The Lebanese Ruling Class is an Organized Criminal Enterprise
Lebanon is currently a mafia state. It is similar in that manner to Russia (the Putin and oligarch regime) and to Syria, with the Assad/Baath regime. There are some differences, however, in that the LRC does not need to exert the same amount of violence as the Syrian regime to maintain its power, for example.
(Taken from Part 4 of the book The Lebanese Disease. Full step-by-step guide on how to fight the Lebanese Ruling Class available as free PDF book).
That’s because of the Lebanese Disease and the Dividing Narrative keeping us in check, as we’ve seen earlier. But we’re still in a mafia state all the same i.e. a country run by a criminal gang, an organized crime network that sees itself as separate from the ‘regular’ citizens like you and I. You are either ‘in’ or ‘outside’ the network, with a very different set of rules for each side.
This book will show multiple ways to attack the LRC, in smaller ways and in bigger ways, online or offline and local or international. One particular angle that can be used in a multitude of variations is the legal angle: Getting a court of law in Lebanon or in places like the EU, UK and the US to classify the Lebanese Ruling Class as an international Organized Criminal Enterprise, the legal term for a mafia gang.
The Commission: How the 5 Mafia Groups in New York were organized
The Commission refers to the governing body that was established by the American Mafia to oversee the various criminal activities and organizations of the 5 major New York City Mafia families: The Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno, and Colombo families. The Commission was formed in the 1920s to serve as a means of mediating disputes and conflicts between the different families and to help maintain the overall stability and unity of the Mafia as a criminal enterprise.
There are well-developed legal frameworks related to going after organized crime in most Western countries, and using this approach could be quite effective in weakening the LRC, disrupting the movement of its members and confiscating their assets.
First off, did you know that you can take any company or organization to court? A company (Google, McDonald’s, Electricite du Liban, etc…) can be accused of crimes by a legal system and prosecuted by lawyers and judges in the same way that an individual can.
Some of you might know that already, but for the others this is an important concept in law. A company is a legal body and entity separate from those running it. Google, for example, could be found guilty by a European court and fined $1B for breaking advertising laws in that country. In that case, the managers and owners of the company wouldn’t have to pay anything from their personal money, because it’s the company being judged, not the people in it. You can also take a government to court, by the way, or generally any organization that is a distinct legal entity.
How does this relate to our situation?
We discussed previously that we should start seeing the LRC as one body, a system. Therefore, an angle of attack that would be quite powerful would be to apply the concept of the Organized Criminal Enterprise on the LRC — in other words to take the idea of the LRC as one entity and give it a legal dimension. This would allow to attack it using the Justice System in multiple countries. Such an approach has been quite effective, for example, in going after the New York Italian mafia in the 70s and 80s.
I believe an international effort by multiple cells that focus on proving that the LRC is a criminal enterprise in several key countries would be very powerful, allowing the people to punish the LRC both locally and internationally and to seize the illegally-acquired assets of their members.
You want your bank money back? That’s how we can get it back.
How can the law defeat a criminal enterprise?
Main Definitions and Concepts
The main legal concept of a criminal enterprise is that it treats the entire organization as a single entity engaged in ongoing criminal activities. This concept recognizes that organized crime operates with a hierarchical structure, division of labor, and shared objectives that go beyond the individual actions of their members. By treating the organization as a whole, law enforcement can target the leadership, infrastructure, and financial aspects of the enterprise rather than focusing solely on prosecuting individual members for isolated crimes.
When an organized crime is committed, the law can hold top-level figures accountable for the actions of lower-level members even if the top people didn’t directly commit the crime in question.
There is a reason people often refer to the LRC as ‘Mafia el balad’. They instinctively know that they are in it together. Legally, this means defining the LRC as an organized criminal enterprise.
Participating in a criminal group is a crime and makes you responsible for all its crimes
Simply participating willingly in a recognized criminal organization is a crime in of itself. This charge is distinct from any other charges for specific crimes committed by the individual. This is how you can hold any individual accountable (including bankers, media and religious personalities, for example) for their participation in the activities that support the LRC organization’s existence.
Moreover, individuals who are part of a criminal enterprise may be held responsible for the criminal acts of other members. This approach recognizes the interconnected nature of organized crime and aims to attribute liability to those who play a role in promoting or benefiting from the criminal enterprise.
No more ‘ana shou khassneh’ excuses. As soon as you are proven to be part of the LRC crime network, you are automatically a criminal.
Confiscating the money of people linked to benefiting from organized crime
The concept of a criminal enterprise also enables prosecutors to seek wide penalties. For example, if a business organization is convicted of supporting a criminal gang, its assets can be confiscated. Similarly, when an individual is charged and convicted as such, the penalties often include significant prison sentences, fines or asset seizing.
The plan is to confiscate the assets of all key members of the LRC:
- Prove, in one or several countries/jurisdictions (France, the EU, the US, Lebanon) that the LRC is an international criminal enterprise.
- Then, go after the key individuals who support the LRC and prove that they are willing participants. This makes them automatically guilty, regardless whether they have been charged with a specific crime or not.
- The courts can then confiscate or freeze all their assets in the country and even arrest them.
Now imagine having independent groups set up in each main country in the West and in Lebanon, each going after various LRC members in the above way.
Imagine the politicians, men of religion, media persons, corrupt businessmen, and their families arrested when arriving to Monaco, Switzerland, New York or Paris. Imagine them taken to court. Imagine them being forced to pay back the billions they stole from us and feel afraid of traveling to their preferred destinations because they might be imprisoned.
Can you imagine better revenge?
Our money in the banks didn’t ‘evaporate’ as some politicians say. Our money is with the LRC members — in foreign banks, spent on cars, villas and luxury holidays in Monaco. This is money obtained through participating in the criminal activities under the LRC organization, so let’s go get it back.
As a fun note, did you know that the Republic of Lebanon signed something called The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, alongside most countries?
This international treaty is defined as having the purpose to ‘combat and prevent transnational organized crime through international cooperation and coordination among member states. The convention addresses a wide range of criminal activities typically associated with organized crime, including human trafficking, migrant smuggling, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, money laundering, and corruption.’
Yes, we as a country have agreed to its terms. This means our honest judges — those that are not in the LRC — can go after the Lebanese mafia right here at home and can cooperate with international judges to do the same. That’s why the Justice system is so important and should be given mass popular support (judges need our help to feel empowered).
Again, let’s not think we’re special or that I’m being theoretical. Read below how the US government permanently dealt a blow to the Italian Mafia.
Case Study: The 5 Mafia Families of New York
The Commission of the 5 Mafia families of New York provided a level of coordination and cooperation among the families (in Lebanon, we call that the ‘Government of National Unity’, houkoumat al wahda al wataniyyah).
They were especially powerful in the earlier part of the 20th century. To fight them, the US Judiciary created the legal framework known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in 1970. The insight was to target and dismantle organized crime groups by prosecuting not only their individual members but also the entire criminal enterprise as a whole.
The impact of RICO on the Commission was significant. Law enforcement could now seize the proceeds of criminal activity, arrest high-ranking members for crimes indirectly committed, undermine the economic foundation of the organization and reduce its ability to sustain its criminal operations.
The use of RICO against the Commission led to numerous high-profile prosecutions and convictions of mafia bosses and influential members. The threat of RICO charges and its severe consequences disrupted the traditional power structure and sparked internal conflicts within the mafia families as leaders sought to protect themselves and their interests.
Turning the hell the LRC put us through back on them
- Stealing our bank deposits was a crime
- Stealing the public beaches with illegal construction is a crime
- Destroying our mountains via illegal stone quarries is a crime
- The Beirut Blast of August 4 was a crime (maybe even some sort of war crime or act of terror)
- The actions of the banks and the Central Bank (Sayrafa, etc..) post October 2019 are a crime
- Street violence against protesters, pressure on judges, shooting in the air, are all crimes
- The purposeful delays, obfuscation, paralysis and lack of any progress are a crime
- The distress and mental suffering inflicted on the people is a crime
And so on, and so on…
Prove The LRC is a criminal organization and then we’ll finally be able to get justice for such unattributed crimes, punishing its members for each separate one they inflicted on us. ALL members will be punished, no one will escape.
In this manner, we can have members of the LRC in and out of court rooms and jails for the rest of their lives, inside and outside Lebanon. Bankers, politicians and other main figures will have their entire assets seized and redistributed to the people or the State.
To go back to the analogy of the octopus, with this approach the body of the octopus has been clearly identified as a criminal entity, which means you can legally prosecute each of its arms automatically by virtue of them being extensions of that body.
I’m sure there will be lawyers and judges you will ask who will find flaws in the above ideas. But it’s been done before, in much larger countries, so it’s certainly achievable in Lebanon, with the use of international and local courts. It’s on you to figure out the exact details.
As a final word for this section, I will quote the famous English expression that ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’. I suggest to expand it, to propose a new version of that saying:
There is revenge served hot;
there is revenge served cold;
and then there’s Lebanese revenge: A calm, calculated, relentless punishment by the People, and a slow but never-ending nightmare for the members of the Lebanese Ruling Class.
Wouldn’t that be something?
Continue reading in next post or download full PDF for free at https://linktr.ee/IntisarLB
