How religious conflict lead to the weakness of government in Lebanon Essay

How religious conflict lead to the weakness of government in Lebanon - Essay Example Lebanon Lebanon is an Arab country located in the Middle East and it shares borders with Syria, Israel, and Jordan. Lebanon was known as the Paris of Middle East because it was so multi-cultural. Its population used to be half Muslim and half Christian and they generally lived peacefully with each other for hundreds of years, sharing everything and even marrying between each other. Lebanon was considered as a secular country. When the civil war started in Lebanon in the year 1975, many people believed that the major reason for this ethnic war in Lebanon was the weakness of their regime, since it was set up based on sectarianism and not based on the interest of the state and the people as a whole. This weakness caused a lot of problems in Lebanon, in which the government could not control the religious organizations such as Hezb Allah (Hezbollah), which is the biggest Islamic Shi’a political organization in Lebanon. They took control of everything there, from education, health, economy, etc., because the government was too weak and divided to provide those services for everyone. They also worked hard on changing Shi’a thought about other religious groups in Lebanon with a strong belief that they alone should rule. They started having children more and more just to raise the number of Muslims in Lebanon, to become the majority of the population over the Christians and Sunni minority. In doing this they could argue that they are the majority and it would be unfair for them to have a leader that is Christian or Sunni. On the other hand, they also succeed in some good things such as forcing the Israeli Army to withdraw from southern Lebanon in year 2000, which was considered a HUGE victory for them. They also funded schools and public projects, fed the poor, and many other social services that the government had been unable to provide in order to gain support of the growing Shi’a Muslim population in Lebanon. Lebanese Regime They have a form of parliamentary democracy system that is based on sectarianism, that is to say leadership positions are ditched out according to the percentage of population per group or sect. Their constitution gives them the right to choose their representatives every 4 years through elections, and then the parliament chooses the president. The president has a six-year term. The current religious divisions are as follows; a. A president must be a Maronite (Christian) b. Prime Minister must be a Sunni c. Speaker of Parliament must be Shia d. The confessional composition of parliament is pre-determined These divisions between the parties and groups continually lead to conflicts between them and rivalries for power. Hezbollah continues to battle for power and legitimacy within the state in order to impose its beliefs in Sharia law, while Christians retain more favorable standing with the West that backs them. According to Khashanm, the Hezbollah said that "We are incapable at the present time of insta lling the rule of Islam, but this does not mean postponing our ideology and project† (81-82). Conflicts are long standing and both sides have committed atrocities. Political assassinations by both sides are not uncommon. It seems very unlikely that Lebanon will find a stable peace any time soon that will restore its former reputation as the Paris of the Middle East. WHY it is