Gulf News
July 30 2004
Lebanon: Mosaic of the region
Saad Al Ajmi
Special to Gulf News
Lebanon is the “melting pot” of regional politics. The recipe for the
politics of the region is either taken from Lebanon or is contributed
to by Lebanon. In Lebanon you find all regional political players
present: the Syrians, the Iranians, the Americans, the French, the
Palestinians, the Kurds, the Gulfies, and even the Israelis in some
form or another.
Lebanon is a beautifully bizarre mélange – Muslims, Christians, and
even Jews are present. The latter, though, are very few. Even the
various sects of the major religions are present – Sunni, Shiite and
Druze Muslims, and Catholic, Orthodox and the predominant Maronite
Christians. Numerous ethnic groups are present – Arabs, Kurds,
Iranians, and even Armenians. Burj Hammoud, a neighbourhood of Beirut
is dubbed “little Armenia”.
As for politics, it is more diverse than anything else, with active
groups of pan-Arabists, Communists, Baathists, and socialists. Within
the Shiite community, two are more dominant than others – the Amal
and the Hezbollah. Within the Christians, the Phalange Party is the
largest.
All political parties in Lebanon are said to have outside
connections. Thus Hezbollah is said to be financed by Iran, Amal is
supported by Syria and the Phalange have European and American
sympathy and so on. You go to the south of Beirut and banners of
“martyrs” of Hezbollah are everywhere.
Pictures are indicative of your location in Lebanon. In Amal areas,
pictures of the founder of the Shiite movement, Mousa Al Sadr,
confront you. Al Sadr disappeared in Libya after a visit in 1978.
Pictures of the late Ayatollah Khomeini – leader of the Islamic
Revolution in Iran – and pictures of the current Iranian spiritual
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenie and Iranian president Mohammad Khatami
are all over the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Pictures of late Syrian President Hafez Al Assad and his son, Bashar,
the current president, can be seen, but not as much as a few years
back. In the mountains of Lebanon, just a few minutes drive from the
capital, pictures of late Druze leader and founder of the Progressive
Socialist Party, Kamal Jumblatt compete with the ad banners of
concerts and festivals of the summer. Jumblatt was assassinated in
1977. No one says who assassinated him.
Israeli occupation
In East Beirut, the pictures of the Bashir Gemayel spring up with a
slogan: “Bashir lives in us”. Bashir was assassinated hours after he
was “chosen” president in September 1982, when the country was
occupied by Israel. The Israelis invaded Lebanon in June 1982. Ariel
Sharon was the Defence Minister who led the invasion, dubbed by the
Israelis as “Operation Peace for the Galilee”.
After three months of the siege of Beirut and constant bombardment,
then American president Ronald Reagan described it as a holocaust. In
a telephone conversation with then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem
Begin he pleaded for stopping the attack. Sharon succeeded in driving
the Palestine Liberation Organisation, PLO, out of Lebanon.
The massacres at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps were committed
just hours after the assassination of Bashir. Elie Hobeika, widely
thought to have been the leader of the Phalange who committed the
atrocity at Sabra and Shatila, was also assassinated two years ago in
Lebanon in a car bomb attack.
As in the case of Jumblatt, no one says who assassinated Bashir
before he was sworn in as president. Nor does anyone say who
assassinated Hobeika. Most recently, huge billboards featuring
pictures of the Saudi prince Al Waleed bin Talal have sprung up, with
inscriptions that read: “Lebanon awaits Al Waleed impatiently”.
A multi-billionaire, Al Waleed is the nephew of King Fahd bin
Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and is said to be aiming at becoming
Lebanon’s next Prime Minister. His mother is Lebanese and he enjoys
dual citizenship.
Incidentally, the current Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri, is a
dual citizen of Saudi Arabia. It is no secret that for anyone to hold
an official post in Lebanon, however small, Syrian consent is
required.
Thousands of tourists pour into Lebanon each year from all over the
world. Last year’s count was half a million tourists from the Gulf
and thousands more from other parts of the world.
Many Arabs are returning to Lebanon, once known as “Switzerland of
the East” and so are many Lebanese, who live all over the world.
Arabs, who are carefully scrutinised in Western airports after 9/11,
find Lebanon a more hospitable respite.
Millions of Lebanese are thought to be living in Latin America alone.
The Lebanese exodus has also had many success stories. The Lebanese
are adaptable, easy-going and hardworking people. No Arab emigrants
have achieved as much success as they have. In the US, they have
become senators.
Twice presidential hopeful Ralph Nader, and a former American
vice-president are of Lebanese descent. Not only in politics, but
even in show business and fashion Lebanese emigrants have made great
strides: the singer Shakira, actress Salma Hayek and fashion tycoon
Eli Saab to name just a few.
Business oriented
The Lebanese have strong, business-oriented minds. In diamond trading
and industry in South Africa, Holland and Belgium, they are second
only to the Jews. Perhaps, sometimes the Jews are second to them.
Lebanon has everything a tourist seeks: mosques, churches, beaches,
discos, bars, a variety of food, and most importantly, beautiful
scenery and Mediterranean weather. Scars of the vicious and hapless
civil war that destroyed the country for 15 years from 1975-1990 are
still visible, though.
In Lebanon, one may be in Beirut where the weather is perfectly humid
and warm for the beach.
A few minutes drive up Mount Lebanon and one finds cool weather and
mountain air. One may even ski in any of the ski resorts in Faraya
and Sofer. All tourist services are presented with efficiency,
professionalism and a cordial attitude. Lebanon is truly a very
hospitable country.
If you want to see the riches of the Middle East, the diversity of
its cultures, the hospitality of its people, you must go to Lebanon.
Dr. Saad Al Ajmi is a former Minister of Information in Kuwait, an
academic and analyst. He can be contacted at [email protected]