A demonstrator holds the Lebanese flag during a protest near parliament, as Lebanon marks the one-year anniversary of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Lebanon can’t catch a break. Amidst the worst economic collapse in the modern era, the Saudis and their regional allies are punishing the tiny country over comments criticizing the war on Yemen. To make matters worse, October saw clashes in Beirut on a front line that dates back to the civil war of the 1980s, with a Saudi and U.S.-backed Christian militia opening fire on Shia protesters affiliated with Hezbollah.
Why is all this happening now? Does it have anything to do with the Lebanese civil war? What was that war even about? Was it really just a sectarian bloodbath or an international attack on the Arab left? And how does it relate to the economic collapse and ongoing foreign meddling wreaking havoc on Lebanon today?
Here to put it all in its historical context is As’ad AbuKhalil, a professor of political science at California State University Stanislaus.
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Rania Khalek is a Middle East-based journalist for Breakthrough News. Her work has also appeared at The Grayzone, The intercept, Truthout, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, Al Jazeera, The Nation, Salon, AlterNet, Vice and more.
