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Delusions, misconceptions of totalitarian foster regime care of minorities will only lead to the destruction of these minorities
Lebanon
In 1990, My dreams as a teenager about to turn 18 shattered, the Syrian Army attacked the Presidential palace of Baabda with Sokhoy War planes, and the Syrian Army occupied large parts of the Free Lebanese Areas, East Beirut, had fallen, the free Areas fell for the first time since 1978, in 1978 the Lebanese resistance had paid a high price to liberate those areas, and thousands of Lebanese Front freedom fighters sacrificed their lives on the altar of Lebanon to keep the Syrian army out, all had fallen, all was lost
All started to go wrong after that, my best childhood friends, my neighborhood friends we had grown up together, one my one migrated, and my dynamic youth years witnessed a disappointment after another, I got attached to a girl, and she joined the large caravan of migrators
I knew who to blame, I hated the Syrian regime even deeper, with all my being, core and essence, I despised them
Soon my hatred turned expressive, debating, arguing, and when criticizing both the Syrian occupation and whoever cooperated or tolerated this occupation, and was confronted with what will be the backbone of this article
Soon started a tradition Armenian “wisdom, realistic approach, pragmatism” symphony from close Armenians, “Bedik, do not be so unreasonable, illogical, romantic, unrealistic, emotional, If it wasn’t for the Syrian Regime of the “Baath” party, which is ruled by a minority sect, it would be the end of Middle east Christian existence, The Baath regime is the protector, guardian, protector of both Lebanon in general and it’s Christians in particular, The Syrian Army guards Lebanese Christians from extremism, it should be regarded as the Champion of Preserving Christian existence in Lebanon, Syria and the Middle east”
I thought this mentality was only valid only inside a certain environment, and then it turned out that this has become not only a mentality, but a political orientation
1978
Many claim false fully that the Lebanese Front, the Christian front, has asked the Syrian Army to intervene, whether that is a huge delusion – the truth is, Syrian President stated that he did not ask or wait for permission, he felt that he needed to enter Lebanon, and entered without permission, and to this day there is not a single proof that either the Lebanese state or Lebanese parties invited the Syrian Army
Also, there is another aspect, there are analysts who claim that while Syrian army was the salvation for the Lebanese Front,(Composed of Lebanese Christian Lebanese national(ist) parties: the Lebanese Phalange, guardians of the Cedar, National Liberal Part (Ahrar), Tnzeem, Christian Socialist…), the Lebanese Front, and it’s military wing, headed by Sheikh Bashir Gemayel were ungrateful, backstabbed and committed treason towards the Syrians in Lebanon
This is also a huge falsification of facts, the Syrians did have deep conflicts with the Lebanese left and the Palestinian “Resistance” ( I do not know what were the Palestinians resisting in Lebanon), but when Egyptian president Saddat took a surprising political step of signing a treaty with Israel, The Syrian regime felt isolated and unable to have an effective role in the area, he had to reproach the leader of the Palestinian Liberation organization, (PLO), Yasser Arafat, they were both the major losers of “Camp David” agreement between Egypt and Israel, and they had to form an alliance, naturally, so it was not the Lebanese Christians who changed policy, it was the Syrian regime
And thus the Syrian army had become a political and military opponent of the Lebanese forces
In 1978, I was 5 years old, I started by adolescence in the shelters, I still remember the 1978 battles, the Syrian regime, opened the gates of hell, it savagely bombarded Eastern Beirut, so the Army that came to put an end to violence, protect both sides (and in Christians specially according to the myth) multiplied the violence to levels unprecedented, only my building alone received 33 bombs of “Syrian regime guardianship bombs of Christians”, naturally these rockets were not meant to “Harm the Christians”, but to make the “Adventurous Christians” aware that they needed the Syrian Protection, if they refuse the Syrian Protection, they would be punished more severely than the original threat
Despite heavy shelling, the Lebanese resistance did not fall, it did not break, it stood up, it endured, and the international community intervened, the Syrian Army pulled out, the Lebanese resistance will was unbreakable
In 1982 the Christian leader Bashir Gemayel was elected president, Bashir was assassinated, the Assassin was declared a member of the Syrian National Socialist Party
To indicate the level of loyalty that the SSNP has to the Syrian regime, one must search on the internet for the late former leader of the Lebanese Communist party, George Hawi, in it Mr. Hawi tells an interesting story, according to late Mr. Hawi, that Syrians asked several parties among them the SSNP and the Leb Communists to participating in the blockade of Palestinian camps, Hawi expresses reluctance to the SSNP Leader, how can we take part in the blockade of Palestinians, the Palestinian cause is the core of our whole struggle, SSNP Leader replies: “Comrade Hawi, you seem to not have absorbed the picture, we the SSNP have completely entrusted the course of our ship to President Assad” (Aljazeera Series – Lebanese War)
After the Syrians left Eastern Beirut, the Syrians exercised all sort of pressure until 1989, which led to Thousands of Christians emigrating from Lebanon
In 1989, the Syrian army bombarded the Christian areas for a complete year,
In 1990 Syrian Army occupied Lebanon for 15 years,
During Syrian occupation, began what was known as “Christian Frustration – Demoralization” – الإحباط المسيحي and began one of the worst eras of Both Lebanese in general and Lebanese Christians in particular immigration wave, Armenians were among the largest groups that left Lebanon
During that area, Christians not only migrated in huge numbers, something that shifted the balance of demography, but Christian leaders who represented the majority of the Christian will were either expelled (General Aoun – currently president of Lebanon), The Leader of the Lebanese forces was accused of a crime later on the court found innocent, yet he remained in prison for 11 years, Christian parties were subject to oppression, the Lebanese Forces banned, Lebanese Christians were left out of state positions, mostly because the Christian population numbers declined, Christians lost half of their influence from 1990 till 2005, Syrian regime allies occupied most of the parliamentary seats and cabinet, and most did not represent the Christian street, Phanange, the oldest Christian party and one of the pillars of Lebanese independence, was divided into two wings,…………
In 2005, when finally the Cedar revolution and uprising began, and Syrians left, Christian population declined severely
After 2005, the Syrian regime and its allies kept destabilizing Lebanon politically and economically, which led to more Christians immigrating
Syrian Christians
This dangerous misconception of Syrian Regime being the ideal protector of Middle East Christians led to the destruction of another Christian community, and its Armenians in particular
The Syrian regime made the perfect service for the Turkish policies and intelligence, Christians and Armenians regarded it as a protection and security guarantee against religious extremism, they were shortsighted, they let the Syrian intelligence push forward that the regime has deep sympathy towards the Christians, this was a deep trap, that would involve the Christians sooner or later, one of these days, and it did
In the year 2011 The Syrian uprising started, after years of having the suppressed emotional state of being oppressed, the uprising started, and it is not true that is was by a single sectorial groups, some were leftist, some of the leading oppositions were Christians, (Michel Kilo ), George Sabra ….
http://chathamhouse.org/2016/12/most-syrian-christians-arent-backing-assad-or-rebels
The Syrian opposition today, including the Free Syrian Army, includes several Christian figures, among them George Sabra, chief negotiator for the High Negotiations Committee, and Abdelahad Steifo, vice president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces.
The uprising started peaceful, but the regime did not want it to be kept that way, and it made everything to push the demonstrators into violence so it has the excuse to use the language it knew, crack down, and that was what it did, In my opinion, the regime did not see such a widespread military reaction, even if it did not anticipate it and started this dangerous game, it did, it jeopardized the nation which led to the almost complete destruction of Syrian Armenians and a huge portion of Syrian Christians
Further references:
https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/religion/332938-dont-be-fooled-assad-is-no-friend-of-syrias-christian-minorities
ccording to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, over 60 percent of all churches in Syria that have been destroyed during the war have been by the Assad regime.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/assad-not-protector-church
“No, Bashar Al Assad is not the shield of Eastern Christians”
“No, Bashar Al Assad is not the shield of Eastern Christians”
Peter Manoukian
Lebanese Armenian Blogger