Lebanon's Christians and Hezbollah: Whose Survival is it Anyway?

Just like the extremist Jewish Zionists in Occupied Palestine who continue to steal land from the Palestinians, the extremist Muslim Fascists of Hezbollah are stealing land from Lebanese Christians in south Lebanon, with the specific objective of altering the demographics of the region. Lebanon’s Christians have seen their geographic presence across the country shrinking, ever since the 1975 war.

The Druze chased the Christians out of the Shouf district in the mid-1980s with wide-scale massacres and atrocities, and while today some have returned, the majority continue to fear future massacres and displacement and try to assert their ownership of the land without resettling for good. They show up intermittently at their villages and homes to tend to their orchards and publicly exercise their presence, but spend the least time possible there, returning to safer places within the Christian heartland.

The Shiite Muslims, led by the terror organization of Hezbollah which has effective control over the region south of the Litani river, have also embarked on a land-stealing program aimed specifically at various Christian regions of Lebanon.

In the highlands of the majority Christian Byblos District, there is a handful of Shiite villages (accounting for 19% of registered voters) like Bazioun, Afqa, Frat, Aalmat, Hjoula, Ras Osta, Lassa, and others. For the past two decades or so, with the Christians weakened by the 1975 war and Hezbollah’s strategic decision to mutate from a “militia” to a “political party” that now dominates all politics in the country, Hezbollah has encouraged its Shiites in the district to steal land from Christian owners, particularly lands owned by the Maronite Church or the various municipalities. In the case of the Byblos District, the process is simple: Shiite villagers approach the Church and ask permission to temporarily use plots for agriculture. Though reluctant, the Church grants permission with the objective of easing relations and avoiding tensions between the two communities. Yet, in the background is Hezbollah’s military sway over the entire country and the fear it strikes in anyone who opposes the group. For the past 40 years (Hezbollah was founded in 1981, soon after the Iranian Islamic revolution), acts of kidnappings, assassinations, hijackings, car bombings etc. have been carried out by Hezbollah against various targets. While initially aimed at all forms of western presence in Lebanon in the 1980s – peacekeepers, clergymen, university officials, journalists, diplomats, and others – Hezbollah turned against the Israeli occupation of the south during the 1990s. When Israel withdrew in 2000, followed by the popular uprising  that evicted the Syrian occupation army in 2005, Hezbollah’s mutation into a political party did not alter its terrorist nature: It targeted several Lebanese politicians, journalists, and critics, including the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was blown to shreds in a car bomb in downtown Beirut.

After taking permission to exploit plots of land from the Church, Shiite villagers slowly turn their agricultural operations into permanent settlements. They start by building seasonal homes, which turn into permanent residences. Then a mosque is built and more people move in, creating a new status quo that the owner of the land, the Church in this case, would be hard pressed to contest. Occasional eruptions of tensions with neighboring Christian villagers are quickly pacified. But the harm is done. It will probably take a military force one day to dislodge the usurpers of the land.

In Beirut, the road leading to the airport was flanked by beautiful sandy dunes that were occasionally used by the Lebanese army for training purposes or as a staging area for driving schools and driving tests. During the 1960s and 1970s, massive migrations occurred from the villages to the city. The sandy dunes of Airport Road were slowly transformed into a maize of shantytowns, and when the Islamic Republic of Iran began funding Hezbollah in the early 1980s, the shantytowns became full-fledged residential suburbs with tall buildings, hospitals, and schools. Airport Road is used by Hezbollah these days to control who goes in and out of the country’s only airport.

In more recent months, the southern border Christian village of Rmeish was the scene of clashes last July between its Christian residents and Hezbollah members. The incident started when a Rmeish resident was chopping wood in the Qatmoun area on the outskirts of the village. Armed Hezbollah thugs opened fire and prevented him from continuing his work, arguing that he was clearing areas with the goal of “exposing a resistance [i.e., Hezbollah] post to Israeli surveillance”. A week ago, the residents of the village reported the rape and appropriation of their lands by Hezbollah operatives disguised as an eco-friendly organization with the name "Green without borders", an insult to all the other NGOs with the "without borders" tag, like reporters or doctors. The Iranian Muslim thugs bulldozed large plots of village-owned land, cleared wooded areas, and built installations using heavy machinery. The sad and revealing aspect of this is that all this activity was within sight of Lebanese army positions operating in an area subject to UN Security Council resolution 1701. Despite warnings and calls for help from the village municipal authorities, the Lebanese army and government did not take any action, underscoring the fact that the entire Lebanese government and its institutions, including the Lebanese Army, are cowered by Hezbollah and its weapons. Neither did Church authorities do anything to stop the land-grabbing operation, other than give vaguely phrased sermons.

Within this past week, another incident in the south saw Hezbollah members ambush and attack a peacekeeping UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) convoy, killing one Irish soldier, Private Sean Rooney, and injuring three others [See: https://lebanoniznogood.blogspot.com/2022/12/unifil-is-to-blame-for-private-rooneys.html]. No one has yet been arrested, despite several ongoing investigations by the Lebanese government, by the UN, and by an Irish delegation. Like all the other terrorist attacks carried out by Hezbollah, no one is ever found guilty and Hezbollah’s criminal acts remain unpunished. Why? Because everyone is afraid of Hezbollah’s retaliation if confronted. Fear of Hezbollah is not as much because it might use its weapons against the Lebanese people and their institutions; the main fear, especially by the international community, is that Hezbollah might launch its missiles into Israel. The international community cares more about the safety of the radical Jewish terrorist racists of Israel (now crowned by Netanyahu's extreme right-wing government) than about the helpless innocent Christian people of Lebanon. The only conviction of Hezbollah members occurred about a year ago when the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in the Hague found three men (who, in the perfidious opinion of the STL, happen “incidentally” to be Hezbollah members) guilty in absentia for the killing of Prime Minister Hariri in 2005. The cowardly nature of western institutions in the face of terrorism prevented the STL from directly holding Hezbollah itself responsible for the Hariri assassination. The three men of course are in hiding in Hezbollah-controlled areas of Lebanon and their arrest and extradition cannot be carried out by the fearful and colluding Lebanese authorities. Just like the Hezbollah killers of Private Sean Rooney who have gone hiding in the same lawless Hezbollah-controlled areas of Lebanon.  

A few years ago, hypocrite British and European governments invented the scheme of separating Hezbollah into a political wing (i.e. respectable) and a military wing (i.e. terrorist) in order to be able to condemn Hezbollah’s military wing without upsetting the political wing, something they did with Hamas as well, again for fear of retaliatory assassinations and bombings. I wonder if, again, they'll blame the military wing, but not the political wing of Hezbollah, for Private Rooney's killing, hoping in a cowardly way to avoid retaliation.

The Christians of Lebanon are a very patient community. For decades, they have taken the blows against their security and liberty, but continue to demand justice by civilized means. The international community is again, like in the 1975 war, committing the crime of blaming the Christian victims out of fear of the Muslim criminals. Lebanese Christians who call for repatriating the 2 million Syrian Muslim refugees back to Syria are tagged as racists and islamophobes, when Lebanon's Christians have for the past century worked with their fellow Muslims to establish a fair system of division of power, which unfortunately the Muslims keep challenging every time Saudi Arabia or Iran prods them to do so. Unlike the Zionist thugs of Israel who invaded and conquered historic Palestine, exterminated the native Palestinians, herded what remains of them into refugee camps, and have condemned them to a life of absolute inhumanity, Lebanon's Christians tried from the start to find an accommodation with the Muslims. For some reason that only Freud can explain, the "Christian" west loves to blame other Christians around the world while crawling at the feet of their Muslim enemies. The Balkan War of the 1990s is an example, where not only did they blame Serbia for trying to maintain its territorial integrity, the West dismembered Serbia and created two new Muslim entities in the heart of Europe: Bosnia and Kosovo, something that will likely come back to haunt the West. 

For the past 5 decades, Lebanon's Christians have been on the defensive. The Sunni Muslims first challenged the power-sharing formula of the Lebanese system in 1975. They won with the backing of Yasser Arafat's PLO and all the Arabs and the West, and reduced the Christians to a tolerated "Dhimmi" community. Now the Shiite Muslims, backed by Iran, are challenging whatever little power the Christians have left, in an effort to displace them and evict them by emigration and attrition, just like the Zionist Jews are doing in Palestine. But one day, when enough becomes enough, beware the retribution of the Christians of Lebanon. They've been in the country since the dawn of Christianity, having survived many a conqueror. There is a reason why they are the last "free" Christian community in the East.

To the West: Do not underestimate the wrath of Lebanon’s Christians when “enough becomes enough”, and do not accuse them of Islamophobia and racism like you did back in the 1970s because they tried to salvage their nation from the likes of Hafez Assad, Mouammar Kaddafi, and Yasser Arafat, despite your betrayal and your cowering to Arab oil and Zionist blackmail.

UNIFIL is to Blame for Private Rooney's Death

UNIFIL - the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon - is a long-standing failure. The death of 324 of its soldiers between 1978 and 2022 (44 years), often as a result of attacks by inimical forces, can only be blamed on those who agree to dispatch such forces into missions they know are short-term band-aid patches to deeper and more complex problems.

In Lebanon, the main problem is a constitutive deficiency of the Lebanese entity, which is a "State" only in name, in ensuring its sovereignty over its territory. By acquiescing to both State actors (Syria, Israel) and non-State actors (the Palestine Liberation Organization 1967-1982, then Hezbollah 1982-present) controlling entire areas of the territory from which the State is excluded, the Lebanese State ceases to be a functioning entity, unless it is itself an accomplice in the assisted-suicide it is engaged in.

By giving free rein to rogue organizations like the PLO, Hezbollah and other smaller and less known groups, the Lebanese State invites other State actors (Israel, Syria, Iran, etc.) to intervene, fund, interfere, and direct the workings of the State. 

Given all the above, one wonders what should be the role of the international community. 

There is no reason to doubt that the UN and its backers know that Lebanon is a failed State because it cannot ensure its own defense and sovereignty. So what options are there to deal with a failed State?

Why did the UN subscribe to a deal between Israel and a Lebanon it knows is not autonomous in its decision-making and is controlled by Hezbollah, Iran and Syria?

Why did the UN engage in negotiations with Lebanese officials whom it knows are puppets or figureheads of the real actors (Syria, Hezbollah etc.)? Doesn't the UN realize a priori that these negotiators cannot guarantee the implementation of any agreement it makes with them?

If the UN agrees to the proposition that Lebanon is a failed State, as the past 70 years have amply demonstrated, why does it then engage with a non-sovereign Lebanon that cannot uphold any agreement it makes?

If the UN "wishes" or "hopes" that Lebanon become a truly sovereign entity, why does the UN not help Lebanon acquire the characteristics of a sovereign nation? Which implies the use of some coercive mechanisms against the obstacles to full sovereignty.

In essence, it has now been more than 50 years - nearly 70 years if you include the mini-civil war of 1958 - that Lebanon is treated as its own agent and decision-maker. International community members and international institutions make agreements, sign contracts, pass resolutions, fund projects etc. with it. Yet, the international community knows that Lebanon is an entity that is predictably not the master of its own destiny and that it could never uphold the terms of any such agreement, contract, or resolution. So why does the international community continue to do it? 

The reason for this reflection is the perennial failure of Lebanon on one hand, while it is treated by others as if it were a political entity with rational and predictable modes of operation on the other hand. 

Should the UN abandon Lebanon to its fate? Should the international community cease dealing with a failed state?

I know one thing for sure: The international community should at least tell Lebanon that it is a failed state and that it will treat it as such. The international community can give Lebanon a deadline after which ALL ASSISTANCE, ALL AGREEMENTS and ALL RECOGNITION of Lebanon as a functioning state will cease. 

The Lebanese people are exhausted from several decades of instability, mismanagement, lack of internal cohesion and unified decision-making. They ricochet from one crisis to the next, with interludes of pseudo-stability that are always forced from the outside.

Lebanon is the sick man of the international community. It just doesn't work the way it is set up and is organized and managed. Over the past century (1920 - the present), Lebanon seemed to function for about 20 years only (mid-1940s to mid-1960s). Is it worth it to keep trying to resuscitate such a passing moment of normality when all signs indicate that these efforts are futile? 

Perhaps the answer to all these questions is that, deep down, the international community wishes Lebanon dead and gone, or absorbed into Syria or Israel, but does not have the courage to tell it so. It's like a dying person whom the doctors know is dying but do not have the courage to tell family members and the person itself that death is inevitable and that there is nothing they can do, except perhaps a faint chance that radical surgery might have some success.

That is why I suggest that the UN and UNIFIL put an end to Lebanon's miseries by withdrawing from it. Stop propping up this fake dysfunctional political entity with doses of bigoted friendship and haphazard minimal support. Let this recalcitrant Lebanon be the way it is, regardless of the consequences that might ensue. Civil war? War between Israel and Hezbollah? A Syrian invasion leading to the annexation of former Syrian provinces back to Syria? A breakdown of Lebanon into two or more smaller entities? An Israeli invasion and annexation of parts of Lebanese territory? Perhaps as a result of such a "positive shock" something new could emerge that might work.

How much worse can things get? Can they get any worse than the endless heartache and torment for the entire life of this Lebanon that no one recognizes as a viable state anymore? 

Enough brandishing Lebanon as an "experiment" in shared-living and coexistence between Christians and Muslims. The Lebanese people are not guinea pigs and their lives cannot continue to be one failed experiment after another. It is time for the old and sick guinea pig to retire in dignity. Muslims and Christians cannot, and will never, coexist in one country on an equal footing. Look at Bosnia-Herzegovina with three mutually hostile religious communities cobbled together as a "nation" by that other, now dead, idiot of State Department Richard Holbrooke. It's a gigantic failure. As long as Islam cannot separate religion from the affairs of government, there can be no coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims. In its evolution, Islam is still roughly in the 1500s in comparison with Christianity. The vast majority of Christians today can reconcile between their religious identity and their national identity, since the latter overwhelms the former. But Islam, and Judaism as well, are far from reaching this stage in their evolution. Apartheid Israel is a case in point where non-Jews are treated like animals while Jews are elevated to a super-human species. And they have the gall to call it a democracy. Yes, just like Apartheid South Africa was a democracy before the African National Congress proved it otherwise.

History has shown us over and over again that good lasting solutions more often than not come after major disasters, and not from applying temporary, ineffectual band-aid solutions.

I tell the UN: Leave us to our own demons. Stop trying to help us with half-ass solutions that benefit more your continued operations and your jobs than they solve our problems. Treating us, the patient, with Aspirin and Valium no longer works. It is time for some re-engineering and gene editing in our deteriorating DNA. Maybe some hope can finally come out of the bottomless pit in which we find ourselves. The Lebanese have an apropos saying, "If it doesn't get worse, it cannot get better" - إذا ما بتكبر، ما بتصغر. 

Please let it get worse. In nature, biologists either intervene with radical means to save a species from extinction or they let evolution take its course within a protected environment. To the UN: Either intervene to rescue a fast-disappearing species in this Near East ecosystem, or create a protected area in which this species can continue to evolve in peace. Your on-off, half-ass interventions over decades have only succeeded in making things worse, just like UNIFIL has been in south Lebanon.

Something good could emerge from the depth of despair. Even if the cost is high. At least it will be more permanent.

Iran Occupies Lebanon via Proxy, But the Lebanese Still Have Agency

Hanin Ghaddar
The Hoover Institution, The Caravan Symposium
December 14, 2022

Lebanon as a state entity all but collapsed some time ago. It’s not official yet, and no one seems ready to declare it a failed state, but the government institutions are practically broken and nonfunctional. The economic crisis that has led to the depreciation of the lira by more than ninety percent meant that the salaries of public servants are not even enough for transportation to and from work. Many vital public institutions, such as the Lebanese University, the Electricity Company, service ministries and municipalities, are barely functioning. The crisis had caused a serious exodus from civil service across the board. The core of the state institutions – its public service – is gone.

Lebanon has never seen a collapse of this magnitude – even during the civil war. And the dreadful part is that this is not the worst scenario. More deterioration of the economy, depreciation of the lira, and a serious social explosion are on the horizon. Stopping this collapse and starting the long and thorny road to rehabilitate the Lebanese state requires more than reforms. Yes, reforms to the economy, banking, fiscal, and security systems are vital; however, we all know by now that none of this will happen as long as an armed Hezbollah is overseeing this decline.

This sudden and severe collapse did not happen because of corruption alone, and it will not be completely resolved by economic and financial reforms. Corruption and a weak state apparatus are the core of Hezbollah’s policy. Reforming certain sectors, electing a president, or forming another government that looks a little better than the last, all are important steps to maintain a sense of agency; nevertheless, the clash is not between two Lebanese political parties. It is a clash between a kidnapper and a hostage. It is as a hostage that Iran views Lebanon – there’s no need to have a socio-economic policy for Lebanon – or for Iraq or Syria for that matter. On the contrary, a prosperous Lebanon means a stronger state, and that’s not in the interest of Iran and Hezbollah – a hostage needs to stay weak and frightened. What matters is how to maintain and strengthen Iran’s grip on these countries, whether their citizens stay, leave, or die trying. In this context, the institutional tools that Lebanon is using to show the world that it is still functioning as a democracy have been rendered worthless by Hezbollah’s arms, or threat of armed force. In the formula of ballots vs. bullets, the latter is always louder and more heard.

The Lebanese people decided to challenge this status quo on October 17, 2019, when people from all sects and regions took to the streets to say no to corruption, the political system, and for the first time, to Hezbollah and Iran. The status quo didn’t change much, and the protests were hit by COVID and then the Beirut Port blast, but they did manage to achieve a number of important outcomes, such as the removal of Saad Hariri from the political scene. Most importantly, the protests exposed the true face of Hezbollah: the protector of the system, and the guardian of corruption, violence and injustice. Eventually, this translated into Hezbollah’s loss of its parliamentary majority in May 2022.

The group’s popularity took a dramatic hit, and criticism against their practices and policies intensified on both social media and in the streets. However, between seeking the people’s love and instilling fear, Hezbollah chose to instigate fear. The group threatened, attacked, and harassed activists and constituents who expressed discontent. Then they killed Lokman Slim – and the wall of fear went up immediately, and a sense of control was reestablished.

The Challenges for Hezbollah

Hezbollah’s goal today is to maintain their control and regain the power they lost in the parliamentary elections by imposing their choice for the next president and their vision for the next government. They will continue to prohibit attempts to reform institutions and will become the party with the best access to hard currency in Lebanon. They will use all tools possible to establish a long-term control over Lebanon, even if this means a change of the constitution or the elimination of the Taif Agreement. This will be the last nail in the coffin for Lebanon as we know it.

For Hezbollah, a new constitution for Lebanon could be the only guarantee for Iran’s power and entrenchment. And further deterioration of the state institution and the economy could pave the way for the group and its allies to call for this scenario.
But this phase in Lebanon’s chapter, and Hezbollah’s strategy to deal with it, comes with many risks and challenges.

First, the Lebanese realize today that Hezbollah’s weapons are directed at the Lebanese people. This has transformed them from being the “resistance” and “liberators” of 1982 and 2000 to the new occupiers. This shift in perception will lead to a serious change in the dynamics between them and the Lebanese people, mainly the Shia community. Without the embrace of the Shia, Hezbollah cannot thrive.

Second, Hezbollah’s popularity could erode further, and this will continue to influence the upcoming municipal and future parliamentary elections. They could continue losing voters and allies, and eventually, the risk of losing decision-making power will be real.

Three, it has become a liability to ally with Hezbollah. Its current allies either lost the elections, got sanctioned, or both. And in return, Hezbollah can no longer guarantee presidencies, ministries, or business deals. Michel Aoun left the presidential palace, and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil has not replaced him.

Four, the group understands that they can threaten with their arms without using their arms, but not indefinitely. They know that once they use them, they lose them. Iran is no longer in a good place to restock Hezbollah with money and weapons the way they used to and Hezbollah had to come up with alternatives. The drug and smuggling business to which they resorted in the past also harmed their image and transformed the “resistance” into the biggest drug cartel in Lebanon and possibly the region.

Five, the maritime deal Lebanon signed with Israel in October 2022 was approved by Hezbollah in order to avoid a conflict with Israel. But this had implications for the group’s rhetoric: Hezbollah had to acknowledge the existence of an enemy state and accept a diplomatic deal with it. The image of resistance took a hard hit.

These challenges are not going to force Hezbollah to change its policy or its allegiance to Iran. As long as it has the weapons, the strength and power over Lebanon, and most importantly, works with the absence of international concern over Lebanon, the group and its sponsors in Tehran will probably find a way to walk the line between power and popularity.

Opportunities and Recommendations

The Lebanese, Syrians, and Iraqis look today at Iran and feel a sense of hope because they know a change in Iran means change in their own countries. This might take a long time, but there are ways to make Hezbollah more vulnerable in Lebanon. This requires a comprehensive policy towards Lebanon – between the United States, Europe (mainly France) and Saudi Arabia – it also needs to involve the Lebanese opposition groups – no policy has ever worked in Lebanon without active internal involvement. So far, the discussion on Lebanon is already underway among all these states but it is still focused on the humanitarian program. A serious policy should hit Hezbollah’s three main pillars of power in Lebanon: the Shia community, the allies, and the weapons. More sanctions on Hezbollah’s allies’ certainly helps. But it is time for Europe – France in particular – to start issuing the sanctions they’ve been discussing since 2019. In addition, Hezbollah’s allies should not be allowed to visit the US or Europe or even have bank accounts and assets in any of these countries. It should be made very risky to ally with Hezbollah.

As for the Shia community, this is the perfect time to work directly with the Shia, listen more to the voices of discontent, and give political and material support to the new opposition among the Shia – mainly those with socio-economic visions. These also need protection and support – without protection, Hezbollah will kill them as they killed Lokman Slim and others.

The existence of large supplies of weapons is a different game altogether. No one really can target this arsenal without a war. Israel has been taking care of Iran’s weapons factories and facilities in Syria, but the ones in Lebanon have been stored underground since 2006. Some expired but many still constitute a serious risk in the next war with Israel. There are two ways of dealing with these: either targeted attacks by Israel that would destroy weapons without killing civilians, or exposing the weapons facilities built under civilian infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals. The Lebanese people have no idea what’s under their homes and land, and they certainly do not want to risk anything anymore.
These pillars are already shaking – Hezbollah’s allies lost during the elections, Iran is facing its own challenges, and the Shia community has lost faith in Hezbollah. Now is the time to hit hard. Ultimately, the Iranian people might be the only hope left for the region, but as we wait, constraining Hezbollah in Lebanon could help.

The alternative is alarming – a new Lebanon, with a new constitution that would guarantee Hezbollah’s power and control – with or without Iran.

*Hanin Ghaddar is the Friedmann Fellow in The Washington Institute’s Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

Bassil to Hezbollah: Your Weapons vs. Our Existence

Ghada Halawi
Nida Al-Watan
December 07, 2022
(Translated excerpts from Arabic)

The relationship between the head of the Free patriotic Movement (FPM) Gebran Bassil and Hezbollah has sunk to its lowest ever since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at Mar Mikhail Church in February 2006. Along several milestones of its existence, the MOU faltered but did not fall. It overcame the challenges of elections several times, it survived the tensions over relations with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, and occasionally disagreements over corruption. Every time such tensions emerged, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah was keen to remind everyone that any such disagreements are discussed directly with our ally in order to avoid that they’d be exploited by others.

But the disagreement this time is profound, and the relationship is at its worst, and the reason is that Hezbollah had given a guarantee and pledge to his FPM ally that it – Hezbollah – would not agree with convening a meeting of the caretaker government in the absence of a president at the helm of the Republic. But Hezbollah has broken its promises.

[The president is by custom and constitution a Christian. With Michel Aoun’s term ending last October, Parliament has been unable to elect a new president because the FPM and Hezbollah have been blocking the quorum in Parliament. The country has been without a president since October 31, and Bassil claims he is protecting the rights of Christians by denying the Sunni caretaker Prime Minister any authority to substitute himself for the absent president, including by convening a Cabinet meeting with a full agenda].

Prior to the problematic Cabinet meeting, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati had sent a message to Hezbollah notifying it of the agenda of the scheduled meeting: The agenda had three parts, including nominations and other matters, which Hezbollah rejected demanding that the meeting be limited to urgent matters pertaining to the Lebanese people's daily lives. Miqati complied by reducing the number of agenda items to 28. Hezbollah informed Bassil that Miqati was going forward with the meeting, but Bassil still refused. Hezbollah insists that its only motive for joining the meeting is to see that the affairs of the people be attended to, and Hezbollah’s ministers have clearly stated inside the meeting that their attendance is not directed against anyone.

Hezbollah appears annoyed by Bassil’s efforts to drag it into adopting his positions. In certain instances, Bassil would corner Hezbollah and coerce it to join him, without taking into account the “particulars” of Hezbollah’s grassroots and its allies. Yet, every time, Hezbollah was keen to declare that the MOU with Bassil was still alive and well.

Bassil’s harsh response in his press conference was no surprise to his entourage and they saw the crisis coming at the moment the Cabinet meeting was convened. Some even went so far as advise Hezbollah to avoid a crisis because Bassil won’t let go of the issue. And so, Hezbollah found itself cornered between being blamed for not attending to the affairs of the Lebanese people on one hand, and Bassil’s refusal on the other. Hezbollah could have handled Bassil with the flexibility it demonstrated in the past.

If Hezbollah insists on preserving its “special” circumstances by not appearing to be always following Bassil, so does the latter warn of being dragged into Hezbollah’s internal matters, something which would impact his own political standing and the size of his parliamentary bloc. The fact of the matter is that Bassil cannot fathom why Hezbollah is backing a candidate for the presidency whose parliamentary base consists of only two MPs. That he, Bassil, is not a candidate does not mean he should acquiesce to the candidacy of Sleiman Frangiyeh, the head of the Marada Movement, whom Hezbollah has endorsed. In a “blessing in disguise” sort of way, Hezbollah has granted its closest ally an opportunity to walk away and not be forced into accepting this candidacy and stop negotiating about it.

After his press conference, Bassil refused to answer questions from the press, trying to avoid making statements that would deepen the growing chasm. His message was exclusively addressed to Hezbollah, and did not mention the caretaker Prime Minister who would not have called for the meeting without Hezbollah’s agreement. The most important message of his conference is to lay down a new equation with Hezbollah, namely: “ If the FPM stood with you in a matter you consider fundamental, i.e. the weapons of the Resistance, then our political existence in government and our partnership are our weapons. Just as you consider your weapons to be critical to your existence, then our free and balanced existence in the national partnership is our weapon”.

“Things are not going well”, said Bassil repeatedly. He clearly addressed himself to Hezbollah by saying that endorsing Sleiman Frangiyeh is not possible and shouldn’t be considered, and if the FPM has remained committed to dropping a blank vote at the request of Hezbollah, it will no longer do so. On the matter of the Cabinet meeting, Bassil alluded to the need to annul the decisions adopted in the meeting. Bassil further estimated that all of what happened is a scenario cooked up between Speaker Berri and Geageas’s Lebanese Forces Party. “There is no going back to pre-2016 and to pre-2005”, Bassil said, warning against reviving a Christian component that does not reflect the current reality on the ground".

The honeymoon between the FPM and Hezbollah is over. It seems that we will soon see a re-positioning by the head of the FPM. The next thing to watch for is Hezbollah’s response.

Desperate Gebran Bassil Attacks Ally Hezbollah

The desperation of Zebran Basij, the poor wretched ally of the Iranian militia in Lebanon, Hezbollah, has reached a crescendo. He is running around like a headless chicken, traveling the world begging for forgiveness and for lifting of the US sanctions, visiting with Patriarch Rahi to try and lift his sagging Christian popularity, threatening his own Hezbollah ally with "You have your weapons, but we have our existence" [See: https://lebanoniznogood.blogspot.com/2022/12/bassil-to-hezbollah-your-weapons-vs-our.html], and like a schoolboy who was caught with his pants down, telling the Maronite Patriarch on his Christian rival Samir Geagea of the Lebanese Forces Party that the latter does not want dialogue.

"Dialogue" is the term used by the Muslims of this country to bypass holding democratic elections of the Christian President and instead engage in "dialogue". Which means, find a Christian eunuch with no popular backing to place like a dummy in the presidential palace in Baabda and abuse him or her for the next 6 years.

Basij has so far sided with the Muslims in refusing to vote, breaking the quorum in Parliament, dropping blank votes etc... all strategies intended to avoid holding a simple vote according to the constitutional requirements (in a 1st round by a 2/3d majority, and failing this in an immediate 2nd round with a 51% majority). Having held his side of the satanic bargain with Hezbollah for years, Basij expected Hezbollah to nominate him as a presidential candidate. But the Iranian militia believes it has held its side of the bargain by imposing Michel Aoun in 2016, and does not feel obligated to do the same with Zebran Basijin 2022. Instead, it has now chosen Sleiman Frangiyeh, who is very close to the Syrian butcher Bashar Assad next door in Damascus, and who will likely do Hezbollah's bidding by not challenging it on its unlawful militia which everyone else want dismantled. 

The second backstab by Hezbollah against the idiot Basij was last Monday when caretaker Prime Minister Miqati held a cabinet meeting, something that Basij, in his acrimonious crusade for Christian rights in Lebanon, called to boycott. As he says, absent a Christian President (whose election Basij himself has been blocking in Parliament), the Sunni Prime Minister cannot abscond with the presidential prerogatives. But his Hezbollah allies did attend the cabinet meeting and, worse, they signed off on a decree that did not even have a space for the President to sign. Instead, the decree was signed twice by Miqati, once as Prime Minister and a second time also as Prime Minister. The term "President of the Republic" wasn't even typed on the paper. An affront to Christian rights, according to Basij.

The stalemate as expected is turning into a sectarian battle between Christians and Muslims. Basij thought he could play the Shiite Muslims against the Sunni Muslims, and that seemed to work for a while. But the Shiite Hezbollah (and its other Shiite ally, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri) seems now to be siding with the Sunnis in blocking Parliament from electing an independent-minded Christian President, and running the country without a Christian President at the helm. 

Over the past three decades, since the 1989 Taef Agreement that castrated the Christian President of his authority and transferred it to the Sunni Prime Minister, the Muslims of the country had gotten used to running the country, especially under the Syrian occupation (1976-2005). With the Syrians gone, the Muslims are having a hard time accepting a return "en force" of the Christians by, for example, allowing a non-puppet Christian president to lead. That is why the Muslims are calling for "dialogue" and for a "consensus" president, instead of a real democratic battle that could bring a president who might stand up to Hezbollah and its Iranian weapons.

Problem for Basij is that he wants his cake and eat it too. On one hand, he has in the past, and is today, still trying to use Hezbollah to remain afloat while his own popularity is in free fall in the Christian street (as the last May legislative elections showed), yet he cannot fathom why Hezbollah wouldn't want him as its presidential candidate. And now he is upset at Hezbollah's double betrayal. The 2006 Memorandum of Understanding between Basij and Hezbollah is, for all practical purposes, dead, and their divorce is under way. 

It might be that, in the back of Basij's mind, he sees the theocracy in Iran imploding in the near term, and with it Hezbollah's might. Perhaps, Basij is trying to make up for his unnatural alliance with Hezbollah by positioning himself as a centrist, as a not-so-much-pro-Hezbollah Christian so he can wash his dirty hands off and recoup some popularity among Lebanon's Christians.

The coming few weeks are likely to give us the answer. My opinion is that Basij is finished, at least for a while, on the Lebanese political scene. He surfed on his father-in-law (Michel Aoun)'s popularity for close to 20 years. With Aoun gone, his is facing alone the real test of his political savvy. He inherited his lieutenants from the Aoun cadres of the early years of his Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), and their attrition continues. His running around in desperation with no allies left presents him as a disgruntled, incompetent, and weak politician who has done more harm than good to Christian rights in Lebanon.

Will Cuckold Gebran Bassil Finally Divorce Hezbollah? And will He Survive It?

On Nov. 21 of this year, I concluded my post "Zebran Basij: Purposeless scheming" [See: https://lebanoniznogood.blogspot.com/2022/11/zebran-basij-purposeless-scheming.html] with the following:

""Without Michel Aoun's residual aura in his watermark, Basij will likely keep flailing about to remain relevant. He knows that his only salvation can come from one specific near-suicidal act: Divorce Hezbollah. And fast.""

Back in 2007, I also wrote a piece entitled "FPM-Hezbollah: Divorce for Irreconcilable Differences".[See: https://middle-east-analysis.blogspot.com/2007/05/fpm-hezbollah-divorce-for.html] 

Today in late 2022, the 2006 "mariage de raison" (known as the Memorandum of Understanding or the Mar Mikhail Agreement) between the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM; a Christian Fascist party) and the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia of the Iranian theocracy has taken some time to falter and make my prediction a reality. But the elements of a mismatch were obvious from the start. Yet the two spouses maintained their matrimonial bonds against all odds, for one simple reason: the Muslim Fundamentalist Hezbollah needed a Christian loin cloth to hide its unmentionables and appear as a "moderate" by allying itself with a Christian party, while Zebran Basij, the autocratic head of the FPM, needed the Shiites to avenge his father-in-law Michel Aoun's demise that was orchestrated by the Sunnis in collusion with Saudi Arabia, Syria and the US back in 1989. 

In the Faustian deal between the two Fascist parties, the FPM conceded to Hezbollah a freedom of terrorist action on Lebanese soil and a free rein in "liberating" a supposedly Israeli-occupied tiny wasteland in the south (which has been Hezbollah's eternal pretext for violating all national and international laws, and giving Israel the justification for destroying Lebanon's infrastructure in July 2006). For its part, Hezbollah promised to do all it could to bring Michel Aoun to the presidency.

The deal in effect seemed to work: Aoun was forced into the presidential seat in 2016 after a 2.5-year blockage of Parliament by both Hezbollah and the FPM, while Hezbollah engaged in a series of assassinations and bombings against all its domestic opponents (journalists, politicians, activists, etc.) from circa 2005 to date. The most substantial provision of the marriage contract that was never implemented, namely the liberation of the Shebaa Farms wasteland from Israeli occupation, never happened. In fact, since the July 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, the latter seems to have forgotten its grandiose ambitions of not only liberating the Lebanese south from Israeli occupation, but also liberating Jerusalem and driving the Jews into the sea: Not one bullet has been fired by Hezbollah against Israeli soil since July 2006. I wonder what kind of "resistance" is this that takes a 16-year-long vacation.

But even the most reasonable marriages of convenience end up in fights over mundane reasons like cheating, treason, betrayal, money and so forth. Nowadays, as the election of a president by Parliament is again stalled (for the past 8 weeks) by a joint Hezbollah-FPM blockage of quorum, the hens have come to roost for Mr. Faust: Zebran Basij is upset at his turbaned bearded husband, one Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah. For 16 years, Basij has allowed Hassan to sodomize the entire country ad libitum, in exchange for bringing Aoun to the presidency. But the deal did NOT include bringing Mr. Basij himself to the presidency after the senile Aoun was gone. At least, not that we know of.

Instead, Hassan has found a new lover in the person of one Sleiman Frangiyeh, a vassal puppet of Syria's Bashar Assad, whom he has chosen to become president of Lebanon. Clearly, Hezbollah's alliance with the Syrian dictator is much more valuable than the flimsy loin cloth that Zebran provided: Hezbollah fought in Syria alongside Assad and Putin's forces in crushing the Syrian people into submission since 2011. Frangiyeh is therefore a more reliable and profitable partner in the ideological threesome Assad-Frangiyeh-Nasrallah.

Zebran is hurt, deeply hurt, at the betrayal. He gave Hassan everything: his honor, his popularity among the Christians of Lebanon, and his metaphorical political arse. And this is how he is rewarded? In a press conference on December 6, Zebran sobbed about how his "problem is with the 'honest ones' (الصادقون) [i.e. Nasrallah's Hezbollah] who have reneged on the agreement, the promise and the guarantee; and this is not the first time, at least in the recent past, starting with the expatriate vote, the elections, and the government". 

How pathetic is the sight of the cheated wife (Zebran Basij) crying in public about how her husband (Hassan Nasrallah) is sleeping with the Christian eunuch (Sleiman Frangiyeh) who also sleeps with the Butcher of Damascus (Bashar Assad). 

If anything, Basij has hit the bottom of the excrement barrel in which he knew he was diving when he signed his MOU with Hezbollah. The Lebanese have a saying that likens marriage to a barrel full of excrement but topped by a very thin layer of honey: One starts with the honey only to quickly sink deeper in the barrel. Basij's lack of acumen, his shortsightedness, and his tiresome short-term hapless scheming to get to power at any price.... Not only does it make him a failure of a politician; it certainly should eliminate him from the top office of the country.

I look forward to the formalization of the divorce proceedings. But I also fear for Mr. Basij: All of Hezbollah's former prostitutes have been killed in mysterious car and roadside bombs, if not outright gunning down assassinations, when they decided to break with the Satanic party. That was the fate of the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, and a slew of former servants of Hezbollah who one day were convinced by the US to turn against their master. For now, Basij is under US sanctions for corruption; let us hope the US does not make a deal with him by lifting the sanctions in exchange for his formalizing the end of his fornication with the Iranian militia.

Is Lebanon Finished? Has it Ever Existed?

Below are two pieces written in the spoken Lebanese dialect. 

The first is by Etienne Sacre, a.k.a. Abu-Arz, leader of the Guardians of the Cedars Party who now lives in exile because he is wanted by the Iranian Hezbollah militia (which runs all governments in Lebanon) for committing the maximum "crime" of spending time in Israel. The title of Abu-Arz's piece is "To Every Lebanese in Every Village and Every Country of the Diaspora: It's Not True that Lebanon is Finished". While his patriotism is beyond doubt, Abu-Arz remains a vintage Christian politician attached to old slogans which, while justifiable to some extent, are more akin to a tourism brochure than to an in-depth reflection on where the Christian community in Lebanon is headed. No translation is available at this time.

The second piece is a response to Abu-Arz, also in Lebanese dialect to maintain the same register, that tries to underscore the reasons for the failure of Lebanon's Christians at achieving any victory, and their adeptness at inviting all kinds of miseries and calamities to themselves, all the while bragging about  how great is the Lebanon they cobbled together 100 years ago.  

----- Text by Abu Arz, as posted on https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/113776/  -----

إلى آخر لبناني بِ آخر ضيعا بلبنان، وبِآخر بلد بالإنتشار اللبناني، مش صحيح لبنان انتها
أبو أرز- اتيان صقر/02 كانون الأول/2022
بيان صادر عن حزب حرا الأرز-حركة القوميّي اللبنانيي.

حبّينا اليوم نكتب هالبيان باللغا اللبنانيي لحتّا يفهمو آخر لبناني بِ آخر ضيعا بلبنان، وبِآخر بلد بالإنتشار اللبناني.
كل يوم منسمع ناس عم يقولو: لبنان نتها وسقط، وصار لازم نفتش عَ وطن تاني…الخ.
اول شي لازم نعرف نفرِّق بين لبنان الدَوْلي ولبنان الوطن.

١- لبنان الدولي هوّي السلطا الحاكمي مع مؤسساتا السياسيي والإداريي، وهالدولي هيّي يلّي سقطت اليوم ويلّي كان لازم تسقط من زمان لأنا دولي مهتريّي وفاسدي من راسا لكعب إجريا، ومؤسساتا مفكّكي، والمنظومي الحاكمي كنايي عن عصابي فاجرا حْترفت السرقا وخيانة الوطن وبَيْعو للأمم الغريبي… لها الاسباب، هيك دولي لازم تسقط لأن ما بقا فيا تكفّي، ولا فيا تنقُذ الوطن من أزماتو لكتيري ولكبيري؛ من شان هيك لازم ننبلّش نفكّر نبني دولي جديدي، بأوّل فرصا سانحا، ونبنيها من اول وجديد، وعَ اساسات علميّي حديثي وحضاريي بتشبه لبنان الحقيقي والدول الراقيي، وبتتناسب مع طموحات واحلام اجيالنا الطالعا؛ وما نحاول ابدً نعتمد سياسة الترقيع بِ توْب ها الدولي المِهتِري متل ما عملت هلْ منظومي السياسيي الفاشلي على مدا العُقود الماضيي.

٢_ اما لبنان الوطن ما سقط متل ما بيعتقدو كتار، ولا رح يسقط لا هلق ولا بعدين، وهلْ كلام مش مبني عَ خيال وأوهام، ولكن عَ وقايع وبراهين ساطعا وسابتي:
 

البرهان الأول، لبنان الوطن صار عمرو الآف السْنين، ومرق عليه ازمات اكبر من الازمات الحاليّي، وغزوات اشرس من يلّي مارقا علينا بهاالأيام، وقِدر دايمن يتغلّب عليا كِلاّ، ويبقا لليوم شامخ متل جبالو الشامخا على الصحاري الطامعا فيه، وعلَى البحر المتوسط يلّي استعمرناه ميات السنين… وكل الشعوب يلّي غزت لبنان إما إندحرت أو إنسحبت أو إندثرت… وبقي لبنان …

البرهان التاني؛ لحتَا ما نروح بِالتاريخ لبعيد رح نعطي براهين عن احداس مُعاصرا عشناها نحنا وياكن من خمسين سني لليوم.

ببداية السبعينات من القرن الماضي قررت المنظمات الفلسطينيي احتلال لبنان وإلغاء كيانو، وبناء كيان فلسطيني محلّو ليكون بديل عن فلسطين؛ وهل قرار كان مدعوم من كل دُول العالم وكل الأنظمي العربيّي وعلا راسن اميركا والإتحاد السوفياتي، والهدف كان إنهاء الصراع العربي-الإسرائيلي على حساب لبنان.

كلنا منتزكّر كمان انو جيشنا وقتا تفكّك ونهار وقعد بالبيت، ونص الشعب اللبناني، ازا مش اكتر، وقفوا مع الفلسطيني وحُلفاؤن يلي هني من اخطر المنظمات الأرهابيي بالعالم متل: منظمة بادر ماينهوف الإلمانيي والألويي الحمرا الطليانيّي والجيش الأحمر الياباني ، ومرتزقا من دول العالم الثالث متل بنغلادش والصومال وبوليساريو… الخ، مُضاف إلن الألويي الفلسطينيي يلي إجت من بلاد العرب لتدعمن متل لواء عين جالوت من مصر، لواء القادسيي من العراق، ولواء اليرموك من الاردن، وجيش التحرير الفلسطيني ومنظمة الصاعقا من سوريا… وقتا بقينا لوحدنا بوج (هاجوج وماجوج) عم نقاتِل بنسبة واحد ضد ميّي وأمرار أكتر …وما مرقت سنتين على هل الحرب حتا إنهزمت كل هالجيوش واندثرت ودابت متل كمشة ملح بالمي… وبقي لبنان.

البرهان التالت؛ ما لحقنا نفرح بالإنتصار على “هاجوج و ماجوج” وتحرير المناطق الشرقيّي من الشويفات للأرز من الأحتلال الفلسطيني وعصاباتو الارهابيّي، حتى إجانا احتلال ألعن وأخطر اسمو الإحتلال السوري مع جيش جرار من ٤٠ الف جندي ودبابات ومدافع تقيلي، وراجمات صواريخ، وإنتشر بكل لبنان وبالمناطق الشرقيّي المحررا، وهل الإحتلال تم كمان بضو اخضر أميركاني، والهدف، قال، نشر الأمن والسلام بلبنان !!!

فات الجيش السوري عَ لبنان بتشرين ١٩٧٦، وطردناه من مناطقنا الشرقيي بحرب الميت يوم سنة ١٩٧٨، ورجعنا طردناه من كل لبنان سنة ٢٠٠٥ بثورة ١٤ اذآر الشعبيي المعروفي بثورة الإرز، مع العلم انو هل احتلال يلي بقي ٣٠ سني ع ارضنا زكّرنا بِ همجيّة هولاكو ووحشيّة المغول، يعني ما خلّا جرايم ما ارتكبا، ولا بيت ما دمّرو ، ولا مرا ما لبّسا أسوَد، بالأضافي الى انو لغى النظام الديموقراطي العريق بلبنان، وصار يعيّن رؤسا الجمهورية والحكومات والوزرا والنواب …الخ حتى انو كتار من اللبنانيي فكّرو وقتا انو لبنان سقط وانتهى وصار ولايي سوريي، ولكن سوريا مش بس فلّت مهزومي، ولكن تقسّمِت كمان و تدّمرت وصارت ولايات مشتّتي … وبقي لبنان.

اليوم عنا إحتلال جديد إسمو الاحتلال الإيراني ومسيطر علبنان من خلال مجموعا مسلحا بتسمي حالا “حزب الله” ومدعومي، متل العادي، من عُملا محلّيين …واليوم كمان متل مبارح صار في ناس بلبنان معتقدين إنو لبنان انتهى وصار ولايي ايرانيي.

خلاصة الحديس, ومن خلال البراهين يلي ذكرناها هلّق، فينا نأكد لكل لبناني ايمانو ضعيف بهل البلد انو كل شعب او دوْلة أو أمّي مدّت إيدا ع َلبنان انكسرت وانتهت… وبقي لبنان، ومتل ما بقي الاف السنين بالماضي، رح يضل باقي اليوم وبكرا وبعدو حُصرمي بعين الطامعين وشوْكي بِقلبُن.
#لبيك_لبنان
#اتيان_صقر #ابو_ارز

--------------------------------------Rebuttal to Abu-Arz ---------

عفواً أبو أرز، مبلا، انتها لبنان، والحق على المسيحيين.

4 كانون الأول 2022

لَكُل مسيحيّي لبنان في أصقاع الدني:

وطننا الحقيقي والفعلي هو لبنان الصغير ضمن حدود المتصرفية العثمانية. ارتكبت الكنيسة المارونية جريمة بحق شعبها بمطالبة ضمّ المناطق السورية المسلمة (طرابلس والهرمل والبقاع وجبل عامل) وخلق دولة لبنان الكبير المسخة يلّي صاروا المسيحيين فيها أقلية.  قالو الفرنساويي للبطرك الماروني شو بدكن بلبنان الكبير للي بتصيروا أقلية فيه، خلّيكن لبنان الصغير ومنعملو محمية فرنسية، بس الطمع والجشع واحتقار المسلم طلع على راس المسيحيي وصار بدن يعيدو مجد الفينيقيي بضم صيدا وصور وطرابلس والبقاع، بس كل هيدا على فراغ معنوي وفكري وحضاري، ومن دون ما يعلّمو ولادهن اللغة السريانية أو يعيدو إحياء التراث الفينيقي خوفاً من الإسلام.

افتكروا المسيحيي أنن بيقدروا يضلّوا مسيطرين على المسلمين، أنو باستيرادن للثقافة الفرنسية رح يضلوا أشطر وأذكى من المسلمين. الشعب الماروني شعب حمار ما بيوضع خطط للمستقبل. كل تحركات القيادات المسيحيي تكتيكية وآنية: كيف فيني أبعص المسيحي التاني ومع أي همجي فارسي أو عربي أو يهودي فيني اتحالف تأربح على منافسي المسيحي. حتى الكنيسة المارونية ما عارفة شو عم تعمل. متل ما هي طالبت بلبنان الكبير لأنو الفرصة كانت مؤاتية (بعد الحرب الكبرى الأولى) ومن دون التفكير بالعواقب المحتملة على المديين المتوسط والطويل، اليوم بيتحفنا البطرك بفكرة الحياد اللي الارجح ارتجلا بعد جاط مجدرة بالديمان، ومرة ثانية من دون التفكير بالمستقبل. هل طرح البطرك على حالو سؤال استعداد المسلمين لفكرة الحياد؟ هل في بالعالم كلّو دولة مسلمة وحدة بتمارس الحياد؟ وشو بيعمل البطرك اذا رفض المسلم اللبناني الحياد؟ عندو خطة "ب"؟

غلطان أبو أرز لما بتقول أنو في فرق بين لبنان الدولة ولبنان الوطن. بعصرنا الحديث ما في فرق بين لبنان الدولة ولبنان الوطن. أنا وطني هو البلد للي بأمنّلي أبسط مكونات العيش والاحترام لحقوقي الفردية، ومين غير الدولة بتقدر يقوم بهلمهمة؟ أنت قلتها "من شان هيك لازم ننبلّش نفكّر نبني دولة جديدي". يعني بتقصد إذا بنينا دولة جديدة بيرجع الوطن؟ يعني إنت عم تناقض حالك.

 وهون بدّي شدد على صفة "الفردية" للحرية، لأنو بلبنان البدائي اللي عايشين فيه ما حداً بيحكي عن الحقوق الإنسانية الفردية للي هي أساس الديموقراطية. نحن بلبنان مفهوم الحرية ما بيتعدى حرية المجموعات والطوائف. المسيحي بلبنان بيفتكر أنو هو حر لأنو بيقدر يدق جرس الكنيسة نهار الأحد كمجموعة مناهضة للمجموعة المسلمة اللي يمكن تمنعو من دق الجرس لو استلمت الحكم. بس هيدي أفكار بدائية ورتناها من العهود الوسطى. اليوم المطلوب هو صون الحرية الفردية للي مش موجودة لا بالمعسكر المسيحي ولا بالمعسكر المسلم. كلمة معسكر أفضل من كلمة مجتمع للتعريف عن حالة الفرد اللبناني للي بيخلق بمعسكرو ويُدجّن ويُغسل دماغو وما إلو أي دور بالقرارات المصيرية اللي بتتخادا قياداتو الدينية والمدنية المفروضة عليه.

يا أبو أرز، ما في بلد بالعالم إلا ما عمرو ألاف السنين، ومرقت عليه أزمات كبيرة وصغيرة، وخضع للاحتلالات المتتالية، وساهم بتقدم البشرية... ما في شي خصوصي بلبنان. يلّي سافر وعاش برّا بيعرف أنو في بلدان أحلى من لبنان وأرفه من لبنان وممدّنة أكتر من لبنان. وين التواضع؟ وين البساطة؟ وين الانحناء أمام تقدم البشرية أجمع؟  لازم نوقف نضحك على حالنا وعلى شعبنا، ونوقف نعبّيلو راسو بعظمة لبنان الغابرة من إيام الفينيقيي، متل ما بيعملو العرب: بيترحّمو على أمجاد الأسلاف وهنّي بالوسخ لرقابهن. خلص بقى. أنا اليوم قضّيت حياتي كلها بالتعتير والحروب والتهجير، بيتي للي خلقت فيه ما عاد موجود، وضيعة أهلي ما بقى أعرفها، وعشت تلات ترباع حياتي بالمهجر-المنفى. شو بعد بدّي من لبنان؟ هل عظمة الفينيقيي بترجّعلي سعادتي وبتبنيلي بلد بينعاش في؟

يا أبو أرز، الحقيقة واضحة متل الشمس: نحن المسيحيي فشلنا بالوقوف صف واحد لما الفلسطيني حاول ياخد لبنان. وبعدنا اليوم منتعاطى مع القيادات المسلمة اللي خانت لبنان وكأنّها هي الفريق الآخر أو الجناح الآخر من هالوطن للي عم نقوم معو بتجربة التعايش والعيش المشترك الفريد. نعم "فريد" لانو التجربة تجربة حمير، فشلت مرة بعد مرة. وهودي القيادات بعدن بالحكم، كل المجرمين والخونة، وبعدو هالشعب الحمار بصوتلن بالانتخابات. المرض منّا وفينا، وحاجي نلوم الغير. بالمبدا، ليش منتعجّب أنو الغير ضدنا أو بالأحرى مش معنا؟ قالها الرئيس الفرنسي شارل دوغول "البلدان ليس لها أصدقاء، لها مصالح". المسيحي بلبنان بيفتكر أنو الغرب لازم يكون معو لأنو مسيحي أو لأنو بيحكي فرنساوي وبيتسكع على إجرين الفرنساويي والأمركان تيساعدو، وهني للي خانوا وطعنوا بالضهر ... ليش؟ لأنو لبنان ما عندو شي يعطيهن، لا ثقافة ولا علم، بس معتقدات بالية ما إلها نفع، ولأنو الجبال المهرية والبحر الملوّت والطرقات الكلها زبالة ما فيها مصلحة للغرب. لأنو العواطف والتمجّد بلعصور الغابرة ما إلها نفع. لأنو ما في بلبنان ثقافة علمية (scientific literacy). بيرجع المغترب للي اغتنى بالمهجر على بيع التبولة والحمص، وشو أول شي بفكّر في؟ بيبني كنيسة بضيعتو أو شخص لمار شربل على قمم الجبال. بعد ناقصنا قديسين وكنايس وشخوص وشعوذات ودجل؟ كل سنة بيتربّع اللبناني إدّام التلفيزيون ليستمع للمشعوذين والعرّافين والمتنبئين بالمستقبل. بدّنا معاهد أبحاث علمية، بدنا معامل تكنولوجيا، بتنتج وبتبدع لحتى يصير الغرب يشوف فينا مصلحة. الغرب فصل الدين عن الدولة، أما نحن بلبنان فنخرنا دولتنا بالدين واليوم منتسائل ليش حالتنا تعيسة. لازم نعلّم ولادنا احترام العلوم والتفكير العلمي ونتبعد عن المعتقدات القديمة والبالية.

نحن المسيحيين طردنا بالـ 1943 الفرنساويي اللي حميونا، وكنا قبل بعشرين سنة بالـ 1919 عم منترجّاهن يساعدونا. فساعدونا ووضعولنا أساسات الدولة المعاصرة. وبس فلّ الفرنساوي، بلشت الدولة تتهاوى وتوقع بالفساد والهلاك المتبادل ضمن الطائفة الواحدة وبين الطوائف. والدودة للي فينا ما راحت: الجشع وحب المال والتباهي وجنون العظمة وانعدام التضامن بين أفراد البيئة الواحدة... علّاتنا كتيرة وما بعرف من وين بلّش بتعدادها. أنا ماروني هاجرت على فترة 4 عقود، وبالمهجر ساعدني المسلم واليهودي وكل غريب من أصقاع العالم، بس ولا مرة ساعدني واحد ماروني أو منظمة مارونية. لشو هالهوية إذاً؟

نعم إجت الاحتلالت الفلسطينية والسورية والإيرانية والإسرائيلية... وبقيو المسيحيي منقسمين. ولا مرة توحدوا بإرادتن الحرة. فكّر فيها: المرة الوحيدة للي توحّد فيا المسيحيي كانت بالبندقية. ما قدر بشير الجميّل يوحّد المسيحيين إلا بالقتل والدبح والإجرام؟ إذا ما فينا نتحد بالأوقات الصعبة، كيف بدّك يانا نتحد بالأوقات المنيحة؟ شوف شو عيعمل جعجع وباسيل اليوم. نحن شعب بدائي رغم كل العظمات اللي منتباها فيها. مناخد من الغرب كل شي عندو وسخ، وما مناخد الإشيا المنيحة. كيف بدّك الغرب يتعاطف معنا؟

بالأول، خسرنا هويتنا الفينيقية لأنو فرض الاحتلال الروماني الديانة المسيحية علينا وقمنا بتدمير معابدنا وحوّلناها لكنايس، ودمّرنا آلهاتنا وحولناهن إلى قديسين مسيحيين. ومتل ما عملو الرومان، إجو العرب ونجحوا بتعريبنا وبأسلمتنا. خسرنا لغتنا الفينيقية وصرنا نحكي عربي. ليك الشعب الإرلندي: هو شعب سيلتي (celtic) وما زال عندو لغتو ومعتقداتو. إجو الإنجليز الهمج واحتلوون واضطهدوون واستعبدوون. بس بقي الشعب الإرلندي محافظ على لغتو مع أنو أتقن اللغة الإنجليزيي، وبقي محافظ على تقاليدو ومعتقداتو مع أنو أعتنق الديانة المسيحية. بينما نحن بلبنان منبيع حالنا للمحتل أو للّي معو فلوس. بمدارسنا منعلّم اللغة العربية (تنقدر نعمل مصاري مع العرب)، واللغة الفرنساويي (لأنو منتخيّل إنو فرنسا بتحبنا وهي للي صارلها ستين سنة بتبيعنا وبتخوننا) وهلّق عم منتعلّم اللغة الإنجليزيى لحتّا ولادنا يقدرو يهاجرو ويعملو مصاري ويبعتو المصاري علبنان لنشتري سيارات كبيرة  وندمّر بيئتنا ونقعد بالقهاوي متل البغال ندخن أرجيلة وننمّر على بعضنا. هويتنا هي التجارة وحب المال. ليش ما بتعلّم الكنيسة المارونية اللغة السريانيي-الفينيقيي بمدارسها، متل ما بتعلم الكنيسة الكاثوليكية بإرلاندا اللغة السلتية؟ بتعرف ليش؟ لأنو ما في منها مصاري وفلوس. نحن شعب تاجر ببيع إمّو إذا سعرها منيح.

لاء، خلص، ما بقى عندي إيمان بلبنان كما هو اليوم. غلطان يا أبو أرز، الوطن مش بالأمجاد الغابرة. الوطن هو بالأفعال بيومنا هيدا. واليوم بعدن مسيحيي لبنان بيتخانقو على مين رح يتسكّع أكتر عند العرب والجرب والغرب والفرس، بدال ما يتحدو ويوضعو للشعب المسيحي رؤية للمستقبل وخطة لتحقيق الرؤية. لنقول الحقيقة للي كل واحد منا بيعرفها وما حدا بيسترجي يقولها: ما بعتقد أنو العيش مع المسلم ممكن. ما زال المسلم بالعالم كلّو بيرفض الخضوع لحاكم غير مسلم. يمكن أنو يماطل أو يتريّث مؤقتاً ويدعي التعايش والقبول بالغير. والبرهان في تاريخ لبنان على المية سني الماضيي. دخل المسلم غصب عنو بلبنان الكبير وبلّش يهدمو من الداخل مع كل فرصة صارتلو: مع الفلسطيني والسعودي والكويتي والسوري والإيراني... ومع كل محاولة، بياخد شي من المسيحي. صار المسيحي اليوم أقلية عم تترجّى المسلم والعرب والغرب... شو ناطرين ما منعلن بصراحة فقدان أملنا بلبنان التعايش والعيش المشترك؟ حاجي نخدّر شعبنا بالشعارات المهلوسة للي ما لها تطبيق في الحياة اليومية. لازم يعلن مسيحيي لبنان بالمشبرح فشل التعايش والعيش المشترك والبدء بالتفكير بخيارات أخرى. يمكن عم منتخبّا ورا شعارات اللامركزية والفدرالية، بس كل هيدي الأنظمة بعدها بتطلّب موافقة المسلم ونوع من المركزية اللي بيعود ينخرها الفساد والإقطاعية والطائفية وحجج "الميثاقية" الكاذبة.  

عمرو ما يكون وطن بيحتقر شعبو متل ما لبنان بيحتقرنا بدياناتو وطوايفو وشعاراتو البالية وتاريخو الأعوج. 

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