Seeing Through the Smoke in Lebanon

I received this update from the Beiruti whose e-mail I posted the other day He sent this clarifying message Sunday, when the fighting moved out of the city and into the surrounding areas east of the city. For historical context and an analysis of the USA's role, read As'ad AbuKhalil's interview on Democracy Now).

Clarifications & Analysis

Despite what many may think, Beirut is not a Sunni city. Beirut is the capital & city of all Lebanese people and sects. The Shia who historically live in Beiruti neighborhoods are Beiruti, the Christians, the Druze, the non sectarian citizens are as well. Lebanon also is a patchwork. These different groups have different roles, their own diversity, and different stories. It is important for outside observers to look past any one particular group's take and take a broad view.

There is No Government Overthrow

The Opposition forces are not seeking a coup d'etat. They are forcing the government to act towards changing their decisions regarding two points: the officer at airport, and the Hizbullah communication network. They still recognize the power of the government, they are not toppling it.

There are no civilians/citizens fighting. It is between trained fighters: militia vs. militia. The nature of the fighting on the streets, proves that there is no Hizbullah occupation. Two days ago, I ran home during actual fighting on the streets. I saw militia men, the people i saw were connected to Hariri & the Future movement, they were dressed in a professional militia outfits. They have all the equipment necessary for a fight -- same on the other side, which was also well- equipped.

This rubs against the propaganda going around from the March 14 groups, that the people fighting in Beirut are regular civilians who are protecting their houses, as a form of resistance against occupation. This is not the case, no resistance from people, the people are taking refuge in their own homes or have left the city. It was a fight between militias as I said before, it was a quick fight, nonetheless it was a fight. The government is using the speed at which armed events took place to spin it in such a way.

There is No Political Elimination.

The Political Elimination of Future Party is not happening, not at all. I will speak from my own experience living in Beirut, Hamra in the past year. I live in an area controlled by Future Party people. The streets were controlled by their own security officers, some of them were armed at certain instances, not all the time. They had checkpoints, areas cleared of parked cars, security areas. They even had these dogs that smell the car for bombs. I encountered one of them, because i had a heated conversation with the civilian guy who pulled me over. I questioned his authority on the street. All of this was in the name of protecting Monsieur Saad Hariri.

Anyway, this security apparatus was growing more and more on the streets, and i also knew a guy who had training in Jordan for security experience. Well, slowly they were taking control of streets in Beirut, "Sunni Beirut" in a show of force, and they were marking the streets with flags and pictures -- just like a wolf pees in order to determine its territory. The Future Party was acting territorial in the past year, as if Beirut belongs to them. If we can talk about elimination, it is more what was happening before.

The opposition's moves against the Future movement's media were big mistakes, no doubt about that [Hezbollah and Amal fighters closed Hariri-owned Future TV and burned down the offices of Al-Mustaqbal newspaper]. Everybody has the right to express their views, and the opposition should apologize for what they did. However, for the others to completely manipulate the event and use it to talk about "political elimination" is an exaggeration. Elimination takes more dangerous steps than the destruction of Media institutions. If you want to eliminate, you deal with the political leaders not just the institutions.

Yes, it is wrong what happened ot the Future Media, but the event is being manipulated to distort the opposition movement as a whole.

The Senioria Reponse

Prime Minister Seniora responded with an official statement, the two decisions made by the government were to be transfered to the Army, and it is up to the Army to make a decision on these issues. This is a transfer of the responsibility from government to Army institution, instead of a clear recognition of government mistake and to reverse the decisions. This is a political trick. The government needs to recognize the opposition and their demands. About two weeks, Prisoners in Roumieh prison protested and they took over one building, had the guards as hostages and had a series of demands. Few hours later, all official institutions were ready to negotiate and dialogue. The opposition is a legitimate political force. I don't fully agree with them, but i don't question their legitimacy. And it has control on the streets.

OK of course it is militia power, but this Lebanese model has always existed, all militias are armed, and the power in the streets goes hand in hand with political power (like mafias, refer to Godfather Part I & II). This is the case, the government needs to recognize the others. In terms of democracy, the opposition represents half of the Lebanese people. A United Government & shared official power are the answers, it is up the government who represents half of the Lebanese to concede some power to the parties representing the other half.

The Army also responded in favor of the Government backtrack. I believe that the government cannot back away and get out of the problem like that, they will have to face, unless they are killing some time, waiting for some ships, or the possible internationalization of the Lebanese conflict.

Remarks From the Streets

Kids with guns (not Hizbullah)
Some of the militia people were kids under twenty. One of them was taking a pause talking to his girl friend who seemed to be proud of her boyfriend. "He became a man now, what a big gun he is holding!" Another was talking to a bunch of his friends who were impressed by him. Their vision of him has changed. The element of power in their social relations has changed. He can be heard more now, he has the attention of every body, he is suddenly very funny, and he feels that he is funny, and every body laughs.

This was not comforting. I believe these kids were not in hot spots. It was their first initiation on the streets, like a similar age soccer player will play in the last five minutes of a winning match. It is a serious role, not amateur, but not important yet. It is their initiation into the militias. This means that militias breathe like we do in this country, they are alive, not dead. The Taif accords didn't kill the militias.

A Regular Day Looking for Answers

A regular morning after bullets & street violence is not an easy moment at first. This morning was OK, functioning normally. The noises of regular Saturday morning were there and very loud. People were in the streets, it is very hard to cope with at first. Is it really happening? It is over? We went out and check our small cafe in Hamra. We cleaned. I arranged the books in the small library, we waited for the electricity, it came, we heard some nice music, jazz. Fairuz would have been too intense to digest at this point.

Some people started to show up. Then i decided to go see my grandmother in Mar Elias, and the picture was a bit different than Hamra. The streets were closed. Armed men on the streets controlled where to go. I made my way talking through 4 militia men controlling steel barriers to arrive at my destination. It was not an easy to talk my way through it, but I made it eventually.

Tonight, the steel barriers have been replaced by blocks of sand and barricades. The civil disobedience is still continuing in Beirut streets, and the armed presence on the streets by militias is out. No more militia guns, only the army and still closure of the city.

The government needs to take an honorable step. The unusual calm evenings like the one enveloping me feel heavy. We are waiting for something to happen, the news become essential, and surfing news channels to get the entire story, indispensable.

A good night of sleep remains elusive. I am too busy working on understanding the events, adsorbing the arguments and theses. I hope that some of these conclusions appear in dreams, or during one of the regular morning visits to the toilet.

From Hamra