The long road to reconciliation: Lebanon's historic Christian...

4^min

More than one confrontation occurred between the Druze and Christians from 1840 to 1860 under Ottoman rule, and then in the Mountain War (Harb al Jabal) in 1983, where hundreds of victims fell, and the majority of Christians left.

Walid Jumblatt wanted to turn the page of the past definitively after scattered reconciliations witnessed by some villages, and who better than Bkerke and its "master" to meet in this mission to put an end to the tragedies and open a new page in Christian-Druze relations.

The rapprochement between Bkerke and Moukhtara increased in 2000 after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and after the appeal of the patriarchs in September of the same year.

While the late Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir openly raised his voice demanding the withdrawal of the Syrian army, Walid Jumblatt demanded the redeployment of the Syrians to the Bekaa as stipulated in the Taif Agreement. He faced a campaign of attack by some of Syria's allies in Lebanon.

The late Samir Frangieh, known as the "Red Beik," for decades, was a friend of the head of the Progressive Socialist Party and, at the same time, close to Patriarch Sfeir.

He and his friend Fares Souaid took on the task of conveying messages between Moukhtara and the Maronite Patriarchate.

The weekend of the first week of August 2001 was chosen as the date for reconciliation due to its symbolism, as the people of Al Jabal- Christians and Druze - celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Hill in Deir Al-Qamar.

Patriarch Sfeir went to Al Jabal, where he met its Christian residents in popular gatherings in Christian villages, while Jumblatt mobilized the MPs of the Democratic Gathering and senior Druze leaders in Moukhtara to receive Sfeir with the best reception, consecrate the reconciliation of the Al Jabal residents, and enhance the return of Christians to the villages.

President Emile Lahoud, upon his arrival at the Lady of the Hill Church to participate in the Patriarch's Mass, was met with slogans condemning his presence and criticizing Syrian tutelage over Lebanon.

Opponents of Syria from the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb, and Al-Ahrar gathered at the bend of Kahaleh at the end of the Patriarch's tour, which lasted for two days. They raised partisan flags for the first time in over a decade.

They chanted against Syria and demanded its withdrawal from Lebanon, a move that disturbed Damascus and the Lebanese security apparatus, which feared the growing influence of Christians and the coordination between Bkerke and Moukhtara.

The response came two days later, on August 7, with the arrest of hundreds of supporters of Christian parties and their imprisonment.

The reconciliation ended a historical conflict, consolidated the calm atmosphere, strengthened brotherhood among Al Jabal's residents, and paved the way for cooperation utilized in the "Independence Uprising," contributing to the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.

Al Jabal's reconciliation has become a founding document and a shining era in the history of Lebanon and its Mountain.