To understand the intellectual and emotional turmoil sweeping the Middle East during this highly volatile period, one need look no further than Lebanon. This state of affairs is driven by two primary factors: first, the country's diverse landscape of distinct groups with deeply contrasting views and sentiments; second, a long-standing tradition of freedom of expression, which has grown increasingly complex and unbridled with the rise of social media infiltrating both private and public spheres.
Extremists from all sides are unchecked in fueling intolerance, hostility, and defamation to vent their own deep-seated animosity and agitation. Their actions aim to maximize support and solidarity, not only within Lebanon, but also across a region widely gripped by these same conflicting stances.
Nevertheless, the picture remains entirely clear to any objective observer. For 77 years - from Husni al-Zaim’s 1949 military coup in Syria to the present - the slogan of "liberating Palestine" has been utilized in the exact same manner. Initially, it served to justify successive military coups. Later, it was used to exploit Lebanon’s unique freedoms to call for fighting Israel exclusively from the south of this small nation, despite the vast Arab world and its 500 million people.
This approach has led to major catastrophes, particularly in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya, which were ravaged by tyranny, oppression, corruption, the theft of national wealth by rulers, rampant civil wars, and the stifling of society's vital forces. It has culminated in the tragedy of Gaza, following the destruction of Lebanon and its plunge from the "Switzerland of the East" to the abyss. All of this occurred under the banner of "liberating Palestine," while over these 77 years, Israel has not lost an inch of land, but has instead expanded and grown in prosperity, as well as military, economic, and technological might.
Does this catastrophic historical collapse not demand, at the very least, a single moment of reflection, review, and self-criticism by its architects?
No, not at all. On the contrary, the Iranian project continues alongside its supporters, including the Muslim Brotherhood, remnants of Syrian Baathists, communists, Marxists, Syrian nationalists, and various Lebanese political factions across multiple sects that went far in collaborating with Syrian Baathist and Iranian hegemony over Lebanon. This alliance aggressively justifies both its past and present as if nothing happened, existing in a state of absolute intellectual and emotional stagnation.
Furthermore, these forces do not hesitate to attack critics of their path and its outcomes, labeling them as Zionists and other epithets. They also do not hesitate to describe the Lebanese project - the architect of the "Switzerland of the East" and the sole historic achievement in this region - as right-wing, isolationist, and reactionary. They do this as if the Iranian, Muslim Brotherhood, and Assadist Baathist groups, along with their Lebanese allies, represent the progressive, humanitarian left and serve as the champions of freedom and respect for human life in the region and the world.
Delving deeper into this turmoil reveals cases of astonishing contradiction and obsession within a country that has endured half a century of crises, wars, and woes under Assadist and Iranian hegemony, dating back to the Syrian military intervention in Lebanon in 1976. Severe verbal violence is now evident within the sphere of the Iranian axis, triggered by the rapid shift from a status of first-class citizenship to one of displacement.
Instead of directing this hostility toward Israel, it pours its wrath upon domestic Lebanese parties. Similarly, other Lebanese groups allied with the Iranian axis express themselves in highly tense and sharp rhetoric, fearing the loss of the material and moral privileges granted by their long-standing endorsement of the Syrian or Iranian presence in Lebanon, or both, while also fearing accountability. There are also those who formulate their final political and emotional stance on everything happening in the region based solely on their hostility toward, or support for, a village mayor or municipal head.
Furthermore, there are "enemies" of the Lebanese lifestyle who, despite their stance, cannot bear to leave Lebanon for even a single day to experience living under Syrian Baathist or Iranian Khomeinist rule in their respective homelands. Finally, there are those who harbor relentless hostility toward the West, particularly the United States, even though their greatest hope is to send their children to study or work there or in Europe, and their ultimate ambition is to acquire citizenship from those very countries... Truly, the ways of mankind are strange.
