Without the Christians, there is no freedom in Lebanon! 

The civic space, in which we challenge our religious sects, political parties and the state authorities, was established by Lebanon’s Christians. In fact, they created the very space in which we also confront them.  

This reminder is needed in the light of the current French maneuvering to ignore Christians in terms of political entitlement. This affects all Lebanese, yet Christians most of all.  

The French seem to favor a Lebanese president who is elected by Muslim MPs!

A second victim of the French endeavor is freedom itself. 

How? A presidential candidate [Suleiman Frangieh] nominated by Hezbollah, who happens to be the Lebanese politician closest to Syrian President Bashar al Assad. A nominee whom the Saudis may agree on, as he represents  a return to the equation between Syrian and Saudi influence in Lebanon.

Voila! The four elements suppressing freedom present in this scenario: Hezbollah, the Syrian and Saudi regimes, and French sponsorship. 

The deal on the table would result in a “non-Christian” president, or at least a president whose Christianity is not equivalent to Nabih Berri’s Shi-ism or Najib Mikati’s Sunnism. If not Franjieh, it would at best be Jihad Azour, a financial expert, who would be rendered helpless when confronted by the regime sharks.

Christians will once again be the victims in this bargain. With “Christians” we not only refer to the churches, the political parties, or the “soldiers of God,” but everything related to the Lebanese experience, as a divergence from most political paradigms in the region. 

Freedom is the first loss we will face. “We” as (non) Christians not affiliated with any Muslim or Christian political party that could be willing to align with the deal being made under Saudi and France coercion.

Fighting freedom has been the main concern of the regimes who stood up against the Arab Spring and those facing mass manifestations. The “victorious” had the chance to reclaim power and undo all small gains that were made. 

The current scene in Lebanon is very similar to what has happened in Tunisia and Egypt. And it is within this framework that the Gulf normalization with the Syrian regime is taking place. 

The growing dominance of money and weapons over journalists and lawyers we witnessed in Lebanon in the past two months is a first step down this route. 

Frangieh’s nomination is an extension of this misery. His candidature is a victory over all of us, not just over Lebanon’s Christians, and makes sense when seeing the recent political setbacks in Beirut, Tunis, Cairo, and Manama. 

Lebanon’s future president and his wife recently visited Damascus, as reported in the press, where they met President Bashar Al-Assad and his wife, before the first signs of defeat started to emerge. 

Asma al-Assad showed the first such sign when she and Syrian actress Sulaf Fawakherji were gathering roses close to the Syrian cities where thousands of people were slain – their pictures transmitted by Agence France Press (AFP). 

They are the modern women who dazzle the Western press with their beautiful dresses and smiles. yet they cannot hide the facts of genocide.

The most astounding aspect of what is happening goes well beyond the French government’s disrespect for our rights and concerns, and their disregard for the future of Lebanese Christians.  

It even exceeds what used to happen during the era of Syrian tutelage, when a flimsy layer of Christian representation was created from which Lebanon’s presidents were selected. 

Today, the Christian political system is openly being marginalized. And, to make matters worse, French President Emmanuel Macron is taking the lead in the matter.

The French continue to cling onto Suleiman Frangieh, as if they were the AFP photographers in Damascus, the Syrian capital not far from the port of Latakia, the management of which Macron would like to see in the hands of the French company that is also handling the port of Beirut. 

What a path has been taken to reach such an ending! 

France, from enlightenment to investment, and Lebanon, from our misery with Michel Aoun to even greater misery with Frangieh or, in the very best case scenario, Jihad Azour.