Last year Lebanon was on the verge of a new civil war when on May 7, 2008, Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian militias entered west Beirut and wreaked havoc. In the following days, Hezbollah and the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP) went on the rampage in Aley and the Chouf.
A recent Now Lebanon article tells in some detail what happened during those few days in which Hezbollah was “defending” its existence by going on the offensive against the Lebanese, though not all the Lebanese. It literally invaded the largely Sunni part of Beirut, a March 14 stronghold, and the Druze areas of Mount Lebanon. The clashes were violent though no official number of dead and wounded were announced.
Of course, as a result of the clashes, the Lebanese parties agreed in Doha last year to a new electoral law and a national unity government which took office shortly after. In effect, the agreement was a capitulation to Hezbollah’s fait accompli. The party/militia was too powerful for the state to confront them, and so they decided to wait it out and go to the polls instead. On June 7 the parties will fight it out in elections.
