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The question may arise among traditional supporters of conspiracy theories as to whether there could have been a third party — or what used to be referred to at the onset of the Lebanese war as a “fifth column” — that has capitalized on the lingering conflict between Bsharri and Denniyeh in an attempt to drag the country into a new cycle of bloody sedition. The answer is this is a possibility in a country like Lebanon and a region like the Middle East undergoing profound changes, and no hypothesis can be ruled out.
Initial reports suggest that a sniper hidden in the mountains of Denniyeh targeted and killed, from a distance, the young man from Bsharri. This scenario supports the belief of conspiracy theory. However, one has to wait for the results of the investigations to shed light on the circumstances of the tragedy that occurred on Saturday, July 1, in Qornet el-Sawda — assuming there will be a (serious) investigation to begin with.
Whether this bloody incident was isolated or not does not stave off the presence of a painful reality. The actual main culprit in this matter is obviously the State, which, for decades, has comfortably chosen to limit its role to one of a “mirage state,” whose existence is purely virtual. The tension between Bsharri and Denniyeh goes back to several decades. The cause is plain and straightforward. It stems from a disagreement over land ownership and water sources in a high mountainous area, straddling both regions. Differently put, this is an important, yet ordinary, dispute that the so-called state has failed to resolve over the course of several decades!
Finding a fair and lasting solution for water distribution between two neighboring regions and demarcating the relatively small plot of land should not be a complex task if there is the will to do it. A genuine concern for public affairs from those in power could have spared numerous incidents and missteps, such as the bloodshed that occurred on Saturday in an obviously sensitive area. But the State is clearly nonexistent. And the fact that certain regions are inevitably slipping into a status of lawlessness does not seem to be a big of a deal to many.
“To govern is to foresee” is a motto that many of our high-ranking officials seem to have chosen not to live by. And it is not just in the specific case of the Bsharri and Denniyeh conflict. The problems of land registry and demarcation are arising in many regions that are as sensitive as Qornet el-Sawda. They are the source of recurring incidents, which, at times, take serious sectarian turns, like in Lassa (in the hinterland of Jbeil) or in Rmeish (South Lebanon), to mention a few examples. Nonetheless, the Lebanese State seems to be indifferent.
Most alarming, on a broader scale, is the total lethargy of some high-ranking officials. Such attitude has probably been one of the predominant factors that paved the way for the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. What was referred to in the early 1970s as the “belt of misery” surrounding the capital, along with the disadvantaged peripheral areas shamefully abandoned by the central authority, such as (among others) Akkar, Hermel, Baalbek, and some regions of the South, were time bombs that have deeply undermined the country.
In fact, the total absence of the State was indeed the result of negligence and blind racketeering by many of our so-called “leaders" who did anything, but lead. Undermining the state was also primarily instigated, provoked, and perpetuated by surrounding powers, cynically referred to as “sisterly” which turned out to be hunters that preyed on Lebanon’s vulnerability. For over half a century, since the fateful 1969 Cairo Agreement, the Lebanese people have been enduring the consequences of ineffective rule on a daily basis.
The crime committed on Saturday, July 1, is the latest consequence of the failed state. To make matters worse, ever since 2005, and under the deceitful pretext of “resistance” against Israel, some (pro-Iran Hezbollah and Amal) individuals have been relentlessly obstructing the proper functioning of public institutions. They belittled repeated violations of the Constitution and are currently preventing the election of a President of the Republic, further perpetuating the overall vacuum, with the obvious aim of dismantling a pluralistic and liberal Lebanon. “It is either going to be our candidate or chaos,” they repeatedly said.
Whether premeditated or otherwise, the bloodshed that is fueling underlying tensions in Qornet el-Sawda will inevitably contribute — regardless of the perpetrators and the circumstances of the tragedy — to further chaos. Therefore, today there is an urgent need for a national awakening among all Lebanese, in order to clearly convey, especially to those who refuse to listen, that over 50 years of state inexistence, compounded with Lebanese sacrifices to serve “other people’s wars” is enough.
The time has surely come to strictly and seriously focus on Lebanon and only Lebanon.
