Citizen Hariri by Baumann Hannes;

Author:Baumann, Hannes;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Lebanese politics, 2000–2004: rising opposition and Syrian reassertion

The Israeli withdrawal in 2000 revived the opposition to Syrian dominance in Lebanon, a trend which occurred along sectarian lines. Opposition was strongest among Christian political forces. In the 1990s the most prominent Christian leaders had been excluded from post-war politics because of their opposition to Syrian dominance, especially Michel Aoun, Amin Gemayel and Samir Geagea. Within his community, President Lahoud was seen as a Syrian client rather than an effective defender of Christian interests. This exclusion resulted in a sense of ‘Christian frustration’, which translated into an increasingly vocal opposition to the Syrian presence after the Israeli withdrawal. From September 2000 onwards the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butrus Sfair called on Syrian troops to leave Lebanon.12 A coalition of Christian politicians came together in the Qurnat Shahwan meeting in April 2001.13 While they asserted that Israel was the biggest threat to Lebanon, they called for a Syrian withdrawal and a return of the army to South Lebanon, a move that would have curtailed Hizballah’s room for manoeuvre.14 The Patriarch supported their demands. Opposition to Syrian dominance broadened beyond the Christian community when Druze leader Walid Junblat also spoke out in favour of a ‘reassessment’ of relations with Syria in the autumn of 2000 and ‘minimal parity in Lebanese–Syrian relations’ in March 2001.15 Junblat only returned to the Syrian fold in May 2002, after a reconciliatory meeting with vice president ‘Abd al-Halim Khaddam.16

Non-sectarian voices such as the leftist journalist and academic Samir Qassir also started criticising Syrian meddling, but this did not change the fact that the fault-line of opposition or support for the Syrian position ran largely along sectarian lines. The biggest Shia movements continued to support Syria’s presence in Lebanon: Hizballah benefited from Syria’s support for its resistance strategy, while Amal’s Nabih Birri relied on Damascus to ensure his influence in the troika and to contain his intra-communal rivals. Leading Sunni political and religious figures also remained loyal to Syria. Rafiq Hariri maintained that Syria’s presence was vital to maintaining peace among Lebanon’s confessional groups, while some Sunni religious figures attacked the Maronite Patriarch’s critical stance vis-à-vis Damascus.17 The likely success of anti-Syrian opposition should not be exaggerated. In June 2000 Lebanon’s leading politicians flocked to Damascus to pledge allegiance to Bashar al-Assad at the funeral of Hafiz al-Assad.18

The Syrian regime responded to the opposition challenge with a mixture of repression and symbolic concessions. The Lebanese security apparatus was strengthened to confront Syria’s opponents. This was directed by two individuals in particular: Lahoud ally Jamil al-Sayyid was promoted to become the head of the general security directorate, while Syria’s military intelligence in Lebanon was headed by Rustum Ghazala from October 2002 onwards. Opposition activists were arrested or intimidated, especially journalists and student activists.19 In August 2001 the period of legal detention before charge was extended from twenty-four to forty-eight hours.20 In September 2002 Murr TV was closed down for being too critical of Syrian dominance in Lebanon.21 Pressure was also exerted to keep LBC in line, the TV station previously associated with the Lebanese Forces.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.