Attempts by the Syrian opposition to unseat President Bashar Al Assad and his cronies have divided Lebanon. The majority of Lebanese broadly sympathise with anti-regime demonstrators.
The ruling pro-Syrian minority is strongly backing the Syrian government while others, fearful that violence will spill across the border, hope the danger will simply fade away. The Lebanese government is out of step with the Arab League and has disassociated itself from UN Security Council condemnations of the brutal crackdown.
It's about time that the Lebanese realised that what's happening in Syria is now beyond personal political affiliations. In December, the UN announced that the death toll had reached 5,400 and since then the murder of civilians by government forces has been ongoing.
Refugees have taken refuge in Turkey and Libya; untold numbers have fled to the mountainous region of northern Lebanon. Many Al Assad followers have also left while some are hiding amid civilian populations. Others are under house arrest. They've read the writing on the wall and fear repercussions when the government finally falls.
The extent of the Syrian government's barbarity not only means that the regime is unfit but also that what was initially an internal political dispute has become a humanitarian crisis.
The Arab League was right to cease its monitoring. A video on the internet of an Arab League observer witnessing the bullet-ridden body of a tiny five-year-old ‘martyr' speaks volumes.
Correcting positions
It seems to me that Lebanon is wrong to obstruct the Arab League and the UN in their efforts to save Syria from civil war. The Lebanese should be leading, not acting like neutral Switzerland during Second World War.
Lebanon can't be neutral because Syrians and Lebanese share history, culture, and familial blood lines; they are like one family. Certainly there have been some low points between the two, but in times of dire need families should come together as, indeed, occurred when Israel launched air strikes against Lebanon in 2006 when Syrians opened their homes and their hearts to Lebanese fleeing the conflict.
Aside from the compelling humanitarian argument for Lebanon to put all its weight behind the Syrian people, it's wrong-thinking on the part of the Lebanese government to back a losing horse.
Once the Syrian opposition takes power, as I'm sure it will sooner or later, the fact that Lebanon assisted their oppressor will not bode well for the future of Syrian-Lebanese relations.
Syrian opposition parties and the fledging Free Syrian Army will have long memories. They will remember those in Lebanon who rallied against them, including those factions which shamefully surrendered fleeing Syrians to the Syrian military.
It's a little late, but it's not too late for the Lebanese to correct their position not only for the sake of their Syrian brothers and sisters but also their own. I would appeal to the people of Lebanon to put politics and sectarian interests to one side long enough to stand with Syrians desperate to throw off the yoke of authoritarianism the way Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans and Yemenis have done. They should denounce public figures who announce their support of the Syrian regime at the cost of the freedom-seekers.
Time is running out for the Lebanese government and people to materially aid and protect Syrian refugees suffering from a lack of essential facilities in the mountains of the north and the Beka'a Valley where night-time temperatures are currently plunging as low as -2 centigrade.
The government should support the Syrian people in their quest for liberty, a human right, and should apologise for standing next to those who are killing and torturing them.
Ordinary Lebanese people should ignore self-serving sectarian leaders and open their hearts and their homes to Syrian refugees. The Lebanese have been hostages to political parties, politicians and tribal leaders for more than a century.
When will they decide to claim their own Lebanese identity for the greater good? No leader should be followed unquestioningly. The people should demand honest leaders who love Lebanon enough not to impose foreign agendas.
Should the Lebanese choose to do the right thing, Russia and China would be isolated and embarrassed over their stance against people who refuse to be controlled by a tyrant. Those powers are actively harming Arabs to suit their own ends and I, for one, would support a Muslim/Arab boycott of Chinese and Russian imports until they quit endorsing dictators.
Bravo to Turkey for slamming the actions of its Syrian ally from the get-go. I just wish Ankara would stop the talk and walk the walk. Bravo, too, to Qatar for its unequivocal moral standpoint.
If Qatar can show such admirable leadership on the world stage, there is no reason why Lebanon, that will always be inseparable from its northern neighbour, shouldn't do the same.
Khalaf Al Habtoor is a businessman and chairman of Al Habtoor Group.
