Tag Archives: Maronite

Lebanon’s Sacred Valley – Qadisha

The Qadisha valley (also known as Annoubin) whose pictures you see below is a world heritage site. It is a magical location, deep in the Lebanese mountains, used for centuries to harbor Maronites from persecution.

The pictures are for the western tip of the valley, for a location known as St. Elijah’s convent. I took family members there earlier today and, even though I’ve been there numerous times, the place never ceases to amaze me.

The valley is crowned by the majestic Lebanon mountains, which also harbor the Cedar Forest. In winter, the mountains are adorned with snow.

The Church Explosion Derivation

On Sunday morning, an explosion rocked the Syriac church of Saydit Al Najat (Our Lady of Salvation) in Zahle. Every Lebanese official denounced the explosion, naturally, as a barbaric act, against the “example” of coexistence that is Lebanon, bla bla bla.

Now let us start our derivation of who is responsible for this attack.

Naturally, it can’t be a non-Lebanese because most Lebanese barely know of the existence of the targeted sect, let alone those who are foreigners and don’t know Lebanon has Maronites or any other major Christian sect to begin with.

Now that the non-Lebanese people have been taken out of the equation, this leaves us with those who hold the beloved and cherished citizenship. Of those, say 50% are Muslims and 50% are Christians. Now since we’d like to be optimistic, let us assume that our fellow Muslims would not do such a thing because it would break this example of coexistence.

Of the remaining 50% of Christians, no one would act except upon an act issued by their correspondent political leader. You have a bunch of irrelevant leaders who can’t get their followers to hurt a fly and then you have the big quartet.

Michel Aoun was probably still sleeping, long dreaming about him being Lebanon’s president, a dream that doesn’t seem to let him go. Add to that the fact that his supporters don’t know what a bomb is and you rule him out of the equation as well.

Sleiman Frangieh’s followers know very well what a bomb is. But Zahle is just too far away from his radar that you can’t make him a serious contender for the top prize. Add to it him being clueless most of the time and you definitely take his name off the list.

Amin Gemayel was still probably mourning his son. Or in the midst of the conversation that started on Friday evening. Either way, I don’t see him as someone who would issue the bombing as well.

Samir Geagea, however, *evil smile*, this man can definitely blow up a church. I mean, out of the whole bunch of politicians today, he is the only criminal, right? And he has blown up a church before. Granted, he was exonerated, but he did blow it up, no? His party is also made up of a bunch of high school dropouts who don’t know how to write their names, so naturally, they know how to handle bombs. Also, as a wise person from Bsharri would say: If Geagea thinks a church needs to be blown up, then the church needs to be blown up.

Meanwhile, the seven Estonians are still missing. Telecom minister Charbel Nahas is still in his cat-fight with Ogero CEO, Abdel Menhem, and the country is more prosperous than ever. Some Lebanese stupidheads took the headlines with their pro-Syria protests… why would anyone care about a silly Church getting blown up?

PS: In case you didn’t notice, let me hashtag it for you: #sarcasm.

The Maronite Church and Lebanon’s New Patriarch

The Maronite Church has spoken and has chosen Beshara Al Raai as the successor to Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, as the patriarch.

I will not enumerate the many qualities this man has. I’m sure the Bishops that chose him have chosen well. I just hope that he is at least half as good as his predecessor, Nasrallah Sfeir, who was as great as greatness could be.

I hope this new patriarch stands by what he believes in and does not waver, even when things get tough, like his predecessor. He will be submitted to great pressure. Many are going to want to see him fail and on a few occasions, he will make mistakes. I hope he perseveres through all the hardships because we, as Maronites and Lebanese, deserve to have “the Good Shepherd” in these dark times. I hope that he continues in the legacy of the Maronite Church, as a rock on which Lebanon was – and will forever be – built.

Tribute To One Of The Greats: Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir

In a few days, the Maronite Church and Lebanon will end an important chapter of their history. No other man in current Lebanon has left a more durable print on the ink of Lebanese history than Patriach Sfeir, whose resignation from head of the Maronite Church was met with grateful sadness from many and jubilation from a few.

I will not enumerate the many achievements of this man – for those achievements are imprinted in every free Lebanese’s mind. Patriarch Sfeir has fought for Lebanon and continued the legacy of the Maronite Church’s continuous struggle to make Lebanon a suitable home for every Lebanese, not only Maronites.

Patriarch Sfeir has been beaten down – literally and figuratively – during his twenty five year run as head of the Maronite Church. And yet, he did not let down. Regardless of the many insults and blows he was dealt, he persevered. The betterment of the nation was superior to his own well-being. He handled it with wisdom and serenity.

He was a leading voice against social and political injustice in Lebanon, of which his people suffered immensely. He played a great role in keeping together what was left of his country when everyone wanted a piece of that country. It is because of this man and the institute that stands behind him that we can say that today, regardless of how weak it might be, we have a country to our name.

He was a voice of reason when reason was not appreciated. He was firm in his stances when firmness meant a pertinent life threat. He had a futuristic vision of a future that many saw was bleak. And in many occasions, his vision turned out to be true.

I, as a Maronite, am proud to say that this man has represented me for the past twenty five years. Regardless of whatever mistakes he might have made, and we all make mistakes.

He may have left his Patriarchal seat, but Patriarch Sfeir will forever be seated in our hearts and minds. They say that the glory of Lebanon is given to the Patriarch – whoever he may be. But Patriarch Sfeir has given Lebanon and Maronites glory beyond glory…

A Middle Eastern Revolution Overdose?

Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria… and now people wanting to overthrow the system in Lebanon. I find myself wondering if it’s getting way out hand – if people are suddenly beginning to take advantage of this surge in regional adrenaline.

Do we really need to march down and demonstrate to overthrow the system in Lebanon? Is it really the best option we’ve got?

We are the only country in the region that actually has a democracy that functions – regardless of whether you think it functions properly or not, we can still vote, get our voices heard and be able to do marches like the one planned today. Sure, we have many shortcomings but I believe they dwarf in comparison to what the people of Egypt, Tunisia had to go through to get where we were in the 1940s, let alone what the people of Libya are going through as we speak.

To change the system in Lebanon, I don’t believe you need a revolution. I think you need common sense, one that is easily blinded when excitement surges among the people. Look at it this way: say the planned “revolution” succeeds and a secular state is enforced, do you honestly think that will happen without changing the basic foundation upon which the state is built? And by that I mean democracy. Do you really think shoving down secularism down people’s throats would get you further?

The people of Lebanon are not secular people because that is not how they were brought up. To move towards a secular state, you need to have a secular mind – one that is only present in a handful of people currently. And I don’t think the current political atmosphere in the country warrants further upheaval.

The best way, in my opinion, to have a peaceful and logical transition into a secular state is via a major overhaul of the education system. You cannot keep on teaching the same things being taught dealing with the way the country is run and still believe a secular state is plausible. People need to be taught on embracing the different other in a more hands-on approach, people need to be exposed more to the other’s religion and we need to at least have a version of our history that does not stop when the French Army vacated its barracks in 1946. By having an education system that invites people to become more aware of the different other, perhaps we can start moving our minds towards becoming truly secular and understanding that if I, a Maronite, do not have the presidency written for my sect, that’s okay. Or if you, a Shiite, don’t necessarily get the speaker of parliament, that’s okay as well. Same thing applies for the Sunnis and all the other sects.

Moving towards a secular Lebanon is a very hard thing to accomplish. The movement towards that should be transitory and not blunt. It should be accepted and not forced. Therefore, uniting Lebanon starts by letting the people of Lebanon share their ideas and come to common grounds with those ideas. Uniting Lebanon does not come by having one idea forced upon everyone. That would be basically a dictatorship.

On a final note, I invite people not to fall into the misconception that atheism is synonymic to secularism. It has become a common belief among many in Lebanon that the two are inherently related. That is far from the case. I also hope that we appreciate what we’ve got in our country and not take it for granted. We are still the only democracy in the region and it’ll take the countries that have had recent revolutions years to get to where we are today – regardless of what you might think lacks in our democracy. Is a revolution an answer? I don’t think so. Do we need to move towards a secular state? I believe it’s a necessity. How? Let’s just say, don’t get carried away by political excitement.