Lebanon: A Language That Fails To Heal

When I was a kid, I would go to my cousin Samir’s house often. One day while playing, Samir broke his arm. Naively, I went inside and grabbed a band-aid to put on his injury, thinking it was enough to heal his arm. Luckily his mother saw him injured and took him to the hospital, which was the logical thing to do. But as a child, I did not know any of this. Like my naivety as a kid, the Lebanese politicians thought they could put a band-aid on a conflict that lasted 15 years.

Ethnicities Vs. Resources

Lebanon is a small Middle Eastern country that houses more sects and ethnicities than its limited resources. As such, its political system is highly sectarian. Each denomination, depending on their position in government, issued laws favoring its own and by default depriving the rest of the Lebanese people. When these different sects failed to communicate a middle ground, the civil war erupted in 1976, and I no longer saw my cousins, let alone play with them.  

Large Scale Vs. Small Scale War

After fifteen years of civil war, the Taif agreement of 1988, ended the war promising “mutual coexistence” among various Lebanese sects. Strangely enough, the accord did not emphasize peaceful coexistence. Even though coexistence, by definition, is a competition without war, the Taif agreement did not categorize it as a peaceful one. So, by contrast, that coexistence is fierce, potent, or violent. Since the endorsement of the Taif agreement, Lebanon has experienced at least 19 violent events, including airstrikes, assignations, clashes, and tension. Ironically, an airstrike marked the enforcement of the Taif agreement. The language of the accord did not promote peace, so by default, it embraced conflict. 

The Panacea 

The Taif agreement engineered a “proper political representation” for different Lebanese sects. However, the scheme boiled down to curtailing the authority of the President by one inch. So, it is the same sectarian competition, except the Prime Minister answers to the Parliament and not to the President.  

Victimization: No Representation

The accord did not address the representation of victims of the war, including women who were raped and left alone to suffer. In the spirit of the agreement, Lebanon issued pardon laws. Based on these laws, all rapists walked scotfree while their victims lived in a society that blamed for what happened. It is not clear how coexistence can take place between victims and perpetrators. Ironically, money counterfeiters were held accountable but not rapists.

In a sense, the language of “proper political representation” values money, not people. 

The language of agreement ignored the protection of the environment as an urgent postconflict need. The conflict has left a heavy toll on the Lebanese ecosystem. However, the deal failed to mention the environment. Currently, Lebanon suffers from 75% of air pollution, and 69.44% of drinking water pollution. Moreover, Lebanon is drowning in waste. Lebanon has not enacted an effective policy to manage its waste, which is one of the underlining causes of the ongoing protests in Lebanon right now. 

In a way, just like how my little band-aid would not have helped my cousin heal, the Taif agreement did not support Lebanon in its quest to find peace.