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Lebanon could have been spared the serious incident that occurred in Kahaleh and exposed the country’s official discourse as fiction, a sham. The consequences of the tragedy are unpredictable, but it is now up to the justice system to establish the truth of what happened and prosecute those responsible. As for public opinion, the hypocritical wall of silence has been broken: MP Michel Moawad clearly worded his political assessment of the tragedy when he said, “Coexistence between the State and another rival entity within it (the mini-state) is no longer possible.”

There is no need to revisit the facts of the Kahaleh tragedy, nor its twists and turns, as not one person is unaware of the seriousness of the consequences of what happened at that bend in the road—it was not just a Hezbollah truck that overturned but the Lebanese State as a whole, exposing the magnitude of the country’s collapse through its apparent lack of sovereignty. It has become clear to everyone that the state can no longer carry out the two essential tasks that constitute its raison d’être:

-Ensuring the security of citizens

-Fulfilling its judicial obligation.

Indeed, the Lebanese were dismayed at the lack of enthusiasm from the judicial apparatus which failed to promptly take charge of the crime scene as prescribed by law. These two conclusions are objective and stem from facts, but there are two other observations that can also be drawn from this tragedy. These are part of the country’s collective unconscious, especially the Christian one: for Lebanese Christians, this specific downhill turn in Kahaleh is a significant spot as it was a site of asserting and upholding their national identity during the Civil War. So witnessing the recent events in Kahaleh was a clear indicator of the weakness of the State.

Some people have accused legal security forces of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s actions. And the delay, the time that it took legal forces to take control of the events could very well lead to people establishing their own self-regulated protection systems, especially in Christian areas. Could the hint of a civil war be looming on the horizon? One should acknowledge that such risks are largely fueled by Hezbollah, through its warmongering behavior toward the State and the civilian population. It can no longer hide behind the false argument of “resistance” against Israel to justify its illegally managed arsenal, all while benefiting from the passive complicity of Lebanese authorities and some opportunistic political forces.

The time has come to address a serious question: as a collective group, is Hezbollah a friend or an enemy? “Enemy is a sociological notion,” says Lionel Pourtau. Within the same society, “we have adversaries.” And “When we believe that the other person is not part of this environment, they become the enemy […] The enemy is belligerent because it is perceived as an unassimilable form, someone with whom one cannot discuss or negotiate.” MP Michel Moawad’s statement fits within this definition.

The modern sovereign State is characterized by the integrity of its borders. In that sense, the war becomes exclusively intrastate. With globalization, new transnational forces have emerged, organized in “networks” of political, religious, identity-based and even mafia-like nature. The State, accustomed to dealing with individuals within its borders and other states beyond, is thus significantly destabilized. Its sovereignty and powers are being weakened. Today, Lebanon is a reflection of this deadly process. Could its final disintegration still be contained?

Post-Kahaleh 2023, how can Hezbollah be defined? Is it solely a terrorist organization or a criminal one, in the full legal sense of the term? Has the tragedy of Kahaleh revealed that Lebanon has reached a political breaking point, one that revolves around the differentiation between friend and foe? This is the only question that ensues, one that hints at a political nightmare. Refusing to consider the Iranian militia as an enemy would amount to “denying its status as a political interlocutor” (J. Freund). Since 2005, Lebanese politicians have been burying their heads in the sand and, for the sake of inter-faith coexistence, wish to create the illusion that the issue of Hezbollah is an internal matter that ought to be resolved through morality and law. They seem to have forgotten that Hezbollah is the one that has designated as its enemy anyone who does not comply with its demands. To ideologically persist in denying the potential presence of an internal enemy is to deny the realm of politics. Following the incident in Kahaleh, we need to call a spade a spade. But how should this unprecedented situation be handled? There’s only one answer: through politics, and not through the violence of militia mimicry. Numerous options are possible:

  • Do not fraternize with Hezbollah in the name of sectarian coexistence. The latter is not at stake in this political confrontation.
  • Reject all dialogue with the Amal-Hezbollah duo outside of state institutions. Above all, be careful to differentiate between the Shiite community and the above mentioned duo.
  • Do not have a direct confrontation with Hezbollah about its military arsenal, but rather weaken and contain it by eroding its influence. This means stripping it of its Christian cover, which grants it the national legitimacy it so desperately needs.
  • Do not cooperate with the FPM (Hezbollah’s Christian facade) until it publicly and solemnly relinquishes the Mar Mikhail agreement, which led Lebanon to the depths of the abyss it’s in.
  • Lead a diplomatic campaign for the implementation of international resolutions 1559-1680-1701, which guarantee Lebanon’s non-alignment.

In these difficult times, political wit requires the election of a head of state, one that is not subservient to Hezbollah, and putting Lebanon in political recovery mode. It is imperative to mitigate the struggle for power as well as the dictatorship exercised by parties. This is how the first government of President Fouad Shehab proceeded, by governing by decree-laws.

And if all the above were to fail, come what may.

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