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Monday, May 21, 2012

What scares me about Lebanon Now

I am writing this as I listen to the speeches from Tripoli at the funeral of the sheikh Abdel Wahed.

Religious figures and politicians asked for the execution of the soldiers who shot sheikh Abdel Wahed.

They blamed the government, Hizballah and the army for being biased and following the orders of Syria.

A group of heavily armed men from Akkar say that they do not follow any political leaders. They demanded the retreat of the army from Akkar and giving them the soldier who shot Sheikh Abdel Wahed. Before sundown.

Tonight, I think there is an 80% chance that roads will be closed again.

If you want to make a change, I want to tell you what is difficult. I don't have solutions.

The slice of lebanese society that are engaged in this discourse are far away from you. They do not speak like you and they do not live like you. This is why you will have difficulties communicating with them and convincing them.

This is not a civil war. Which means its not about showing love between different religious figures. This is an internal war, which means its about justice, anger and honor. This means people want their right or they will take matters in their own hands.

This is the army's biggest test. They are asked to sacrifice their soldiers To be executed. Otherwise they will face a confrontation with armed civilians again. If they do decide to push for this and have there soldiers executed, there will be a ripple effect inside army. Trust between soldiers and leadership will be weakened tremendously.

This is a social battle. A lot of soldiers in the army are from Akkar. What will happen when the confrontation takes place? Will soldiers defect? Will the armed civilians decided to assassinate certain members of the army to regain honor?

I don't know.

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