By: Elias Bejjani
September 11/08Lebanon's rulers, officials and politicians with their numerous feudal, social, denominational, secular and fundamentalist affiliations - as well as the so-calledresistance have disastrously failed in managing the challenges of the new independence era in the aftermath of Syria's humiliating and forced withdrawalin year 2005 in accordance with the UN Resolution 1559.
This mosaic leadership has aborted to a great extent the historic liberation achievements reached by the Cedar's Revolution that was bravely spearheaded by Lebanon's young men and women. The Lebanese political class has proved to be totally incompetent in the areas of faith, perseverance, devotion, education, intelligence, organization, national convictions, approaches, strategies and honesty. Its crippling performance was evident before, during and after the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel devastating war.
Bogus masks fell down while negligence as well as treachery were behind the war that inflicted immense losses in people, money and infrastructure. Hezbollah's militant terrorist organization planned and instigated it while all leadership were appeasing and cajoling its leadership and not witnessing for the truth.
All these leaders and politicians kept on feeding the beast (Hezbollah), until it turned its weapons on them and is now endeavoring to devour all of them. Why have all these tragedies unfolded? Why is all this political corruption happening? How can the political establishment's negligence, poor insight, cowardice and questionable stances pass without any kind of legal and moral accountability?
The answer simply lies in the feudal, tribal and individualistic mentality that controls people's minds and dictates their behavior and acts.
But most importantly because of the people's subservience, ignorance, and blind loyalty to leaders and politicians who bring ruin to their interests and mortgage their country without the people speaking up or protesting.Meanwhile the conscientious and informed Lebanese citizens and the intellectuals who honor national, ethical and moral convictions refrain from supportingany leader blindly or joining any party without agreeing with its platform.
Good Lebanese citizens are those who have the moral stamina to differentiate between the fake and the authentic, the honest and the evil, the transparent and the treacherous.
They are those who do not cast their vote or give their trust and support to a politician or political party that knows neither freedom nor democracy, and that does not honor the right of expression and the right to difference.Those of us who believe in the righteousness of Lebanon's national cause and respect the rights of their fellow citizens are not fascinated merely by thecharisma and outside charms of leaders. They reject the logic of passivity and feudal subservience in adopting loyalty or opposition. They possess a clearcriterion for what is right and what is wrong and will never, ever accept the role of ignorant, misled and blind followers.
Those of us who keep themselves informed and well updated on unfolding events in the domains of politics, social affairs, human rights, democracy,corruption, lust for power, and the media's misleading bickering, are currently definitely feeling frustrated, angry and unhappy about the way things arebeing handled in Lebanon.
In Lebanon at the present time, based on stances and achievements, there are no differences between the opposition or the loyalists. All are cut from the same cloth: Opportunists, greedy, heartless, and serving their own individual agendas and ambitions. They manipulate the people, camouflage their stances, color their attitudes and tailor their affiliations to fit their hunger for authority, money and gains.
All what we hear from both loyalists and opposition is a below-the-belt rhetoric, an ongoing game of humiliating media accusations, insults, threats andfabricated games and shows aiming to deflect people's attention and focus away from the disastrous social, living, health environmental, security, justice andeconomic circumstances.
Meanwhile, the country's borders with Syria are not patrolled by the Lebanese Army. They are left unattended and open for smuggling of weapons,merchandise and people. The armed militias, of which is the terrorist Hezbollah, run freely their mini-states and cantons while spreading the education of Jihadism, rejections of others, fundamentalism, oppressing freedoms and manipulating people's fate and destiny.
In the same context, all public services are deteriorating with a scary escalation in unemployment rates, out of control public debt and deficit, deeprooted corruption, explicit bribery and covert nepotism. More than a quarter of a million Lebanese citizens have left Lebanon over the past two years.
The latest traumatic events have uncovered and publicly exposed the actual shocking reality of the Lebanese leadership that has failed in fulfilling itsduties, obligations and responsibilities. They all lost both the trust and the respect of the citizens, while the majority of the public is frustrated,disappointed, angry and sees no light at the end of the tunnel. A feeling that has led to a massive exodus, especially among Christians whose leadersunfortunately have forgotten who they are, who are their people, what cause they ought to defend and which interests to safeguard.
The people who fought peacefully and intellectually since 1988 back home and in Diaspora for a free, independent and sovereign Lebanon were not surprised or disappointed by the camouflaged and fishy tactics and strategies used by politicians, parties who were shameless servants and puppets for the Syrian Baathist occupation for years. No hopes were invested in any of them due to the plain fact that neither their present nor their future shall be any different from their dirty and blemished past.
What has really been sad, and in fact intolerable, unacceptable, and disappointing by all means and standards is the sudden, unexplainable and bewilderingdrifting and derailing of elite Christian politician and leader General Michel Aoun.
The man has changed completely his struggle track, turned against his own stances, negated his own principles, trashed each and every slogan he had advocated for, broke every promise he made, turned his back on all those honest, transparent and devoted partners, supporters and colleagues, and with cold emotions dishonored the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands who trusted him and paid accordingly dear in exile, oppression, detainment, poverty, persecution, prosecution, deprivation etc. Aoun is now and by all means a mere Syrian-Iranian mouthpiece that is used to cover Hezbollah's crimes and scheme to take over Lebanon.
The question is, does General Aoun and those who still blindly support him comprehend history and learn from its books?There is no doubt that Sheikh Bachir Gemayel, his father Sheikh Pierre, President Camille Chamoun, Charles Malek, Fouad Afram Al Bustani, and other Christian Lebanese leaders, with thousands and thousands of Lebanese men, women and children who gave their lives for Lebanon's freedom, rights and democracy are turning angrily in their graves while watching elite Christian leaders turning into political dwarfs who sold their country and the Christian cause with thirty pieces of silver.What these derailed leaders and politicians should never forget under any given circumstances is that public mandates, votes as well as support can bewithdrawn once the people find out they have been betrayed and their trust was misused and abused. People might take some time to comprehend all factsand realities, but ultimately they will act.
What is reassuring in the midst of this frustration is that the Lebanese people have endured with courage, faith and hope thirty years of a horrific SyrianBaathist occupation till their country was liberated, but still they know very well that there will be no lasting peace before the disarming and dismantling ofall Lebanese and non Lebanese militias and the spread of the authority of the central Lebanese government over all the territory of Lebanon through its ownlegitimate military forces. Accordingly, all leaders are judged on these national requirements
Sheikh Bachir Jmayel, Lebanon's historic Leader and after 26 years on his tragic assassination, he is still alive in the conscience of the majority of the Lebanese people. In the annual commemoration for his martyrdom that falls on September 14th, We all pray that his soul rests in peace, and the Lebanon that he dreamed of shall become a reality.
Meanwhile Sheikh Bachir Jmayel's dream of a free, independent, sovereign and peaceful Lebanon remains alive, and the liberation flame that he courageously carried is still glowing and shall remain so.
By the end all those Lebanese leaders, officials and politicians who betray the hopes and aspirations of the Lebanese people shall be thrown in the dustbin of history.
*Elias Bejjani
Chairman for the Canadian Lebanese Coordinating Council (LCCC)
Human Rights activist, journalist & political commentator.
Spokesman for the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF) E.Mail phoenicia@hotmail.com LCCC Web Site http://www.10452lccc.comCLHRF
Website http://www.clhrf.com
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