Lebanon’s troubles don’t include civil war by Rami Khoury

Following events in Lebanon from the United States, as I have done during the past week, leaves one with the impression that most media in the U.S. are eager to see a resumption of the devastating and wasteful civil war that ravaged Lebanon for 15 years until 1990. Virtually every story on Lebanon is framed in the lens of the possible return to sectarian civil strife as a result of the spillover of the Syrian conflict.

The reality seems rather different to me, despite the many weaknesses and dysfunctional aspects of Lebanese governance. The international press corps and many in the political classes should wise up and see the country as something more than a bomb waiting to explode repeatedly.

The political tensions and a handful of local clashes following the assassination last Friday of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan reflected a tragic but rather routine sequence of sentiments and events, in this country where political assassinations have occurred regularly for half a century.

Millions of Lebanese instantly feared a recurrence of the serial political killings that followed the assassination of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in early 2005. Some took to the streets to express themselves in the time-tested manner of burning tires and blocking a few streets.

At the Hasan funeral Sunday, the weaknesses and amateurism of some Lebanese politicians surfaced. Understandably angry members of the March 14 coalition in opposition fired up the crowd by demanding the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, normally a rational man who shouldered the responsibility of power with great dignity and resolve in the difficult years following the Hariri assassination, succumbed to a moment of reckless silliness when he said Sunday that Mikati’s Cabinet was a “government of assassination,” given the numerous assassinations that occurred during the years when March 14 and Siniora ran the government.

His and other fiery statements prompted a small crowd of excited youth to try and storm the government headquarters in central Beirut, and they were quickly dispersed by some forceful work by the internal security forces.

After this incident, senior March 14 leaders, including former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, called for calm, insisting that their desire to topple the government should be achieved through peaceful and democratic means. So they are now boycotting all contacts with the government, which is most unimpressive.

While most media coverage of Lebanon that I have seen in the U.S. tends to fall into narrative and hysterical categories that describe clashes and see them in the context of possibly returning to civil war, my sense is that the historian’s perspective of identifying new trends and political factors is much more useful today to grasp what is going on in Lebanon.

In this context, the bottom line from the last week’s events suggests to me that the politicians’ irresponsible emotionalism and the public’s instant worries are both routine developments that have recurred in Lebanon for many decades, unfortunately. Top-level political assassinations and instant street clashes that would shatter most other countries are taken in stride by most Lebanese, who stay home for 36 hours and then resume their normal life routines.

There will not be a return to civil war because the most important new development in Lebanon in recent years – since February 2005 to be exact – is a more determined attitude and enhanced capabilities on the part of the central government in the face of the stresses that often threaten to tear Lebanese society apart. The principal political actors in Lebanon have had numerous opportunities to resume serious fighting in recent years, and every time have pulled back from the brink in order to refrain from the path of civil war. In the past three years, the armed forces and internal security have acted much more forcefully and quickly to stop local clashes from growing or spreading, and the National Dialogue committee presents an opportunity for all parties to seek a route toward stable and sensible governance.

The presidency of Michel Sleiman also offers a more activist touch, while the forensic investigative capabilities of the Internal Security Forces continue to improve, as seen by the successful interception of the alleged plan by former Minister Michel Samaha to bring explosives from Syria to destabilize Lebanon, and the detection of Israeli espionage rings. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon that has investigated and will try those accused of killing Rafik Hariri is another new element in the young drive to stop the legacy of political violence.

These and other factors probably explain why Hasan was killed by some party that does not want Lebanon to achieve a strong indigenous capability to investigate and put a stop to political crimes. Whether that party is in Syria, Lebanon, Israel or elsewhere remains to be seen.

Priest kidnapped and murdered outside Damascus this morning

The body of the Greek Orthodox priest Fr. Fadi Jamil Haddad, pastor of the church of St. Elias in Qatana, was found today in the Jaramana neighborhood (north of Damascus) not far from the place where he was kidnapped, on October 19, by an unidentified armed group. This was confirmed by Fr. Haddad’s Greek-Orthodox confrere, who asked for anonymity. "His body was horribly tortured and his eyes gouged out," he reported. "It is a purely terrorist act. Fr. Haddad is a martyr of our church. " The kidnappers had asked the priest’s family and his church a ransom of 50 million Syrian pounds (over 550 thousand euro). It was, however, impossible to find the money and meet this exorbitant demand. A source condemned these acts, "the terrible practice, present for months in this dirty war, of kidnapping and then killing innocent civilians." Among the various Christian communities in Syria, the Greek Orthodox is the largest (with about 500 thousand faithful) and is concentrated mainly in the western part of the country and in Damascus.  Now, there is debate about who is responsible for this act.  Some say that Assad's regime staged the kidnapping and murder in order to later blame it on Islamic Fundamentalists and cause tensions while others are sure that it could have been any one of the armed groups in the opposition as this is one of their common practices.  Only those who committed the act and God can know for sure.  May God be with Father Haddad's family and may his soul rest in peace.  Let us not cease in prayer for the end of this war in Syria.

Sanctuary

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I was afraid to go to church.  On Friday afternoon, there was a car bombing in the Ashrafieh neighborhood of Beirut.  It contained 30 TNT and was meant to kill the top internal security official Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.  Hasan was killed along with 4-8 others while over 100 were severely wounded.  The exact number of the dead is not yet known because body parts were found and they have not all been identified and pieced back together again.  Lebanon has a history of political assassinations and is famous for this particularly vile method of getting rid of someone--blowing up many innocent civilians in addition to their target.  Immediately after the bombing, politicians, religious leaders and news anchors began to speculate about who was responsible for the bombing.  Many blame the Syrian regime for the assassination because Hasan strongly opposed Assad.  Blame is also pointed at the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, who is now being pressured to resign.

 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday after the bombing, the normally chaotic streets of Beirut were empty and eerily quiet.  We were told to stay in the building.  The funeral of the murdered security official was planned for Sunday afternoon at 2pm in the huge Hariri mosque in downtown Beirut.  Huge crowds of thousands were expected to attend the funeral and fill the downtown.  Everyone feared that the funeral would become another occasion for chaos and violence.  On Sunday morning, my friends and I were torn between our deep longing to go to church and sit and pray with the community of believers and our fear of the predicted demonstrations. We asked a trusted adult if it was safe to go and he told us that it was safe as long as we went back home right after church in order to miss  the crowds that would begin to gather in downtown. 

We got into the taxi at 9:30am and the streets were empty.  The normal road that we would take to go to the church was blocked off by a huge army tank and soldiers who directed us to follow the line of cars past blocked street after blocked street.  We had to make a huge circle out of our way in order to get around all the blocked streets and to our destination.  On the way we saw the results of the previous night’s violence.  All the trash bins were flipped over and left blackened by the fires that had been lit inside them.  Ashes, trash and burnt tires covered the streets.  A drive that would normally take 10 minutes became 45 minutes.

But we arrived to the church safely and just in time for the sermon.  I won’t be able to explain it with words but church was something different for me yesterday.  The building was the same, the hymns were the same, the people were the same (though dramatically fewer than usual) and there was nothing spectacular about the sermon.  But something was different.  There was a feeling hanging in the air.  Each person had arrived to say, “I will come.  I will not cease in song.  I will not cease in prayer.  I will not cease in trust.  God is good.  God is good.  God is good.”

Reverence.

Sanctuary.

Still, my words fail to describe yesterday morning.  Humility?  Yes, there was a humbleness in the face of this profound reminder that the days are so vastly out of our control.  That our capacity for understanding cannot begin to unravel His mysteries.  Our logic cannot make sense of this world.  Together, we were struck by one of those intense boundless moments in which a human being can accept how incredibly small he is and how incredible and single is his need for God.  For our Lord who knows us and knows all, from the beginning to the end.  There was something about yesterday morning.  We did not only bow our heads, we bowed our hearts as well.  But we were not scared.  We were so calm.

On the way home after church we saw the groups of young men walking towards the downtown.  Each group carried different flags and wrapped different colored scarves around their heads to show their political or religious affiliations.   They had that look in their eyes.  That wild hunger for meaning, for something to direct their anger at.

We arrived home.  Some of my other friends had gone to different churches.  One friend told me that the church she went to only had 7 people there that morning.  My other friend went to a church in the downtown and there were only 17 people.  The pastor played the piano for the hymns because the musicians could not come. 

Please continue to pray for Syria and Lebanon.  And I ask also that you take some time to ask yourself how your relationship to God and church might change if you could not go to church for security reasons?  How would that change the significance and meaning of the building, the community and the spirit that is church?

TEN POINTS TOWARDS RECONCILIATION AND PEACE IN SYRIA

1. SUPPORT A CONFLICT RESOLUTION THROUGH NEGOTIATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A DEMOCRATIC PROCESS:
H.E. Catherine Ashton, EU’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has signified the
support of the European Union to the mission of Lakhdar Brahimi, UN envoy to Syria. But we ask that this support should
be with deeds and not just with words.
2. HELP STOP THE FLOW OF WEAPONS IN SYRIA.
- Do not yield to the temptation to arm even more the rebellion. Do not justify the violence of one or the other.
3. STIGMATIZE THE WAR METHODS THAT ARE AGAINST THE GENEVA CONVENTION: to sneak in to residential neighborhoods (human
shields) and to attack Syrian forces and infrastructures, provoking the army to answer brutally, causing lethal damages of
civilians and buildings. To sneak in cultural heritage zones (Palmyra, Apamea, Historical centers of ancient cities,
museums) and to launch attacks endangering this precious world heritage (cultural shields) .
4. RESTRAIN INTERFERENCE FROM ABROAD IN THE SYRIAN CONFLICT, it limits the auto-determination of the Syrian People and
jeopardize the efforts for a peaceful settlement.
5. FURNISH HONEST INFORMATION ABOUT THE SYRIAN CONFLICT. The propaganda disinformation harms the cause of Peace.
Provide a place for the voice of unbiased witnesses and for the local Christian hierarchy in the media.
6. SUPPORT NEW POLITICAL PARTIES that are proliferating and giving new shape to the Syrian political landscape: in the near
future the elections results will transform the Syrian administration…..and change the authorities through democratic
and institutional means !
7. STOP THE SANCTIONS that are harming only the civilian populations. As we said shortage of everything is increasing
with the difficulty for the Syrian diaspora prevented to use air flights from and to Syria.
8. FAIR DISTRIBUTE HUMANITARIAN AID: Inside the Syrian territory there is more than one million and the half
displaced that are still inside the country. It seems that they are not receiving the same humanitarian aid the “others”
refugees are receiving outside the Syrian border. The donations to those outside the border are often used to buy
weapons.
9. APPEAL FOR IMPARTIALITY AMONG THE DIVERSES NGOS working for the Syrian conflict, especially in their reports
that are until today very much partial.
10. SUPPORT A NEW STATE that will guarantee equality of citizenship and religious freedom to any religious or ethnic
group (protection of minorities!). This is a very sensitive question that the events in Syria has presented as very actual.
Coordinator and Contact Person:
Mother Agnes-Mariam of the Cross
International Roaming Phone: 009613213039
Mail: maryakub@gmail.com

Screaming and shock in Ashrafieh by By Van Meguerditchian, Annie Slemrod

The bomb that rocked Lebanon Friday exploded with such force that it hurled part of a mangled car several stories into the air, where it lodged onto a not yet finished building.

The terrifyingly incongruous airborne fragment was soon integrated into a chaotic mess, but for a few minutes after a car bomb tore through Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan’s car in the Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafieh, it was so loud that it was quiet.

Eyewitnesses said that the buildings shook, and the area filled with a dark smoke. Many said they had heard nothing, or at least nothing that they could recall.

Then there were the flames, as the cars parked on Ibrahim Monzer Street each caught fire. Eventually, as the smoke cleared, the residents and workers of the street poured out of their homes and businesses to find balconies and walls ripped off, shattered glass almost everywhere, and bloodied bodies.

At first, civilians carried out the wounded until Red Cross and Civil Defense personnel arrived, seeking out the injured inside the broken buildings. Those who could walk streaked out of the area in blood soaked clothes. The elderly were carried out on shoulders.

Security personnel soon cordoned off the area, as soldiers first held hands and later used red and white tape to keep the curious and the distraught out, and let the ambulances and stretchers in. Ambulances wailed and both the concerned and curious climbed on top of cars and buildings to get a look at the carnage, the twisted metal and charred ground.

Others took shelter nearby, quietly thankful for their lives.

Hysterical family members tried to break the Army’s human chain. “They are in the building, I want to see them,” a young woman screamed, before neighbors took her aside. An elderly woman who wanted to see her home grabbed a soldier by his arms, demanding that he answer her when she asked “what kind of country is this?”

Below the construction site where part of the car had flown, blood covered the face of 17-year-old Josiane.

“I was making food for my little brother when the bomb went off,” she recalled. “I found him under the sofa crying ... my brother and I ran downstairs, but I don’t think my sister is okay.” Josiane was frantically calling for her mother, who she had not yet made contact with. Her two siblings, both under 10, had been hospitalized.

“I want to see my mom,” she called. “Please just get me to my mom.”

Bomb squad members in white bodysuits pored over the area close to the bomb, along with members of the security forces, detectives and several ministers.

As the day wore on, those who had been there – or nearly there – were trying to get a handle on events that called to mind some of Lebanon’s darkest days: the country’s 15 year Civil War and the string of assassinations in 2005 that included the killing of then former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Charles Maalouly left his office minutes before the bomb exploded in front of it. “I would have died. The feeling is crazy, that I survived.”

Standing on the edge of his living room, Joe Haddad explained that he had been working at his desk when his balcony collapsed, the wooden shutters falling on him. Inside, his home was covered in glass – as was a three block perimeter. But Haddad was lucky.

His mother and sister were not so fortunate and had been one building closer to the bomb. They were badly wounded, and with neither mobile phone nor land lines in consistent operation Haddad had not yet heard of their condition.

Haddad spoke calmly, in a stark contrast to the howling of others nearby. But he was not alone; many appeared to be in a stupor. Jad Haddad, an employee of a nearby shop was similarly stunned. “When we first heard the explosion, people were afraid to go out,” he said. “When we did leave, there were sounds of screaming and the place was covered in black smoke.”

“I would never have imagined something like this could happen in an area like Ashrafieh,” Haddad continued. “It was a frightening scene.”

Interesting blog written by a Lebanese woman in response to yesterday's bombing

I DIED TODAY: A Message from A Lebanese Martyr

I died today, but I didn’t think I was in danger.

I passed by the church around the corner, went to the grocery store under my building, and I was going back up when I heard a huge explosion. I didn’t get what was going on, everything went grey, and I couldn’t feel my legs. The weight I was carrying completely disappeared, and I felt myself in a white space.

Then came my dear husband carrying my grocery bags. I couldn’t believe my eyes, my dear Samir is giving me a hand after 30 years of waiting for him to return from the Syrian prisons. They finally let go off my innocent husband! A sudden joy rushed through my veins as I caressed his cheeks, a feeling I haven’t felt for SO LONG!
Samir looked so handsome, so young, so happy to see me as well! Finally, we were joined again, lovers of the past.

But where did my building disappear? Why’s everything so white? I couldn’t get it. My body was so light. I haven’t been able to move so freely in such a long time!

That’s when it hit me: I am no longer alive. My handsome Samir wasn’t alive as well. All this hope I lived for has been for no use, they’ve killed him… He was already dead waiting for me to rejoin him in this white space, waiting to give me a hand with my grocery bags.

I was happy because I was with him again, after all this wait. But I wasn’t happy for what we lived.

My life was a hard one. I had 4 daughters, and 5 sons. I lost two of my daughters during the Lebanese civil war. In 1981, my husband was taken as a hostage because he was expressing his sorrow to our neighbor and blaming the powers for my daughters’ death; was that a crime? It never made sense to me.

My husband’s kidnap led all my sons to participate in the war, and fight for Lebanon. I pleaded that they don’t go. I begged them one by one. I didn’t want to lose them, too. I couldn’t lose them. But they didn’t listen, they didn’t care about risking their lives for their beloved country. They wanted to get their father back. They wanted to be free; they persisted to fight.

I guess this is not what only my sons did. This is what most of the youth did during the war. I understood that, being a citizen. But the mother in me could never digest it. My only children, the children I fed ever since day one, my vulnerable kids, my BABIES, joining the war…
WAR. What a selfish word; the word that destructed my home, the word that tormented my soul, and left me in despair.

One by one, they joined the war and one by one I lost them, my four baby boys. Yes, Habibi Rami made it. He was lucky. He was shot in the leg (that later got paralyzed) but he was alive. My other two daughters got married and traveled to Canada with their husbands scared from the situation. They wanted to take me with them, but I wanted to be here when my husband returns home.
Plus, I couldn’t leave Rami. He wanted to stay in Achrafieh, he wanted to prove to the powers that he will stay in Lebanon, that he will never give up. That’s what we did. That’s what we’ve been doing since 1992.

But life didn’t treat us right. All I had was my house, at Sassine’s Square. My husband lost all his money in the late 60s when Bank Intra went bankrupt. My two daughters sent me some money every now and then, but I could never ask for more, they have their own lives over there. They have a family. They needed the money more than a woman my age needed money. Rami changed a lot of jobs till he settled at an office in Fern El Chebbek, working as an accountant. But you know Lebanese salaries; I don’t want to get into details.

Public transportation is very messy in Beirut. Electricity and water is not so promising. But I could live with it. However, there was no healthcare, and I was getting older.
I soon realized that the country all my babies lost their lives for had no responsibility towards me, a mother of martyrs and a wife of a kidnapped innocent gorgeous man. My dear Rami did his best to take care of me, but he didn’t really have to, he deserved to be a bit happy in his life.
I wrote endless letters to the Ministry of Health, to the MPs, to journalists, and to anyone that I thought could assist me. They all described my case as a Cliché Lebanese family story and told me I should stop begging.
Begging? I lost 4 healthy boys and 2 lovely girls for a country. I got detached from the love of my life for a nation that labels me as a beggar and a Cliché Lebanese woman?

Ironically today, I realized that I am no longer a fighter but a martyr as well.
And as I promised, I stayed here. I stayed to welcome my husband back, exactly where he left me.

Ironically today, as I move freely between the Lebanese households I still see the youth hating. I see people pointing fingers. I see handsome gals wanting to risk their lives for yet another time. I see dirty minds preparing schemes to bomb, to kill, and to destroy.

Ironically today, I understand that all that blood that was shed by my kids and other young souls didn’t solve anything. It’s all the same… same as 1975. Same as 1989. Same as 2005 and what follows… and it’s all a shame.

Why don’t you get it? Why don’t you wake up? Why can’t you change the way you perceive things? You can make a change! Change Lebanon! Stop breaking the hearts of your parents and of your nation. The elections are soon. Think rationally. Think as a citizen. Love your parents. Cherish your lives. Do not let all those people who died for Lebanon regret that they did. Do not let the powers and the media brainwash you! You hold the power with your unity. The government is nothing without YOU.

Sadly, this will remain a cry from a mother who doesn’t know what she’s talking about because YOU KNOW BETTER; YOU KNOW POLITICS. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND AND FEEL ANYTHING. I am pathetic to you. I nag too much. I should only clean the house and cook you good meals.
---
As for Rami, I’m right next to you. We are all watching over you. I hope life treats you better than it treated us and you witness a better Lebanon.
When you get home from work you will find our house broken down in pieces. Be the boy I've always known you for. Be strong.
Your salary can get you a descent home close to your work, and hopefully the Lebanese government and your sisters will help. Now you do not have me as burden, you can spend your money as you please. I am sorry I brought you to a country such as Lebanon. I am sorry for all the troubles you’ve faced and you’re about to face. You will never cease to be my inspiration. I love you, Mum.

Car Bombing in Beirut

Today there was a car bombing in Beirut in a Christian section called Ashrafieh.  I am fine and I will stay home for the next few days until we know more about the situation.  So far, we know that the bomb was targeting a top security official.  8 are known to have been killed and over 80 seriously wounded.  Please keep Lebanon and Syria in your prayers.  Please read the following article to learn about the situation and I will keep you updated.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Oct-19/192029-sound-of-large-explosion-in-ashrafieh-beirut.ashx#axzz29lLzD2lY