In recent weeks, the Maronite patriarch, Bechara Al Rai, has taken centre stage in Lebanon's political life. This comes as those in power remain unable to come to an agreement over a new government, even though Lebanon is in the throes of a financial and economic meltdown that has led to widespread poverty.
Patriarch Al Rai has been pursuing a campaign in recent months to begin a process of securing Lebanon's neutrality. More recently, he expanded his demands, asking that a UN conference be held to help break the country's deadlock. At this conference, participants would announce Lebanese neutrality "so that [the country] does not return to being a victim of conflicts and wars and divisions", as the patriarch recently stated at a rally in favour of his proposal.
Not surprisingly, Hezbollah has seen the patriarch’s initiative as being primarily directed against the party and its alliance with Iran. In a speech in February, its secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, rejected internationalisation of the Lebanese situation, while the party’s ally President Michel Aoun has also taken his distance from Patriarch Al Rai. However, the patriarch’s ideas appeal to many Lebanese, who believe that the international community would be far better in helping Lebanon than the corrupt and failed cartel in power.
A car drives past a poster depicting Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon, February 16, 2021. Reuters
Several things appear to be motivating the patriarch in taking so bold a public position. The first is that the crisis in Lebanon is leading to a mass exodus of Lebanese, many of them Christians. The system seems so incapable of reforming itself that those leaving are unlikely to return. For a Maronite Church that saw a sharp decline in Christian numbers during the 1975-1990 civil war, averting such a trend is of existential importance.
This is what has led many observers to suggest that Patriarch Al Rai would not have begun his campaign without encouragement from the Vatican. Whether that is true or not, Pope Francis's trip to Iraq last week certainly showed how important the continued presence of Christians in the Middle East is for the Catholic Church.
There is one overriding reason, beyond the Vatican’s possible involvement, that explains Patriarch Al Rai’s efforts. The Maronite Church was vital in pushing for the establishment of Greater Lebanon after the First World War. Its clergy has long considered that it not only has an ecclesiastical role to play, but is an essential guardian of the Lebanese nation and its existence as a sovereign entity.
During the years of the Syrian military presence, Patriarch Al Rai's predecessor, Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, was a stalwart, if measured, critic of Syrian hegemony over the country. While Patriarch Al Rai came to office sympathetic to Mr Aoun, more recently he has taken a more antagonistic position towards the country's direction, mainly because of Hezbollah's choices. In that way, he has hinted at his implicit misgivings about the President's alliance with the party.
A Lebanese protester carries the potrait of late Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir ahead of a speech by his successor Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rai on February 27, 2021 at the Maronite Patriarchate in the mountain village of Bkerki, northeast of Beirut. AFP
Patriarch Al Rai's initiative underlined that there is still room in Lebanon for politics outside Hezbollah's stranglehold. The party has struggled to retain control over the system since October 2019, when large numbers of Lebanese rose up against the country's political and economic order, denouncing the political class. Hezbollah tried to forestall those protests, as they threatened a political order that had protected the party. However, today it finds itself fighting a losing battle.
Hezbollah is trapped between fulfilling its contract with Iran in remaining ready to fight Israel, ties with Mr Aoun, who is trying to impose his conditions on a new government, effectively blocking it, and the anger of a Lebanese population on the verge of a social explosion as the national currency tumbles. Within Hezbollah areas, the party has failed to guarantee security, as crime is on the rise and rival, heavily armed, tribes frequently fight against one another.
While Hezbollah certainly remains Lebanon’s dominant party, its ability to control a sectarian system laden with rising contradictions is limited. The party was able to use state institutions, such as the army, to maintain order, but the state is in such disarray that those levers are no longer readily available. That is why the patriarch saw an opening to present his alternative narrative.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun has taken his distance from Patriarch Rahi. AFP
Hezbollah appears to take the patriarch's proposal seriously enough that it has sought to nip it in the bud
Can his proposal succeed? Its value at this stage is not that it will be implemented, but that it does two other important things.
First, it shows that a central institution in Lebanese society, the Maronite Church, recognises that the present leadership can neither reform nor present a viable state project that does not involve submission to the interests of an outside regional power. Second, it underlines that Maronite parties that fail to put Lebanon's sovereignty and welfare ahead of all other issues will represent fewer and fewer Christians as the situation deteriorates. This is a shot across the bow of Mr Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, who have sided with Hezbollah to advance their own interests, regardless of the damage this has done to Lebanon.
Hezbollah has sought a dialogue with Patriarch Al Rai, while he has avoided making his initiative look as if it were directed against the party. Still, Hezbollah appears to take the patriarch’s proposal seriously enough that it has sought to nip it in the bud. The cleric is unlikely to backtrack, as Lebanon’s situation is too critical.
Michael Young is a senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut and a Lebanon columnist for The National
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
The flights Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes. The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast. The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
It’s So Easy
Mr Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
Double Talkin’ Jive
Better
Estranged
Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
Shadow of Your Love
Attitude (Misfits cover)
Civil War
Coma
Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
November Rain
Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
Nightrain
Encore:
Patience
Don’t Cry
The Seeker (The Who cover)
Paradise City
Red flags
Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
