Politics And Paranoia
An inconsequential political maneuver by the Prime Minister is seen as an existential threat by the Maronite bishops.
The Sunni community in Lebanon is in a middle of a hearts-and-minds battle between bomb-wielding extremists and moderates who have a close relationship with the west.
The middle ground is hostile to the U.S.A but not so much so as to carry weapons against the government. Until now, they have been comfortably holding on to the side of Seniora. But a combination of the Naher Al Bared fights (where the government is sometimes seen to be using American weapons against fellow Muslims), and Syrian-backed propaganda (by the likes of Sunni cleric Fathi Yakan who turned out to be a terrorist himself), have caused some to waver to rhetoric that effectively undermines Seniora as an infidel and a western pawn.
This is why Prime Minister Seniora thought it would be a good idea to ratchet up his Islamic credentials by pandering to a potentially dangerous section of the Muslim community. He issued a law (joining the Children’s Rights in Islam Treaty) that sounds good to Islamists without actually meaning anything to non-Muslims (like Lebanon’s membership in the organization of Islamic conferences)
Nevertheless, Christian clerics (the same people who banned The Davinci Code from Lebanon), are fuming and denouncing an “Islamization” of Lebanon. To them, this is not an isolated incident; it has followed other moves by the Seniora government they see as a systematic undermining of the Christians, from hiring more Muslims than Christians in the security services (which is simply because there’s more Muslim young men in Lebanon than Christian), to selling too much land and properties to foreigners (read Saudis).
Christian populist leaders are now all of a sudden fond of the Patriarch again and took the opportunity to discredit the Christians allied with the government from his pulpit.
A more serious threat to the Christians was better expressed by Archbishop Beshara el Raii when he said:
So if the Sunnis and Shiites agree, their agreement would come at the expense of the Christians,” Raii told As Safir, adding: “And if they disagree, the Christians become their victims.
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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.
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“… hiring more Muslims than Christians in the security services (which is simply because there’s more Muslim young men in Lebanon than Christian) ”
I can’t help but grin widely at this … I have no idea why.
Beshara Raii is saying that Christians are always victimized by Moslems. Back again to sectarian reactions…
Once for all, we have to separate chuch & mosque from state.
We’re all sick and tired of this Christian-Moslem baloney.
But this one takes the cake: the Lebanese} government is sometimes seen to be be using American weapons against fellow Muslims
From the gvmnt to Seniora to the army commander these people make me puke.
–American weapons? We never hear about soviet/russian weapons or Chinese weapons killing people.
–muslims killing fellow muslims? We should be shocked? From Gaza to Iraq to Afghanistan to Algeria? This crap is only brought up when the Leb gvmnt is defending itself.
–17 Lebanese soldiers (most were muslim) were slaughtered in their sleep by ANIMALS and idiot/coward Seniora and Suleiman feel the need to pander to some muslims who are offended???
They do so by passing some bullshit rights treaty and by calling the thugs “martyrs” and by giving amnesty to those same murderers years back.
If you are afraid or driven by the worst scum in your constituency and the country you’re already losing.
If you need excuses to defend yourself you’ve already lost.
And if you can’t stand up to the most ignorant and fanatical, and in some cases criminal, elements of your base, you can and will go to hell.
Yet reason # 15655 why Lebanon and the Mid East have zero fucking future.
It sounds a good idea ideally, but on the ground, in Lebanon, I dont think it would work! You cannot wipe out thirty years of strife and sectarian conflict just like that, simply wishing it away… That would immediately result in the ruling sect de jour completely stifling all its counterparts. Maybe the form of representation needs change; if only we could get rid of these political dynasties and get some truly qualified people and politicians on board to help restore the country.
I was refering to the separation of church/mosque and state.
Josey,
All politicians in the democratic world pander to their bases. From the abortion touting Polish to the stem-cell-research banning Americans.
It’s a tactic without which elected officials can’t stick around to work on the policies that really matter..
“All politicians in the democratic world pander to their bases. From the abortion touting Polish to the stem-cell-research banning Americans.” Fair enough Mustapha, and that’s the least one should expect ordinarily. But these are extraordinary circumstances where a TRUE leader with a CLEAR popular mandate should have put her foot down and made sure that the land be cleared out of the scourge currently profaning it. I think the point JW is making is not only valid; it is one that has been so far obscenely ignored by the panderer and wussies entrusted with the protection of the land.
in the end, what you’re referring to as pandering, Mustapha, is abdication and dereliction of duty, pure and simple.
btw, the good bishop should zip it and go swirl some drinks.
“Sunni cleric Fathi Yakan who turned out to be a terrorist himself.”
You incriminate and judge the man as terrorist, a known Sunni opposition leader, based on the initial reports of a partisan security force that they may have found some arms in an apartment that purportedly belongs to him? Even if this were true, who among the crop of sectarian leaders in Lebanon does not possess arms? Will they raid Ja’Ja’s and Jumblat’s residences and possessions next, or is this reserved for the anti-government crowd?
Or is this your guilty conscience at work here trying to make up for the apparent sins of your leader that you feel that you have to unequivocally condemn “one of your own” to prove your sincerity and allegiance to rest of your non-Muslim allies?
And I thought you are really fighting for justice, law and order in a liberal democracy where your political views do not condemn you, send you to jail, or worse the gallows?
Your ideological grip is tenuous Mustapha, and it is sending you in a psychological tailspin. Although in a country of strange bedfellows and shifting, contradictory and hypocritical politics, you seem to fit right in.
Euh, Ali, since when Ja’ja’ and Jumblat are clerics?
Ali, Fathi Yakan does not represent the Sunnis. He is a no body created by Syria and funded by Iran.
So now, according to you Kheireddine, we went from labeling the guy a terrorist to being a stooge of Syria and Iran? Did you, along with Mustapha, investigate him and find evidence to support your accusations, or is this the most convenient way you find to dismiss people you disagree with?
By the way, who appointed you official speaker of the Lebanese Sunnis? They, as any other diverse sect, are free to choose their own leaders. Some support the government, some the opposition, some Fath-al-islam and al-Qaida, some none of the above. You are in no position to tell anyone whom he represents or who supports him. You do not have a monopoly on the Sunni representation in Lebanon, neither who wants to speak on their behalf. Last I heard, Mr. Yakn never purported to speak for all the Sunnis. He happens to be a Sunni leader of an organization who speaks for himself, and his constituency.
Is this really the level of discourse you guys can muster?
[...] The papers by and large focus on three stories: One is about the Christians & The Seniora government (read background here), with a particularly dramatic headline by Al-Akhbar, a newspaper that made a living out of inflating Aoun’s ego: “Christian Bitterness At Seniora Intensifies”. According to The Daily Star: “Aoun blames government for Christian ‘weekness’”. [...]
Indeed, the sunnis elected their own leaders and they have chosen in majority the Future Movement.
Ali,
Let’s turn around the table on you: what would you do if someone from Tripoli actually believes that the leader of the “Free Shia movement” (altayyar al Shii al hurr), a movement created and funded by March 14, actually purports to speak for the Lebanese shias” regardless if anyone elected him?
I am from Tripoli Ali. Last time Fathi yakan ran for election, His wife, yes his wife ali, came out against him. He’s a clown and everyone knows he’s a clown.
No one takes him seriously in the north where he comes from. But suddenly because of his importance as a (rare breed of) Sunni in March 8, he has been (just like the tayyar al shii guy) artificially inflated by their media (and now, aljazeera).
Sure he doesn’t pretend he speaks for the Sunnis, but you know and I know the importance of having a “sunni” publicly speak out against Almustaqbal or a Shii publicly speak out against Hezbollah.
The Sunnis chose in majority the Future Movement like the Shiites chose in majority Hezballah & Amal. Like Fathi Yakan, the Mufti of Tyre Cheikh Ali El-Amine who is much more respectable than Yakan does not have much support among Shiites. The reason why Sunnis support in majority the Future Movement is the same reason why Shiites support Hezballah: Both movements provide essential services to their constituants; the Future Movement is being backed financially by Saudi Arabia while the Hezb is being supported by Iran. Hopefully one day, we will wake up and start relying on ourseleves rather on foreign aid.
Thanks Mustapha, you read in my mind…
[...] The political manipulation of the “Islamizing Lebanon” incident shows that the FPM’s leadership is yet again deliberately using deception as a political tactic. [...]
[...] • Last July, I was very critical of the Maronites’ Bishops “Islamizing Lebanon” comment • Two days later, I asked them to apologize because they were proven wrong. [...]
Lebanon was first created under the french mandate for the christians. Lebanon was the only majority christian country in the middle east, Christians used to represent up to 80% of the region, by the time of independance they shrunk to 55% and now they number about 40% of lebanons total population, thats still the hightest percentage of christians in any middle eastern country.
so when they say more young muslim men are getting hired, its since that the christian population is slightly smaller than the muslim population.
90% of lebanese outside of lebanon are christians. and there are 18 million lebanese outside of lebanon :D