From Paris to Sharm el-Sheikh
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربيةIn politics, goodwill is not enough to achieve the expected results and objectives. Weighing the success of a strategy is done through the results it achieves.
The Lebanese are now facing two samples.
1. The model of Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi who succeeded in keeping his country in the Arab and international legitimacy at the economic conference that was held over the weekend in Sharm el-Sheikh, which was attended by 122 states and 2,500 businessmen. The conference netted Gulf assistance to Egypt worth 14 billion dollars and $110 billion in investments.
This was an experience modeled on former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's experience with the Paris conferences to support the Lebanese economy.
2. As Egypt's president claimed broad support from the international community, 70 Lebanese families were leaving the United Arab Emirates after it took a decision to expel them. Their numbers rose to 90 and then to 120 according to news reports at the start of the week.
The reason behind the deportations lies in the insistence of a faction of Lebanese to become part of the resistance axis led by Iran against Arab and international legitimacy.
The Lebanese should now settle on the choice of adopting a policy that carries with it huge political, security and economic prices or commit to their obligations under Arab and international legitimacy to regain their development and peace path.
It is time to make choices to see what policies to adopt next.
17 March 2015, 11:05
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First, we saw what Hariri's policies brought us: the loss of our capital city's heart to foreign investors, eternal debt and financial slavery to creditors.
And we dont even have any decent infrastructure to speak of (water? electricity? roads? hello?)
Second, the Egyptian "new Cairo" project sure glitters on paper, but we have yet to see how it will be executed and what the consequences will be for Egyptians, it's way too soon to know if they will benefit from it, or if it will only be a Dubai-like artificial and shallow shell that only profits foreign investors. (And by the way, Sisi is nothing more than a Mubarak bis, a dictator who came to power militarily, lest we already forgot?)
And finally, what choice exactly are you suggesting? Give up on resistance (not to "Arab and international legitimacy", but to zionism, takfirism, and their foreign sponsors) for a few silver coins? Thanks, but no thanks, Lebanese dignity is not for sale.
