Federalism is still the only way out
I posted this few months ago, i will repost it as per Amir in Tel Aviv request. Everytime i look at our situation, and the differences we have, i get more convinced of this solution to our problems and the same way i thought 3 months ago, today is the perfect time to talk about Federalism and even to propose it.
In fact the events that have been going on for the past few weeks are showing more and more that Federalism is the only way out to save Lebanon.
Some say Federalism is equal to division, some say its an American-Israeli plan, some simply attack it because the LF led by Dr.Geagea proposed it, even though it was previously sponsored by the Lebanese Front led by Pr.Camille Chamoun and Sheikh Pierre Gemayel back in 1977 an during the Deir el Bir convention in 1980 ( reference to the booklet that was issued after the convention called : The Lebanon we want to build).
Federalism is a unitarian project that is capable of preserving Lebanon’s pluralistic society and
building a true Lebanese identity. How is that ? I ll try to elaborate based on my sort of limited knowledge on the issue but i believe sufficient to prove my point.
Lebanon has always endured endless wars between its different communities, it started back in the 1800s between the uprising Christians and the powerful Druze fighting over the control of Mount Lebanon. Each community wanted to overtake the other and recurred to foreign help in order to do so.
Several regimes were implemented back then trying to resolve the crisis, Secularism failed miserably as well as Feodalism, the only system that lasted was a decentralized one keeping each community’s rights but it wasnt built on strong basis and so did not last.
What followed was the declaration of the Greater Lebanon in 1920 and the joining other communities to Lebanon, mainly the Shiite community. From 1920 till 1943, Few Christian leaders abused of their powers causing a minor revolt within the Muslim street which ended up in signing the National pact in 1943, it was more an oral agreement also built on weak basis and not taking into consideration long term effects.
And eventually the Palestinian crisis in 1958 came to mess things up, Christians backed by France and other foreign countries against Palestinians financed by few Muslim parties and Leftists.
A revolt againt the President Chamoun was initiated and its impact was disastrous. Palestinians backed by Muslim parties and Leftists started gaining strengh and the army got divided over sectarian belongings therefore encouraging parties to get armed in order to defend themselves against Palestinian guerrillas.
What followed was a deadly war, not a civil war but a very well directed war by Palestinians and Muslim parties against Christian parties, with foreign interference on all sides, from Americans trying to imply the Kissinger plan, to Israelis wanting to weaken Palestinians, Syrians wanting a piece of the cake backed by the Soviet Union.
After war was done, the same scenario was repeated but this time politically, Muslim groups supported by Syrians along with the Druzes and Christians isolated with a minor support from the Western.
Nowadays, major shiite party backed by Iran and Syria initiates war against Israel who launches a massive assault on Lebanon, Sunnites keep their distance from the war as well as Christians and work on stopping it with their American and Saudi allies as well as Europeans.
From this short resume of the Lebanese history, we can conclude the following :
Our society is a pluralistic one where each community is struggling to keep itself equal to others and using all possible foreign help to do so.
The wars and inner fights have raised more hatred and anti-semitism among the Lebanese and divided the country into religious cantons.
The major problem that we are facing is the division of power among the several communities and the external interferences which are dragging Lebanon into regional wars and making it a pressure tool in the hands of bigger powers.
Why Federalism ?
All sorts of systems have been tried in Lebanon and failed miserably, except a decentralized federal Lebanon. Secularism was a deadly experience, same as Feodalism and all sorts of mandates and invasions were faced with fierce opposition added to other centralized political systems that failed miserably.
Federalism is one of the most civilized and advanced political systems in the world and is adopted in some of the most developed countries(USA, Switzerland, Germany etc etc ..)
Given Lebanon’s pluralistic nature, and the two major political streams that govern the country, a Pro-Arab Muslim line and a Pro-Lebanese Western-like Christian line, and knowing that Lebanon without its Christians will sink in the Islamic world surrounding him and reassuring that Lebanon needs both its Muslims and Christians to go on, we need to preserve the rights for each community in a way to avoid conflicts in the future.
What Federalism proposes can be resumed as follows:
Dividing Lebanon into federal states based on confessions ( Already done demographically cause of the war) and decentralizing the powers and distributing them equally between all communities in a way to preserve each community’s rights and freedom and eliminate the feeling of threat between the different confessions.
Once each confession is secured in its own state, it wont feel threatened by other communities and therefore the religious factor will get weaker therefore removing feelings of anti-semitism within each community.
Added to that, since each state will be responsible for its own economy, terrorist and extremist groups wont be able to last economically and will get unpopular specially in a highly educated and freedom-oriented society like the Lebanese one and will lose ground to more secular and open-minded mentalities.
Of course this is a long process but what will accelerate its process is the external policy that Federalism implies, which is neutrality.
Similarly to Switzerland, we r a very small country uncapable of entering regional conflicts or even influencing on major powers, therefore neutrality is a must.
This will keep foreign countries away from us and let the people focus more on improving their own country and fixing their own problems instead of leading the liberation of Palestine from Beirut for example.
Those two factors are already of major importance and if applied properly will put us on the right track. Now you might ask me but isnt Lebanon too small to be divided ?
I tell you that Lebanon has the most diverse and complicated society in the world maybe and opposing a federal system cause of its small demography is a lame and unrational argument.
Added to that, Feodal families and war lords who base their popularity on confessional belonging will fade away and lose ground to competent and self-made young leaders capable of serving their community better.
What will Federalism achieve on the long term ?
The ultimate aim of a Federal system in Lebanon is not letting each community live on its own but on the total opposite, by weaking the religious and anti-semitic factor and applying neutrality, you ll be paving the way for founding a true Lebanese identity one that doesnt separate between confessions but on merit and competence and the merging of federal states will become natural with time and who knows maybe lead to a secular centralized unitarian system.
The benefits of Federalism are unimaginable on all sides and can lead us to a true united Lebanon and a true national unity.
Federalism is a project intended to elevate the value of the human above all confessions and sects and races and found a liberal mentality capable of accepting the other and working with him for one strong country.
Finally, i assure you there are tons of aspects i didnt mention yet since this project is a uge one and is not property of the LF, but was studied by a large number of intellectuals and politicians. The only problem it faces in Lebanon is the bad image or the taboo spread around about how Federalism is an American-Israeli plan to divide Lebanon.
Federalism cannot be imposed, but must be assimilated first and orientation on this issue is a must.
Regards,
What you say makes sense, but I dont think Iran will allow federalization to happen to Lebanon. Iran has a simpler plan. First, use violence judiciously to chase the Christians out. Once the Christians are gone, Hezbollah will take on the Sunnis and Druze. The world has gotten used to Shiites and Sunnis killing each other in Iraq, so it wont be newsworthy in Lebanon
January 31st, 2007 | #
“Similarly to Switzerland, we r a very small country uncapable of entering regional conflicts or even influencing on major powers, therefore neutrality is a must.
This will keep foreign countries away from us and let the people focus more on improving their own country and fixing their own problems instead of leading the liberation of Palestine from Beirut for example.”
But then who manages foreign policy of this new “Lebanon”? Each federation follows its own? How do they coordinate if they do at all? Why not assume that federation will ally against and with each other (following on the regional fault lines) and fight each other? How do you split mixed areas (like Hamra among many others for instance). WHo controls the fontiers? You see the problem is that there is still no agreement on what Lebanon (federal or not) is, its identity, and so my expecatation is that this will never work.
best
ramzi
January 31st, 2007 | #
Ramzi,
Concerning foreign policy, it will be simple, if Shiites wants to attack Israel, Christian or Sunnites can oppose it by using their veto right, and vice-versa, therefore Shiites can support Syrians politically for all i know, but they have no right to start wars or get armed or take any foreign policy decision without the other parties’ agreement.
Neutrality is the key here.
Beirut and its surroundings will be a neutral area, as it is the capital, it wont be split.
The frontiers will be controlled by the federal army.
It will never work, we never tried it … and i will keep hope that one day the Lebanese will consider this solution since it is the best in my opinion.
February 1st, 2007 | #
i see all the problem comming up again. 1. Neutrality is very ambiguous, especially in the region and given the history of the country; each sect/federation will interprest neutrality as it suits her 2. How can Lebanon be neutral with half a million palestinian refuggees? 3. If you get the consensus of all the Lebanese (or of their so-called representative) on a foreign policy agenda then basically you are more than halfway in having a true multi-cultural and non-sectarian Lebanon. it is a chiken and egg game. Which comes first? A nation or an agreement on a foreign policy? This is so because to get everyone agree on a neutral international agenda means that there is a common view about Lebanon which was, is and seems to be missing in the near future.
February 1st, 2007 | #
That’s a very interesting set of thoughts, N. For that matter, Switzerland has 3 different national groups too; Switzerland has German, French and Italian areas.
Explicitly declared, rigorously enforced military-political neutrality is a core principle of the Swiss state, which has allowed Switzerland to fulfill its role as one of the bankers of Europe while avoiding deep entanglement in the conflicts that wracked the European continent in the 20th century.
How does the Swiss political system balance the needs of French, German and Italian speakers?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_federal_government
Example: see the section titled, “Regional balancing acts
Unfortunately, in your case you have an Iranian proxy that is implacably hostile to one of your neighbors controlling the border with that neighbor. Unless an absolutely strict pure-defense policy becomes part of the constitution of your federal state, the Shia member of your federation would quickly drag the rest of your federal state into a war that you don’t want.
Be careful.
February 1st, 2007 | #
I agree that federalism is a great solution to Lebanon. I am living in federal country (Canada) and it works great. Lebanese have been trying diffrent solution since 1860 and it is not working, so we should seriously consider the federal system. However, it is important to make it clear. In federal system: federate states will be under one governement, for instance Quebec and Ontario and other canadian provinces are under Ottawa when it comes to Foreign Policy, Army and Currency). While decentralisation is a policy intended to insure better mangement of administration under a unitarian system like in France.
Will this project succed in Lebanon? I fear that the Shiaa won’t accept it and will fight fiersly against it, why? THEY WANT ALL THE CAKE! With their high birth rate, and the migration of Sunni, Druze and Christians, in 25 years Shiaa will claim all Lebanon under their rule! This is an iranian strategic plan that has been implemented since Moussa El Sader arrived to Lebanon.
Back to the main idea, I still believe that federalism could replace the fear of each lebanese community towards the other by constructive competition aiming to prosperity and creativity. How could we do it while Hisbollah has an opposing plan? The coming months will determine the future of Lebanon.
February 1st, 2007 | #
Federalism is a good solution for Lebanon. If ethnic group can’t live together,they must review their agreement. Maybe divorce will bring calm and respect for difference. it’s not a dream, and we are nombreux (numerous?) thinking seriously about. Cyprus is an exemple .
So, bon article N, C’est bien de soulever ce type de discussion. Il faut en parler et ce n’est pas tabou. Beaucoup de gens pensent que c’est l’ultime solution pour sauver le peu qui reste!
February 1st, 2007 | #
For starters, Federation is a disaster, you can’t say “we demand one lebanon” but each divided to sect. Second, Bashir Gemayel and Antoine Najm divided Lebanon into 5 parts with the Christian forces taking the richest areas, + each region is independent financially from the other. If you say one Lebanon, then plans go to unite the different people, not seperating them that way. Last time someone divided Mt. Lebanon into two segments, we had the second greatest civil war. No Thanks!
I totally oppose this federation plan.
As for that Chamoun, he should have taken into consideration the area Lebanon is located and the circumstances. He cant just go begging the US for help when he messed up and cheated in Elections. + It was not the Palestinians being armed, it was the Salam Family and Kamal Junblatt and personnaly I wouldn’t blame them for the matter, Lebanon’s is not Shamoun’s little club.
February 1st, 2007 | #
Marxist,
I dont know where you got your information from, but Bashir & Antoine didnt divide Lebanon into 5 parts, and i have Dr.Najm’s book on Federalism and it does not imply that Christians take the richest regions in anyway.
Now back to the original idea, we have been living in a ‘centralized’ system for decades now and the result was and still is disastrous, since each sect is afraid of the other and is living a certain federalism indirectly.
Federalism IS a unitarian project and not simple division, Federalis implies that each community has its rights and be represented and on that basis, the religious factor will fade and you can have better terms to co-exist with your partner in this country.
When you erase the religious factor from all sects, caused by this rotten system, you will have no reason for a Christian to fear a Shiite and vice versa.
“Last time someone divided Mt. Lebanon into two segments, we had the second greatest civil war. No Thanks! ”
When was that ?? The longest period of calm that Mt.Lebanon had lived was when it was ‘almost’ federally divided, the only problem was that it was badly done.
Who mentioned Chamoun in my post ? Who cares what Chamoun did before ? Federalism is a project based on historical and socio-economical factors and not what Chamoun had in mind.
I dont see why you are opposed to this system, Chamoun is definitly not a valid argument, neither the sectarian divisions since they are present and the Mt.Lebanon example was a wrong one.
I have written a long article on the political systems adopted between the early 1800s till the beginning of the 20th century in Lebanon, i will dig it up and post it for you.
The only disastrous regime that was implemented back then was the Secular centralized regime by Bashir el tani.
February 1st, 2007 | #
whether federalism is good or bad for lebanon is questionable. the discussions on federalism (such as those by antoine najem, and others who spent quite some time studying it in detail) assume the ideal situation in which people map directly to their sect. one of the main obstacles i see to federalism actually succeeding is the lack of political institutions. even within a maronite state (for example), there will be competing powers that will force that state to resemble lebanon. same will go for the other states. federalism may be an option in the long run - frankly, i have no real qualms either way - but it can’t be one of the initial steps.
- laz.
February 1st, 2007 | #
N. Traboulsi’s History of Contemprary Lebanon and Annahar (three years after Bashir’s assassination) the oath he never delivered. The division of Lebanon into federation simply implies dumping each sect to a more isolated and charged situation which will explode. If you want to say One Lebanon, that means the leaders themselves stop dissecting Lebanon for their greedy goals (that includes equally 14th and 8th of March).
Communities is the easiest way to escape the problems of current Lebanon.
February 1st, 2007 | #
oh yeah actually there are also agreements between Freim, Aoun, Najm, and Bakradoni on dividing Lebanon to the according plan, but kept changing till the IDF invaded Lebanon to make it an Israeli satellite
February 1st, 2007 | #
If you think that Lebanon that should stay under the current system in order to maintain supporting the adventurous poor (Shiaa going to war every now and then). You are mistaken. Federalismwillput Shiia underpressure to comptete and become like th eprosperous civilised Christians canton. I believe the druze and the Sunni will go the same and have great canton administration and prosperity (Hariri the Great visionnaire was sunni). So not only the crhistians will have distinguished system, but as well other lebanese are creative. This will put Shiaa under pressure to chose the iranian-syrian style of living or the Lebanese style. Otherwise, the Shiia are trying to transfrom all Lebanon to the same system, pro iranian war society, poor dependant on iranian oil, religous and easely manipulated. Sorry, I have lots of good Shiaa friends, however I don’t wanna live under this system that they choose. i prefer prosperous and free Lebanon!
February 2nd, 2007 | #
MFL,
Bashir believed in Federalism as a solution in Lebanon, but was also pro-secularism and if you read Pere Abou’s book on Bashir, you will see that Bash’s aim was reaching secularism and a strong state through federalism as a first step and it was possible.
I totally disagree with Traboulsi’s pessimistic view, because Lebanon needs decentralization, it is not an option, this is a daily problem we have and its solution is clear.
>>that means the leaders themselves stop dissecting Lebanon for their >>greedy goals (that includes equally 14th and 8th of March).
The people will keep on choosing those leaders because of their fear of the other, Jumblatt is protecting his community, Hariri as well, Nasrallah as well and Samir Geagea and other Christian leaders to a certain extent as well.
Once you remove that ‘fear’ sentiment, the people will choose competent people and dump the feudal lors.
“there are also agreements between Freim, Aoun, Najm, and Bakradoni on dividing Lebanon to the according plan”
Najm wrote a book with politicians and analysists on Federalism, a 120 pages book that cannot be resumed in agreements with Freim and i dont know what ..
Federalism is a complete plan and not some deal Bashir or Dr.Najm did with Israelies as you are picturing it, and trust me the Israelies didnt want a divided Lebanon with Bashir but on the contrary, they wanted Bash ruling Lebanon and supported by Israel and obeying their orders which he refused.
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