Lebanon, finally a nation-state?
With the weakening of Hezbollah, hope for a political "new era" has been born. But the task is colossal. It involves building a state and resurrecting a society whose fractures are still raw. Should we invent something else? writes the co-editor-in-chief of "L'Orient-Le Jour." This article is the third installment in our series on Lebanon as told by this French-language daily.
[This article is taken from the special report produced with the editorial staff of the Lebanese daily L'Orient-Le Jour and published in our weekly dated May 28, 2025 (CI No. 1804).]
The security officer gives me a big smile as he hands me my passport. He's almost overdoing it. As if he and all government officials have been instructed to embody the "new era."
Beirut Airport has long been a distillation of the worst of Lebanon: sectarianism, incompetence, cronyism, and Hezbollah's control. It was a mirror of a sick country refusing to heal itself. Is it any different now? Does the officer's smile speak of new hope for the Land of the Cedars?
In any case, something has been happening since the beginning of the year. So much so that a simple civil servant can now authorize himself to search the luggage of a member of the Shiite militia, long considered a state above a non-state, to ensure that he is not carrying weapons or a wad of dollars, without it costing him his job or his life. Quite symbolic.
This Wednesday, May 7, I am invited to lunch at the Grand Serail [the residence of the head of government in Beirut] with the Prime Minister. I have known Nawaf Salam for several years. He is a man of the kind Lebanon unfortunately hardly makes anymore. A cultured, open, generous, passionate, sensitive person who stands out from the rest of the political class. He shares neither their cynicism nor their populism. But how can he succeed in changing a country that no longer resembles him?
At the end of lunch, I wonder: how long can this interlude last? How can it withstand the Israeli occupation and strikes that continue despite the ceasefire, Hezbollah's provocations, the intercommunal clashes rocking Syria, or the incredible resilience of the traditional political class? The actors change, but the questions remain the same. Is Lebanon still savable? Above all, does Lebanon finally want to save itself?
Everything happened so quickly. The all-out war, which was so feared, finally arrived. It was believed that it would destroy Lebanon before destroying Hezbollah. This wasn't entirely true. Entire villages were wiped off the map, numerous buildings were pulverized, in the south of the country, in the Bekaa (east), and in the suburbs of Beirut. But the whole country didn't experience the same war. A large part of it was almost completely "spared," while the Shiite community paid a heavy price. How can memories be reconciled after this?
How to do it when part of the country is relieved
Courrier International
