I cannot possibly think of a better time to talk about Federalism. It might not be the suitable time to propose it, but the events that have been going on for the past few weeks are showing more and more that Federalism is the only way out to save Lebanon.

Some say Federalism is equal to division, some say its an American-Israeli plan, some simply attack it because the LF led by Dr.Geagea proposed it, even though it was previously sponsored by the Lebanese Front led by Pr.Camille Chamoun and Sheikh Pierre Gemayel back in 1977 an during the Deir el Bir convention in 1980 ( reference to the booklet that was issued after the convention called : The Lebanon we want to build).

Federalism is a unitarian project that is capable of preserving Lebanon’s pluralistic society and
building a true Lebanese identity. How is that ? I ll try to elaborate based on my sort of limited knowledge on the issue but i believe sufficient to prove my point.

Lebanon has always endured endless wars between its different communities, it started back in the 1800s between the uprising Christians and the powerful Druze fighting over the control of Mount Lebanon. Each community wanted to overtake the other and recurred to foreign help in order to do so.

Several regimes were implemented back then trying to resolve the crisis, Secularism failed miserably as well as Feodalism, the only system that lasted was a decentralized one keeping each community’s rights but it wasnt built on strong basis and so did not last.

What followed was the declaration of the Greater Lebanon in 1920 and the joining other communities to Lebanon, mainly the Shiite community. From 1920 till 1943, Few Christian leaders abused of their powers causing a minor revolt within the Muslim street which ended up in signing the National pact in 1943, it was more an oral agreement also built on weak basis and not taking into consideration long term effects.

And eventually the Palestinian crisis in 1958 came to mess things up, Christians backed by France and other foreign countries against Palestinians financed by few Muslim parties and Leftists.

A revolt againt the President Chamoun was initiated and its impact was disastrous. Palestinians backed by Muslim parties and Leftists started gaining strengh and the army got divided over sectarian belongings therefore encouraging parties to get armed in order to defend themselves against Palestinian guerrillas.

What followed was a deadly war, not a civil war but a very well directed war by Palestinians and Muslim parties against Christian parties, with foreign interference on all sides, from Americans trying to imply the Kissinger plan, to Israelis wanting to weaken Palestinians, Syrians wanting a piece of the cake backed by the Soviet Union.

After war was done, the same scenario was repeated but this time politically, Muslim groups supported by Syrians along with the Druzes and Christians isolated with a minor support from the Western.

Nowadays, major shiite party backed by Iran and Syria initiates war against Israel who launches a massive assault on Lebanon, Sunnites keep their distance from the war as well as Christians and work on stopping it with their American and Saudi allies as well as Europeans.

From this short resume of the Lebanese history, we can conclude the following :
Our society is a pluralistic one where each community is struggling to keep itself equal to others and using all possible foreign help to do so.
The wars and inner fights have raised more hatred and anti-semitism among the Lebanese and divided the country into religious cantons.
The major problem that we are facing is the division of power among the several communities and the external interferences which are dragging Lebanon into regional wars and making it a pressure tool in the hands of bigger powers.

Why Federalism ?

All sorts of systems have been tried in Lebanon and failed miserably, except a decentralized federal Lebanon. Secularism was a deadly experience, same as Feodalism and all sorts of mandates and invasions were faced with fierce opposition added to other centralized political systems that failed miserably.

Federalism is one of the most civilized and advanced political systems in the world and is adopted in some of the most developed countries(USA, Switzerland, Germany etc etc ..)

Given Lebanon’s pluralistic nature, and the two major political streams that govern the country, a Pro-Arab Muslim line and a Pro-Lebanese Western-like Christian line, and knowing that Lebanon without its Christians will sink in the Islamic world surrounding him and reassuring that Lebanon needs both its Muslims and Christians to go on, we need to preserve the rights for each community in a way to avoid conflicts in the future.

What Federalism proposes can be resumed as follows:
Dividing Lebanon into federal states based on confessions ( Already done demographically cause of the war) and decentralizing the powers and distributing them equally between all communities in a way to preserve each community’s rights and freedom and eliminate the feeling of threat between the different confessions.

Once each confession is secured in its own state, it wont feel threatened by other communities and therefore the religious factor will get weaker therefore removing feelings of anti-semitism within each community.

Added to that, since each state will be responsible for its own economy, terrorist and extremist groups wont be able to last economically and will get unpopular specially in a highly educated and freedom-oriented society like the Lebanese one and will lose ground to more secular and open-minded mentalities.

Of course this is a long process but what will accelerate its process is the external policy that Federalism implies, which is neutrality.
Similarly to Switzerland, we r a very small country uncapable of entering regional conflicts or even influencing on major powers, therefore neutrality is a must.
This will keep foreign countries away from us and let the people focus more on improving their own country and fixing their own problems instead of leading the liberation of Palestine from Beirut for example.

Those two factors are already of major importance and if applied properly will put us on the right track. Now you might ask me but isnt Lebanon too small to be divided ?
I tell you that Lebanon has the most diverse and complicated society in the world maybe and opposing a federal system cause of its small demography is a lame and unrational argument.

Added to that, Feodal families and war lords who base their popularity on confessional belonging will fade away and lose ground to competent and self-made young leaders capable of serving their community better.

What will Federalism achieve on the long term ?
The ultimate aim of a Federal system in Lebanon is not letting each community live on its own but on the total opposite, by weaking the religious and anti-semitic factor and applying neutrality, you ll be paving the way for founding a true Lebanese identity one that doesnt separate between confessions but on merit and competence and the merging of federal states will become natural with time and who knows maybe lead to a secular centralized unitarian system.

The benefits of Federalism are unimaginable on all sides and can lead us to a true united Lebanon and a true national unity.

Federalism is a project intended to elevate the value of the human above all confessions and sects and races and found a liberal mentality capable of accepting the other and working with him for one strong country.

Finally, i assure you there are tons of aspects i didnt mention yet since this project is a uge one and is not property of the LF, but was studied by a large number of intellectuals and politicians. The only problem it faces in Lebanon is the bad image or the taboo spread around about how Federalism is an American-Israeli plan to divide Lebanon.

Federalism cannot be imposed, but must be assimilated first and orientation on this issue is a must.

Regards,