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July 23, 2006
SouthAmerica: It is interesting how the mainstream media never mentions in the news that Lebanon has had a Christian majority in power in Lebanon that reflect the religious mix of its population.
By listening the news or watching it on television â the broadcasters give the viewer the idea that Lebanon is mostly a Moslem country when in reality the majority of the population are Christians.
The Shiites and Sunnis combined represent less than 50 percent of the population. And the Shiites and Sunnis are split 50 percent each of the total Moslem population.
Each group individually the Shiites or the Sunnis represent only less than 25 percent of the total population in Lebanon.
In another words, Israel is destroying a âChristian countryâ since the Christians are the majority.
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Lebanon:
Lebanon is a republic in which the three highest offices are reserved for members of specific religious groups:
· the President must be a Maronite Catholic Christian.
· the Prime Minister must be a Sunni Muslim, and
· the Speaker of the Parliament must be a Shi'a Muslim.
This arrangement is part of the "National Pact", an unwritten agreement which was established in 1943 during meetings between Lebanon's first president (a Maronite) and its first prime minister (a Sunni), although it was not formalized in the Lebanese Constitution until 1990, following the Taif Agreement. The pact included a promise by the Christians not to seek French protection and to accept Lebanon's "Arab face", and a Muslim promise to recognize independence and legitimacy of the Lebanese state in its 1920 boundaries and to renounce aspirations for union with Syria. This pact was thought at the time to be an interim compromise, necessary until Lebanon formed its own sense of a national identity. Its continued existence and the fallout from subsequent civil wars continue to dominate politics in Lebanon.
The pact also stipulated that seats in the Parliament would be allocated by religion and region, in a ratio of 6 Christians to 5 Muslims, a ratio based on the 1932 census, which was taken at a time when Christians still had a slight majority. The Taif Agreement adjusted the ratio to grant equal representation to followers of the two religions.
The parliament composition is based more on ethnic and religious identities rather than ideological features. The distribution of parliament seats has been modified recently.
Parliament of Lebanon Seat Allocation
Before Taif After Taif
Maronite (Roman Catholic Church) 30 - 34
Greek Orthodox 11 - 14
Greek Catholic 6 - 8
Armenian Orthodox 4 - 5
Armenian Catholic 1 - 1
Protestant 1 - 1
Other Christians 1 - 1
Total Christians 54 - 64
Sunni 20 - 27
Shi'a 19 - 27
Druze 6 - 8
Alawite 0 - 2
Total Muslims 45 - 64
Total 99 - 128
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âThe Taif Agreementâ - October 22, 1989
âThe Taif Agreementâ was negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia by the surviving members of Lebanon's 1972 parliament; presided and fathered by Parliament Speaker President Hussein El-Husseini. The agreement covered political reform, the ending of the war in Lebanon, the establishment of special relations between Lebanon and Syria, and a framework for the beginning of complete Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. It was signed on October 22, 1989.
The agreement restructured the political system in Lebanon by transferring some of the power away from the Maronite Christian community, which had been given a privileged status in Lebanon under French colonial rule. Prior to Taif, the Sunni Prime Minister was appointed by and responsible to the Maronite President.
After Taif the Prime Minister was responsible to the legislature, as in a traditional parliamentary system.
The accords established a cabinet divided equally between Christians and Muslims.
Although the Taif Agreement identified the abolition of political sectarianism as a national priority, it provided no timeframe for doing so.
On March 8, 2005, Hezbollah, which maintains an armed force of 20,000 men and has had backing from Syria and Iran, staged a massive rally in Beirut drawing hundreds of thousands of people. Organizers attacked UN Resolution 1559, which mandated withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon and the disbanding of domestic militias. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, insisted "The troop withdrawal must happen according to the mechanism of the Taif Accords." [Beirut Daily Star, as quoted in March 21, 2005, "6,000 Syrian troops retreat to Lebanon-Syria border," themilitant.com, March 21, 2005.]
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âThe Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Actâ â
December 12, 2003.
âThe Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Actâ is a bill of the United States Congress passed into law on December 12, 2003.
The bill's stated purpose is to end what the United States sees as Syrian support for terrorism, to end Syria's occupation of Lebanon, which has been in effect since the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, to stop Syria's alleged development of WMDs, to cease Syria's illegal importation of Iraqi oil and to end illegal shipments of military items to anti-US forces in Iraq.
The bill was sponsored by Representative Eliot L. Engel(D) from New York and was introduced April 12, 2003.
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âUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1559â - September 2, 2004
âUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1559â was a resolution adopted by the United Nations Security Council on September 2, 2004. It called upon Syria to end its military presence in Lebanon by withdrawing its forces and to cease intervening in internal Lebanese politics. The resolution also called on all Lebanese militias (including Hezbollah) to disband.
Nine countries voted in favor: Angola, Benin, Chile, France, Germany, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Six countries abstained: Algeria, Brazil, the People's Republic of China, Pakistan, the Philippines and Russia.
The resolution was sponsored by France and the United States. The cooperation between these two nations on an issue concerning Lebanon was due to the fact that Lebanon was governed by France as a League of Nations mandate 1919-1943, France has long taken a special interest in Lebanon.
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Syria made few moves to comply with the resolution 1559 until the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, on February 14, 2005. International pressure to withdraw intensified and public perception in Lebanon turned strongly against Syria, evidenced by mass demonstrations that were labeled the Cedar Revolution. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria announced on March 5, 2005 that he planned to "bring his forces home." The withdrawal, involving about 14,000 troops, took about seven weeks to complete.
On April 26, 2005, after 29 years of military action in Lebanon, the last Syrian troops left Lebanon. Syrian military and intelligence facilities, after the destruction of sensitive documents or the transportation of logistical material, were turned over to Lebanese counterparts. This action left the Lebanese government as the main violator of the resolution due to its refusal to dismantle the pro-Syrian Palestinian and Hezbollah militias.
The question of compliance with Resolution 1559 is a prominent matter in Lebanese politics. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has stated that the government considers Hezbollah arms to be a domestic affair and that stated policy should reassure Hezbollah that the government will protect its military wing. Hezbollah was trying to convince the government to clearly state that the Shiite group's military wing was a resistance group, not a militia, and therefore did not have to comply with the resolution.
Saniora has more stated on July 20, 2006 that "the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Shebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons. The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Chebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms."
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Post-Lebanese election
After the 2005 elections, Hezbollah held 23 seats (up from eight previously) in the 128-member Lebanese Parliament. It also participated for the first time in the Lebanese government that was formed in July 2005. Hezbollah has two ministers in the government, and a third is Hezbollah-endorsed. It is primarily active in the Bekaa Valley, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and southern Lebanon. The group is headed by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and is financed largely by Iran and Syria, though it also raises funds itself through charities and commercial activities.
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