Tripoli And The One Dimensions

Nothing new so far. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has just arrived to Beirut. We'll know what transpires from the Arab League's intervention shortly.

But I wanted to share with you something that struck me yesterday. Sleiman Franjieh from Omar Karami's home in Tripoli said that the Sunnis in Lebanon (particularly Tripolitans) are de facto aligning themselves with Israel, because some Arab leaders and Lebanese political figures have convinced the Sunnis that the "struggle" is no longer against Israel and are trying to persuade the Sunnis to believe that the Shiites are the enemy.

Why is Franjieh going there? Why does he have to remind the Tripolitans (me included) time and time again that Tripoli is a bastion of Arabism and home of Abdel Nasser? We know that very well. And the majority in Tripoli who have Abdel Nasser's picture hung on their walls are the same ones who choose not to align themselves with the Opposition. Does that mean that suddenly those Arabists are allies of Israel? If people disagree with Hizbullah's ways, does that mean that suddenly now Tripolitans have changed their enemy from Israel to the Shiites?

No, Franjieh! These black-white statements are rotten, from the olden ages. I'm tired of such compartmentalization of issues, of the "de factos". Why are we doomed to be one-dimensional? Why can't we have multiple causes, multiple struggles, multiple friends and foes?

Why is it that if I like Syria, I'm de fact a pro-Syrian? I'm not! But I like Syria and the Syrian people and that has nothing to do with the Syrian regime. And why is that if I'm against the Syrian tutelage in Lebanon, then I'm de facto someone who hates Syria?

Why is it that if I like America, I'm branded an "agent" and a de facto Zionist? I disagree with the current U.S. foreign policy, but that does not mean I need to chant: Death to America!

Why is it that if I am of the position that Hizbullah needs to integrate itself into the Army (which is a strengthening factor for Lebanon), I become a de facto Zionist (again), an agent, a traitor, and anti-Shiite? I believe that our state institutions can be strengthened through this integration and would be a move that would make Hizbullah popular across the country, as opposed to what Hizbullah is doing right now.

Why is it that if I am against the overthrowing of the current government, I'm a de facto Sunni? My position has nothing to do with my sect; it has to do with a set of principles I stand by.

So it's time to toss these de factos in the trash bin. Franjieh, you're old and rotten. Can we have new leadership in our country? A leadership that is more in tune with our multi-dimensional world, a world so diametrically different than Franjieh's world?

Addendum: By the way, why is the Tripolitan cleric Yakan (who held the Friday prayers in Riad Solh last Friday) is saying that any move to occupy by force the Grand Serail is a red line and will lead to a massacre? Why? Perhaps it is on the Opposition's agenda and Yakan is just revealing in public that he's against this move.

"Nobody knows how many rebellions, besides political rebellions, ferment in the masses of life which people earth."