Yesterday was the 31st anniversary of the outbreak of the so-called “civil war”.
Tons of books have been written trying to explain the origins of this war, most of them describing it as a clash between Christians and Muslims, each supported by external parties.
The Lebanese war, in my opinion, was never a civil war but rather a war against the Christians of Lebanon, led at a first stage by Palestinians financed by Sunnites, added to some Druzes and Shiite groups, then followed by Syrians supported by the Muslim political parties, not to forget the US who was applying its Kissinger plan that turned against them at the end of the war.
Greater Lebanon founded back in 1920, was ruled by Maronites who chose delibaretly to join Muslims and minorities within one country. Maronites ruled Lebanon under the French mandate, but it didnt take time before they asked for their sovereignty, eventhough French mandate has done for Lebanon during its period more than Lebanese themselves have done during the past 70 years.
After Israelies invaded Palestine and kicked its people out, Lebanese and mainly Christians were the first ones to welcome the refugees and help them. What they did not realize was that some Palestinian authorities sold their home and came to Lebanon with ambitious ideas. It didnt take much time before Palestinians started invading our free regions and at this point, we saw Muslim groups joining the invadors and supporting them and inciting them to harm us.
The Mourabittoun group is one example of Sunnites and Palestinians grouped into one party.
Sadly, we had few so-called Christian groups and individuals (SSNP party, Baath party etc ..) who were sank in Arab ideologies and were either too blind to see the dangers threatening our freedom, or had become total dhimmists.
Therefore at the mid 60s, the image was clear. Christian regions were invaded by Palestiniains while Muslim regions were embracing them. The first clashes were street-fights and the first Christian militias were starting to organize before the first war erupted in 1976 at Tal El Zaatar.
Throughout the whole war, Christians never allied with any external side against other Lebanese communities. The help from Israel was a military one and never reached the political level. Sheikh Bashir Gemayel’s martyrdom was the proof to that, he stood against the international community and Israel defending the 10452, while he was being cursed and called traitor in non-free regions.
The years that followed also showed the true intentions behind this war, and the putch that Muslim groups supported by Syria did on the Taef agreement turned the military struggle into a political one, and the wars and battles into political assasinations and persecutions.
Regardless of all those facts, Christians stayed attached to their freedom and to their partners in this small country. Hariri’s assasination was a major shock to the Muslim society, but what followed was a major wake-up call, when Christians joined them in demanding the Truth and achieved the historical 14th of March demonstration. Hariri apparently made them realize the rightness of our demands and the true intentions behind those demands, but for how long ?
A feeling of national unity spread among the Lebanese, but politics are politics and the political war against Christians that started way before 1975 is back on. We cannot elect our Mps, an unjust and unequal elections law was proposed, the president seat has been weakened and Christians r unable to appoint a new one ( regardless of the internal fights), everyone respects the Patriarch but no one listens to him, no to mention the monopoles over government positions.
The war in my belief is not over, and it will go on until a decentralized political system is applied in Lebanon, putting Muslims and Christians on the same levels, and removing all sorts of threats between the two communities. But before this happens, Muslims, Sunnites and Shiites, should drop their Islamization plans and accept the fact that Lebanon will never be Lebanon without its Free Christians.
Finally, i d like to address those who still believe we are not Muslims and Christians, but we are one people and confessionalism is behind the civil war, kindly re-read history and its facts and keep your emotions aside.
No one aspires to a secular and unified Lebanon more than Christians, but unless we have a muslim partner recognizing our presence as an equally-strong and influent and free group, we are still in a state of war, but this time it evolved from tanks and guns to what i consider WMD, destruction and brainwashing of the minds and spreading dhimmitude among our community.
Regards,