Chapter 3: Christian Nationalism vs. Muslim Nationalism

This chapter explores nationalism in Lebanon. Nationalism can be considered as one cause of the rise and fall of Christianity in Lebanon.

Meir Zamir described the spread of Christian nationalism in Lebanon as one of the three nationalistic movements that emerged simultaneously in the Middle East. The other two being the Muslim and Jewish movements[1].

It is very hard for people with different nationalistic persuasions in the same country to stay unified. I will limit my study to the Christian and Arabic/Muslim nationalism, due to the fact that Lebanon housed only few a hundred Jews.

Theodor Hanf stated that the Lebanese nationalists, mainly Christians, tried to prove that Lebanon had existed since time immemorial and stressed its independence and uniqueness. He added that Arab nationalists, usually Muslims, tended to present the history of what is now known as Lebanon as a provincial chapter in the history of Arab-Islamic empires[2]. He added that there had been disputes about when which part of the country was first called Lebanon, and whether one or other of the contemporary communities was already a nation in the past[3].

Marguerite Johnson identified Christian nationalism in terms of their distinctive cultural identity in the Middle East[4]. The cultural character of the Christian community was rooted in their religious separateness from the rest of the Near East and was nourished by centuries of long cultural ties with Western Europe.

Christian nationalism helped increase their survival chances in Lebanon. However, it also contributed to their own downfall. Their nationalism clashed with Muslim and Arabic nationalism. The Muslims showed an equal resolve to claim Lebanon and tried to remove the Lebanese Christians from political power.

In Lebanon, until recently, most Christian children were taught that Lebanon is a Phoenician and a western oriented nation, while most Muslim children students are taught that Lebanon is an Arabic country and an integral part of its Islamic World. Many Christians believe that they are Lebanese and not Arabs.

Ghassan Hage reasoned that the Muslim Shari'a's differentiation of people on the basis of their religious identity led Christians to become acutely conscious of their status as a religious minority[5].

The biggest fear Christians have had is how to survive in such a Muslim dominated region. This has prompted them to deny Muslims the opportunity to turn Lebanon into an Arabic and Muslim nation. This was done by spreading their notion of nationalism, which they associated with Lebanese sovereignty away from Arabic and Islamic influences.

Christian nationalism made the Christians reluctant to share their power with Muslims until the commencement of the 1975 Lebanese civil war. They were worried about their future as a minority, surrounded by a majority Muslim population that was hungry to claim its fair share of power due to their superiority of numbers. Lebanese Christians were always keenly mindful of past atrocities inflicted on their brethren in the Middle East at the hands of the Muslims- namely the demise of Armenians in Turkey and the persecution of Coptic Christians in Sudan and Egypt. The majority of Christians associate themselves with Phoenician roots and not to the Arab Bedouin (Originally Arab).

Antoine Najm did not agree that nationalism ran along strict religious lines. He saw that Arabists, be Christian or Muslim, aspired to either annex Lebanon to the " Greater Arab Nation" or to establish an Islamic or quasi-Islamic state. Lebanese nationalists rejected this political stand[6].

The clash of nationalism between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon may be illustrated by a recent incident surrounding the celebrated poet Khalil Gebran. Recently, the American Maronite Union wrote to the American Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, clarifying that the famous Lebanese poet Khalil Gebran is Lebanese and not an Arab[7]. Their protest was to the Middle East Descent Association in America, honouring Khalil Gebran as an Arabic American in the presence of Powell[8]. Tom Harb the chairman of the American Maronite union explained:

While we certainly would not be opposed to any party that would honour Khalil Gibran, we express our concerns as the identification of this great Lebanese-American as an " Arab-American" [9].

David Gordon discussed the view of Muslims and Christians about each other. He outlined Muslim opinion about Christians as follows:

• Firstly, Muslims rejected the maintenance of a Christian state. They objected to the way power was distributed so that it enabled Christians, particularly Maronites, to dominate a nation whose majority were Muslims. Moreover, Muslims believed that power should be based not upon sectarian distribution but upon the principle of one vote per person.
• Secondly, Muslims claimed that the Christian establishment has repeatedly sought to split Lebanon, politically and culturally, from the Arab world. They argued that the Maronites supported the crusaders and that the Maronite Patriach Ignatius Mubarak had explicitly supported Israel.
• Thirdly, Muslims argued that the Christian establishment had favoured and promoted private and foreign education, in order to erode the position of the Arabic language. Typically, Muslims believed that many textbooks had belittled Arab accomplishments and promoted the image of Lebanon as once a Phoenician and now a Christian state[10].

The Christians' view of Muslim nationalism was put succinctly also by David Gordon. He explained that Christians believed that Arab nationalism was inevitably " Muslim". He added that they further claimed that Muslims were hypocritical in calling for a secular state, while at the time never abandoning their " personal status" (according to which matters of inheritance and marriage are determined by Koranic prescription). Lastly, Christians believed that integration of Lebanon politically or economically into the Arab world with its authoritarian and socialist tendencies, would only jeopardise the freedom and prosperity that both Muslims and Christians enjoyed in Lebanon. Christians further saw that the realisation of Muslim demands would be killing the goose that laid the golden egg[11].

The Christians' belief was that Arab nationalism was inevitably Muslim. This is true, owing to the fact that the ordinary Arabic citizens and government stressed the Islamic nature of the Arab world.

This chapter explored how Lebanese Christians and Muslims espoused different nationalistic views. The spread of this divided nationalism was made easier by the existence of political and religious political parties, which I will discuss in the next chapter.