|  |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Printable Version
E-mail to a Friend
APA | MLA | |
In the fertile region of the Middle East, stuck between the Mediterranean sea and the high Anti-Lebanon mountains, stand the magnificent Lebanon, country with very rich history, country that witnessed the war, the peace, the earliest civilization, the first alphabet, and much much more…
Lebanon derived from the Semitic root lbn or white due to the color of its mountains covered with snow while all around lye an endless desert. Although often conquered, Lebanon was never subdued: Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans, French, Syria(??), all of them cast their net over this tiny but very rich country, but none of them prevailed, the hand of God liberating it and giving it a blow to go ahead.
Modern Lebanon was created in 1920 in the name of Greater Lebanon while under mandate by the French. 1926 gave birth to the first Lebanese constitution deeply inspired by the French 3rd constitution, this constitution was promulgated in 1926, but was amended several times to cope up with the modern times, but unfortunately, to serve some other malicious purposes too(extension of the mandate of the president, allow the head of the army to be president,…). Lebanese politics is heavily imprinted with religion, it’s in some sort the opposite of the laicicity. Composed of about half Muslim half Christian, and burdened with a black history of religion conflicts, Lebanon had to establish such a system, especially in a time where laicicity made no sense. So after a census that took place in 1932, seats in the parliaments were divided according to a proportion of 6 Christian deputies to 5 Muslim ones, the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies being Shia Muslim, the prime minister being Sunni Muslim, and the president being Maronite Christian (of catholic belonging, the maronites constitute the big majority of Lebanese Christians). But Muslims grew demographically faster than Christians, so after the war broke out and ended rather with Christians in the weak spot, the Taef agreement which ended the war, changed the proportion of deputies to half for each religion, but also, it reduced the power of the president significantly, so as nowadays president has few privileges.
To describe the situation in Lebanon nowadays, one must speak a little bit of history and illustrate the origin of this “struggle”, but of course being as brief as possible. Lebanon independence was kind of based on a National Pact consisting of Muslims letting go their dream of uniting with the other Arab countries, and the Christians abandoning their claim to join the western nations(France namely), this National Pact included three other things relative to the Arabs and to the distribution of public offices among recognized religion. A first clash happened in 1958, the National Pact being threatened; The advent of Nasser in Egypt, the merger between Syria and Egypt, the Baghdad pact, and Chamoun, president at that time, wanting to be re-elected, ignited a turmoil in Lebanon that ended when Chamoun, invoking the Eisenhower doctrine, called for American troops to intervene against the Muslims, backed by Syria which was in the soviet camp. The American troops had rather symbolic role, but the turmoil ended with the election of Chehab, the commander in chief of the Lebanese army.
During the tenure of president Helou, the Arab-Israeli 1967 war broke out, but despite the fact that Lebanon did not participate in it, it had serious repercussions on all aspects of Lebanese life, the most significant being of course, the increased role of the Palestinians guerrilla groups in their struggle against Israel, using Lebanon as a base of operations. This presence impinged on the effort to maintain the religious balance, for it tended to pit Muslims against Christians. The former considering the Palestinians fighting a noble cause while the latter, considered the effect of this guerrilla on Lebanese security. Israel raided the Beirut international airport in 1968, in retaliation to these attacks by the Palestinians. After the attacks held by the Lebanese army against Palestinians guerrillas, the secret Cairo agreement imposed a cease-fire. Guerrillas did not respect this agreement so further clashes went on. Clashes between the PLO and Jordanian army led the Palestinians to settle even more in Lebanon. Palestinians and the Lebanese left-wing joined hands, causing some clashes between them and the right-wing. Israel retaliated often, making some incursion in southern Lebanon. So despite Lebanon’s policy of non-involvement in the Arab Israeli conflict, this war affected deeply its subsequent history, Lebanon did not have the right to attack the Palestinians as Jordanian did, the Arab pressure being too great on him, especially that a fraction of Lebanese people backed these Palestinians. Lebanese war broke out after some shootings between Palestinians and the phalangists, a Christian extremist group, which was very powerful at that time. Foreign countries intervened, France and the US had bases in Lebanon, but a suicide attack conducted by Hizbollah against them causing 400 dead, resulted in the withdrawal of their troops. Israel invaded the first time Lebanon in 1978 withdrawing afterwards into a small security zone, and then back again in 1982, when they reached Beirut, the first time Israel occupied an Arab capital, with the help and support of the Christian militias. This invasion weakened the PLO, eventually withdrawing from Lebanon and going to other Arab states, notably Tunisia. Then Israel retracted into a larger security zone in which she remained till 2000 when it withdrew almost entirely, leaving the controversial Shebaa farms. Syria intervened too in 1976 leading an army of Arabs to stop the war in Lebanon, it succeeded in some point but failing in others, she did stop the war, but ignited others…
At the end of the war, the battles between the leftist and the rightist(mainly Palestinians and Christians respectively) were rare, but clashes inside the camps were far more often, especially in the Christian camp where a lot of battles took place to take power, including the last war between Aoun and the Lebanese forces(militia derived from the phalangist, and even more extremist), Aoun refusing the taef agreement and wanting to be president declared war on the Lebanese forces(headed by Jeajea) and then fought the Syrians. This last war ended with the weakening of Jeajea and the exile of Aoun into Paris where he stayed until 2005. The taef agreement gave official presence of the Syrian army in Lebanon, precising that in two years, the Syrian troops would withdraw to the Bekaa, and then into Syria, the second step not being bound to a time schedule, but Syria did not withdraw to the Bekaa until 2005 when she withdrew all the way to Syria (several relocation of its army took place during the years, but none significant, and she was spreading its intelligence service, infiltrating almost everything in Lebanon). In 1994, the Lebanese forces were dismantled and Jeajea went to prison after being a minister(refusing to go along the Syrians, he was threatened and told to exile himself, he refused and ended up in prison in non-human condition), in a neatly woven web to capture him(including the explosion in sayidat najat church).
In all of its history, Lebanon was heavily marked by international interference; the Lebanese post-war era was another witness of this interference. The Middle East does not govern itself, actually, western influence is tremendous in this area. The nature of this region, very rich in oil, cornerstone of the civilization, an important geographical location assuring the connection between the east and the west, and more recently the advent of the Israeli problem made of this region a great prey for the western developed nations.
In the 1990’s, Lebanon was occupied in his south by Israel, and was deeply infiltrated with Syrian secret services, as well as its regular army. Inside it, Palestinians dwelled in their camps very heavily armed offering resistance to the official authority and refusing to abide by the law of the nation, creating a nation inside a nation. Armed militias still existed under the cover of resistance: Hizbollah (largely the most armed), Amal, communist party, Syrian nationalist (I’m not sure of the translation). Of these, Hizbollah is a very close ally of Iran and Syria, actually he’s an incarnation of the Iranian regime in Lebanon, striving to turn Lebanon into a chiite nation in the model of the Iranian regime. The Syrian nationalist, as his name indicates, endeavour the idea of Great Syria, the fertile crescent enclosing Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and eventually the star of the crescent Cyprus. Other opposing parties, such as the Lebanese forces were dragged down and beaten by secret service regularly so as to remind them who is in charge now. Lebanon lived under the shell of democratism, but deeply inside, everybody knew, democratism was nothing but a ghost. The withdrawal of Israel in 2000 lead to a controversy, do we let Hizbollah and the other militias conserve their arms, since the alibi of resistance blew away. Other militias were quite disarmed (actually they never had real powerful arms), but Hizbollah grabbed into another alibi, not all of southern Lebanon was liberated, the farms of Shebaa are still occupied, farms, Lebanese in origin, were occupied by Syria in the 1960’s-1970’s, I do not quite recall the date. So up till now, Hizbollah still keeps its weapons. But the most ironic part, is the way Hizbollah granted himself the grade of a hero proclaiming himself as the liberator of the south and in an act of defiance went down for a defile in Achrafieh (A Christian quarter in Beirut, from where most of the Christian parties emanated) with the arms confiscated to Israel (which were actually arms left by Israel for they were too archaic). But yet another problem arouse, inside the formerly occupied zone, the army of Lahed was a Lebanese militia collaborating with the Israelis, much like Vichy in France with the Nazis. After the withdrawal, loads of Lebanese southern people, whether affiliated to Lahed militia or not, escaped to Israel, because, instead of sending the army to secure the land, the government allowed Hizbollah to extend its power to the region, and hence becoming the sole governor down there. Remaining Lahed militia members were convicted with treason and were imprisoned for 1 year up until death penalty (which was never applied) depending on the extent of the cooperation, igniting a controversy as whether we should send them into prison or just considering them a victim of the undermining situation. Reference to the French case was huge, and considering that 10,000 French Vichys were killed after the end of the war, Hizbollah justified the trials. So we see another problem surging up from the horizon, should we or should we not send the army to extend its power to the formerly occupied region, the alibi that sending the army would create a war between regular armies: the Lebanese and the Israeli, a war that Lebanon could not afford (he can afford a militia against army but not regular armies fighting against each other, because the Israeli army is far more powerful that the Lebanese), is somehow shaken.
President Lahoud has been elected by the parliament in 1998 succeeding Hraoui. Lahoud was the commander in chief of the Lebanese army, thus constitutionally ineligible for being president (he should resign at least 2 years before), but constitution in Lebanon is quite a doll in a hand of politicians and especially Syrian backed politicians, so the Chamber of deputies amended the constitution exceptionally and for one time (meaning the constitution will get back to its original text after the election) thereupon Lahoud was elected president for a 6-year term. Lahoud has a very military way of life, he is a big swimmer and athletes, but what he lacks, is a well formed brain to carry out the job of a president. As a matter of fact, Syrian chose him as president (because actually even if officially it’s the parliament who elects the president, but actually it’s Syria who designate it), she wanted a dummy in the place of president so as to manipulate him as she pleases. The advent of Lahoud in power brought an era in which secret services and the army played a major role. In every ministry there was an officer who supervised the work…
Opposition rose, the kurnet shehwan meeting was a gathering between opposing political forces, mainly Christian forces which aroused in face of this “despotic rule”. In September 2004, the mandate of Lahoud ended. The political climate which had hitherto been quite, aroused into a huge turmoil. Syria wanted to renew for Lahoud for another 3-year term, although the constitution prohibited re-election (actually 2 former president had done that by amending the constitution: Hraoui and Khoury the first president after the independence). Prime Minister Hariri, a billionaire, the richest man in Lebanon, and a big Sunnite leader, stood against the extension, as well as Jumblat, the Druze leader and many other Christian leaders. Alleged threats have been sent to them by Syria, and Hariri who was deeply against the extension of Lahoud’s mandate wined up accepting the extension with a broken hand (literally). He fell in the shower he said… Khaddam recent testimony says not…
After the extension, nothing was like before. It seemed that the western powers gave a look at Lebanon’s situation. After the war on Iraq, the situation in the region did not stay in the statu quo. Syria backed up Iraqi militia men, Hizbollah did too, arousing the US. The American congress discussed the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, and passed it into a law in 2003. The United Nations Security Council voted resolution 1559 in the wake of the re-election calling for Syria to get out of Lebanon, the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias in Lebanon, and the extension of the Lebanese sovereignty into all of Lebanon (deployment of the army in the south).
Hariri was not re-appointed as Prime Minister, Karami was appointed instead. And then, Lebanon witnessed its darkest days since the war. In October, a car explosion missed Hamadeh, a former minister and opposition figure. But unfortunately, this mysterious hand, after its first failure, did not want to miss again, well…she didn’t. On the 14th February 2005, on Valentine’s Day, a day where lovers are supposed to celebrate and where persons are supposed to love each other, in the day of roses, the dream was stolen. 1 kiloton of TNT in central Beirut was enough to create a huge crater in the middle of the road and creating a great havoc. This explosion has forever shut up Hariri, as well as Flayhan, a deputy and greatly renowned economists, in addition to dozens of dead. Lebanon fell into agony and national mourning. Although the government offered an official funeral, his family refused willing to bury its beloved with the people, and certainly not by the hand that killed it. His funeral was huge, over 500,000 persons attended, all Lebanese united, together claiming the truth. The Hizbollah, ally of Syria, made a demonstration of his own on the day of Ashoura, a chiite holiday. All of Lebanon retaliated in 14th march demonstration in which about 1,000,000 – 1,500,000 persons flooded the streets of Beirut and blocking the circulation in all of Lebanon, a third of the Lebanese population(estimated about 3,500,000) went down to the street claiming for liberty and truth. A demonstration so influent that a movement in the name of 14th march took birth and claimed for the truth. In the wake of these events, the government resigned, a new parliamentary election took place, and Syria’s army got out of Lebanon abiding by resolution 1559, and surrendering to the international pressure. Moreover Aoun returned from exile, and Jeajea and some of his colleagues in the party were granted pardon by the parliament. Hariri was a personal friend to Chirac, and France has given full support to Lebanon, as well as the US who wanted to tighten the gap created by the Iraqi war between them and France, and wanting to stop the infiltration of militia men from Syria to Iraq. But even that was not sufficient to stop the chain of blood. In addition to countless little explosions in malls and industrial regions at night, where no casualties were censed, a multitude of car bombing killed 3 persons and wounded 2. The first explosion took the breathe out of Kassir, a famous left democrat reporter, the second one silenced the roaring sound of Hawi, former secretary general of communist party but later reconverted to kurnet shahwan and 14th march forces. The third one wounded deputy and minister Murr. Then the disarray struck when a car explosion wounded Chidiak, a very well known TV reporter, very well known for her courage and sincerity, what did this reporter do wrong??? Is denouncing the wrong a crime worth dying???
An international commission was investigating Hariri’s murder rendered two reports condemning Syria and Lebanese officials, but the investigation is still active in these very moments. Syria not cooperating enough, the Security Council had to vote a resolution to impose sanction if Syria refused to cooperate. And on the wake of this vote, a yet bigger tragedy fell down on Lebanon, crashing one of Lebanon’s most ingenious and brilliant mind. Gebran Tueni’s soul, a deputy and most renowned reporter in Lebanon, head of the most renowned paper in Lebanon, an-nahar, the day, was taken off his body. Tueni was in Paris fearing his life after multiple threats, he returned to Lebanon, without anyone knowing but his beloved wife, not even his children, and yet, the hand of fate managed to know, and the second day of his arrival, while going to work a huge explosion drove his car out of the road into the valley falling on a second road down there killing him in an instant. Roses fell down mourning him, the weather, which had hitherto been sunny and mild, suddenly became rainy, God was weeping his dear son… The one who swore:
We swear in the Great God,
Muslims and Christians,
To stay united,
To the end of time,
Defending the Great Lebanon,
Long lived all of you and long lived Lebanon
was shut up by enemies of Lebanon, by enemies of the truth, and by enemies of justice. A rose has fallen and a dark blackthorn took its place.
Following these tragic events, the hand of God, as if sad for the murder of its son, intervened. The Security Council voted the resolution demanding Syria to cooperate more with the commission. But, an event of utmost importance, the former vice-president of Syria, Khaddam confessed, in Paris, to the TV Network Al Arrabiyya, denouncing the horrors of the Syrian regime, and pointing his index finger on Syria and particularly on Assad, the Syrian president, accusing him of the murder of Hariri.
What do these following years await us? Nobody knows, well at least I don’t. Is 2006 going to be a dark year or rather a bright year for Lebanon? According to most astrologists and soothsayers, it is going to be a very dark year, so dark, that Michel Hayek, a very famous Lebanese forecaster, who predicted almost all of the events that happened in 2005, refused to talk on New Year’s Eve, when he usually gave forth his predictions. He said that he did not want to alarm people, and he did not want to have the image of the malignant warlock that announced nothing but evil…
I hereby conclude this rather long essay about the Lebanese situation, and so I thank you for your reading and concentration. I hope I inspired you about the Lebanese politics whereabouts, and gave you interest about that dazzling yet tiny country…
Still looking for the right essay?
Try our Premium Essay collection!
This essay is copyrighted by the author and maintained
by GotEssays.Com for research purposes only!
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
