Lebanon - The Black Sheep Of The East

Caressing the edge of the Mediterranean with its sandy beaches that can be seen from the neighboring Lebanese mountains, the two terrains juxtaposed together makes a brilliant site to see.

In fact, Lebanon's name derives from semitic root which means "white, milky" referring to the majestic snow capped mountains in the center of the small country.

In Lebanon, the variety isn't just found in the landscape, but in the ethnicities that inhabit it.

It is estimated that about 40% are Christians (mostly Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Melkite Greek Catholics, Chaldean Catholic), 35% are Shia Muslims, 21% are Sunni Muslims and 5% are Druze. A small minority of Jews live in central Beirut, Byblos, and Bhamdoun.

Lebanon has been for thousands of years, a vast melting pot for cultures and ethnicities.

Originally home to the business savvy Phoenicians, who sailed the seas trading with the Egyptians and Greeks, Lebanon later came into the hands of the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Ottoman Turks and most recently the French.

Yes, Lebanon has been a stomping ground for imperialistic nations, but it has only helped the Lebanese develop it's own culture. The Lebanese would take the best of the ruling empires culture and add it to their own, developing a most advanced society.

In fact, compared to other Middle Eastern nations, Lebanon as a whole, is a very well educated society. As of 2003 87.4% of the population was literate. [1]

In the 1960's, Lebanese capital, Beirut was a metropolitan, upscale city. Street cafes could be found on every corner overwhelmed with intellectual chatter in 5 different languages. Fancy hotels would be filled with A-list guests. In the book "Lebanon- A House Divided" By: Sandra Mackey she describes Beirut as the "Paris of the east". The center of culture.

However throughout the prosperity of Lebanon, the country was stuck in a cultural tug-of-war between Europe and the Middle East.

Many radical Muslims felt as though Lebanon was betraying it's roots in the Arab world.

Lebanon's major source of income before it's civil-war was through tourists. Tourists did not come for Lebanon's numerous religious sites but for it's European since of fashion and cuisine. Travelers did not see an Arab country while vacationing. Very rarely did the common tourists brush against Arab culture. Despite it's location, Lebanon was not an Arab nation.

It is through Arab dictators that Lebanon is how it is today though.

Nations such as Syria and Egypt saw how much Lebanon was succeeding through it's western styled economy and government.

Those nations under tyrannical command were scared of possible uprisings that could take place in their own state. What if their population saw another middle-eastern country living lavishly even with hundreds of ethnicities, while they were in slums?

Countries like Syria and Egypt incited an Islamic uprising in Lebanon. Syria and Egypt used religious propaganda with the help of radical Islamic institutes to spread the ideas of ultra-conservative Islam to Muslims in Lebanon.

The governments of those countries also used the thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to incite a civil-war. It is well known that during the civil war Syria and Egypt created puppet PLO factions to attack Lebanese and Israeli forces without actually officially getting involved.

Because certain nation's governments were scared of their citizens finding out they are being suppressed they went through the great lengths of destroying a succeeding, prosperous country.
Lebanon could have changed the world if it wasn't for the dictators scared of freedom.



NOTE-

[1] CIA World Fact Book