Tag Archives: Lebanese army

The Lebanese Rocket Society (Documentary) – Review

The Lebanese Rocket Society

Brought to us by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, The Lebanese Rocket Society is a documentary about a phase of Lebanese history that exists between both of our civil wars, from 1960 to approximately 1966, in which a group of Lebanese students at Haigazian University launched rockets as part of a series of scientific experiments.

The above is not science fiction, as I had thought on many occasions when many blogs and newspapers wrote about the society over the past few months, despite it being quite difficult to believe given where we are technologically in Lebanon today.

The Lebanese Rocket Society‘s premise is bittersweet. For its main purpose, it makes you proud that these students not only decided to build a rocket, but also chemically made the fuel the rocket is supposed to use because only superpowers possessed it and were not going to dispense quantities of it to Lebanon. The students even built the radar sensors that they equipped the rockets with after a brief miscalculation which sparked a UN-debaccle with our neighboring Cyprus. Yes, we haven’t been nice neighbors all the time apparently. The Lebanese Army eventually helped them in their scientific experiments for the students were heading into financial difficulties with their ambition growing bigger.

The mere fact that the Cedar-named rockets were all built from scratch is a testament to the ingenuity and the creativity of these young Lebanese students. Too bad such advances are purely science fiction not because such brains are lacking but because of our country’s circumstances.

The most interesting parts in the documentary were, without a doubt, the sections where real-life footage from the many launches that took place were incorporated. The archive is unimaginably great and seeing it is worth the price of admission alone. It’s always interesting to dig up 20th-century material about Lebanon that is not of tanks bombing buildings and of a torn-out Holiday Inn hotel.

The documentary seeks out Manoug Manougian, the student who started it all, currently a math professor at a university in Florida. Manougian shares the archive he kept of what he calls one his life’s proudest moments. You can check out his personal page here.

The directors also find Harry Koundakjian, the photographer who documented the Lebanese Rocket Society’s experiments, as well as former Haigazian president John Markarian. However, even though the other participants in the society’s experiments are mentioned, nothing is said about them nor are they mentioned again beyond the movie’s opening scene, which I thought did their work a disservice.

Moreover, The Lebanese Rocket Society goes off-topic often, notably with an entire sequence about the importance of the Arab Spring, as well as many other political subtle messages passed on notably about the importance of the Arab unity under Abdel Nasser. I still have no idea how the entire documentary’s premise fits in the mood of revolutions and freedom and whatnot spreading across Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Syria but the notion is present.

I also felt it was very misleading that – despite their army source telling them the army had a panel discussing the possibility of turning the rockets into weapons by having one floor of the rocket filled with bombs – the directors were adamant that these rockets were a scientific experiment and build the entire documentary on that premise. It was quite clear that the rockets couldn’t have been possibly done if the army hadn’t helped and if the army wanted to make weapons out of them, they would have been turned into weapons.

The Lebanese Rocket Society ends with a 10 minute or so animated sequence which asks the question: what if Lebanon hadn’t stopped the rocket experiment?

To answer the question, the directors believe we would have a metro network running under Beirut, oil rigs off our shores, an entire space program rivaling that of the U.S.A. (down to basically ripping off Nasa’s logo), etc.

The sequence, in my opinion, did the movie a grave injustice and it shouldn’t have been included at all. It was already established that the rocket experiment was stopped because Lebanon was asked to by higher authorities in countries North, South, West and East. One of the documentary’s strongest scenes was one where a drafting compass drew a circle from Lebanon to where our rocket would have reached. Sinai was accessible. It was already established as well that the rockets were not, eventually, a mere scientific experiment as the students involved kept repeating. Those students didn’t know any better, obviously, but the army did. How does that set up for a future as bright as the one they tried to portray?

Nothing is better than some Lebanese future pick-me-up every once in a while, but at least don’t have it that separate from all the facts the documentary had presented over the course of the previous 80 minutes, especially that the presentation of those scientific facts was very systematic and documented.

I personally recommend people watch The Lebanese Rocket Society when it’s released in cinemas on April 11th despite its shortcomings because it is a documentary that showcases a different side of the Lebanon that we thought we knew, one that has been erased from the collective memory of the country as a whole – all supported by some old footage that will leave you baffled.

3.5/5

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The Blinded Fools of Lebanon

Don’t you find some Lebanese reactions to things in this country overly odd?

I can somehow fathom some religious extremists taking it to the streets in order to protest the murder of their religious leaders even though I’m against it.
I can somehow fathom political militia groups blocking roads to get a boost in tactical power even though I’m definitely against it as well.

What I can’t fathom is how some people can be more than convinced that the best way to stand up for the Lebanese army is to block the road for everyone else and create a new mess for the army to clean up.

You try to tell them so. They say you’re not patriotic. I guess we can say now we’ve heard it all in this country.

Do you want to support the Lebanese army and have the urge to show it? How about you do so in productive ways like – say – enroll? But weren’t you the same people, like me, praying and crossing every single digit in your body so they cancel that mandatory army enrollment by the time you turn eighteen?

Those barricades blocking roads in support for our army are a mere pre-election political ploy and people eat them up. Politicians, notably Christian ones, can’t wait to come on TVs and point fingers and say: See those? Those are the people you shouldn’t trust. See us? You should vote for us all the time because with us the army is always protected.

The truth, though, couldn’t be farther away from that notion.

For instance, the people of my district, Batroun, decided that – similarly to the people of Sarba – they were going to block the highway yesterday in solidarity with the army and both its new martyrs Pierre Bechaalani and Ibrahim Zahraman.
I have to ask the people of my district one simple question: where was all this army love when one army man of our own, Samer Hanna, was gunned down and murdered like a dog, his killer never to see a jail cell?

Oh wait. What was Samer Hanna doing flying over parts of Lebanon?

Where was this fear for the army’s sake when people like Francois el Hajj, who defended the entire country during the clashes of Nahr el Bared uttering his infamous sentence: they either come out of that camp in body bags or in handcuffs. was blown up to little pieces?

Hold up again. What business was it for Francois el Hajj to snoop around?

Wasn’t the army threatened back then too? Is it truly us supporting our army when we are 1) hypocritical about it, 2) not knowing we are hypocritical about it and 3) not even knowing how to support the army?

Our army has been taught a few lessons over the past few years.

Chapter one: Samer Hanna – the South is off limits.
Chapter two: Francois el Hajj – the army is only allowed a very limited leeway.
Chapter three: The Sunni Mufti – parts of the North are off limits.
Chapter four: Pierre and Ibrahim – Arsal is another no-no.

Between chapters one, two, three and four, our politicians had differing opinions. Some of their supporters, who never see themselves as blinded because God forbid their politician of choice ever make a mistake, had differing opinions as well.

The army man who died in chapter one cannot compare to those who died in chapter four. And vice versa.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: emotional upheaval towards the army in this country is an auction. Fools are those who actually fall for it – and fools are many. Because the blood of Samer Hanna doesn’t serve some people politically so it’s never – ever – mentioned.

But I will never forget that man and how some politicians who can’t wait to flaunt army love today were the first ones to dismiss his murder a few years ago.

And who’s the victim always in this? Our army. So you support him by blocking roads and feel good about it because your twisted imposed logic tells you so. Because protesting against those “extremists” by doing exactly what those “extremists” do is not extremism and terrorism at all.

The fact of the matter is “justice” in this country is only applied to those who are weak. So when our army barges into Arsal to capture those killers and justifiably so, I really hope someone out there remembers that there are other army killers out there and that there are army martyrs who are now forgotten, who didn’t have roads blocked for their sake and whose blood has gone cheaper than dirt.

Rest in peace Samer Hanna. Every day of hypocrisy, especially from the people of your region, is another nail in your coffin.

When Lebanese Army Martyrs Fall to Protected Terrorism

Pierre Bechaalani, one of the fallen men in Ersal

Pierre Bechaalani, one of the fallen men in Ersal

The news of the death of two Lebanese army members surfaced yesterday after a squad tried to capture a terrorist and outlaw in the Bekaai town of Ersal.

Pierre Bechaalani and Ibrahim Zahraman are two men who, by all standards, are heroes. They were both fathers in their early 30s. Who among us can really tell their sons and daughters that their fathers’ death truly didn’t go in vain in this country? We can’t.

It doesn’t matter what those terrorists are. I don’t care if they are Syrian rebels. I don’t care if they are Lebanese nobodies. I don’t care about their sect, their political affiliation, their family name. Whoever they are, whatever they do, the only thing befitting them is the death penalty.

Their stance from the Syrian revolution doesn’t even matter. I don’t care that they are rebels. Syria is slightly to the East. This is Lebanon. Go fight over there and leave us in peace here. Any Syrian rebel or regime-enthusiast who decides to enact their ideology on Lebanese soils should not be tolerated.

The even bigger problem is that their sect, their political affiliation and their family name will not only protect them from this, it will protect them for years to come. I hope I turn out to be mistaken.

That’s how cheap the blood of our army members goes these days. Pierre and Ibrahim, and many other them of our army’s fallen soldiers such as those of Nahr el Bared, are not just the fallen men of a Ersal clash. They are the fallen men of a state in our country that perpetuates a situation that allowed them to die and will allow other soldiers like them to die in the same exact way.

We all know how much outlaws are harbored in the town of Ersal. But they are allowed to remain there untouched. Perhaps it’s time for a major clean-up?

Whenever the Lebanese army faces such horrible situations and loses men, the eternal debate among Lebanese of who loves our army more erupts because we are only good at patronizing each other on that matter as if supporting our army is a national auction. The truth is that our army is in dire need for better weapons and equipments in order for things like the Ersal clash not to be repeated again and for children, like the sons and daughters of Pierre and Ibrahim, not to lose their fathers to some maniac who believes he will never face the law.

May all the fallen heroes of our army rest in peace.

A New Job for the Lebanese Army: Guard Fast Food Restaurants

I’m not even kidding. Pictures are courtesy of the Daily Star.

 

Now this is not something you see everyday. “Would you like a riffle with your burger?”

As if the Lebanese Army doesn’t have enough on its plate. We now have to worry about a bunch of morons in religious heat acting out on franchises managed by local companies and hiring Lebanese workers.

Ah well…

 

A Song for the Lebanese Army by Nancy Ajram, Assi el Hellani, Wael Kfoury, Nawal El Zoghbi and Samir Sfeir: Jeish Lebnan

Because the only thing our singers and artists do when it comes to them being “active” is to, well, sing about it, we have a brand new song for the Lebanese Army.

Written by Nizar Francis and composed by Samir Sfeir, who also sings on it, the song is what you’d expect a song like it to be: dabke-ready with overly patriotic lyrics along with copious use of tebyid tnajer.

“Kan sa3b l 3eish wel nas khifanin. Sar 3enna jeish wel jeish lebnani.“

Life was hard and people were scared. And then we had an army, the Lebanese Army.

I’m not sure if it’s the collective of these five artists having millions of dollars among them but life is still hard for almost everyone else and people are still scared. But yes, let’s sing about it. Because that is the best way to support the army.

“Majd Lebnan houwi jeish Lebnan.“

The glory of Lebanon is the Lebanese Army.

I won’t even comment on that sentence.

You can listen to that song, which I think is absolutely useless, here:

If these artists wanted to support the army, how about they stop singing about it to make money and open up their credit cards and start donating?

I’m sure our army would appreciate their cash more than their song.

Oh wait. That’s what the Lebanese are good at. We’re all talk (or singing) and no show. Yalla 3al dabké fida l jeish!

How Some Lebanese “Support” the Lebanese Army

Concern for the Lebanese Army… How lovely.

Let’s go show support for our armed forces then. How to do that? How else? Let’s block the road for hours upon hours and leave everyone stranded until our “support” is shown.

The army shows up soon after tires start burning to ask those supporting it to stop whatever they’re doing. The supporters get into fights with the army. This happens only in Lebanon.

If anything, the protest that spanned the highway from Jounieh to Batroun yesterday showed that those claiming they were burning tires in support for the army aren’t doing that one bit. They are advancing their own political orangy agenda.

Our Rabieh dude tells us to take it to the streets? We take it to the streets. What are we protesting again?

I have to ask those who are über-concerned about the Lebanese army today: where was this concern when Samer Hanna was shot dead on his land, in the South, by other Lebanese?

Don’t worry, it’s not a rhetorical question. I will answer it for you. Your orangy leader was busy protecting Samer Hanna’s killers and he still is so he didn’t ask you to “support” the Lebanese Army. But you’ve probably forgotten about Samer Hanna by now.

Good job. Those scary Islamists are sure more appealing to protest against.

Where was your concern when Francois el Hajj and Wissam Eid were blown up until there was nothing left of them for their families? Shouldn’t their deaths have been enough for you to also “support” the Lebanese Army?

Again, not a rhetorical question. Of course not. You were not instructed to have an adrenaline rush with their deaths. None of them so-called army supporters remember Wissam Eid and
Francois el Hajj today.

When it comes to supporting the Lebanese Army, the matter is not an auction. It’s not “Min bi zid.” It is not blocking the highway illegally and not abiding by army instructions to break up the protest. It is not stopping everyone from going home after a long work day so you can shove your inexistant army love down their throats.

You want to support the army? How about you get your sons to join it for a year of voluntary service? I’m pretty sure those people were the same people who worried nights on end about their sons going to obligatory military service back when it was instilled. How about you donate money that you made at work as a normal citizen?

Alas, I forgot this is Lebanon. Go hard or go home. Burn tires or don’t protest. Block roads or don’t do anything at all – regardless of what the cause is. Army supporter? Army hater? They are all the same mold: people who wait for a word from their corresponding leader to take it to the streets all while thinking they are doing this out of free will.

The Lebanese people are airheads. The country is brain dead. The only people who haven’t protested yet are Greenpeace. They are still waiting on green-friendly tires.

The Lebanese Army Intelligence Summoning People For Investigation… Based on Facebook Profiles!

Fellow Lebanese, if you don’t have super protective privacy settings on your Facebook profiles, it’s high time to do so. In a country where many people can rationalize the army killing people at checkpoints (I had a “conversation” with one an hour ago), where people burn tires for leisure, where guns are taken to pubs, the next big national threat is none of those. It’s your Facebook profile.

86 people from the Jezzine area were summoned by the intelligence of the Lebanese Army to the Zougheib Barracks in Saida for investigation, Annahar reports. Those people don’t have warrants against them. They haven’t done anything wrong – unless having a Facebook account is a crime.

The summoned individuals have to be present at the barracks around 8 am. The investigation with them lasts till 2 pm. Most of them are people who hold jobs and have classes. One of them was even a university professor.

Instead of investigating things that are worth investigating, such as the murder of Charbel Rahme who had no warrants against him and actually wanted to join the ISF, the army intelligence is busy stalking Facebook profiles and asking people to come in for a full-day affair to ask you about your statuses, friends, profile pictures and whatnot.

The age of no retribution for any organization within the Lebanese state needs to come to an end. Accountability is key – especially when it comes to an organization which is supposedly concerned with protecting Lebanese citizens. If we put everything that’s done by the army on a pedestal away from questioning, we will quickly turn into a military state. If that’s acceptable for you, it sure isn’t for me.

Why would they summon 86 people – with the list still having more names to go – based on their Facebook profiles? We will never know. And you will still find people who rationalize this when there’s no room for reason. Is it the time to start deactivating Facebook accounts? It sure beats going to jail for posting a not very army-pleasing Facebook status

The Lebanese Army is Becoming Way Too Reckless

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was heading back to his hometown in the Chouf. Knowing the road like the back of his hand, he didn’t think there would be a military checkpoint which was set up there in the few hours he wasn’t home. So while driving back, he didn’t stop at the checkpoint.

As a result, the army spiked his car’s tires, deflating them all and stopping him in his tracks. He ended up paying over $500 for new tires. In retrospect, my friend was very lucky.

If this had happened with him today, my friend would have been dead.

Charbel Rahme is the latest casualty to the Lebanese army. What was Charbel Rahme’s fault? He didn’t stop at the Madfoun checkpoint. Should he have stopped? Definitely. Everyone should stop at a Lebanese army checkpoint. But is not stopping enough reason for the army to kill someone?

I refrained from commenting on the army killing Sheikh Abdul Wahed last week. Let’s wait for the investigation, I figured. Perhaps Sheikh Abdul Wahed had a ton of arms with him in the car. Perhaps his convoy shot at the army first. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Too many suppositions.

But in Charbel Rahme’s case, he didn’t shoot at the army. He didn’t threaten their lives. And still he died. His car was shot 6 times. There’s no room for randomness with 6 bullets. He was shot in the head. He died instantly. He was 38.

Charbel Rahme’s brother is a major in the army as well.

Two theories come to mind. Either this is the act of reckless individuals within the army, in which case they should be trialed as soon as possible. Or there’s a command from high-above to shoot to kill. When it comes to the former, the fact that this incident has happened twice in one week means there are way too many reckless individuals within the army and if the “myth” of the army being protective to all Lebanese is to stand then massive pruning is needed.

As for the latter theory, how can I expect protection from an army who would kill me if I run a checkpoint? The argument that I’m a civilian who “doesn’t understand” doesn’t stand. I’m the civilian whose life is threatened here. I’m the civilian getting killed in a meaningless situation no one should die in. I’m the civilian whose trust in the army is waning dangerously thin. I’m the civilian whose support the army desperately needs. I’m the civilian who can’t understand why I have to die if I don’t stop at a checkpoint.

We are not hypocrites. We supported the Lebanese army when the hypocrites proclaiming Lebanese army love today laughed at some of the army’s martyrs. But when it comes to our lives, some things need to be said. The Madfoun checkpoint has a puzzle of barricades to prevent people like Charbel Rahme from speeding away from the checkpoint. The army would have had way too much time to spread out the spikes needed in order to stop the car.

The spikes wouldn’t have allowed Charbel Rahme’s car to go more than 20 meters with deflated tires. Even if Charbel Rahme had continued trying to move away, his body has way too many points the army can hit without killing. And yet, Charbel Rahme’s body is lying cold in the morgue of the Batroun Hospital with a bullet hole in his head.

There’s no other way to spin it. The Lebanese army is getting reckless with the lives of the people it should be protecting. The Lebanese army is becoming way too reckless with the weapons it has especially with people against whom these weapons should never be used.

Alla ye7me l jeish? I beg to differ. Alla ye7mina ne7na iza heik.

Is Lebanon fast turning into a military state where your life ends depending on how you behave at checkpoints? Is not stopping at a military checkpoint now a threat to the national security of the country?

The people of Bsharre are now ringing the bells of their churches, lighting candles and praying for the soul of Charbel Rahme. May he rest in peace. His death was unnecessary, uncalled for and much more dangerous than the death of Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Wahad. Why? Because Charbel Rahme was a regular citizen, like you and me.

This is Charbel Rahme

R.I.P Samer Hanna, Wissam Eid & Francois el Hajj

Dear Concerned Lebanese Citizen,

Were you this concerned when Samer Hanna got shot in his helicopter while flying over South Lebanon?

Were you this concerned when Wissam Eid and Francois el Hajj were blown up until there was nothing left of them to return to their grieving families?

Captain Wissam Eid

Dear Lebanese army,

Were you this feisty when you lost Samer Hanna, Wissam Eid & Francois el Hajj?

Were you this protective of your own when you lost those three men to three separate, equally-horrifying, assassinations?

General Francois el Hajj

Dear Lebanese political websites worried about the army,

Were you remotely concerned when your directing politicians stood in the home of one of them and defended his killers?

Were you remotely concerned with the army’s sake and all the martyrs that fell in Nahr el Bared when your allies proclaimed the camp a “red line?”

Lieutenant Samer Hanna

Dear Lebanese people hating on the army,

Where was this hate when you were begging for army protection when you were getting killed?

Where was this hate when you proclaimed the army as the only entity you want for your protection?

“Allah ye7me l jeish” 100%. Bass shou bta3mel bi 7ezbo? Shou bta3mel bel 3alam yalli ma bta3ref Allah?

Should the Lebanese Army Be Beyond Retribution?

To start this, I feel it is important to say that I respect the Lebanese army because many will feel, upon reading this, that I’m degrading our armed forces, which is not my intention.

The purpose of this post is to ask a few questions – the answers to those questions are not set in stone. They go back to your perspective. Some might feel the answer the questions posed are yes. Others will feel the answer is a no. Either way, it’s always healthy to have a debate.

When it comes to the Lebanese army, many put it on a pedestal. Whatever the army does, you can’t criticize it, you can’t comment on its work, you can’t talk about anything it does in a negative light. The argument? The army is already doing more than what’s required of it and you have no right to criticize.

But is the argument that the army is doing more than it should enough to explain any possible shortcomings?

For instance, when it comes to neutrality, the Lebanese army is praised for keeping a distance from everyone, as it should. For instance, when Kataeb students were getting beaten up in Downtown Beirut, the army stood by and watched. I think it should have interfered because these are the people it should be protecting. Many felt that remaining neutral is better.

However, soon after that downtown incident, students were protesting at a Lebanese university as a reply to a protest that went on a week earlier. The army was neutral for the first protest – it beat up the students during the second one. Now, should we remain silent about this or do we have the right to ask: what happened?

When it comes to the checkpoints, such as the Madfoun checkpoint, is it fair to say that we are civilians who don’t understand the importance of such checkpoints? Is it fair that we don’t get to criticize why some regions have such checkpoints and not others? Or should we just “suck it up” and not get a say at all?

Should we, as civilians, not be allowed to address some military men who abuse their power, if they exist, and who might be protected by the halo we throw around them?

Should the army’s triumphs protect it from any possible inquiry people might have about its other activities?

In any other country in the world, while the military is respected, people get the chance to constructively criticize. I say, who not in Lebanon too?