Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Missing the Point




I saw this ad has running fairly often on LBC during my stay in Lebanon. While the sentiment behind it is commendable it misses the point.
After talking to many Lebanese across the confessional spectrum they all claim to being first Lebanese and a member of their community second. On the other hand when it comes to talking about other groups that's when the non-Lebanese labels come out. I heard it all.
The protesters claim to to represent all the Lebanese people and that the March 14th movement is anti-Lebanese and pro-Israel.
The government responds that they are the true Lebanese and won't let the opposition stage a coup. The protesters downtown are backed by Iran who don't care about their country.

And those are just the official statements, in private I heard crazy things being said (although in fits of anger). Two quotes that will stick with me:
"The army should go down to Martyrs' Square and kill all of them."
"They should have killed all the Maronites politicians who are with Israel."

All of those statements are soaked in self-delusion and can only lead to trouble .
So while everyone agrees that they, themselves are Lebanese, no one is willing to concede that the political groups they don't agree with are just as Lebanese as they are.
Nasrallah and that bleach-blond bikini clad silicone-stuffed women at the Coral Beach are equally Lebanese. Claiming otherwise is stupid and dangerous, no matter who is doing it - Hezbollah or Saad Hariri.
Both sides view the other as illegitimate, unworthy and treasonous.
Until that changes reconciliation and stability will remain a long way off.


By the way thanks for commenting on my last post. Much appreciated.

No comments: