Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

The Drums of War in Lebanon | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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The drums of war are beating in Lebanon and its leaders are loudly welcoming violence and destruction. It is as if the Lebanese and their leaders are craving some kind of disaster as they have failed to learn their lessons from the crisis of 1958 or the 1975 civil war that together lasted for over 20 years.

Lebanon is being dragged into a new war. The time has come for people to be killed, for the homeland to be uprooted, for freedom to be restricted, for the dream to be terminated and for coexistence to end.

The Lebanese dream was over before it begun. The Lebanese used to take pride in the fact that they had somewhere to be attached to; this is no longer the case.

Lebanon is near its end at the will and satisfaction of its leaders and their supporters. There are no solutions and there is no place for rationalism and conscience and perhaps they no longer have a place in their hearts for Lebanon. All options are possible.

The countdown to the battle has begun. There are those who benefit from war and destruction, which is an unfortunate situation. They have succeeded in eradicating the Lebanon that once was, as coexistence and freedom disappeared, agreement ended and division transformed from a taboo word to a “reality” experienced by everyone. Allegations and justifications to prolong the situation became too much. But the truth is clear and irreproachable; nobody cares about Lebanon especially its leader who beat the drums of war that will destroy the country and leave nothing behind.

Khalil Gibran Khalil made no mistake when he truthfully wrote about the vast differences between his Lebanon and the Lebanon of others. While the former is an aesthetic, civilised and ideal vision of what Lebanon should be, the second is a vision in which there is no room for goodness, hope or dreams.

Lebanon today is on its last legs. If one day they used to say that little Lebanon is protected by the persistence of its people then Lebanon will continue to be a distant memory of what should have and could have been. But the Lebanese will not wake up from the joy of self torture, which has been practiced for a long time. They will only realise after it is too late, after a full generation of its hopeful children has passed away and opportunities for peace and the promises of the future have vanished.

Let the Lebanese enjoy the seeds that they have sown in their Lebanon. Let them be happy with those who fought for power, those obsessed with leadership and those who are deluded by their victories. Let them all taste disappointment.

Forget Lebanon and let it enjoy what its leaders are offering. Forget Lebanon and let it see the results of its leaders’ thoughts. Let them enjoy it as they beat the drums of destruction and death.