Ashrafiye Demonstration: Country Resting Above Crater of Sectarian Volcano

The Worst Could Have Happened!
--------------------------------
By Mahmoud Raya

To choose between the two evils, the government chose what it thought to be the lesser evil to deal with the serious events in Ashrafiye that took place last Sunday. This happened after the government was incapable of sparing the region and Lebanon this bitter cup.
The loyalists refused to admit to that which the government had admitted; hence, they continued playing the foreign card and accused Syria, Palestine and “a non-Arab regional country”! Then, they sought the help of the Security Council; and this time they did not ignore some Arab cover when they directed a call to the Arab League to handle this case!
The rising smoke from the flames of Tabaris building in Ashrafiye area in the heart of the Lebanese capital Beirut could not hide the facts of several leads. Hence, the March-14 forces decided, after the occurrences, to incite smoke of “different colors,” hoping that they can distract, through them, the Lebanese eyes from the truth of what happened and from the necessity in dealing with the event. They did not want Lebanon to deepen further in the tunnel of the dangers into which these forces are leading the country.
Some people wanted from the organized demonstration to display an expression of condemning the abuse of the Prophet (PBUH&HH), to send more than one message in more than one local, regional and international direction. Therefore, the religious calculations, which the organizers sanctioned, were entangled with political calculations of extreme complexity relating to the direction of messages to other Lebanese parties. Hence, the wills and trends clashed as a first step reaching loss of control of the march, after which its organizers completely lost control.
Although Ashrafiye was an area of sensitive sectarian and political feature and was the primary stage of the demonstration, yet the observers saw the practices that took place and went out of all the symmetries of rationality and awareness. It was a translation of sectarian factors, nourished by radical trends that act powerfully on the arena in the form of public currents. However, the concerned people in the country seem to be unable to realize the truth with its real size in the correct form, especially that these parties are dispersed in different regions at the time when the Future current seem to have the political control.
These analysts believe that the collection of several wills provided these parties the chance that formed after the tragic event of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and they worked on strengthening their real existence on the street and in secret.
All these elements, which are saturated with tension, congestion and preparedness for action, were countered by an echoing vacuum of the official authorities that are sunk as it seems in the deepest levels of inaction towards the event. Perhaps, some thought that this demonstration was “theirs”, and hence there was no need for security alertness or escort. Thus, they kept away from the event and the security forces were unable to gather the largest possible number to counter the unexpected. On the other hand, not long ago, they were completely ready to oppress a small number of students who demonstrated in front of the government house, and they were prepared with a very strong wall in front of the Lebanese embassy in Awkar the day when the Lebanese youths demonstrated to condemn the American intervention in the Lebanese affairs. In addition, some information was given by several sides about the existence of military vehicles that were alerted to interfere when needed. However, they were not given the orders to do their duty!
When the “event inevitable cometh to pass”, the government was facing both evils. In other words, either it leaves the demonstrators spread mischief in the land of Ashrafiye, or they fire at them which would perhaps cause the fatality of hundreds. Hence, it chose the lesser evil while the worst could have happened and led Lebanon into a dark tunnel had real friction taken place between the citizens of the area and the demonstrators.
This series of mistakes and unhappy coincidences as well as stations of misunderstanding between the concerned politicians and security officials regarding the occurrences – one of its faces was Samir Geagea’s saying that these demonstrators are “our allies” and must not be hurt – produced a tragic situation that could have exploded into a major political and security crisis in the capital city and even across Lebanon with the movement of more than one security “front,” launching from Kahale and Sin El-Feel, reaching other areas including perhaps Naime. The explosion could have happened if it were not for the late conclusive intervention of the security forces that contained the public reaction that damaged public and private properties. It was also said that they violated sacred religious places in the core of the city while religious, spiritual and political authorities reacted in order to contain the side reactions of the occurrences and the damages.
Although a “suture” was removed last Sunday without any complications, which still left a dark mark behind, yet the March-14 group that is responsible for the provisioning of faulty environments moved the battle outside the capital by blaming certain areas – as well as foreign forces – for the crises. They also “invented” information about the existence of training camps for radical forces in the north, which were responsible for the riots, coupled with the illegal participation of Syria including Jordanian radical elements. They also invented other accusations which the new – acting – Minister of Interior Ahmad Fatfat belittled while he directly refuted that which was said by the March-14 turnabouts in their military statements that they released after a meeting inside the house of MP Walid Junblat.
What happened last Sunday in Ashrafiye with the aftermath of statements, accusations and countering accusations as well as press conferences, proved that some people wanted to overlook the solving of a real problem which Lebanon now encounters. This is the problem of the loose sectarianism, fanaticism and tribalism. Meanwhile, the real concerned people, who are responsible for the future of the nation and state in Lebanon, are restoring the issues by activating the national dialogue and smothering the sectarian logic when dealing with the issues, paving the way for its final extirpation.