Geography, History and other issues

                                            Lebanon

Danilo Antón

Geography

Lebanon is a small country with coast on the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its area is 10,452 km2 and the population approximately 4,500,000 inhabitants. The Lebanese geographical environment is heterogeneous. It consists of a coastal plain on the Mediterranean Sea that has more than 3 kilometers wide and is very densely populated.  Abruptly the relief climbs to a humid mountain range parallel to the coast  averaging 2,000 meters high with forests of cedars and pines called Mount Lebanon. The highest peak is Qumat as Sawda at 3.088 meters.

East of Mount Lebanon is the Beqaa, an elongated valley 120 kilometers long and about 18 wide average which is the main agricultural region. Finally, in the easternmost region there is another more arid mountain range called Anti-Lebanon, which marks the border with Syria. This chain peaks exceed 2,500 meters, the highest is Mount Hermon at 2,814 meters and Ta'la't Musa at 2.669 meters.

Despite its smallness, historical and geopolitical importance of the country far exceeds its size and population. First, it is worth remembering that the Lebanese diaspora in the world is much larger than the country's own population. It is estimated that there are more than 14 million Lebanese descendants distributed worldwide. Only in Brazil there are estimated 6 million Lebanese, there are more than 1 million in Argentina, 500,000 in the United States, 200,000 in Canada and over 50,000 in Uruguay.

                                                                                                 

                                                                     Beirut

History

The Lebanese territory was populated by Semitic peoples 3,500 years ago who came from the South and founded cities on the coast: Byblos, Sidon, Tyre (now Beirut). They were commercial societies who were called Phoenicians by the Greeks.

It was in Byblos, around 2000 BC, that the first alphabet, composed exclusively of consonants, was created. From the shores of Phoenicia came out commercial expeditions and several cities were founded along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea :  Carthage, Genoa, Venice, Marseille, Cadiz, Cagliari, Palermo, Malaga. Huelva, Tarragona and Tangier among others.

Phoenicia fell under Assyrian domination (IX-VII centuries BC).  It was conquered by the Babylonian Kingdom (VII-VI centuries), by Persia (VI-IV centuries B.C.), by Macedonian ( IV centuries BC) and in 54 B.C. It became part of the Roman province of Syria. The Arab period began in 636 A.D. until 1516 when the Lebanese territory (Phoenicia) was dominated by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans granted Lebanon a semi-autonomy under the rule of the Maans, a feudal family Druze and Shibabs, a Sunni family that had converted to Christianity.

After World War Lebanon and Syria became part of a mandate from the League of Nations under French colonial control until 1943 when unilaterally declared its independence.

                                                   Mount Lebanon  

From the religious point of view the country is divided into numerous religions and churches. The percentages have varied due to emigration and presence of refugees, but in recent years Muslims have constituted almost 60% of the population, of which which 27% are Shi'a and Sunni the rest. There are also Alawite and Ismaili minorities. Christians belonging to the Maronite Catholic church represent 30% of the population. This church, which was founded by St. Maron in the late fourth century, is an Eastern Rite church that is in full communion with the Apostolic See of Rome, without giving up their own structures.

In addition to Muslims and Christians there are 5% Druzes (a monotheistic religion that does not practice neither the five pillars of Islam nor the Christian Eucharist).

These various religions confrontation each other for a long time. In order to solve that problem in 1943, when independence was declared, an unwritten agreement was established to distribute the power between the different ethnic and religious communities. It was agreed that the president would be a Maronite, the Spokesperson of Parliament, a Shiite, the Prime Minister a Sunni and the Deputy Minister a representative of the Greek Orthodox faith.

After the war the region Lebanon became very unstable due to the decolonization processes that resulted in the separation of Syria and Lebanon which became independent countries, and the withdrawal of the British from Palestine. The latter coincided with the creation of the state of Israel due to Jewish settlements that were gradually established on Palestinian land. Conflicts between Arabs and Jews in Israel were reflected in Lebanon who was forced to receive a very large contingent of Palestinians. Moreover, the successive wars between Israel and Arab countries, indirectly involving the various Lebanese groups, alternately supported or fought against Israel.

From 1976 to 2005, Lebanon was occupied by the Syrian army, who only retired following an impressive demonstration of 1 million people who demanded the withdrawal of these troops. The withdrawal became effective on March 14, 2005.

                                                                                                                                                               Beqaa Valley

In Lebanon there are various political movements that generally have religious connotations.

The Amal Movement (abbreviation for Afwaj al-Mouqawma Al-Lubnaniyya) or Movement of Hope, is a Shiite political party founded in the early 1970s, from the Movement of the Disinherited, vindicating the rights of all religious groups to be respected in their rights and, in particular, denouncing the poverty in which the Shiite communities were living.

Hezbollah (Party of Allah) is a Lebanese Shiite militant Islamic group with its paramilitary wing, the Jihad Council. It emerged from the Amal Movement, but with an Islamic fundamentalist approach. It has had political support from Iran and Syria. It has developed an important military force, which is said to be more powerful than the Lebanese army itself. It has been described as a state within the state. It has parliamentary seats, a radio station and television, social services and even deployment beyond the country's borders. In the 2006 war Israel fought Hezbollah.

The Lebanese Phalangist or Kataeb party is the main movement of Christian denomination in the country. As Hezbollah has its own militia and has been involved in most of the internal conflicts since 1936.

Sunnis are generally integrated into the traditional institutional life. An example of this is the Jamaa Islamiya movement which left aside the claims of building an Islamic state in the country and participates in parliamentary activity. Another group with similar trends is Jam'iyat al-Mashari 'al-Khayriya, also known as Al Ahbash.

Other Sunni organizations seeking to create an Islamic state but without the use of violence, are Tabligh wa Dawa, also known as Tablighi Jamaat.

All Shiite, Christians and Sunni organizations that do not advocate violence are now faced with the radical group Al Qaeda and ISIS and many of them have suffered several attacks that have costed the lives of several leaders of these groups.

refugees

Some 450,000 Palestinian refugees are registered in the United Nations World Refugee Agency (UNRWA) in Lebanon of which 53% live in 12 refugee camps. Because they are not citizens of another state they do not have the same rights as foreigners living and working in Lebanon.  Palestinian refugees in the Lebanese refugees are living in abject poverty. Recently, due to the war in Syria, many Palestinian refugees who lived there moved to Lebanon in search of security by adding their social, economic and demographic weight in the country.

                                                                                                                      Palestinian refugee camp

Since the war began in Syria in 2011 refugees have arrived from that country to settle in Lebanon. There are an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon of which 1,050,000 are registered with UNRWA. 53% of them are children . they have not been established in refugee camps but rather they were distributed nationwide.

Many of them (18%) live in makeshift camps concentrated in the border provinces. Currently only 29% have residence permits. Most Syrian refugees (89%) live below the poverty line.

Because of the war in Syria and the crisis of refugees, Lebanon has faced a humanitarian crisis, economic instability and increased sectarian violence. In general, Lebanon has maintained an open-door policy, however, because the influx of refugees has increased exponentially since August 2013 the economic and social impact has been very important. Reduced economic growth, rising poverty and unemployment, pressure on public services have increased social fragmentation and political tensions. There has also been a resurgence of sectarian violence with numerous reports of bombings, assassinations and isolated battles between the army and militias.

                                                                                                                           Syrian refugees camp

The immediate future and stability of Lebanon rely heavily on the evolution of the Syrian conflict, on the will of the international community to provide adequate humanitarian assistance, and on a proper balance of sectarian tensions. In the long term, the problems of Lebanon are the problems of the region. They have been getting worse in most of the countries, and it will not be easy for a multi-denominational small country, which has been historically conflictual, inserted in an area of ​​great geopolitical instability, to stay apart from the influences of geopolitical tensions.