Lebanese independence: Let's replace sectarianism with citizenship

Yesterday marked the 71^st anniversary of Lebanon's independence. However, a celebration would be misplaced. This is an occasion to carry out a strict critical examination of the challenges facing the country.

The review should look at why Lebanon's sectarian system has nearly destroyed many of its political achievements. Lebanon's countless political, cultural and intellectual contributions have boosted the cause of enlightenment and progress in various fields. However, they have failed to reinforce and cement the cohesion of Lebanon's civil society and its institutions, which could have been a model to be emulated across the region.

How can Lebanon celebrate independence at a time when it is hard to find anything worth celebrating?

How can Lebanon celebrate independence at a time when it is hard to find anything worth celebrating? Our brave soldiers are in the hands of terrorists, who are trying to blackmail the government and exchange them for their criminals in Lebanese prisons. At the same time, there is growing dependence on outside powers over domestic and foreign policy matters, especially regarding the election of a new president.

This may increase domestic divisions and tensions, which were already brittle to begin with. However, the root of the problem is the sectarian system, which has robbed the Lebanese of their right to citizenship. Sectarianism has removed patriotic and political aspects from the notion of citizenship, and reduced it to being about affiliation to a sect rather than a nation and a state.

Today the Lebanese are first and foremost citizens of their sects and religious communities. They rely on these communities and rally to their banners whenever they are called upon.

Lebanon is a pluralistic melting pot of different sects, but not of equal citizens. The country is instead an umbrella for the subjects of religious communities that only meet to share quotas of power. This not only causes periodic clashes between rival parties, it also leads to further fragmentation and discord. In this regard, we must salute those Lebanese who have dared to abandon their sectarian loyalties, preferring to subscribe to the true notion of citizenship in an attempt to rebuild Lebanon's civil society.

The anniversary of Lebanon's independence comes amid unprecedented regional circumstances: from Iraq to Libya, Syria and Yemen. These conditions have led to seismic shifts, toppling regimes and borders, and ushering in an era of unfettered chaos. The map of the entire region may be redrawn if jihadists continue to slice at it and control its fate. The foundations of citizenship in many countries have collapsed, replaced by absolute loyalties charged with violence and a sweeping tendency to annihilate anyone who is different. If this continues, it will leave nothing but ruin and total destruction in its wake.

Perhaps on the anniversary of their independence, the Lebanese should pause and look at the regional picture, and draw lessons from it. They should realise that sectarianism has undermined Lebanon's immunity from regional events. The country is now a weightless leaf blowing in the wind of sharp polarisations. Divisions have exacerbated internal disputes, further debilitating the country at a time when it should have been protected and bolstered by its internal immunity.

It is time we moved away from a focus on the plurality of sects and become a country of plurality, or at least put the country on a path in this direction. What we see today, with institutions being disrupted and the state's role dwarfed, is so corrosive it could cause the state to implode.

We need to reassess Lebanon's structure, so its people can coexist in tune with the elements of enlightenment it has produced. If this happens it may serve as an example for the rest of the Arab world to follow, by helping to transfigure ideas of pan-Arabism into a concept that embraces the true sense of citizenship.

We should only celebrate independence if we can show a determination to overcome sectarianism.

We should only celebrate independence if we can show a determination to overcome sectarianism, the mother of all Lebanese ills. There is no other way for Lebanon to restore its unique position and role in the region.

To move down this path, we need to fulfil certain requirements: curb lawlessness by electing a new president; and set a date for parliamentary elections, which would precede preparations to draft a modern constitution. This would be the gateway to a new era and help end sectarianism.

Lebanon's salvation from sectarianism will not only help it leave the tunnel where it is currently stuck, it will also allow it to take on a catalytic regional role. The country has taken on this position before, and it has the capacity to contribute to the renaissance that the region badly needs when it emerges from the current crisis.

Lebanon's rich experience of various sectors of civil society, from trade unions to student bodies, and political and women's organisations, could be used to help the new generation emerge from insular factional and sectarian shells. This depends, however, on the country's capacity to be self-critical, and understand how the impact of sectarianism and misplaced alliances with foreign powers have had on its troubled journey.

If it can do it, Lebanon may be able to step from back from the edge of the precipice where it stands today.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of al-Araby a-Jadeed, its editorial board or staff.