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Shiites commemorate
tradition
“In
every time and place there is a Hussein and a there is a
Yazeed. I call upon you to continuously look for that
Hussein and support him, and look for that Yazeed and
fight him,” said the loud voice heard from speakers
around the complex.
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NEWS & REPORTS
News Bits
The ongoing violence in the Middle East
region, at its peak
especially in Iraq and Palestine, reached Lebanon with
Lebanese security forces clashing with supporters of the
Free
Patriotic Movement protesting youth emigration and the
Syrian
influence in Lebanon.
To Anwar Yassin, Rabih and
al-Hariri : We didn’t see time go by
by Fidaa Itani (BEIRUT)
Don’t search in your memories about me Anwar;
we don’t know each other, we never met and we will never meet.
Even if we had met, we are now in two different worlds. You
are now living happily the moments of your freedom. You came
back after serving around half of your sentence, following
your capture with your gear on you. Today, things changed.
New leftist movement promises real left,
drafts constitution by end of March
The developing “Movement for a Democratic Left”
(MDL) continued its push into the Lebanese political scene.
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EDITORIALS
Column One
Two factors have severely hit
this publication namely emigration and apathy.
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Op-Ed
France’s Ban on Religious Symbols:
An Infringement on Rights or an Act to
Protect Secularism?
by Mohammed
ElFakhani (BEIRUT)
“When we lose the right to be different, we
lose the privilege to be free.” The words of two-time New York
Governor Charles Evans Hughes ring truer today than ever
before in the wake of the recently passed laws in France
banning the wearing of religious symbols in public schools.
Will Hizbullah reconsider its raison
d’ętre?
by Kamal
Sanjakdar (BEIRUT)
The latest prisoners’ exchange between the
Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel marked another success for the
radical Shiite party in its struggle against the Zionist
state. Nevertheless despite this additional success the party
still refrains from ‘‘investing’’ in internal Lebanese
politics based on its successes in the struggle against Israel.
Experience shows the Leviathan can be
tamed
by Raja Abou
Hassan (WASHINGTON DC)
Some of the most common and serious mistakes
emanate from the assumptions we make. In a debate, everyone
assumes that the other individuals share (to a certain degree)
the same basic notions. It is from that base that the
discussion then ‘takes off’ and, if lucky, arrives at some
conclusions.
Targeted Assassinations:
A New Name for Ethnic Cleansing
by Hamid Assaf (BEIRUT)
The Israeli policy of “targeted assassinations”
of Palestinian activists is not a new phenomenon; on the
contrary, it has been a doctrine that the Israeli had always
government sponsored and endorsed. The quandary of the
Palestinian people and the refugee problem the rise of the
Zionist state in 1948 has lead to the rise of various forms of
resistance; among them was the resort to armed struggle.
How ready are we for virginity talk
By Jinan Moussa (BEIRUT)
‘‘I have not had any sexual intercourse yet,
and I am therefore still a virgin. But I have been going to
take-won-do classes. After attempting to do the splits, I have
noticed blood stains in my underwear. Does this mean that I’ve
broken my hymen? If so, is there any way of getting it
repaired? I come from a very religious family, where any
assumption can be made if I don't bleed on my wedding night. I
want to know how much such a treatment costs. I will be
extremely grateful for your advice.’’ Very Concerned.
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FEATURES
Earth takes the floor
By Wissam Saliby (BEIRUT)
Khaled Sabsabi immigrated with his family to
Australia in 1979. He has primarily worked with sound and
music, with a noted interest in hip-hop. When he came to
Lebanon in December 2003, he performed in the Beirut Theater,
Ain al-Mreisseh, on the final night of “Shams Festival”. His
performance was a mixture of video and live, somewhat noisy
(by local standards), music, mastered and mixed through his
computer. The “output” of his special form of artistic
expression is video synchronized to audio, through the
computer.
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HISTORY & CULTURE
27 years since after his
assassination, Kamal Jumblatt’s endeavor still makes sense
Why a tribute in this issue to Kamal Jumblatt?
Is it to praise and patronize about an idol? Is it to fortify
our positions behind a man who died 27 years ago and had his
pros and his cons? Surely not. By the commemoration of his
death, Alternative wishes in the first place to open a debate
about the man, about his ideology, about his politics and
about his own status on the Druze, on the national, the
regional and international levels.
The Arab Martyr
Kamal Jumblatt was born in Mukhtara, Chouf, on
December 6, 1917.
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Youth News
Star Academy: A new outbreak in
Orientalism
by
Faten Yaacoub (BEIRUT)
Orientalism has announced its last days in Star
Academy. For those out-dated, Star Academy is the Arab version
of the famous French program for youths seeking to be singing
pop stars.
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LIGHT NEWS
Bou Khaled’s Maaarch: A Satire of Modern
Armies in the Zenith of “the War on Terrorism”
by Samer Mazloum (BEIRUT)
The Beirut Theater was the venue during the
month of February for Maaarch, a play by Lebanese actor
and director Issam Bou Khaled.
Zinnar al-Nar: The abnormality of
being normal during war
The events of Zinnar al-Nar, a Lebanese movie
written by Rashid al-Daeef and directed by Bahij Hojeij, take
place during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. A university teacher
surprised by the breakout of fire during one of his classes
seeks refuge along with his students in an underground shelter.
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