AUB sponsors debate on political rift
Supporters of opposition and loyalists engage
in war of words

By Michael Dempsey
Special to The Daily Star

Saturday, February 26, 2005

BEIRUT: The Human Rights and Peace Club at the American University of Beirut (AUB) sponsored a debate on Friday between supporters of the opposition and supporters of the government of President Emile Lahoud. Reviving a tradition that for long had lain dormant, university students turned out in droves to discuss the political fallout of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Though the forum was advertised as a "dialogue," it quickly turned into a political debate full of passion and acrimony.

"How can the opposition have a dialogue with a government that has no credibility?" asked one opposition supporter.

Most of the students present were staunch supporters of the opposition although a vocal minority, mostly members of the Syrian National Socialist Party's (SNSP) student wing, were on hand to defend the Lahoud government and accuse the opposition of inciting hatred and instability.

"Shame on the people who were on the streets slandering the Syrians," declared one SNSP member.

Tammam al-Dandashi, a member of the student wing of the SNSP, lambasted the opposition for brandishing portraits of former President Bashir Gemayel, whom Dandashi accused of treachery for his wartime alliance with Israel.

He said: "I cannot participate in protests with people holding pictures of Gemayel - the man who brought Israel into Lebanon."

A large number of students, including supporters of the opposition, reacted to this comment with applause.

However, as the debate intensified, this was to be only point of unity among the participants.

Lebanese Forces student member Elias Nasser said: "Now everybody is criticizing the opposition, but what else do you expect us to do?"

"The reason why," Nasser continued, "people are protesting in the streets is because no one feels safe anymore in this country."

Echoing Nasser, opposition supporter and member of the campus leftist organization No Frontiers Nabil Abdo, while acknowledging that the opposition is not without its flaws, nonetheless maintained that it is the best hope the Lebanese have for a free and democratic future.
 

"I'm not saying the opposition is the best out there," he said, "but it's the best we've got."

Abdo rejected the argument that the opposition is laying the framework for a new civil war. On the contrary, he argued, the Lebanese, regardless of their political affiliations, more than anything else fear the resumption of violent civil conflict.

He said: "No one wants another civil war after all we've been through."

Halfway through the debate, Niza Medaline, assistant to AUB's dean of student affairs, in reaction to a comment made by an opposition activist that the "Syrians only understand dictatorship," intervened to remind the audience that they were there to have a dialogue, not to criticize.

Medaline said: "This is supposed to be a dialogue. We are here to exchange ideas. If you just criticize we will be here until tomorrow."

Despite Medaline's plea, the intensity of the debate showed no sign of abating.

As more students filtered in, both sides continued to exchange accusations. Pro-Lahoud activists were insistent that the opposition was leading Lebanon toward greater danger in the future, while opposition supporters were unrelenting in their position that Syrian interference in Lebanon is holding back the country's progress toward democracy.

"I think the best thing about this is that you get a chance to see that students are politically involved," said AUB junior Zeina al-Kaissa.

Ali Kattan-Wright, a visiting student from the United States, was likewise pleased with the event, though he is concerned that all parties involved are not thinking far enough ahead into the future.

"People talked about Syria leaving but not what about what to do after Syria leaves. And that's the most important part," he said.

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