Israeli Interior Minister: Lebanon War was a Divine Loss

Israeli Minister of the Interior Eli Yishai believes that Israel lost the July 2006 war because Israelis have turned their back on God:

“But here we come to the Second Lebanon War, without Syria, without Jordan, without Libya – just 2,000 Hezbollah men. 2,000! And look at what happens. Do you know why? Because we said, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth’. What do you think? That you can succeed without help from God? Without the Torah of Israel? Without the learned of the Torah?” he commanded.

With Hassan Nasrallah declaring a “divine victory” and Eli Yishai declaring a “divine loss”, it seems that both Hezbollah and Israel are on the same page.

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai: Lebanon war lost due to distance from God

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Interior Minister Baroud Recognized for Championing Democracy

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has named the three recipients of its 2010 IFES Charles T. Manatt Democracy Awards: US House Representative David Obey, the former USAID Administrator M. Peter McPherson, and Lebanon’s Minister of Interior and Municipalities Ziad Baroud:

The awards, which recognize extraordinary efforts to advance electoral participation and democratic values, are given yearly to a Republican, a Democrat and a member of the international community to highlight the fact that democracy work transcends political parties and national borders.

[...]

Ziad Baroud, a longtime lawyer and prominent civil society activist who currently serves as Lebanon’s Minister of Interior and Municipalities, has dedicated his life to civil society and government service. Mr. Baroud is recognized worldwide for his significant contribution to enhancing the electoral process in his country.

The award ceremony will take place on September 28 in Washington DC. Congratulations to one of our favorite ministers!

Ziad Baroud - Receipient of the 2010 IFES Charles T. Manatt Democracy Awards

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Lebanon Ranked #1 Most Fascinating Country the US Doesn’t Want You To Visit

DailyFinance has released its top 10 list of countries on the US State Department’s travel warning database that should be visited. The countries are ranked according to how much tourism contributes to the GDP of the country. Therefore, no surprises, Lebanon ranks first:

1. Lebanon – 37.6% of GDP
2. Mexico – 12.7%
3. Saudi Arabia – 9.5%
4. Kenya – 9%
5. Iran – 8.4%
6. Nepal – 7.4%
7. The Philippines – 6.9%
8. Israel, the West Bank and Gaza – 6.4%
9. Russia – 6%
10. Colombia – 5.3%

The last advisory update from the State Department is dated March 29, 2010 and reads:

The Department of State continues to urge U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon due to current safety and security concerns. U.S. citizens living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks.

In total, 31 countries appear on the list.

The US hopes to avoid the 2006 scene above by advising nationals to avoid Lebanon - Photo from US Department of Defense

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Lebanon’s “Do You Love Me” Goes Israeli

Israeli singer Sarit Hadad has released a new song and it seems that she was “inspired” by Lebanon in the 70s. Blogging Beirut has the original song in video and Lisa Goldman has the current Israeli version.

The original is here for you all to enjoy and “do you, do you” make sure to turn the volume up really loud. Enjoy Lebanon of the 70s.

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Kia Leads in New Car Sales and Dangerous Websites

In the first 7 months of the year, 19,639 new cars were sold in Lebanon according to the Association of Automobile Importers with the Koreans leading the way:

• Kia: 18.5%
• Hyundai: 11.9%
• Nissan: 16.5%
• Toyota: 8.3%
• Mitsubishi: 4.4%

Its quite clear from the top five list that Lebanese know how to choose value-for-money cars. Unfortunately though, Kia Lebanon apparently cannot choose a value-for-money webmaster. According to Google, their website may harm my computer. Mozilla Firefox is also quite adamant that I avoid the site at all cost.

Screen shot: What I saw when I tried visiting the Kia Lebanon website via Firefox.

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