Emergency aid lands in Lebanon as world offers support

Yahoo – AFP, 5 August 2020

Workers in Qatar load a field hospital onto a flight for Beirut to help Lebanon's already
stretched health services treat the more than 4,000 people injured in Tuesday's
monster blast

Emergency medical aid and pop-up field hospitals were dispatched to Lebanon Wednesday along with rescue experts and tracking dogs, as the world reached out to the victims of the explosion that devastated Beirut.

The blast centred on the city's port caused massive destruction and killed at least 113 people, heaping misery on a country already in crisis.

Gulf states were among the first to respond, with Qatar sending mobile hospitals to ease pressure on Lebanon's medical system, already strained by the coronavirus pandemic.

A Qatari air force plane with a cargo of hundreds of collapsible beds, generators and burn sheets touched down in Beirut in the first of a convoy of flights to the Mediterranean country.

Medical supplies from Kuwait also arrived, as the Lebanese Red Cross said more than 4,000 people were being treated for injuries after the explosion, which sent glass shards and debris flying.

A Greek C-130 army transport plane bearing a dozen rescuers landed at Beirut's airport, itself damaged in the catastrophic explosion.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab has called on "friendly countries" to support a nation already reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades as well as the impact of the coronavirus.

As emergency crews hauled survivors from the rubble of demolished buildings, France said it was sending search and rescue experts aboard three military planes loaded with a mobile clinic and tonnes of medical and sanitary supplies.

President Emmanuel Macron is to travel to Lebanon on Thursday, becoming the first world leader to visit Beirut after the disaster, as France seeks to swiftly push reconstruction in its former colony.

French Securite Civile (Civil Security) officers at Roissy airport, near Paris, stand `

ready as France sends three planes with search and rescue personnel and medical 

equipment to Beirut

"France is at the side of Lebanon. Always," Macron tweeted in Arabic.

Cyprus -- which lies just 150 miles (240 kilometres) to the northwest and where Tuesday's blast were both heard and sighted -- said it was sending eight police tracking dogs and their handlers aboard two helicopters, to help in the search for victims trapped under rubble.

Tunisia offered to send medical teams to collect 100 wounded people and evacuate them for treatment, as well as sending in two military transporters carrying food and medical aid.

From Europe, authorities in the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Poland offered an array of assistance including doctors, police and firefighters, together with rescue experts and sniffer dogs.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran stood "ready to offer medical and medicinal aid and help treat the injured", and Jordan's King Abdullah II also promised to dispatch a field hospital.

The United Arab Emirates sent 30 tonnes of medicines, medical supplies and surgical equipment.

'Stay strong, Lebanon'

The World Health Organization said it was dispatching trauma and surgical kits from its base in Dubai after what it called a "shocking event" that comes at a "particularly difficult time in Lebanon".

"As you've seen, many hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties and people are still looking for the injured and the dead, so it's a very sad day," the UN agency's emergencies director Michael Ryan told an online session.

Close allies and traditional adversaries of Lebanon alike sent their condolences, with Iran and Saudi Arabia -- long rivals for influence over the country -- both sending messages of support.

A member of Qatar's security forces organises boxes to be loaded into a plane as

 the Gulf country sends field hospitals and medical aid to Lebanon from an airbase 

near Doha

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the great and resilient people of Lebanon," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

"Stay strong, Lebanon."

Saudi Arabia said it was following the situation with "great concern".

Unusually, neighbouring Israel offered humanitarian aid -- to a country with which it is still technically at war -- via international intermediaries.

Lebanon's flag was to be projected onto Tel Aviv's city hall later Wednesday, in Israel's latest gesture.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres expressed his "deepest condolences... following the horrific explosions in Beirut," which also injured some UN personnel.

US President Donald Trump, who said it looked like "a terrible attack", without giving any evidence, said: "Our prayers go out to all the victims and their families... The United States stands ready to assist Lebanon."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the pictures and videos from Beirut "shocking".

And Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims and their families so that they might "face this extremely tragic and painful moment and, with the help of the international community, overcome the grave crisis they are experiencing".

'Sister protests': Lebanon, Iraq look to each other

Yahoo – AFP, Hashem Osseiran in Beirut and Maya Gebeily in Baghdad, 11 November 2019

A Baghdad street vendor sells flags of Iraq and Lebanon, both gripped by
anti-government protests

A Lebanese flag flutters in the protest-hit Iraqi capital. More than 900 kilometres (500 miles) away, a revolutionary Iraqi chant rings out from a bustling protest square in Beirut.

"Don't trust the rumours, they're a group of thieves," sings a group of Lebanese musicians in Iraqi dialect, referring to political leaders they deem incompetent and corrupt.

"The identity is Lebanese," they continue, reworking the chant by Iraqi preacher Ali Yusef al-Karbalai, made popular during the street movement there.

Such recent shows of solidarity have become a common feature of protest squares in the two countries, where corruption, unemployment and appalling public services have fuelled unprecedented street movements demanding the ouster of an entire political class.

They serve to "shed light on similarities between the two movements and boost morale", said Farah Qadour, a Lebanese oud musician.

"The two streets are observing and learning from each other," said the 26-year-old who is part of the group that adopted al-Karbalai's chant.

In Lebanon's southern city of Nabatiyeh, hundreds brandishing Lebanese flags chanted: "From Iraq to Beirut, one revolution that never dies."

And in the northern city of Tripoli, dubbed the "bride" of Lebanon's protest movement, a man standing on a podium waved a wooden pole bearing the flags of the two countries.

"From Lebanon to Iraq, our pain is one, our right is one, and victory is near," read a sign raised during another protest, outside Beirut's state-run electricity company.

'We're with you'

In Tahrir Square, the beating heart of Baghdad's month-old protest movement, demonstrators are selling Lebanese flags alongside Iraqi ones.

They have hung some on the abandoned Turkish restaurant, turned by Iraqi demonstrators into a protest control tower.

Banners reading "from Beirut to Baghdad, one revolution against the corrupt" could be seen throughout.

Lebanon and Iraq are ranked amongst the most corrupt countries in the region by anti-graft watchdog Transparency International, with Iraq listed as the 12th most corrupt in the world.

Public debt levels in both countries are relatively high, with the rate in Lebanon exceeding 150 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

"What's happening on the streets in Iraq and Lebanon, they're sister protests," said Samah, a 28-year-old Lebanese demonstrator.

Iraqi protesters stand under a banner reading "From Karbala to Beirut, one 

goal, one trench"

"They're the result of an accumulation" of years of problems.

One video that went viral on social media networks showed a masked Iraqi protester dressed in military fatigues demanding the resignation of Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, one of the main targets of protesters in the small Mediterranean country.

In a video released online, a group of young Iraqi men had filmed themselves singing, "Lebanon, we're with you!"

The two movements also seem to be adopting similar protest strategies.

In both countries, rows of parked vehicles have blocked traffic along main thoroughfares in recent weeks.

University-aged demonstrators wearing medical masks or eye goggles have occupied bridges and flyovers, refusing to believe pledges of reform from both governments.

'The goal is one'

The big difference is that in Iraq, the demonstrations have turned deadly, with more than 300 people, mostly protesters but also including security forces, killed since the movement started October 1.

Lebanon's street movement, which started on October 17, has been largely incident-free despite scuffles with security forces and counter-demonstrators rallying in support of established parties.

The two movements, however, are united in their anger about the kind of political system that prioritises power-sharing between sects over good governance.

The consecutive governments born out of this system have been prone to deadlock and have failed to meet popular demands for better living conditions.

"We are united by a sense of patriotic duty in confronting this sectarian political system," said Obeida, a 29-year-old protester from Tripoli.

He said he had high hopes for Iraqi protesters because the sectarian power-sharing system there is relatively new, having emerged after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

"In Lebanon, it's more entrenched," he said of the arrangement that ended the country's 1975-1990 civil war.

On a Beirut waterfront, dotted with luxury restaurants and cafes, a 70-year-old Iraqi man who has been living in Lebanon for five years looked on as demonstrators laid out picnic blankets on the grass.

With a Lebanese flag wrapped around his neck, Fawzi said the protests looked different but reminded him of those back home.

"The goal is one," he said.

Unemployment fuels unrest in Arab states: IMF

Yahoo – AFP, Omar Hasan, October 28, 2019

Violent protests have broken out in several Arab countries since early 2010 and
turned into bloody civil wars, including in Yemen (AFP Photo/MOHAMMED HUWAIS)

Dubai (AFP) - Unemployment and sluggish economic growth are fuelling social tension and popular protests in several Arab countries, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.

The unrest is in turn contributing to slower growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, alongside global trade tensions, oil price volatility and a disorderly Brexit process, the IMF said in a report on the regional economic outlook.

Earlier this month it lowered the 2019 forecast for the region -- taking in the Arab nations and Iran -- to a meagre 0.1 percent from 1.1 percent last year.

The IMF slashed its outlook for the region's three largest economies -- Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

The risks around the forecast of earlier this month "are skewed to the downside and are highly dependent on global factors," the IMF said in its report on Monday.

"The level of growth that countries in the region are having is below what is needed to address unemployment," said Jihad Azour, the IMF's director for the Middle East and Central Asia.

"We are in a region where the rate of unemployment at the youth level exceeds 25-30 percent and this requires growth to be higher by 1-2 percent" in order to make a dent in joblessness, Azour told AFP in an interview.

A new wave of demonstrations erupted over the last year in Algeria (pictured) Sudan, Iraq
and Lebanon, typically demanding economic reforms and action against corruption
(AFP Photo/RYAD KRAMDI)

The IMF report said that the high unemployment was worsening social tensions in Arab countries.

"Unemployment averages 11 percent throughout the region versus seven percent across other emerging market and developing economies," it said.

"Women and young people are particularly likely to be out of work, with more than 18 percent of women... without jobs in 2018."

Violent protests have broken out in several Arab countries since early 2010 and turned into bloody civil wars in Syria, Yemen and Libya.

A new wave of demonstrations erupted over the last year in Algeria, Sudan, Iraq and Lebanon, typically demanding economic reforms and action against corruption.

In Lebanon, where protesters have brought the country to a standstill with demands for a full overhaul of the political system, the economy grew at a very slow pace over the past few years, Azour noted.

"The government has to act firmly and swiftly in order to address those imbalances, bring confidence back by addressing the fiscal situation, and lower expenditure," he said.

The IMF also said that public debt levels were very high in many Arab countries -- exceeding 85 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on average, with rates of more than 150 percent in Lebanon and Sudan.

"Having built over many years, the cost of public debt burdens has become sizeable, preventing investments critical to the region's long-term economic future," it said.

In Lebanon, where protesters have brought the country to a standstill with demands 

for a full overhaul of the political system, the economy grew at a very slow pace

over the past few years (AFP Photo/Anwar AMRO)

Iran flounders

The IMF said that Iran, which is subject to crippling US sanctions, has entered a steep economic recession and faces a battle against spiralling inflationary pressures.

The Islamic republic's economy is projected to contract by 9.5 percent this year after posting negative growth of 4.8 percent in 2018.

Iranian authorities must align "the exchange rate close to the market rate and also reform the financial sector... and try to address some of the implications of the high level of inflation," Azour said.

As a result of the sanctions, Tehran is believed to be exporting only around 500,000 barrels per day of crude, down from over two million bpd before the sanctions.

The IMF said that oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, led by Saudi Arabia, are expected to grow by just 0.7 percent this year from 2.0 percent in 2018 due to lower oil prices and output.

"GCC economies need to diversify and grow out of oil and this requires them to accelerate the reforms that have been started in the last four to five years," Azour said.

Foreign domestic workers in Lebanon protest abuses

Yahoo – AFP, May 5, 2019

Foreign domestic workers in Lebanon protest against the 'kefala' sponsorship system
that they say leaves them open to abuse (AFP Photo/ANWAR AMRO)

Beirut (AFP) - Hundreds of foreign domestic workers demonstrated in the Lebanese capital Sunday to demand the scrapping of a sponsorship system that they complain leaves them open to abuse from employers.

Lebanon hosts more than 250,000 registered domestic workers, the vast majority of them women, from countries including Ethiopia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

They are excluded from the labour law, and instead obtain legal residency though their employers' sponsorship under the so-called "kafala" system.

The protesters marching in Beirut held up placards reading "No to slavery and yes to justice" and "Stop kafala".

"We want the cancellation of this system. There are employees imprisoned in houses and they need to have days off," Dozossissane, a 29-year-old Ethiopian, told AFP.

Lebanon's labour ministry introduced a standard contract for domestic workers in 2009, but the forms are often written in Arabic, a language many cannot read.

Activists regularly accuse the authorities of failing to take claims of abuse seriously, with maids, nannies and carers left at the mercy of employers.

Amnesty International last month urged Lebanon to end what it called the "inherently abusive" migration sponsorship system and change the labour law to offer domestic workers more protection.

A report from the rights group that surveyed 32 domestic workers revealed "alarming patterns of abuse", including physical punishments, humiliating treatment and food deprivation.

Ariel Sharon: Hardliner and realist

Deutsche Welle, 11 January 2014

There have been few more divisive figures in the Mideast than Ariel Sharon. As a general, and later a politician, the former prime minister, who died after eight years in a coma, shaped Israel's history for decades.

Ariel Sharon, or Arik, as he was known, who died Saturday (11.01.2014) aged 85 in a hospital near Tel Aviv, was often described as a hawk, or a hardliner. The English title of his autobiography proclaimed him a "warrior." Attitudes about him in the Middle East ranged from respectful and admiring to hostile and full of hatred. For many Israelis he was the hero of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, while for many Palestinians he was the "butcher of Sabra and Shatila."

Sharon was born Ariel Scheinermann in Tel Aviv in 1928. His parents were eastern European Jews who adopted the name of the Plain of Sharon, where they settled. Sharon's life was closely tied to the military history of the new state of Israel. In the 1948 War of Independence, often called the First Arab-Israeli War, he fought as a platoon commander. In 1953, he formed a unit that specialized in reprisals following attacks by Palestinian fighters, and two decades later, in the Yom Kippur War, his daring - and apparently unauthorized - crossing of the Suez Canal with a tank unit helped to secure victory over Egypt. During his military career, Sharon was considered one of Israel's greatest field commanders.

From officer to politician

As is the case with many leading Israeli politicians, Sharon's military experience became the springboard for a political career. He was elected to parliament for the conservative Likud party, and served both as agriculture and defense minister.

It was during this period that the invasion of Lebanon began. The purpose of the campaign was to expel the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) from Israel's northern neighbor. But after the withdrawal of the PLO, a Christian militia allied with Israel attacked refugee camps at Sabra and Shatila in Beirut, killing hundreds of Palestinians. The massacres, which took place in Israeli-controlled territory, led to an international outcry.

Open investigation

An Israeli committee charged with investigating the massacres determined that Sharon also bore the responsibility, and he stepped down as defense minister in 1983, but remained in cabinet as minister without a brief. An investigation into Sharon's liability for the bloodbath was also initiated in Belgium, whose judicial system included the principle of universal jurisdiction, but this proved inconclusive.

None of this harmed Sharon's long-term career. In the years that followed he held the posts of foreign, trade, and construction ministers, before finally being elected prime minister in 2001. Following a power struggle within Likud, he announced his resignation at the end of 2005 and left to form the new centrist Kadima party.

No independent Palestine

Sharon always adopted an uncompromising, hard-line position towards the Palestinians, consistently stating that security for Israel was his highest priority. He was critical of the proposal for a independent Palestinian state and distanced himself from negotiations over Palestinian autonomy. Following a series of Palestinian suicide attacks against Israel, Sharon was quick to hold Yasser Arafat personally responsible, and defied international condemnation by putting the Palestinian leader under house arrest in his official residence in Ramallah.

Sharon did not shy away from other provocations, such as moving into an apartment right in the heart of the Arab quarter of Jerusalem's old town, and in September 2000 he incurred further uproar with a demonstrative visit to the Temple Mount, one of Islam's holiest sites. The resulting street fights developed into the second Palestinian intifada - which lasted four and a half years.

Clearing Jewish settlements

During his tenure, Sharon also withdrew a little from his uncompromising attitude. The aging hawk eventually ordered the Israeli military to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and clear the Jewish settlements there. In his autobiography, he wrote that Jews and Arabs could live together. But according to Avi Primor, Israel's former ambassador to Germany, the former prime minister always remained true to his basic convictions. "Ariel Sharon changed neither his ideology, his politics, and certainly not his instincts," he wrote in the German political journal Cicero. Instead, Primor argued, he was a realist merely accepting the changing circumstances.

On January 4, 2006, Sharon suffered a stroke and fell into a coma, leaving his deputy Ehud Olmert to take over as prime minister. He was later declared to be in a permanent vegetative state. On Wednesday, doctors said the 85-year-old's health had sharply deteriorated, and that he was suffering serious kidney problems.

Related Articles:

"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS"– Sep  29, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Let us talk about the swords: When you hear the word sword, the first thing that occurs to you is battle. The Bridge of Swords is a battle and we told you that as well. Swords are metaphoric and they mean many things, so let us describe the things we mean them to say to you.

Number one: They are indeed a weapon in a battle. There is a battle coming. "Kryon, does that mean there's going to be a war?" Potentially, yes. Right now we will tell you that the Middle East cooks itself. You've noticed, haven't you? What do you know about the Middle East, dear one? Let's start examining things for a moment. What energy did you grow up in? What was the energy of the Middle East? In the '40s, what was the energy? With the establishment of the state of Israel, you built a wall of hate, both sides. The wall was so thick that the children of both sides were taught to hate one another as soon as they were able to understand the language. They were told who their enemies were. Now, where were you then?

Some of you weren't here yet. By the time you arrived, in your youth, were you aware of the Middle East? Not particularly. "What's the hatred about?" you might ask. What if I told you it's about a family feud? Two sons of a Jewish master are involved. One founded the Arabs and one remained a Jew. They don't want to hear this, but they are all Jews. (Don't tell them this.)

If you look at the lineage, it's pretty obvious and yet it's a complete and total set-up for either solution or war. The set-up would have this world ending in a conflagration that would have been brought about by this hatred. That's in the prophecy of Nostradamus and your scripture, but it is no longer the prophecy of the planet. Yet the hatred still exists. The hatred is as great today as it was then, but where was all the terrorism 40 years ago? It was isolated.

Those in Israel and Palestine and surrounding areas took the brunt of it, but now it's seemingly everywhere - and you're worried. Why would this be? The answer is that the old energy was happy to have this hatred contained, for it would keep it going and never involve outsiders. Outsiders tend to bring unwanted light to the party. Suddenly, the whole earth is involved and can see the entire scenario before them. The old guard wants war, just like all the eons before them. The ones on the bridge are holding the light and showing the earth how to cross. Even many younger ones in Israel and Palestine and Iran are holding light! It's all around the old guard and they are furious, for they are losing the "battle of hatred." …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

" ..... If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening. ....."

"... Taught to Hate From Birth

On this earth today, many who are born in Israel are taught from birth how to dislike and distrust all those around them. At this time in history on this earth, those around them from birth are taught how to hate the Jews. Carefully taught, they are. Against all odds, they are proud of this separation because it is the lineage of their ancestors that is at stake, and they want to follow historic protocol. They want to stay separate. Yet I want to tell you that's what is changing. Oh, it's really changing! It's changing in the places you don't expect. It's changing in Jerusalem. It's changing in Iran. And the children are waking up and saying, "Tell me again why I should hate them? They did what, when? That wasn't them. It was their ancestors. The ones here now are current and didn't participate in history. Tell me again, because I don't feel it."

The parents are shaking their heads, and saying, "Do as we say, for tradition and history tells us that they are our enemy and always will be." And the children are saying, "No. I am not going to do this, and neither are those around me." This is slowly making a difference on this planet and it is not being recorded. For your worldwide media has no idea what to do with this new energy and it doesn't seem to even be news to them. They are steeped in the old Human nature, where things that separate are news, and things that unify are not. Yet it is one of the greatest energies this planet is seeing today. I'm here to tell you it's real and it's happening under the hood, you might say. Oh, there are other things I'd like to report to you. ..."

Saudi Arabia pledges Lebanese army $3 billion in aid

Deutsche Welle, 29 December 2013

Saudi Arabia has pledged to give the Lebanese army $3 billion (2.2 billion euros) in aid, Lebanon's President Michel Sleiman has announced. It is the largest grant ever offered to the nation's armed forces.

In televised address to the nation on Sunday, Lebanon's president said Saudi Arabia's multi-billion-dollar aid offer was designed to support and strengthen the nation's armed forces.

The kingdom "decided to provide generous assistance to Lebanon in the form of $3 billion for the Lebanese army to strengthen its capabilities," President Michel Sleiman said, adding that the funds would be used to purchase military equipment from France.

He described the grant as the largest ever given to the Lebanese army.

ccp/rc (AFP, Reuters, AP)

Music to combat hopelessness

Deutsche Welle, 8 Aug 2013

The world's only pan-Arab youth orchestra met in Berlin to make music together. But the young musicians also discussed the situation in their home countries - politics, hopes and fears.

Around 60 musicians from seven different Arab nations followed Bremen-based conductor Heiner Buhlmann as he led them through Dvorak's Symphony No. 8. It was the orchestra's first major performance at the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin's Konzerthaus at the beginning of August.

With support from Germany's Federal Foreign Office, the Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra - made up of musicians from Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories - met for the first time in Berlin to rehearse for their performance.

Harpist Toaa Salah El-Deen can't help
but show her pride and joy

Their repertory includes classical European works and traditional pieces from the Arab world. "We play Claude Debussy's 'Dances for Harp' since the harp was originally an Egyptian instrument," said 22-year-old harpist Toaa Salah El-Deen of Cairo. "I'm so proud to be able to perform as a soloist for the first time with an orchestra. The experience is priceless."

A vision of peace

"The Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra symbolizes a vision for harmony and peaceful cooperation in the Arab world - something that's become uncertain there," said orchestra founder Fawzy El-Shamy, former director of the Cairo Music Conservatory. "That makes this vision even more important."

"Of course the musicians talk a lot about politics during rehearsal breaks because they all want to live in peace," the conductor noted.

Fostering intercultural understanding

through music

"They talk about the history and background of conflicts in the Arab world and things they've seen on television but don't completely understand. This exchange helps to cultivate peace within our own little group. And then we bring that positive energy to the stage," the optimistic El-Shamy told DW.

Escape to music

"Really bad news." That's how cellist Somar Ashkar of Damascus described the current situation in his home country. He's perplexed. "Life is becoming incredibly difficult for us. Nothing is like it used to be. But nobody knows what we can do. We just wait. But for whom? Something has to happen…the misery has to be brought to a halt. The fighting and conflicts and everything. We truly want that - peace!"

The cellist traveled with fellow Syrian musicians to Berlin via Lebanon. Once in the German capital, they plunged into music. "We used to always be happy during rehearsals, but that attitude has disappeared due to the war. Still, we're not giving up. Music helps me through it all."

Conductor Heiner Buhlmann

"My friends and I always try to make people happy with music and let them forget what's happening in Syria for a while," he added.

Unanswered questions

"Around 30 percent of the musicians in our orchestra come from Syria," explained violinist Jasmin Assom de Meledin El-Serafi, of Alexandria, Egypt. "I asked them: 'Who among you supports Bashar al-Assad, and who's against him? And what's happening there?'"

"They explained that many Syrians are in the army and have acted against countless civilians. None of them understand it," the pensive violinist said.

Music should have the power to change not only the lives of the musicians, believes 22-year-old Egyptian concertmaster Kalim Samie Salé, who has been studying in Berlin with violinist Kolja Blacher for the past four years. "There's no right or wrong in music," he told DW. "Even if we Arabs sometimes want to add a different touch to classical music, we always strike a healthy balance with our conductor Heiner Buhlmann." Salé noted that he and his colleagues often want to play more slowly, but Buhlmann spurs them on.

Music instead of politics

"I don't talk about politics much. People always have different opinions, and everyone thinks he's right," the orchestra leader said. "That makes for bad karma, so I think it's better in times like these to just concentrate on the music."

Gathering for the first time in Berli:
the Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra

To that end, the ambitious young musicians presented a work from their own cultural context: Attia Sharara's "Arab Suite" from 1978, a medley of melodies from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Libya, Syria and Lebanon. After thunderous applause, the musicians came down from the stage refreshed and rejuvenated.

"We're concerned," said musicicologist El-Shamy. "At home, I was always with my students at Tahir Square. When we return, we'll go straight to Tahir."

Concertmaster Salé, for his part, said that being young, he still has hope for the future, but "I think we need more time, much more time."

Related Article:

"2013 - A Difficult Year" – July 14, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… You Can See It In Your News

The final item is this: All around you, dear ones, is proof of what I'm telling you. You have two countries currently in turmoil at the moment, and a third one about to go. All three have been stable for a very long time. Who would have thought that Egypt would be part of this? Egypt seemed to be in balance for decades - or was it? Syria ruled itself with an iron hand and created a stability of power that was absolute. What would then cause these to erupt the way they did and at this time? If you take a look at why, and why now, you'll see the timing is all around 2013 and 2012. And it's around Human consciousness that is starting to be more transparent and saying, "We don't want what we now understand and see is continuing unbalance in our country. We see it never getting better, and now we want finality and we want resolution." That is what you're looking at.

It's ugly to look at this, for there is death, suffering, sorrow and turmoil. There is frustration, and the resolution of it all may take longer than you want it to. But someday you will look back and see the results clearly. Mass Human consciousness is starting to change and demand what it expects in the way of integrity. Governments often want the old ways of power, but their people want schools, hospitals, safe streets and parks, and peace with their neighbors.

So expect more of this, especially this year. The more turmoil you see, the more the puzzle is being worked with. So we close this message the way we started it. I know who you are, magnificent one. I sit at your feet in awe. Do not miss this point! Old souls have been here through all of the transitions of humanity. Do you understand that? Four times you came close to this shift you are today experiencing and four times you missed it. Four times you died in the process of trying. This time you didn't.

Do not miss this: There is something within your Akash, a "remembrance button", that is being pushed and plays an emotion that says, "We've felt this before and it didn't turn out well." Don't let this energy define you. It's the button of duality and fear that says things are always the way they are and they will repeat themselves because that's just the way life works. No it isn't! You are magnificent and you have the ability at this point to finally begin to see it, and to cast all the fears and the voices in the back seat of life and tell them you are in charge now and you are the one driving the car of your reality. That's the message of the day. ….”

EU blacklists Hezbollah 'military wing'

Google – AFP, Bryan McManus (AFP), 22 July 2013

Hezbollah militants hold a rally in Baalbek, eastern Lebanon (AFP/File,

Anwar Amro)

BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers on Monday added the military wing of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organisations despite Lebanon warning against such a move.

"In reaching this agreement, the EU has sent a clear message that it stands united against terrorism," British Foreign Secretary William Hague, whose country led efforts to blacklist members of Hezbollah, said at one-day talks in Brussels.

"It shows that no organisation can carry out terrorist acts on European soil, such as the appalling attack in Bulgaria one year ago, without facing the consequences," Hague said.

To get the agreement, ministers had to overcome reservations in some member states that such a move would further destabilise Lebanon where the Iranian-backed militant group plays a key role in politics and has dominated the government since 2011.

Cars drive past a model of a rocket used

 by Hezbollah fighters in southern Beirut,

 on August 12, 2007 (AFP/File, Anwar Amro)

Accordingly, EU political and economic ties with Lebanon will be fully maintained in a delicate balancing act.

Diplomatic sources highlighted the fact that the military wing alone was affected, after Hezbollah was blamed for the deadly attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year.

In March, a Hezbollah operative was also convicted in Cyprus of plotting a similar attack.

The EU measure will translate into sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes.

A draft of the meeting conclusions seen earlier by AFP noted that making use of "restrictive measures to combat terrorism does not prevent the continuation of dialogue with all political parties in Lebanon."

"Legitimate financial transfers" and aid will also not be affected, it added.

On Thursday, Lebanon asked Brussels not to blacklist Hezbollah on the grounds the militant group was an "essential component of Lebanese society."

Hezbollah fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006 and more recently has been providing military support to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as it tries to put down an insurgency that has escalated into civil war.

The decision to put the militia on the EU's list of terrorist groups required the unanimous consent of the bloc's 28 members.

Britain's Hague insisted that the move will "do nothing to affect the EU's and the UK's strong relationship with, and support for, Lebanon."

Analysts however were sceptical, saying it was virtually impossible to distinguish between the military and political wings of Hezbollah.

"It is the security wing, not the military, which is the most effective and the most dangerous in Hezbollah," said Waddah Charara, professor of sociology at Lebanese University.

"The EU move actually gives Hezbollah a lot of leeway, especially given that the party works in a secret fashion and operates through many channels," he added. "It also allows the EU to continue to have contacts with the 'political' Hezbollah."

The United States, Canada, Australia, Britain and the Netherlands had all previously blacklisted Hezbollah as a terror group separately.

Support for the EU sanctions against Hezbollah grew in recent weeks after the party admitted it was sending fighters to back Assad's regime.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah giving

 a televised address from an undisclosed

 location in Lebanon, on July 19, 2013 

(Al-Manar/AFP/File)

Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni praised the EU decision, saying it was the right move.

"Finally, after years of deliberations, the claim that Hezbollah is a legitimate political party has rightfully failed.

"Now it is clear to the entire world that Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation", she said in a statement.

Arriving for the talks, EU ministers had also highlighted the possible resumption of stalled Israel-Palestinian talks after a major push by US Secretary of State John Kerry and the need to promote democracy in Egypt after the military ouster of the elected government.

EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton said the Middle East Peace Process and Egypt would be the other key issues.

"We will be looking to make sure that Egypt gets back on the path to democracy," she said, stressing that "this is about democracy, making sure that that happens."

Hague and other ministers also deplored the deterioration of the situation in Syria where regime forces have made inroads against the rebels who are torn by bloody infighting and growing extremism, prompting concerns they will lose the war.

At their last meeting in May, ministers led by Britain and France agreed to end the EU arms embargo on Syria to allow supplies to the rebels but not before August 1.