NOVANEWS
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People walk next to a vehicle damaged by what residents say was a missile fired from the Syrian rebels in the town of Hermel in Bekaa, April 24, 2013. The Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, famed for its colossal Roman ruins, now feels like a garrison town. Hezbollah men in military fatigues and police outfits are everywhere. (photo by REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)
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By: Jihad El-Zein
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Ironically, the Lebanese and Syrian entities, whose successive rulers spent most the two entities’ 90-year existence in a state of disharmony and mutual distrust, and at times in confrontation, today find themselves, after the meltdown of the situation in Syria, facing the same danger.
I am not talking about the Syrian regime. I am talking about the Syrian entity. Syria was formed constitutionally in the 1936 treaty between the leaders of the national bloc and the French Mandate and politically with the French pledge to grant Syria independence in 1941 during World War II. It gained its sovereignty in 1946 with the French departure from Syria, which extends from Daraa in the south to Aleppo and its countryside in the north, and from Latakia-Tartus in the west to Deir al-Zor-Qamishli in the east.
Today, the Syrian entity is threatened by the ferocity of a military regime that does not differentiate between its death and Syria’s death, as the regime takes them both toward the precipice. The West’s evil and ambiguous plan, which quickly transformed the Syrian revolution into a civil and regional war, is threatening to change the region’s map, especially Lebanon, which in reality falls in the heart of Syria, not next to it.
After the Syrian events, Lebanon has started to change irreversibly. The forces controlling the Sunni and Shiite sects have become increasingly involved in the militarization of the Syrian conflict. Both Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri have become members of the opposing “operations rooms” directing the war.
The influx of displaced Syrians to Lebanon is unprecedented in Lebanese history. They come from all social classes and they number more than a million, which is comparable to the Palestinian displacement in 1948. The EU ambassador in Beirut recently said, “I know of no other country where a quarter of the people are refugees.” More and more Lebanese Christians are realizing that their fate is tied to that of the Christians of the region.
Lebanon is now like a volcano that will erupt as soon as the political-security status quo is no longer supported by the world or when there is a qualitative shift in the fighting in Syria. In this climate, there are two parties that we cannot ask for help, because they cannot even help themselves.
The first party is the Lebanese political elite, who are unable to provide a broad Lebanese national vision to rescue the Lebanese state. The second party is the Syrian civil political opposition living abroad. It is made up of persons who are either controlled by outside forces or are inexperienced. They cannot even move to Syria despite the fact that large areas in Syria are outside regime control.
In more than two years, no national leader or leaders have emerged from the Syrian crisis, as usually happens in similar situations. I am not talking of an “inspirational leader,” as the dictatorships usually generate, but a leader who exudes wisdom and responsibility, like Nelson Mandela for example; not like Mahatma Gandhi because the conflict quickly became militarized and killed the idea of a nonviolent revolution. The militarization of the revolution transformed Syria into a Takfiri laboratory that is dangerous to the region and to Syrian civil society at home and abroad.
Why is there no “lobby” working on gathering the forces to save the Syrian and Lebanese entities — and Jordan later — by starting an “international conference” on the Syrian crisis?
Look at Egypt. Where is the nationalist Egyptian elite? Kuwait, which was saved from Saddam Hussein, is having internal problems. The Palestinian national movement has lost its own internal balance, so how can it be the source of balance in the regional crisis? The current Palestinian generation is trying to get involved in the Syrian civil war instead of staying neutral.
These are some of the forces that should have been playing a role in preventing the collapse of the region, especially Lebanon and Syria. Egypt is completely absent, except for a few attempts that need to be backed up by force in order to become reality.
Will the solution come from US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who until now have rejected a military intervention? Is there hope for a Russian-US agreement? And will [UN peace envoy to Syria] Lakhdar Brahimi be the conduit for the implementation for such an agreement?
It is very ironic that Syria and Lebanon — the two “contradictory” countries whose ruling classes have quarreled since the two countries were founded — are now discovering that they are threatened by the same danger.
I am not talking about the Syrian regime. I am talking about the Syrian entity. Syria was formed constitutionally in the 1936 treaty between the leaders of the national bloc and the French Mandate and politically with the French pledge to grant Syria independence in 1941 during World War II. It gained its sovereignty in 1946 with the French departure from Syria, which extends from Daraa in the south to Aleppo and its countryside in the north, and from Latakia-Tartus in the west to Deir al-Zor-Qamishli in the east.
Today, the Syrian entity is threatened by the ferocity of a military regime that does not differentiate between its death and Syria’s death, as the regime takes them both toward the precipice. The West’s evil and ambiguous plan, which quickly transformed the Syrian revolution into a civil and regional war, is threatening to change the region’s map, especially Lebanon, which in reality falls in the heart of Syria, not next to it.
After the Syrian events, Lebanon has started to change irreversibly. The forces controlling the Sunni and Shiite sects have become increasingly involved in the militarization of the Syrian conflict. Both Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri have become members of the opposing “operations rooms” directing the war.
The influx of displaced Syrians to Lebanon is unprecedented in Lebanese history. They come from all social classes and they number more than a million, which is comparable to the Palestinian displacement in 1948. The EU ambassador in Beirut recently said, “I know of no other country where a quarter of the people are refugees.” More and more Lebanese Christians are realizing that their fate is tied to that of the Christians of the region.
Lebanon is now like a volcano that will erupt as soon as the political-security status quo is no longer supported by the world or when there is a qualitative shift in the fighting in Syria. In this climate, there are two parties that we cannot ask for help, because they cannot even help themselves.
The first party is the Lebanese political elite, who are unable to provide a broad Lebanese national vision to rescue the Lebanese state. The second party is the Syrian civil political opposition living abroad. It is made up of persons who are either controlled by outside forces or are inexperienced. They cannot even move to Syria despite the fact that large areas in Syria are outside regime control.
In more than two years, no national leader or leaders have emerged from the Syrian crisis, as usually happens in similar situations. I am not talking of an “inspirational leader,” as the dictatorships usually generate, but a leader who exudes wisdom and responsibility, like Nelson Mandela for example; not like Mahatma Gandhi because the conflict quickly became militarized and killed the idea of a nonviolent revolution. The militarization of the revolution transformed Syria into a Takfiri laboratory that is dangerous to the region and to Syrian civil society at home and abroad.
Why is there no “lobby” working on gathering the forces to save the Syrian and Lebanese entities — and Jordan later — by starting an “international conference” on the Syrian crisis?
Look at Egypt. Where is the nationalist Egyptian elite? Kuwait, which was saved from Saddam Hussein, is having internal problems. The Palestinian national movement has lost its own internal balance, so how can it be the source of balance in the regional crisis? The current Palestinian generation is trying to get involved in the Syrian civil war instead of staying neutral.
These are some of the forces that should have been playing a role in preventing the collapse of the region, especially Lebanon and Syria. Egypt is completely absent, except for a few attempts that need to be backed up by force in order to become reality.
Will the solution come from US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who until now have rejected a military intervention? Is there hope for a Russian-US agreement? And will [UN peace envoy to Syria] Lakhdar Brahimi be the conduit for the implementation for such an agreement?
It is very ironic that Syria and Lebanon — the two “contradictory” countries whose ruling classes have quarreled since the two countries were founded — are now discovering that they are threatened by the same danger.
