News stories by Mona Alami, page 2

BEIRUT, Jul 30 (IPS) - Every day Lebanon is being plunged further into a state of general insecurity, as chaos from the war in Syria seeps across the border.

DAHIEH, Jul 27 (IPS) - Since its inception, Hezbollah’s clout within its community has been solid. However, in recent weeks, the Party of God has been facing increasing difficulties controlling its support base and stymieing discontent. These developments have led analysts to question whether or not Hezbollah is losing its grip on its followers.

Cities in the North and South of Lebanon have witnessed a rise in the number of attacks targeting bars and alcohol vendors, a relatively new phenomenon in a country famous for its vibrant club scene.

Though most Lebanese take great pride in their national education system, deep sectarian rifts in public schools have made it impossible to ignore the political and religious fragmentation of society or its long-term impacts on youth.

The Arab Spring brought a host of new actors to the political stage. In Jordan, it pushed the Salafists to the fore, where some of the group’s more radical elements are now calling for holy war in neighbouring Syria.

The Arab Spring has sent scores of sick and injured Libyans fleeing their war- torn country north to Jordan. The unexpected flow of patients is putting a lot of pressure on Jordanian hospitals and disrupting the lives of Libyan and Jordanian patients alike, a situation the Libyan government is now attempting to correct.

On a warm Friday afternoon, police cars blocked the roads around the Al Husseini mosque, where hundreds of men were kneeling for the noon prayers. At the end of the service, the crowds rose and marched in a compact protest behind a car bearing a banner for the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

A few kilometres separate the two Lebanese villages of Ersal and Qaa from the Syrian border, both of which have been unwillingly drawn into the violence of the Syrian uprising. Unrest has been brewing in the region for weeks and recently it was on the receiving end of intermittent gunfire from the Syrian army. The situation remains tense despite the fragile new ceasefire.

The Druze stronghold of Sweida, Syria, witnessed several pro-democracy protests last week. While the movement remains marginal, it is charged with symbolism: the Druze have long been considered the 'spiritual cousins' of the Alawites, the religious group to which the Assad family belongs.

Chants erupt from the second floor of a decrepit building in Tripoli in the Sunni stronghold of Bab el-Tebbaneh. Young voices loudly sing 'Yalla Erhal Ya Bashar,' or 'Come on, leave, Bashar,' directed at the Syrian president, Bashar al- Assad. It has become the anthem of the Syrian revolution.