Irresponsibility or ignorance?
Ever since Kesrewan-Jbeil MP Naamtallah Abi Nasr issued his famous “Call to the Maronites” (read it here in Arabic) I was wondering how the head of the presumably secular Free Patriotic Movement would react to such a sectarian tone coming from one of the MPs in his Reform & Change block. Assuming of course he did not know about it before its publication, I waited - in vain - for a condemnation only to read in today’s edition of Annahar (see here) that the General actually congratulated him!
Sometimes I wonder if our politicians are aware of what they say and of the consequences it might have on the people. Is it irresponsibility or ignorance? In an already radicalized society the logical thing to do is to refrain from instilling baseless fears among your constituency and – falsely - blame all their problems on the “others”. Fear leads to hate. Do they know that? Do they want that?
The expression “al-sunniya al-siyassiya” (roughly translated as Political Sunnism) has made its way to the top of a Christian fear factor list after more than a year of constant brainwashing that Christian masses were subject to. Amazingly enough, this fear coincides with the realignment of Sunni Muslims to what was always perceived as “Christian demands” (i.e. Independence, Lubnan Awwalan, establishing the authority of the State on all its territory by disarming Lebanese and non-Lebanese armed groups etc…).
After years of “fermentation”, Lebanese Sunnis have finally completed their conversion and joined the “Lebanese project” following the assassination of former PM Rafic Hariri on February 14, 2005. But what would keep them from changing their position once again? Obviously, this won’t happen under the current Baathist regime in Syria but the possibility exists in the event of a regime change that would restore Sunni representation in our neighboring country. And in case that happens, will it be in the interest of the Christians knowing that the two other available alternatives for Lebanese Sunnis are pan-Arab nationalism and political Islam? Something for Christian leaders to ponder about…
Sometimes I wonder if our politicians are aware of what they say and of the consequences it might have on the people. Is it irresponsibility or ignorance? In an already radicalized society the logical thing to do is to refrain from instilling baseless fears among your constituency and – falsely - blame all their problems on the “others”. Fear leads to hate. Do they know that? Do they want that?
The expression “al-sunniya al-siyassiya” (roughly translated as Political Sunnism) has made its way to the top of a Christian fear factor list after more than a year of constant brainwashing that Christian masses were subject to. Amazingly enough, this fear coincides with the realignment of Sunni Muslims to what was always perceived as “Christian demands” (i.e. Independence, Lubnan Awwalan, establishing the authority of the State on all its territory by disarming Lebanese and non-Lebanese armed groups etc…).
After years of “fermentation”, Lebanese Sunnis have finally completed their conversion and joined the “Lebanese project” following the assassination of former PM Rafic Hariri on February 14, 2005. But what would keep them from changing their position once again? Obviously, this won’t happen under the current Baathist regime in Syria but the possibility exists in the event of a regime change that would restore Sunni representation in our neighboring country. And in case that happens, will it be in the interest of the Christians knowing that the two other available alternatives for Lebanese Sunnis are pan-Arab nationalism and political Islam? Something for Christian leaders to ponder about…
posted by M. at 9:14 PM
2 Comments:
Wow, I can't believe I missed this... The level of sectarianism in his "Call to the Maronites" is unbelievable. The "founding maronites", calling on the all the Lebanese to rally around a Maronite president, abolishing Taef... What the %^&#? I am completely at a loss at the level of arrogance, ignorance, and most importantly, irresponsibility displayed in this call.
Your last two paragraphs are accurate, and your concerns very well founded. I think the main problem here is that both HA and Aoun are gambling on the short term and respectively sacrificing the interests of both their Shiite and Christian followers' interests by polarizing them against the Sunnis. The key, as you alluded in your post, is not to worry about the present only, but to build for the future... A prerequisite is to decrease sectarian tensions by not agitating sects against each other... If only...
well...what else would you expect!?
In such a changing environment and politics, it is almost impossible to speculate on when alliances would really hold or not.
Basically I agree with evertyhing you said except that what you said applies to every other alliance. It is somehow surreal to see such alliances in lebanon! And it is obvious that the objectives behind these suspicious relations goes far beyond the simple patriotism and love of the other. It is also obvious that at some point the political map will change.
Newly founded relations with Syria? Naaaaaaaa.I always hated conspiracy theories but now days one cannot but look on the USA-Syria-Iran-Israel comedy with a doubting eye. Whether we like it or not, we live in a microcosmos that is a part of a more consistant one. It is like a walk in the woods; you find an ant colony licing in the illusion of being a country.
SOLUTION:
Abolishing this so called rule of 3 and having one tough son of ***** that would establish a fine army and excellent foreign affairs.
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