August 18th, 2008 by Sarah

Rami Khouri in the Daily Star comments on the recent violence in Tripoli, arguing that “the underlying conditions that allow the current political violence to happen have percolated and grown for nearly half a century.” Khouri cites “festering and lawless refugee camps, a weak Arab state, populations that turn to religion when modern statehood does not provide for their basic needs, weak local economies that create masses of impoverished people susceptible to mobilization by demagogic or extremist movements, and direct external interference by Middle Eastern and Western countries.”

The Daily Star reports that violence continued over the weekend, after the two-day visit last week between Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad.

In regard to the future of Lebanon, Raed Rafei at Babylon and Beyond asks whether this meeting is a sign that Syria has “accepted to recognize Lebanon as an independent and sovereign state?”  On one hand, the Syrians refused to demarcate the borders at the Shebaa Farms. However, Syria also promised to officially exchange ambassadors and to investigate the disappearances of hundreds of Lebanese who went missing during Lebanon’s civil war.

Meanwhile, an editorial in Arab News lauds the recent efforts by Syria and Lebanon as “a leap forward.” The editorial claims that “the neighbors must build on this bonhomie for a more promising and peaceful future for their people. They deserve a better tomorrow after all they have been through over the past few decades.”

Posted in Lebanon, Syria |