Lebanon needs disinterested help
The collapse of the Lebanese state is not a presumption anymore. It is a question of time, unless drastic steps will be taken.
At the outburst of the civil war in 1975, spreading damage and despair all over the country, the Lebanese army disintegrated. Druze officers joined the Druze forces; the Christian officers, the Christian camp; and the Shi’ites and Sunnis did the same, in a paroxysm of chaos.
The Taif Agreement in 1989 put an end to the civil war, adopted steps to make the army more united, coherent and the guarantor to stability. Today, the army does not fear the specter of fragmentation.
Today, the danger is poverty. The soldiers are not receiving their salaries, for lack of currency. This danger might lead to the disintegration of the military institution from within. Corruption, political stalemate, foreign interference – these are the main causes of Lebanon’s maladies.
Hezbollah enjoys the financial assistance of Iran and can preserve its political and military positions. The other groups don’t have such privilege. Therefore, the terrorist organization won’t hesitate to push Lebanon into the abyss. If this will occur, the organization will complete its “mise de main” over all of Lebanon, and behind it stands Iran.
In that case, the situation is no longer a domestic Lebanese problem. It is regional and, what is more, international.
The Biden administration is so far not showing any public interest. France’s president, who a few months ago visited Lebanon twice and offered an emergency plan, has started to lose hope.
The only Lebanese personality who dared to raise the torch of hope is the head of the Maronite Church, Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai. He did not hesitate to touch the hot potato of Hezbollah weapons. He called to distance Lebanon from regional conflict and for an international conference to solve the situation.
Besides the strong words, his initiative is like a call in the desert.
Last October and at the US’s instigation, Israel and Lebanon started negotiations to delineate the maritime border. If successful, this will inject billions into the Lebanese economy.
Hezbollah torpedoed these negotiations, fearing a beginning of normalization with Israel. An additional complication is the Lebanese desire to expand its maritime claim by 1,400 kilometers, which would engulf Karish, an Israeli gas field.
In the face of this grim picture, the American administration should again bring Israelis and Lebanese to the negotiation table and strike a deal on the maritime borders, parallel to convening an international conference. Israel should stand strongly behind the US.
The writer served as Israel’s ambassador to Egypt.
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The Grammys were expected to be yet another COVID-era awards show disaster, much like last month’s Golden Globes. Then something incredible happened: When music’s biggest night was forced to go small on Sunday, the 63rd Grammy Awards delivered its best telecast in modern memory.
In a year when little else has worked particularly well, if at all – the strange, surprising Emmys perhaps excepted – the Recording Academy’s annual celebration found its longlost groove, defying its disappointing recent history and a pandemic that’s disrupted every other time-honored tradition, television and otherwise.
The overblown dance numbers, pyrotechnics and packed arena audiences of Grammys past gave way to an intimate and charming night at the club with America’s favorite artists, where songs rather than spectacle took center stage.
The uneven performances, terrible acoustics and forced pairings of stars that had become commonplace during the ceremony was replaced by compelling sets. Of relevant artists. Doing their own songs!
The organization’s blind spots around honoring female artists, and an internal sexism scandal, were also countered when female artists ended up winning big. Beyoncé and Taylor Swift broke records, Megan Thee Stallion and H.E.R. won top awards, and record of the year went to Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted.”
The scaled-down celebration took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where nominees such as Miranda Lambert and Bad Bunny sat at socially distanced tables on an outdoor veranda overlooking the event’s prior home, the Staples Center, accepting awards or watching the teary speeches of their rivals.
Beyoncé, who led with nine nominations, made history when she won Best Rap Song with Megan Thee Stallion for “Savage” and R&B performance for “Black Parade,” making her the most-awarded woman in Grammy history, besting the record previously held by bluegrass singer Alison Krauss.
And, like the night’s other victors – including Megan, Dua Lipa and Eilish – she removed her high-fashion mask before traversing the steps to the podium in impossibly high heels.
Indoors, performances by Harry Styles, Cardi B and Black Pumas took place on a small collection of stages in close proximity to one another – which meant that the stars doubled as the audience.
After Styles was done waltzing on air with “Watermelon Sugar,” he watched Eilish croon “Everything I Wanted” on the next stage.
Eilish, in turn, soaked in Haim’s rendition of “The Steps.” And when the band of sisters was done, they swayed to Black Pumas.
Every 45 minutes or so, the stages changed and so did the artists, from Silk
Sonic to Swift and so on.
Host and pop music enthusiast Trevor Noah moved with ease between the indoor and outdoor realms, and between buoyant humor and topical snark.
“I’ll be your host tonight as we celebrate the last 10 years of music that got us through the last 10 years of coronavirus. I know it’s been one year, but it feels like 10,” joked Noah in his opening monologue. “Tonight is going to be the biggest outdoor event this year besides the storming of the Capitol.”
But as Noah ushered TV audiences down a ramp and through hallways to the indoor performance space, he struck the hopeful mood that would last the rest of the evening: “Tonight is about bringing us all together as only music can. Well, music and vaccines.”
IT WAS a refreshing departure from the “Zoom screen” aesthetic that has been used to bring other live events to life since the pandemic started, and it forced the Grammys to reevaluate their traditional approach, which has often been mocked as “tired” and “out of touch.”
And with The Late Late Show executive producer Ben Winston taking over from Ken Ehrlich, who had been producing the show since 1980, Sunday’s telecast marked a significant tonal shift from a “really-big-show” aesthetic to a tighter, if not necessarily niche-ier, event.
The ceremony also addressed tough and pressing topical issues. Lil Baby turned his performance of “The Bigger Picture” into powerful commentary on police brutality against black people when he opened with a scene of actor Kendrick Sampson being pulled over by two white police officers who shoot him as he runs away. Atlanta rapper Killer Mike and activist Tamika Mallory also took the stage during the song. And singer-songwriter H.E.R. won song of the year for “I Can’t Breathe,” a Black Lives Matter anthem.
Throughout the night, the telecast acknowledged the hardships facing the industry due to COVID-19. Personnel who work at independent music venues, a sector of the business that has been hit particularly hard hit over the past year, presented awards for various categories:
Billy Mitchell, tour director of the Apollo, spoke about the history of the Harlem venue in a taped segment, where he also introduced the nominees for Best Rap Song, before appearing live to present the award. A representative of the Station Inn in Nashville, Tennessee, presented the country album award to Miranda Lambert’s Wildcard, while staff from LA’s own Troubadour gave away the best pop solo performance to Styles for “Watermelon Sugar.”
It was a creative and moving tribute in a year when social distancing became the norm – and the Recording Academy responded with a norm-breaking telecast of its own. Mark 2021 as the year the Grammys got their groove back.
(Los Angeles Times/TNS)