Lebanon’s wars: Why?

In what follows, we publish the introduction of the book Lebanon’s Wars: Why? from the series “Bee” for civil education, published in 2007 by Information International and The Social and Cultural Development Association (INMA).

Lebanon is standing today at the brink of an abyss, but this is nothing new. This country has survived wars and conflicts since 1943, not to mention those of the nineteenth century. The main problem lies in the political and socio-economic system, which generates crises but which we embraced willingly, compulsorily or helplessly and sometimes even all three.

The citizen does not feel concerned about reasons related to the absence of the state, so he delegates a politician who, in turn, surrenders to an external power and thus legitimizes foreign forces to run the country and meddle in its affairs. The issue in 1975 (beginning of Lebanon’s Civil War) was never a question of naturalization of the Palestinians” or a “fear of their weapons” nor was it a “treason” in favor of Israel’s interests. Similarly, the issue today is not a fissure between “March 14 Forces” and “March 8 Forces” or a decision to raise the banner of “liberty, sovereignty and independence” or that of the “resistance weapons”. It all really boils down to the profundity of this system, which uses us as fuel to be able to operate. The survival of the Lebanese system necessitates a huge waste in human resources through displacement, emigration and killing, and a misuse of financial resources by squandering and rampant corruption and this is how our system regenerates itself. It fails to operate without a “conductor” who is usually a foreign force or coalition of forces. Although they are the makers of this vicious circle, the so called “Zu’ama” or “lords”, like their followers, are also the victims of it.

The diagnosis and the recording of historical events without falsification, wishes and illusions are the cornerstone in building a new Lebanon, alongside self-reflection and reconciliation. It is irrational to toss the long civil war, which one might argue is still ongoing, behind our backs and pretend it never existed. The killing, kidnapping, destruction, occupation and systematic looting that took place after the appeasement of the fronts under the guise of “reconstruction” and building the “state of law and institutions”, will continue to drag never-ending crises. Reconciliation cannot be reflected in the enacted amnesty law, which gave absolution to the warlords themselves.

It is about time we learned that we are all losers in the end. The Zu’ama dream of maintaining a mediocre power and end up being killed, while the people keep on engaging in pointless fights and battles.

We hope that Information International and The Social and Cultural Development Association (INMA) will succeed, through this book and many other publications, in refreshing the memory of the Lebanese so that history will not repeat itself.

Jawad N. Adra

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