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I
would like to begin by stressing the fact that my love
and affection for this small country stands behind this
letter. I am taking the liberty of sending out this
public plea based on my known relationship with Lebanon
and its people, a relationship founded over the years on
warmth, respect and a true partnership. My relationship
with this nation is one of respect and an act of faith
in the Lebanese people whose belief in their homeland is
absolute.
For some of you,
my Lebanese brothers and sisters, love of country drove
you to generosity in its service and sacrifices in its
defense, sacrifices that are forever inscribed on the
country’s plains and its majestic mountains. From your
beautiful shores civilization spread to all corners of
the world and the alphabet that you invented was the
catalyst that illuminated the darkness that prevailed on
all continents.
You represented
for Arabs everywhere a free press, respected academics
and excellent universities. You were the lungs through
which many Arabs breathed the air of freedom and the
printing press that recorded their history. Dear people,
you have achieved a lot which would take many pages from
me to list.
Today, I am
asking with apprehension: “What are you doing?” I had
never doubted your love for your country and had never
feared for the democratic way for which the Lebanese
people have proven their commitment. Democracy was, and
shall remain one of the cornerstones of Lebanese
society. I have also never doubted, even in the
difficult years of war, Lebanese society’s high concern
for the national security of Lebanon.
The Lebanese
have always shown great affection to their Arab brothers
who share the same language, destiny and geography with
them. I am confident that People of Lebanon can do
without any tutelage in the governance of their country.
However, my care
and my love for this precious corner of the Arab World
made me write this open letter from the heart, a letter
that I address to the consciousness of the people of
Lebanon. Many of you are aware of my deep attachment to
your country, which I hold with the same esteem as my
own country, the United Arab Emirates.
I hesitated for
a long time before starting this letter, because I
strongly believed that by the time it reaches you, the
succession of events in Lebanon would have made it
redundant, because the people of Lebanon know how to
overcome their adversities, how to tolerate their pain,
and how then to make the crossing from despair to hope
and optimism.
I wanted to
reveal to some of my Lebanese friends my fears and
apprehensions regarding developments in their country.
This fear is not for the unity of the Lebanese, nor of
Lebanon, because I trust that the bond that holds the
Lebanese together is much stronger than the forces that
are trying to tear them apart. This bond is as strong as
that that holds the mountains of Lebanon firmly attached
to its plains. God willing, the unity of the people and
their country shall remain firm. It is my firm belief
that the recent events in a Lebanon are but a
manifestation of the democratic process that crowns the
political environment there; and despite the apparent
chaotic and troubled nature of the process it is
governed by the unity of the people under a common
ceiling that is the unity of the country. That process
is clear and probably irreversible unless these
differences fester and make way for certain forms of
foreign interventions that aim to destabilize the unity
of the people and their economic and social potential.
Allow me to add
that the high-pitched arguments and slogans in addition
to the agitation in your media shall reflect negatively
on the productivity and recovery of the country, when
what is needed is cooperation with your Arab environment
to increase employment opportunities and improve the
performance of the economy.
Economic
stagnation will increase corruption, unemployment,
crime, and even terrorism that has relegated whole
societies to pariah status on the international scene. I
do not think that any sane person would knowingly and
willfully aim to cause such a catastrophe to his country
and relegate it to the lowest rung in the hierarchy of
nations. .
Now is the
moment of honesty when I have to say what I hesitated so
much about out of my love for Lebanon. I have to say it
now in the middle of this storm of declarations and
counter-declarations, demonstrations and
counter-demonstrations, gatherings and counter
gatherings.
My fear is
justified by this political crisis that demonstrates
everything except your hidden love for you country, as
if you are ashamed to declare it amidst the smoke and
dust roused by the impact of these political events.
Who would for
the sake of political profit or a vote here or there or
even for the sake of a position of power sacrifice the
economic and social fundamentals of his country? I am
sure that there is no person or party in Lebanon that
wishes that to happen. But watching the events from a
distance point to an increasing possibility that some
major calamity is about to happen that dear country.
That might not be the right conclusion but it is one
that is justified by the ongoing agitation in the media.
It would be
naïve to expect that society in Lebanon would
metamorphose one day into a homogenous entity with one
political, social and cultural vision. That would also
be an oversimplification of the issue. I just want to
call my Lebanese brothers and sisters, the generous and
good people that I have known to put the good of their
country above every other consideration. I call on them
to become a mature political entity similar to the
people of the Western world in particular people in
France, the USA and Britain. In those countries
political campaigns are sometimes nasty and very
hostile, but at the end all differences are set aside
and the people unite behind their country when
threatened by a foreign danger or when the national
security of their respective countries is jeopardized.
Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor | 
