Switzerland of the Middle East
Lebanon was a free market haven packed with business mavericks, a bustling economy, one would call it a little piece of Europe in the Middle East. Life was good. Until one day a dark stirring brought about by the malignant influence of Syria and the PLO triggered a horrible civil war. Maybe I’m biased since I grew up in Brasil (where the world’s largest Lebanese community resides) hearing about the attempted ethnic cleansing of Christians from Lebanese and Syrian villages. But history confirms my bias.The dark hand of Syria, a nation ruled by a mafia in every sense of the word attempted to claim Lebanon as its protectorate and intervened in ways that brought about widespread human rights abuse and torture. Syria’s socialistic corrupt government cast a dark shadow over Lebanon spreading bloodshed and destruction wherever it went, although today it likes to claim it ended the civil war there. Many of the Lebanese, (some who did not even consider themselves to be Arabs), had to flee their homeland leaving behind one of the most beautiful pieces of Mediterranean real estate.
And now a Shia militia is back from the past! Back with Iranian arms, back with Syrian funds, back with a vengeance. Too bad for Lebanon. There have been bizarre attempts at justifying their discontent at the Lebanese government such as their community’s usually low economic status. But here is where we see a marked difference in attitude. If the Shia really wanted their community to grow and flourish, they would educate their women and allow them access to work like their fellow Lebanese. The Hezbolla remains armed, the government refuses to disarm them, they give them seats in parliament and allow them to provoke Israel. If Hezbolla lost power and funding what would happen? Prosperity would return to Lebanon, that’s what. I am an optimist, I believe this will happen, otherwise life will be catastrophic in Lebanon. I envision an Egyptian, Jordanian, Israeli, and Lebanese free-trade zone in the future and prosperity for the whole region. Call me naïve, but I believe that common sense will triumph in the end.
