Militants Set Their Attacks on Alcohol in Lebanon

[High_Gravity]

The Islamic Militants are going after the booze in Lebanon, I knew it was only a matter of time until they try to shut down the night clubs, take away the booze and than wrap the women up in burkas.

Militants Set Their Attacks on Alcohol in Lebanon

SARAFAND, LEBANON — Days after a bomb blast in this southern Lebanese town, in the early hours of Jan. 12, the intended targets remained strewn across the floor of the small shop where they had fallen: cases of imported Heineken lager, bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch and an assortment of other alcoholic beverages.

Southern Lebanon has re-emerged as a battleground against alcohol. In what appear to be shots fired across the bows of alcohol suppliers in the area, pre-dawn bombings have targeted liquor stores and establishments that serve alcohol in four separate incidents since November.

In a region known for religiously and socially conservative views on alcohol, Lebanon has often stood apart for its liberal attitudes. While Lebanon’s 18 officially recognized religious sects have been the source of deadly frictions — notably in the country’s 15-year civil war — they have also contributed to diversity and tolerance. The capital, Beirut, has built a reputation as a nightlife destination.

In large swaths of the country, drinking in public — or even behind the wheel of a vehicle — does not raise many eyebrows. Television ad campaigns, aimed at attracting foreign tourists, feature Lebanon’s party scene much more prominently than its ancient history or natural beauty. The Bekaa Valley, an area dominated by the militant Islamist party Hezbollah, is home to many wineries.

The county’s mosaic of sectarian politics, combined with the government’s chronic weakness, has contributed to a growth in militant religious fundamentalism and intolerance in some areas — and an increase in anti-alcohol violence.

Still, the militants are meeting strong resistance: “If they don’t like drinking alcohol let them go to Saudi Arabia or to Iran or to any Islamic country to live there and to leave us alone,” said Hussein Chaaban, the manager of the seaside Queen Elissa Hotel in Tyre. The restaurant and bar of the hotel were rocked by a bomb Nov. 16.

“We will never stop” serving alcohol, Mr. Chaaban said. “Nobody can stop us from living our regular life.”

Lebanon’s third largest city, Tyre has been the site of three of the four recent bombings.

It is difficult to discern who was behind the attacks. The recent bombings have all taken place in territory controlled by the Shia political parties Amal and Hezbollah. However, both groups have shown relative tolerance over the years toward the discreet sale and consumption of alcohol in some of their areas.

More than a decade ago, a similar string of bombings and attacks took place in and around the coastal city of Sidon. Those attacks — which also included the gunning down of a shopkeeper — were attributed to radical elements including Usbat al-Ansar, a militant Salafi group based in the relatively lawless confines of the nearby Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp.

Today in Sidon, it is almost impossible to find an alcoholic beverage.

In Tyre, while there are still drinks to be had, some restaurants and pubs have removed alcohol from behind their windows and bars in hopes of becoming less of a target, while continuing to quietly serve. Others have stopped the sale of alcohol entirely for the time being.

Policing has been increased around Tyre locations that serve alcohol in an attempt to prevent further attacks. Meanwhile the owners of bombed businesses in the religiously mixed city, where it is possible to enjoy a beer around the corner from yellow and green Hezbollah banners, stress a history of coexistence. For the most part, they said, people have gotten along with each other in the past.

“All my customers are Muslim, not Christian,” said Bchara Kattoura, who owns a liquor store in the Christian Quarter on Tyre’s picturesque waterfront. Mr. Kattoura’s shop was hit by a bomb on Nov. 16.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/w...cks-on-alcohol-in-lebanon.html?ref=middleeast

 

[2012]

Today it's alcohol, tomorrow is studying the bible in public...

 

[High_Gravity]

Today it's alcohol, tomorrow is studying the bible in public...

Than it will be women shouldn't be driving, than it will be oh they all should all be wearing burkas, we seen this show before.

 

[Mr. H.]

What a waste of good booze.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dey's sobered up an' replanting the cedars of Lebanon...

American Aid Helps Lebanon Replant Its Cedar Forests
December 28, 2012 — The fragrant cedar forests of Lebanon were first recorded in the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, about 4,500 years ago.

But Lebanon’s once mighty cedar forests survive today only as pockets of scraggly trees on mountain sides. Now, there's a project to replant the ancient cedar forests. Lebanon’s government has set an ambitious goal of increasing the country’s forest cover by 50 percent by the year 2020.

Going green

Hisham Salman runs Lebanon's Association for Forests, Development and Conservation. He said the government’s “Green Lebanon” slogan wins support across religious and sectarian lines in this fractured land. “People who are living in the cities, they like this idea that Lebanon is a green country,” he said in an interview at a nursery in the Shouf Mountains. “They want to see it again green, so they like this idea - the planting of trees,” said Salman. The cedar is Lebanon’s national symbol, the center piece of the nation’s flag and shield. The ancient Egyptians used cedar oil to mummify the dead. The Phoenicians used cedar planks for their merchant ships. The Hebrews used cedar beams to build King Solomon’s temple. The Bible mentions the cedars of Lebanon 75 times, including in Psalm 92: “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon." In 2005, mass rallies against Syria’s military occupation came to be known as “The Cedar Revolution.”

Fighting fires

On the conservation side, Lebanon created Sanjoub the Squirrel, a mascot who teaches children and villagers about preventing forest fires. Salman said climate change is creating a longer season of wildfires. “We notice that climate change is affecting the forest because, before, the fire season started in June-July,” Salman said. “Now in the last 20 years, the fires are starting in March. We have big fires in March and April. This, we think, is the global warming,” said Salman.

Prioritizing planting

Trees stabilize hillsides and protect mountain springs. Now, the goal is to plant one million trees a year. With American techniques, a USAID-funded program has doubled and tripled survival rates for saplings of cedar and other conifers. Heath Cosgrove directs environmental projects for USAID Lebanon. "Here in Lebanon," he said, "USAID has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service, with a $12-million, 4-year project to reforest Lebanon, to restore it’s natural beauty, to help support the introduction of the national symbol, the cedar tree, which is represented on the Lebanese flag." Up here in the Shouf mountains east of Beirut, some ancient trees were saplings 2,000 years ago, during the life of Jesus. Now, new seedlings are part of a plan to replant the legendary cedars of Lebanon.

Source

 

[Sunni Man]

Banning alcohol is a step in the right direction..........

 

[High_Gravity]

Banning alcohol is a step in the right direction..........

Why?

 

[irosie91]

Banning alcohol is a step in the right direction..........

Why?

brutal oppression ----apartheid, racism etc etc but most of all
because christians of the Lebanese variety use wine in religious
ritual-----the priests MIGHT get an exemption----but ----most of
the wine they make will end up down the gullets of muslims---and
that fact is an easy excuse to charge them with the "crime"
of selling or giving wine to a <gasp> muslim.

It is fact---and has been done LOTS in the 1400 year history
of brutal islamic oppression.. The customary--- "jews and
christians make the wine and muslims pretend not to
drink it"-----has been going on since the sick shariah code
was invented as has killing christians and jews charged
with "selling wine" This idiot interchange is vital
to CALIPHATE FUNCTIONING
perversity upon perversity