Missiles from an unknown source fell on the outskirts of the Southern Suburb of Beirut, the stronghold of the Shiite Hezbollah which is fighting in Syria in defense of the regime. Unidentified armed men killed Lebanese soldiers on the outskirts of the town of Ersal in Eastern Bekaa, the Sunni stronghold opposed to the regime in Damascus. Both attacks were carried out by anonymous sides, and the perpetrator here was followed by another one there, as though someone wanted to respond to the call made by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for the fighting of the Lebanese parties among the supporters and detractors of the Syrian regime in Syria, and not in Lebanon. It is as though someone wished to confirm that the armed infighting in the Northern city of Tripoli, between the Alawite Jabal Mehsen and the Sunni Bab al-Tebbeneh – one which is escalating to the beat of the battles in Syria – is not enough to show the impossibility of separating the Syrian civil conflict from it in Lebanon. In the meantime, the Lebanese political class, and especially the deputies, are preoccupied with the extension of the parliamentary term and the electoral law that will guarantee their prevalence. Hence, they are neither seeing nor hearing what is happening around them in Syria and the region, but also on the Lebanese domestic arena where the tensions, instigation and arming are increasing by the day. The signs of the Lebanese civil conflict preceded those which accompanied the eruption of its Syrian counterpart, and the Lebanese sects deployed all possible means to show their rivalry, despite all the eloquent talk about the unified country and the common fate. The Lebanese political class, which is solely focused on its interests, might believe it can coexist with this temporary stage of tensions, before resuming the exploitation of power once normalcy is restored in Syria, and consequently in Lebanon. The Syrian situation is heading towards further confrontations and sectarian divide, and the fighters are actively infiltrating the region based on sectarian considerations and not on any political position. In the meantime, the efforts to ensure a solution are still outside the core of the Syrian crisis and international diplomacy is still practicing outsmarting to protect alleged interests, while the Syrian crisis is snowballing and producing additional expressions of sectarian hatred, which is affecting the people and causing destruction. As for the apparent cooperation with this international diplomacy, it is nothing but an attempt to gain time and acquire weapons, in order to destroy the other party on the internal scene. A similar process is unfolding in Lebanon, one which the political class might not be aware of or is intentionally disregarding. In parallel to the continuation of the intermittent fighting in Tripoli, the targeting of the outskirts of the Southern Suburb and Ersal came to confirm that the daily orders are being issued by those carrying arms, and not by the legitimate and constitutional institutions. The latter armed sides are the extremist Sunnis operating under many names and the extremist Shiites affiliated with Hezbollah. While the party has become involved in legitimate political action and entered parliament and the government, its strategy – including that of its members in parliament and the government – remained outside the context of legitimacy and the constitution, as long as it is holding on to its weapons and exclusive control over the use of arms and the peace and war decision. The party is not concerned, and never was, by all the Lebanese-style arrangements, the humoring and the settlements that require concessions from it. It is a militia outside the context of the Lebanese internal calculations and does not deem itself to be part of any domestic arrangements. In that sense, it is similar to the extremist Sunni groups and organizations working outside the context of any local political framework, enjoying their own calculations and strategies and are unconcerned by internal settlements. Hence, the Lebanese political class is relinquishing its role to the carriers of weapons, out of weakness at times, but mostly due to a repulsive opportunism. In addition, it is determining its policies based on specific needs and justifying the violence and hatred practiced by the latter sides. This is leading all the parties towards a situation in which it would no longer be possible to talk about a state in Lebanon, about unified institutions, common fate, and coexistence.
