Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Al-Rahi’s Warnings are Too Little, Too Late

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi sat in his chair earlier this month listening to the discontentment of his parish delegations visiting him. Immigration, unemployment, bankruptcies that have hit all sectors, despair, potential school drop-outs with the start of the academic year - if it does actually start - poverty, the collapse of the local currency, daunting inflation, and the shortage in raw materials and power cuts. The congregation is starving, and most of its members want to emigrate. Twenty years from now there will be no Maronites left in Lebanon, or they will be such a small minority that they will be of no added value to the country’s the political or economic life.
 
Al-Rahi displayed a grimace of worry, but what can be done?
 
It is worth mentioning that leading politician Gebran Bassil had told him that President Michel Aoun would be the “Charles de Gaulle” of the East as of all the Maronite leaders, only Aoun is capable of keeping his promises. Everyone seeks his approval, and Hezbollah needs Christian cover. Al- Rahi was asked: “What will happen to Hezbollah without a Christian cover?” No one has ever asked this question, perhaps in fear of exposing that the idea of a "Christian cover" is a joke as well as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s indifference. This whole situation is a comedy show, similar to one of Rahbani's plays, where things appear perfect from the outside.
 
Iran-backed Hezbollah receives direct commands from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Quds Forces and is classified as a terrorist organization in many countries.  Hezbollah is accused of killing former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, fighting on more than one front in the region, and are supplied with arms and money from Iran. Will it collapse if it does not have “Christian cover” from Aoun?
 
Bassil continued by claiming that former Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s political fate is linked to Aoun. Bassil assured that Hariri is wrapped around their finger. What if Hariri decides to break free from their grip? He’ll be finished. Bassil said that with a lot of confidence. “We will restore the stolen rights of the Maronites. Aoun alone is able to restore those rights that were lost in the Taif agreement.” However, why would Hezbollah, which has control over Lebanon, accept going back in time to 1991? 
 
The meeting ended and Al-Rahi entered his office immediately thinking of the patriarchs who preceded him and the rest of the Eastern Maronites. Does Bassil know the Maronites and their history? How did we hand over the sect to such individuals?
 
He started writing his Sunday sermon: “The worst thing we witness today is that most politicians are concerned only with their cheap gains, interests, and their bank accounts, withholding confidence from others, and condemning those who hold power in constitutional institutions. What makes matters worse is that they strive to be loyal to their parties rather than Lebanon.”
 
Was the president never warned that the Gulf states, which have always been supporters of Lebanon, could boycott us if he continues to support Hezbollah's hostile stances towards them? Wasn’t he warned of angering the United States of America? “We will build an Eastern economy consisting of Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon” was his response. “It will be a productive and resistant economy against those who want to uproot us from this land. We do not need the Gulf countries. Aren’t they the countries that support the fundamentalist movements hostile to the Eastern Christianity that you represent? They - the Gulf states - will not help us as long as they still support our enemies. As for the United States, its influence has begun to fade in the East. President Trump only cares about isolationism and making America great. Our interest is with the East.” 
 
But what about sanctions? Aren’t they going to undermine the Eastern Economy? Moreover, how can we rely on countries that have become bankrupt from US sanctions to revive our economy? Bloc politics brought us Maronites nothing but calamity. 
 
We appeal to the President of the Republic to lift the siege on legitimacy and free national opinion. We ask friendly countries to accelerate their rescue of Lebanon as they have before whenever it was in danger. We turn to the United Nations to work on re-establishing Lebanon's independence and unity, implementing international resolutions, and declaring its neutrality. Lebanon's neutrality guarantees its unity and its historical position in a climate full of geographical and constitutional changes. Lebanon's neutrality is its strength and guarantees its role in stabilizing the region and defending the rights of Arab states and peace conflict, and in the robust relationship between the countries of the Middle East and Europe given to its location on the shore of the Mediterranean.
 
There are many things that Al-Rahi did not write in his sermon:
 
First, he did not criticize the existing regime in Lebanon and did not hold it responsible of the tragedies the country is going through, nor did he call for an alternative system that prevents sects being supported by external parties and thus monopolizing the country and its fate by employing their strategic interests. As a result, the loyalty of the sects to those external parties becomes greater and stronger than their loyalty to their homeland. 
 
Al-Rahi could have condemned those who bargained for the presidential seat in the Mar Mikhael agreement. He could have also condemned Iran’s influence that has turned Lebanon into a province under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's grasp. Perhaps this would have brought back some of the sparkle of an ancient glory.