Thousands Of Anti-Sectarianism Protestors Demonstrate In Lebanon
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The Lebanese people are fed up with the way their country is being led, and so, in an attempt to take back their country, they showed up en masse, as thousands demonstrated for the establishment of secularism as opposed to the current sectarian rule. Although led by a Christian Maronite president, a Sunni Muslim prime minister, and a Shiite speaker of the parliament, and a governing body that includes both Muslims and Christians, the religious divide permeates both politics and personal life.
They also want to establish an updated personal status law to include civil marriage, since
".. civil marriage is still not an option in Lebanon, leaving the Lebanese with no choice but to resort to church or mosque. Lebanese who marry someone from another religion must now either convert or get married abroad, with Cyprus the closest option."
Apparently, this is the first time the Lebanese have demonstrated for the establishment of secularism, and it wasn't relegated to a certain section of the population:
People from all walks of life gathered at the Ain Al Mreisseh area and marched towards the parliament while chanting against sectarianism, which controls both the political scene and daily life in Lebanon"No to sectarianism, yes to secularism," and "There is no solution except secularism, we are all Lebanese," they chanted.
People from all ages and walks of life held banners explaining their message, such as ‘Civil Marriage, Not Civil War,' and ‘Freedom of belief is a right,' as well as various other causes, like the right of Lebanese women to pass on their citizenship to their children.
Leading the protesters, were the the four activists who came up with the idea in the first place, which just shows that individuals can and do make a difference. As they marched through downtown, they made a stop at the area at the "fire-line" which separated West and East Beirut through their long civil war which lasted from 1975 through 1990.
"We pause here, at the fire-line that witnessed the worst times of the civil war to convey our message loud and clear to our parliament," one of the activists said."We don't want this to happen again. We don't want another hundred thousand people killed, and we don't want another civil war," the activist added.
The organizers were actually surprised at the turnout, but it just proves that if you have a good idea, people will follow. I think people are just tired of all the sectarian violence.
"As a young Lebanese woman, it was a spark of hope because we face frustration everyday when we hear about sectarian incidents," said Sarah Obaid, 21, a student at the American University of Beirut."We didn't expect that many people to join us and show support... because we hardly had any support or patronage," Sarah said.
"We are demanding our basic rights and perhaps that is what secularism in Lebanese politics stands for."
For the most part people want to live in peace and don't want religion mixed with politics. Religion has no place in government, and that's why separation of church/mosque and state is so important. Sectarianism and religion have no place in the governing of a nation, that's not to say that one can't have personal religious beliefs but what a politicians personal religious beliefs are should have absolutely no bearing on his constituents.
Apparently, up until recently, Lebanese had to include their religious affiliation on official records. That changed, last year, when Interior Minister Ziadi Baroud gave the Lebanese people the option to remove that designation.
At least, unlike Iran and other similar countries, Lebanon has the possibility for change if the people continue to demand it. That's the beauty of having politicians of both religions in power.
