LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 1/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1,26-38.  In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,  to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.  And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."  But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,  and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."   But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"  And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.  And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;  for nothing will be impossible for God."  Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 31/08
Jumblat: Assad Gives Allies 'Secret Word' to Obstruct Government Role-Naharnet
Assad: We Should Not Build High Hopes on Summit-Naharnet
Israel accuses Hizbullah of Recruiting IDF Soldiers as Spies-Naharnet
Iran Hopes Saudi Would Use Influence to Help End Lebanon Crisis-Naharnet
Damascus Summit Ends, Lebanon Harvests 'Victory in Absentia-Naharnet
Kadhafi: Damascus Summit as Fruitless as Predecessors-Naharnet
Muallem: Let the Lebanese Exercise their Right to Sovereignty-Naharnet
Barak: Syria is a Threat because it Supports Hizbullah-Naharnet
Blueprint of The Damascus Summit Statement on Lebanon-Syria Conflicts-Naharnet
Summer Time in Lebanon-Naharnet
Arab League warns of review of peace offer to Israel if provocations continue-Daily Star
Arab summit ends with no Lebanon breakthrough-Daily Star
Franjieh: Lebanon lost chance to make its case at summit-Daily Star
Sfeir describes Lebanon's political stalemate as 'lethal-Daily Star
Hizbullah predicts demise of US agenda in region-Daily Star
Fatfat welcomes 'positive' UN report into Hariri killing-AFP
Students hold anti-Assad protest during Arab summit-AFP
Israel scoffs at UNIFIL's calls to withdraw from Ghajar-Daily Star
Expats keep real estate prices strong in Beirut-Daily Star
Gemmayzeh residents protest hijacking of quiet nights, parking spots-Daily Star
Palestinians march to call for healthy generation of refugees-Daily Star
Gene study charts arrival of Islam, Crusaders in Lebanon-Daily Star
NGO reveals results of project to increase awareness of women's rights -Daily Star
Nahr al-Bared residents see long wait for camp to rise from ashes-AFP
AUB panel delves into humanitarian side of Nahr al-Bared-Daily Star
NGO launches project to boost economy of South by aiding farmers-Daily Star
Dostoevsky comes alive, and in Lebanese-Daily Star 
Sadr pulls his fighters off Iraq's streets, Maliki welcomes move as 'right' step-AFP
Rice wins Israeli pledge to take down 50 roadblocks in Occupied West Bank-AFP
'Progress' continues with no actual changes on the ground-Daily Star 
Arab leaders reiterate commitment to Arab plan on Lebanon-Xinhua
Arab summit wraps up without Lebanon breakthrough-Africasia
Israeli DM says interested in negotiations with Syria-Al-Bawaba
Iraq refuses to endorse Arab summit statement-International Herald Tribune
Israeli minister: Syria not ready for peaceIsrael Today
Beirut urged to elect consensus leader-PRESS TV
Lebanon welcomes new Hariri probe report-AFP
Gaddafi condemns Arab leaders-Aljazeera.net
Syria has Israeli channels for peace-United Press International
Ready in case of US military action: Syria-Khaleej Times
Khalifa returns after leading UAE delegation to Arab League summit ...GulfNews

Assad: We Should Not Build High Hopes on Summit
Naharnet/Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the Arab summit was a "step forward," but added that "we should not build high hopes on it."
"Mechanisms need to be developed," Assad said in an interview with al-Jazeera TV channel. "I spoke today of developing a mechanism for relations between Arab officials at all levels," Assad said. "Concurrently, mechanisms do exist at the Arab League."Assad believed that the Damascus summit was distinguished from the 19 previous summits. "There was frankness, and the most important thing was that the frankness was accepted despite the differences at many times," he said.
Assad said after meeting Moamer Kadhafi at a tent the Libyan leader pitched in Damascus that disputes he acknowledged broke out during closed-door meetings the night before were a cause for optimism. "The most important thing about the summit is that there has been mutual frankness," Assad stressed.
Beirut, 31 Mar 08, 11:31

Jumblat: Assad Gives Allies 'Secret Word' to Obstruct Government Role
Naharnet/Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblat accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of giving his allies in Lebanon the "secret word" to obstruct government business. Jumblat said in remarks published Monday that he doubts Syria's commitment to an Arab League initiative which calls for an end to Lebanon's crisis. "I doubt Syria's commitment to the Arab initiative following the (end of the Arab) summit because we are always used to Syria theoretically agreeing and then giving its allies in Lebanon the secret word to obstruct … the secret word to obstruct even the role of the government," Jumblat said. Jumblat voiced concern over continued arms smuggling into Lebanon. "When we see today more illegal weapons and arsenal coming from Syria across the border and when we see that these weapons are protected, then this is not promising," he said. Beirut, 31 Mar 08, 10:49

Israel accuses Hizbullah of Recruiting IDF Soldiers as Spies
Naharnet/Israeli security officials have accused Hizbullah of recruiting Bedouin Israeli troops as spies.
The report, carried by the Jerusalem Post, said the claim comes less than a week after Israel arrested a soldier on suspicion of spying for Hizbullah.
The daily said the Israeli military court on Thursday announced the arrest of solider Louai Ballout, 34, from the Galilee town of Fasouta on charges of providing Hizbullah with information on Israel in return for money. Ballout was also accused of "coordinating" drug smuggling operations into Israel, the Jerusalem Post said.
It said that despite the Jewish State's suspicious of Ballout, Israel's Northern Command was not intending to deploy troops along its border with Lebanon.
The Jerusalem Post quoted an Israeli security source as saying that the spying matter "stimulates worry." "This is something we are aware of," the source said. "That's why we will keep our eyes open to guarantee that we can stop anybody from spying," he added. Beirut, 31 Mar 08, 07:42

Iran Hopes Saudi Would Use Influence to Help End Lebanon Crisis
Naharnet/Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed hope that Saudi Arabia would use its influence in the region to help end the protracted Lebanon crisis. Mottaki's remarks came late Sunday at the end of a two-day official visit to Damascus. Mottaki welcomed Syria's take over of the rotating presidency of the Arab League, saying Damascus' "successful diplomacy raises hope for effective handling of the League's affairs" this year, IRNA said.
"I think key issues of the Arab world, particularly Palestine and the Zionist Regime's crimes, Iraq problem and the need for restoration of stability and security there, will be addressed in that period" Mottaki told reporters. Mottaki said Iran "the only non-Arab state having the highest number of Arab neighbors, maintains good relations with the Arabs."He hailed Saudi-Iranian ties, saying Iran is seeking to strengthen relations among all Arab nations "particularly between Syria and Saudi Arabia." Beirut, 31 Mar 08, 10:18

Damascus Summit Ends, Lebanon Harvests 'Victory in Absentia'
Naharnet/Lebanon on Sunday harvested what is tantamount to a victory in absentia at the Arab Summit in Damascus, the final statement of which called for the speedy election of a president, tackling Lebanese-Syrian disputes and declared support for the international tribunal. The statement also rejected attempts to partition Iraq and urged Arab states to reopen their embassies in Baghdad. The summit, boycotted by Lebanon, also declared support for the Arab peace plan, originally launched in 2002, and urged the "launching of direct negotiations on all tracks to end the Arab-Israeli conflict."In a meeting behind closed doors early Sunday, the head of Egypt's delegation Mufid Shehab "criticized Syria directly over Lebanon."The report by Agence France Presse was attributed to a source, who took part in the meeting.Iraq Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi, who headed his nation's delegation, also directly criticized the Libyan leader over the latter's stand on Iraq, the source added. A gulf source also described the two sessions held behind closed doors as "sessions of verbal storms."
On Lebanon, the summit's final statement called for
"adherence to the Arab initiative to settle the Lebanese crisis."
It also urged "Lebanon's leaders to accomplish the election of consensus candidate Gen. Michel Suleiman (president) on the set schedule and agree on the basis for the formation of a national unity government as soon as possible."The summit's final statement also stressed on "placing Lebanese-Syrian relations on the proper track in line with interests of both states and assigning the (Arab League) Secretary General to start working on achieving this "goal.
The leaders also stressed on importance of the "formation of the international tribunal to reveal the truth in the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and his comrades, aside from vengeance and politicization." It was the first time that a nation boycotting the summit has succeeded in harvesting such recognition of its problems. A Ranking Arab diplomat had told Naharnet the Summit's statement would "set the record straight regarding the collective Arab stand on the Lebanon crisis." The source, speaking on condition of further anonymity, said that would be a "victory in absentia for Lebanon," the state that has boycotted the summit and gained recognition by its members that its crisis is a "focal challenge to the Arab nation."Lebanon has attributed its boycott to differences with Syria, that it has charged with meddling in its internal affairs and rejecting to normalize mutual relations. On the Arab-Israeli conflict, the statement said Arab persistence with the peace plan is "linked to implementation by Israel of all its obligations."
The leaders assigned the ministerial committee entrusted with the Arab Peace Plan to "assess progress of the Arab peace strategy … in a month time" after which Arab foreign ministers would meet to "consider the report and adopt a decision in this regard." On Iraq, the Arab leaders rejected interventions in the trouble-ridden nation's internal affairs, backed national reconciliation efforts and a "speedy review of controversial items in its constitution."
The statement said Arab leaders are "keen on the fair distribution of Iraq's resources."Iraqi vice president registered a reservation on the statement, the nature of which could not be determined immediately. Syrian President Bashar Assad addressing the last session said the summit was concluded in a positive atmosphere, the most important of which was the sessions behind closed doors. The next summit would be hosted by Qatar in 2009. Beirut, 30 Mar 08, 13:49

Kadhafi: Damascus Summit as Fruitless as Predecessors
Naharnet/Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi told AFP that an Arab summit which wrapped up in Damascus on Sunday had been as fruitless as its predecessors.
"There is nothing new to mention in this summit, it is like previous Arab summits," Kadhafi said. Syrian President "Bashar al-Assad tried to present the divisions and criticisms as normal natural differences," he said. "The most important thing about the summit is that there has been some acknowledgment of the divisions and problems and hatred between the Arab states," he said. A Libyan source told AFP that some Arab states were planning measures to try to ease tensions between Syria and pro-Western governments like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Kadhafi said the only result of the summit was therefore "an attempt to mend fences and unify Arab ranks." Asked to comment on the boycott of the summit by the Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi leaders, Kadhafi suggested that the snub was the result of external pressure. "One should ask these countries why they did not attend and who gave them the orders not to attend," he said. "When we were asked why we attended, we said it was because we received no orders." The heads of state of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia stayed away from the Damascus summit after Washington urged its allies to think twice before attending, accusing Syria of blocking the election of a new president in Lebanon.
The seat earmarked for Lebanon itself was left vacant, but Syria trumpeted the absence of U.S. allies as a triumph over Washington's influence.
"They (the United States) did their best to prevent the summit but they failed," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told reporters ahead of the two-day gathering. "Their aim is to divide the Arab world." On Saturday, Kadhafi warned Arab allies of the United States that they could meet the same fate as Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006 three years after the U.S.-led invasion. "How can they execute a prisoner of war and the president of a member state of the Arab League?" Kadhafi asked. He said Saddam had been a friend of the United States during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s "before they turned against him and executed him." "You could all suffer the same fate," he warned.(AFP) Beirut, 31 Mar 08, 07:05

Muallem: Let the Lebanese Exercise their Right to Sovereignty
Naharnet/Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem reiterated Damascus' firm position toward the Lebanon crisis, underlining support to efforts exerted by Arab League chief Amr Moussa. Muallem's remarks came Sunday during a joint press conference with Moussa at the end of a two-day Arab summit in Damascus.
"The Lebanese issue had been discussed during (Saturday's) closed-door meeting," Muallem told reporters. "The Arab leaders saw that it is not acceptable to deal with this issue in the absence of Lebanon, but during the foreign ministers meeting, the Arabs approved the Arab initiative," he added.
Muallem said that Arab foreign ministers have reaffirmed solidarity with Lebanon as well as backing Moussa's efforts to "implement the Arab initiative."
Commenting on remarks made by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on Lebanon, Muallem said the Lebanese issue is "fundamentally a Lebanese-Lebanese one." "As we talk about sovereignty and independence, let the Lebanese exercise their right to sovereignty and reach a consensus among themselves," Muallem stressed "Neither Syria, nor Saudi Arabia alone can find a solution to the Lebanese issue," he said. Muallem said, however, that with the support of Arab states to a joint Syrian-Saudi effort "we can encourage the Lebanese to conduct a dialogue." Muallem described the 20th Arab Summit in Damascus as "positive, successful and had a distinguished flavor through the clear and transparent interaction among the Arab leaders. "The Arab divisions are not new and they were not because the Summit was held in Damascus," Muallem stressed "The divisions have existed and differences in opinion have also existed," he explained.
On the Arab peace initiative, Muallem said the Syrian delegation did not present any proposal to amend it. He said it was up to Arab leaders "who have the right to take a decision about it." "The initiative is one thing and the strategy to activate the peace process is something else," Muallem stressed.
Regarding the issue of Iraqi refugees, Muallem said leaders at the Arab summit have decided to "hold the U.S. responsible for the suffering of the refugees."
Beirut, 31 Mar 08, 09:34

Demography and Democracy in Lebanon
Demography and Democracy in Lebanon-Global Politician
Mark Farha - 3/31/2008
Lebanon's modern history has been punctuated by periodic outbreaks of fratricidal violence, followed by political compromises that recalibrated the distribution of power and privilege among the major confessional communities. Although many factors have contributed to these cycles of conflict and compromise, incongruity between demographic and political balances of power has been a major driving force in all of them. The pursuit of more equitable and just political representation has figured as one of the most salient justifications for communal calls to arms. The demographic question remains as much a fundamental - if rarely highlighted - reference point of Lebanese politics as ever before.
Background
The Republic of Lebanon, defined by one of its chief architects as a "country of associated minorities,"[1] has long been governed by a succession of formal and informal power-sharing arrangements that divide executive and legislative power into sectarian allotments. A large majority of Lebanese belong to one of three main sects - Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Maronite Christians - with Greek Orthodox, Druze and over a dozen other groups comprising the rest.
Demographic and political representations have never fully overlapped under the Lebanese republic or its political antecedents. The closest overlap was perhaps the interconfessional municipal council (diwan) set up in Beirut in 1834, which was evenly divided between six Muslim and six Christian delegates (though Muslims were probably a slight majority). However, this parity was not observed in subsequent councils, from which the Druze remained entirely excluded.
The executive administrative council of the mutasarrifiyya (retrospectively known as "Petit Liban") that governed Mount Lebanon from 1861 to World War I did not reflect its large Maronite majority, which received only four of the twelve seats.[2] This allotment emerged as a reflection not of demographic realities, but of the international balance of power, with the Druze now benefiting from their alliance with the Ottoman Porte and Britain in securing representation beyond their dwindling demographic weight.[3]
When the end of World War I left France as the temporary colonial master of Lebanon, the political role of its historical Maronite Catholic allies was augmented accordingly. In contrast to the mutasarrifiyya, the First Lebanese Republic could claim only a slim Christian majority (and Maronite plurality) within its expanded borders by way of a politicized, skewed series of censuses conducted between 1922 and 1932. The resultant findings were rejected by all Muslim political leaders, most of whom still contemplated integrating Lebanon into a larger regional order governed by a Muslim majority. [4]
Nevertheless, the 1932 census was taken as the primary benchmark and justification for the 1943 National Pact, which governed the allotment of executive and legislative power after Lebanon's independence. Under this informal arrangement, the presidency was reserved for Maronites and the premiership for Sunnis, while parliament seats were apportioned in a 6:5 ratio of Christians to Muslims. This division roughly corresponded to the census figures, but the main factor underlying the covenant was the financial and political clout each sect and constituency could marshal. The pact had emerged as a "partage de pouvoir" (sharing of the spoils) between Maronite and Sunni notables, represented by Bishara al-Khouri and Riad al-Sulh.[5] The Shiites, economically and politically the weakest of the three largest sects, were not included at all until 1947, when the office of parliament speaker was tacitly reserved for them.
As the demographic balance shifted after independence, this power-sharing system was buffeted by external ideological challenges and internal political grievances. The brief 1958 civil strife pitted a predominantly Christian pro-Western front against a largely Muslim coalition enamored with Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser.[6] Blending together zeal for Arab unity under Nasser with misgivings against the inordinate prerogatives of the Maronite presidency, Muslim demonstrators trampled the Lebanese flag in the streets of Tyre. Such ominous signs prompted one CIA analyst to conclude that "constitutional changes to make Lebanon a Moslem-governed country would become the armed rebels' minimum demand" unless the US expedited the advent of Gen. Fouad Chehab to replace an overbearing President Camille Chamoun,[7] In the event, soon upon taking office, Chehab issued Decree 112, which mandated Muslim-Christian parity (munasafa) in all administrative positions as a provisional measure "for the sake of justice."[8]
Nevertheless, demands for more radical political change continued to resonate deeply. The chairman of the pan-Islamist Najjada party, Adnan al-Hakim, called for the explicit abrogation of the National Pact and a rotating Christian-Muslim presidency just prior to the outbreak of the civil war in 1975. The latter was fueled in no small part by a Sunni bid (in league with armed Palestinian groups and Kamal Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party) to overturn Maronite political supremacy.[9] Arguably, this domestic dispute came to increasingly reflect the interests of the external powers that armed and financed its combatants. Al-Nahar editor Ghassan Tueni famously - and somewhat apologetically - dubbed it "the war of the others."
Tueni would later coin a parallel phrase, "the peace of the others," to describe the 1989 Taif Accord.[10] With the Americans largely preoccupied with winning allies for the First Gulf War, the regional external powers - chiefly the Syrians and the Saudis - acted as the godfathers of the accord's constitutionally mandated legislative Christian-Muslim parity and the stipulated reduction of the powers of the presidency. The new terms still did not correspond to demographic realities, but all major political forces came to accept them at least tacitly, if only at the behest of their outside patrons (including, eventually, Iran).
The Electoral System
While the Lebanese system specifies a fixed sectarian distribution of parliamentary seats, the representation intended by the quota is blurred by the fact that most candidates face a multiconfessional electorate, and many must contest districts in which their sect is not a majority. Those who win the handful of Sunni seats in predominantly Shiite south Lebanon, for example, are effectively beholden to Shiite politicians, while the Sunni vote is decisive in electing Christian and Shiite deputies of Beirut.
To be sure, this feature of the Lebanese electoral system has been praised insofar as mixed electoral districts mandate inter-confessional political alliances and, so the hope, advance national integration.[11] A similar rationale also informed the 1989 Taif Accord's stipulation of large electoral districts (muhafazat) and the allusion to the ultimate goal of a single, national district (da'ira muwwahhada). In effect, however, the proverbial "politics of the notables" from the top, and the largely endogamous social segregation from below, both of which define Lebanese politics and society, stymie or exclude any non-(or multi) confessional, grassroots movements.[12] This holds especially true within a winner-take-all election system, as opposed to a more broadly representative proportional (nisbi) system.
In addition, electoral districts can be gerrymandered to change how many of a given sectarian community's seats are embedded under the effective control of other communities. In the 1992 election, voters from other sects elected 36% of Christian deputies, whereas the vast majority of Shiite, Sunni and Druze deputies were elected primarily by their own confessional constituents.[13] This "appointment" of Christian deputies in south Lebanon, Baabda-Alay, and other districts prompted many Christian leaders to call for smaller, more homogenous voting districts.
The drafting of a new electoral law has been a matter of contentious debate. In 2006, a commission headed by former Foreign Minister Fouad Boutros proposed a hybrid system in which 77 seats are filled through first-past-the-post/winner-take-all elections in small electoral districts (qadas), while 51 seats are filled through a proportional electoral system at the level of governorates. Significantly, the draft law also permits Lebanese citizens residing abroad to participate in the elections, lowers the voting age from 21 to 18 years, and establishes strict monitoring and spending caps for political campaigns.
Shortly after the draft was tabled in June 2006, the three main factions of the ruling March 14 coalition - Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's PSP, Saad Hariri's Future movement, and Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces - all vowed to prevent its ratification.[14] Though a full-fledged public discussion never unfolded due to the ensuing paralysis of government, there has since emerged an across-the-board consensus amongst virtually all political parties towards accepting the single district qaza.[15]
Be that as it may, even the most creative electoral engineering can ill avert the conundrum posed by the disequilibrium between political and demographic representation. How can each citizen be accorded the same rights when power is divided equally between a Muslim majority and a Christian minority? Because individual political representation is not perfectly equal even in principle, the growth of communal demographic grievances in one group or another is all but built into the system.
Current Demographic Trends
Sidestepping the inconsistency between individual and communal political representation, Lebanon has not conducted a census since 1932. Tellingly, even the most aggrieved Muslim opposition parties have usually shied from demanding one. The explosive potential of the assumed demographic-political incongruity is such that calling for a measurement is tantamount to threatening civil peace. This prolonged absence of an official census has only fed the intense speculation of the country's actual demographic makeup.
Before examining some of the (often conflicting and possibly politicized) statistical data published on this matter, it is important to recall that modern states carry out censuses for a reason - indirect methods of estimating the demographic makeup of a country are imprecise. Nevertheless, two major demographic trends can be discerned.
Emigration
The first trend is a disproportionately high rate of Christian emigration from the mid-nineteenth through the twentieth century, particularly during and after eruptions of civil strife in 1860, 1914-1918, and 1975-1990.[16]
Over 900,000 Lebanese emigrated between the outbreak of civil war in 1975 and 2001 (about 45% during the last decade of Syrian tutelage).[17] Although it was once assumed that a majority of these recent emigrants are Christian, one study estimates the percentage departure rates within each confession as 22% of Sunnis, 21% of Shiites, 21% of Maronites, 23% of Greek Orthodox Christians and 15% of Druze.[18] A 2006 study conducted by the Lebanese Emigration Research Center at Notre Dame University (in Lebanon) found that emigration is equally sought by Muslims (59.7%) and Christians (61.3%), and for virtually the same socio-political reasons.[19]
The available data thus raises questions about the longstanding assumption that the large majority of Lebanese citizens living abroad are Christians. This is politically relevant because a number of Christian politicians have called for the inclusion of absentee ballots in elections, believing that this would favorably alter the confessional profile of the electorate. Hoping to expand the prospective pool of expatriate Christian voters, MP Nimtallah Abi Nasr has gone further in campaigning for a (re)naturalization of second and third generation Lebanese abroad. Hezbollah has reportedly encouraged first-generation Shiite emigrants to register their children as citizens for much the same reason.
Fertility Rates
The second major Lebanese demographic trend is higher Muslim fertily rates. In 1971, Shiites showed the highest fertility rate of 3.8, followed by Sunnis (2.8), (Maronite and non-Maronite) Catholics (2), Druze (1.8) and non-Catholic Christians (1.7).[20] By 1988, according to one projection, the percentage of Shiites in Lebanon had risen to 32%, while the number of Maronites had dwindled to 17% .[21] Until very recently, projected estimates of a Shiite plurality as large as 40% were a staple of Western media.
However, data published by the Lebanese government in 1996 suggests that Sunni and Shiite fertility rates are now roughly equal. While the more cosmopolitan Sunnis of Beirut tend to have small families, the cumulative fertility rate (the average number of children born to married women) in the predominantly Sunni muhafaza of North Lebanon (4.2) is higher than in largely Shiite Nabatiyye (3.6) and the Beqaa (3.9).[22]
In any event, projections based on fertility (and emigration) rates ignore a host of intervening variables. Lower infant and child mortality rates among Christians, for example, have counterbalanced higher Muslim birthrates to some extent.[23] Most significantly perhaps, the highly controversial 1994 naturalization of over 160,000 Syrians and Palestinians tipped the sectarian balance in Lebanon in favor of Sunnis[24] (which was one reason why the late Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri supported it).[25]
Proxy Measures
Analysts have pursued other methods of estimating the waxing and waning of Lebanon's sectarian communities. The most widely cited reference is the list of registered voters published prior to the 2005 elections, which is 26.5% Sunni, 26.2% Shiite and 22.1% Maronite (lists published before the 1992, 1996, and 2000 elections display roughly the same proportions).[26] However, voter registration records, known as "check lists" (lawaih ash-shatb), only include adults age 21 or older and thus do not take account of the disproportionately Muslim (and perhaps disproportionately Shiite) youth.[27] Moreover, Lebanese citizens are automatically counted as registered voters irrespective of whether they have emigrated.
A recent study by Youssef Douwayhi, based on birth records (sijilat an-nufus) since 1905, estimates Shiite and Sunni demographic weight to be virtually equal (29.05% and 29.06%).[28] Although this method includes Lebanese under the age of 21, it also fails to exclude Lebanese citizens who have emigrated.
Although a convergence of Sunni-Shiite birthrates is quite plausible (due to rapid Shiite urbanization, among other things), the fact that official data showing a Sunni "baby boom" was produced at the height of Hariri's power has been viewed with some suspicion. Similarly, prior to the civil war, public (Christian) officials had been accused of tampering with statistics to conceal the scale of Christian demographic decline.[29]
Above and beyond the methodological problems inherent in almost all these demographic studies, obvious political implications can prejudice the accuracy and interpretation of statistical data. Case in point is the CIA, which has abruptly revised its own demographic estimates. In its 2004 edition, the CIA World Factbook had reported that Muslims and Christians constitute 70% and 30% of the population, respectively. Amid an intensified Israeli-American push to disarm Hezbollah, these numbers were conspicuously adjusted in the 2005 edition to reflect a highly improbable, precipitous decrease in the overall Muslim population to 59.7%, while the Christian population rose a sudden 9%.[30]
Implications
While available statistical levies about Lebanese demographics must be deemed inconclusive (particularly regarding the resident population), there is good reason to question longstanding claims that the Shiite population of Lebanon significantly outstrips that of Sunnis and Christians.
Nonetheless, one preliminary conclusion is inescapable. As has been the case intermittently throughout its history, Lebanon's current power-sharing covenant is far out of step with demographic realities. Even the most conservative statistical conjectures leave Lebanese Muslims significantly underrepresented in the parliament and the council of ministers, an incongruity that will grow in the years ahead (According to the Douwayhi study, all Christians presently make up a mere 23.3% of Lebanese under the age of 20).[31] Debate over the exact numbers misses the forest for the trees, as the prevalent ambiguity alone is sufficient to sustain acute perceptions of disenfranchisement among both Shiites and Sunnis, thereby providing another seedbed for external exploitation and indigenous radicalization.
In contrast to previous phases of political-demographic imbalances, however, none of the leading Lebanese political groups today are calling for an immediate upending of the constitution. Even Hezbollah, despite its official pursuit of the abolition of political sectarianism in principle,[32] has refrained from insisting on amendments to better reflect Shiite demographic weight.
Indeed, insofar as Shiite socio-political disenfranchisement contributes to popular support for Hezbollah, the party's leadership may well be content with the current system for the time being. The mere insinuation of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah publicly calling for revised sectarian quotas (a demand that would be very difficult to drop once raised) sends shivers down the collective spine of the political establishment and is itself a powerful bargaining tool. Moreover, while the status quo puts an artificial cap on Shiite representation, it has allowed Hezbollah (along with the pro-Syrian Amal movement) to monopolize that representation. A deconfessionalized proportional electoral system, on the other hand, would open the doors of parliament for hitherto excluded secular Shiite currents.
Last but not least, the current electoral law and political alignments give Shiite minorities in the districts of Baabda-Alay and Zahle a critical swing vote. Ironically, the March 14 coalition owes its much vaunted parliamentary majority to its 2005 electoral alliance with Hezbollah, whose fatwa instructing Shiites to vote against Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) provided its margin of victory for the 11 seats of Baabda-Aley (the FPM and its allies narrowly won Zahle).
Branded by Walid Jumblatt as a mortal threat to Hezbollah's arms in 2005,[33] Aoun subsequently forged an alliance with Hezbollah. This alliance stems at least partly from electoral considerations, as do his repeated calls for early parliamentary elections and a direct popular vote for president. Demography, he reckons, is now on his side.
Perhaps the main reason why calls for a revision of Taif remain muted is that Lebanese Christians are split between the Sunni-led March 14 coalition and the Shiite opposition, and both sides know that that raising the issue of political-demographic incongruity would antagonize their allies. Ironically, then, any initiative for an overhaul of Taif would have to be initiated by leaders of the Christian community - the very confession destined to lose the most from such a reform.[34] With rival Christian leaders vying for the loyalty of their community, however, they cannot afford to be seen as chipping away at the last remnants of Christian privileges in the system. Even Aoun has put his own party's progressive, comprehensive deconfessionalization agenda on ice and instead seen cast himself as the communal guardian of a Christian community divested of its rights due in the post-Taif era.
Christian fears of Muslim demographic strength are reinforced by trepidation about the spread of radical Islamism (a sentiment shared by a great many secular Muslims in and beyond Lebanon). One reason why the political empowerment of Shiites is conflated with Hezbollah is that the latter has imposed a startling degree of conformity on the Shiite electorate. This was evident during the two-month Hezbollah-led boycott of the cabinet in the winter of 2005/2006, when prominent Shiite cleric Afif Nabulsi issued a fatwa prohibiting Shiites outside of Hezbollah and Amal from joining the government.[35] Both Nasrallah and Amal leader Nabih Berri vociferously defended the fatwa and denounced any criticism of the fatwa as an "attack on the scholars of Islam."[36]
This raises questions about whether Shiite empowerment attained through the agency of religious fundamentalists is healthy for democracy. Although Sunni Islamism (on display when demonstrators rampaged through the Christian neighborhood of Ashrafieh during the Danish cartoon controversy in February 2006, and most recently with the terrorism and revolt by Fatah al-Islam) is viewed with at least as much apprehension, the inchoate, dispersed makeup of militant Sunni movements in Lebanon renders them less likely to sweep to power through elections.
Conclusion
In view of the growing disequilibrium between demographic and political representation in Lebanon (and all of its associated pathologies), a recalibration of the Taif power-sharing formula along the lines of a tripartite division of power (muthalatha) among Christians, Sunnis, and Shiites is all but inevitable in the long term. Although a comprehensive deconfessionalization may be a better cure for Lebanon's ailments in principle, in practice those who hold positions of power under the sectarian system are not likely to promulgate its abrogation (even if they pay lip service to the idea as a long-term goal).
While a tripartite division of power may not correspond precisely with Lebanon's demographic balance, it is the closest possible approximation in the absence of a census (few dispute that Christians, Sunnis, and Shiites each constitute somewhere in the range of 25-35% of the population) and the only recalibration formula that could conceivably win the support of all three. So long as no one sect compromises a demographic majority (a situation that, barring a major cataclysm, is not likely to change even in the long term),[37] few Lebanese would feel themselves egregiously underrepresented by a tripartite division of power (which, at any rate, already is nominally prefigured in the governing troika of president, premier and speaker).
However, while proposals to this effect have circulated for over two decades,[38] a sweeping revision of the constitution is highly unlikely in the short term. Indeed, the main leaders of both March 14 and the opposition have explicitly rejected Sunni-Shiite-Christian tripartism as an alternative to Muslim-Christian parity[39] - a position that perhaps has less to do with innate preferences than with the political exigencies of appealing to a deeply divided and anxious Christian community.
Trust between Sunnis and Shiites and between rival Christian political blocs - a sine qua non for any prospective reform of constitutional scope - has steadily eroded as a result of Lebanon's prolonged political standoff. Although the opposition controls 45% of parliament, March 14 leaders have balked at accepting a national unity cabinet in which they would lack the two-thirds majority needed to unilaterally make decisions. The exclusion from government of Lebanon's two leading Shiite parties and most popular Christian party has left the country's main political institutions in limbo (parliament has not convened since 2006).
Consequently, the ruling coalition and the opposition have looked to the street as an arena and force majeure arbiter of their contending claims. Whereas the massive March 14, 2005 demonstration - in which the FPM had played an integral, constitutive role - succeeded in prompting the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, the tit for tat subsequent shows of people power by both pro-government and opposition forces have only served to replicate deepening demographic and political bifurcations and prolong the ongoing paralysis. Wagering on the street in the present climate of economic stagnation and growing popular frustration carries the real risk of pushing the country towards the precipice of open civil strife.
The framing of a consensus in Lebanon has been further hampered by external conditions, such as the bloody sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq and - most importantly - the regional showdown between the US/Israeli/Saudi and Iranian/Syrian axes. Whereas the Taif accord was made possible by a Saudi-Syrian-American rapprochement, no such regional détente is in sight today. The Bush administration has repeatedly prodded March 14 to ignore opposition demands and go ahead with a unilateral "50 plus 1" election of the president, while the Syrians and Iranians have encouraged political brinksmanship by their allies in Lebanon. The strategic interests of the foreign patron states are such that the jostling Lebanese clients are being encouraged to forgo any concession at the cost of a domestic deadlock.
Ultimately, the looming threat of civil war and/or external domination[40] can only be averted if concessions are made by both sides. Lebanon cannot properly function as a consociational democracy without a coalition government taking account of the vital interests and core concerns of the three major constituent communities of the country, each of which enjoys mutual veto powers, if not invariably de jure, then indubitably de facto.
Yet such a traditional, sect-focused analysis of the Lebanese predicament omits perhaps the most critical segment of Lebanese society. A case can be made that the most underrepresented constituency in Lebanon is not the Shiites, Sunnis, or Christians, but the considerable number of Lebanese who do not identify primarily with the sect or creed into which they are born (or particularly care how many seats it is allotted). Interestingly, the proportion of Lebanese who privilege their national identity over their confessional identity (34%, according to a 2005 survey)[41] compares positively with virtually all Arab and Middle Eastern countries.[42] If the strengthening of an inter-communal civic identity is the only exit out of the vicious cycles of confessional conflict,[43] temporary compromise, and renewed contestation, then finally[44] lending a voice and official, constitutional recognition to what Jawad Adra calls the "hidden third" of Lebanese society is one of the most sensible steps to secure Lebanon's future stability and prosperity.[45]
Notes
[1] "Un pays de minoritiés associées," Michel Chiha, Politique Intérieure (Beirut, 1964), p. 232.
[2] The Druze received three seats, Greek Orthodox Christians two and the Greek Catholics, Shiite and Sunni Muslims each one. Règlement Organique as published in al-Aziz Nawwar, Watha'iq asasiyah min tarikh Lubnan al-hadith, 1517-1920 (Beirut: Arab University Of Beirut, 1974).
[3] Previously, the so-called protocol of Shakib Efendi, drawn up after the clashes of 1840, heralded the spirit of equality by instituting an even confessional division with the creation of the "dual districts" (qa'im maqamayn), one Christian and one Druze (1842-1860). The governing councils of each district were composed of one Sunni, Maronite, Druze, Orthodox and Melkite member, the Shites notably being left out prior to the revised nizam of 1845 when the Matawila (Shiite) were allowed to nominate one qadi as their representative on the council. To be sure, throughout the mutasarrifiyya the Shiites did not constitute more than 5% of the population. Caesar Farah, The Problem of the Ottoman Administration in the Lebanon. 1840-1861, p. 453.
[4] Basim al-Jisr, As-Sira'at al-Lubnaniya, Beirut: Dar al-Nahar, 1981, p. 30. Decree 8837 which set forth the guidelines for naturalization in Lebanon favored Christian rather than Muslim refugees. Thus Armenian and Syrian refugees were specifically mentioned, while Kurdish refugees and Bedouins were excluded. See Rania Maktabi, "The Lebanese Census of 1932 Revisited. Who Are the Lebanese?" British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2. (November 1999), p. 227.
[5] It should be noted that some members of the Maronite elite opposed the Pact, amongst them Yusuf al-Sawda, MP Yusuf Karam, and Bishop Mubarak, the latter calling for a petit Lebanon with a decisive Christian majority. See al-Jisr, As-Sira'at al-Lubnaniya, p. 91. From Ibrahim Yazbak, a confidante of Riad al-Sulh, we learn that the terms of the national pact with Bishara al-Khouri did not remain secret but were disclosed by Sulh to Lebanese notables and to Shukri al-Quwattli and Jamil Mardam Bey. See Saadeh, The Social Structure of Lebanon, p. 60.
[6] This was particularly evident among Sunnis, but even Shiite Parliament Speaker Adil Usayran declared that "Lebanon will march with the Arab caravan" and that "anyone who thinks of working for interests other than those of the Arabs will have no room in Lebanon." Egyptian Gazette, 5 March 1958, cited in Fawaz Gerges, "The Lebanese Crisis of 1958: The Risks of Inflated Self-Importance," Beirut Review (1993), p. 85.
[7] Wilbur Crane Eveland, Ropes of Sand, London: W.W. Norton, 1980, p. 301.
[8] Thus reaffirming the principle enunciated in Article 95 of the Constitution and prefiguring the 1990 Taif Accord's extension of confessional parity to the parliament. See Basim al-Jisr, Mithaq 1943, p.239.
[9] Muhammad Bayhum has argued that the 1975 war arose as a result of Sunni dissatisfaction with the terms of the National Pact. See An-Naz'at As-Siyassiyah fi Lubnan (Beirut, 1977), p. 7.
[10] Al-Nahar (Beirut), 6 March 2004.
[11] Despite the alleged pro-Christian bias of the census and elaboration of the 1926 constitution, the adoption of the single electoral college meant that in five out of six voting constituencies Christian candidates could be vetoed by Muslim voters in post-1926 elections. Pierre Rondot, "Lebanese Institutions and Arab Nationalism," Journal of Contemporary History 1968, p. 44.
[12] It is thus not fortuitous that the Communist party, which enjoyed no single confessional constituency, remains the only major party never to win a parliamentary seat in the Lebanese parliament.
[13] Farid al-Khazen, Lebanon's First Postwar Parliamentary Election, February 1998, Oxford: Center For Lebanese Studies, pp. 44ff.
[14] Walid Jumblatt was most forthright and unwavering in his outright rejection of the Butrus law. His right hand MP Marwan Hamade has recently reaffirmed his concern for an electoral system based on the qada, or a "smaller district to satisfy the small sects in Lebanon." Al-Balad, 10 December 2007, p. 5.
[15] Patriarch Sfeir has repeatedly called for the 64 Christian deputies to be elected by Christian constituents and deemed the "law proposed by the commission difficult to implement." Al-Safir (Beirut), 19 May 2007. Nabih Berri was quoted on March 27, 2007 by Ghassan Tueni as grudgingly accepting the qada even though it "does not serve (his) interests." Hassan Nasrallah, like Michel Aoun, has expressed his willingness to accept either system.
[16] The Allied sea blockade of 1915 triggered a famine which claimed the lives of at least 150,000 Lebanese, mainly, though not exclusively, Maronite Christians in North Lebanon. Elisabeth Thompson has estimated that (mostly Christian) Mount Lebanon lost as much as 18% of its population to conscription and famine in World War I, far outstripping the human toll of 5% in France and Germany. See Elisabeth Thompson. Colonial Citizens (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000). p. 38. Suleyman Dahir has noted that the Shiites of Jabal Amil also suffered exacting casualties and severe economic dislocation as vital grain supplies from Hawran were being siphoned off to Beirut, with war profiteering running rampant. See Youssef Moawad, Al-Nahar (Beirut), 6 May 2004. The most complete treatment to date of this era is: Nicholas Ajay, Mount Lebanon and the Wilayah of Beirut, 1914-1918: The War Years. Ph.D Dissertation: Georgetown University, 1973.
[17] Of the 900.000 refuges, 54.4% left between 1975 and 1990, while 18.4% between 1991 and 1995, and 26.6% between 1996 and 2001. Ch. Kasparian, L'Entrée des Jeunes Libanais dans la Vie Active et l'Émigration des Libanais depuis 1975, Vol. III, Presses de l'Université Saint Joseph, 2003, p. 14.
[18] Anis Abi Farah, "Al Mughtaribun bayna 1975 wa 2001," Al-Safir (Beirut), 3 December 2001, p. 6. I thank Guita Hourani for alerting me to these sources.
[19] "31.1% of the migrants surveyed said that their reason for not returning was the instability of Lebanon, 24.4% said the reason was the political situation while 17.8% preferred to stay abroad to secure their future." "Insecurity and Migration Report," published at http://www.ndu.edu.lb/lerc/index.htm last accessed on 27 October 2007.
[20] Joseph Chamie, Religion and Fertility (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981), p. 85. It should be noted that the high Shiite and Sunni birthrates have decreased slightly in the 1990s and that rural Christian families tend to have more children.
[21] Majed Halawi, A Lebanon Defined: Musa Al-Sadr and the Shi'a Community (Boulder: Westview Press, 1992), p. 50. Halawi estimates the number of Shiites at 1,325,499 out of a population of 4,044,784 in 1988.
[22] Numbers from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health as cited in Muhammad Faour, (2007) "Religion, Demography and Politics in Lebanon," Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 43, No. 6, p. 914. Another statistical measure is average household size. In 1996, the qada of Akkar (mostly Sunni) was estimated to have the highest average household size of 6.0, followed by Minniyye-Diniyye (mostly Sunni) at 5.7 and the mostly Shiite districts of Hermel at 5.8, Bint Jbayl at 4.8, and Nabatiyye at 4.7. State of the Environment Report, Beirut: Central Adminstration for Statistics (CAS), 1996. The official number of births and deaths in these districts can be accessed via the Central Administration for Statistics website at http://www.cas.gov.lb/addsearch_en.asp. Average household sizes for 2004 were published on page 11 of the Lebanon Family Health Survey: http://www.socialaffairs.gov.lb/files/PapfamreportEn.pdf
[23] See, for example, Robert B. Betts, Christians in the Arab East: A Political Study (Athens: Layacabettus Press, 1975), p. 85. Another regression analysis focusing on fertility differentials in Greater Beirut concluded that differentials between Muslim and Christian fertility rates "persisted after control for social class," even though they were given to "taper off progressively in the capital Beirut." See M. Khlat, M. Deeb, Y. Courbage, "Fertility Levels and Differentials in Beirut During Wartime: An Indirect Estimation Based on Maternity Registers," Population Studies, Vol. 51, No. 1 (March 1997), pp. 85-92.
[24] Government decree 5247, published in its full length of 1279 pages in the Official Gazette No. 26, Supplement 2, 30 June 1994. Interior Minister Michel Murr stated that 110,000 Muslims and 50,000 Christians were granted Lebanese citizenship, but the exact number is in dispute, with some members of the Christian opposition putting the number at 300,000 and upwards. One detailed study of the decree arrives at an estimate of 222,730 based on an average family size of 6 members. See Tony George Atallah, "al-Mujanisun fi Lubnan ma b'ad al-Harb," Al-Abhath ( Beirut), Vol. 45 (1997): p. 100-102. 62% of the naturalized citizens were foreigners - mainly Sunni Syrian (Bedouins) from the Wadi Khalid near Akkar and Palestinians living in Lebanon, while 15% hailed from the so-called "seven villages," a border region ceded to Palestine by the French after they concluded the Paulet-Newcombe agreement with the English in February 1922. The issue was put to rest until it flared up again in wake of Emile Lahoud's Presidential extension campaign in 2004 when the Maronite League won its case before the highest constitutional supervisory body, the Majlis al-Shura, to revoke 4,000 of the previously bestowed naturalizations. Hariri was in no mood to hurry the implementation of this decree and decided to form yet another additional committee to once again probe the retraction before any eventual ratification. See Al-Safir (Beirut), 22 April 2004.
[25] Hariri disclosed as much when he attempted to allay the concerns of Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, who had complained of a loss of Lebanese identity, telling him at least the decree reportedly "bestowed the nationality on Sunnis more so than it did on Shiites." Cit, in Antoine Saad, as-Sadis wa as-Saba'un, Mar Nasr Allah Butrus Sfeir, Vol. 2 (Beirut: al-Jamaa' al-Lubaniya lil-thaqafa, 2005), p.161.
[26] Official numbers published in Al-Safir (Beirut) and Al-Nahar (Beirut), 11 Febuary 2005.
[27] According to Duwayhi's investigation of the birth records, of those under the age of 20, only 23.31% are Christian, and the remainder, i.e. 76.59%, Muslims. Al-Nahar (Beirut), 16 November 2006.
[28] See Yussef Duwayhi, Al-Nahar (Beirut), 16 November 2006.
[29] Muhammad Faour, "The Demography of Lebanon; A Reappraisal," Middle Eastern Studies, October, 1991, p.632.
[30] See https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/le.html last accessed March 3, 2006. CIA: The World Factbook: Lebanon, CIA World Fact Book, 2006.
[31] Duwayhi, Al-Nahar (Beirut), 13 November 2006, p.14.
[32] See the party's 1992 Electoral Program as published in Qasim, Hizballah: The Story from Within, pp. 273ff; p. 31.
[33] "The Syrians brought Aoun as a tool to confront Hezbollah specifically . . . we, Hezbollah and the forces of Christian moderation (the LF) however shall persevere." Walid Jumblatt cited in Al-Safir (Beirut), 13 June 2005.
[34] Thus runs the reasoning of Michael Young in "Lebanon's Pact: Prelude to a Postmortem," The Daily Star (Beirut), 19 December 2007.
[35] Nabulsi's fatwa was published in Lebanese papers on December 21, 2005. A court case was subsequently raised by the plaintiffs Yussuf al-Zein, Talal al-Hussayni, Fares Sassin, Dr. Fahmiya Sharafeddine, Nada Sehnaoui, Mona Fayyad, Ghassan Mokheiber and Mohammad Farid Matar. A separate suit was filed by Adnan al-Amine. The plaintiffs focused on the fact that Nabulsi was not a member of the higher Shiite council and thus had no right to issue the fatwa.
[36] Nasrallah cit. in Hazim Saghieh, "Hezbollah: A constructive Ambiguity," Al-Hayat (London), January 25, 2006.
[37] Depending on the underlying assumptions of mortality and birth rates, the Shiites in 2081 will constitute between 33.69% and 44.83%, the Sunnis between 33.38% and 36.60%, and the Christians between 26.8 and 11.04% in 2081. See Ibrahim Muhanna and Information International, "End of Lebanon as we know it," The Monthly, No. 62, September 2007, pp. 8-9.
[38] See the discussion on "triple parity" (muthalatha) in Antoine Messara, "Partage du Pouvoir: Le Cas de Liban," in Lebanon: A History of Conflict and Consensus, ed. Nadim Shehadi, (Oxford: CLS, 1987), p. 254.
[39] Nevertheless. Hezbollah and the FPM have been accused by some in the ruling coalition of harboring such intentions. For example, Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat, MP Hadi Hobeish and Amine Gemayel have associated the proposed 10-10-10 ministerial division between the President, March 14 and the opposition with a covert attempt to institutionalize sectarian tripartism. See Al-Nahar (Beirut), 21 January 2008.
[40] Pro-Syrian figures Wiam Wahhab and Nassir Qandil have predicted the return of Syrian troops to "safeguard security." Al-Nahar, (Beirut) 12 February 2008. Maronite Christian Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir has raised the possibility of a UN-appointed governor for Lebanon. See Al-Nahar (Beirut), 9 February 2008.
[41] Jawad Adra, "Corruption: The Lebanese Syndrome: Maintaining the System, Depleting the Resources," I-Monthly, (Beirut) 25 October 2005, p. 4.
[42] Only 29% of Turkish, 23% of Jordanian and 7% of Moroccan Muslims privilege their national over communal identity. Zogby International, Six Arab Nation Survey Report, WEF, Davos, November 2005. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that a whopping 81% of British Muslims, 69% of Spanish Muslims, and 46% of French Muslims consider themselves as Muslim first (rather than a citizen of their country). 42% of US Christians and only 14 of French and Spanish Christians think of themselves as Christians (rather than citizens) first. See "Muslims and Europe: Survey finds positive attitudes," International Herald Tribune, 7 July 2006, p. 4.
[43] Despite the looming danger of sectarian animosities, polling also shows that most Lebanese are aware that politicians use religious rhetoric to camouflage their selfish ends. See the survey conducted by Abdo Saad published in Al-Akhbar (Beirut), 20 August 2007, which shows that 72% of Lebanese consider the countries politicians to utilize religion for their own interests.
[44] Even prior to independent Lebanese initiatives to create a secular sect, the first attempt to recognize a "secular community" ("une communauté de droit commun") stretches back to the French Mandate, namely Arrêté no. 60 of 1936 which was brought to fall by the fierce opposition of the ulama of Damascus, Beirut and Tripoli.
[45] "It is the hidden third that would have had a major impact had the media been independent within an environment conducive to change. It is the hidden third that has never surrendered to foreign forces or to religious leaders even when facing the hardest challenges . . . Neglected by both the government and the opposition, this hidden third, once discovered, would be recognized as the guardian and the cornerstone of this country." Editorial by Jawad Adra, Informational International Monthly, No. 59, May-June 2007, p. 2

Arab League Summit in Syria
Dr.Abdul Ruff
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/03/31/news0275.htm
The New Nation
Boycotted this year by half of the Arab world's leaders, the Arab League's two-day annual summit opened in March 29 in the Syrian capital Damascus in the midst of crises in the region. (While Lebanon is reeling under seriolus "ruling" crisis, Hamas is under virtual siege from Israeli forces with their borders closed down by Israel, followed by air-strikes killing many, resulting in panic situation created in Palestine and Palestinians breached a part of the border with Egypt to buy essential daily requirements). In all, nine heads of state from the Arab League's 22 members are not attending the Damascus gathering. Key leaders are staying away amid signs of a growing regional rift among the Arab states themselves.
The shaky start for the summit has been signaled by the absence of several Arab states and accusations followed by counter-allegations by member-states. They protest Syria's hard-line stances in nearly every crisis in the Mideast. They blame Syria for the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon, whose government is staying away completely. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denounced Syria for preventing the election of a consensus president in Beirut. Their absence is touted by Syria as a triumph over American influence.
The summit has been driven by deep divisions between Arab leaders, mainly over alleged Syrian meddling in Lebanese affairs. Lebanon is boycotting the meeting, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia have announced, in an unprecedented move, they are sending only low-level officials to the gathering in a snub to Syria, rather than their heads of state or even their prime ministers or foreign ministers. However, it has been billed by Syria as "the summit of joint Arab action" is expected to boost its prestige. Lebanon is boycotting the summit completely, the first time an Arab country has refused to send a delegation since Arab leaders began holding annual summits in 2000. The Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora accuses Syria of blocking attempts to elect a new Lebanese president.
Meanwhile, Syria billed it as a golden opportunity for regional unity but there is little sign of this. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem accused the US of trying to divide Arabs by urging allies to stay away. Syria has accused them in the past of being subservient to the US. Moualem told reporters that USA did their best to prevent the summit but they failed. "Their aim is to divide the Arab world." He promised that there would be "no trace of the United States on the summit's work or agenda".
Washington last week urged its Arab allies in the region to think twice before attending the summit, accusing Syria of blocking the election of a new president in Lebanon. As a result, Egypt is sending a junior minister while powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Jordan will be represented by their ambassadors to the Arab League. Lebanon has boycotted the summit altogether.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is hosting the leaders of Algeria, the Comoros, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Sudan, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates-only half of the 22-member league's heads of state. The two camps are in a yearlong struggle for control of Lebanon: US allies Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are strong supporters of Saniora's government, while Syria backs Hezbollah, the militant group that leads the Lebanese opposition. Arab countries, which are mostly Sunni-led, are also nervous about Syria's controversial alliance with Shiite Iran. They view host country Syria as a trouble-maker, too close to Iran and a destructive force in divided Lebanon.
Lebanon has been without a president since the end of November and has been mired in political crisis for more than a year because of feuding between the Western-backed parliamentary majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition, backed by Syria and Iran. In a televised address on Friday ahead of the summit, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said his government had decided to boycott the meeting because of Syrian meddling in his country's affairs.
The Lebanese crisis, the worst since the end of the country's 1975-1990 civil war, is widely seen as an extension of the conflict pitting the United States and its regional allies against Syria and Iran. Because of Lebanon's absence, the Arab foreign ministers have decided to adopt the same statement decided in Cairo three weeks ago which calls for supporting Lebanon as well as the Arab initiative on Lebanon," he said. That initiative calls for the election of army chief General Michel Sleiman as president, forming a national unity government in which no single party has veto power and a new electoral law.
The League of Arab States, or Arab League, is a voluntary association of countries whose peoples are mainly Arabic speaking. It has 22 members, including Palestine, which the league regards as an independent state. It aims to strengthen ties among member states, coordinate their policies and direct them towards the common good.
The idea of the Arab League was mooted in 1942 by the British, who wanted to rally Arab countries in war against Germany, against the Axis powers. However, the league did not take off until March 1945, just before the end of World War II. At that time the issues that dominated the league's agenda were freeing those Arab countries still under colonial rule, and preventing the Jewish minority in Palestine from creating a Jewish state.
The highest body of the league is the Council, composed of representatives of member states, usually foreign ministers, their representatives or permanent delegates. Each member state has one vote, irrespective of its size. The council meets twice a year, in March and September, and may convene a special session at the request of two members.
The annual summit is frequently plagued by no-shows, often because of personal disputes among leaders. But this year, the differences are sharper and the snubs even more pointed. With the no-shows, the headliners at this year's summit are Assad, Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who were arriving with other delegations.
The out come of the summit is easy to be discerned right now; there would no resolution of the Lebanon and Palestine crises in the forum. It appears the division within the region is now clear. There is no shortage of crises in their region but Arab states disagree over who is to blame and what is to be done and it seems unlikely they will resolve those differences now without key members present. If they do, that could further complicate the crises. The West says that there are now two axes - Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah are on one side and the rest are on the another end. Syrian axis is coherent and they have a clear objective and they are working in an organized way.
At the meeting aheld on 27 March, the Arab League foreign ministers also agreed to re-endorse the 2002 Arab initiative for Middle East peace but expressed their frustration at Israel's refusal to follow up on their plan, after Muallem hinted that it could be rethought.
But Damascus may benefit from the absences, which ensure the summit will not pressure it to change its stances toward Lebanon or the Palestinians. Also, Syria showed it won't be forced to exchange its strong alliance with Iran for approval from Arabs. By staying away, the countries aimed to show Damascus the diplomatic cost of its hard line on Lebanon and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But it is likely instead to strengthen Damascus' alliance with Iran and the Hamas and Hezbollah groups.
But an isolated Syria could even revise its policy in the neighborhood. However, no conclusions could be drawn until the close of the summit and unless the results are seen influencing the positive course of Mideast crisis.