Political archrivals are reaching out towards national reconciliation in Lebanon, writes Omayma Abdel-Latif in Beirut One of the greatest challenges facing the Lebanese government is how to bridge the deepening communal rifts that have resulted from years of sectarian mobilisation. A series of national reconciliation gatherings, spearheaded by Druze leader Walid Jumblatt this week, brought together yesterday's archenemies and left many Lebanese with a sense of guarded optimism. Many hoped this would mark the end of the sectarian-inspired tension and political polarisation that defined the Lebanese political scene during the past five years following the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri in 2005. A series of events, however, paved the way for this dramatic leap from near civil war to much-celebrated scenes of national reconciliation amongst different political forces, including the signing of the Doha Agreement in May 2008. The agreement that ended nearly 18 months of political conflict outlined new rules for the political game in Lebanon based on the national unity government formula whereby the opposition enjoys veto power. Without such a formula the new Lebanese government could not have seen the light of day. But most importantly it was Jumblatt's abandoning of March 14 in August of last year and the landmark visit by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri to Damascus on 19 December that opened the way to national reconciliation. Hariri, from day one, constantly accused Syria of killing his father. Shortly before he embarked on his Damascus visit, Hariri admitted that the charge was "politically inspired". For his part, Jumblatt has been championing efforts towards national reconciliation with various political forces, including archrivals like Weaam Wahaab. Wahaab managed to mobilise a Druze constituency opposed to Jumblatt's policy choices after 2005. On Sunday 3 January, Jumblatt and Wahaab met in Al-Jahelyia, Wahaab's main powerbase. The occasion was to open "a new page" and initiate intra-Druze reconciliation. Wahaab was a key figure in the Lebanese opposition during the years of tension and was known to be a staunch ally of Syria. Last Sunday witnessed another round of intra-Druze reconciliation but also cross sectarian reconciliation between Hizbullah and Jumblatt in Shoyfaat. During the May 2008 events, the area -- which has a mixed population of Shia and Druze -- was a hotbed of conflict. When asked about his radical change of directions from asking former US President George W Bush for "regime change in Syria" to seeking to visit Damascus, Jumblatt answered: "If Obama would eventually visit Damascus, where do they want me to go?" Jumblatt's change of direction was puzzling to some. It confirmed, however, his status as a key figure on the Lebanese political scene that is crucial in making or breaking political alliances. To cap his efforts of reaching out to his political opponents, Jumblatt met on Monday with Christian leader Michel Aoun, head of the Change and Reform bloc, whom he once described as a "tsunami". The scenes of yesterday's archenemies making up posed a number of questions on their impact on alliance making in Lebanon and the responses of their popular bases. One key question is: To what extent are such efforts embraced by these popular bases? The past four years have seen the mobilisation of those bases along purely sectarian lines. Lebanese leaders -- on top of whom was Jumblatt himself -- spared no effort or tool (including sectarianism) towards the "otherisation" of their political opponents. This resulted in the highest levels of sectarian tension between the country's two Muslim sects (Sunnis and Shia), and also between Druze and Shia, in the history of the country. To unravel such sentiments of hatred and contempt each party has had for the other, many argue, might take more than just a few gatherings and luncheons. Signs of an opposition movement among Jumblatt's core constituency were beginning to emerge in response to Jumblatt's shift. Jumblatt acknowledged that his new policy choices were coming at the expense of his popularity amongst the Druze. "True that I am losing popularity, but I want to reach a genuine national reconciliation," he was said to have told his close aides. A Druze resistance to Jumblatt is, however, unlikely to translate itself into a movement that could threaten Jumblatt's grip on power. In public, explained one observer close to Jumblatt circles, "the majority of Druze still remain under Jumblatt's banner, but privately a large chunk of his constituency are not fully convinced with his recent policy choices." The same could be said about his closest ally Hariri. When Hariri visited Damascus, many questions were posed on the response of his Sunni constituency that, for the past five years, have been solely mobilised against Syria, its rulers and its Lebanese allies. Some observers warned of "an angry Sunni reaction" by those who might feel let down by the visit. Such fears, however, appeared exaggerated since the power of the sect's solidarity reigned supreme to everything else. Sunnis appear to have digested the change as part of the dictates of realpolitik, but also because of the power of the ideological discourse adopted by their leaders. Fares Ashti, a Lebanese academic pointed out that such a discourse allowed both parties to the conflict to "emotionally rally those popular bases behind the leaders and such a mobilisation was meant to hide the real issues which are of primary concern for those masses." This might explain the absence of any public resistance to the radical policy shifts of both Jumblatt and Hariri. All reconciliation efforts will have to be complemented by a process of introspection on the part of the Lebanese opposition. "Jumblatt should not remain the only leader who reaches out to his opponents," wrote Khaled Saghyia in daily Al-Akhbar. Saghyia pointed out to the absence of any effort on the part of the 8 March alliance to review some of their policy choices during the past years. "There was no one from 8 March who dared to say that some other option was available to Hizbullah on 7 May 2008 instead of falling into the trap of sectarian conflicts." Efforts towards national reconciliation could not be more timely. They come amid repeated statements by Israeli officials threatening to go to war with Lebanon. Defence Minister Ehud Barak even set the date for the next war as this coming May. This week, Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace prompted the UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) spokesperson to accuse Israel of violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanese sovereignty. Whether or not Israeli threats of war with Lebanon are serious or not, national reconciliation has become all the more necessary in their wake.
