Egypt's Watershed Moment

The successful military campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood encampments in Cairo today was a watershed moment in Egyptian and indeed Arab history akin to Muhammad Ali's 'elimination' of the Mameluk threat over 200 years ago. A new page has been turned and Muhammed Ali’s army has come out on top as undisputed victor once again. What happens next is any one's guess, but the line has been drawn in the sand and redrawn, negotiated and renegotiated over and both sides have stubbornly refused to budge an inch or try to find an acceptable middle ground. In the end, the side which had the military means and the will to use force to bolster its authority did so.

In the Middle East it has always been an all-or-nothing game, either total victory or total defeat. This same struggle will likely be played out time and again across the Arab world as the struggle to find and hold on to that precious middle ground is lost in favor of a zero sum strategy.

But according to many observers Egypt will not see much needed stability and security for some time to come, nor, I suspect, will many Arab Capitals many of whom will sooner or later have to grapple with the same issues that Egypt has had to tackle. Many Arab countries already exhibit the same underlying tensions: well funded, zealous Islamist currents bent on revolution versus the authority of the national army, moderate secularists and minorities fearful of majority rule, the masses versus the upper middle classes who worry that real democracy will only bring to power a Mursi-like regime of exclusionist disenfranchisement, political ineptitude and economic collapse.

Protection for minorities in the Middle East is non existent. Today, following the bloody events on Egypt’s streets and squares, the target of choice for Muslim Brotherhood supporters were Coptic Christian churches, seven were attacked and burned according to reports along with several police stations. Unable to stand up to armored personnel carriers and helicopters, Mursi supporters chose soft targets on which vent their anger and frustration. This is not uncommon; minorities in the Middle East have long been viewed with suspicion and derision by the reigning majority, more often than not a Sunni Muslim majority.

Lebanon’s mountains have long served as a safe haven for persecuted and marginalized minorities from across the Arab and Muslim world. Persecuted, evicted, marched and starved by Ottoman authorities, many Armenian Christians found refuge in Lebanon. Today they are a main structural pillar in our political system and their culture and traditions have served to enrich our multi-national, multi-ethnic and multi-religious national quilt.

The Lebanese and their small country may be a lot of bad things, they may be quarrelsome and narcissistic, self absorbed and arrogant, proud and foolish at times, but one thing still holds us together as a nation, our uncompromising love and defense of personal freedoms, the hallmark of a true democracy. The Lebanese people’s commitment and support of their national army has strengthened their resolve to stand opposed to any violent ideology that threatens the safety, security and integrity of the State. But Lebanon too continues to struggle to stem the tide of political Islam, the all-or-nothing ideology of exclusion and violence, and the tide is taking on Tsunami-like proportions.