| |
LEBANON
NOTEBOOK
A lesson to be
learned
By Paul Belden
BEIRUT
- Fares Soueid had already spent some time discussing
the advantages to Lebanon of being one of the most
digitally advanced countries in the Middle East, but
when he dropped his normally calm, measured demeanor to
insist in a raised voice that "Lebanon is not an
email address", I knew he wasn't talking about the
Internet. What he was talking about was nationalism. Or,
if you prefer, patriotism.
"Lebanon is a not a
means, it is not a channel," he said, "for America to
send messages to Syria, and for Syria to send messages
to America. We are not an email address. We are a
country."
It's kind of sad that a distinguished
member of the Lebanese parliament would think it
necessary to even have to insist on a point like that -
to have to insist on his country's sovereignty to a
first-time visitor. But that's the tragedy of Lebanon,
whose domination by its larger neighbor to the east has
been a near-constant state of affairs since 1976, when
the first Syrian troops arrived to try to put a lid on
the then-raging civil war and haven't seen fit to leave
yet, though the war (kind of) sputtered out in 1991.
What's doubly sad is that everybody here just
sort of assumes that this is the way the United States
likes it.
Part of this assumption is, no doubt,
merely a reflection of the weary bone-deep cynicism of
the Lebanese people. In Beirut, the common bar-room war
cry expresses the oh-so-proud determination of the Arab
nation (or the Palestinian, or the Syrian, or whomever,
take your pick) to "fight Israel to the last Lebanese",
cruelly expressing how the Lebanese have a history of
being used and manipulated to suit others' agendas.
But the Lebanese also have some good reasons to
be cynical about American intentions. It did not escape
their notice, for example, that in a press conference in
Beirut earlier this month, the only mention by US
Secretary of State Colin Powell of Syrian domination in
Lebanon was a tossed-off assurance that "the United
States supports an independent and prosperous Lebanon,
free of all, all foreign forces".
They also
noticed that Powell's statement came in a press
conference dominated by the question of Hezbollah, not
Syria, and they also noticed - the Lebanese are
great at noticing things; they keep score - that Powell
had spent the first half of that day, Saturday, May 3,
in Syria - a neat little time-saving two-for-one
scheduling trick that said more about US intentions in
the region than any amount of boilerplate Wilsonianism.
They also noticed that Powell's visit to Beirut
had been immediately preceded by a visit from Syrian
Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, "and we all know what
that was about", said a local journalist to me over a
weary, cynical, day's-end beer. "He came to tell
[Lebanese President Emile] Lahoud what to say to
Powell." (For the record, Powell suggested that Lahoud
send the Lebanese army into south Lebanon to shut down
Hezbollah, and Lahoud said no.)
But if Lebanon
is a tough audience for Powell, that's not entirely his
fault. It was not Powell, after all, but his predecessor
in the job, James A Baker III, secretary of state to
George Bush Sr, who sold the country down the Yarmouk
River in the first place. "In the [1991] Gulf War, Syria
sent 1,000 soldiers only," sighs Soueid. "And in return
the Americans gave Lebanon to Syria."
Yes, damn
them, they noticed.
Soueid isn't bitter about
any of this. He's just expressing the calm reality, the
"facts on the ground", as he sees them. Soueid likes
America. "I don't always agree with the US, but I can't
be blind to the good things that America has done. You
can make free elections, you can make a scandal to
[Bill] Clinton, you can make a scandal to [Richard]
Nixon, you can abolish slavery." He just wishes that
America would be a little careful "about what you give
and take in this region".
Also, when it comes to
playing well with others, particularly others who follow
the religion of Islam, he wishes that America would look
around and realize that others have walked this road
before, and that there may be lessons to learn from
their experiences. Take Israel: "Think about the history
of Israel," he says. "It is a military country that, in
its entire history, has been at a permanent war for
independence. Since 1948, it has been in a permanent
war. Is this how a country should be? Is this what
America wants for her sons and daughters? This is a very
bad model for living with Islam."
Although he
himself is a Maronite Christian, Soueid says that
"living in Lebanon, half of my brain is Muslim. And the
other half is Lebanese. The Maronites have been living
in Lebanon with Islam for thousands of years. Did you
know that [poet, philosopher and artist] Khalil Gibran
was a Lebanese Christian and that he wrote in Arabic
more than he wrote in English?"
The Muslim half
of Soueid's brain understands the Arab view of the
world: "Think about this: Gamal Abdel Nasser was the
first Egyptian leader of Egypt since the Pharaohs. How
do you think this affects the way they see the world?
So, yes, nationalism is a strong force in the Middle
East. And America must remember this."
Himself a
Lebanese nationalist, Soueid is one of the founding
members of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, a loose
affiliation of Lebanese politicians and business leaders
- including former president Amin Gemayel and his son
Pierre "who have organized to protest Lebanon's
occupation by Syria. The group is named for the mountain
village in which it called its first meeting, on April
30, 2001.
Nobody knows the exact number of
Syrian troops in Lebanon, but estimates range as high as
30,000, stationed mainly in the east, parts of the north
and in the central mountains. Until two years ago they
were commonly seen in the streets of Beirut, but a
partial pullout has since lowered their profile.
Powell's visit to Syria and Lebanon show that
this is something that the whole world accepts.
Syrian-backed politicians succeed, while others find
themselves at risk. Soueid himself believes that he came
near to being arrested in June 2002, after coming under
fire from factions who believed that "we are with the
Americans, that we are with Israel. It is always a
problem for the Christians in Lebanon."
But, as
he fights for independence, Soueid still remains proud
of what Lebanon has achieved in rebuilding itself after
war. "What we need in the Middle East is democracy," he
says, "but based on conviviality and freedom. This is
the only way to make peace between the Arabs themselves.
The Occidental model of democracy - where a numerical
majority controls the minority - is a very bad model. In
the Arab world, you have to have consensual democracy."
Except for the Syrian domination, he believes
that there may be something in the Lebanese experience
from which the Arab world - and perhaps even America,
too, as it attempts to install a democracy in Iraq -
could stand to learn.
Next: A
walk through Sabra and Shatila
(©2003 Asia
Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication
policies.)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
