The Christian Heartland: Identity, History, & Politics

Traditionally the north of Lebanon, on Jabal Libnan, has been the home of the Lebanese Christian community. On the map the area forms triangle, with al Habba forming the tip of the triangle, East Beirut forming the bottom left side of it and Zahle forming the right side. Interestingly enough the triangle has much significance to Lebanon's Christians, both in religion and politics, so it was quite fitting that the region in which they lived formed such a shape. To the religious Christians, the shape represents the "father, the son and the holy spirit." Politically the Delta shape was adopted by the mainly Christian Lebanese Forces (whose commander, Samir Geagea, and much of their support lies in Bcharre) during the war, in addition the right wing, mainly Christian party, Kataeb, has as its symbol a triangular shaped cedar tree. On LebaneseForces.com their reasoning for adopting the symbol is this:

"1] The delta (triangle) of resistance refers to the 3 areas; Ain el Roumeneh, Furn el Chebek and Ta7weeta. Because the war started in these 3 areas and all the Christian militias had soldiers located there, the three areas formed a triangle of resistance. Since all these Christian militias became Lebanese Forces, the delta (triangle) became there logo.2] The delta represents the cedars, while the circle represents the circle of resistance3] The delta means 'in the name of the father, son and holy spirit'

2] The delta represents the cedars, while the circle represents the circle of resistance

3] The delta means 'in the name of the father, son and holy spirit'"

Even in the 21st century the area is incredibly isolated. The roads through the mountains are long and winding. Red roofed villages cling to green and brown colored hillsides, churches dominate the skylines of these villages. Because the area is so isolated those escaping persecution have quite literally "head for the hills." Many Christian aesthetics and hermits hid in the regions numerous caves, including the famous St. Charbel. The isolation also gave ground to a movement in Christianity called Maronism.

Founded along the Orontes River in Syra, the incredibly independent minded Maronites are a group of Christians that follows their own patriarch (who is considered a Cardinal in the Catholic Church), yet receive communion from the pope. Technically they are Catholic, but technically they are not. Usually, to call a Maronite, "Catholic" would garner an answer, "no I'm Maronite!" This independent streak led many Maronites to seek refuge in Mount Lebanon following the Muslim Arab conquest of Syria. The Maronites self and outside imposed isolation caused them to turn to their religious leaders for guidance both in the realm of politics. The Patriarch and his fellow clergy members usually handled affairs of "state" and of religion. Even in modern times Cardinal/Patriarch Sfeir (head of the Maronites) is called Abu Hakim (father of the doctor). Al Hakim (or the doctor/learned man in Arabic), is the name given to Dr. Samir Geagea (leader of the Lebanese Forces) by his followers. Sfier received this name because he was one of the few voices in Lebanon to rally to Samir Geagea's side when he was imprisoned for 11 years by Syria in Lebanon.

The Maronites have been both oppressed and the oppressor. They have felt, for at least one thousand years that they are surrounded on all sides by hostile Muslim hordes who want nothing more than their elimination. They have many reasons to fear the Muslims. Because of their affiliation with the Vatican the Mameluk Muslims felt the need to cleanse the area of them following the Crusades.

The Mameluk occupation of the area was ended by the Ottomans. The Ottomans in turn gave relative autonomy to Jabal Libnan and its Christian majority, but nonetheless saw them as a thorn in their side. Because the Maronites could seek outside protection from Catholic states such as France, the Ottomans had to keep a more lassies fair stance with them. When Europe was occupied with with her own internal wars, the Ottomans would in turn strike the Maronites. For example, in 1860 the Ottomans encouraged the Druze to massacre many Christians, killing up to 10,000 of them. Recently it was mainly Muslim forces (mostly the PLO, Syria, Druze groups, Leftists and Islamists) who were fighting the Christians during the Lebanese War.

In terms of "oppression," the Maronites are the sole religious group allowed to hold the Presidency of Lebanon. Essentially, Lebanon was founded for them when the French carved much of it out of Syria. The Muslims absorbed into the new Lebanon ( Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Druze) led at the time by a Christian majority, felt disenfranchised. In addition, many Maronites held lucrative businesses while many Muslims didn't, especially the Shi'ites.

In the eyes of many Maronites (and other Christians) counter massacres against their enemies are justified. One such massacre that has garnered much press was the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camp massacre of 1982. Following the SSNP's assassination of President-Elect Bachir Gemayel (who was also head of the mainly Christian Lebanese Forces), Israeli troops surrounded the two Palestinian refugee camps. Christian forces under Elie Hobieka were let into the camps by the Israelis to clear out any remaining PLO militants. Instead of soley mopping the camp up of its Palestinian militants, the Phalangists forces exacted their revenge on the populace of the camp, killing anywhere from 600-1200 people. While the massacre, its motives, and who really took part in it are subject to much heated debate, some Christians found the action tolerable, if not justified. In the words of a Christian friend, "all you hear them [the Western press] talk about is Sabra and Chatilla, they never mention Damour or Chekka [two massacres committed by Palestinians], if you ask me they had it coming." In the Middle East the climate has been either "eye for an eye" or "head for an eye." Essentially, no crime goes unpunished, and punishment for the crime is usually handled by committing another crime.

Today some Christians push for federalism in Lebanon. They feel a stronger central government can reign in renegade elements, and help preserve Lebanon as a whole. However many Christians feel the only way to stop being Arabized is through forming more autonomous zones for certain sectarian groups within Lebanon. In a Washinton Post article, head of the NLP (National Liberal Party) Dori Chamoun (son of former Lebanese President Camille Chamoun) said, "I don't see Lebanon surviving as it is today, It is inevitable that the Christians will have a smaller share of the country. I only see one solution, cantonization. Everybody wants it. Nobody says it out loud."

The question of Arabization has caused many problems within Lebanon's Christian community. Many Orthodox Christians consider themselves Arabs, while many other Christians, mostly Maronites consider themselves to be Phonecian. One of my Christian professors noted, "I consider myself Phonecian first, Arab second, and Lebanese third." When she was asked why most Christians see themselves as Phonecian she answered, "most say it because they don't want to be associated with Arabs, whom they see as terrorists, I know history and that's why I regard myself as a Phonecian." Many Maronites, who originally used the Syriac language before the Arab conquest, even consider the Lebanese dialect of Arabic to be distinct from other forms of Arabic. the Guardians of the Cedars, a right wing, mostly Christian nationalistic organization even developed an alphabet for Lebanese.

From the isolated villages atop Jabal Libnan it was easy to see the isolated and insular nature of the Maronites. Nevertheless their Phoenician heritage has given them the pre-disposition to be excellent traders and merchants. Materialism has a huge hold in Lebanon, not just in the Christian community. Mercedes, BMWs, Cadillac Escalades, and Maseratis cruise the streets of the former war-torn state.

Christians in Lebanon are caught between being Phoencians or being Arabs, control or subjugation, currently they are being marginalized. As a minority group in the Middle East the hills have provided security, isolation, and a sense of community. However they have also proven to be the main reason Maronites, and many Christians are neither Western nor Eastern, only somthing in between. In the words of the late Bachir Gemayel, in reference to his fellow Maronites (and Christians in general), "we are the angels of the East, but also its demons."
_____________
* More to come on my trip up to Jabal Libnan (Bcharre, etc)

* A special thanks to reader Selim K. who corrected an earlier error. I originally said Samir Geagea was jailed in Syria, he was actually jailed in Lebanon.

A Temple For Baccus, A Poster For Nasrallah

Built on the backs of thousands of slaves, the temples in Baalbek are some of the most expansive and beautiful in the Roman world. Edward Gibbon said in his landmark work, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire that, "Whatever evils either reason or declamation have imputed to extensive empire, the power of Rome was attended with some beneficial consequences to mankind." Architecture is one of the vestiges the Romans left behind, it most definitely ranked highly amongst them.

The Baalbek temple complex is for lack of better terms, grandiose. There is the temple to Baccus, god of wine. The temple is a rectangular shape, surrounded by Corinthian columns, its also one of the few temples that still looks as it might have in Roman times. While massive in its own respect, the temple pails in comparison to the gigantic erect columns that belonged to the Temple of Jupiter. The marble columns are as thick as three to five grown men and stretch far into the sky. The art work is quite significant, there are carved lions heads that at one time spouted water or wine. Designs on the side of the temples looked like stylized swastikas, depictions of gods preforming tasks, and even graffiti dating from Roman times until the present.

Baalbek is a microcosm of Lebanon, and truly highlights Lebanon's irony. Standing atop the high ground that used to make up much of the Temple for Jupiter, I could see a modern built mosque, in the form one might find in Iran, coated in colorful tiles and with a huge dome. The mosque had a sign outside of it showing how Hizbollah had built it. Next to Heliopolis, the ancient name of the Baalbek complex, was a Greek Orthodox church, its bells were ringing. There were more yellow Hizbollah flags than there were Lebanese. In front of the Baalbek temples were gift shops catering to who other but Western tourists. What did they sell in the gift shops? Hizbollah flags, Nasrallah posters, Coca-Cola (note: Coke is on the boycott list for many Arab states because they sell to Israel), small trinkets, and more Hizbollah gear such as T-shirts and baseball caps. $10 for a Hizbollah flag!

I was in a group of about 30 Westerners, so Hizbollah decided to keep an eye out for us. It sent three cars to watch us as we went to the temples, little children shouted curses at us such as "sharmouta" (whores/bitches in Arabic) and then tried to get high fives from us. Trash cans in Baalbek had USA or painted American flags on them. I was a bit upset by the fact that these people quite literally ran a state within a state. One Canadian in the group told me, "there is a lot of anger with them, you know Israel was bombing this area last year." Another Westerner turning the aggressors into victims. Even so, Western tourists are the bread and butter of Baalbek's economy, no other people were visiting the complex. Lebanon is known for how considerate and hospitable its people are, and these people were in my view getting orders from the top (remember Hizbollah is incredibly well organized with a complicated hierarchy) to essentially watch and even harass Westerners.

I snapped an interesting picture of a sign near the road down to the temple complex, it said, "south for reconstruction." What was so ironic about it was that the Lebanese flags that were atop the sign were in tatters, the sign was ripped, coated in dirt and dust, and had marks all over it. This reminded me of Ian Bremmer's book, The J Curve. Bremmer shows how closed societies will remain authoritarian and unfree in nature, and how open societies remain free. Hizbollah doesn't want rebuilding or economic success in Baalbek, they want stagnation and failure. They know the anger created can be used against those whom they accuse of being outside enemies/agitators: the United States and Israel. Through isolation comes power.

An isolated group amoungst the mostly Shi'ite city of Baalbek is the Christian community. I found a beautiful Greek Orthodox church opposite the temple site. They were holding a Greek mass and I went in to observe. Other Westerners with me followed, we sat in the back pews, recieving stares from the locals. While Lebanon is generally becoming more mixed, sectarian division are still extraordinarily deep. If the Christians of Baalbek can't find a modus vivendi with the ruling Shi'ite Hizbollah they would surely be displaced or eliminated.

Short video I made of the ruins in Baalbek:

Another Short video I made of the Greek Orthodox mass I attended:

Incase those links didn't work:

1.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ8Ro-ymCu0

2.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fEk3PBVHJo

______________________
*Next Post will cover the trip to Bcharre

Long Road To The Bekka

The Beirut to Damascus highway is mired in history. As it name states it connects coastal Beirut to Damascus, and winds through multi-sectarian areas, Jabal Libnan (Mt. Lebanon), and the Bekka Valley. During the Lebanese War it was controlled by countless militias, bombed to submission, and rolled over by Syrian, Israeli, and Lebanese tanks.

We were passing Baabda, the home of Lebanon's pro-Syria president, Emile Lahoud. The Christian areas around Lahoud's compound obviously had no love for him, I couldn't find a single Lahoud poster in the area.

The bus started to gain altitude along the Beirut to Damascus highway, we left the Christian areas and headed into Druze territory. The Druze areas are nominally controlled by the PSP's (Progressive Socialist Party) Walid Jumblatt. This was apparent through a large number of Jumblatt posters and the trademark PSP symbol; a red background with a blue triangle, inside the triangle are a pick hammer and a staff. I didn't see many Druze (or Durssi as they are called in Lebanese) out as we passed through their villages, and in their areas the mood seemed quite relaxed.

The mountains were quite pretty, a golden brown and green color. Fruit trees lined the roads and cloud cover was heavy in a few areas, all in all it was a quiet ride. We finally made our way out of Jabal Libnan to a town just inside the Bekka Valley. The town was mixed, part Shi'ite Muslims part Christians (mostly Greek Orthodox). As a result there were few political posters up and the streets were empty. We stopped for lunch and I had a traditional Halloum (native white cheese, a bit like mozzarella) sandwich.

We continued to drive north through the Bekka. The flags along the road began to change to the distinctive green of Harakat Amal (the Amal Movement aka the Amal Party) and yellow of Hizbollah. The area was mostly Shi'ite, although there were many mixed towns. Posters of the smiling Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah looked upon traffic as we drove through villages and towns. Oddly enough we weren't on our way to see Hizbollah, but ironically to get to the world famous Ksara winery in the south-central Bekka Valley.

Ksara's premises stands out from the cinder block construction and power lines along the road. Leading up to the famous cave and winery complex there is a small terraced area for growing grapes. The bus pulled up to Ksara and we entered inside. Founded by Jesuit priests, the wine was originally used for religious purposes, and when the Vatican sold the property off in the 1970s a group of buyers came in and bought the vineyard and winery. The building was spottless, it probably hadn't seen tourists in 2 years. We were led into a damp, cool cave complex that housed barrels upon barrels of wine. Following the subterranean tour we were ushered up to a beautiful dinning room for a wine tasting. Ksara wine definitely isn't a Chateau La Mondotte Saint-Emilion 1996 (aka a $600 bottle of wine), but for $4 it was cheap, tasted good, and is great with tabouli.

Some Geography & Politics of the Bekka

To give you a better idea the Bekka is in Eastern Lebanon, opposite Syria. The valley is smack dab in between the "Eastern" and "Western" ranges of Mount Lebanon (in the West) and the anti-Lebanon Mountains (in the east). The area is known for its wineries, incredible produce, and almost complete control by Hizbollah. From the mountains the Bekka looks like a green swath cut through two huge chunks of dry earth.

There are two very important population centers in the Bekka. The first is Zahle. Zahle is the largest Catholic town in the Middle East, during the Lebanese War it gained fame amoungst Lebanese Christians for holding out against a Syrian seige. The second city is Baalbek. Baalbek is situated to the north of Zahle and is primarily a Shi'ite town with a small Orthodox Christian minority. Politically Zahle is a stronghold of the Christian Lebanese Forces, however, most of the Bekka, including Baalbek is a base for Hizbollah and Amal.

__________________________
*More Posts later on my trip to Baalbek, Bcharre, Batroun, and Douma

Happy 4th, Blame America!

In regards to anti-Americanism and the "blame America" tendencies of many on the left, the late Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick said it best, "When Marxist dictators shoot their way into power in Central America, the San Francisco Democrats don't blame the guerrillas and their Soviet allies. They blame United States policies of 100 years ago. But then they always blame America first." Hyperbole and hypocrisy are two words that best describe most people's views here. Its no different here in the Middle East, America is usually the cause of every ill and the reason behind every failure.

There is a certain Islamic tendency I've noticed to rarely look inward at the source of many ills and instead to look outward, usually at the most powerful non-Muslim empire/state/outside power and express their wrath at it. Some of these reasons are legitimate, toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, Russia was encroaching into mainly Muslim territories such as Bukhara, and in the Caucuses (which were Ottoman provinces). As a result Russia was seen as the 'Great Satan' for the later part of the 19th century. Tags such as "Godless Atheists" or "foreign invader" would return to Russia in the 1970s and 80s as they invaded Afghanistan. Still, you don't hear many Muslims calling the Soviet Union the Great Satan, regardless of the fact that they had state sanctioned Atheism, suppressed Muslims, and (if we are being literal here) absorbed "Muslim lands" (the Kingdom of Bukhara or the lands to the east of the Caspian are prime examples) into its great empire. Even today, war rages on in Chechnya, many foreign Jihadists have joined the fight against Russia. Nevertheless the main country that is to blame for Middle Eastern problems is the United States.

The Middle East is a Catch 22. I am paraphrasing, but I heard a number of American soldiers in Iraq say on TV, "if something happens they blame us, no matter if our intentions are good, they just hate us, we can't do anything right." Its quite true, let's take Lebanon for instance. In the US we call it "Taxi Wisdom," the man on the street who is driving the taxi usually has the general views of much of the population and much wisdom to go with it. Here in Lebanon I call it "Security Guard Wisdom." I am friendly with all of the security guards at LAU and we always love to talk about politics. They will ask me, "when will America kill Asad, why haven't they done it already?" My answer is usually, "we don't have the power to do that, and what happens to Syria AFTER he is gone?" It seems the basics (let's say assassinating Bashar Asad) is far more important then the kind of chaos the country would descend into following any such assassination. I am sure the answer I would get AFTER we kill Asad would be, "well why didn't America stop the anarchy? Why couldn't you just leave Asad?"

Personal responsibility isn't big in the Middle East, if a scapegoat is present "everyone is happy." Let's take Syria, a repressive dictatorship, terror sponsor, and all round not so nice player in the "Middle Eastern sandbox." Why must Syria have huge expenditures on its military and be so oppressive against its own people? Easy answer: 'The Zionists and Americans!' Their internal economic problems are never the regimes fault, no, its some huge conspiracy by America and Israel to destroy Syria. No matter the fact that its incredibly implausible this view is, it is somehow curried as fact. As we have seen, Syria has sponsored and STILL sponsors terrorism against the US and Israel, yet the regime is still around, wouldn't this be enough to convince someone on the street that maybe America isn't all powerful? Definitely not.

This myth that America is all powerful is a sham created by the people in need of a scapegoat. Sometimes even their own propaganda gets the best of them, in Iran for instance America is considered the 'Great Satan' and a nation that controlled EVERYTHING in Iran. When Jimmy Carter's rescue attempt of the hostages held in Tehran failed, the answer by the ayatollahs was: HA! America is nothing more than a paper tiger! The Iranians, feeling strong in the 80s upped the ante in the Gulf against the tankers using mines. There decision came around to bite them when the US launched Operation Praying Mantis and sank the Iranian frigate Sahand.

The Hizbollah supporters whom I've met here at LAU are probably the most affected by the "America-did-it Syndrome." They would routinely deny that Hizbollah was EVER engaged in terrorist activities against the United States, "we are just resisting invaders, we don't kill innocent people." I asked if "invaders" included the 63 people, mostly Lebanese, including 17 embassy staff, murdered via Hizbollah car bomb in April of 1983? The answer I received was, "well there must have been a reason it was attacked." Of course, when the facts are stacked up against these sorts of people they always say, "see Phillip your government tells you the opposite to the truth." Whenever a book, article, or anything is produced to say, "hey you guys are wrong," it is deemed as American propaganda.

I once brought up the "War of the Camps", a prolonged bloody conflict primarily between Palestinians and the Shia, and between Shia groups. The two primarily players at each others throat were the more secular Amal Pary and the Iranian backed Hizbollah. Today the two are allies, so I asked these Hizbollah supporters what their views were on that conflict. Their answer was as usual hypocritical, "it was an inter-Shia thing," so I asked, "if you were killed by a fellow Shia it wouldn't be as bad as opposed to if an American killed you?" Considering hundreds if not thousands of Shia were killed in the conflict, one would assume that possibly it would be realized that its not always "America's fault." Of course this fell upon deaf ears. Following that interchange, they told me how the Hizbollah members protesting in Martyr's Square were opposing US influence and control of Lebanon. I asked, "what would make Syrian or Iranian domination or control any better?" Their answer, "we are the same people, and they want what's best for Lebanon." This ignores the fact that Iran is most definitely Persian, not Arab (as the Lebanese Shia consider themselves), and that Syria has killed Hizbollah members before. To quote the MEIB (Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, a more right wing, anti Syria publication), "In early 1987, Amal launched a disastrous campaign against rival Druze and Palestinian forces in west Beirut, prompting Syrian forces to enter the area on February 22. During the operation to secure control of the Basta quarter, Syrian troops killed 23 Hezbollah members who allegedly attacked them."

This isn't a solely Muslim phenomena, many of the Christians of Lebanon blame the US for the loss of Lebanon to Syria. I was speaking to a friend regarding American policies in the region and his answer was, "America sold us out, they let Syria have Lebanon so you could fight in Iraq [referring to James Baker's deal with Damascus, pulling Israeli air cover of the Christian enclave in 1990]." There is much truth to that statement, but to allow all of the blame to fall on the United States ignores many basic facts. For instance Syria was the Soviet Union's main ally in the Middle East following the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreements, they supplied Damascus with thousands of tanks, airplanes, and other weapons. In addition the Christians main enemies (namely the Druze, Sunni Arab Communists, and the PLO) were all Soviet clients. Also regardless of whether America gave the "green light" or not to a Syrian invasion, Damascus already controlled 3/4ths of the country. The Syrian goal, regardless of what the Soviets or Americans told them, was to conquer Lebanon. Even Syria's greatest ally, the Soviet Union, was incredibly mad with Syria for attacking leftist forces (the Soviets backed) and creating tumult in the area. Following Lebanese Army General, Michel Aoun's "War of Liberation," a time when he attacked the Syrian Army, to push them from Lebanon, the Syrians were, air cover of not, going to try to take the Christian areas. Blaming America also ignores that the United States inadvertently preserved Christian power in Lebanon in 1958, and helped stabilize the country, following Lebanese President Chamile Chamoun's plea for American assistance vs. what Chamoun characterized as a Communist takeover.

The question remains, "why is it always America's fault?" Its a number of reasons, it isn't just because we are "the most powerful nation in the world/the world's only superpower."Former vice- chair of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, Graham Fuller, (again I'm paraphrasing) says much of the hatred against America is because of an Islamic view that they were once the dominant empire in the world, respected and feared, and now they are not united and they perceive they are controlled by outside Western influence, who is the biggest and most powerful of the Western nations? The US. Atlantic Monthly writer Robert Kaplan charts the rise of Islamism (and its anti-American overtones) to rebelling against globalization. Globalization is, of course, primarily pushed by America.

Again, the Middle East is a cocktail of tribal identities, and sometimes the only way to get them to work as one, is by finding an outside enemy. America, with its liberal social policies (as compared to much of the Arab world), massive conventional military power, and strong presence abroad make it a clear target. Arab governments use this to their advantage. If the economy is poor, and in comparison America's is large and booming, it was all an American plot. If the military is too repressive, its only to protect the nations identity and keep it out of American hands: in essence its written off "a necessary evil." In the eyes of a common person here and of course many other places, anything that is large, powerful, and seemingly better in many respects than home will be an instant competitor or potential enemy. An old Arab proverb says it best, "I against my brother I and my brother against our cousin, my brother and our cousin against the neighbors all of us against the foreigner." Now imagine that foreigner is more powerful then the brother, the cousin, and your neighbors. This is human nature, only in the Middle East it often takes a violent turn.

____________________________________________
Happy 4th of July from a place that doesn't celebrate Independence Day, but has enough fireworks to light up 1000 American cities.

I am headed to al arz (this blogs namesake) aka the cedars, and northern Lebanon on Friday. I will visit Batroun, Bcharre, and a number of other locations.