Many Sunnis are now seeing the new regime in Syria and the Turkish push as a promise of a new grip on command in the country. In short, they see the end of Hezbollah’s dominance and power shifting to them. While there is still no answer as to how Hezbollah is disarmed and how we reach this much-needed achievement, I cannot rejoice in any power granted by an outside force. Indeed, we are bound to repeat the same scenario that has been destroying Lebanon over and over again. Do I need to remind anyone of the role Egypt played? Or France before that? And Iran now? This support is always short-lived. Do we really want to play the same loop all over again?
No outside influence will solve the country’s ills. Those are, in reality, self-inflicted by a political system that in itself goes against the concept of a nation. No nation can be built when the leaders of each minority hold this type of grip on the country and extract consistently from it. This needs to be flipped around. Sunnis should not seek the support of any state for their representation; the same applies to Shiites, Maronites, Druze, Orthodox, and all the minorities that make up this country. The hard truth is that outside power is used to gain overrepresentation, but not for the people, only for the leaders.
The country is left with a state that extracts economic value and power to distribute among entitled leaders. This is exactly what the banking scheme was all about. Borrow from the people, let them think they are indeed getting high returns on their money, and give it to the state so it can be siphoned off by the political establishment and their associates. People who were gullible to this lie lost their life savings. But everyone is responsible. No one believed it would end like this because they thought Lebanon would be bailed out again by an outside power. The delusion was to think the country was too important to fail.
In the same period, Hezbollah dragged the country into wars and a violent dictatorship, assassinating and silencing anyone who would stand up to this. It is now clear that it does not intend to disarm. News reports indicate that Hezbollah is even back in the pilot zones agreed between Israel and Lebanon in the framework for Israeli disengagement. There is hence no doubt that the organization cannot be part of a new political system as it holds the country hostage. It is also clear that the Lebanese Armed Forces, despite billions received from the US and others to protect the country, will not implement the disarmament plan decided by the government. So how do we break this system? How do we shift to something that protects all the communities instead of exposing them?
I cannot rejoice in any power granted by an outside force.
Khaled Abou Zahr
This needs to be answered, especially when all the actors in this tragedy are pushing for more foreign interference. Hezbollah, while it remains confident that there will be no military adventurism against it, still wants Turkiye and Syria to be more involved because it allows Iran to continue doing the same. Can the people of Lebanon do something to change that? And if yes, what? It is time to move away from the current security and military situation and start building a new political system and convince the people of this new overhaul that is needed.
We are already noticing the “frenemy” situation between Turkiye and Israel. Both are eyeing a post-IRGC Middle East. The Israeli strikes on an air base in Syria have put this in the open. The Ottoman Empire was referred to as the sick man of Europe by Czar Nicholas I, the Russian emperor, to describe its decline, which opened a ferocious battle between European powers to overtake its territory. Today, Iran is in the same situation. Some might say that what I am saying makes no sense when looking at the situation in Hormuz. Yet, the reality is that Iran lost Syria, is struggling to keep Lebanon, and Iraq will soon follow. This will, indeed, lead to more tensions, and Lebanon needs to isolate itself from it. This is the real equation the Lebanese Army needs to put forward. Yet, the people of Lebanon should not wait for the LAF to do what is needed and should start demanding a dissolution of this sectarian political system.
It is now clear that Hezbollah does not intend to disarm.
Khaled Abou Zahr
Washington now officially regards Hezbollah as an actor operating under the direction of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, rather than merely as a group backed by Iran. This will significantly strengthen sanctions against its financial networks and those who deal with them. This means that those in Lebanon playing a role in these operations will be targeted. It is time for the government to build on this new classification. We have to be realistic: Lebanon cannot exist until Hezbollah’s entire financial, military, and security apparatus has been dismantled. If LAF cannot disarm them, the government should shut down their supporting operations at the very least.
In a period of high geopolitical instability, planning for a new Lebanon — one in which institutions protect the people and do not extract from them for their chosen sectarian leaders — is a must. We must choose the leaders who take their strength from within the country and not from support from any country. Hezbollah, as strong as it seemed in the past, has turned out to be an artificial power pumped with IRGC steroids. This is coming to an end. The real solution is not with a new sponsor but with institutions that empower each and every minority.
BY: Writer Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is the CEO of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect The Times Union‘ point of view
