Cedar Guardians, Part 1
There has been an "interestingly" anachronistic reemergence of the Cedar Guardians. I am going to roughly (very roughly!) translate an article written by Joseph Samaha, of Assafir. This post contains the first few paragraphs ...In this week of September, 1982, Bashir Gemayel was assassinated, the Israeli forces entered Beirut, the Sabra and Chatila massacres occurred, and the Lebanese Resistance was launched.
These incidents are recalled in 2005 with the new events that Lebanon is now living. This remembrance forms a looking glass that allows us to see the political forces with the weight of everything that has happened. With this interaction with the recent past, a lot can be said about internal Lebanese affairs, except for its future. And the Cedar Guardians have chosen, the day before yesterday, - and this coincides with those dark days – to announce its return to publicactivity, and to repeat its previous thoughts and programs and suggestions, which it deems to be righteous, in this time and in this place.
It seems that with these Guardians, we are faced with a group saying extreme and dogmatic things. Without going into any rivalry with this returning party, we can point out that this blend of extreme nationalism and xenophonia, this racism, this hostility to a type of capitalism and to leftist thought – this is all just borrowed from the fascist and nazi ideologies. The weight of this event on the suffereing Lebanese situation renders it unable to shout for help.
It is possible and easy to disregard the announcement of this immoderate cult. It may even be possible to claim that it has a place in Lebanon. For all Lebanese groups, have, at their base, a handful of objectionable views, and we witness in several of the cases attempts to absolve them of extremism.
To be continued ...
posted by Lazarus, 9:54 AM
1 Comments:
Joseph Samaha's article is an important one, particularly because he ends by arguing that the Cedar Guards are the sons or the "bastards" of the Cedar Revolution.
It is indeed true that there were many negative consequences to March 14.
The rising tide of Chritian Fundamentalism, whether "pro-federalism" like the LF or ultra nationalist fascists like the GOC is going to be one of Lebanon's main problems in the years to come. When Aoun passes away, it is likely that a large part of his followers will join these Christian extremists. The truly secular and progressives within the FPM will turn out to be a minority.
So I think the government reacted very well and took the right decision. It sends a good message to the other Christain extremeists by reminding them that even-though a war criminal Geagea was released from jail, they should keep a low profile. It is necessary to make it clear that a return to Lebanese Christian fascism is not acceptable.
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