Lebanon's Doomed Political Culture

It is greatly unfortunate, but self-inflicted. The tiny nation of Lebanon was once a major banking center (a fact it acquired after the Palestinians were rooted from their country by Israeli forces. Prior to 1948, Haifa in northern Palestine not Beirut was the region's banking capital). The nation is blessed with great beaches, mountains and excellent cuisine. Beirut has a thriving nightlife and is in the midst of a great renovation.

patriarch sfeir Hk5ZE 19672

But Lebanon is doomed to perpetually being on the verge of civil war due to its sectarian politics. It is obvious in what direction Lebanese politics need to go: secular. The current confessional system lead to a horrific 1975-1990 Civil War that ruined the country. Civil War was immanent only a few years ago. And while things have calmed down since the June elections, it is simply a question of degree. In a political structure based on a zero-sum sectarian balance, every group anxiously monitors its rivals and fiercely guards its status.

This leads to toxicity in political rhetoric as one sect leader espouses views designed to boost his side and undercut his rivals - needless to say, his rivals respond harshly to such utterances that seek to undermine their power. And a game of sectarian oneupmanship may not be far behind and that is how political rhetoric leads to street battles and civil war. Lebanon is stuck in the politics of doom, because they'll will always be offending political rhetoric which is bread in a confessional system of politics.

In Lebanon's current landscape, few are more obnoxious in their right-wing sectarian language and activism than the Maronite Patriarch Sfayr.

This guy was an active participant in the last elections rallying votes not just for Christians, but specifically for the far-right Phalange faction versus the centrist (and less sectarian) Free Patriotic Movement lead by charismatic general Michel Aun. Sfayr preferred that the anti-Muslim, Christian extremists who promote confessional politics win over Aun's movement which at least pays lip service to secularism. Sfayr is a promoter of the belief of Christian supremacy in Lebanon - that Christians should rule or at least have disproportionate power because they are 'superior' to Muslims never mind that they are in the minority. This is the Phalange doctrine of 'quality versus quantity'. A slim majority of Lebanese Christians voted for FPM.

Sfayr made headlines again recently in calling for the exclusion of FPM and the Shi'a party Hizbullah from a joint coalition because they lost the election. He stated that only the majority should rule. Hizbullah responded that if majority-rule is the guiding principle then let it be extended throughout the land - which would see the 40% Shi'a easily command power at the expense of Sunni Muslims and Christians. This is how political rhetoric escalates in Lebanon.

And now Sfayr offers this gem:

If Golda Meir admitted that she spent sleepless nights thinking about the birth of Palestinian babies, her Lebanese counterpart, Patriarch Sfayr spends sleepless nights thinking and worrying about the birth of Muslim babies. He now says that there are more than 20 million Lebanese around the world, and that 99% of them are Christian, and he wants them to vote in Lebanese elections. OK, Patriarch Sfayr. Go to sleep now.

First, there are 17million people in the world - not 20m - who can claim some Lebanese ancestry. Second, they are not 99% Christian as Sfayr claims in his sectarian dreams. Millions of them are Muslim. Third, they are not 'Lebanese'. A majority of them left what is now Lebanon before it become Lebanon, they have ancestry in the villages of, say, Mount Lebanon but no since of Lebanese identity. They have no attachment or allegiance to the country - no sense of belonging to it. It would never cross their mind to call themselves Lebanese - they are Brazilian, Mexican, American ect... Thus there is no logic behind them voting in Lebanese elections. The cast of 'Jersey Shore' have a higher allegiance to Italy and it would be illogic for them to be granted the right to vote - let alone people who have a distant connection to Lebanon. And they would not bother voting.

Sfayr only calls for them to vote based purely on the hopes of increasing Christian power in the country in a zero-sum against the nation's majority Muslim. Of course, the Muslims would never allow such a bill to pass parliament. And the sheer idea could provoke conflict.

Civil wars in Lebanon are the symptom. In order for the nation to become genuinely secure and prosper it must rid itself of confessional politics and of the buffoons-with-hats that promote such regression.