Peace Movements

“So what is the deal between the shia and the sunni’, my paper asked? Yes indeed, what is the deal? It sort of escaped me for a while, this whole sunni - shia thing. I thought it was a pro-Syria – anti-Syria issue, but somehow along the way it has transformed itself in a shia – sunni movement. But it is not really a religion thing, as I understood from someone I interviewed today.

The Green Line which formed the dividing line between christian East and muslim West Beirut from 1975 - 1990.

Iran, a shia nation, has interest in the shia compartment of the Lebanese population as it can be used in Iran’s everlasting battle against the Big Satan; Israel (or the US the big Satan?). Bugging Israel will ultimately also bug the US, and thus you catch two birds with one stone.
Syria has an interest in a destabilized Lebanon (among other things), and they’ll back up whoever will destabilize it for them. Hezbollah (shia) seems to be the horse they are betting on this time, but they have - over the years - betted on a variety of horses, including christian ones. For the Syrian leadership it is not really a religious issue either; they do not like the sunni nor the shia; they go for the alawite branch of Islam.

The other side (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France and the US) is not really interested in religion either. They just want to 1) bug the Iranians, 2) bug the Syrians, 3) bug everyone and destabilize the Middle East, so they are backing up those that will do that job for them in Lebanon. The sunni happened to be willing to do it this time. And so we are divided. Of course it is not that simple. But it will do for the Dutch.

The christians have been sort of evicted from the game; they’re on the sidelines. Aoun seems to have expelled himself lately by one dumb move after another. Rumors of a bipolar disorder are circulating, and it wouldn’t surprise me. But maybe it is just a set-up from the opposition. I bet they also gave him that ‘photo shopped’ picture. Ruthless, I must say, but a clever move.

But if you think we are in a mess; go look at the Iraqis. The Iraqis seem to be in a similar boat as us at the moment, but sinking fast. Apart from the sunni – shia divide, they also have to deal with an occupying force that is a bit of a sore issue to both sides. I watch this talk show on alJazeera on Tuesday evenings. It always end up in a shouting match, and one of the worst things you can accuse an Iraqi shia of, is calling him a ‘Persian’.

What I find much more fascinating though, is the number of Lebanese movements that are showing their discontent with the current political players. They are popping up like mushrooms. Are the Lebanese finally politicizing? A short line-up:

There is the Movement of March 11 (The ‘Let’s meet in the middle’ Movement).
They figure that the two main movements, March 8th (Hezbollah & Co) and March 14th (Government and anti-Syrian factions) should meet somewhere in the middle, let’s say March 11. The March business refers to dates in 2005 when the two movements held major demonstrations. Both claimed to have had over a million people attending. Mazen Kerbaj, a Lebanese cartoonist, concluded that there must be 2 million Lebanese that stayed at home.
March 11 wants to set up a big gathering on, you’ve guessed it, March 11. Let’s see if they gather a million.

There is the Ana Mish Min Hada (The ‘I’m not with anyone’ Movement)
They had a couple of gatherings in December. I went to one of them. Not very vibrant. But they were the first. I have not heard of the movement since.

The ‘Women Say No to Civil War’ Movement.
They had a demonstration a couple of days ago near the National Museum. That National Museum has the omnimous name of ‘Mathaf’, and was once the main crossing point on the "Green Line" division during the 1975-1990 Civil War. They say "We reject internal fighting as a means to achieve political goals, and call on all political leaders to return to dialogue in order to reach a national, non-confessional solution".

The ‘Resolve it, Solve It’ Movement.
The RESOLVE IT. SOLVE IT movement is a group of ‘unaffiliated concerned Lebanese citizens tired of being marginalized and ignored’.They say basically the same. “As concerned citizens we reject empty promises, propaganda, subliminal calls to violence, and sectarian rhetoric. We refuse civil war. Act immediately before it is too late. “ They have a demonstration coming up this Saturday, February 12. I'm going to check it out.

Jamal is lobbying for more movements.