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SECTARIANISM IN LEBANON: 18 RELIGIOUS SECTS
Marcopolis
Sept 17 202
Sectarianism in Lebanon - an Unholy Chapter
When Pope Benedict XVI. headed to Lebanon in mid-September 2012,
people were once again reminded that the Near Eastern country has a
mixed society with many different ethnic groups, political fractions
and religions.
Few people in the West know that the Arab republic's President is
always a Maronite Christian. The Maronite church is an Eastern fraction
of the Roman Catholic Church and stands in full communion with the
Holy Vatican in Rome. The incumbent President, Michel Sulaiman,
took office in May 2008. Sulaiman, a career-soldier with the rank
of Commander, is a Maronite Christian and he became Head of State
not because the Maronites had a bigger election campaign budget but
because the constitution demands that while the Prime Minister must
be a Sunni Muslim (currently telecom billionaire Najib Mikati),
the President must be a Maronite Christian.
The Speaker of Parliament has to be a Shiite Muslim. Nabih Berri,
Head of the Shiite Amal movement (Amal is Arabic for hope), has been
Speaker of the Lebanese National Assembly for more than a decade
(with interruptions).
Outsiders often have difficulty in judging whether a Lebanese person
they know is Muslim or Christian. Usually the first name gives the
answer. Names like Mohamed, Abdulmajid, Abdulhakim, Zouheir or any
other of the 99 names of Allah indicate that the person is a follower
of Islam. Christians often have French first names like Michel,
Joseph, Juliette or Marcel (exceptions prove the rule).
An old joke in Lebanon is about two the friends Mike and Mohamed
who discuss their career plans. When Mike tells Mohamed that he
plans to run for parliament elections, Mohamed says: "You want to
become a Member of Parliament? You are not even a politician but a
businessman." Mike replies: "As a Maronite Christian I can even become
President!" The answer is reversible: a Sunni Muslim can argue that
he could become Premier and lead the government.
This is the irony of Lebanese politics, as people used to say. Lebanon
has 4.2 million inhabitants but six million candidates for all top
posts in the government.
The mighty Armenian community, which mostly resides in the coastal
city of Jounieh, a 30-minutes drive north of Beirut, must not be
neglected when studying Lebanon. Armenians have always been a strong
pillar of Lebanon's business life and their strong sense for helping
each other within the community has brought them a high reputation
and admiration in the Arab world.
No census has been carried out since 1932(!), but researchers agree
that the majority of the population belongs to the Shiite fraction.
Once a small a minority, the fast-growing Shiite community achieved
influence and respect even from the Christians after its major party
Hezbollah drove out the Israelis from the south of Lebanon in 2000,
after fighting a highly sophisticated guerilla war against Tzahal,
as the Israeli army is called.
The architectonic mix of Mosques and Catholic and Armenian Churches in
central Beirut (there is even a Synagogue in the government district)
creates the impression of a religious harmony that hardly exists in
other parts of the world.
Basically, the Lebanese are famous for their openness and tolerance.
That Lebanese hospitality, whether at a Muslim or Christian restaurant,
hotel or cultural event, is world-famous is no coincidence.
Unfortunately, the different confessions have not always lived
peacefully side by side. Even before the devastating 15-year civil
war broke out in 1975 intrigues and corruption were rife within the
religious groups. The strong links within religious groups who aim to
take over power, even if this damages other confessional fractions,
are also called sectarianism.
The civil war broke out due to a power struggle between Christians
and the Palestinian militia of Yasser Arafat's PLO, who fled to
Lebanon after they were expelled from Jordan by King Hussein during
the Black September in 1971 (the Jordanian Army crushed the PLO after
the organization hijacked civil planes and blew them up at the airport
in Amman).
When the PLO started to install checkpoints in Lebanon and to spread
its wings in the economy, the powerful Christian clans saw their
influence in danger. What began with sporadic shootings in the streets
of Beirut quickly transformed into an all-out war in which the fronts
and alliances changed on an almost monthly basis.
Today, the PLO in Lebanon is history. The Shiite movement Hezbollah
(Party of God), a strong opponent of any reconciliation with Lebanon's
arch-foe Israel, has become the most powerful fraction in the state
in relation to military might and financial resources. Backed by
Iran, Hezbollah fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006. While
Tel Aviv had total air superiority, the Israeli army did not manage
to stop the rain of rockets on Haifa and most cities in the north of
Israel. In addition, the Israeli Merkava tank became an easy target
for Hezbollah's anti-tank missiles. According to U. S. intelligence
estimates, some 60 Merkava tanks were destroyed by Hezbollah fighters.
The war ended with some 1,000 Lebanese people killed, while Israel
lost over 600 soldiers, according to the U. S. intelligence report.
This was reason for Hezbollah General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah to
declare a "divine victory" and to say that Israel was as fragile as
a spider's web. Technically, Beirut and Tel Aviv remain at war. Since
August 2006, a UN-brokered armistice is observed by the "Blue Berets"
in south Lebanon, and offshore by German marine forces.
Backed by Iran, the Shiite movement quickly rebuilt the south of
Beirut, where pictures of the Islamic Republic of Iran's founder Emam
Khomeini are displayed side by side with ads from Coca Cola.
Sectarianism returned to Lebanon's stage when Saad Hariri, son of
the late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, accused Hezbollah of having
orchestrated the deadly bomb plot in central Beirut against his father
on Valentine's Day 2005. He also pointed at Syria, blaming Damascus
for being the mastermind behind the attack.
However, Nasrallah showed video footage of Israeli spy drones filming
the scene of the crime just hours before the bomb exploded near
Hariri's convoy as "proof" that Israel was behind the plot. The spy
drones were hacked by Hezbollah's IT engineers.
The tug-of-war led to the collapse of Saad Hariri's government. A new
interim-government under Premier Mikati was formed and Hezbollah is
now more strongly represented in the government than ever.
Meanwhile, "insurgents" from Syria who aim to topple incumbent
President Bashar Al-Assad infiltrated the north of Lebanon and caused
a new danger to the cedar state. Sporadic shootings between foreign
mercenaries coming from Syria and the mighty Lebanese clans triggered
fears of a new civil war.
When visiting the French President Francois Hollande on September
13, Saad Hariri accused Hezbollah of sending fighters to Syria to
support Assad.
The outcome of the Syrian civil war remains open and thus Lebanon's
future is uncertain as well. So far, Damascus has formed an axis
with Hezbollah and Tehran. If Assad falls, the axis could fall too,
and Iran would lose its strongest Arabian ally.
http://www.marcopolis.net/sectarianism-in-lebanon-18-religious-sects-1709.htm
Marcopolis
Sept 17 202
Sectarianism in Lebanon - an Unholy Chapter
When Pope Benedict XVI. headed to Lebanon in mid-September 2012,
people were once again reminded that the Near Eastern country has a
mixed society with many different ethnic groups, political fractions
and religions.
Few people in the West know that the Arab republic's President is
always a Maronite Christian. The Maronite church is an Eastern fraction
of the Roman Catholic Church and stands in full communion with the
Holy Vatican in Rome. The incumbent President, Michel Sulaiman,
took office in May 2008. Sulaiman, a career-soldier with the rank
of Commander, is a Maronite Christian and he became Head of State
not because the Maronites had a bigger election campaign budget but
because the constitution demands that while the Prime Minister must
be a Sunni Muslim (currently telecom billionaire Najib Mikati),
the President must be a Maronite Christian.
The Speaker of Parliament has to be a Shiite Muslim. Nabih Berri,
Head of the Shiite Amal movement (Amal is Arabic for hope), has been
Speaker of the Lebanese National Assembly for more than a decade
(with interruptions).
Outsiders often have difficulty in judging whether a Lebanese person
they know is Muslim or Christian. Usually the first name gives the
answer. Names like Mohamed, Abdulmajid, Abdulhakim, Zouheir or any
other of the 99 names of Allah indicate that the person is a follower
of Islam. Christians often have French first names like Michel,
Joseph, Juliette or Marcel (exceptions prove the rule).
An old joke in Lebanon is about two the friends Mike and Mohamed
who discuss their career plans. When Mike tells Mohamed that he
plans to run for parliament elections, Mohamed says: "You want to
become a Member of Parliament? You are not even a politician but a
businessman." Mike replies: "As a Maronite Christian I can even become
President!" The answer is reversible: a Sunni Muslim can argue that
he could become Premier and lead the government.
This is the irony of Lebanese politics, as people used to say. Lebanon
has 4.2 million inhabitants but six million candidates for all top
posts in the government.
The mighty Armenian community, which mostly resides in the coastal
city of Jounieh, a 30-minutes drive north of Beirut, must not be
neglected when studying Lebanon. Armenians have always been a strong
pillar of Lebanon's business life and their strong sense for helping
each other within the community has brought them a high reputation
and admiration in the Arab world.
No census has been carried out since 1932(!), but researchers agree
that the majority of the population belongs to the Shiite fraction.
Once a small a minority, the fast-growing Shiite community achieved
influence and respect even from the Christians after its major party
Hezbollah drove out the Israelis from the south of Lebanon in 2000,
after fighting a highly sophisticated guerilla war against Tzahal,
as the Israeli army is called.
The architectonic mix of Mosques and Catholic and Armenian Churches in
central Beirut (there is even a Synagogue in the government district)
creates the impression of a religious harmony that hardly exists in
other parts of the world.
Basically, the Lebanese are famous for their openness and tolerance.
That Lebanese hospitality, whether at a Muslim or Christian restaurant,
hotel or cultural event, is world-famous is no coincidence.
Unfortunately, the different confessions have not always lived
peacefully side by side. Even before the devastating 15-year civil
war broke out in 1975 intrigues and corruption were rife within the
religious groups. The strong links within religious groups who aim to
take over power, even if this damages other confessional fractions,
are also called sectarianism.
The civil war broke out due to a power struggle between Christians
and the Palestinian militia of Yasser Arafat's PLO, who fled to
Lebanon after they were expelled from Jordan by King Hussein during
the Black September in 1971 (the Jordanian Army crushed the PLO after
the organization hijacked civil planes and blew them up at the airport
in Amman).
When the PLO started to install checkpoints in Lebanon and to spread
its wings in the economy, the powerful Christian clans saw their
influence in danger. What began with sporadic shootings in the streets
of Beirut quickly transformed into an all-out war in which the fronts
and alliances changed on an almost monthly basis.
Today, the PLO in Lebanon is history. The Shiite movement Hezbollah
(Party of God), a strong opponent of any reconciliation with Lebanon's
arch-foe Israel, has become the most powerful fraction in the state
in relation to military might and financial resources. Backed by
Iran, Hezbollah fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006. While
Tel Aviv had total air superiority, the Israeli army did not manage
to stop the rain of rockets on Haifa and most cities in the north of
Israel. In addition, the Israeli Merkava tank became an easy target
for Hezbollah's anti-tank missiles. According to U. S. intelligence
estimates, some 60 Merkava tanks were destroyed by Hezbollah fighters.
The war ended with some 1,000 Lebanese people killed, while Israel
lost over 600 soldiers, according to the U. S. intelligence report.
This was reason for Hezbollah General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah to
declare a "divine victory" and to say that Israel was as fragile as
a spider's web. Technically, Beirut and Tel Aviv remain at war. Since
August 2006, a UN-brokered armistice is observed by the "Blue Berets"
in south Lebanon, and offshore by German marine forces.
Backed by Iran, the Shiite movement quickly rebuilt the south of
Beirut, where pictures of the Islamic Republic of Iran's founder Emam
Khomeini are displayed side by side with ads from Coca Cola.
Sectarianism returned to Lebanon's stage when Saad Hariri, son of
the late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, accused Hezbollah of having
orchestrated the deadly bomb plot in central Beirut against his father
on Valentine's Day 2005. He also pointed at Syria, blaming Damascus
for being the mastermind behind the attack.
However, Nasrallah showed video footage of Israeli spy drones filming
the scene of the crime just hours before the bomb exploded near
Hariri's convoy as "proof" that Israel was behind the plot. The spy
drones were hacked by Hezbollah's IT engineers.
The tug-of-war led to the collapse of Saad Hariri's government. A new
interim-government under Premier Mikati was formed and Hezbollah is
now more strongly represented in the government than ever.
Meanwhile, "insurgents" from Syria who aim to topple incumbent
President Bashar Al-Assad infiltrated the north of Lebanon and caused
a new danger to the cedar state. Sporadic shootings between foreign
mercenaries coming from Syria and the mighty Lebanese clans triggered
fears of a new civil war.
When visiting the French President Francois Hollande on September
13, Saad Hariri accused Hezbollah of sending fighters to Syria to
support Assad.
The outcome of the Syrian civil war remains open and thus Lebanon's
future is uncertain as well. So far, Damascus has formed an axis
with Hezbollah and Tehran. If Assad falls, the axis could fall too,
and Iran would lose its strongest Arabian ally.
http://www.marcopolis.net/sectarianism-in-lebanon-18-religious-sects-1709.htm