A criminal plot from hell has taken hold of Lebanon. Recently, all sides have sought to politically exploit the rising number of refugees arriving in Lebanon. In addition to doing nothing to address the influx, the government is also turning a blind eye to the alarming promotion of racism. Hassan Nasrallah promised the Lebanese people to consolidate Lebanon’s status as a rogue state, encouraging human trafficking in defense of the Syrian regime. In parallel, a Quixotesque war is targeting the so-called threat of deviance; this war is nothing but a plot aimed at undermining freedoms and turning those in pain against political activists.
In contrast, no attention is paid to plunder, corruption, and subjugation to foreign powers. Absolving the politicians and bankers of their thuggish crimes has become policy. The crimes of the bankruptcy mafia’s agent, Riad Salameh, are overlooked, and the parliamentary and judicial "forensic audit" of the Bank of Lebanon is being obstructed. Meanwhile, the page has been turned on the investigation into the crime of the era: the Beirut port blast and Beirut and the genocide it led to.
Both the “opposition” and “loyalist” camps of the regime have prioritized, through the media, which is complicit in the plunder of the country, deflecting the rage of the country’s citizens away from the reason for their pain. There is always a lot of noise when delegations make visits, with speculation around the next president fueled by the proposition of different names. With a new deadline for parliament to elect the new president every month, citizens are left distracted. Everyone involved knows that, given the current skewed balance of power in the country, no president can be elected without the approval of Hezbollah. They ignore the underlying problem: the imbalance created by the statelet of arms hindering the formation of any government. This imbalance left the president’s seat vacant for 30 months so that Michel Aoun could be imposed as president. We are now almost a year into the current vacancy. This imbalance also prevents parliament, which lacks credibility, from electing a head of state, one of its primary responsibilities.
This is all very dangerous, as it is part of a blatant effort to reshape public consciousness to suit the agendas of the mafia in power and its interests. The sectarian forces dominating the countries have always been brilliant practitioners of this strategy, allowing them to consistently garner significant support from substantial segments of the population.
After the "Independence Uprising" in 2005, which saw massive numbers of citizens demand justice and the application of the law and constitution, the country’s sectarian leaders did what they do best, allowing them to amass considerable wealth. Through the “Quadripartite Agreement," they gave the sectarian-quota-based spoil-sharing regime a new lease on life. These leaders reached this agreement for fear of their people and the immense hopes the public had pinned on the emergence of a normal state that represents all the Lebanese, instead of the farm established by sectarian militia leaders overseen by the Syrian regime. Their success foiled the first serious attempt to end the imbalance of power in the country.
"The 'October 17' revolution of 2019, which proved that it could not be subordinated or manipulated, gave an unequivocal response with overwhelming support. Through it, the people reconciled and broke with their leaders. This revolution ruptured with the culture of cantons and regional divisions, sending those in power a message: the rights of the citizens will be reclaimed. This revolutionary atmosphere reopened the door to a path of rectifying the imbalance. The general elections on May 15, 2022, made this prospect more credible, with more than 400,000 voters punishing the political class. The elections laid the foundations for the formation of a 'historical bloc', a broad coalition that cuts across sectarian affiliations, drawing both urban and rural support, and crystallizing a political alternative to save the country!
Since the 'October' vote deprived Hezbollah of its majority, as well as denying the opposition a majority, campaigns to shatter this patriotic consciousness were launched. They fed into the sectarian split that had emerged with the March 8/ March 14 binary. Then came the launch of other battles against marginal issues that exist almost exclusively in the imagination, to distract them from focusing on what really matters.
If Lebanon is indeed “a prisoner of history and hostage to geography,” as my colleague Eyad Abu Shakra put it, it is primarily hijacked first and foremost by a ruthless alliance of mafiosos. This alliance is not troubled by its subordination to external powers in exchange for shares of power. Their loud voices and propositions don't conceal their real intentions. Their priorities are to bolster their political positions within the sectarian spoil-sharing regime, with Hezbollah blatantly seeking to grasp more power through the presidency. Hezbollah was alarmed and threatened by the last election, which it realizes has undermined its plot to deracinate Lebanon...
This approach aims to obscure the alignment of different political forces. Between 2005 and the 'October Revolution,' whether they were “loyalists” or part of the “opposition” worked together and shared governments for 11 years. They cooperated closely in parliamentary committees and in passing legislation for 23 years. Their partnership bears responsibility for the collapses, and only the judiciary will someday hold each party accountable for what it has done.
"The collapse was not inevitable; it was the goal. The regime as a whole benefited from it. Four years after declaring bankruptcy and since the country was impoverished, there is still no plan to address the country’s continuous disasters. Since the thieves returning what they had stolen is not in the realm of possibility, and given that those who violated the country's sovereignty and constitution will never respect it, the same trajectory continues. The people's deposits, which have been eyed for two decades, are the main source of hard currency. They have squandered billions on policies that deliberately created a new wealthy class, funded monopolies, the banking cartel, and Hezbollah, as well as militias in Syria, through smuggling, arbitrary subsidies, and the looting of deposits... They deceive the public by suggesting that the key to solutions is the election of a president... one that fits their criteria!
All the marginal battles that have been launched are aimed at riddling the country with caricatural sectarian militias that could become deadly tomorrow, and at undermining freedoms... This is a concerted effort to kill the consciousness created by the October revolution, and keep those responsible for the collapse and the people’s subjugation in power. Beware of this diversion from hell!
