Lebanon, somewhere between citizenship and sectarianism

This week, the Libanese journalist Mohamed Zreik, mentions the importance of confessionalism in Lebanon, which is one of the foundations of this country.

Published in An-Nahar on June 5, 2017

Lebanon, "a country of democracy", is torn between two ideas, citizenship and sectarianism. In Lebanon, citizenship is always dominated by the sectarian aspect. The individual is a citizen through their membership of the Lebanese State, fulfilment of their duties and obtaining of their civil rights. However, they are closely linked to a certain religious persuasion through their courts, religious centres and institutions. Their sectarian allegiance is deeply rooted within them and assumes a sacred character.
Lebanon has been governed by sectarianism at every level (economic, political, social etc.) ever since its birth (the State of Greater Lebanon in 1920, Independence in 1943 and Taif Agreement of 1989). We observe that it is impossible for any party or association to develop without being linked to a sectarian system. Lebanon is condemned to sectarianism in the employment market, legislation and the powers guaranteed by the Constitution, granted under the Taif Agreement.
Consequently, Lebanon is a sectarian country, shrouded in democracy. This had an impact on the triggering of the civil war and partitioning of the country into isolated regions or "States" based on sectarian lines, within a single State. Lebanon has thus been a breeding ground for conflict and division. Ever since the establishment of Lebanon as a State, sectarianism has been its foundation. So, any attempt to eliminate this phenomenon logically means the end of what we call Lebanon, since sectarianism constitutes one of the foundations of this nation.

The National Pact of 1943 guaranteed the right enjoyed by each of the 18 religious persuasions present in the country, and accorded it an active role in the Lebanese government, that is to say, any religious denomination or sect wishing to work outside the framework of the National Pact and the Lebanese State would be committing a coup d'état.
During unrest, a crisis or civil war, the various religious persuasions end up resorting to compromise, in a spirit of concord and harmony, as if the bloodbaths of the past represented one of the aspects of the political process. It must be realised that each religious persuasion constitutes an ideological, political and cultural unit and that it is equipped with its own security system that only appears in times of war and crises.

At the end of the civil war (1989-1990), Lebanon entered an era of political peace. All forms of weapon disappeared and differences appeared only in political discourse. During that same period, the Lebanese people were divided geographically, according to religious persuasion, after the forced displacement that took place. Each city constituted a sectarian emirate to which its population belonged.
It was also seen that each religious persuasion aspired to a sectarian extension beyond Lebanese geographical borders, with international and regional support. And yet Lebanon is not subject to either the Ottoman or Persian Empire. It is neither an American province nor a European colony. Lebanon is a country with internationally recognised borders. It represents a State and official, legal institutions.
So, the question that arises is this: has the time not come for Lebanon to experience real independence? We do not want any false slogans trying to convince us Lebanon is independent, while its borders are violated on a daily basis and numerous ambassadors from foreign States never cease to intervene in the affairs of our beloved country.

"State of citizenship"

Do you want to destroy Lebanon, the producer of scholars and a beacon of the East, for your own petty interests? But a country like Lebanon, founded by the Phoenicians, witness of the birth of the first printing, the cradle of knowledge and writing, will not fall as you believe. No, I swear it shall not fall. I am convinced this is a summer cloud that will disperse. Lebanon will be neither an Islamic emirate for you nor a Christian parish. Lebanon has been and will continue to be the church of the East and the mosque of the world, under its blue sky that has never seen the sunset of liberty.

Where are you, Michel Chiha? You who said "Lebanon is the land where dream and reality dwell together"; you who always wanted Lebanon to have but a single head and not be a multi-headed country; you who regarded Lebanon as a special country honoured by heaven, whose multiplicity of religious persuasions is a gift from God. Alas, this honour has become its greatest flaw.
Let us return to the visions of Michel Chiha. That great thinker who regarded sectarianism as this country's raison d'être, and who thought reform could only come about through sectarianism. Since the Taif Agreement in 1989 and Doha Agreement of 2008, right up to today, we have seen the country's situation like a person mending worn out clothing. The solution does not, in any event, lie in mending… The solution lies in changing all the current leaders and establishing a new regime and a new State: the "State of citizenship" and not the citizenship of sectarianism, a modern State that sees to all that is needed for the country's construction.

We are Lebanon's youth. The reality in which we are living is not one of the most desirable. We can no longer see any alternative to emigration, that destiny we cannot escape. We love Lebanon, but not this Lebanon. This Lebanon is an international lie you invented. You wanted a petty little life, "at the mercy of others". But this life is not to our liking, because we are born free and will not sell our liberty for all the gold in the world. We are the nation's future, but the nation is being destroyed, and its future too.
We believe in Lebanon, the Lebanon of love, dignity, peace and coexistence.
"Lebanon is not a country, it is a message".

Find the ten finalists of the Naseej competition in the What does the future hold for minorities in the Middle East?