May 14, 2008	BACK TO HOME PAGE                                        Spring 2008
IN THIS ISSUE Secularism or Sectarianism? Special Report: Issue of Displaced Special Report: Cluster Bombs Christian Politics in Lebanon Survey: Diaspora Remittances	Secularism or Sectarianism? We received several responses to our Fall 2007 Newsletter commenting on our statements regarding secularism and issues that we raised relating to the rights of religious communities in Lebanon. Some of our readers felt that we are contradicting ourselves when we stated that we strive for Lebanon to become a secular state, while at the same time, we underscored the importance of addressing the fears, needs and grievances of religious groups in Lebanon under the current form of government that is based on power sharing. We thank our readers for bringing up these questions and comments to our attention, for it allows us to make the following clarification. Read Article. . . The Plight of the Displaced - The Nightmare Lingers On In December 2006, new figures regarding the issue of those who were displaced from their homes during the Lebanese war came to light. The committee that was formed by the Free Patriotic Movement in Lebanon to follow up on this issue held a press conference on the 6^th of that month in one of the Maten’s district main hotels to address this issue further, in which the head of the committee César Aboukhalil gave the following speech. According to the official statement by the committee, the Minister of the Displaced, Nehmeh Tohme, responded to this conference by saying that the figures the committee provided are inaccurate, however, he failed to show any other figures to refute what the committee presented to the public. Following is the full translated statement, which was published in December on the party’s official website. Read Article. . . THE LACD NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT! Please Click Here to Make a Donation to the LACD. The LACD is a non-profit, 501c3 organization. Your gift to the LACD is tax-deductible. All LACD’s programs and activities are sustained and supported through the generosity of our members. Please consider making a donation to the LACD today.
REGISTER TODAY WITH THE LACD!!	Cluster Bombs Continue to Destroy Lives in Lebanon In the Fall of 2007, our staff attended an event in Congress held by the Mennonite Central Committee to address the dangers of cluster bombs and their impact on the lives and wellbeing of people who live in areas littered with them. Two attendees from Lebanon discussed their personal losses as the result of cluster bombs, and urged congressional staff to take more serious steps to ban the use of such weapons in war and conflict. Read Article. . . Christian Politics in Lebanon This article is being republished with permission from the author and the Mideast Monitor Western media outlets have portrayed divisions within Lebanon's Christian community as threatening to tear Lebanon apart,[1] as if Sunnite-Shiite tension is negligible and the divide between Christians and Muslims has disappeared. The split that threatens Lebanon's national unity is less between Christians than between two political camps that cut across sectarian boundaries. Most Christians are not blindly following their leaders to the brink. Above all, they are divided over one major conundrum - is it better to throw in their lot with Washington and alienate the unchallenged political leadership of Lebanese Shiites (the country's largest, though long disenfranchised, sect) or to reach an accommodation that preserves civil peace at the expense of softening state sovereignty? The fact that there are impassioned believers on both sides of this debate is a mark of political sophistication and diversity, even if the consequences are troublesome. Read Article. . . LEBANESE DIASPORA INVESTMENT SURVEY The Lebanese American Council for Democracy (LACD) is pleased to be the first Lebanese American organization to participate in the Lebanese Diaspora Investment Survey, which is being conducted by Dr. Tjai M. Neilson of the Department of Management and Dr. Liesl Riddle of the Department of International Business at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. This survey is an important element of a multi-year study that examines homeland investment interests among Diaspora communities. The Lebanese American community has been chosen as one of several communities to partake in this study. To access this survey, you can click here or visit our website. Read Article. . . Lebanese American Council for Democracy 601 Pennsylvania Ave, NW • Suite 900 South Building • Washington, DC 20004 202.220.3039 http://www.la-cd.org info@la-cd.org