This is not a movie

Curfew...
It's a weird word i was no more used to hear unless at cinema.
But yesterday, we saw burning cars and snipers on rooftops and people with guns



bloody scenes across the Arab University reminiscenting of the country’s Civil War 1975-1990 ; given that, a curfew was mandatory, for the first time since 1973, when the Lebanese Army imposed a curfew after its airstrikes on Burj el Barajneh and other Palestinian Camps.
Mandatory when clashes leave 4 shot dead and at least 35 were injured, many by gunfire.

For Lebanon Daily Star, the initial fight Thursday broke out in a cafeteria Beirut Arab University in the Tariq al-Jdideh neighborhood. Two students - one a supporter of the Future Movement and the other a Hizbullah partisan - exchanged insults, with one spitting at the other.
From there, it escalated into a mainly Sunni-Shiite clash, escalating from fists to clubs to gunfire and Molotov cocktails.
Supporters from pro-government Sunni parties and their Shiite counterparts, Amal and Hizbullah, quickly arrived at the scene for a face-off. Both young and old men wielded stones, wrapped chains around their necks and even carried stylized batons - hand-painted and sharpened, with special grips made of tape.
The initial fight trapped many people, including local high-school students, in the midst of the clashes until they were escorted out by the army.
And finally the intervention of the Army to separate the fighting parts.
"Finally" because many people (read Failasoof post) where wishing that, as Army is responsible of common security of all citizens.

Given that, the Lebanese Army has imposed a Beirut-Wide curfew as of 8:30 PM till 6 AM today.

Yesterday, after the clashes erupted, Nasrallah issued a fatwa telling everyone to cooperate with the army and stay off of the streets during the curfew. Yet despite his public orders all this time, there have still be clashes.
While Hezbollah built up a lot of street cred because of the summer war with Israel, a lot of people are having a change of heart. Many still agree with its positions overall, but the way that this situation has escalated has put them off from their tactics completely...

“What are we doing? No one can help a country where its own people can’t help themselves,” Siniora said. “We have to set an example for those people who came from all over and are watching Lebanon that we are trying to build a country, not a battlefield.”

Lebanon is still struggling to rebuild from its 1975-1990 civil war and is weighed down by $40 billion of debt, equal to 180 percent of gross domestic product.
After yesterday Paris III Donors Conference, $7.6 billion in aid have been pledged for Lebanon (click here to get the final document).
List of donors:
• SAUDI ARABIA: Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Saudi Arabia would give $1.0 billion to help development projects and a further $100 million in budget support.
• UNITED STATES: $770 million, conditional on approval of U.S. Congress. A senior U.S. official said it would include $250 million in cash transfers tied to economic reforms. A further $220 million will fund Lebanese military equipment and training. $184 million goes to support the international peacekeeping mission, $60 million to train and equip security forces, $50 million to fund reconstruction projects and $5.5 million for demining.
• ARAB MONETARY FUND: $700 million over the next five years.
• WORLD BANK: $700 million in additional funding to support implementation of the government's program. Up to $400 million could be made available this year.
• FRANCE: 500 million euro ($649.4 million) loan "with very favorable conditions".
• EUROPEAN UNION: Almost 400 million euros of additional aid in the form of grants and loans.
• EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK: 960 million euros divided into 400 million euros for priority investments, notably in the electricity sector, and 560 million for the private sector.
• UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: $300 million.
• ARAB INVESTMENT BANK: $250 million.
• ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK: Financial package of $250 million for social services and basic infrastructure.
• BRITAIN: $48 million to U.N. agency dealing with refugees in Lebanon and $115 million over the next four years for reconstruction projects with no conditions.
• BELGIUM: 20 million euros.
• OMAN: $10 million.
• ITALY: 120 million euros, made up of 65 million euros in low interest rate credits and a gift of 55 million euros. It also offered a suspension of Lebanon's commercial debt repayments to Italy.• SPAIN: 35 million euro grant in 2007-2008.
• BRAZIL: $1 million donation.
• MALAYSIA: $1 million, prepared to discuss rescheduling existing bond maturities.
• SWEDEN: 4.5 million euros, all channeled through the United Nations Development Program.
• AUSTRIA: 1 million euros to help improve living conditions and for economic reforms
• SLOVENIA: 100,000 euros in 2007.
• GREECE: 5 million euros for reconstruction.
• IRELAND: 2 million euros, as grant with no conditions.
• GERMANY: About 103 million euros, including about 63 million euros for reconstruction work and 40 million euros for equipping security forces on the Lebanese border.
• NORWAY: $15 million for activities including coastal management, the petroleum sector, support for Palestinian refugees and work against cluster munitions.
• EGYPT: $44 million for rebuilding infrastructure.
• CANADA: 20 million Canadian dollars ($17 million).
• DENMARK: $3.5 million, focused on improving lives of people in south Lebanon.
• SOUTH KOREA: $1 million.
• CHINA: 30 million Yuan ($3.86 million).
• AUSTRALIA: 5 million Australian dollars ($3.9 million) for U.N. and related relief activities, planning to allocate a further A$2 million to high priority community action programs.


A young man interviewed yesterday by italian TV "RAI" journalist:
"I'm just afraid that these contributions won't be like in the past, potatoes for poors and most part of lebanese people, while special meat for few richs."


Ai giovani libanesi.
Non rassegnatevi, non perdete le speranze, non abbandonate il vostro Paese.