More than ever, the Lebanese need to come to an understanding among themselves that complements political initiatives and reinforces diplomatic efforts. That is not a moralistic cliche, as this sense of urgency is driven by the brutality of Israel’s project and its hardening terms, which threaten Lebanon’s sovereignty and could potentially lead to the occupation of a large or small segment of the country.
This raging bull is charging ahead, deterred and afraid of nothing, in both Gaza and Lebanon. It is targeting civilians, medical teams, journalists, paramedics, schools, multinational peacekeeping forces, humanitarian institutions, and Lebanese soldiers on a daily basis, and it is targeting both the environment and urban infrastructure. We, in turn, are sinking deeper into catastrophe as the scale of death, destruction, displacement, and poverty expands, leaving the county itself on the verge of fading away.
However, for the Lebanese to come together, we must reflect on what has happened and reassess as we seek to minimize avoidable losses, rather than insisting on the same old broken record that is played in any and every context, and leaving it to hover gleefully over the scorched earth.
It seems that the kinds of reassessments needed to enhance unity are precisely the ones not being conducted. Instead of introspection and asking questions of ourselves, the Farsi mystic Bastami’s “Glory to me, how great I am” prevails as the events undermining our grandiose image of ourselves are attributed to factors totally unrelated to our actions, neither directly nor indirectly.
As usual, a significant share of the blame is placed on the shoulders of the media, especially television broadcasters: accusations, abuse, defamation, and calls for boycotts. The demand, it seems, is that we keep listening to the echo of our own voices, and that we continue to repeat our poor narrative about the developments currently unfolding, as though doing so would somehow turn our wishes into reality and dispel our anguish.
The fact is that blaming inconvenient material developments on the manipulative lies of the media, is a hallmark of authoritarian consciousness, especially in moments of unhinged conspiratorialism. It shifts the blame for disastrous outcomes from politicians and their supporters to a handful of misguided and misleading media outlets and opinion-makers who are bought and paid for... Mind you, this character assassination happens while Israel continues its physical assassinations of journalist colleagues.
Yes, there was an expressive explosion in Lebanon just over a month ago, especially as it became clear that the sacrifices made in the name of building strength and ensuring protection had been all in vain, leading to collapse without any strength or protection. Hezbollah’s preoccupation with its own concerns has allowed many of those who had previously kept quiet out of fear to voice their opinions on questions that pertain to their lives and their country.
Nonetheless, feigning surprise about this "conspiracy" was not convincing, nor was the recourse to satire in the place of understanding, which made the satirists seem like they are living on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Hezbollah’s critics never cheated the party. They have openly spoken of their profound differences with it and their staunch opposition to its policies and wars. If Abdul-Malik al-Houthi can claim, as he did in his latest speech, that "the Lebanese people have rallied around the resistance," the people of Lebanon - including Hezbollah’s support base - know that this is nothing more than a fable.
Indeed, everyone knows that this dispute extends to almost everything and that the casualties and victims who lost their lives over it all had reservations about the policies and repercussions of the resistance. And everyone knows that large segments of Lebanese society have always believed that there could be no equality among citizens so long as Hezbollah maintained its arsenal and that this arsenal made building a state and ensuring social stability impossible.
Everyone also knows that "liberating the Shebaa Farms" is not a convincing justification, even to a plucked chicken, for perpetuating the militarization of society and politics. Everyone knows how the "opposition" grabbed the political process by the throat, cornering the government through the "blocking third," shutting down parliament, and insisting that parliament elect their single candidate - and no one else - president.
And everyone knows that a considerable majority of the population sees the policy of aligning with Iran, and ruining Lebanon’s relationships with Arab and Western countries as a push to destroy their preferred model for the country. Everyone knows that Hezbollah’s war in Syria is seen, by many in Lebanon, as an attack on a neighboring nation that displaced its people. Everyone knows that the terms Hezbollah leaders occasionally use to describe Lebanon, like calling it a country of "nightclubs and beach resorts," speak to the chasm between our views on life itself, as well as just the functions of the country and its people.
Everyone knows that rethinking the virtue of "Lebanese coexistence" is beginning to become a popular demand whose weight is growing within certain communities, and that this had begun long before October 7 and 8.
Insulting the media and journalists is nothing more than a pathetic inanity when measured against the magnitude of the problem, which cannot be overcome with insults or be dissipated by the naive assumption that calling on the Lebanese to "rise up and face the Zionist enemy in the field" is enough to leave us lined up as one like the strands of a North Korean comb.
The country was driven to war amid this immense schism, which was created by particular actions, not the media and journalists. So, after everything that has happened, will we now think about becoming more responsible, to allow for taking the rubble of this country toward peace, with some unity, even a minimal degree of it?
