Lebanon enjoys many advantages that other countries are deprived of, most important of which is that it is the country with the greatest number of political crimes, especially those in which the perpetrator remains unknown. Like everything else, the victims were from all sects, beliefs, and levels of importance. If one sect's share happened to be greater than another's, it was a matter of coincidence, not deliberate.
For example, Sunnis have presented the largest number of martyrs, most notably Rafik al-Hariri and Rashid Karami. The number of ministers killed is countless. The Druze presented the most important figure in their history. The Maronites are not ashamed to give and take. The press too was not spared assassinations.
Saturday marked 21 years since Hariri's assassination, whose reverberations were felt across the globe. Due to fear of naming the local killer, the case was referred to international justice, which was even more fearful. Twenty-two people were killed with Hariri, hundreds were injured, and the truth was sentenced to death.
The number of killings of top tier politicians in half a century is estimated at about 300. The number of those who died with them is not known, nor is it known whether the crime was committed for Lebanese, fraternal or nationalist reasons, or the one time when 150,000 lives were claimed and hastily buried without a backward glance.
Individual and general assassinations took place on Lebanese soil with complete disregard of the authority of the state. Not to mention the Israeli crimes that take place every day. People have grown accustomed to crimes that go unresolved and unpunished.
The only serious development in Lebanon's Arab relations is that Damascus and Beirut have agreed to exchange prisoners and convicts, and all those associated with relations of brotherhood, justice, and joint revival for greater, more important, and more comprehensive aims.
