Hezbollah believes that it is protecting the Shiite community by keeping it armed and feared by other sectarian communities. Yet the truth is that it is exposing the community to future dangers that may not take long to appear with changes in the region. And from this perspective, the dispute taking place over land ownership in the village of Lassa in the Byblos district represents dangerous and long-term negligence with regard to the interests of the Shiite minority in the “Byblos countryside”, in exchange for immediate “gains” of no more than a few dozen acres of land, representing an extension of the violation of public property in Beirut's Southern Suburb and in the South. Indeed, Hezbollah committed a series of mistakes when it interfered in the issue of Lassa. The first was that, if there is any objection to any claim to property, the courts are the only party with the authority to reach a decision regarding the objection and to correct mistakes if they are found, not the party's armed men. The second was that only government services – i.e. security forces and the army – have the authority to enforce the law and protect the rights of citizens, whatever their religious and political affiliation. And the third was that, by interfering with the Maronite Patriarchate, the third party involved with the dispute, Hezbollah “legitimized” the attack that took place against the surveyors and the television crew, embracing the attackers and providing them with political and armed protection. Indeed, the Shiites of Byblos, who have lived in this area for many centuries, are well aware of the importance of peaceful coexistence with their surroundings, which they have practiced throughout their modern history, not just because they are a minority, but also because they were equally subjected with the Christians to Ottoman oppression, which has made them open to their Maronite neighbors. This was proven throughout the civil war years, the horrors of which their towns and villages were spared. And with the exception of a few minor incidents, Shiites in this area were never subjected to any military action, siege or displacement. And prominent old Christian families – such as the Soueid, Khouri, Eddé and Hachem families, who all share social, communal and electoral ties – played a major role in preserving social cohesion in Byblos and preventing the flames of sectarian strife from spreading to the area. Today, on the other hand, such social cohesion seems threatened, with Hezbollah imposing itself to speak in the name of the Shiite villages of Byblos and its countryside. There are also rumors of Hezbollah establishing security outposts and weapon caches in the area, as well as using carrot-and-stick methods to tie its inhabitants to itself alone, and removing the idea of a unifying state from their minds, as it has done and continues to do in other Shiite areas, through replacing the state in paving roads, providing healthcare services, building a large number of Husseiniyahs, and sending religious clerics from outside the area to mobilize its inhabitants. The Baath Party had preceded it in tampering with the security of Byblos's Shiites, when during the days of civil infighting they recruited and armed young men from the Shiite villages, giving rise to tensions with Christian political and military forces, the price of which some of those young men paid, without the matter growing into a campaign of revenge. The Shiites of the Byblos countryside know that they are equally with their Christian neighbors victims of the state's neglect of their area. Indeed, this is a general characteristic of the Lebanese government, which focuses services on the big cities and neglects the countryside. And Shiite farmers in the area suffer like Maronite farmers from the shortage of water, electric power cuts and the terrible state of the roads. Those who take the road to Qartaba, the largest Christian town, find their way rife with potholes and collapsed sections, just like on the road to Almat, the largest Shiite town. There remains a comment that cannot be avoided, which is that Christian politicians who address the issue of Lassa must make sure to distinguish between their criticism of Hezbollah's interference and conduct, and their stance on the Shiites of Byblos themselves, so as not to inadvertently slip into sectarian provocation that would pose a threat to peaceful coexistence. Indeed, Byblos's Shiites were there long before Hezbollah, and they will remain there after it.
