The crowd was markedly older, arak was on the table, and smoke filled the air. It was the 12th, a Thursday night in Jounieh, at the Guardians of the Cedars (GoC) dinner. The dinner brought together former fighters, family members, believers in the GoC's right-wing, secular-nationalist philosophy and members of the self described GoC youth. The dinner hit off without a hitch, there were piles of food, hummus, tabbouleh, vegetables, and meats. I sat at a table of younger GoC supporters, mostly college students. There was a collection of marching music and hymns in honor of the GoC militia. There was atleast 45 minutes of standing for the fallen members and to honor Lebanon."Phillip, we are not speaking Arabic, it is Lebanese," said one of the attendees after I explained I was learning Lebanese Arabic at LAU. To the GoC, Lebanon is Phonecian, not Arab. The Guardians see the Palestinians and Syrians as the ultimate enemies to their goals for Lebanon. The ideological leader of the Guardians, was poet and author, Said Akl. His protege, and warlord leader of the GoC, Etienne Sakr (known by his nom de guerre, Abu Arz) said, "there is no room for any Palestinian in Lebanon." Both Akl and Sakr attributed Lebanon's geography, its lack of desert (Lebanon is the only state in the Middle East lacking one) and its mountains, a feature which sheltered the Lebanese (Christians, Shi'ites, and Sunnis) for centuries. These geographical attributes, leading to isolation, fostered a unique Lebanese culture and language. Many, especially those in the media would call their philosophy of anti-Arabism and rabid anti-Palestinian ideology as racist and simplistic. Nevertheless, some of their ideology was a strong underlying current in
many of the right wing Lebanese parties from the early 1980s until today. "We didn't have this dinner to just make money," said one of the events organizers, referring to the $20 door fee, "it was to show the old fighters, some of whom were brothers in arms, that they didn't fight in vain." The night was also topped by a phone call by Abu Arz (Etienne Sakr), who is currently exiled in Cyprus. Sakr was sentenced to death in abstention by Lebanon. In addition, his Lebanese Renewal Party (the political parent to the Guardians of the Cedars) is banned in Lebanon.
Some Christians, even those not on the fringe like Sakr, do feel that he was one of not even a handful of Lebanese politicians who didn't sell out to a foriegn power. He didn't give into bribery by the Syrians, and didn't completely sell out to the Israels (as Antoine Lahad, commander of the South Lebanese Army [SLA] did). Even one of my teachers, after seeing my invitation to the GoC dinner, and a supporter of no political party said, "you know, they were right. [about the Syrians and Palestinians]"
Through an active recruitment policy, the Guardians continue to attract many Lebanese (although most of them Christian) to their line of thinking. The internet revolution has brought many in, in fact at the dinner I met one person who came because he met a GoC member via the internet. I've counted atleast four Guardians of the Cedars related groups on Facebook, a popular social networking site. In addition to Guardians run a number of websites:
http://www.cedarguards.org/wb/index.php
http://gotc.org/
http://www.gotc-au.org/
The GoC dinner was topped off by a cake, frosted with the former militias logo. Many started to shuffle out the door, the old militiamen sat and reminisced with their families, smoke from water pipes and cigarettes hung in the air. It looked like the extreme ideology the GoC holds may slowly be going the way of the dinosaur. Nevertheless,even if the GoC became extinct; like previous ideologies, even those on the opposite side of the political spectrum of the GoC, their ideals will influence people to come. Incredibly, it seems in the eyes of GoC members, their ideology is now filtering into their old enemies (mainly Sunni pan-Arab parties) and becoming more mainstream. In the words of the event's organizer, "it took us 20 years, we wanted the Palestinians out, and now look, the Sunnites (Sunnis) are going in and crushing Nahr al Bared."
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*Fellow blogger Ecce Libnano brought an interesting point to light, and one I would expect from many GoC members: 1. the GoC isn't a "rightist group." Many GoC members consider themselves to belong to an "ideology" which is neither left nor right. I based my comment on the fact that historically the GoC fought and identified with rightists inside Lebanon. In addition most of the people I talked to identified themselves as "right wing" or "rightists." One GoC member even refused to go to a club in Hamra (one that is decked out in Marx and Lenin posters) because it was leftist. Nevertheless it is a point to consider that "rightist" is just a Western label invented for the GoC.
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