Tag Archives: investigation

What Was Hezbollah Thinking?

Did you hear? According to a top notch Bulgarian investigative panel, we are now resisting Israel -all the way in Bulgaria.
It doesn’t make sense to you? No worries, it’s not supposed to. It’s only supposed to make sense to Hezbollah and apparently it does.

Long gone are the days when we await Israeli confrontation in order for our men to bravely fight for our land and lose their lives in the process. Long gone are the days when resisting Israel happens from our own land, the South, which pays heavily every single time we resist.

Today, the only question I can ask is: what the hell was Hezbollah thinking?

Whenever my country enters into a war with Israel, I will stand by my people and my land no matter what. Whether they are right or wrong, whether they started it or not – for the entire duration of the war, I will stand by them. When the war is over though, another story unfolds.

I cannot, however, as a Lebanese support the blowing up of the Bulgaria bus incident no matter what possible explanation is provided for the operation .

Where does Hezbollah want to take the country with this action?
Do they really think the country can handle have one of the main parties in the government to be labeled as a terrorist organization by the European Union?
What repercussions will that have on our fragile political balance, on our economy? How does it reflect on the government that Hezbollah did the operation while in power without anyone else in the government knowing about it, similarly to the 2006 war?

7 years have not taught us anything.

Why did Hezbollah want to kill a bunch of Israeli tourists? Is us resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestine now contingent upon us killing as many civilians as possible? What’s the fault of a tourist for being the citizen of a country we don’t approve of? How does us killing civilians differ us from all those terrorist groups whose goal in life is to cause as many innocent casualties as possible?

I don’t think Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. I do not agree with many of their practices but when it matters the most, I cannot but be grateful for defending my country.
But our support as Lebanese for reckless practices should not be unconditional especially when the repercussions of such actions do not reflect on Hezbollah alone but on the entire country as well.

Imagine the following scenario: Lebanese friends from different sects and regions decide to hop on a plane to Paris. While touring the city in a bus, the bus blows up and they all die. The Mossad is to blame.
Far-fetched, perhaps. But do we really want to take the war with Israel to people whose only fault is being a national of one side of the conflict?

What the hell was Hezbollah thinking? I, for one, can’t come up with convincing answers because I really can’t think how this is any good for them in any way. And if they can actually reach other countries and act this powerfully, which I can’t really wrap my head around, why don’t they do things that are more “useful?”

What I hope for though is for the party to come up with proof that the entire investigation was a politicized fabrication especially with the very fast condemnations from Israelis and Americans. Unlikely and foolish, perhaps, but I’m hopeful that one of my country’s main parties is not that short-sighted to land themselves as a terrorist group all around the world.

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 Killing – TV Series

I recently started watching a newly airing TV series titled: The Killing.

Based on a Danish series by the same name, The Killing can be summed up with its tagline: who killed Rosie Larsen?

Set in Seattle, Washington, the show follows the series of police investigations revolving around the murder of a teenage girl, Rosie Larsen, found dead in the submerged trunk of a politician’s car. When the city of Seattle is at the brink of mayoral elections, every twist in the Rosie Larsen murder case has more ramifications than that of a simple investigation. Some people want the truth to be hidden forever, while others long for it.

The first season is made up of thirteen episodes, each chronicling one day of the investigation. The show is highly absorbing. The overall tone is very dark, and it shows. The city is almost always gloomy and so is the whole ambiance. You delve into their world. You live the sorrow of the Larsen family and the frustration of the police department and the political bickering of candidates trying to score points against each other using Rosie’s murder.

The Killing is highly addictive as well. With each episode ending on a revelation regarding the investigation, it keeps you coming back to know what will happen. And unlike other murder investigation TV shows, this one is realistic. It is authentic. It is not about the death of Rosie Larsen, per se, as it is about the psychological aftermath.

Starring Mireille Enos as lead police investigator Sarah, The Killing has very strong acting. None of the actors and actresses in it underperform. They actually blow you away at certain points Michelle Forbes, whom I know from True Blood, gives a powerhouse performance as Rosie’s mother. At one point, when she learns her daughter died by drowning, she tries to mimic the feeling by submerging herself in the bathtub. Not able to continue through it, she emerges, weeping, clutching the side of the tub. And it is in moments like this that The Killing gives you chills.

Overall, this is a series that you must watch. Why? because it’s real, raw and sometimes gut-wrenching. The series does not shy away from ripping the bandaid while the wound is still fresh. On the contrary, it relishes in the idea of doing so. And I honestly really want to know who killed Rosie Larsen.