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Syrian-Lebanese Crisis: Civil War and More |
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Thursday, 17 August 2006 |
In order to shed light on the Syrian-Lebanese Crisis, political science professor As’ad AbuKhalil was invited as guest speaker at the University of California at Irvine on April 19.
AbuKhalil, who teaches at California State University, Stanislaus said that the forward mobility of Lebanon rests on its coming to terms with its war in that it was not a “war for outsiders or by outsiders,”since it was fought by the Lebanese themselves.
He argued that the domestic problems in Lebanon were caused by the political elite who pleaded for outside intervention and as a result violated Lebanon’s sovereignty.
AbuKhalil, who was born in Tyre, Lebanon, believes that the civil war never ended. In his opinion, the Ta’if Accords did not solve the conflict; they merely “changed the formula but kept the sects intact.”
In order to progress, the professor said that Lebanon has to eliminate all sects and start a culture of civil mindedness, establish a truth committee for war criminal accountability abolish the sectarian formula for reform, create an economic agenda of reform that does not have ties to multinational corporations, and coordinate Lebanese economic and security affairs with Syria.
“The speaker offered a different perspective on the situation between Lebanon and Syria,” said UCI student Aysha Rahman, “It was refreshing to hear to someone not point the finger solely at Syria.”
The event was sponsored by the National Council of Arab Americans LA/OC Chapter, in conjunction with UC Irvine’s Center for Middle East and African Studies.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 August 2006 )
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