By John Munro
After seventeen years away from Beirut, I thought I had purged it from my system. But visiting there recently I found I was still capable of being seduced. The sleek, new international airport; the reconstructed downtown; the plethora of fancy bakeries, boutiques, bistros and cafes trottoirs; the revamped, English language Daily Star, among the very best newspapers in any language, anywhere; the newly renovated, Grand Serail; all bear testimony to the indomitable will of the Lebanese to pick themselves up and start all over again. And now, after thirty years, with the Syrian army having made a comprehensive withdrawal from Lebanese territory, it really does seem as if better times are ahead.
Still, this is Lebanon and while much appears to have changed, much remains the same.
For one thing, the recent assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his Christian aide Basil Fuleihan, universally assumed to be the work of Syrian intelligence agents in collusion with their Lebanese colleagues, is a sharp reminder that some prominent Lebanese are still ready to barter their country for personal or political gain.
The demonstrations that took place between those who wanted the Syrians out of Lebanon and those who did not pitted mainly young men in trendy jeans and young women with the Lebanese flag emblazoned across their bosoms against beards and scarves. Not all the former were Christians and the latter Shiite Moslems but the numbers on either side were sufficient to underscore Lebanon’s ongoing dilemma, recently expressed most forcefully by the charismatic Hizbullah cleric, Hassan Nasrallah, who stated that Lebanon had to decide whether it belonged to the Arab world or what he called the American-Israeli project.
Already the reconstructed El Amin mosque had aroused controversy. Before it was built, it was hoped that the downtown area, which roughly separates Christians from Moslems would, by the provision of walkways and ample sitting areas, encourage interaction between the two faiths. However, the Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Moh. Rashid Qabbani, opted for a rather grandiose Ottoman design to replace the original, relatively humble structure. Its towering presence now dominates the area and the burial of Mr. Hariri close by will almost certainly secure its reputation as a place of pilgrimage. This has irritated some Lebanese Christians, who point out that the Fuleihan family, who had the option of burying son Basil alongside Mr. Hariri, decided on a more modest burial in their native village. There is also concern about the return of former Lebanese army General Michel Aoun from exile in Paris on May 9. He took on the Syrians in 1988 and lost. If the Christians welcome him home as a national hero, this will surely exacerbate tension.
Finally, it should not be forgotten that the unification of Lebanon with Syria has remained the cornerstone of Syrian foreign policy since both countries became independent under the terms of the Sykes-Picot agreement after World War I. Even if Syrian forces have withdrawn from Lebanon, their policy is unlikely to change. At present, Beirut’s well lubricated rumor mill is churning out a story about a tape recording made by Mr. Hariri on his wrist watch during his last visit to President Bashar Assad of Syria, which allegedly documents the Syrian president telling the Lebanese prime minister that just as Syria built him up, so it can just as easily tear him down. It was this tape, now allegedly in the possession of French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, that is supposed to have prompted France’s vigorous backing of UN resolution 1559, calling for Syria’s troop withdrawal.
It seems unlikely, therefore, that the spirit of freedom experienced by many Lebanese in the immediate aftermath of Syria’s withdrawal will spread to other states in the region, as the Bush administration fondly expects. Lebanon has always been a special case and will remain so, as long as it retains its Levantine character, with one foot in the West and the other in the Arab World. Of more immediate concern is whether ancient enmities in Lebanon will resurface while the politicians dither in the face of the huge challenges left by the death of Rafik Hariri, a man who dominated both Lebanon’s economic and political life since the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990.
