Lebanon is a sectarian nation, yet it has avoided civil war while the Middle East burns – here's why

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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependentOnline" target="_blank" title="Facebook" class="icon-facebook"></a> </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/https://twitter.com/independent" target="_blank" title="Twitter" class="icon-twitter"></a> </li> </ul> </div> </header> <div id="content"> <div class="region region-header"> <div class="ad-leaderboard"> <div id="leaderboard" style="margin: 0 auto 40px;"></div> </div> </div> <div id="cookie-warning"> <a href="#" class="close icon-close" title="OK"></a> <p>We use cookies to enhance your visit to our site and to bring you advertisements that might interest you. Read our <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html">Privacy</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html">Cookie</a> Policies to find out more.</p> </div> <div class="tabs"></div> <div class="region region-content"> <article class="full-article" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/NewsArticle"> <meta itemprop="mainEntityOfPage" content="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/lebanon-civil-war-avoided-peaceful-nation-middle-east-syria-turkey-israel-conflict-robert-fisk-a7371326.html"> <div itemprop="publisher" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization"> <meta itemprop="name" content="The Independent"> <link itemprop="sameAs" href="http://www.independent.co.uk"> <link itemprop="logo" href="https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/brand-logo.png"> </div> <header> <ol vocab="http://schema.org/" typeof="BreadcrumbList" class="breadcrumbs clearfix"><li property="itemListElement" typeof="ListItem"><a property="item" typeof="WebPage" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices"><span property="name">Voices</span></a></li></ol> <h1 itemprop="headline" class=" voices-title">Lebanon is a sectarian nation, yet it has avoided civil war while the Middle East burns – here's why</h1> <div class="intro"> <p>Reconstructed after the civil war, the army is the only totally non-sectarian force in the country. It’s also the only institution that still works. Without it, conflict may yet have reignited</p> </div> <ul class="caption meta inline-pipes-list"> <li class="author" itemprop="author" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> <span itemprop="name"><a href="/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/author/robert-fisk" title="Robert Fisk" itemprop="sameAs">Robert Fisk</a></span> in Beirut </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/https://twitter.com/indyvoices">@indyvoices</a> </li> <li title="20 October 2016 11:15 London"><time data-microtimes="{"published":"1476957960000","display":"1476958500000","changed":"1477044163000"}" datetime="11:15, 20 October 2016">Thursday 20 October 2016 11:15 BST</time></li> <li class="comments"> <a href="#commentsDiv" id="comment-count" class="icon-comment"></a> </li> </ul> <div id="gigya-share-btns-1"></div> </header> <figure itemprop="associatedMedia image" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" class="featured-media medium-width"> <meta itemprop="representativeOfPage" content="true"> <meta itemprop="url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/indy100/Z1Lop_em0e/8773-l0aadq.jpg"> <meta itemprop="width" content="1520"> <meta itemprop="height" content="1017"> <picture title="8773-l0aadq.jpg">  <source srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_medium/public/indy100/Z1Lop_em0e/8773-l0aadq.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 620px) and (max-width: 929px)"/> <source srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_large/public/indy100/Z1Lop_em0e/8773-l0aadq.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 930px) and (max-width: 1239px)"/> <source srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/indy100/Z1Lop_em0e/8773-l0aadq.jpg 1x" media="(min-width: 1240px)"/>  <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_small/public/indy100/Z1Lop_em0e/8773-l0aadq.jpg" alt="8773-l0aadq.jpg" title="8773-l0aadq.jpg"/> </picture> <figcaption itemprop="description" class="caption"> 'The identity of Lebanon is sectarian': Hezbollah supporters demonstrate against the Lebanese Government, Beirut, December 2006 </figcaption> </figure> <div class="article-wrapper clearfix"> <div class="main-content-column"> <div class="text-wrapper" itemprop="articleBody"> <p>Maybe it’s because I live in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Lebanon">Lebanon</a>, and return to Beirut from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/aleppo">Aleppo</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Damascus">Damascus</a>, that the place seems so “normal”. While all around this little jewel, the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east">Middle East</a> burns – <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Syria">Syria</a>, the occupied <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/WestBank">West Bank</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Iraq">Iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Yemen">Yemen</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Libya">Libya</a>, increasingly <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Egypt">Egypt</a> and, alas, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/turkey-erdogan-kurds-pkk-this-is-what-it-feels-like-to-be-an-ordinary-kurd-caught-in-tragedy-robert-a7357031.html">Turkish Kurdistan</a> – Lebanon glistens brightly in the darkness, largely untarnished by the horrors on the other side of its borders. Or so it seems.</p> <p>We might be forgiven for believing that this little paradise still exists in the Arab world. True, Lebanon has no president, no functioning government and constant power cuts (I currently have three electricity outages a day, sometimes totalling six hours, without a generator). Reading by candlelight might seem as romantic as Milton – preferably without its physical effect on him – but it gets a little boring after a while.</p> <p>True, the Syrian war has stained Lebanon. Mosque bombings, the attempted destruction of the Iranian embassy by suicide killers, the brief capture of the Lebanese town of Ersal by Isis and the beheading of Lebanese soldiers who were seized there, seemed to foreshadow a replay of the country’s old civil war. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Hezbollah">Hezbollah</a> fighters from southern Lebanon receive military funerals when they are driven home by the dozen from the Syrian battlefields. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/sunni-and-shia-islams-1400-year-old-divide-explained-a6796131.html">Sunni</a> and Alawite (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/sunni-and-shia-islams-1400-year-old-divide-explained-a6796131.html">Shia</a>) gunmen have fought in the northern city of Tripoli.</p> <p>But the new Lebanese war didn’t happen.</p> <div class="inline-block inline-block-related-single inline-block-left" data-nid="/voices/saudi-arabia-human-rights-imprisonment-every-decent-man-who-speaks-out-in-jail-robert-fisk-a7369276.html"><a href="/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/saudi-arabia-human-rights-imprisonment-every-decent-man-who-speaks-out-in-jail-robert-fisk-a7369276.html"><img src="/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/s3/files/styles/readmore_card/public/thumbnails/image/2016/10/07/10/saudi-arabia-united-nations.jpg"/><div class="content"> <div class="context-capsule">Read more</div> <h2>Saudi Arabia cannot throw every decent person who speaks out into jail</h2> </div> </a></div> <p>I have a few pet theories about Lebanon’s survival. It has the most educated population in the Arab world and the most talented (in the literal sense of the word) people. Its own civil war, with its 150,000 dead – a little common grave compared to Syria today – taught the Lebanese that no one wins, although the Christian minority continued to hold the presidency and the Shia Hezbollah continued to keep their guns. </p> <p>For their own safety, tens of thousands of Lebanese children – offspring of the middle classes and the elite, of course – were sent abroad by their parents during the 1976-90 war. They lived in Geneva, Paris, London, New York. They studied at Oxford, Harvard and the Sorbonne. They grew into adulthood in Western nations where dignity and freedom were natural rights rather than privileges.</p> <div class="dnd-widget-wrapper context-sdl_editor_representation type-video"><div class="dnd-atom-rendered"><div class="image"> <div class="bc_container"> <video id="5179595243001" data-account="624246174001" data-player="2d3d4a83-ba40-464e-9bfb-2804b076bf67" data-embed="default" data-video-id="5179595243001" class="video-js" controls=""></video><script src="//web.archive.org/web/20161103065428js_/http://players.brightcove.net/624246174001/2d3d4a83-ba40-464e-9bfb-2804b076bf67_default/index.min.js"></script></div>  </div></div><div class="dnd-caption-wrapper">Dramatic footage shows Elite Iraq forces battle on road to Bartella in fight for Mosul</div></div> <p>They returned to their country appalled at its sectarianism, its corruption, the hatreds of the family “zoama”, the seigneurs who believe they have a blood-right to power. The returning children loathed the stigma of mixed marriages and their self-righteous priests. Good on them, I used to say. They’ve even forced the government to accept civil marriages – to the meddlesome fury of both Muslim and Christian prelates.</p> <p>Yet the old traditions persist. I recall a Muslim friend whose son attended a British university and whom I would meet in the UK from time to time. He enjoyed his freedoms – beer, girlfriends, the freedom to speak his mind – but in his final term he asked his mother back in Beirut to find him a Muslim bride. I was saddened. He enjoyed the good life, and then wanted mummy to find him a teenage bride of the right religion.</p> <div class="dnd-widget-wrapper context-sdl_editor_representation type-gallery"><div class="dnd-atom-rendered"><div class="image"><script> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script><div class="container grid-mod-gallery" data-scald-gallery="3906401">  <h2 class="gallery-title"><span class="media-prefix icon-gallery"></span>World news in pictures</h2> <div class="images">  <ul><li class="lazy " data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/11/01/12/world-gallery-pix-28-011116.jpg"> <a data-gallery-thumb="1" href="#"><span class="pager icon-arrow-left"></span></a> <a data-gallery-thumb="1" href="#"><span class="pager icon-arrow-right"></span></a> </li> <li class="lazy " data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/storylist/public/thumbnails/image/2016/11/01/12/world-gallery-pix-27-011116.jpg" style="background-image: 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data-original="http://www.independent.co.uk/s3/files/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/10/29/17/mosul-offensive-19.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="43" data-original="http://www.independent.co.uk/s3/files/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/10/29/17/mosul-offensive-20.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="44" data-original="http://www.independent.co.uk/s3/files/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/10/30/14/aleppo-3.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="45" data-original="http://www.independent.co.uk/s3/files/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/10/25/14/world-gallery-pix-08-251016.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> </ul><span class="icon-arrow-left"></span> <span class="icon-arrow-right"></span> <a href="#" class="pager prev" title="Previous photo"></a> <a href="#" class="pager next" title="Next photo"></a> </div> <ul class="legends"><li data-gallery-legend="1"> <h2> <span class="counter">1/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>Britain's Red Arrows flying display team perform</p>  <p class="credits">REUTERS/Stringer</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="2"> <h2> <span class="counter">2/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>Britain's Red Arrows flying display team perform during an air show at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China</p>  <p class="credits">REUTERS/Stringer</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="3"> <h2> <span class="counter">3/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>China unveils its J-20 stealth fighter</p>  <p class="credits">China Daily/via REUTERS</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="4"> <h2> <span class="counter">4/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>The 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="5"> <h2> <span class="counter">5/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>China's J-10 fighter jets perform</p>  <p class="credits">China Daily/via REUTERS</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="6"> <h2> <span class="counter">6/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>Crowds watch China's J-10 fighter jets perform during an air show at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China</p>  <p class="credits">China Daily/via REUTERS</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="7"> <h2> <span class="counter">7/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>China unveils its J-20 stealth fighter on an air show in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China</p>  <p class="credits">China Daily/via REUTERS</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="8"> <h2> <span class="counter">8/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>Indonesian officers carry a coffin containing one of four victims of a cargo plane that crashed in Papua's mountainous area, in Timika</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="9"> <h2> <span class="counter">9/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>Representatives from a group of bereaved families of the 2014 deadly ferry sinking victims and their supporters protest in Seoul, South Korea.</p>  <p class="credits">EPA</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="10"> <h2> <span class="counter">10/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>A group of historians protest in Seoul, South Korea, as they hold a rally over the influence-peddling scandal in which Choi Soon-sil, a longtime close friend of South Korea President Park Geun-hye, is implicated</p>  <p class="credits">EPA</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="11"> <h2> <span class="counter">11/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>A woman carries a basket on her head through a field of vegetables on a foggy morning on the outskirts of Srinagar, India</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="12"> <h2> <span class="counter">12/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>A boy walks through a paddy field on a foggy morning on the outskirts of Srinagar, India</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="13"> <h2> <span class="counter">13/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>The wife of a person who was killed is comforted by policemen as another body is taken out of a house in Manila, Philippines</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="14"> <h2> <span class="counter">14/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>Policemen try to maintain order outside a house in which five people were killed in Manila, Philippines </p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="15"> <h2> <span class="counter">15/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>Relatives and onlookers wait for investigation to be done outside a house in which five people were killed in Manila, Philippines</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="16"> <h2> <span class="counter">16/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island, as seen from Karo, spews volcanic ash during an eruption</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="17"> <h2> <span class="counter">17/45</span>  1 November 2016 </h2>  <p>A man walks in Karo on Sumatra island as Mount Sinabung spews volcanic ash</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="18"> <h2> <span class="counter">18/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>An event in memory of the victims of the Kogalymavia Airbus A321 plane crash in Palace Square</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="19"> <h2> <span class="counter">19/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Kogalymavia Airbus A321 came down in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as it traveled from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg, killing all 217 passengers and 7 crew members on board</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="20"> <h2> <span class="counter">20/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>People gather in Palace Square to pay tribute to the victims of the Kogalymavia Airbus A321 plane crash</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="21"> <h2> <span class="counter">21/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greets supporters during a campaign rally</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="22"> <h2> <span class="counter">22/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton with a masquerade mask as she jokes with members of her staff aboard her campaign plane</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="23"> <h2> <span class="counter">23/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Mayors of the Mexican State of Veracruz, stand on the balcony of the Palace of Government with a banner reading 'Clausurado' (Closed) in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Former Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte is missing after having resigned his position due to corruption charges</p>  <p class="credits">EPA</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="24"> <h2> <span class="counter">24/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Flames shoot up into the sky from a gas line explosion in western Shelby County, Alabama</p>  <p class="credits">REUTERS/Marvin Gentry</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="25"> <h2> <span class="counter">25/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>A fire caused by an explosion along the Colonial Pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama. Right now the two wildfires cause by the explosion have been contained at a total of 31 acres</p>  <p class="credits">Phil Montgomery/Alabama Forestry Commission via AP</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="26"> <h2> <span class="counter">26/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>A remote-controlled plane in the form of a witch flies over a neighborhood as the sun sets during Halloween in Encinitas, California</p>  <p class="credits">REUTERS/Mike Blake </p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="27"> <h2> <span class="counter">27/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>All Saints day at Navotas Public cemetery in Manila, Philippines</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="28"> <h2> <span class="counter">28/45</span>  31 October 2016 </h2>  <p>People visit apartment-style tombs of their loved ones ahead of the commemoration of All Saints day at Navotas Public cemetery in Manila, Philippines</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="29"> <h2> <span class="counter">29/45</span>  30 October 2016 </h2>  <p>A man pauses next to lit candles for those killed at the Colectiv nightclub in a fire which killed 64, the worst in Romania's history during a commemoration in Bucharest, Romania</p>  <p class="credits">AP</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="30"> <h2> <span class="counter">30/45</span>  30 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Nuns rest on a bench after been evacuated from their monastery following an earthquake in Norcia, Italy</p>  <p class="credits">REUTERS/Remo Casilli</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="31"> <h2> <span class="counter">31/45</span>  30 October 2016 </h2>  <p>The church of the Madonna of the Angels is seen partially collapsed following an earthquake along the road to Norcia, Italy</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="32"> <h2> <span class="counter">32/45</span>  30 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Syrians carry their belongings as they leave the southwestern frontline neighbourhood of Dahiyet al-Assad</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="33"> <h2> <span class="counter">33/45</span>  29 October 2016 </h2>  <p>San Bernardino County firefighters work to free a woman trapped in her Hummer that crashed in the Mojave Desert north of Adelanto, California</p>  <p class="credits">AP</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="34"> <h2> <span class="counter">34/45</span>  30 October 2016 </h2>  <p>People decorate their houses with lanterns and lights as they celebrate the annual Hindu festival of Diwal in Mumbai, India</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="35"> <h2> <span class="counter">35/45</span>  30 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Indian Sikh devotees watch a fireworks display during Bandi Chhor Divas, or Diwali, at the Golden Temple in Amritsar</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="36"> <h2> <span class="counter">36/45</span>  30 October 2016 </h2>  <p> Icelandic Prime Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson resigns</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="37"> <h2> <span class="counter">37/45</span>  29 October 2016 </h2>  <p>In this photo released by the Bureau of the Royal Household, Thai mourners pay their respects in front of royal urn containing the body of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, at Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand</p>  <p class="credits">Bureau of the Royal Household via AP</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="38"> <h2> <span class="counter">38/45</span>  29 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Thai mourners hold pictures of late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej over their heads as a sign of respect</p>  <p class="credits">EPA</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="39"> <h2> <span class="counter">39/45</span>  29 October 2016 </h2>   <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="40"> <h2> <span class="counter">40/45</span>  29 October 2016 </h2>   <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="41"> <h2> <span class="counter">41/45</span>  28 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Iraqi forces celebrate upon the arrival of vehicles bringing food to them</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="42"> <h2> <span class="counter">42/45</span>  28 October 2016 </h2>  <p>An Iraqi soldier sits at a checkpoint in an area near Qayyarah</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="43"> <h2> <span class="counter">43/45</span>  28 October 2016 </h2>  <p>An Iraqi child receives medical care from a doctor of Iraqi forces upon their arrival in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="44"> <h2> <span class="counter">44/45</span>  28 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Rebel groups have pledged to push from newly captured positions in the Dahiyet al-Assad district towards Hamdaniyeh. Rebels and allied jihadists launched a major offensive on October 28, 2016 to break through government lines and reach the 250,000 people living in the city's east</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="45"> <h2> <span class="counter">45/45</span>  25 October 2016 </h2>  <p>Migrants walk in the camp called the 'Jungle' on the second day of their evacuation and transfer to reception centers in France</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> </ul><div class="ad-mpu mpu5-container"> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></div> <p>Almost every six months I encounter a Muslim or Christian friend whose parents threaten to disown them if they marry a man or woman from a different religion. Up in the Chouf mountains at Beit Eddine, I attended a conference on sectarianism at which a worthy Western academic suggested that the youth of Lebanon must be encouraged to marry whomever they love, whatever their religion. No, I said. It’s their parents to whom they should preach.</p> <p>And what do you do about corruption? It’s a cancer in the Middle East (and a lot of Western countries, I might add). I regularly meet with men and women who have dodgy backgrounds. It’s part of my job as a journalist. They defrauded a bank, or have civil war blood on their hands, or are trying to smear a rival politician. I used to frequent a vegetable shop whose owner had murdered another man in a family feud. He kept a rifle beside the cauliflower stall. Last week, an internal security force officer used his service pistol to shoot his neighbours in the Kesrouan region over a dispute about their pit bull dogs.</p> <div class="inline-block inline-block-related-single inline-block-left" data-nid="/voices/mosul-offensive-isis-flee-iraq-syria-raqqa-bashar-al-assad-what-then-robert-fisk-a7365776.html"><a href="/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/mosul-offensive-isis-flee-iraq-syria-raqqa-bashar-al-assad-what-then-robert-fisk-a7365776.html"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428im_/https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/readmore_card/public/thumbnails/image/2016/10/17/08/iraqi-forces-mosul-1.jpg"/><div class="content"> <div class="context-capsule">Read more</div> <h2>When Mosul falls, Isis will flee to Syria. But what then?</h2> </div> </a></div> <p>Banks which levy outrageous charges on current accounts threaten their customers. My own bank in Beirut (its charges are not outrageous and it’s owned by former prime minister Saad Hariri, of whom more later) used to send me a letter in which I was supposed to promise not to break US federal banking laws. The bank was so frightened of US money-laundering threats – if a bank can’t deal in dollars, it’s out of business – that it went on sending me this wretched note year after year until I sent them a lawyer’s letter which told them that they had no legal right to make this demand of a British citizen. At which point, the whole fandango immediately came to an end.</p> <p>Every few years, the government commences an “anti-corruption drive” in which civil servants immediately refuse to take bribes (for a few weeks) to avoid being fired. But then what happens? Quite a while back, my landlord captured this nonsense rather well. When his phone line was cut in the past, the PTT man came right away. He received a few Lebanese pounds for his work and the line was fixed. “Now when my phone line is cut,” my landlord moaned, “the PTT man won’t fix the line because he’s not allowed to take a gift. How do I get my phone back?”</p> <p>Corruption, even small scale, oils the wheels. But what is Lebanon to do with Sister Syria next door? It’s calculated that $10bn of Syrian money lies in Lebanese banks, apartment blocks, investments and cash. You can imagine how the Americans – who’ve put around 80 Syrians on their economic blacklist – might roar with outrage at this statement. But it’s true. </p> <div class="dnd-widget-wrapper context-sdl_editor_representation type-gallery"><div class="dnd-atom-rendered"><div class="image"><script> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script><div class="container grid-mod-gallery" data-scald-gallery="4327061">  <h2 class="gallery-title"><span class="media-prefix icon-gallery"></span>Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces</h2> <div class="images">  <ul><li class="lazy " data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra7.jpg"> <a data-gallery-thumb="1" href="#"><span class="pager icon-arrow-left"></span></a> <a data-gallery-thumb="1" href="#"><span class="pager icon-arrow-right"></span></a> </li> <li class="lazy " data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/storylist/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/11/palmyra15.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');"> <a data-gallery-thumb="2" href="#"></a> </li> <li class="lazy " data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/storylist/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra1.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');"> <a data-gallery-thumb="3" href="#"></a> </li> <li class="lazy " data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/storylist/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra4.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');"> <a data-gallery-thumb="4" href="#"></a> </li> <li> <a class="show-all initial-open" href="#"> <span class="additional-photos icon-gallery">10</span> <span class="label">show all</span> </a> </li> </ul></div> </div> <div class="full-gallery"> <div class="scroller"> <a href="#" class="close icon-close" title="Close gallery"></a> <h2 class="gallery-title"><span class="media-prefix icon-gallery"></span>Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces</h2> <div class="images"> <ul><li data-gallery-item="1" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra7.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="2" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/11/palmyra15.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="3" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra1.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="4" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra4.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="5" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra5.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="6" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="7" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra3.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="8" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra2.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="9" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/09/palmyra6.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> <li data-gallery-item="10" data-original="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2016/03/28/11/palmyra16.jpg" style="background-image: url('/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/ines_theme/img/blank.gif');" class=""></li> </ul><span class="icon-arrow-left"></span> <span class="icon-arrow-right"></span> <a href="#" class="pager prev" title="Previous photo"></a> <a href="#" class="pager next" title="Next photo"></a> </div> <ul class="legends"><li data-gallery-legend="1"> <h2> <span class="counter">1/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>Graffiti on the ancient stones reads in Arabic ‘Shooting without the permission of the chief is prohibited’</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="2"> <h2> <span class="counter">2/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>Damaged artefacts lay inside the museum of the historic city of Palmyra</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="3"> <h2> <span class="counter">3/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>Syrian pro-government forces rest by Palmyra Citadel as they take control of the city from the hands of Isis</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="4"> <h2> <span class="counter">4/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>The UNESCO world heritage site appears surprisingly intact after its recapture from the militant group</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="5"> <h2> <span class="counter">5/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>Many had feared the ancient city would be destroyed following its capture by Isis in May</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="6"> <h2> <span class="counter">6/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>Smoke billows from the Palmyra Citadel as Assad’s forces drive the Jihadist group from the city</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="7"> <h2> <span class="counter">7/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>Palmyra is one of the ‘most important cultural centers of the world’ Unesco says</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="8"> <h2> <span class="counter">8/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>Pro-government forces play football in the streets following the recapture of the city</p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="9"> <h2> <span class="counter">9/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>The extent of the destruction caused by Isis’ 10 month occupation of the city has yet to be fully realised </p>  <p class="credits">Getty</p> </li> <li data-gallery-legend="10"> <h2> <span class="counter">10/10</span>  Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces </h2>  <p>The City Council of Palmyra building in ruins</p>  <p class="credits">Reuters</p> </li> </ul><div class="ad-mpu mpu5-container"> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></div> <p>And thanks to the Middle East’s former colonial masters (French, of course) who broke Lebanon off from Syria, many Lebanese families are also Syrian families – this might apply to about a third of the population of Tripoli, Lebanon’s northern city – and many of these Lebanese also hold US citizenship and are, of course, perfectly entitled to hold accounts in Lebanese banks. And if they withdraw it and spend the money in Damascus, who is to know?</p> <p>There is – thank God, say all the Lebanese – the army. Reconstructed after the civil war, it’s the only totally non-sectarian force in the country. It’s also the only institution that still works. Without it, that civil war may yet have reignited Lebanon. The Saudis were going to pay for its rearmament – three billion dollars’ worth, the weapons to come from King Salman’s chum Francois Hollande. But when the Saudis were angered by the Shia Hezbollah’s attacks on the Kingdom, they pulled the plug — and so Lebanese soldiers are still protecting their nation with old British SLR rifles once used in Belfast and outdated Humvees and even more outdated Huey helicopters of Vietnam vintage.</p> <p>In the absence of a president, the most powerful man in Lebanon is General Abbas Ibrahim, head of the country’s internal security, a Shiite who is a good friend of Qatar – he has helped to negotiate the release of soldiers and nuns who were held captive by the Islamist Nusrah group – and a brave (some might say foolhardy) man. Whenever I see him (the last time was in Qatar) I always tell him to take care of his life because I fear he is the most endangered species in Lebanon: a very brave man whom an awful lot of people would like to kill. </p> <div class="inline-block inline-block-related-single inline-block-left" data-nid="/voices/turkey-kurdistan-25-years-since-robert-fisk-arrested-things-have-only-got-worse-a7358996.html"><a href="/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/turkey-kurdistan-25-years-since-robert-fisk-arrested-things-have-only-got-worse-a7358996.html"><img src="/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/s3/files/styles/readmore_card/public/thumbnails/image/2016/02/13/22/31-kurdish-flag-afp.jpg"/><div class="content"> <div class="context-capsule">Read more</div> <h2>It's 25 years since I was arrested, but things are worse for Kurdistan</h2> </div> </a></div> <p>If he is vain (as his critics claim), he is also courageous. When he was the senior army intelligence officer in southern Lebanon, it was his duty to maintain contact with all armed groups in the area. He would walk, at night, alone and unarmed, into the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian camp to talk to members of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. He deserves to survive.</p> <p>So does Lebanon. But in the very latest bit of roguery to appal the Lebanese, it looks as if ex-General Michel Aoun might at last achieve his ambition of becoming president of Lebanon. Aoun was the Lebanese army general who in 1990 thought he was the president and went to war with the Syrian army. After hundreds of his soldiers were “martyred” by the Syrian army (and quite a few hundred Syrians “martyred” in a minefield by the Lebanese army), Aoun fled to the French embassy, set off to Paris in self-exile and then returned triumphantly to Lebanon to become (wait for it) a friend of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and his Hezbollah allies. Quite a lot of Lebanese thought he was completely crackers.</p> <p>None was more infuriated than Saad Hariri (yes, the owner of my bank), the former Sunni prime minister whose own ex-prime minister father Rafiq was assassinated – so Saad believed – by Syrian security personnel in 2005. Saad could not stand the sight of Aoun. He raged at his words. But now, to the shock of Lebanese Sunnis, Hariri is declaring himself (after visits to France and Saudi Arabia) in favour of Aoun’s presidency. </p> <div class="dnd-widget-wrapper context-sdl_editor_representation type-video"><div class="dnd-atom-rendered"><div class="image"> <div class="bc_container"> <video id="5165119148001" data-account="624246174001" data-player="2d3d4a83-ba40-464e-9bfb-2804b076bf67" data-embed="default" data-video-id="5165119148001" class="video-js" controls=""></video><script src="//web.archive.org/web/20161103065428js_/http://players.brightcove.net/624246174001/2d3d4a83-ba40-464e-9bfb-2804b076bf67_default/index.min.js"></script></div>  </div></div><div class="dnd-caption-wrapper">Girl cries out for father after Syrian airstrike</div></div> <p>In other words, Hariri is cosying up to support a man who is an ally of the regime which he believes murdered his father. Could this possibly be because Saad wants to become prime minister again – even Aoun’s prime minister? In Lebanon, the president must be a Christian Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni and the speaker of parliament a Shia. But the Shia speaker of parliament is Nabih Berri who says he will not tolerate Aoun as president. So do at least 13 of Hariri’s own top party supporters.</p> <p>It’s sectarianism again; the system in which every Lebanese Christian and Sunni and Shia Muslim lives in mutual love, suspicion and fear of each other, love always trumping fear if the people don’t want another civil war. Politely, this is called the National Pact. And that’s why Lebanon will always be a nation-in-waiting.</p> <figure class="mediaembed"><div style="width:100%;margin:10px 0;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="400" scrolling="no" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103065428if_/https://w.graphiq.com/w/9JlTSp3dd1b" style="position:static;vertical-align:top;margin:0 auto;display:block;width:600px !important;max-width:100%;min-height:400px !important;max-height:none !important;border:none;overflow:hidden;" width="600"></iframe> <div style="text-align:center;font:14px/16px Helvetica,arial;color:#3d3d3d;"> </div> </div> </figure><p> To be a modern state, Lebanon must de-confessionalise so that anyone, whatever his religion, can be president or prime minister. But if you de-sectarianise Lebanon, it ceases to exist. For the <em>identity </em>of Lebanon is sectarian. It’s a Rolls Royce with leather seats, flat screen TV in the back, a cocktail cabinet – but square wheels. Beautiful, luxurious, coveted, it doesn’t work. But thank God it’s got the Lebanese people.</p> <p>Which is why Lebanon will survive. Its people have what so few Arabs enjoy: relative freedom, education, a love of books (real books outnumbered e-books at the last Beirut book fair) and an abiding belief in their history: Roman ruins, Crusader castles, ancient mosques, the Phoenician love of travel and adventure (which is why the national airline is always packed, even if does show advertisements for medical facelifts). The Lebanese are their own heroes.</p> <meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2016-10-21T11:02:43+01:00"/> <ul class="inline-pipes-list"> <li> More about: </li> <li><a itemprop="keywords" href="/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Lebanon">Lebanon</a></li> <li><a itemprop="keywords" href="/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Syria">Syria</a></li> <li><a itemprop="keywords" href="/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/MiddleEast">Middle East</a></li> </ul> <div id="gigya-share-btns-2"></div> <a href="/web/20161103065428/http://www.independent.co.uk/syndication/reuse-permision-form?url=http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/lebanon-civil-war-avoided-peaceful-nation-middle-east-syria-turkey-israel-conflict-robert-fisk-a7371326.html" target="_blank" class="syndication-btn"><img src="/web/20161103065428im_/http://www.independent.co.uk/sites/all/themes/ines_themes/independent_theme/img/reuse.png" width="25">Reuse content</a> </div> <div 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Lebanon is a sectarian nation, yet it has avoided civil war while the Middle East burns – here's why | The Independent