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The Syrian-Lebanese Relationship

The activation of the file pertaining to the Syrian-Lebanese relationship and talk of the Syrian army in Lebanon being re-deployed, thus paving the way towards its withdrawal and ending the Syrian military presence in Lebanon, is a matter that requires a reminder regarding the issue at its true level. The Lebanese issue is related to the consolidation of the Western -especially the American- presence in the Islamic lands, by turning Lebanon into a cultural and political base, adjacent to "Israel", the political and military base of the West.

It is known that the plan to divide the Muslims' lands is old crusader plan. Britain revived this plan in order to curb the Ottoman State. She brought her evil agent, Amir Abdul-Qader Al-Jaza'iri, to Damascus in order to separate the northern part of Al-Sham from the Islamic Khilafah and establish a state under the name of Syria, which included the coastal parts known today as Lebanon.

In the wake of the Ottoman State's defeat in the First World War, Syria was placed under French mandate, according to the "Sykes-Picot" treaty. Hence, France split the coastal part from the inner part in Syria and called it Lebanon, which used to be the name given to the Lebanon Mountains. Lebanon had never been a name for a political entity before. Despite the fact that several states recognised the Lebanese entity once it was established and despite the succession of many leaders over Syria, Lebanon had never acquired an official recognition from the government nor from the masses in Syria. This was until Hafiz Assad's visit to Lebanon in 1975, which paved the way for the Syrian army's entry into Lebanon in 1976, under the pretext of protecting it. America inspired this, with the aim of confirming the separation of Lebanon and at the hands of the Syrians themselves. Maurice Dipper, Henry Kissinger's aide in Middle-Eastern affairs, stated: "We invited the Syrians to enter Lebanon; had it not been for us, they would not have entered. I personally partook in the decision of making them enter Lebanon and in the agreement according to which they entered." Hence, the visit to Lebanon by the Syrian president was deemed as the first official step towards the separation of Lebanon.

Over time, the Syrian presence in Lebanon became linked to the peaceful settlement's phases, for it became imperative to utilise the Lebanese card to pressurise Israel, through the fidayeen's operations, undertaken by the Palestinian factions and Hezbollah. . This was exploited in order to establish in people's minds the link between the Syrian presence in Lebanon and the issue of protecting Lebanon, deterring Israel and expelling her from the south. Furthermore, the Syrian presence in Lebanon was necessary to maintain a sectarian equilibrium, thus prevention one sect from intimidating the other sects. It was also aimed at undermining the political milieu in Lebanon, who collaborated with France and Britain, thus giving the upper hand to the political milieu loyal to America.

What occurred up until today and led to the activation of the Syrian-Lebanese file, is the imminence of the peaceful settlement's final stages. There is nothing preventing a peace agreement between Syria and "Israel", save the fact that America has frozen the Syrian track until she finalises the axis of the Arab-Israeli struggle, namely the Palestinian issue. This is so because Israel is hoping to establish peace with Syria so that she may achieve security, hence America made Israel's peace with Syria dependent on her compliance in the peace process on the Palestinian track. On the other hand, the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon has ended and the sectarian equilibrium has been established in the wake of the recent remarkable elections, which focused on adopting democracy and not sectarianism as a basis for the ruling system. These matters activated the file of the Syrian-Lebanese relationship and paved the way towards its settlement. Hence, Syria set about undertaking the measures aimed at separating Lebanon officially, thus executing the American designs for the Lebanese issue. The file is expected to be closed once the peaceful settlement between Syria and "Israel" is finalised, which is an advanced stage in the quest to reshape the Middle East. As for the fact that the Syrian-Lebanese relationship’s file was opened under the auspices of the Maronite Patriarch Nasrullah Butros Safir, this was in order to confirm that Lebanon is an entity for the Christians, as "Israel" is an entity for the Jews. This will consolidate the Christians' political authority over Lebanon, and give them the credit of achieving Lebanon's independence from Syria, thus gaining the upper hand in running the affairs of the state.

In a nutshell, the point at issue is the separation of Lebanon from Syria, officially and at the hands of the Syrians themselves. This is why the two sides are making deliberate references to the theme of "emendating the relationship between the two countries", which means confirming the separation between them, and that the Syrian presence in Lebanon was a contingent matter.

28th Ramadhan 1421
24th December 2000

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