from Moultazimoun , who’s been trying for a couple of years to put together and NGO to represent the victims of assassinations. His efforts however remained in vain until now. Because nobody cares or has an intereest to help these people without using them politically. And that’s what makes them so bitter.

Palestine has got a rugby national team

…But has not fields for the players to practice on.

I spent two hours on the AUB field tonight to watch the university’s rugby team playing with the Palestinian national team. Fine lads, fine equipment.

But take a look at the Lebanese Rugby League website to see where the Palestinians are training.

The Syrian interior mininister scolds protestors in Damascus

The news has spread around blogs and a few news wires that around 1500 people gathered in front of the Interior Ministry in Damascus to ask for the release of a man who got into a fight with a policeman over a traffic incident and was arrested and beaten up.

A video of the demonstration showed up on youtube:

The really weird thing about this, as Angie says, is the conversation between the protesters and the minister.

“Shame on you – this is a demonstration.”

[As in "Gotcha! Asking for your rights, huh? You weasels, you know it's forbidden. Mortal sin."]

“No, no, this isn’t a demonstration!”, the protestor tried to convince him.
As in “OMG, please don’t kill us!”

As my editor says: this can only happen in Syria.

It reminds me of conversation I used to have with my grandma.
” Shame on you. You ate the whole jar of jam, didn’t you? You’ll get diabetes from all the sugar. “
“No, I didn’t. It wasn’t me.” I used to answer, although my face was all sticky with apricot jam.

The ousted dictator syndrome

Tunisian Ben Ali deposed president and Egypt’s Moubarak both caught the same virus and suffered strokes. Just when people started to talk about corruption under their rule.

Does anybody know a provider of that voodoo dust which makes you seem dead in order to have your funeral and then disappear in the Bahamas?
I know a few people in Lebanon and its vicinity who’d looove to have it.

Ummmm. I also remember how sudden Ariel Sharon’s coma happened a few years ago amidst corruption accusations…