We all need to say sorry!

One of these days we, the Lebanese, need to realize that we must apologize to one another for all the mistakes and “sins” we committed against one another as various groups and sects in the country. This is the one thing no one has really ever done. Today, we continue to live out our fears and desire for revenge in our domestic politics. Here are some examples of the things some of us as Lebanese perceive need to be apologized for:

1. The imbalance between Christians and Muslims in the original constitution which favored the Christians sects, and Maronites in particular, for over 40 years until the Taef Accord. This was the main issue that led to the civil war in 1975. For many, this gave Christians an unfair lead which they still enjoy today, especially in economics and education.
2. The ethnic cleansing and massacres committed in the Chouf and other parts of the mountains by the Druze against the Christians. To this day, most have not been able to return to their homes for lack of a sense that they will be welcomed back as equals and without harassment. 
3. The fighting among the various Christians sects in the 1980s which created deep hatred among the various parties and regions.
4. The economic and social policies of the 1990s which are largely associated with Rafic Hariri and perceived by Christians in general of having favored Muslims and Sunnis especially.
5. The massacres of Muslim civilians by Christian militias in the 1970s and 1980s based on their identity cards.
6. The fighting in the 1990s between Amal and Hezbollah that split the Shia down the middle.

These are just some examples which continue to hang heavily over the Lebanese and continue to move emotions. Isn’t it time we set those differences aside and apologized for each other for these crimes committed in the name of “defending the nation” or of a “progressive agenda” or “righting previous wrongs”. We need to realize that defending the nation or moving it forward by improving and reforming our laws can only be done in agreement with one another.

While there have been some efforts made, these have not always been up to expectations. One example was the reconciliation between the Druze and the Maronite church on the ethnic cleansing of the Chouf. Yet, until this day, many people have not returned to their homes, and there are many Christians who do not feel that the reconciliation was complete and only served to provide Walid Jumblat with a political gain.

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Revenge will come for 1948

I am now reading Ilan Pappe’s book about the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by the racist Zionist movement. You can also read about it on wikipedia and see all the sides and sources of the history of the 1947-49 war. It makes me furious to read in such detail how deliberate the Zionist policy was to kick the Palestinians out of their homeland was. To this day, the bulk of these forced refugees sit in camps around the Middle East rotting without hope or a future.

I know that I will, until the day I die, always hope and dream for a day when Israel as the Jewish state will be destroyed. The more painfully for its citizens the better. I will use any opportunity I have to inflict a blow. I know also that there are many others like me and that one day it will reach a point when Israel will be really under threat.

European and American hypocrisy has been complicit all along in making sure that Palestine never returns to its people. Their talk about peace and tolerance is a bunch of hogwash meant for the consumption of their brainless citizens who believe it all. When in reality, they have no respect for anything but raw power. Raw power is what we will continue to use to take revenge for 1948.

From now on, every time a Palestinian blows himself up and kills “innocent civilians” I will rejoice. That is what Zionists were doing in 1948 and that is what they will get in 2009. No longer will I feel sorrow for the lost life. These people do not deserve to live if they cannot understand the abominable crime their forefathers committed in 1948; their crime is doing nothing to rectify the initial crime.

There is only one solution that deserves consideration: the return of every single Palestinian who wishes to return to their original home; the very exact town or city they were forced to leave in 1948. Anything less is a crime that deserves to be fought until the end of time.

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