Hamas and Hezbollah represent the reaction to unresolved issues, such as a fair and durable peace in the Middle East, said Daily Star (Beirut) in an editorial on Wednesday. Excerpts:
President Michel Sleiman’s trip to Washington is provoking unease in certain circles, which usually get jumpy when there are signs that the Lebanese state might actually become stronger. At the White House, Sleiman’s actual requests for military aid and assistance were quite modest, but any step in this direction sends alarm bells ringing.
Israeli officials and supporters of Israel in the US have never missed an opportunity to weaken the Lebanese state. It’s a long story, dating back decades. The Israelis have dealt with right-wing elements in Lebanon, in a policy of divide and rule. They’ve even dealt with Hezbollah, through German mediators, as the Lebanese state stands by and watches.
In 2000, the Israelis withdrew from the majority of Lebanese territory occupied since 1978. While an overt peace deal between the Israeli and Lebanese states wasn’t in the cards, our state wasn’t the beneficiary of this move. Instead, it was saddled with reclaiming the formerly occupied territories - strewn with land mines, naturally - and receiving no reparations for the decades of destruction.
Whether before or after 2000, Israeli airstrikes, shelling and other aggression have forced the Lebanese state to pay the price in the form of shattered lives, and infrastructure. These Israeli actions are the opposite of “state-building,” since they generate the reasons why nonstate actors thrive.
Sleiman’s host, President Barack Obama, must evaluate this history of Israeli-American dealings and decide what should be done to truly build strong states here. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Obama talked about this region’s importance, as a source of instability. He should ask why nonstate actors exist in the first place: Hamas and Hezbollah represent the reaction to unresolved issues, such as a fair and durable regional peace.
It’s not a time for treading water, since maintaining the current course of affairs - putting Israel’s security first and everyone else’s grievances last - will lead to further deterioration of the state system in the Middle East. Perhaps the Israelis want such a scenario, but at what cost? We’ve seen the danger to everyone, including the US, from the chaos in Iraq, and Afghanistan.
The White House must free itself of its sordid dealings with its ally Israel and realize that the usual platitudes and expressions of mild support for a country like Lebanon won’t get the job done.
Only then will we have a chance to prosper, and more importantly become an example of democratic growth and the inclusion of nonstate actors, rather than seeing them run the show.
