The people of Lebanon gave a clear and decisive verdict (‘no’ to UN Resolution 1559 and ‘yes’ to the Taif Agreement) through the massive demonstrations organized by Lebanese parties loyal to Syria, headed by the Hezbollah, in Beirut last Tuesday.
The demonstrations were a forceful statement on the Lebanese political situation, that the vast majority of the Lebanese people rejects foreign intervention be it directly from the UN or indirectly from the US.
The demonstrations reflected the unanimous stand of all the parties and sects in rejecting Resolution 1559, which calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanese soil and disarming of the militias. These are tricky requests because most clauses of the resolution serve only the interests of Israel at the expense of the state of Lebanon.
Which is why the Lebanese political parties have, despite differences, agreed on the Taif Agreement as the basic reference for a dialogue to find a solution to the current crisis that emerged following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The collective stand of the people of Lebanon and their commitment to the Taif Agreement could well be part of the solution for the internal crisis. It could also serve as a strong wall that protects the state of Lebanon from foreign intervention reflected in UN Resolution 1559. The Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon is now a reality, be it on the basis of the Taif Agreement or the UN resolution, and there is no need to exert further pressure on Syria to carry out other demands. Rather, the international community should put pressure on Israel to pull out from south Lebanon. Unfortunately, the US is shying away from exerting any pressure on Israel to return full sovereignty to Lebanon. But the US needs to prove its credibility that it cares for the people of Lebanon, as US President Bush stressed last Tuesday in his speech at the National Defense University in Washington, declaring that proper implementation of democracy in Lebanon would have an impact on all Arab regimes! It is unfair that the US administration would make public statements on applying pressure on Syria to implement UN Resolution 1559 without exercising similar pressures on Israel to leave south Lebanon.
Mind you, there is a difference between Syrian presence in Lebanon and the presence of Israeli forces in south Lebanon. It is the Israeli occupation, not the Syrian presence, that motivated all the chiefs of Lebanese parties, including Hezbollah, to form a broad political front against foreign intervention via UN Resolution 1559, which aims at taking away from the Lebanese people their right to defend their land occupied and usurped by Israeli forces. The armed militias would disband, as demanded by UN Resolution 1559, after the end of occupation, not before that. They are not forces opposed to the Lebanese Army; they are forces supporting it in its resistance against Israel that is occupying the Lebanese farms of Shebaa. The ball is in the court of the leaders of Lebanese parties. They should form a government involving people on all sides of the Lebanese political spectrum and take on the challenges facing the state of Lebanon. This is particularly relevant, now that the Lebanese people have accepted the departure of the Syrian forces in accordance with the Taif Agreement and rejected foreign intervention via UN Resolution 1559. There is no way out of this crisis other than a dialogue among all the forces, in the interest of a unified Lebanon.
— Essa bin Mohammed Al-Zedjali is editor in chief of The Times of Oman.
