Report: Nearly Half the Maronites Consider Fleeing Lebanon
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 am
Rise in radical Islam last straw for Lebanon’s Christians
By Michael Hirst in Beirut, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:26pm BST 31/03/2007
Christians are fleeing Lebanon to escape political and economic crises and signs that radical Islam is on the rise in the country.
In a poll to be published next month which was exclusively leaked to The Sunday Telegraph, nearly half of all Maronites, the largest Christian denomination in the country, said they were considering emigrating. Of these, more than 100,000 have submitted visa applications to foreign embassies. Their exodus could have a devastating effect on the country, robbing it of an influential minority which has acted as an important counter-balance to the forces of Islamic extremism.
About 60,000 Christians have already left since last summer’s war between Israel and Hezbollah. Many who remain fear that a violent showdown between rival Sunni and Shia factions is looming.
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“If we love our children we have to tell them to get out,” said Maria, a Christian mother of one from the northern city of Tripoli, who refused to give her surname for fear of reprisal. “When my daughter finished her high school I sent her to Europe, and I will follow her if I can.”
Christine, another Christian woman, said that all of her family’s younger generation had left the country, adding that Tripoli had become increasingly Islamised in recent years. There is a rising number of veiled women and religiously bearded men on the streets - although she blamed economic and political instability for much of the emigration. Christians, who make up 22 per cent of the population, have historically played a major role in the development of Lebanon’s political, social and cultural institutions. Currently the president, the army commander and the head of the central bank are all Maronites, and under the agreement which ended the civil war in 1989, half the 128 seats in Lebanon’s parliament are reserved for Christians.
“Lebanon has always been a bastion of religious tolerance, but now it is moving towards the model of Islamisation seen in Iraq and Egypt,” said Fr Samir Samir, a Jesuit teacher of Islamic studies at Beirut’s Université Saint-Joseph.
Lebanon’s Christian community is concerned that its influence is waning as a result of a continuing internal power struggle, which for the past five months has pitted a Sunni-led government against a predominantly Shia opposition, spearheaded by the Shia militant group Hezbollah. The collapse in influence has been exacerbated by a roughly equal spilt in support among Christians for rival Shia and Sunni leaders. The battle between Muslim factions has paralysed the Lebanese administration and crippled the economy.
The exodus of young workers crosses the religious spectrum. Some 22 per cent of Shias and 26 per cent of Sunnis say they are considering going abroad, according to the study by Information International, an independent Beirut-based research body.
ROBERT Said,
April 2, 2007 @ 2:50 pm
We have to find a solution to Lebanons problems before it becomes too late……AGAIN!
A-A Said,
April 3, 2007 @ 6:06 am
Na, don’t worry… Be optimist my friend…
Pazuzu Said,
April 4, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
Actually maybe we have to accept the changes and hope it will be as peaceful as humanly possible
BAH Said,
April 5, 2007 @ 1:35 am
the only solution is for the army/govt to take control of the country as did whatshisface from turkey, for a good 30 years so people see the good and prosperity then people will set aside their differences as long as everyone is happy the country will survive and the only way to make peopel happy is with their pockets
BAH Said,
April 5, 2007 @ 1:36 am
don’t be complacent tho
A-A Said,
April 5, 2007 @ 6:10 am
Hehe, I think that the lebanese people is too dum to deserve a democracy… It needs a good secular dictatorship…
When you can’t think and choose by yourself, then you need someone to do these things for you… An Ataturk or a Saddam Hussein would do the job…
A-A Said,
April 8, 2007 @ 8:24 am
Lol, maybe… In brief, the lebanese people needs someone to hold him by the collar… At least for a few years, so as to bring him back to a more civil society, to build the foundations of a strong state, to create a new constitution, etc… A bit like Fouad Chehab, the best president lebanon ever had… Extremely authoritarian, a military, whose mandate was prosperous, safe, without meddling of other countries in our affairs, and who was capable to instore strong institutions in the state… As to who might be this dictator, hehe, each might have his own views, lol…
Mo Said,
April 12, 2007 @ 1:04 am
A-A maybe you need someone to hold you by your collar! I doubt you’re Lebanese anyways, no one would talk like that about their country and people.
If you have nothing productive to discuss/say, maybe not say anything at all?
There’s a saying, “Its better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and to remove all doubt” in other words, its better you dont speek and people THINK you are a fool, than if you speek and people KNOW you are a fool.
Lebanese Said,
April 13, 2007 @ 10:47 pm
Can’t agree more with Mo on this one :))
ZeitounY Said,
April 15, 2007 @ 7:25 pm
That is so true (what the two people before me said, lol). Lebanon’s best and brightest are leaving daily because things aren’t getting any better. People don’t seem to be realising that things are in their hands, and only they have the power to do something about the whole situation. If Lebanese people could actually look at themselves according to their nationality, and not their religion, things would ultimately have improved [even if just a little, after all it takes a small thing to spark a huge event]. There has to be MUCH more mixing between the Lebanese, all sects should blend together. It seems, to me, that people who belong to a sect don’t know much about others from other sects, and this is troublesome. Ahh, I wish people were more tolerant of the fact that people always differ in ideas…
A-A Said,
April 16, 2007 @ 7:50 pm
MO:
No no, i’m pretty much lebanese… More than must of you here… Because as a Lebanese, I accept my high points and my defects… Us lebanese, we have a problem with confessionalism and feodalism and a lack of critical, objective thinking… Untill this cancer disapears from the lebanese society, I will always consider it hugely flawed, and in some level of stupidity, like any other country anyways (the french society is getting extremely slow and whiny, the American society is slowly losing its intelectual capacities, etc.) … Your problem is that you imagine that all of lebanon’s problems come from the politicians… These have a huge part in the sh** in which we are now… But you can’t take the responsability off the people…
I am a nationalist, so am extremely patriotic, and politically active (go check the long 50 comments list!), so please don’t you even try patronising me about the extent of my “lebanity”… As for my “foolishness”, well, if you wanna see it that way, I don’t care, I never did anyways about anyone’s point of view abotu me… You’re saying that simply because I maybe spoiled your painting of a perfect lebanese people… No, we are not perfect, we have HUGE problems! And I am patriotic enough to stay in my country no matter what, to work FOR IT, for its future (and “god” knows the opportunities I had for emigrating) ! Being patriotic is not saying everything is shiny and beautifull! This is living in denial and vital illusions! Being patriotic, is first knowing your country, focalising on its flaws, and working as much as you can to fix them, because you lvoe your country dearly, and are ready to do anything in your power in order to make it reach new heights! That is my case, and if you people can’t see that, then too bad… You want to hold me by the collar? Then ok, you’ll be restraining the only objetive, constructive way to make Lebanon evolve…
Then maybe I was harsh, but the lebanese people was greatly disapointing these last 2 years… I lost faith in its capacity to decide by itself… It turned out greatly passive, easiliy manipulated, still stagnating in a sectarian logic, etc… That’s why I would like a dictatorship for a year or two, to establish a new SECULAR constitution, create a new electoral law, rebuilding the institutions, getting rid without mercy of the cancerous corruption, reorganising the army and the internal security, establish a strong diplomacy to resolve our problems with Israel and Syria, enforcing the law without faltering, especially on the roads, changing the slow state administration, etc… A process that would take many many years with democracy, especially with the lack of critical thinking most lebanese have these days… So, only after this salvatory dictatorship resolves everything, should we go back to democracy, with a new, sane base…
Did I make myself clear? Now, for the next time, refrain from jumping to conclusions, or making hasty judgements about me… Thank you…
A-A Said,
April 16, 2007 @ 8:04 pm
Btw, Zeitouny, you’re stating that the lebanese society is sectarian, that they’re not realising that everything should be in their hands and that they are close minded when it comes to different ideas… Also, you just said in a comment to another article, that people in Lebanon follow politicians blindly… So, you agree that their is a huge lack of critical thinking in the lebanese society, which is a sign of political stupidity…
And yet, you disagree with me by actually agreeing with “Mo”… IS it because I just didn’t use the “politically correct” mode, that should sugar-coat every word, for sensible, over-idealistic people?
A-A Said,
April 16, 2007 @ 8:19 pm
Lebanese:
Is there anything to agree on so much? (with a smile, en plus)
Apart from reciting a very well known simple proverb (that he then explains! Maybe to give more weight to it?), rotating an expression I used previously, making a wrong statement about me, and asking me to say something usefull (something he doesnt seem to apply to himself), is he stating anything special and interesting? Is he refuting my claim in a clear, constructive way??
Are you so easily argumentatively satisfied?
Lebanese Said,
April 17, 2007 @ 6:06 am
LOL!!! A-A take it easy, no one is doubting your lebanity, and no insult was intended (w hayde smile en plus la 2elak ya khayye
). I was agreeing with Mo that a dictatorship in Lebanon wouldn’t be as simple as you may think it is. You theoretically proposed a dictatorship for 2 years to restore everything, but look on the ground. Look at all the forces playing inside, look at the oustide influences, you think it’s easy to establish a dictatorship in a country that is divided into several fractions. The Chehab era was very different than what we are in now, you cannot seperate Lebanon from the region and its conflicts.
Oh and the expression that you used ‘the Lebanese needs someone to hold them in their collar’ is a bit insulting. Actually despite all the problems, that’s what differentiates Lebanon from Arab countries, is that no one holds us by a collar.
A-A Said,
April 18, 2007 @ 6:02 pm
Hey Lebanese!
Well, I am extremely impulsive, and direct… I don’t usually put any weight on my tongue (or in this case, on my fingers)… Lol :p
Anyways, this dictatorship thing is exactly necessary first to make all the politicians; who are the main creaters of divisons; shut-up (or eventually, to eliminate them!!)… As for the people themselves, a military dictatorship would permit to control them, if they don’t like it… Because in the end, for 15 years, the lebanese people were held by the collar by the syrian regime and their allies in Lebanon, and they kept being passive, untill the conditions became favorable for an uprising (excepting the aouniste student movements who were continually beaten-up for attacking the syrian-backed regime)… That’s why I think that this dictatorship would not be that dificult to apply… And it’s for the same reason that I used this expression… Anyways, all would be for the people’s good, and it wouldn’t take time for them to realise it…
As for my lebanity, I thought that you agreed with this phrase, by Mo: “I doubt you’re Lebanese anyways, no one would talk like that about their country and people.”
Sandrinou Said,
May 3, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
A-A,
another thing about the Lebanese : they talk a lot and don’t do shit…
Do you identify with that?….
A few months ago I was saying exactly the same thing, and I honestly do believe we need a strong leader but who and which confession, and how do we keep him alive? Because either he fits what Israel or Syria want, either he’s dead….Right?
And if we find the holy man, yes we do need him, but not because the lebanese are dumb: because they lack protection from poverty and assassinations, because they were taught by their respective political leaders and by the system to trust only those of their own confession, and because the environment is not favourable to the survival of Lebanon. External and internal, my very smart friend.
Instead of only saying that my people needs a collar like a dog, why don’t you say that my people needs a collar because they totally lack references and live in paranoia and that is not their fault. Cause and effect.
Finally, your comments and mine are neither constructive or new. What would be constructive is to change the educational system, mix children together and have them grow up by liking their differences, and especially by repeating to them that they come from beautiful secular people - even if we don’t believe a word we say. That is constructive manipulation.
One last comment, you are a good example for the dumbness found in our country, because generalizing like that about either the French, the Americans, the Israelis or the Lebanese must definitely come from a teeny tiny mind.
A-A Said,
May 6, 2007 @ 7:49 pm
Lol… Dumb? Teeny tiny mind? Don’t talk about me without knowing me… You would be greatly surprised… Anyways, sourceless, ignorant personal attacks too, come definitely from a teeny tiny mind…
Then I talk a lot (obviously)… But if you’re tryng to insinuate that I’m doing nothing, then you’re greatly wrong… Again, you would be surprised…
Then don’t try to take off the people’s responsability… You’re saying: “they were taught by their own political leaders and the system”…. Then let them be more open minded and learn elsewhere… Like I did… The fact that they so easily accept these, is already a sign of passivity and a factor of responsability…
You’re saying: “they lack references and live in paranoia”… Then, again, they should develop more objectivity and look more closely at past, present, and possible future, try to learn from them… The answer would be quite easy…
About your suggestion: yaret! If it could be happen, then, great! Unfortunately, it is something that my people should apply by themselves, and to which our leaders have nothing to do… Unfortunately, they don’t… And that’s one of the things that frustrate me about the lebanese people…
Then, about who this leader might be and how to manage not having him killed? Well, that potential leader should also be courageous, and not stay in the shade because of possible attempts to assassinate him… He would come o power in the first place… As for his religion, I frankly don’t care…
As for my generalisation… Well, it’s not because in each of the societies you evoque, their is a certain part of exeptions, that i can’t have a general judgement based on observation… You can’t deny the fact that most often, you will find general characteristics in each nation… Wether they are good or bad… So please, spare me the zealous politically correct, I can’t stand it…
Hussein Said,
May 25, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
so they r calling Hezbollah.. RADICAL ISLAM?
OMG… this is real brainwash.. please..