Nestled on a hill in Mount Lebanon, the Christian town of Kahalé no longer tastes its usual tranquility. The political upheavals that shake Beirut, about fifteen kilometers away, have caught up with it. “We are heading towards a withdrawal. Mutual aid between families has been reinforced, around the church or local volunteers. The feeling of belonging [communautaire] outweighs differences of political opinion ”, observes Tony, a 54-year-old computer engineer. During the uprising against power in the fall of 2019, it was decided “That no demonstration in the line of the protest would be held [à Kahalé] to preserve harmony, because not everyone thinks the same “, he continues. The town has turned in more on itself, since the explosion at the port of Beirut on August 4, while political tensions are exacerbated in Lebanon and the economic collapse is accelerating.
The rift has become gaping between the camp united around Hezbollah and its political opponents. The debate has been revived on the weapons of the Shiite militia party, and the showdown between the United States and Iran, godfather of Hezbollah, sharpens these divisions, complicating the formation of the new government. Inter- or intra-community incidents follow one another in the country. The last to date opposed, in mid-September, supporters of the two “Enemy brothers” Christians, Michel Aoun, the president, and Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces party. In this incendiary climate, Tony is not the only one to predict a community withdrawal, going against the aspirations for change and the overthrow of the confessional system carried, in the fall of 2019, by many Lebanese.
“The community leaders let us live in fear, the fear of ‘the other’ who will come and kill us. There is always an “other”. Since the explosion of August 4, we have seen disturbances or anxiety-inducing information, deplores Ibrahim Sidani, a Sunni engaged in a charity association in Ras Al-Nabaa, a central district of Beirut. The fear of the Unknown, he laments, is the biggest obstacle to change. Let’s not forget that we have lived through fifteen years of civil war [1975-1990]. Unfortunately, today we still feel that we belong to our sect, more than to a country. “
“Everyone must change”
Conspired, shaken by months of popular rebellion, the community political leaders (the six main ones being Michel Aoun and Samir Geagea among the Christians, Walid Joumblatt among the Druze, Hassan Nasrallah and Nabih Berri among the Shiite Muslims, Saad Hariri among the Sunni Muslims ), never seemed to doubt either the strength of atavistic fears as a brake on change, or the fidelity of their supporters. This loyalty is most often acquired through clientelism and the image of “protector” of their community in a multi-faith country. They have forged a status for themselves through their role in wartime, through political heritage or the traditional weight of their families. They know how to play history, invoking if necessary a past of power or, conversely, marginalization.
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