Lebanon's French Connection

Like many around the world, I woke up on the Macron’s approach is little more than political optics morning of August 4th to the horrific footage and alludes to colonial era theatrics such as Kaiser of Beirut’s port explosion. Appearing to be an Wilhelm’s surprise visit to Tangiers in 1905. A small industrial accident involving the highly explosive amount of French aid has followed and questions chemical compound ammonium nitrate, the fire about France’s intentions as Lebanon’s ex-colonial and explosion devastated Beirut’s downtown power are justifiably being asked. France has very and levelled its port. My Wednesday morning little relationship with Lebanon other than the was marked by worry for my Lebanese friends formal and informal ties of ‘la Francophonie’ and and a sense of sadness for Lebanon’s situation. there are few strong actions it can take in this global Many others felt the same, with French President climate. Emmanuel Macron on the ground in Beirut within 48 hours, promising to avoid aid agreements with the Lebanese government and pledging to help the Lebanese people directly. Lebanon’s French Suffering from arguably the worst economic crisis in its history and a pandemic that its government is Connection struggling to contain, Lebanon’s current situation can only be described as a tragedy. Heavily By Eammon Gumley indebted and unable to sort out an economic lifeline, Lebanese trust in the crony and inept government was already at an all-time low. The The petition is ahistorical in its rationale and naïve loss of its port and a further overwhelming of the in its understanding of past and present French hospital system has led to yet more political anger intentions. Understanding the frustration that at the government, labelled a failed “regime” in the would lead to some Lebanese to support their own protests around Lebanon on Saturday. It is obvious recolonisation, it’s important to understand that that the Lebanese people are frustrated and French colonial rule of the Middle Eastern mandate desperately seek change for what was once known was neither “clean” nor “durable”. French solutions as the jouhra alsharq or the ‘pearl of the east’. to Lebanese problems in the 20 th century were Macron’s arrival within 48 hours of the explosion and minorities against each other, France was creating political theatrics in Lebanon has given us the precursor to the sectarian political system many a sound-bite of Macron castigating the currently blamed for wide-scale corruption. France Lebanese government and declaring an end to was dragged kicking and screaming from the Levant “business as usual” in Lebanon. Interestingly, his by British intervention in 1946 after seeking to visit has also coincided with the online petition compromise Lebanon’s decolonisation. Any French to “Place Lebanon under French mandate for the involvement in Lebanon must be viewed through next 10 years”. Having gathered more than 60,000 this lens. signatures already, the petition has been widely shared among my Lebanese friends. The petition France does not have a significant political is short on words, but the aim is clear, proposing a interest in Lebanon for no reason. Macron is a return to “clean and durable” governance under a shrewd political operator. His hands-on approach French mandate. Vague on details, the assumption to a country that is not even in France’s sphere is that this entails a return to a similar arrangement of influence should be viewed with suspicion. to the colonial trusteeship granted by the League Lebanese solutions should come from the Lebanese of Nations to France that established a period of people. The role of the international community formal French rule over Lebanon until 1943. must be to facilitate a better future rather than use Desperate situations do call for desperate or political optics. measures, but both Macron and the petition have wrong approaches to Lebanon’s predicament. messy and internecine. When not pitting ethnic this tragedy as a vehicle for neo-colonial intentions