Lebanon forced to dance to Hezbollah’s beat

They say there is a special relationship between the “tabla” (drum) player and a belly dancer. It is said that famous belly dancers such as Tahiya Karioka would exclusively dance to the rhythm of a favorite tabla player. When we look at Lebanese politics, we notice that politicians from all across the spectrum dance to a particular rhythm. I call it dancing on files.

Dancing on files means they discuss a single file or topic. They will all debate and fight over it for a week or two and then move on to the next topic without solving anything. Just like the belly dancer, they all show off a few dance moves and then suddenly move to the next topic. They never achieve any progress, just distract and entertain people.

In this dancing on files, Lebanese politicians are the belly dancer and Hezbollah is the tabla player. It is simply amazing how Hezbollah is able to promote the rhythm and the narrative it desires, distract people for a while and then, without any breakthrough, move on to another topic.

As an example, last week the entire debate and focus was on government formation and the consultations with the president. During this time, potential government formations were leaked and people were entertained by this dance. Then, suddenly, while Lebanon still only has a caretaker prime minister and there is no government in sight, the debate shifted to the presidential election of October this year. They did not solve the first issue, but the debate simply danced on to the next file. It is similar to a belly dancer moving from one routine to the next while the public watches on and sometimes even applauds or criticizes. In Lebanon, the people have suffered so much that they have become numb to the situation. They are complete spectators.

What some fail to realize is that, behind this dancing on files, there is a drum player dictating the rhythm. In Lebanon, the dancing goes on and on to the tempo dictated by Hezbollah. It knows how to provoke and how to make the debate shift, while the audience only looks at the belly dancer. It controls the act, but the people do not see them. Hezbollah says “slower” or “faster” and the belly dancer moves accordingly.

Lebanese politicians are executing the routine perfectly to these orders. There is a certain number of files and they will appear one after the other, take up the front page of newspapers, prompt hour-long debates on TV shows and cause accusations between so-called political foes. And then, as if nothing happened, another one will pop up and take center stage.

Just like the belly dancer, Lebanese politicians will fight about the central bank and its head Riad Salameh. Then they will fight about the electricity situation. They will follow this with a debate about power sharing and government formation. Then the focus will shift to the presidential election. Then we will move on to the worsening exchange rate. Then it is the food shortages. Then they will move on to the International Monetary Fund agreement. They will also put forward the geopolitical balance in the region.

And so the political class will twirl and twirl to the beat of Hezbollah without having changed anything or solved a single issue or file. It is vicious entertainment that destroys a country and breaks its people.

Hezbollah knows how to trigger these debates and shift the conversation. It does not need to initiate the moves itself. Just like the drum player, one different hit on the drum and the political class moves along. It understands the fears and weaknesses and is hence capable of owning the narrative and bending it to its will.

The group knows how to exploit the fears of the Maronites so that they worry about the upcoming presidential election. Hezbollah knows how to exploit the weakness of the Sunni community so that the prime minister can never form a government. Ultimately, whether on government formation or the presidency, Hezbollah will disrupt and only play for the solution that suits its interests.

This situation is even true when it comes to the files where Hezbollah is accused, even if it is only a political accusation. It decides when and how this topic is discussed. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon or the Beirut Port explosion are perfect examples. Hezbollah knows how to make politicians dance and discuss just enough to let people feel that they are heard, but never so much that justice or accountability is achieved. It is exactly the opposite that happens: Hezbollah is always let off the hook. Truth be told, Hezbollah owns the entire orchestra too, and this makes everything easier.

In reality, the political structure of Lebanon allows for this. It allows for a divide and rule strategy to be applied. It allows Hezbollah to control the rhythm and give its orders for the politicians to dance along. And so, even if today we cannot change anything to prevent their control of the rhythm and the narrative, there is an absolute need to start thinking about and debating a new political structure that stops this. Let the politicians dance and twirl, but let us think of a new Lebanon with new institutions. This drumbeat will end eventually. The country deserves a new and better symphony.

• Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.